It doesn't help that this adventure was actually where Haunts were first introduced if I remember correctly. So not only are they still kind of 'wait, what?' but they were particularly experimental.
I'm running Carrion Crown online & we are still early in Haunting of Harrowstone so I am getting better acquainted with Haunt mechanics myself.
Edit: I have updated Ysme's Character sheet. Took Diseased for my second Mercy so I can attempt to cure disease with my LoH as well now.
Second edit: If we wanted to improve our Tabards, would that fall into the Magic Item creation/Walmart category?
Aaaand Betheda is now updated as well.
I see how you two are. Always showing me up...
;P
edit: Ysme will be teaching Betheda the serve trick with everyone in the party (plus Eli's wife if he lets her, possibly Shaylis as well) As time goes by. This will allow for her to then teach Betheda the Get Help trick, using any one of the people she has designated as a served.
It also allows me to use up some of that ungodly number of tricks Betheda can learn...
I am impressed with both the content and the speed with which you wrote that. =)
Thanks, I'm pretty good when I get on a roll.
If we get any more visits by the spirits, expect to see that fort described again in greater detail.
It reminds me of a fort I've heard of...
Which one would that be?
Someplace off to the East perhaps?
No, really, I'm clueless here.
It was just a "point of reference" for me while reading Ventus' dream; the descriptions were vivid enough to remind me of a fort I've heard described before.
Oh, I thought I had inadvertently mirrored an existing IP or something. That would have annoyed me as I am rather proud of my descriptions.
Heh, you guys all did great.
I'll get an update up in a bit. LFRing right now.
Oops, sorry Ventus. :)
Pirknok is all leveled up. I really need to get him a better AC.
I'll get to leveling Eli in a minute.
On Haunts: I ran Haunting of Harrowstone for my home group and I have to say it is one of my favourite adventures ever. Such great atmosphere!
When I was DMing it, I ruled that any source of Positive Energy can hurt the haunts. In that I included Channeling, the Haunt Siphons oc course, Cure Spells, Disrupt Undead, and even Cure potions that they could throw as grenadelike weapons.
Jessamy's half-leveled. I need to pick a talent and skills.
I like that idea, Eli. I think my other problem with haunts is I don't really see any way for the PCs to know how to put the haunt to rest most of the time. I think they came up with a wondrous item to do it in Hallowstone (maybe?), but I've ruled that speak with dead works.
Oh, and I think the haunting glass should be canon...
I also included some knowledge checks to identify the sources of the Haunts. There was a thread about it on the Paizo boards in the Carrion Crown section. I think that with the appropriate research players should be able to discover their sources. A magic item, Speak With Dead (though you need an intact corpse to speak with), and Divination (the spell) are all good methods.
Oh, and leveled up. Did we get any loot at all?
No, I was planning on going back today and having a good look at the building.
Dorfy will come with you if you'd like. He's got 17 hp now, so nothing can hurt him!
I will smack both of you! Don't think I won't...
We can go search the rubble of Foxglove Manor tomorrow!
Why put off until tomorrow what you have plenty of HP to do today?
We can waste our renewable resources for the day and hold off until tomorrow if need be.
Also, Feral, would you be opposed to me bringing in the Downtime rules? I've started using them in a Curse of the Crimson Throne PBP I'm involved in and found them to be nice for filling an adventurer's days off.
I wouldn't mind taking a look.
They are a great way to represent how a group of adventurers can become invested in a community and start influencing things. Sandpoint's size will keep things from getting too out of hand but they are nice for encourage people to play 'professionals' as opposed to 'wandering murder hobos'.
I’ll take a look if you link it to me. I’d prefer to montage these sorts of spans of time and not spend too much energy on stuff that’s supposed to be ‘downtime’.
If it’s streamlined enough I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.
If he's talking about the downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign, it's in the PRD now.
Gimme linky.
Wait, I thought Eli was from Korvosa. Or was that just Adventus?
Added Resiliency as a talent.
Skills: +1 to Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Escape Artist, Perception, Disable Device, Sense Motive, Stealth, UMD; +2 to Know (local)
P.S. I think I'm waiting for Zstelian down in the Isle of Dread, Feral...
Just FYI, I expect to be away Sunday and Monday.
Unacceptable!
You're just losing interest and don't want to tell us, aren't you?
Yup. Has nothing to do a trip up to my girlfriend's family's cabin, which doesn't even have electricity, much less cable or Internet. (Seriously, it's powered by generators.)
EDIT: I mean, no, that's not it at all.
Err... I may not be the brightest dwarf in the world, but what do the generators... generate?
Sorry, it does have electricity, but only because of the generators. It's not hooked up to the electric grid. : )
Ha! I knew it...
Wait, does this mean we basically own the Misgivings now?..
Up post... squee! Ysme gets to Marry someone! Woo Hoo! Interestingly enough, Paizo actually published a Cleric 1 spell that covers this, among other things.
Ceremony, unfortunately it is in the Player's Companion line so I don't have a link to it, it is also only a Cleric 1 spell, (since it also requires the caster to have access to Domains for full utility). Fortunately it is completely unnecessary for RP purposes. I will have a gameplay post up later. Really tired & busy this weekend starting tonight but this is really something I would like to have Ysme do. Amusingly enough, re-reading the Ceremony spell got me thinking that Ysme is going to want to Marry Adventus & Shayliss one day...
edit: Do I need to re-roll those things I posted about earlier?
No, it's the property of Sandpoint currently. You have the option to invest in one of these parties to help them rehabilitate it. Alternatively, you can do nothing, let it get bulldozed, and just hold on to all the money.
Ah, that makes rather more sense.
edit: Of course, a place outside of Sanpoint would allow Ysme to have Betheda stay closer without the citizens getting quite so nervous.
Link to the Ceremony spell for those who don't have Quests & Campaigns, which surprisingly enough turned out to b e a lot more useful than I thought it was going to be, made me glad I didn't hold my subscription for that one.
Of course, getting the most use out of it mechanically requires using the Downtime mechanics I think Adventus was talking about.
edit: Pirknok, if you read this in time you might want to go back & re-edit your post.
I don't think we're going to be using the downtime mechanics. They seem overly complex and detailed for what I'd prefer to just be narrative.
What 'things' were you referring to Ysme?
Ysme is actually still of the mind that the best thing to be done is to have the site leveled, but she will not strongly oppose other options.
DM Feral, what are the affianced names? Ysme will want to interview any prospective couples & get a feel for if they are both sincere & a good, lasting match. Mechanically, this will entail Sense Motive checks & checks to gather information, probably more than one each.
She won't object to marrying couples who don't seem as though they will last, but she will point out that her Goddess has no objections to temporary unions so long as the partners are sincere in their feelings for each other.
edit: Doh! I finally realized you were responding to my inquires...
Ysme wasn't so much looking for powerful Paladins of Shelyn as any other Paladins in Sandpoint. If they happened to worship Shelyn even better. Likewise, she isn't concerned so much with Powerful worshipers of Shelyn as any who specifically worship Shelyn primarily. In both cases she is mainly looking for others of like mind she can spend time with. Pirknok has the Shoanti, Eli has Marysin, Adventus has Shayliss & other guardsmen and probably other Rangers. Ysme has in fact traveled farther to get here than any of the others & is mostly just looking for her 'own', besides the Party.
Otherwise, I know that 'as written' there is supposed to be a gay couple in Sandpoint, one of whom is in fact a Paladin & even if as is likely she has out-leveled him, he is probably older & more experienced in terms of relationships & it would be nice for her to have an actual 'I've been where you are now before kid & it does get better' kind of mentor.
@DM Feral: My rolls to gather information. Am I correct in guessing there Either are no Druids in the Sandpoint area or if there are they keep themselves better hidden than a 20 on a gather information check can find?
I'm not terribly interested in Sandpoint as written and I'd prefer you not use that kind of language.
As for your other questions, Ysme hears of plenty of lay worshipers and priest of Shelyn but no other *PC Classes* of the Eternal Rose. Ysme could certainly find a druid living within Sandpoint. What does she want to find one for?
In general, I'd prefer you not refer to people as their classes. That's a very meta-gamey approach that I have a hard time building a story around. It's a lot easier if you tell me what you're trying to accomplish and not ask for the things to get you there (largely because I can't read your mind).
Perhaps Ysme has fewer NPC connections that the rest of the party has. Part of that is on my end and part of that is on yours. Ysme is a monster. She's recognized as a hero by this point but people still aren't flocking to befriend her. If she is making a point to get out and mingle, say so and I can work with that.
I've been fuming for the past few days and I feel like something needs to be said before we move on (also, I'm waiting on some sort of consensus in the current gameplay thread).
I consider myself pretty well versed on Pathfinder and 3.5 in general. That said, I have no delusions about being incapable of making mistakes and you're all welcomed to post in discussion, PM me, or otherwise call me out in regards to mechanical errors. I have no problem with sort of thing.
I do have a problem with players telling me how the story or setting should be. I will be the sole source of what is canon and what is not in this game and I will use the source material (Rise of the Runelords by Paizo!) when I feel it's appropriate. I will decide if the Foxglove antagonist is a man or a woman; I will decide if Tsuto is a sexual sadist or just a common thug; And I will decide how many and who is homosexual in Sandpoint (as well as everywhere else).
Do not - ever - think it appropriate to point out what/who should/should not be here/there, ever. Period.
If you want something for your character's development, say it. Don't perform some sort of metagame scavenger hunt. I've tried to give everyone RP-related hooks connecting with their backgrounds and I think I've done a pretty damned good job. If you'd like more be specific.
I'm going to the gym now. When I get back I'd like to be able to move along.
Interestingly enough, I've also been contemplating for the last few days.
Friday night I will admit to some fuming but I put it down to being tired & low blood sugar, which is why I didn't make an inflammatory post then.
Saturday, I had work & I had calmed down enough that I was of a mind to simply keep playing with the intent that more 'play' might smooth matters over. I was attempting to find a way of apologizing for unintentionally implying that 'as written' was somehow superior to 'imagined whole cloth' (For the record, I don't consider it to be superior, I was simply interested in what Ysme's story might become if she had characters in it like the two described).
Today, well, today was Sunday & I figured that as we are all adults, we had lives that required attending to.
Then I read your post Feral & realized that you have made three posts in a row complaining about how I don't fit your narrative.
So I'm making this easier for you, you need not 'contort' your narrative for Ysme's benefit any longer.
I didn't receive any PM's from you either.
I didn't say I was going to send out any PMs. Did I forget something?
In any case, best of luck in your future gaming. Thanks for your time and I hope you had fun while the times were good.
With that business done, I feel it's important I touch base with everyone and see how we're doing. Everyone was noticeably silent during the past few days in this thread and I don't blame you, that was probably pretty awkward. =P
Is everyone still having fun? I'd like to make sure nobody is feeling left out as apparently Ysme was feeling. We're about midway through this book but the second half will likely be quicker.