Miscellaneous stuff

[Anastasia]

Minor houserules update: The serenity feat now changes a paladin's spellcasting back to Wisdom. It's meant to make paladins fully Wisdom based, but the houserule that turns paladin casting to Charisma based doesn't mesh with that. Hence a new houserule.

[Anastasia]

Sheet audit ahead.

- CMD is wrong. Any non armor, shield or natural bonuses to AC apply. So that means a monk's AC bonuses apply. So you should add +6 more to that for a total of 24.

- Prayerful meditation replaces still mind, so remove the latter from your sheet.

- Note how far slow fall extends.

- You can't take improved natural attack at level 1. It requires BAB+4, so you can't take it at level 1.

- True believer isn't on the list of bonus feats for holy warrior. That being said, the feat is so paladin that it hurts, so I'd allow it.

- Run me through your skill points and how you have all of that sorted out real quick.

I'd suggest considering keeping paladin casting,b ut we discussed that and it's your call. I'd also suggest keeping turn undead, since serenity keys it to Wisdom. This includes daily uses for you, so it's not crippled thanks to your Charisma. Your call, though.

[Nephrite]

16 (4x4) skill points + 36 (9 (4 class, +1 int, +4 more from the house rule) x4) Skill points for a total of 52. I have 5 in 10 skills with 2 left over for Profession.

I believe I have fixed everything else and set my damage back correctly.

I'll talk to you tomorrow about my options for Turn Undead, since I'm not 100% sold on that ACF at all.

[Corwin]

Pathfinder skills don't get x4 at first level, so the math overall would be (class +int mod +4houserule) x5levels. Max cap is the level, which is 5.

[Nephrite]

Oh, I see, so then I have 45,  so let me fix that.

EDIT: Removed K:N and Profession so I have 9 skills at +5

[Anastasia]

Okay, sounds good then.

[Nephrite]

Changed Bracers of Armor +2 for Caduceus Bracers from MIC for 4k

[Anastasia]

Changed Bracers of Armor +2 for Caduceus Bracers from MIC for 4k

Duly noted.

[Anastasia]

Okay, this is in the event you recruit Helena. If you don't, this is irrelevant. Anyway, she focuses on using a single shield as a weapon and as a defense, so this is how I'm running it.

- Despite what shield bash says, using a single shield is a normal weapon and not an off-hand weapon.

- She'll be using a spiked shield. For the sake of enchantments, the shield counts as a shield and the spike counts as a separate weapon to enchant. In other words, the offensive and defensive enchantments don't mix and are maintained separately. Seems simplest.

[Corwin]

[21:49] <Annerose> Could the NPCs on the team be our level rather than a level behind?
[21:50] <Kotono> I guess. It doesn't matter much to me, I just do -1 to keep them a little weaker than y'all. Feel free to post about it in nagging and get a conversation going. If it floats for all of you, I'll catch them up at level up.

I think we're cool enough without an artificial handicap like that, and they'd feel more like teammates than followers. Thoughts?

[Ebiris]

Makes little difference to me, I'm good either way.

[Nephrite]

I'm fine with them being our level as well, unless there's some IC reason that they're still developing.

[Anastasia]

It's purely an OOC preference, not an IC one.

So one vote yay, one vote of no opinion and one vote more or less in favor. Okay then, they'll catch up at level up. Remind me then in case I forget.

[Anastasia]

This came up in PM, so I'll answer it here.

Q: How can you compare and determine who is more skilled with a weapon? Do you just compare to hit numbers and higher wins?

A: No, not quite. It's more complicated than this. Some numbers are counted and others aren't. This is how I determine it, should I need to determine it.

BAB + competence modifier to attack rolls + any bonuses to to-hit from weapon focus and related feats, assuming a relevant weapon is being used. BAB is your base skill in fighting. The higher this is, the more skill you have to work with. Competence bonus are exactly that, bonuses for being highly competent. Finally, weapon focus and the like are direct reflections of extra training and skill with a particular weapon.

It's possible to be more skilled than another and still have a lower to-hit number. That's fine - the other person might be blessed by supernatural luck, morale bolstered to the sky by a bard's performance or seem to fight with an almost precognitive understanding of combat. With D&D combat, skill isn't the only factor.

[Anastasia]

Some IRC discussion from last night, crossposted here for reference. Some editing of unrelated chatter in the middle of it has been excised.

The afterlife of dragonborn and true dragons who serve Bahamut

* Merc has a moment of silence for poor Andrea.
* Kotono lights a candle.
> I like to imagine Andrea is a happy little lantern archon now.
<Merc> probably.
<Merc> Actually, no, she was chaotic good.
<Merc> So she wouldn't be an archon
> Courre eladrin then.
> It's not a bad fate - live a happy childhood as long as you want and promote when you're ready to grow up.
> Conversely, Athear will probably end up as a lantern archon for a little while. Unless a particular spirit is strongly called elsewhere, Bahamut prefers for his non true dragon worshipers to have a short reverie as a lantern archon. A chance to cleanse the palate of life, so to speak. But it's usually a short time, anywhere from 7 months to 7 years. In the case of a dragonborn, most are promoted into an outsider-like dragonborn form. There's no real mechanical differences beyond the outsider stuff (good and lawful subtype, outsider traits, ect) and they serve Bahamut as an honored army. Dragonborn are very much Bahamut's thing and he's fond of them.
> Dead true dragons incarnate as their previous form, but they can't grow or advance in any way. They generally spend their afterlife pondering the perfection all dragons claim and chase. They generally don't become outsiders or deal with anything else, nor do they usually promote.
> Though a fair few metallic dragons who go to Bahamut's realm or Mount Celestia do end up rising to Chronias. Not all of them - draconic greed is a thing and many never overcome it - but a sizable minority do and leave everything else behind for that final mystery. Convesely, Athear's position would be more flexible, assuming he was never resurrected. He could serve with Bahamut forever doing this and that, but like any resident of Celestia, he'd be free to explore the mountain and possibly ascend to Chronias as well. If that would happen is really beyond the scope of this, as Mount Celestia is all about improvement and purification. An Athear who's been there for centuries would be different than the Athear of today.

Aurora, Bahamut and related matters

<Merc> An epic level Athear could join up with Ithea, Muirfinn and Lief!
> As amusing as the image is - and it does make me smile - outsiders just don't advance fast barring unusual situations. It takes time for that to happen.
> He'd fit in well at Aurora, though.
> Though all the chaos there would try his patience. Badly.
> Or at least the idea of Athear Disapproves gimmicks regarding the chaos there amuse me. Like all serious and frowning Athear vs this particular chaotic thing of the hour.
<Merc> And we'd drive him to drink if he was that lawful.
<Merc> That said, he probably wouldn't join us since Bahamut has beef with Ithea.
> Yes.
> The whole Baleruk thing.
> I like that Neph's playing dragonborn in B5. Bahamut got a crappy hand in B3.
> It's nice to see his better side showing.
> Bahamut's nice but he and Aurora were on each other's shitlists in B3. Which really made him get dumped on more than he deserved. It was just an unfortunate situation for all concerned. Except Baleruk, he got what he wanted.
<Merc> Ithea wasn't altogether certain about the whole Baleruk thing, but she convinced herself that it was right because Bahamut was a dick about it and hit Kascha with his whammy too. That was also the time when she was kinda more on a 'fuck the gods, they never helped with Lifasa' mentality.
> Plus you helped make a divine ranked creature without Ao going all hunefer on him, which earns points.
* Kotono nods.
> Yeah.
> (There's be a whole lot more DvR0 and 1-5s around in Balmuria if Ao wasn't Ao. Also a few of the dempowers would probably rise to lesser power status to compensate.)
> The entire situation worked out poorly for everyone. You at least did get Baleruk, who is a legitimately poewrful ally.

Auril growing stronger?

<Nephrite> It seems like B5 might also be a small turning point against Auril? If I remember right in a lot of your writings Auril has mostly been on an increase lately?
> Yes.
> Back in B1, it was revealed Torm fell (long story there) and eventually Talos rose, possibly as some sort of cosmic counterbalance. Talos used to head the House of Fury, but now is in Limbo doing his own thing. As a result, there's a power vacuum there and conflicts to try and fill it.
> Auril's winning those internal battles and growing stronger.
> That's come up a few times here and there in various games.
> B5's the first game to really feature Auril as anything more than background. She actually showed up on camera in B3, as she was the benefactor Abigor fled to once things went wrong in Hell. But her role in that game was extremely minimal, plus she wrung concessions from Aurora for Lifasa in exchange for letting them take a shot at Abigor.
> She's been there beforehand, she's been a thing and a threat, but never a big one or shown too much.
> So that background bit may well be coming to the fore in this world.
> And also yes, various flavor blocks in stat blocks as well as flavor posts have mentioned Auril's getting stronger. Her statblock in particular touches on it.
> Mechanically she's a Barbarian 50//Wizard 10/Frost Mage 40. She's right at the very top of lesser power status.
<Nephrite> She won't be happy if a bunch of upstarts ruin all of her plans by being meddlesome do-gooders.
> Indeed.
> I can't comment much there for obvious reasons, but spoiling her plans is usually a good idea. Unless you really like winter. Forever.