Oh, side note: I'm trying to pick out which adventure path to start with my meatspace gaming group. I generated a little chart. Do you think that it gives too much away?
Nice : ) It definitely took me a while to figure out which AP was intended. The only one that's pretty much a giveaway is LoF if that follows 'Do you like Genies?'. If you wanted to obfuscate a bit more I might link that one to 'Do you like water?' and add another answer leading up- like "Keep in a warm, dry place." or "I'm REALLY afraid I'll rust!" which leads to LoF.
Otherwise, very nice.
They have no pre-existing knowledge of anything pathfinder; I debated even giving them the adventure path names, and figure it's not something that they couldn't cheat and find online.
1. is Legacy of fire
2. is second darkness
3. is rise of runelords
4. is kingmaker
5. is crimson throne
6. is serpent's skull
7. is council of thieves
I feel like a few of them are still arbitrary, yet.
Pretty cool!
I changed "melt" to "Do I look like the Wicked Witch of the West to you?"
I'm back in Japan now guys. I got here and within an hour they sounded the tsunami alarms. It was crazy when I look at the news and it showed that I had missed all kinds of craziness that hit in the areas I had landed on the way home. But, otherwise I'm home and ready to be back at it.
Glad to hear you are safe Seamus.
Glad to hear you are safe Seamus.
Thanks, Mat.
Out of curiousity, are firearms presnt in this world?
Glad to hear you are safe Seamus.
+1
On the firearms: yes. They are very very rare though. I need to look into the concept a bit more before I decide how to handle them. Alkenstar has them.
But, otherwise I'm home and ready to be back at it.
Glad to hear it. I didn't think you were near the areas hit, but glad to hear you are OK.
As for the game, are we thinking about taking the boy back now and returning to the fort later?
On the firearms: yes. They are very very rare though. I need to look into the concept a bit more before I decide how to handle them. Alkenstar has them.
Correction. While walking with my dogs I was thinking about some of the underlying issues of guns. The first issue is that personal firearms are actually the final stage in a long technological evolutionary chain. The second is that gunpowder, or its fantastical equivalent must actually be useful in some other manner prior to weaponization.
1. Evolution. Gunpowder by itself is pretty, but boring. There are sparks and fizzles and it looks cool, but it doesn't accomplish anything. Some genius needs to decide that it would be cool to confine the gunpowder in some manner to actually extract some useful work from it. Thus the first and most common usage for gunpowder or more precisely, blackpowder is as a bomb or grenade. The next stage in the evolution is that of the rocket. Simple materials can be used to make a rocket, no true advance machining is necessary. This use would also be very widespread, to the effect that armies would have whole banks of rockets to launch at one another before an attack. Then as advanced metallurgy progressed and the industrial base continued to expand, bombards, mortars and cannons would start to show up, along with the first primitive firearms. Firearms would be still less prevalent than cannons, rockets or grenades, due to technical limitations and practicality. An army general would rather have a cannon than a hundred personal guns. The cannon can be used in an antipersonnel role as well as the much more important anti-fortification role.
2. Practicality. Gunpowder must be cheaper than the same spell. When you can have a mage disintegrate, cast acid, dig, explode, teleport, freeze or incinerate something, the only way that gunpowder will be utilized is if the economic cost of the mage and spells is more than the cost of the production, transportation and usage of the gunpowder. For gunpowder technology to advance it also must be economical. If there is no benefit to the technology, or if the technical requirements to produce and maintain the technology are too onerous, then the technology will not exist.
Thus for guns to exist gunpowder must provide an economic benefit over magic, there must be a sufficient technological and resource base to support the production of the weapons, and there must be a preceding technological evolution, such that the preceding evolutionary steps are not unknown.
Thus Alkenstar is a fantastical failure. It does not have an economic reason to exist, it does not have the resources base to support its supposed level of technology, it does not have the historical basis for the technology and it does not have an underlying technological reason for its supposed munitions industry.
For Alkenstar to have an economic reason to exist thus there must be some fantastically crazy resource available that drives the economic engine, and is the primary export to the rest of civilization. Second, gunpowder and steel do not grow out of the ground. While charcoal is typically available, the supply of sulfur and the nitrogen source are not. Sulfur requires deposition in a geologically active areas. Potassium nitrate was first mined in industrial quantities from bat guano and bird droppings, earlier methods would not be sufficient to support the production. It must also be realized that no magic can be utilized in the production, or the overall cost of the product will be increased, making it uneconomical vs. magic. The economic product that Alkenstar exports must also require a technological base that supports metal milling, casting and large scale production. Without this underlying technological base, guns cannot ever be produced economically.
From what I have read, Alkenstar does not fulfill these requirements. Additionally, grenades, rockets and cannons are not well known or commonly utilized in Golgarion. Thus they cannot provide a significant economic benefit over magic. This means that they logically do not fit in the current framework and the idea needs to be reworked.
On the firearms: yes. They are very very rare though. I need to look into the concept a bit more before I decide how to handle them. Alkenstar has them.very interesting indepth response.I'm glad I asked a this question to get this response. You should repost it in the Gunfighter thread. Thanks. I actually dislike the idea of guns from a logistical standpoint now, lol. Converted.
But, otherwise I'm home and ready to be back at it.Glad to hear it. I didn't think you were near the areas hit, but glad to hear you are OK.
As for the game, are we thinking about taking the boy back now and returning to the fort later?
I think we need to take the boy back. The mission was to retrieve the kiddo. I think from a treasure haul standpoint, we are doin pretty well for first level characters. Let's get the little fella back and complete this portion. Zeta is pretty nefarious and I see a long road home ahead of us if we loiter much longer. I could use a little restocking on some items that will make the dungeon crawl.
Stuff on guns
Thanks for the info Zeta. Not sure how much you have read on Alkenstar, I'm assuming you have read most. Recent information that Paizo has put forth in the Inner Sea Guide talks about how guns and technology have evolved at Alknestar because it is in the Mana Wastes where there is no magic. It specifically states that a spellcaster can not cast spells while in the Mana Wastes.
My guess is that is why they have evolved technology at Alkenstar without the use of magic. But it would still make it extremely rare anywhere else in the world. Only those coming from Alkenstar would have the technology and you would probably have to go back to Alkenstar to get more gunpowder and bullets. Or at the very least only extremely large markets would you be able to find the materials. And it would be nigh improbable that someone not from Alkenstar would even be proficient with a gun.
Anyways, just my 2cp.
PS - I know for my Kingmaker group that I am DM'ing, I am not allowing guns. Like you said, it just isn't practical anywhere outside of Alkenstar and the surrounding area of Nex and Geb.
We should take the boy back before we give Zeta more time to think of disasters on the way. ;)
I resemble...I mean resent, that insinuation.
;p
Just got informed I will be heading out to a field exercise for up to the next week.:P I will try to come up with way to post may be through my wife, haha. If it becomes an issue, I will have her post here to have Quillin or Zeta run my part till I can post again. I will be out to loop starting Monday. Till then I will be on here. Nothing like coming back from leave and into the thick of things,lol.
Just got informed I will be heading out to a field exercise for up to the next week.:P I will try to come up with way to post may be through my wife, haha. If it becomes an issue, I will have her post here to have Quillin or Zeta run my part till I can post again. I will be out to loop starting Monday. Till then I will be on here. Nothing like coming back from leave and into the thick of things,lol.
I will bot you Seamus as appropriate. With luck the party won't get into anything too crazy in the next bit.
I will bot you Seamus as appropriate. With luck the party won't get into anything too crazy in the next bit.
Sucks, but I guess it comes with the territory. Thanks, Zeta.
Is it one wagon or two? or more? I was under the impression that there was more than one, but I may be wrong.
One wagon. You interrupted the theft of the second.
Hey Zeta, your in HI, right? I'm gonna be down there for a Warrior Leader's Course next month. I'll try to hit ya up if they give us some time off. I know they changed things a little recently, but I think they give Sundays off.
Worth a shot! I am working 12s right now due to the Japan Earthquake/tsunami situation, so I am not sure how available I will be. But once you get here drop me an email at deisenbrey@hotmail.com.
Thought I'd post the loot so far just to keep a running total (let me know if i missed anything):
Chest:
511 gp
200 gp chain
Cellar:
550 gp
bottle of wine- ?
Wand of Cause Fear (47 charges)
Feather token, whip
Scrolls:
#1) ?
#2) ?
#3) Summon Monster 2
Potions:
#1) Potion of Feather Fall
#2) Potion of restoration, lesser
#3) ?
the weapons I put on the wagon are also loot and also armor on those last ones which I do not have a complete list. One of them is a composite bow I want to keep from the bandits. I did load it into the wagon.
*bing* level up?
ZetaG, I just wanted to thank you for the amazing amount of detail and thought you've put into your game. I'm very much enjoying your descriptions and inventions.
remind me how you want to handle hp?
Zeta,
Are we on the medium advancement track?
How would you like us to handle training for advancements?
For example, if Yergie were to add a level to a new class for a level, would she have to seek out an instructor? For example, what if she added a level of sorcerer or monk?
Similarly, what about skills- I was thinking that while in her father's court, she spent most of her time hanging out with her dwarven mentor- so I might add a profession (a class skill) that would be Torag appropriate. Would she still have to seek out a trainer, or could she have learned enough on her own to go from unskilled to skilled?
Yep *bing* it is.
Medium advancement track.
Roll for hp per standard rules at each level.
All classes that are represented in the party do not need trainers. Being around the party member and talking with them over a period of time is all that is required to learn the basics. I would hope that you work that into your RP at some point. It makes for good discussion and RP (late night discussions with the mage, watching the ranger track, observing the rogue as he disassembles a trap) If you wish to take a level in class that is not represented, we will need to get ye to an appropriate trainer and take some time off.
Advancing in your primary class is organic. Practice in your class is represented by gaining xp. No trainers are required.
Taking time off to train is not an issue at this point in the story. Time may become more compressed later.
If your background supports the addition of a skill, then yes you can go from unskilled to skilled. Again it is assumed that you spent time fiddling around in the off time figuring out the basics.
Thoughts, concerns, confusion?
Zeta: perfect. Just a few minor questions about skills before I launch into my post.
What profession(s) would be needed to make casks and stills for distilling and brewing alcoholic beverages?
I'm planning on adding a skill point to profession: Brewer, but realize that Yergie won't have access to the materials to start brewing easily.
As a protege of Torag, though, she respects and participates in crafting (her morning prayers should be at an anvil if possible). Her dwarven mentors could have taught her both brewing and blacksmithing as part of her years with them. What I'd like for her to do is to take skills in the profession/crafting that would help her set up her own brewery/distillery.
She'll have 4 skill points this level (2 for paladin, 1 for human, 1 for favored class)- so I was thinking:
1 pt in Profession: Brewer
1 pt in Profession: Blacksmith (assuming she could do work as a cooper - if she has to take cooper(ing) as a profession instead, she will. I figure casks are pretty easy to come by- it's the actual boilers and tubing that will take some skill to make).
1 pt in craft: alchemy (in order to find new chemical combination to use in brewing. Is there a synergy between brewing and alchemy?)
If I need blacksmith and cooper, I'll take a profession rank in both, otherwise #4 will go to diplomacy.
Rolling for hp.
I am going to look over my sheet and see if i need the health point or skill point at level.
Are we splitting the cash in fifths or are pooling resources at this point and going with who needs what most and filtering down from there?
Wiz 2
hp
better than my fighter who rolls 3s, i guess :P
updated.
i'm cool with pooling $ at the lower levels. we still need to ID some of the magic though.
Quillin will just add read magic in the AM to finish out the scrolls.
Per your question:
ranger 2
taking archery combat style and rapid shot as the feat.
Duh duh duh
Paladin 2
Major changes:
Attack bonus +2
Divine grace = Saves: +5/3 /7
Lay on hands (2/2 +2 = 3) 1d6
dang I just realised I forgot to add in my extra skill point for being human facepalm. I think I will work on climbing some. I should have 14 total skill points.
dang I just realised I forgot to add in my extra skill point for being human facepalm. I think I will work on climbing some. I should have 14 total skill points.
That's ok- I forgot my favored class +1 skill point for level 1.
Is it ok if I retroactively add it, Zeta?
With a weak hp roll like that I might just put my fav class points in hp Yergie, unless you really had a skill you wanted to boost.
Yergenflorn-go right ahead and add your skill point.
I think I might work on the dynamic that Mat and Seamus have going over the morality of Seamus' uncommon,for a halfling, blood lust and Mat's disdain for unnecessary killing. I think the conversation they had about Seamus being a conduit of Pharasma's will could lead to a dip into Inquisitor. What do you guys think? I kind of like this as a way for some increased depth from a story development standpoint. Should I do this now if we like this idea or wait till later? I think between Mat and Walter acting as mentors, Seamus could concievably learn the skills of an Inquisitor.
By provisioner, I meant "he or she who orders/manages stores/and distributes goods." - In this case the cooks are excellent for my purposes.
Should I, perhaps, attempt a diplomacy check to smooth over the head cook's annoyance?
(and to echo the others, I'm having a ball- thanks Zeta and the others for being awesome).
I will be adding a level in Cleric:
Favored Class +1 hit point
hp
BAB +1
Fort +1
Will +1
0 level spells +1
1 level spells +1
Skills (Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge-religion, Sense Motive)
I will up date my profile after work when I have access to my stuff. I will be changing some spells around and adding a couple of new ones.
Sorry about the late post, paizo was down after work yesterday.
I don't think you need to worry about the cook Yergenflorn, you wouldn't be the first to be chased out of the kitchen!
Seamus: Inquisitor sounds like a good goal to work toward. As a choice, the class isn't bad. I won't tell you how to run your character, but point out that you currently fulfill one of the critical adventuring roles. Please consider how any changes might impact the party's ability to survive when you plan your changes.
I like the rogue role and after thinking it about over the last couple of days decided to keep trucking on down that path. I have added a level of rogue and chose Combat Trick-Two Weapon Fighting, for the rogue talent. I will have the character sheet updated soon.
The perils of writing after being up for 20 hours.
Scrolls:
Scroll of invisibility purge (CLR3)
Scroll of true strike (Wiz 1)
Scroll of Summon Monster 2 (Wiz2)
So I am on the road for the next couple of days. I flew from Hawaii to Denver in the last 12 hours, and I am getting on a plane to Tampa in 3 hours. I will be in Tampa moving things for a day and then back to Denver for my brother-in-law's wedding. Then back to hawaii on the 3rd.
So I will try to post, but I can't make promises.
Quillin, for your special inks, I am not going to bother you about them for the moment. Just subtract the moolah. We can start tracking your ink supplies when you get to town.
Thanks, ZetaG. Safe travels and I hope you can catch a little rest.