Wotcher. Everyone, say hello to each other and get started on your sheets. I'm on my mobile for a while so will explain the background you should know later.
Right, so, I should explain things.
A year ago, I started running Pathfinder for some people where I live. They were predominantly newbies, and I wrote a quick starting adventure; mayor's son taken by goblins to their hilltop fortress, go through forest and get him back. Along the way, the party came across a badger den. One of the party was a gnome with Speak with Animals, and had a quick word with them; they complained about the goblins, party avoided combat and proceeded on their way. Later on they met a camp of bandits who attacked the party. Captured one and killed the rest. On a whim, they walekd the survivor back to the badgers saying there were healing herbs there, knocked her out and threw her atop the badger den to be eaten, as a sacrifice to the 'Badger Lords' of their imagining.
Them being newbies and it being their first game, I decided not to require any immediate alignment changes, instead waiting for their behaviour further on. Also attempting to be a good GM, I decided to create a Badger-Lord plot. This bit you've heard before; they each received a letter from a burly man with black-and-white hair. The letter said that the Badger Lord saw their sacrifice and would be willing to accept their service and would give them small rewards.
Now, it should be noted that the group I was running it for was quite large; indeed I ran the starting adventure twice, once for the 'badger party' and once for the rest. From this point, we ran PFS scenarios, with the faction missions replaced with a small badger side mission of my own creation; steal this object, kill these people, and so on. In return for successfully completing each mission the party would receive a potion giving them the Ferocity ability for each mission. The side missions tended to waver in alignment between CN and CE, and in the PFS missions the PCs tended to be a little CG/NG in how they dealt with the problems.
After awhile, I decided I wanted to try writing missions, and so I came up with the occasional special badger party-only mission to advance the badger meta-plot. This is the first of those missions. With my having explained the above, you shouldn't be missing any information the party had when going through this adventure.
I hope this full explanation helps you all understand a bit more about this mission, why I made it, etc.
If you have questions about my homebrew classes let me know, I can explain a bit more about how I imagined them built, that sort of thing.
Interesting. One thing I love about RPGs is how somewhat 'minor' things like that can spiral into a larger story. Is our party the same, meaning: that we didn't know the Badger Lords were actually a thing until we started getting notes?
Hmm; I suppose we could run it differently. At the moment, my story fits/requires that the party had not heard of the Badger Lords before they did that deed. Not sure what variations would fit, could you think of any?
Also, quick note. Badger LordS when sacrificing on a whim, Badger LorD on the note.
Introducing Simeon Cobblethatch. DM, what's our starting GP?
And I agree with CCCXLII - kudos for taking something random and turning it into something memorable and awesome. I think it's fine to incorporate the randomness of the sacrifice into our own group's history. It's part of the craziness of the whole setup that appealed to me.
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Stats are lifted from another alias; gotta update that. Gonna change her appearance slightly from what I originally stated - more like this cool avatar.
DM said standard WBL (3k gp at level 3). That is a really fun origin from your previous campaign. I think the mysterious start works best for us as well. I personally don't know anything about Badger Lords, so it's easier for me to just go with that & develop thoughts on the matter as we play & more info is revealed.
Finally here! Honestly, the origin story reminds me of the classic stories, like Eric and the Gazebo.
Hames Theothelm ready.
Hames, no armor? Would appreciate Mystic Bond somewhere on your sheet. And I think you're missing your bonus spells from having high WIS.
Sheet's ready, I hope. Couldn't find a picture of a male half-elf that I liked, so I was forced to pick the manliest-looking female one. :P Let's just say that his elf-genes ended up being slightly more prominent.
Seems legit. Do me a favor and add your background and Mystic Spellsage choice somewhere on the sheet. Did you factor in the diminished spellcasting?
Added Mystic Bond under special qualities (SQ)—I knew I was forgetting something. He normally would get bonus spells; one additional spell for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; but under the Mystic Sage's Domain ability, "a Mystic Sage’s skill with domains comes to the detriment to their spellcasting; they can cast one less spell per day of each level (excluding orisons)."
As for armor I suppose I can add Padded, which will bring me to about 5 lbs under my light load limit. Hame's main defense is using Snake Style, a feat that allows him to use a Sense Motive check as his AC or Touch AC as an Immediate action against an attack (speaking of which, I forgot to add the Sense Motive bonus from that feat. Fixed, now +12). It takes a round to setup, as it requires a Swift Action to start using Snake Style, but once it's active even a Natural 1 will give him 13 AC. Now of course, this only works once per round, but still... Haha, as long as the rest of the party is keeping the heat off him.
Added background and Mystic Spellsage choice. And yes, the diminished spellcasting is factored in, it and Mystc Spellsage pretty much cancel each one out.
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Mostly done. Gotta get gear together, do backstory/appearance writeups & list the Battle Dance & Swashbuckler Deeds (that's just copy/paste & formatting though).
Anyone have suggestions for ways to do anything better? I debated between Iron Will & Combat Reflexes & went with the will bonus - good call? I also took the Savant trait for +2 Perform (dance), as Gabby will be using that to do a lot of acrobatic tumbling - but if anyone knows of a better trait for swashbuckler/dervish synergy I'd be glad to hear it.
Thank you for clarifying the wording for Battle Dance GM Arkwright :)
Right now favored class is Swashbuckler for +1HP. That may change; I need to look over the two classes more closely to see which I prefer. They offer many similar benefits, with some nice synergy, but Swashbuckler seems a bit more favorable for straight up combat abilities (Imp crit at lvl 5, instead of Dawn Dancer's level 10 for instance). Gotta look at it for favored class & future level planning.
Edit: My damage is gonna be kinda low until I can get an agility weapon - any suggestions on improving damage output?
Erm Dieuwer, I'd note that Spellsage only adds spells to your class spell list, not to your mental 'spellbook'.
Gabriella, usually worth grabbing Piranha Strike. And doesn't Dervish Dance make your scimitar already an 'agility' weapon?
Oops, you're right. Should have read it more carefully. Fixed it now.
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Gotta add equipment & fluff, otherwise everything should be good to go.
I linked to your Dawn Dancer archetype at the top of the page, & just copied the regular bardic performance info into a spoiler (I'm lazy). Gabby's stats should reflect the appropriate overlap of the two.
Took Piranha Strike instead of Iron Will, thank you. Dervish Dance makes the scimitar a finesse weapon to use Dex for attack bonus, but I was referring to the agile weapon property, which then allows you to use Dex for damage with a finesse weapon.
With Piranha Strike & Battle Dance I'll be good on damage for now, with the agile weapon being a nice boost whenever it becomes available.
I also put +2 HP for Bard favored class. My next 2 levels will be Swashbuckler, to get the 3rd level Deeds & some other abilities, then it'll be straight bard for a while. I might take 5 levels of Swashbuckler total - I realized Inspire Heroics is a level 15 performance (I want that, if we make it that far).
Benefit: When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls.
Just noting that I'm lurking and excited to get started. Looks like an interesting group too - going to be fun figuring out the dynamics.
Looks like everyone's ready, can I have confirmation?
Ready!
Yeah, pretty much ready. :)
Just one small thing: You wrote in the recruitment thread that we should have "Max HD at first level, half rounded up therafter". Would you perhaps have meant "average" instead of "half", since all the hit dice are even numbers and thus would not need to be rounded up?
Just asking because some of us seem to have done it one way and some the other. :D
Yep I meant average rounded up. Well spotted.
Haha. Fixed Hames, bring him to 24 HP max
You should take a second look at his stats as well, they seem to be only a 15 point buy. :P
Well, I think we're ready enough to begin. I'll start us soon. Apply sheet finishing touches as soon as possible please.
You should take a second look at his stats as well, they seem to be only a 15 point buy. :P
Ah, you're right! oOo Heheh, perhaps I should admit that it's been a while since I played Pathfinder. I put those 5 extra points into Dex and Str. Added a Sling too!
EDIT: And changed my armor to QuiltedORIGINAL STAT ARRAY - Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10 (comes out to 20, but it should be over twenty with racial adjustments)
NEW STAT ARRAY - Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10
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Can I make Gabby an Azata-Blooded (Musetouched) Aasimar with the Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait?
Edit: I just looked at Aasimars for the first time. They don't have the ability score penalty of Tieflings, and there's no feat tax for the variant heritages (Tieflings need to take Fiendish Heritage to choose an alternate heritage).
Have to drop Piranha Strike; add +2 Dex; Aasimar resitances; Glitterdust spell-like ability; +2 Perform & Diplomacy; drop 3 skill points & add Outsider (native) type. Obviously adjust skills, AB, AC, etc with those changes, but not re-hauling the sheet or anything.
The same character, but more powerful (flashier, more nimble, & resistant) and leaning a bit further towards Good in her CN alignment.
Please :)
If you like, just make sure you justify it in background.
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Thank you! Changes made to sheet & backstory/personality. I daresay it actually gives the character a bit more life in her low-willed struggle to have fun & be good at the same time.
Edit: I currently have the Musetouched skill bonus applied to all Perform skills, as the info on the Aasimar page doesn't specify a single Perform skill or say anything about choosing one Perform skill to apply it to. I can have it apply to just dance, though, if +2 to all Perform is too much (or apply it to whichever perform skill you want if not dance).
We do have a nice collection of oddly dissimilar & eclectic characters in our group :)
Yep just pick one perform skill.
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I'm gonna wait for folks before doing more stuff. Renald has to check in from our jump to Cheliax yet.
Just to note, I have Gabriela in the Liberty's Edge faction of the Pathfinder Society, given our group's membership there. She's not as direct about the faction's goal of eradicating slavery as many other faction members (she's considerably more concerned with our group here), but she does stand behind the principle, and will support that mission as strongly as she does anything else when the situation calls for it.
That said, Gabriela is impulsive, but not stupid, so she won't be immediately hostile toward the callous Hellknight, but her fine traveling companions here would know that the passionate Dawn Dancer will have a hard time restraining herself, so if anybody's got the urge to step in, now is certainly not a bad time :)
Ooh interesting, Gabriela. I second waiting for Renald :)
Sorry for the delay! I'll be able to post more frequently now.
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No worries - I'm pretty happy with our current pace overall myself.
Hmm.. looks like nobody has Disable Device, but we're pretty well loaded up on social skills. We do each have our few skills we excel at, but I don't think we have any trapfinding either. Between that & our differing alignments/world-views (Hame's law-abiding neutrality, Dieuwer's soft heart, Renald's subtle wickedness, Gabriela's do-gooding & Simeon's friendly stoicism) we do have an interesting party here.
Shouldn't have a problem talking/bullying our way through many encounters. Let's just hope the Badger Lord's man Mott doesn't send us to some trap-heavy dungeon.
So what next? No posts today D:
Simeon's proposition is on the table ;)
I'm just waiting on you fellows. Start a plan, roll init, whatever you want.
I'll defer to Gabriela for the choice of plan.
Current plans on the table:
- Invite Hellknight over to our camp for a prayer
- Imitate Asmodeans and ask Hellknight to step aside for an official chat
- Tell Hellknight we want to buy some halflings and ask him to come to our camp to talk business.
Simeon's good with whichever!
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Looks like we can agree on luring the Hellknight away to begin our plan, just to hash out how & what happens after.
Dieuwer has a good point about asking him to lead a prayer. Whether we do that or disguise a couple folks as priests we'll need to demonstrate some level of interest/understanding in the Church of Asmodeus. But, as I said IC, the priest gambit has a lot of parts where one failure could ruin the whole plan (disguise, knowledge, bluff).
A good bluff alone might work to bring him to our camp, but it could also never be enough given the nature of the request & our situation (maybe he won't leave the camp for the same reason he wouldn't let us hang around too close). Whereas a good enough priestly disguise & churchly reason to parlay is all but guaranteed to get some alone time (but is again harder to pull off).
I like Dieuwer's plan best. I think a good modification might be one person disguised as a guard, with the other disguised as a priest. Also, the addition of a bound, barely disguised Renald (just to make it look like he's not the same fella that just walked past with us). The "officials" can pull Ambrus away to personally deliver the Tiefling prisoner with instructions. Then those three gank him.
Gabriela doesn't know about Tieflings' status in Cheliax, though, and anyone could work as a disguised prisoner - Renald is already a Tiefling, though (bonus to the disguise?), who are also common enough slaves (more believable bluff?).
So, working through reactions; I think the party is set on Dieuwer's plan, or at least isn't fussed which one you go with. Have at it.
Sorry guys, I'm going to have to bow out of this game.
Bugger. Best of luck. I propose that everyone pretend that his character was never in it, since we're so early in.
Sorry to see you go, Renald.
Just wrote out a long post and lost it, so the super short version:
Simeon has the highest Bluff at +8, and can fall back on his Intimidate +11 if that doesn't work. I suggest Simeon and Dieuwer leads Ambrus to where Hames and Gabriela are hiding, then the four make short work of the Hellknight. Hames, can you think of a good spell that might help in the ambush? Command him to drop his sword just before we attack, maybe?
See you around, Al.
As for the plan:
I just realized that Disguise Self only works on the caster himself (Who would have guessed?), so Dieuwer might have to do the disguising and bluffing all by himself, since the +10 to disguise from the spell is rather essential for the plan to work. He's got only one point less Bluff than Simeon, so it shouldn't be too hard.
Going from the example DC's on the srd, taking 10 for a 15 would probably be enough for the Knowledge(Religion) check?
And Hames should totally prepare Silence if he can, that way we might be able to keep the rest of the enemies from even noticing there's a fight going on. :D
But yeah, I think we've got a fairly solid plan now? If everyone's ok with it, we're ready to go?