DM Grey's Strange Aeons

Game Master Lloyd Jackson

Alright everyone!

Please finish up crunch and alias, and report in here. Once everyone is ready, we'll decide when to start gameplay.

The bell tolls for the witch's daughter,
The bell tolls Fifteen.

The bell tolls for the forgotten,
The bell tolls one and many.

The bell tolls for love lost,
The bell tolls true and false

Purely for fun

Hello! I believe Zadok should be ready to go.

Hey, I have a question. Does any of the Legendary Games stuff have feats or the like that let you summon otherworld monsters? For later in the game of course.

Hey all! Thanks Grey!

One question about background skills: I put a skill point into profession, which is fine. But I was also eying the new Lore skill for background. What I had in mind was Lore (Witchcraft), a special knowledge of witches and witchcraft. It seems fitting given Laufey's background, but she already has K Arcana and Spellcraft, so it might be redundant.

Is there a way I could use Lore as a skill that way which wouldn't just completely overlap K Arcana and Spellcraft? If you can think of something I'd be interested in doing it.

Hello everyone, Thanks for the invite Grey.

I'll finilize Jing in the morning. I finally decided to go with Stoicism for the campaign trait, and if you're ok with it, the Warded Against Nature drawback. It seems like it would fit with Jing's campaign trait really well, and has a lot of flavor for this AP. :) That unnatural aura of hers disturbing people and freightening animals. :)

Hello everyone, Thanks for the invite Grey.

I'll finilize Jing in the morning. I finally decided to go with Stoicism for the campaign trait, and if you're ok with it, the Warded Against Nature drawback. It seems like it would fit with Jing's campaign trait really well, and has a lot of flavor for this AP. :) That unnatural aura of hers disturbing people and freightening animals. :)

Good thing we don't have a druid - two Warded against Nature PC's would be very harsh on the poor animal companion....

Just dropping in to say Hi and Thanks for picking me, I'll post at more length this evening. Fluff and crunch is all ready to go I think :)

Wow, thanks for the invitation!!

DM, is it okay to still change the name if I come up with a better one? Not 100% happy with my current name.

Gonna do an official-looking sheet in the next couple of hours.

Do you have a preference for the format of the statline under the name?

Wow, thanks for the invite! Need to get started on crunch (honestly didn't think I'd get accepted).

All buttoned up. Character sheet link in the profile, see link above under Human HP (9) to see character sheet. Shortcut for stats and skills under spoilers in posting block. Don't think it shows up in the discussion thread.

Again, did not do background or equipment, since we start with neither.

Only equipment she needs beyond whatever we find is a spellbook, by preference her own so she doesn't have to scribe all the spells, but I'll take what I can get. :)

Pictures

Leaning toward this for her social persona

and leaning toward this for her vigilante persona

Although I could use this for her social persona and this for her vigilante persona

Thoughts?

I think I'm going to take the "Pride" drawback if that's alright. Are the "___ of the Society" traits open to us?

Laufey The way I usually treat knowledge skills is that each character gets different information based on their own class/skills/background. A fighter is more likely to know if a creature has DR, while a wizard will first get information on spell-like abilities. This helps encourage non-skill monkey/high-int characters to take knowledge. Lore works the same way, but more or less with a +5 bonus built in. So there would be overlap, but there would be a definite advantages in getting the lore(witchcraft) skill. Depending on how many ranks you put it, it might also provide a circumstance bonus to use magic device/spellcraft checks on witch based items/spells.

Pride seems fitting, though it wouldn't be much of a drawback to her. I'm guessing you're looking at Berserker of the Society? Hmm, potent benefit for not much loss. Let me think about it.

Li Might I suggest the Empty Mask drawback instead? I think it would be fitting for a vigilante who doesn't remember who they are, but has two identities. Also prevent duplication. within the party.

Samy Name changes are fine, and other details too. I prefer something like this:

(Race) HP: 10/10 | AC: 19 (11 Tch, 18 Fl) | CMB: +1, CMD: 12 | F: +4, R: +1, W: +4 | Init: +5 | Perc: +7

(Class) Speed 30ft (40ft unarmored) | Spells: 1st 2+1/2+1 | Active conditions: None.

These are the numbers I'll need to refer to most often, and it's nice to be able to take in the state of the party at a glance. Particularly if there are any conditions.

Doomkitten Indeed. -_^

@GM - What would you think of two drawbacks, one for each identity?

Umbral Unmasking for the Vigilante Persona, and Paranoid for the Social Persona? Not having a shadow while in Vigilante mode would fit with the wierd vibe, but not having it in social form would be a giant glaring giveaway. On the other hand, paranoia in Social mode would perfectly fit not wanting their vigilante mode being found out? I'm thinking of playing them like split personalities...

Also, are Li's stat/skill blocks good?

@Grey: Yes, I'm thinking about the Berserker variety. I see your point. If you decide against it here are two other possible combos I'd take.

Pride + Arcane Temper

Oppressive Expectations + Berserker of the Society

Pride and Oppressive Expectations seem to be the drawbacks that fit best.

Since several people are talking drawbacks, just to check -- we don't *have* to take a drawback, right?

Also, my "Into the Wind" racial ability gives +1 "to ranged damage" -- is that just for bows and similar nonmagical, or does it also apply to things like Magic Missile et cetera? I don't mind either way, but just so I know which way to apply it. The source is Inner Sea Races page 240.

Into the Wind (Storm Hag): The changeling gains a +1 racial bonus on ranged damage rolls.

Well Summon Star-Spawn seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you. Hmmm, might swap a point from Con to Int, then get Int to 12 at 4th level. That will retroactively give me more skill points, then I can use that to get the Knowledge Dungeoneering requirement for 5th level. Would that be alright?

@Samy: Drawbacks aren't required but whether it was in the recruitment thread or in the Player's Guide (I can't remember where) it was mentioned that characters having some sort of weakness would be a good thing. Could just a be fluff though, or a weakness inherent to a class, etc. I guess.

I think I missed that part. Her psychic discipline is a pretty big weakness though, in some ways. If it's recommended to take an actual Drawback however I'll start looking for one.

Short lunch today, but quick answers. No Samy, drawback neither required nor recommended, just allowed if you are interested. About into the wind... not sure.

Zadok, yep, that'd be fine.

Li, stats look good. Let me think about the different drawbacks.

Here is Jacqueline. Just need to work on the stat bar.

I included a purely for-flavor drawback. Since it has no mechanical effect, I didn't take an extra trait.

And there's the stat bar.

drawback neither required nor recommended, just allowed if you are interested.

@Samy: Ah, this is what I was thinking about from the players guide:

"To heighten the horror elements in
this Adventure Path, consider making a
character that has an obvious weakness
or vulnerability. This requires an
element of trust between you and
the GM that the latter not abuse this
vulnerability, so talk with your GM
about your concept ahead of time."

I had a bloodrager alt, I like the concept, but they might as well not even have spells, as little as it helps. I liked the character anyway, but quit the game (GM ok'd me buying a tattoo of cat boots, take minimum damage from all falls and land on your feet, and then when it came up in game he stated he never allows any fall from 100 or more feet to not kill you, item or no item, so I spent 7 levels with 2000 gp in an item he never intended to let me use, so I quit). I'll probably recycle him at some point, he was a fun jerk to play. :)

I won't take the Rageshaper archetype again though, it's a total trap, you don't get any spells you can use it with until level 16 or so.

@GM: Excellent

@Everyone: Well, it looks like we're going to have a very interesting group here. I'm looking forward to playing with everyone.

I actually made a pretty brutal Pitborn Abyssal Rageshaper once, in concept. With getting all of the physical race mods for tiefling, grabbing Improved Natural Attack, and dropping Enlarge Person as soon as you can, it makes for a pretty terrifying early-mid game build.

Don't get me wrong, a blood rager can do a lot of damage, but you don't need rageshaper for it. Potions of enlarge person are more economical than spell casting it. I forget the archetype, but one of them lets you turn in bloodline powers you don't like for rage powers, which is way better.

Primalist. Yeah. In case you're wondering why I didn't include a personality/description area for Jacqueline, it's because a) her look can be summed up in the profile picture and the pic I just provided and b) I want her personality to develop naturally as gameplay progresses. I have a rough seed-the basic idea of her personality-but in my opinion, it makes sense for a person with no memories to develop a personality based on their new experiences.

Yeah, Laufey will have something like 6 spells/day at 10th level, assuming she gets that far I guess :) I don't expect it to do much more than offer an occasional buff.

She should be a good switch hitter though with the urban archetype.

I've never played a bloodrager before or seen one played, so she's an experiment for me. I did have an invulnerable rager barbarian that was a hoot to play. Rather against type being the party's voice of reason and strategist when not directly in combat.

Oh! I'd totally forgotten about that! It's the primalist archetype and I planned to ask if it could be combined with urban. Seems like it could. There's a bloodline power or possibly two that I'd trade out for rage powers. What do you say DMGrey?

Primalist is a frightening archetype. Two rage powers per bloodline power you trade in is damn powerful.

Found a better pic for both the profile and the outside link.

Found some artwork that's really good for Zadok!

Is Zadok's arm permanently broken?

The art is originally for a cleric of Zon-Kuthon, so I'm guessing that's religious. Zadok's arm is wrapped, but free to move and uninjured.

Jing can fix that! No charge!

Laufey: I'd allow it, but not for trading out the first level power. That'd give you the rage powers of a 4th level barbarian right out the gate. 4th level on, absolutely. Either of those trait/drawback combinations is fine by me.

Li: I think the different drawbacks would work. I'm thinking when in Vigilante mode her shadow sort of drains into her hands to form the mystic bolts. What traits were you thinking of taking?

It looks like everyone's crunch is just about settled. So, just a few more things. When would we like to start? We could probably start tomorrow morning if that's doable for everyone, or wait until monday. Either works for me, but I probably will be gone for the weekend at a reception.

Also, what content are is everyone comfortable with? By default, I tend towards Game of Thrones-ish territory, though no Ramsey/Reek scenes. That is, if the ghouls get you it will be messy, bodies in an open grave may be naked, and evil cultist's victims are usually not tied to an alter looking like they wandered in from a Maybelline ad. If that alright with everyone?

They are in my character sheet (link where it says 'human HP (9)'. The campaign trait Stocism, +1 Intimidate. The other two give me perception and linguistics as class skills.

I'm fine starting whenever.

I'm fine with any gore level/etc.

I will get uncomfortable if the game gets overly sexual, but other than that, I'm fine.

I'd like to start ASAP, honestly, and the weekend break will be a good opportunity to get to know our fellow inmates.

I can start whenever. I am having a garage sale this weekend though, so I won't be around most of the day. I will be able to post early or late though, so I can still play those days.

And I'm good with more or less any content. I'm not going to bat an eye over human sacrifice or eaten bodies or gore really. It's just story-telling.

Zadok, did you want Jing to fix that 'arm works just fine' thing for you? :)

I think I'm good with having two functioning arms, thanks.

If you're concerned about the cost, Jing was going to give you a very good rate! NO charge! If you don't have enough gold for that, she can forward you enough to meet the price, with a 1 gp per week interest rate, compounded hourly.

Just dotting in to get in the habit of posting in the evening. Votes seem to be for starting ASAP. Laufey, Fifteen, and Samy; once you guys report in and ready. We'll start. If you can do that before 9am-ish central time tomorrow morning, that will be when first game play post goes up.

I'm good with starting tomorrow. I've no content boundaries I want to set.

Have you had a chance to think about the drawback - trait combos I suggested yet?

Thanks for letting me add primalist, I'm not considering any trade outs for rage powers until 12tth level.

I'm pretty much good to go. I'm okay with starting tomorrow. All I really have left to do on my sheet is finding out if there's any precedent for which heading alternate racial traits go under, but that sort of trivia can be done later too. So I'm just still throwing around ideas for my final name and I'll settle on one by the time of my first post.

I may be a bit scarce the next two days or so, but I will be present, so it's okay to start -- I should be able to put in enough posts.

I do not require any violence or sexuality limitations.

I'm tweaked so I can start whenever :) (Short swords btw grey for the implanted weapons. Profile has been adjusted)

I'm not fussed about limits - anyone posts something I don't like I just won't respond. Simple really :)

I feel kind of bad. I just realized that our fighter can't benefit from the buff spell I picked at 1st level.

I feel kind of bad. I just realized that our fighter can't benefit from the buff spell I picked at 1st level.

Price I pay - don't worry about it :) Comes with upsides like not soiling yourself in front of Great Old Ones...

Jing can benefit from it! That's all that's important!