Apathy' Second darkness pbp discussion thread

[Apathy]

Ok hey everyone screw the whole email thing heres the vital things to know about Riddleport the city of Cyphers.

Pic
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/pathfinder/images/e/ea/Riddleport.jpg

Map
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/pathfinder/images/5/5f/Riddleport_map.jpg

Location

Spoiler:

The city proper us tucked in between two rocky ridges,theeasternmost rising just over 300 feet in elevation and blocking the city from a tidal swamp of hillocks and mires that serves today as a dumping ground for refuse,derelict ships,bodies,and undesirables. The western ridge ascends swiftly into the Calphiak mountains themselves. To the north, the Velashu River threads its way between these ridge, leadung up into the velashu uplands. while roads from the east and north exist, they are not well maintained the msot notable acess to the city is its harbour.

No one who sails into Riddleport by sea can avoid passing beneath the Cyphergate. many sailors have favorite private signs or rituals for good luck they peform as there ships pass under the storied arch, for one can never be to careful around Varisia's storied monuments.Riddleport today bears an air of legitimacy tha tin earlier times eluded it when it was little more than a haven for those seeking shelter but not nessecarily law. This legitimacy arises from a growing influx of sholars and experts, for all of varisia's storied monuments the Cyphergate may be the best preserved. it's certainly one of the most enigmatic.

The Goverment and the Crimelords

Spoiler:

The titular head of the Riddleport goverment is the self apointed Overlord of Riddleport, a postition traditionly helf for life. Riddleport's current overlord is a former pirate captain named Gaston Cromarcky.Since the city's founding, Riddleport has been ruled by a series of pirate lords, buccaneers, and other unsavoury sailors in a bloody cycle of betrayal and violent coups. Overlord Cromarcky has maintained his rule over riddleport for three decades by entrentching himself in a wholly new manner. rather than rely on the loyalty of pirate crews and fellow captains, Cromarcky opened the coffers of his deceased predecessor and hired mercenaries and enforcers from land-bound groups wiht no connection to piracy. Calling this new breed of enforcers the Riddleport Gendarmes ("gentlemen-at-arms") he created a military force loyal to his coin.

Traditionally, eight crimelords rule under the Overlord. like the overlord, these crimelords form affiliations with various pirate captains to further secure their positions, though suck alliances are unreliable and subject to the vagaries of the pirate lifestyle. Each Crimelord maintains his own small army of contacts, snitches, foot soldiers, fences, loan sharks, specialists, and favored lieutenants
(called "capps" in local parlance) the current eight crimelords are the following:

avery Slyeg
has ties to the overlord, the extent of which are yet to be determined.
He handles most of the major smuggling operations into and out of port and has a wide network of fences and black marketeers to move stolen goods and contraband.

Boss Croat
is an immensely fat half orc who runs several street gangs, and ontrols most of the trade of illicit substances on the street. He is well known for his habit of only recruiting half-orc enforcers.

Elias tammerhawk
Speaker of the order of Cyphers and the most unlikely crimelord in town,is as much a Scholar as he is a scoundrel. He is the most likely candidate for overlord should Cromarcky fall.

Saul vancaskerkin
Was formerly a major player who incurred the wrath of too many rivals. That he survived is a testament to his tenacity and luck. But he's coming back having finshed rebuilding the gold goblin gambling hall. He is opening the night you all arive with the "cheat the devil and take his gold" Tournament.

Shorafa pamodae
is the high priestess of the temple of Calistria, the house of the silken veil. Madam to all of the temple prostututes and patron of the "hospitality industry" throughout the city, she is also the city's major information broker due to the persuasive skills of her employees and their extensive clientele.

Little is known of the other too Ziphras and Varnal knocmar accept that Ziphras is thought to be a wererat.

The Cypermages

Spoiler:

An entire tradition of arcane study has risen in the Cyphergates shadow the growing order of Cyphers has become one of Riddleports most powerful factions quite the feat in a settlement known for traditional values of piracy and bulleying. This newest faction of riddleport's allready complicated administratipn may be just what it takes to foce the growing city into a stable goverment or it may be the final load that causes it all to come crumbling down.

The Blot

Spoiler:

The Blot as its called, is a shadow in the sky, and floats high above Riddleport, appearing to be kind of a dark cloud, but fuzzy at the edges. When it first appeared in the sky over Riddleport several weeks ago, the whole city was abuzz wonder and excitement. Since then the novelty has worn off, but various scholars and students of esoteric knowledge have been streaming into the city to witness and study it. For the more unscrupulous citizens (which is a good portion of the population), this has provided an unlooked for bounty of easy marks.

It's there every day, never seeming to get much bigger or smaller, or to move very far from its general area.

What is it? And what does it portend, if anything? Is it just a random, crazy occurrence, or is it the symptom of a deeper, darker disease?

i'll get you all to do knowledge checks but that will be later in the PBP thread

[Kayos.]

Ooh a discussion thread, how exciting :)

[seekerofshadowlight]

awwww kayos beat me here. Darn sun being on her side of the world

[Kratos]

here is my start on my cleric

[Kayos.]

seekerofshadowlight wrote:

awwww kayos beat me here. Darn sun being on her side of the world

Haha! I win! :D

[seekerofshadowlight]

see if I help you the next time the chat beast get ya then

[Kayos.]

Aww, I'm sorry hun *hugs*

[seekerofshadowlight]

fine I'll throw ya a rope lol

[seekerofshadowlight]

Before we get to far down the thread

pic and map of riddle port as it's prob to late to edit the first post

pic
Map

[Tarlane]

Things got a bit hectic last night, and while I was able to pop on the other thread and make a couple posts, I didn't have time to sit down and make a char yet. I'll have one up in a couple hours though and introduce him.

I'm still strongly leaning towards wizard. I'm thinking a forlorn elf who went really stodgy in rebellion against his parents and normal elven chaotic traditions. I'm sure he is here to study the cyphergate, but I haven't decided just yet if I want him to actually be aspiring into the cypher-mages or if he dislikes them for some reason and is working on figuring out the cyphergate on his own to kind of prove himself. If either of those would fit better in the later story let me know and I can go that way with his background.

-Tarlane

[Tarlane]

Bah, ate my post.

You mentioned that we could pick from most sources you have available. I was curious if you had the complete arcane available. Overall I am going core spell-wise, but I was hoping that I could pick up the collegiate wizard feat from that book.

Basically what it does, is allows me to take 6+int spells to start with, instead of 3+int, and I gain new spells at 4 a level instead of 2. It also gives a +2 bonus to knowledge arcana. Doesn't let me cast anymore then normal, just means I have more in my book which fits the feeling of a wide ranging generalist I was going for.

If you have the book, the feat is actually back in the factions section on a sidebar where they are talking about wizard schools, right next to precocious apprentice. If you need, I can give you the exact wording of the feat.

Thanks,

-Tarlane

[seekerofshadowlight]

wow that feat seems a bit much...1 feat =43 spells..gods that is a bit much, not the DM I am just saying

[Tarlane]

Sorry, full of questions but I just wanted to make sure that everything is clarified since the wizard is a bit complex. I was going to go with arcane bond for a staff, rather than a familiar and I know those rules are debated a lot on the boards, so I figured we should be on the same page. I think I'm conservative with my views on its powers compared to some(I normally DM) so with luck we see things the same.

PF Beta wrote:

A bonded object can be used once per day to cast any one

spell that the wizard knows and can cast, just as if the wizard
had cast it. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic
feats or other abilities. The bonded object cannot be used to
cast spells from the wizard’s prohibited schools.

To me this means that I can cast one spell that I am high enough level to cast, know(meaning its in my spellbook), is not prohibited(I'm a generalist, so this doesn't really apply), and isn't modifed, on the fly as if I had prepared it. Basically the item gives me one slot a day that I can cast out of my book almost like I was a sorc.

PF Beta wrote:

A wizard can enchant his bonded object as if he had the

required feats. If the bonded object is a wand, it loses its
enchantment when its last charge is consumed, but it is not
destroyed and it retains all of its bonded object properties.
Bonded objects only function for their creator, including
any magic abilities added to the object. This means that
they cannot be sold.

I figure this means that I can enchant my item as if I had any feats for it, -but- I must also meet the pre-reqs for those feats. Since my item is a quarterstaff, I won't be able to meet the feats for crafting staves or weapons for quite a while, so this is also a moot point right now, but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page in the hope that the pbp goes on long enough that we can get to a level where I can dig into a bit of crafting.

I'm just tinkering with the last bits of the char now and then have to do the hard parts(like a name) and I'll have him up shortly. If you need me to change anything, either the stuff I asked or something else, just let me know.

-Tarlane

[Tarlane]

seekerofshadowlight wrote:

wow that feat seems a bit much...1 feat =43 spells..gods that is a bit much, not the DM I am just saying

Thats why I figured I would check specifically on that feat. I always thought it was neat because it doesn't really add to my stopping power in any way since I still have the same number of spells prepped on any give day, it just boosts the number I've got in my book so that I have a wider variety of options on what to prepare.

Helps keep me from worrying about becoming a resource hog as wizards are prone to do since I wouldn't have to worry about adding as many spells into my book as we level.

If it ends up being a no on it, its no big deal. I'll probably either go with arcane strike or maybe take spell pen this early, though its not likely to be needed til later on.

-Tarlane

[seekerofshadowlight]

Again not the GM but pokeing my nose in anyhow.

1. I think your right and this is also how I use it
2. I think you are a bit off on the accepted way to use it. You would count as craft staff for you staff, but would still need all spells and feats needed for they type of staff. Now only feats I can think of needed is meta magic feats but still. So basically ya get the craft feat for your item type free(But only on that item)

[seekerofshadowlight]

yeah I like the feat but I am not sure if it's to much. My first GM reaction is yes. but It is cool concept

[Tarlane]

For the staff, I think you are right yes. I just pointed out that I had to meet the pre-reqs still because I know a lot of people on the boards say they have craft staff now and they should be able to make a magic missile staff at first level.

I basically just wanted Apathy to realize I wasn't trying to game the system and I'd still be within the normal crafting rules for everything.

-Tarlane

[seekerofshadowlight]

heh magic missile staff. Thats kinda funny. that be a wand, though

[Tarlane]

Technically I think it can be done, you can add any spell you want into a staff. You just get the 10 charges that you have to replenish with your own spell selection, up to 1 a day. But I think thats going against the spirit of the ability even if I don't see much mechanical reason you couldn't.

[Tarlane]

Now that we've done all this talk on it, I'm back to wondering if I should cover one of the other classes. Looking at the group, we have a monk, a bard, a rogue, a cleric, a sorc and a wizard.

The cleric and monk are the two closest to being really able to take a solid hit and neither of them are really made for it. I'm basically done with the wizard, so if you guys want us heavy on the arcane side we can have that covered. One of my other ideas was for a paladin who I thought would work really well with a darker(but obviously not actually evil) group, sort of a gray guard without actually heading into the class, looking to accomplish the end with the available means even if those are sometimes... distasteful.

I'll have him ready too, so its up to you guys which you think would be more useful to the party.

-Tarlane

[Zareby Grenache]

Well, other than equipment, I'm just about done. One question I asked on the discussion thread: Is gambling covered by Bluff or Profession(Gambler)? Also...

Rashmi wrote:

I am thinking of going for the 'Fools for Friends' as the campaign trait so if anyone wants a longsuffering Vudrani friend let me know and we can work in background links :)

Well, I'm certainly enough of a gambler to qualify for the position of "Friend Who Makes Risky Choices".

[seekerofshadowlight]

while yes you could do such a thing, no rule saying you can not. However craft staff is a 12th level feat, so once ya get to 12th level you gain that feat free with your staff only.

same thing with wands you gain it free with your item at the level that feat is allowed. You just do not have the power to make such an items before hand.

[seekerofshadowlight]

myself I think it would go under gambling profession. as it covers a large area. and some games are not so much bluffing but knowing when to hold em, knowing when to fold em, knowing when to walk away, and knowing when to run :)

[Tarlane]

Yeah, I think apathy answered on the other board. Said gambling overall is a profession, but poker would be bluffing.

-Tarlane

[seekerofshadowlight]

humm what time zones do we have here guys. I am Kentucky us here so eastern time zone. its 4 pm my way right now

[Zareby Grenache]

Alright, so Profession(Gambler) is my last skill! Now just to decide how to spend the rest of my money...

EDIT: Michigan, so Eastern for me too.
EDIT again: As I have an annoying amount of money left over from the 300gp you gave everyone, mind if I buy a few scrolls?

[Memento Mori]

Kentucky here As well!

[Tarlane]

I'm in california, so pacific.

[Rorsius]

So i've decided to keep my overall concept but change my class to monk.

I'm not trying to steal your thunder Kayos, as I think it'll result in two ultimately different characters, i just think that monk will work better with my original idea, and i think it'll be fine to have two monks.

I'll be redoing the crunch of him.

EDIT:All finished save for equipment

[seekerofshadowlight]

it says standard hp at first do we roll them?

[Tarlane]

I thought standard for first level was max HP, but you don't get the racial mod, or double con, or any of the other stuff in the sidebar of the beta

[Memento Mori]

Yea i figured it was max plus con.

[Tarlane]

Ok so I've whipped together both the paladin and the wizard in a somewhat base form, they need to get cleaned up and organized(I'll probably make the one I go with look like a stat-block) and I need to give a background, but I have them done.

Which do you guys think would be more useful for the party so I can more or less finalize that one?

Elf Wizard

Spoiler:

Elf Traits
Low Light
+2 on sight and sound perception
Spot secret doors automatically
+2 saves vs enchantment
+2 to beat SR
+2 on appraise to identify magic items

Longbow, Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Wizard Weapon Proficiencies

Languages- Common, Elven, Dwarven, Goblin, Orc, Giant, Draconic, Celestial

STR-8
DEX-14
CON-11
INT-20
WIS-10
CHA-10

BaB- 0

Fort- 0 - 0(Base), 0(Con)
Ref- 2 - 0(Base), 2(Dex)
Will- 2 - 2(Base), 0(Wis)

HP - 6
Init - 2

Skills Trained
Appraise - 11 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int), 2(Racial)
Knowledge(Arcana) - 11 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int), 2(Feat)
Knowledge(Dungeoneering) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(Engineering) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(History) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(Planes) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Linguistics - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Spellcraft - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)

Feats
Collegiate Wizard

Traits
Researching the Blot
Hedge Magician

Arcane Bond
Cantrips
School Power
Scribe Scroll

Generalist Abilities-
1- Hand of the Apprentice

Spells per Day
0- 3 3(Base)
1- 3 1(Base), 2(Bonus)

Spells Known
0-
All

1-
Grease
Mage Armor
Identify
Charm Person
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Protection From Evil
Detect Secret Doors
Hold Portal
Shield
Enlarge Person

Equipment-
Longsword 4lb 15gp
Quarterstaff 4lb 0gp
Crossbow, light 4lb 35gp
Crossbow bolts x20 2lb 2gp

Scroll Case x4 2lb 4gp
Chalk 0lb 1cp
Ink 0lb 8gp
Inkpen 0lb 1sp
Paper(Sheet) x40 0lb 4gp
Belt Pouch .5lb 1gp
Sealing Wax 1lb 1gp
Sewing Needle 0lb 5sp
Signet Ring 0lb 5gp

Scroll Comprehend Lang 0lb 25gp
Scroll Detect Undead 0lb 25gp
Scroll Sleep 0lb 25gp
Scroll Floating Disk 0lb 25gp
Scroll Reduce Person 0lb 25gp
Scroll Disguise Self 0lb 25gp
Scroll Jump 0lb 25gp
Scroll Magic Weapon 0lb 25gp

280gp 1sp 1cp
17.5lb/26lb light load

19gp 8sp 9cp

Human Paladin

Spoiler:

Ability Scores

STR 16
DEX 11
CON 15
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 14

Simple and Martial Weapon Proficiency
All Armor Proficiency
Light and Heavy Shield Proficiency

AC - 17 - 5(Chainmail) - 2(Heavy shield)
Flatfoot - 17 - 5(Chainmail) - 2 (Heavy shield)
Touch - 10

Fort- 4 2(Base) - 2(Con)
Ref- 0 0(Base)
Will- 1 0(Base) - 1(Wis)

Bab - 1

Longsword - +5 1d8+3
Morningstar - +4 1d8+3
Javelin - +1 1d6+3

HP - 17
Init - +0

Traits
Scouting For Fiends
Armor Expert

Skills
Diplomacy 7 - 1(Rank) - 3(Trained) - 3(Cha)
Heal 5 - 1(Rank) - 3(Trained) - 1(Wis)
Knowledge(Religion) 4 - 1(Rank) - 3(Trained)
Sense Motive 5 - 1(Rank) - 3(Trained) - 1(Wis)

Feats
Toughness
Weapon Focus:Longsword

Aura Of Good
Detect Evil
Smite Evil 1/day

Equipment

Longsword 4lb 15gp
Morningstar 6lb 8gp
Javelin x 5 10lb 5gp
Heavy Steel Shield 15lb 20gp
Chainmail 40lb 150gp

Holy Symbol Silver 1lb 25gp
Sunrod x 3 3lb 6gp
Holy Water 1lb 25gp
Manacles 2lb 15gp
Rope, Silk(50ft) 5lb 10gp

21gp
87lb/153 Med Load

[Kayos.]

Rorsius wrote:

I'm not trying to steal your thunder Kayos,

No worries hun, I personally have no problems with having more than one of soemthing in a party and the ethnic backgrounds will set them vastly apart as characters at the very least.. This reminds me I need to doublecheck background bits to make sure she comes off as suitably Vudrani

And Tarlane; play whatever appeals to you most!

[Woodraven]

Im in Iowa so central time here. Also, I would like to see the wizard played out.

[Kayos.]

Oh yeah, folks mentioned timezones. I'm here in GMT, it's 10:45pm for me now :)

[seekerofshadowlight]

yeah man play what you want to play

[Tarlane]

I was just tossing it out there for the group because both concepts are definitely ones that sound like they could be a lot of fun and classes that I've been looking forward to trying out in the beta.

Trying to think up backstory and personality for the two though, I think I am leaning more towards Wizard though, so I'll start to put together his info in a more readable way in an alt now.

[Apathy]

Tarlane wrote:

I thought standard for first level was max HP, but you don't get the racial mod, or double con, or any of the other stuff in the sidebar of the beta

Yep Standard hps is max+con at first level average+con after that

and yeah now that i think about it proffession gambler will cover all gambling,

and thanks for being DM why i was gone Seeker=)

[Apathy]

morning everyone 8.30 here in QLD australia i'll look over that wizard stuff when i don't allready have a headache.

and thanks for fixing the links aswell=)

i have the complete arcana

[seekerofshadowlight]

wasn't trying to step on toes or anything, just know the rules petty well having dealt with em in a few pbp, hope ya didn't mind

Ozzy huh, that explains the post time then

[Apathy]

nah it's cool, post times suck but i post every day and as the DM i usualy only have to post once or twice a day

[Apathy]

Tarlane wrote:

Ok so I've whipped together both the paladin and the wizard in a somewhat base form, they need to get cleaned up and organized(I'll probably make the one I go with look like a stat-block) and I need to give a background, but I have them done.

Which do you guys think would be more useful for the party so I can more or less finalize that one?

Elf Wizard

Spoiler:

Elf Traits
Low Light
+2 on sight and sound perception
Spot secret doors automatically
+2 saves vs enchantment
+2 to beat SR
+2 on appraise to identify magic items

Longbow, Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Wizard Weapon Proficiencies

Languages- Common, Elven, Dwarven, Goblin, Orc, Giant, Draconic, Celestial

STR-8
DEX-14
CON-11
INT-20
WIS-10
CHA-10

BaB- 0

Fort- 0 - 0(Base), 0(Con)
Ref- 2 - 0(Base), 2(Dex)
Will- 2 - 2(Base), 0(Wis)

HP - 6
Init - 2

Skills Trained
Appraise - 11 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int), 2(Racial)
Knowledge(Arcana) - 11 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int), 2(Feat)
Knowledge(Dungeoneering) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(Engineering) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(History) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Knowledge(Planes) - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Linguistics - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)
Spellcraft - 9 - 1(Rank), 3(Trained), 5(Int)

Feats
Collegiate Wizard

Traits
Researching the Blot
Hedge Magician

Arcane Bond
Cantrips
School Power
Scribe Scroll

Generalist Abilities-
1- Hand of the Apprentice

Spells per Day
0- 3 3(Base)
1- 3 1(Base), 2(Bonus)

Spells Known
0-
All

1-
Grease
Mage Armor
Identify
Charm Person
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Protection From Evil
Detect Secret Doors
Hold Portal
Shield
Enlarge Person

Equipment-
Longsword 4lb 15gp
Quarterstaff 4lb 0gp
Crossbow, light 4lb 35gp
Crossbow bolts x20 2lb 2gp

Scroll Case x4 2lb 4gp
Chalk 0lb 1cp
Ink 0lb 8gp
Inkpen 0lb 1sp
Paper(Sheet) x40 0lb 4gp
Belt Pouch .5lb 1gp
Sealing Wax 1lb 1gp
Sewing Needle 0lb 5sp
Signet Ring 0lb 5gp

Scroll...

Play what you want to play any group will work even if you don't have a proper meatshield=)

[Apathy]

Tarlane wrote:

Bah, ate my post.

You mentioned that we could pick from most sources you have available. I was curious if you had the complete arcane available. Overall I am going core spell-wise, but I was hoping that I could pick up the collegiate wizard feat from that book.

Basically what it does, is allows me to take 6+int spells to start with, instead of 3+int, and I gain new spells at 4 a level instead of 2. It also gives a +2 bonus to knowledge arcana. Doesn't let me cast anymore then normal, just means I have more in my book which fits the feeling of a wide ranging generalist I was going for.

If you have the book, the feat is actually back in the factions section on a sidebar where they are talking about wizard schools, right next to precocious apprentice. If you need, I can give you the exact wording of the feat.

Thanks,

-Tarlane

yeah sorry that feat seems a bit much

[Memento Mori]

So i'm not gonna lie i'm pretty pumped for this one for one reason or the other.

Any chance we can an in game thread up soon so we can do some preliminary roleplaying and or monologuing? =]

Not rushing or anything, just throwing an idea into the hat.

[Apathy]

Memento Mori wrote:

So i'm not gonna lie i'm pretty pumped for this one for one reason or the other.

Any chance we can an in game thread up soon so we can do some preliminary roleplaying and or monologuing? =]

Not rushing or anything, just throwing an idea into the hat.

Ooh good idea i'll make it now, and the rest of you can start posting there as soon as you have a background and personality=)

Glad your looking forward to it so am i=)

[Memento Mori]

Apathy wrote:

Ooh good idea i'll make it now, and the rest of you can start posting there as soon as you have a background and personality=)

Glad your looking forward to it so am i=)

Huzzah!

[seekerofshadowlight]

should have kratos finished by tonight. I just reused a name even if it's not a girly name the pic called to me screaming play a gnome!

edit: apathy on the one free skill that counts as a class skill right? 1 rank +3 for class? that makes it 4.

[Apathy]

here it is