GM Debug's PbP Gameday 6: PFS-RPG 08-99A The Solstice Scar

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Everyone please read my alias page for a rough idea of what to expect from me as your GM. I'll start doing quick character checks in a few days when I get back home from where I am right now which is not home.

[Kaa.]

Character Name: Kaa (AKA Amazing Red)
Character Level: Ectoplasmatist 6/Oracle 1 = 7
PFS #: 20056-19
Faction: Dark Archive
Dayjob: None

[Gerald]

Dotting in. I'll get your info up later today, GM!!

[Chak Yuen Chen]

Character Name: Chak
Player Name: Michael Hallet
Character Level: Slayer 8
PFS #: 2608-11
Faction: Grand Lodge
Dayjob: Profession (scribe): 10 + 9 + 1 = 20

Chak has the ability to use scrolls fairly consistently via his Esoteric Linguistics feat (+22 Linguistics vs 20 + caster level). He can use scrolls of up to level 4 currently.

I have 7000 gp to spend and a few ideas for how to spend some of it, but I'm open to suggestions.

• Add spell storing to my armor and grab some scrolls of frigid touch to charge it with. A no save staggered effect is good for disrupting full attacks.
  
• Buy a headband of Wisdom +2, allowing me to use cleric scrolls up to 6th level (though the DC of the check gets harder). This would allow me to pick up some emergency scrolls like breath of life or heal.

[Redelia]

I signed up with a sorcerer 7, but if the party is mostly a bit squishy or has no healers, I have a paladin 9 I could play.

[Jaysin Deckert]

I believe I signed up with this fella. He's an archer so if we do not have a frontliner that might be interesting.

PFS # 79644-7
Faction : Sovereign Court
Craft Bows Day Job: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

[Gerald]

Honestly, I don't remember who I signed up with! I have both a melee brawler (level 8), and a witch (level 8) who seem well suited for this game.

I'm fine with either once we figure out who would be needed more.

[Chak Yuen Chen]

Chak is a frontliner and it looks like Kaa is also.

Chak's AC starts low, but he usually charges his spell storing ioun stone with a scroll of shield and activates it during the first round of combat which gives him a 23 AC.

Chak can heal with scrolls, but that's about it.

Chak also has trapfinding and trap spotter, so he likes to stay near the front, but doesn't have to be at the front.

[Gerald]

Sounds like my witch would be better suited for us then. I'll get everything up tonight.

[Kaa.]

Yea, Kaa is a frontliner. He can also be a backup healer as well. Kaa is best in the 2nd rank since he has reach.

Eyes of the Eagle would be a good purchase for Chak. The headband of wisdom would also be good for the reasons mentioned plus your poor will save will get some help.

[Jezabel P. Skythe]

Character Name: Jezabel P. Skythe
Player Name: Greg Rebelo
Character Level: Gunslinger (Pistolero) 8
PFS #: 43451-8
Faction: Liberty's Edge
Dayjob: Caravan (Bluff): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

I too have cash to spend, and thus would like to upgrade my belt of dex from a +2 to a +4.

[Redelia]

party so far:
melee fighters: Kaa, Chak
ranged fighters: Jezabel, Jaysin
magic: Gerald's witch

and I have mentioned that I have either a sorcerer(7) or a paladin(9) I can bring. We have no cleric, so the paladin's mercies (Diseased, Frightened, Shaken) might be helpful. I would be very happy playing either, they're both a lot of fun.

[Redelia]

I should have made it more clear in my last post that I am soliciting input as to which character would be better.

[Tessara Omelion PFS]

] Character Name: Tessara Omelion PFS
Player Name: Gerald
Character Level: Witch 8
PFS #: 12445-6
Faction: Grand Lodge
Dayjob: Craft Alchemy 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27

[Kaa.]

I think the paladin.

[Tessara Omelion PFS]

I think either one would be fine. If you want to play the paladin, I'll memorize a few more arcane spells and if you play the sorcerer, I'll load up on divine type spells to go along with my healing hex.

[Redelia]

GM, I don't know if you have the scenario yet, but I always like to check if a particular scenario makes a paladin unadvisable because of alignment issues.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Alright, I'm back home!

@Redelia: There are always easy answers and hard answers to every problem and Paladins will frequently find themselves having to do things the hard way. That being said I am not certainly not one to make paladin traps so long as the paladin isn't busy making Dark Archive traps. I don't think I've ever seen an alignment based problem that wasn't wholly perpetrated by the party. Pathfinders have to work together and making a character that may be incapable of doing that is ill-advised.

@Jezebel: Go for it. You may need to book-keep some extra money for ice cream though.

@Chak: A few scrolls of Owl's Wisdom certainly work for most situations, although for the case of Breath of Life a headband may be a better solution. With regards to the linguistics feats, the last time I ran a scenario with a similar character the rule of thumb was that linguistics can't be used for gather information, bluff to send secret messages, or diplomacy to make requests. Since the DC to make a request of a helpful NPC is usually in the 0-5 range, I'll generally assume a 'take 10 to pass' follows it up. I'll specify when I ask for a check if the use falls under one of those excluded types. If I don't specify, assume linguistics is acceptable. If on your own you attempt a linguistics check to do something that I think it should not apply to, I will never have it backfire, so don't worry about me changing your +22 bonus to a -1 on a whim and then saying you failed by 10, the NPC attempts to remove your kidneys now.

I'll hopefully get some time to look over all of your characters this weekend and make sure I don't have questions.

[Hania_]

Here's my paladin. I will plan to play her, if everyone in the party is OK with the usually minor complication that causes. Hania is willing to sometimes remain quiet while others lie for a good reason, and on rare occasions turn her back for a moment, so she shouldn't make terrible problems, as long as we work together.

[Hania_]

Character Name: Hania
Player Name: Redelia
Character Level: Paladin 9 (Shelyn)
PFS #: 184425-1
Faction: Silver Crusade
Dayjob: Perform(Sing): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

[Chak Yuen Chen]

Correct, Orator does not replace all the aspects of the social skills.

As for item purchases, since we have some in combat healing and I'm assuming out of combat healing as well, I'll most likely make the following purchases (if I change my mind, I'll let you know before we start):

Upgrade cloak of Resistance to +2 for 3000 gp
Upgrade armor (spell storing) for 3000 gp
6 scrolls of frigid touch for 900 gp
Wand of cure light wounds (2 prestige)

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Last time I saw Hania in action she was level 1... City of Strangers... such a lovely place.

[Hania_]

The first part was my first ever PFS scenario (as a player, I mean).

How is Searlas, by the way?

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Not dead yet! He's level 5, signed up for a GD6 game. He has a familiar now. It's an imaginary bird. He's also still a confused coward.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

So far Jaysin doesn't look much different than when I last saw him.

Jezebel seems to have picked up a horacalcum pistol since I last saw her, which makes sense since the last time I saw her was in the scenario that lets you buy something made of horacalcum.

Jaysin, Jezebel, Hania, and Chak - I've done a cursory review of your characters and they seem fairly straightforward.

I'll hopefully get some time to review Kaa and Tess in the next couple days.

[Hania_]

You should be aware that Hania uses the spell Paladin's Sacrifice. I don't know if you want to pause when a time comes up that she might use it, or retcon the story you tell. It just seems silly to have a story told of a character dying, and then 'oh, never mind, that didn't happen.'

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Special starts in 5 days...

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Go ahead an introduce yourselves in the Gameplay thread. At the moment you are all together, deep into a several day training event at the Grand Lodge.

Also, do any of you have the Restful Pathfinder's Lounge vanity?

[Jezabel P. Skythe]

Nope.

[Kaa.]

Nope

[Hania_]

Everyone should be aware of how Hania's paladin auras work. She is immune to fear effects and charm spells and spell-like abilities. Anyone within 30 feet of her gets a bous (+4 or +5) to their saves against these same things.

She is immune to disease, and her lay on hands can remove diseased, frightened, and shaken from others.

She also can turn into a combat monster for a few fights every day.

[Tessara Omelion PFS]

I can access the maps, but since I post on the phone pretty much exclusively, I'm not good at editing them. If it's okay, I'll call out my movement and see if someone can help me out with it.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

And we're off!

If anyone has any reactions that they would like to predeclare, post them in this thread in a format like this:

The first time each round any ally is grappled, I'll use Liberating Command on them.

Or...

If an ally has less than X hit points and suffers damage while I have greater than Y hit points remaining, I'll use Paladin's Sacrifice .

Or...

If a foe provokes an AoO I'll always take the attack and use Power Attack +X to attack with Chainsaw for 3d6+42 damage

If a foe provokes an AoO I'll generally tag it onto the next rounds actions unless it really messes with the narrative, in which case I'll hold things up a bit until its resolved, but if you have any general rules that will speed things up I'll gladly keep that in mind.

[Kaa.]

I have feather fall, which I will use if someone falls more than 10 feet or if the fall would drop someone to negatives.

[Hania_]

I can't give you definite rules about paladin's sacrifice, but I can tell you that I'm likely to use it if I have at least half health and someone squishy or already injured is hit with a critical hit or a hit by an enemy that looks like it can do a lot of damage.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Busy weekend, hopefully be able to keep a pace of 3-4 updates on my end daily for the rest of the week. Next weekend will be extra busy for me.

On the upside, ran Starfinder for the first time this weekend!

[Hania_]

I don't think I'm going to be much help against the swarm. Spellcraft at +4 is the only thing I can do that could possibly hurt the swarm. I'll try to soak up damage for you guys and heal you if things get bad. Otherwise, I'll fish for really high rolls with spellcraft.

[Jezabel P. Skythe]

Fishing is good! It's better than doing nothing!

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

You can also use Aid Another if you wish. From the results you've already seen you can definitely discern how difficult it is, although it is possible for you to roll a success. On the flip side, it is impossible for Chak not to get at least 1 success unless he wishes to attempt the check blind, on his head, and with one claw tied behind his back.

If however you do catch a fish in the rune swarm, I suggest you throw it back. It is not likely edible.

[Hania_]

I don't think any of the others are using spellcraft, and that's the only skill on the list Hania has ranks in, and I don't think any of the others are usable untrained. She's mostly waiting, but fishing for very high rolls seemed better than just doing nothing.

[GM Granta]

If you would like to know the status of our special as a whole, there is a tracker here. Other than the active/inactive markers, it self-updates every time the document is loaded, so the information is always current and accurate.

Reaching one of the milestones in an active row will trigger some sort of event for all the tables.

[Hania_]

GM, when you prepare chronicles, could you please also do a Welcome to Pathfinder for Hania? She's my -01 and never got that boon, and there are recent rulings that an -01 character can get one at any level.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

I don't think you need a GM to fill that one out. I think you can just print it and assign it.

If I'm wrong about that... well... just say it's my fault and I authorized it...

Also, Chak... a member of my local group (the guy who played Sielan in the last special) plays a Tengu Investigator with the same feat chain you have. I can't help but laugh out loud any time I get to a linguistics check in a scenario with DC in the low to mid 20s.

[Chak Yuen Chen]

The Man Behind the Curtain wrote:

Also, Chak... a member of my local group (the guy who played Sielan in the last special) plays a Tengu Investigator with the same feat chain you have. I can't help but laugh out loud any time I get to a linguistics check in a scenario with DC in the low to mid 20s.

I'm still mulling over whether I will take Xenoglossy as his 9th level feat.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

He did not. It's kind of an odd feat since with that many ranks in linguistics you'll know an awful lot of languages. Of course in his case, he's an Investigator, so an extract of comprehend languages or tongues will work in a pinch.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

I'll be at a local convention Saturday and Sunday (Strategicon if any of you are SoCal residents) and my update rate will be a bit spotty. I'll make sure to get at least 1 update per day, and I may call in a backup GM depending on progress. However, given that it's Labor Day weekend in the US are any of you going to be out as well?

[Tessara Omelion PFS]

I'll be slow posting as well, enjoying the holiday. L

[Hania_]

I'll be able to post as normal, but I wouldn't mind things being slow, either.

[Chak Yuen Chen]

I will be away on Saturday.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Alright, getting back into the swing of things. If you don't mind I'm going to railroad you just a bit more so you get you guys the full experience. I don't expect you to necessarily finish this next encounter before moving forward but I figure you'd enjoy the description and experience.