Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

For chatter, back and forth and whatever general discussion needs we have. If it doesn't fit anywhere else, post it here.

To start: How are charsheets coming along, everyone?

Posted!

Awesome. I'll do sheet audits when they're all done, no hurry on those.

Alright. I remember how to play D&D 3.5, I just never done the complicated stuff. Do you have any links you can post to some wikis or PDFs I can look through?

If it's irc, then will we have a set day of the week these sessions will take place?

I'm coming along slowly. I need to sit down and math out everything and make sure it's all correct.

Quote from: Rukatin on August 29, 2014, 01:55:34 PM
Alright. I remember how to play D&D 3.5, I just never done the complicated stuff. Do you have any links you can post to some wikis or PDFs I can look through?

http://www.d20srd.org/

SRD's a good place to start.

QuoteIf it's irc, then will we have a set day of the week these sessions will take place?

The exact days haven't been decided yet, but it's usually 3-4 days a week.

Quote from: Nephrite on August 29, 2014, 01:57:11 PM
I'm coming along slowly. I need to sit down and math out everything and make sure it's all correct.

Sure. I'll also run through everyone's sheet for that at some point before game start.

More or less done, just need inventory.

I was also looking through this: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Homebrew
Does it also work for races and such?

Quote from: Ebiris on August 29, 2014, 02:29:47 PM
More or less done, just need inventory.

Cool, noted and good luck.

Quote from: Rukatin on August 29, 2014, 02:40:29 PM
I was also looking through this: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Homebrew
Does it also work for races and such?

That's homebrew. I'm fine with suggesting it, though I'll want to review anything from there that you wish to use. The quality of homebrew varies wildly.

Expect slowness the next several days. Just a heads up.

Can I take Spellbreaker Song? Page 35 of Complete Mage.

Quote from: Nephrite on August 31, 2014, 10:44:56 PM
Can I take Spellbreaker Song? Page 35 of Complete Mage.

Sure, that's fine.

How does the Healing Hymn ACF work? (Page 47, Complete Champion)

I understand it gives a +1 sacred or profane bonus to healing spells per perform level, so, let's say at level 8 I use it, so I believe that makes it 15 total ranks.

Cure Light Wounds becomes 1d8+5+15?

Does Vigor get impacted as well?

How about Lesser Restoration? Does the amount of ability damage it cures also go up?


Second, related question: Since this replaces fascinate, I assume it also replaces suggestion, too, but I don't think there's an ACF that replaces suggestion by itself. I'm not sure if losing three abilities for this is worth it, but maybe others can chime in?

EDIT: Actually, there are apparently some Eberron-related Bard things that might help here, can we look at those later?

At level 8, you'd have rank 11 (level 8+3 more if at max skill rank). It affects all conjuration (healing) that have a roll involved.

This includes CLW (So if you use it on a level 8 cleric, it'd do (1d8+5)+11) and Lesser Restoration (which would be 1d4+11 points restored, which is fantastic).

It does not include Vigor, however, as that has no roll involved, you just gain fast healing from that.

It doesn't replace Suggestion/Mass Suggestion, but they are kinda useless without Fascinate unless you can get Fascinate elsewhere (or replace them with the Eberron feat options) so you do effectively lose them.

Note that there is errata that nerfs Healing Hymn in Complete Champion, so that you still need to follow the limit of bonus healing on a spell. This means it'd do nothing on CLW, since it's capped at +5, but if you use it on a cleric before he casts Cure Serious Wounds, instead of casting CSW 3d8+8, it'd cast 3d8+15 since that's within the limit. Lesser Restoration has no cap, so you'd still get 1d4+11 at least.

The errata kinda sucks though considering that you are also losing later abilities effectively, and I think I once played a bard with healing hymn in one of Dune's games and the errata got ignored. Figured I'd mention it for completeness of answer on how Healing Hymn works though.

Yeah, hopefully I can use the Eberron things to replace Suggestion and Mass Suggestion once I get there, or at least look at other options there.

Thanks for the clarification, I'm definitely leaning towards that since it seems like it'd be pretty helpful. I'm sure there are bard spells that can emulate fascinate anyway.

Aha, found it. In B3 house rules (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103071.msg1049904.html#msg1049904), we have general rule:
12: The errata for Healing Hymn is ignored. The amount of benefit from Healing Hymn is not capped.

Okay, a few points.

1. The errata for Healing Hymn is ignored. That's already in houserules.

2. What Eberron things in particular, Neph?

Quote from: Merc on September 01, 2014, 01:02:25 PM
Aha, found it. In B3 house rules (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103071.msg1049904.html#msg1049904), we have general rule:
12: The errata for Healing Hymn is ignored. The amount of benefit from Healing Hymn is not capped.

While I don't have the full houserules trimmed and ported over yet, you can reference the version on the Balmuria: Rules and Setting board for anything like that. It's current.

If I can replace certain bardic musics with feats. I'd probably be replacing suggestion for now and then mass suggestion if we ever get to that point.

I believe the one that I'd replace it with is Haunting Melody.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 01, 2014, 01:05:25 PM
If I can replace certain bardic musics with feats. I'd probably be replacing suggestion for now and then mass suggestion if we ever get to that point.

I believe the one that I'd replace it with is Haunting Melody.

What's Haunting Melody from?

Heroes of Horror page 123, it would appear.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 01, 2014, 01:09:47 PM
Heroes of Horror page 123, it would appear.

Looks fine. Have fun with it.

http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-v35--6/message--2843/

Can I use this spell in conjunction with my music? For example, if I use this and then use Inspire Confidence, I could, in fact, motivate a rogue to hide better?

Quote from: Nephrite on September 01, 2014, 01:57:16 PM
http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-v35--6/message--2843/

Can I use this spell in conjunction with my music? For example, if I use this and then use Inspire Confidence, I could, in fact, motivate a rogue to hide better?

I'm going to rule no, as I feel this -might- work RAW but completely oversteps the bounds of the spell. It's only a cantrip so I'm not inclined to assume it can do anything like transmit supernatural effects.

Can we buy Masterwork Backpacks in this game?

Also vetting this item: http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/everlasting-rations--398/

It takes 6.4 years of eating nothing but terrible dry disgusting cardboard-tasting everlasting rations before they pay for themselves! Do you want to eat so terribly for so long? DO YOU?!? =p

Edit: Whoops, thought normal rations were 5 cp, not 5 sp. So instead of 6.4 years, it's about 7.5 months. That's still a lot of terrible meals though! =p

And I bet the first time I drop a mouse at his feet he'll act all offended, as if he doesn't eat shit.

As if to go along with my boring Trail Rations, how about the Everfull Mug? MIC, 160.

EDIT: One more for the road, Travel Cloak, 166 of Magic of Faerun.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 01, 2014, 04:25:17 PM
Can we buy Masterwork Backpacks in this game?

Also vetting this item: http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/everlasting-rations--398/

Both are fine.

Quote from: Merc on September 01, 2014, 05:17:32 PM
It takes 6.4 years of eating nothing but terrible dry disgusting cardboard-tasting everlasting rations before they pay for themselves! Do you want to eat so terribly for so long? DO YOU?!? =p

Edit: Whoops, thought normal rations were 5 cp, not 5 sp. So instead of 6.4 years, it's about 7.5 months. That's still a lot of terrible meals though! =p

Better to eat tasteless things than not to eat at all. Plus that's why DMs made Prestidigitation.

Quote from: Ebiris on September 01, 2014, 05:19:20 PM
And I bet the first time I drop a mouse at his feet he'll act all offended, as if he doesn't eat shit.

That had better be a damned dire mouse. A mere 1/2 HD rodent won't impress anyone.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 01, 2014, 10:26:15 PM
As if to go along with my boring Trail Rations, how about the Everfull Mug? MIC, 160.

EDIT: One more for the road, Travel Cloak, 166 of Magic of Faerun.

Everful Mug is fine. So's the cloak.

I'm doing Cor's sheet audit early, as he's going out of town for several weeks in a few days.

QuoteHit Dice 75hp

Hit points, not hit dice.

QuoteArmor Class: 14 touch, 21 normal. [-4 flat-footed, -7 without natural armor, +4 with Shield]

Could you list how you calculate your AC somewhere? I can't really confirm your CMD without that, either.

Quote
Full Attack (Greataxe +1 with Whirling Blade): +15, 1d12+14 20/x3 [magic/chaotic/evil]
Full Attack (Steeldance): +17/+17, 1d4+9/1d4+9 [magic/chaotic/evil]
Full Attack (Claws): +5, 1d3 (lethal/nonlethal base) [chaotic/evil]

Lucy lacks her alignment subtypes due to the amnesia (as agreed on), so her attacks don't count as evil and chaotic right now. That's where that originates from.

Everything else looks good.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 01, 2014, 11:36:16 PM
I'm doing Cor's sheet audit early, as he's going out of town for several weeks in a few days.

QuoteHit Dice 75hp

Hit points, not hit dice.

Just copying that from any SRD's monster's entry. Do you want it changed?

Quote

QuoteArmor Class: 14 touch, 21 normal. [-4 flat-footed, -7 without natural armor, +4 with Shield]

Could you list how you calculate your AC somewhere? I can't really confirm your CMD without that, either.

Sure! You can pretty much reverse-engineer it from the notes. 4 from dex, 7 from nat armor. Hence, 10+4+7. Aside from the Shield spell, that's what I've got.

Quote

Quote
Full Attack (Greataxe +1 with Whirling Blade): +15, 1d12+14 20/x3 [magic/chaotic/evil]
Full Attack (Steeldance): +17/+17, 1d4+9/1d4+9 [magic/chaotic/evil]
Full Attack (Claws): +5, 1d3 (lethal/nonlethal base) [chaotic/evil]

Lucy lacks her alignment subtypes due to the amnesia (as agreed on), so her attacks don't count as evil and chaotic right now. That's where that originates from.

Everything else looks good.

Ah, my mistake. I hadn't realized the attacks come from the subtype. It was written under a different entry, so I hadn't connected the two. I'll fix it.

QuoteJust copying that from any SRD's monster's entry. Do you want it changed?

Sure, just say hit points instead of hit dice. (It has the hit dice and then the HP in ()es.)

QuoteSure! You can pretty much reverse-engineer it from the notes. 4 from dex, 7 from nat armor. Hence, 10+4+7. Aside from the Shield spell, that's what I've got.

Thanks. Not a big deal, but having it handy saves time. On a glance, that means your CMD's right.

Quote
Ah, my mistake. I hadn't realized the attacks come from the subtype. It was written under a different entry, so I hadn't connected the two. I'll fix it.

It's not a big deal, but yeah. Blame 3.0/SS.

Anyway, it looks like an interesting concept and should play out well. Depends on how fast you get to a spell pool too, but I figure that'll be one of the group's early goals.

Quote
Thanks. Not a big deal, but having it handy saves time. On a glance, that means your CMD's right.

Heh. Yeah, not really a melee char.

Quote
It's not a big deal, but yeah. Blame 3.0/SS.

Anyway, it looks like an interesting concept and should play out well. Depends on how fast you get to a spell pool too, but I figure that'll be one of the group's early goals.

I could! But the 3.5 MM/SRD entry lists it separately, too, under combat! I think I can be legitimately confused.

Finding a Spellpool would be great, yep. It's not an infinite font of knowledge and spells, but it could give 1-2 utility spells in a day out of combat, which is great.

Yeah. I like that the spellpool establishes an early game goal for at least one of you to pursue. It'll give you more reasons to strike out and try to find things, not to mention see the world. Should be fun.

The reward for doing so is built into the premise of the spellpool, which is neat.

Dune, what languages are available for the start? I was planning on putting points into Lingustics but I don't know if the amnesia would affect that.

EDIT: Also, I assume as a Pixie I start with Common and Sylvan naturally?

Quote from: Nephrite on September 02, 2014, 10:35:53 AM
Dune, what languages are available for the start? I was planning on putting points into Lingustics but I don't know if the amnesia would affect that.

Any of the standard ones are fine. If you choose an invalid one, at worst you'll forget it and retrain it next level. Not a big deal.

QuoteEDIT: Also, I assume as a Pixie I start with Common and Sylvan naturally?

Yes.

http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-scoundrel--60/swift-concentration--3309/

Question, this feat requires Concentration as a pre-requisite, which doesn't exist in Pathfinder as far as I can see. Is there a suitable replacement?

Concentration in PF got rolled into spellcasting rules and is essentially your caster level. An equivalent might then be CL 9 requirement?

Quote from: Nephrite on September 02, 2014, 01:49:24 PM
http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-scoundrel--60/swift-concentration--3309/

Question, this feat requires Concentration as a pre-requisite, which doesn't exist in Pathfinder as far as I can see. Is there a suitable replacement?

CL 9's fine for that as Merc suggested. Seems simplest.

Hidden sheathes for daggers; can I make them via Vestment of Many Styles, or do you want me to purchase them as an item? If so, how much (custom item, not in any book I've seen).

Also, Complete Scoundrel has Lead Lining to hide magical items. Could I get a set of Vestment of Many Styles with lead lining built in? It's listed at 10 GP for a hidden pocket.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 02, 2014, 03:04:42 PM
Hidden sheathes for daggers; can I make them via Vestment of Many Styles, or do you want me to purchase them as an item? If so, how much (custom item, not in any book I've seen).

Also, Complete Scoundrel has Lead Lining to hide magical items. Could I get a set of Vestment of Many Styles with lead lining built in? It's listed at 10 GP for a hidden pocket.

First one's fine with the Vestment.

Yes to the second, but due to the difficulty of integrating it, you'd need to pay 30 gp per pocket you want possible. Tally that into the final item cost.

Do I get all the SLA of Pixies from the Monster Manual? Or is that just for creatures and not for characters?

You don't get irresistible dance. You should get the rest though.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 03, 2014, 11:46:57 AM
Do I get all the SLA of Pixies from the Monster Manual? Or is that just for creatures and not for characters?

You get everything but irresistible dance. That costs another 2 LA and is widely regarded as not worth it.

Time to add stuff!

Am I good so far on my character so far? I'm having trouble figuring out how many spells I have and can cast per day. Also, can I assume Common and Celestial are automatic languages for a Half-celestial?

Right now you're not applying half-celestial correct. Half Celestial is an LA+4 template, so on the duskblade side you're fine. On the other side, however, you cannot be Fighter 4/Sorceror 4 in addition to Half-Celestial 4.

Dammit, what'd I screw up this time?

Okay, to help you walk through gestalt, level adjustment, templates, chargen, etc:

***

Level-adjustment is a modifier that a race or template takes on their actual level.

A template is something you add to a race to make it more powerful at the cost of some penalty (sometimes attribute penalties, but often level-adjustment modifiers), thus making it unique.

***

As stated in the house rules, you need to play a race that totals LA+4.

What this means is that you can play an:
> LA+0 race with an LA+4 template
> LA+0 race with two LA+2 templates
> LA+0 race with an LA+1 and LA+3 template
> LA+0 race with two LA+1 templates plus another LA+2 template
> LA+1 race with an LA+3 template
> etc...

(You could also add a bunch of LA+0 templates, but we'll ignore those since they're not relevant to your character)

***

In this case, you've stated that you want to play a Half-Celestial. Per the SRD:
"Half-celestial" is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher and nonevil alignment (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfCelestial.htm

Further down that link, you also see that it has an LA+4 modifier.

So based on the house rules, you can only select an LA+0 race. LA+0 races are all of the standard races, such as human, elf, dwarf, gnome, etc.

I am going to assume a human for now, simply because its racial bonuses are simple to replace if you decide on another standard race:
> One bonus feat
> +1 skill points per level (with +4 at level 1 only)

***

To show level-adjustment in play, let's look at a human fighter and a human half-celestial fighter. Let's assume that these two fighters had an effective character level (ECL) of 8.

In the case of the first fighter, he would be a human fighter level 8 if he has ECL8: He gets BAB+8, Fort+6, Ref+2, Will+2, and nine feats (five feats from fighter 8, one bonus feat for being human, three feats from level).

In the case of the second fighter, with ECL8, he would be a human half-celestial fighter level 4 and have: BAB+4, Fort+4, Ref+1, Will+1, six feats (three feats from fighter 4, one bonus feat for being human, two feats from level).

In exchange for the four levels he had his ECL adjusted by (since half-celestial has LA+4, so half-celestial LA+4 plus fighter level 4 equal ECL 8), he gains the bonuses of the half-celestial template, which are improved stats, spell-like abilities, flight, and other special qualities.

For comparison, here are the two fighters built with:
- base stats array of 18,16,14,12,10,8 and with bonus points for level 4/8 both put into DEX
- assuming average HP rolls
- only gear is a greatsword and some cheap clothes



Highlighted red text where one fighter was superior to the other for comparison.

***

Now for gestalt, what you want to do is consider two separate characters and then join their abilities together, taking the BAB/saves from one of the two characters, the best skill points/scores from one of the two characters, and all of their abilities together.

So what we want to do is pick a race, a template, and classes for first character and classes for second character. In your case, you have duskblade for first character, and half-celestial fighter for the second character

Then to build it together what you do is:
Name: Gestalt Guy
Race: Half-Celestial Human
Type: Outsider (human)
Level: Duskblade 8 // Half-Celestial 4/Fighter 4

Take your rolled scores, add the bonuses for race (none for human), add the bonuses for template (half-celestial), add the bonus for levels:
(your rolled stats were 18, 17, 15, 14, 13, 12)
STR 18+4+0 = 22 (+6)
DEX 14+2+0 = 16 (+3)
CON 15+4+1 = 20 (+5)
INT 17+2+1 = 20 (+5)
WIS 12+4+0 = 16 (+3)
CHA 13+4+0 = 17 (+3)

Note: Your sheet didn't include bonus points from level 4 and level 8. I presumed to add one to CON and one to INT.

For your hit points, compare the HP from both sides:
- On the first side, you'd get d8 for levels 1-8 (for duskblade).
- On the second side, you'd get no hit die for levels 1-4 (half-celestial template adjusted 4 levels out), but you'd get d10 for levels 5-8 (for fighter)

Comparing the two die at each level, for levels 1-4, a d8 beats 0, and for levels 5-8, a d10 beats d8.

So your hit die would be: 8+3d8+4d10 (at level 1 you get max HP, so the d8 becomes 8), and then modified for constitution bonuses.
Given the following rolls:
3d8: 6, 8, 1 = 15
4d10: 10, 6, 2, 9 = 27

Con Mod +5
5X8=40

8+15+27+40 = 90 HP

Your initiative and speed are correct.

Your base attack bonus (BAB) was calculated incorrectly (mostly because you jumped straight to attack bonus, which is BAB modified for strength, feats, etc):
For side one, duskblade 8 your BAB is +8/+3. For side two, half-celestial 4/fighter 4 your BAB is +4. Typically you'd pick BAB+8/+3 over BAB+4, but Dune's house rules say you have to pick BAB and saves from same side, so hold off to check all of that.

Your base saves are calculated:
-For side one, duskblade 8 you get fort+6, ref+2, will+6.
-For side two, half-celestial 4/fighter 4 you get fort+4, ref+1, will+1.

Obviously, side one gets better base saves as well, so pick side one for BAB/saves.

So result is:
BAB: +8/+3
Saves: Fort+11, Ref+5, Will+9 (modified for the bonuses from CON/DEX/WIS respectively, including the half-celestial bonuses)

Your attack modifiers would be what you currently have listed under BAB (+14/+9 melee or +11/+6 ranged).

For CMB/CMD, follow the equations from pathfinder:
CMB = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier
CMD = 10 + Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + Dexterity modifier + special size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers

CMB: +14 (+8+6+0)
CMD: 27 (10+8+6+3+0+0)

For skills, as with HP, you want to compare the skill points per level between the two sides:
-For side one, duskblade 8 gets 2+INT skill points per level (x4 at level 1), for levels 1-8
-For side two, half-celestial 4/fighter 4 gets no skill points for levels 1-4 due to the template, but gets 2+INT skill points per level for levels 5-8.

For levels 1-4, no contest, 2+INT beats 0. For levels 5-8, both sides get 2+INT, so no difference is made (note that if you were half-celestial 4/rogue 4, then you'd get 8+INT for levels 5-8).

Of course, you also get +1 skill point per level for being human (unless of course you change races), and +4 skill points per level from Dune's house rule on skill points.

So you'd get:
- At level 1, you'd get (2+5+1+4)x4 skill points, or 12x4 points
- At levels 2-8, you'd get (2+5+1+4) skill points, or 12 points/level, for 7 levels.

Altogether: 12*4+12*7=12*11 = 132 skill points to spend, with max rank of 11 on class skills and 5 on cross-class skills.

From this point on, you just get every bonus from each side. Starting with feats:
You get three feats for level (one for level 1, for level 3, and for level 6)
You get one feat for being human
You get three feats from Fighter (one for level 1, for level 2, and for level 4)
You get Combat Casting as a bonus feat from Duskblade (for level 2)

For a total of seven feats + Combat Casting.

You get all the special abilities of being a duskblade level 8:
Arcane Attunement, Armored Mage (light/medium/heavy shield), Arcane Channeling, Quick Cast 1/day, Spell power+2, and spells.

For spells, you get:
6x level 0 spells
7x level 1 spells
6x level 2 spells

Of course, duskblades get bonus spells from high INT, so per the table for bonus spells:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#tableAbilityModifiersandBonusSpells

For INT 20, you get: +2 level 1 spells, +1 level 2 spells, +1 level 3 spells, +1 level 4 spells, +1 level 5 spells. Note that as the class does not yet have access to level 3-5 spells, you don't get those bonus spells yet. You'll get those when you hit level 9, level 13, level 17 respectively for levels 3, 4, 5 spells.

The duskblade spell list is in page 24 of PHB II. They know -all- spells on their spell list, but as a result their spell lists are limited, and they can't learn new spells like wizards or sorcerors.

You also get the special abilities and special qualities from the half-celestial template:
Special Abilities: Daylight, Smite Evil, SLAs (Protection from evil, bless, aid, detect evil, cure serious wounds, neutralize poison, holy smite, remove disease)
Special Qualities: Darkvision, immunity to disease, resistance acid 10/cold 10/electricity 10, DR 5/magic, SR 14, +4 fort vs poison

Note that this is identical to the half-celestial 4/fighter 4 example above, except that you get more spell-like abilities since in gestalt you are considered level 8 (HD 8), even though on the half-celestial side you are level 4 (HD 4).

Other than that...you still have to pick feats, skills, and gear. You also need to decide if you want to go with human for your LA+0 race or pick something else like gnome or half-orc or whatever.

Wow, I go to watch a football game and Merc knocks it out of the park. He's generally right, and if you make any mistakes I'll point them out when I do sheet audits.

It also says a Half-celestial has 'Natural Weapons' or Something.

You've pretty much set up everything for me. Thank you so much.

I also get class skills from Fighter too right?

The natural weapons line only matters if your race gets a natural weapon to fight with.

Unarmed strikes are probably the only natural weapon you'd get, barring you somehow becoming able to attack with your wings or getting claws, bites, tail slap, etc as attacks.

Ah, that makes sense. So I have holy punches. FEAR ME.

Corwin's are main spell caster, I'm our fighter/combat Mage, Ebris is our cat-rogue-psion, and Nephrite's our Bard. I wonder what Dragoon's playing.

Quote from: Rukatin on September 05, 2014, 12:08:49 PM
Corwin's are main spell caster, I'm our fighter/combat Mage, Ebris is our cat-rogue-psion, and Nephrite's our Bard. I wonder what Dragoon's playing.

I'll be playing a Rogue-ish type.

It should be a good and balanced party. For some value of balanced. Y'all may be a bit short on healing, but can't win them all.

I'm trying to find a good image of a party panicking 'case they don't have a cleric, but I'm coming up short.
I have this instead:
(http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0284/5558/products/sharkrobot_mysticrev_whowantstoparty_large.jpg?v=1383588005)

I'm playing a doppelganger. All I have to do is hide long enough to change into one of the enemies and use detect thoughts on them, and I'm good.

Plus, as a Rogue, I get UMD. I'll pick up a healing wand at some point.

So long as you still have 1 HP, at least. Besides, y'all probably won't run into too much trouble at the start, right?

Right?

HP comes from Butchery.

Neph is a bard so he can heal as well and doesnt need UMD when using wands. I dunno if Healing Hymn works on wands or if he counts as an ally (does an ally have to be a different person?) though.

Iddy should algo get a bit of minor healing ability once he reaches factotum 5 (if he gets that far).

I do not think Healing Hymn works on Wands or other things. I would also be kind of surprised if Healing Hymn didn't work on me, since... well, like, most other music does.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 05, 2014, 05:40:59 PM
I do not think Healing Hymn works on Wands or other things. I would also be kind of surprised if Healing Hymn didn't work on me, since... well, like, most other music does.

Doesn't work with magic items, says so in particular.

It also doesn't look to work RAW on spells you cast yourself, since it keeps saying allies. This is an odd twist and I'd probably rule otherwise anyway.

The only ally you can truly count on is yourself!

I assume it's probably intended to be because you'd have to concentrate on the spell and singing at the same time, and if you're using an instrument, then your hands are too busy to do somatic component.

Well, sure, but then why does Inspire Courage work on me, or some of the other bard songs?

You silly Mercenary.

Just 'cause they're the same type of ability doesn't mean the abilities are consistent.

It's one of those little things of D&D. Blame being written by dozens of hands over nearly a decade.

I'm looking at you, 9 different type of bonuses that don't stack with each other.

Sheet audits will be this week, likely sometime from Tuesday to Thursday. Just a heads up so you can keep an eye on the board.

http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103074.msg1053378.html#msg1053378

Here you go, Iddy. Toss any comments in this thread.

Thanks Dune!

I also wanted to ask you something about the Vestments and lead linings. I kind of wanted to get the whole thing lead lined, to hide all of my daggers and my amulet, so I'm not sure how you would want to do that for the cost of 'pockets.'

How much starting gold do I have? What sort of Magical Items should I have?

Also, Merc, in the guide you wrote up for me, I've having trouble figuring out How many spells per day I have, and total spells know total.

What I posted in that guide was spells/day.

So you get:
Level 0 - 6 spells/day
Level 1 - 7+2 = 9 spells/day
Level 2 - 6+1 = 7 spells/day

For spells known, see page 19 (of PHB II) for the section on spells known for more details. Your spell list is a little hidden away in page 24.

Summary: Duskblades have a limited spell list, and the number of spells is also limited. You know two level 0 and two level 1 at the start, then gain one per level. You also get bonus level 0 spells based on your INT. So you can know:
Level 0 - 2+INT known
Level 1 - 5 known
Level 2 - 4 known

Does the bonus for a high score (Charisma for me) add to my known spells too, or just spells per day? I think I did everything correctly, but double-checking to be sure.

Thanks Merc.
What's my Caster Level?

Quote from: Nephrite on September 08, 2014, 09:01:21 AM
Does the bonus for a high score (Charisma for me) add to my known spells too, or just spells per day? I think I did everything correctly, but double-checking to be sure.

You only get bonus spells/day, no spells known.

Now I just add my bonus Spells for my level 20 INT right?

Quote from: Merc on September 08, 2014, 09:26:03 AM

Quote from: Nephrite on September 08, 2014, 09:01:21 AM
Does the bonus for a high score (Charisma for me) add to my known spells too, or just spells per day? I think I did everything correctly, but double-checking to be sure.

You only get bonus spells/day, no spells known.

That's what I thought. Thanks!

Quote from: Rukatin on September 08, 2014, 09:45:11 AM
Now I just add my bonus Spells for my level 20 INT right?

That's correct. Keep in mind, since you'd technically have INT 19 when you start out (+1 comes from a level bonus), you'd have to use INT 19 for bonus level 0 spells known since you only learn them at level 1. Your spells/day would see the bonus of INT 20 however, since those are recalculated on a daily basis.

Similarly, if you got any magic items that boost your INT, you wouldn't get more level 0 spells but would get bonus spells/day (as long as you are wearing said magic item).

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 07, 2014, 10:52:22 PM
Thanks Dune!

I also wanted to ask you something about the Vestments and lead linings. I kind of wanted to get the whole thing lead lined, to hide all of my daggers and my amulet, so I'm not sure how you would want to do that for the cost of 'pockets.'

I'll have to dig up some numbers here, but a few notes. 1. It'll cost a fair bit to integrate lead successfully. 2. It'll greatly increase the weight of the item, since lead is quite heavy. It's one thing to work in a pocket or two, but the entire thing being lead lined will be a thing.

If you're okay with that, say so and I'll do some math.

As far as the spell stuff and high ability scores go, Merc's right.

Hmm... alright. What about just like a lined shirt?

Edit: Also, looking at wands, would you allow an eternal wand? (http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/eternal-wand-1st-level-spell--392/) I would be looking at this for a healing wand, specifically.

On our character's...*dramatic noise* AMNESIA, how extensive or complete is it? Is it total, where we know absolutely nothing at all? Or is it where we have a sense of who we are remember our names and such, even our childhoods, but as memories get closer and closer to 'now' they get increasingly hazy until the point we don't remember?

Also could you post the Pathfinder skills list and the ones a duskblade is trained in?

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 08, 2014, 02:50:12 PM
Hmm... alright. What about just like a lined shirt?

Just a plain shirt lined with lead, non magical?

QuoteEdit: Also, looking at wands, would you allow an eternal wand? (http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/eternal-wand-1st-level-spell--392/) I would be looking at this for a healing wand, specifically.

Yeah, Cor bought one.

Quote from: Rukatin on September 09, 2014, 09:27:49 AM
On our character's...*dramatic noise* AMNESIA, how extensive or complete is it? Is it total, where we know absolutely nothing at all? Or is it where we have a sense of who we are remember our names and such, even our childhoods, but as memories get closer and closer to 'now' they get increasingly hazy until the point we don't remember?

You remember all your class skills and abilities, your name and basic skills like reading, talking and so forth. Anything else is lost. So no ideas on childhood, the past or anything outside of the demiplane.

Quote from: Rukatin on September 09, 2014, 09:51:23 AM
Also could you post the Pathfinder skills list and the ones a duskblade is trained in?

http://paizo.com/PRD/skillDescriptions.html

Use the basic Duskblade skill list with the following changes: Remove Decipher Script, replace with Linguistics. Remove Jump, replace with Acrobatics. All other skills remain the same.

Yeah, just keep in mind they are arcane wands.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 09, 2014, 12:29:03 PM

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 08, 2014, 02:50:12 PM
Hmm... alright. What about just like a lined shirt?

Just a plain shirt lined with lead, non magical?

Yup!

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 09, 2014, 11:27:53 PM

Quote from: Anastasia on September 09, 2014, 12:29:03 PM

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 08, 2014, 02:50:12 PM
Hmm... alright. What about just like a lined shirt?

Just a plain shirt lined with lead, non magical?

Yup!

I can't find anything like that offhand, so I'll say...30 gold. It's not the most expensive thing ever, but I figure you'd have to have it custom made. It's also heavy, about to the tune of 5 pounds.

Question, is heavy armor made out of Mithral still require a heavy armor proficiency feat?

Quote from: Rukatin on September 10, 2014, 04:22:55 PM
Question, is heavy armor made out of Mithral still require a heavy armor proficiency feat?

No. Armor made out of mithral is considered one category lighter for most purposes. So if you have medium armor proficiency, you can wear heavy armor made from mithral without penalty.

I am horrible at remembering details. Starting gold is 27000 right?

Quote from: Rukatin on September 11, 2014, 12:55:39 PM
I am horrible at remembering details. Starting gold is 27000 right?

That's correct.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 09, 2014, 12:31:23 PM

Quote from: Rukatin on September 09, 2014, 09:51:23 AM
Also could you post the Pathfinder skills list and the ones a duskblade is trained in?

http://paizo.com/PRD/skillDescriptions.html

Use the basic Duskblade skill list with the following changes: Remove Decipher Script, replace with Linguistics. Remove Jump, replace with Acrobatics. All other skills remain the same.

Concentration isn't in there. It's a Duskblade trained skill and Pathfinder doesn't have it.
Also, I should be able to Arcane Channel through Cold Iron Right?

This was discussed earlier in this thread so Dune is aware. In pathfinder, concentration was rolled into magic and is essentially your caster level. You don't have to invest skill points in it.

Belatedly, I noticed that you asked what your CL is and nobody answered. Whoops! You caster level is the same as your class level in a spellcasting class. So as a duskblade level 8, you'd have CL 8.

You should be able to channel through cold iron, unless duskblade class says anything (I don't have the book handy atm) on the matter. Cold iron can be enchanted per its SRD enchantment, its just more work (so more expensive), so no reason why arcane channeling would fail.

Okay, going to skip Rukatin's sheet for the moment. Eb's next.

- Could you run me through how you calculated your CMB/CMD? I'm not sure they're right and I want to know how you got there.

- Likewise, walk me through how you tallied your ability scores. They seem off as well, though you have enough modifiers that I could be missing something.

- Your feats are off. You should have 5 feats, 3 from levels and two from psion. Is there an ACF in play, or is that two instances of expanded knowledge? Speaking of, note what power expanded knowledge purchased.

- Notes on powers are as follows. 1. Note that hostile empathic transfer has the mind-affecting descriptor. Not a huge deal, but that means it gets walled by certain opponents. 2. No to schism. I don't want to get into the headache of things that break the economy of actions. Too high optimization for what I want here. 3. I'm a little iffy on intellect fortress, but we'll see how it shakes out. (I have the same concerns about wings of cover for Cor, and I told him the same thing.) The rest of your powers look fine.

Everything else looks good. Good luck, kitty. Make Ithea proud.

Morrie th-oh wait, Moore. Just a name-alike. Anyway.

QuoteClass: Bard 8//Pixie 4/Marshal

Marshal 4, I presume?

- Your init is wrong. You have +4 but your Dex modifier is +5. It should be +5 for init.

- Okay. Your CMD is correct, though it touches on a bit of a rules issue and a small mistake you made. As for the mistake, you added a +1 for your to hit modifier due to being small. That doesn't apply to CMD, as you use the -1 size modifier instead. (I freely admit this is counter intuitive.) As to rules issue, I'm going to go into here since it's relevant. Namely, do you get your full dex to CMD when you have a max dex cap in play due to armor? The way it's written suggests yes, since it says it only applies to your dexterity bonus to armor class. I'd assert that RAI would be that no, the dex is lost due to the armor so you can't use it effectively.

I'm going to roll with RAW for now, since armor's already behind light/no armor enough as it is. This may change if I ever get around to making armor suck less.

So the upshot to all of that is that 20's correct for CMD. Carry on.

- The DCs you copy/pasted for your SLAs are off. I'd recommend removing those and adding this note after the caster level. The save DCs are 18 + spell level.

- Note what your actual, total spell resistance is (23).

- Languages: ditch aklo (it's a pathfinder one we aren't using) and undercommon. The latter just isn't likely to be useful, as I tend to have them use common anyway. You may want to reconsider kobold as well, since I usually have them default to draconic, though not all the time.

- Add total modifiers to skills.

Everything else looks solid. (Spells are all non-issues.)

cmd: +6 bab, +7 dex (with weapon finesse), +2 size
cmd: same just add 10 for base

edit: I saw your post to Neph suggesting size bonuses are inverted for cmb. Corrected by subtracting 4 from each now. Which makes power selection easier later on!

Ability scores:
Starting stats: 17, 16, 15, 15, 13, 12

Modifiers after race/cat-form/spellwarped/collar/levelups: STR -4, DEX +8, CON +6, INT +8, WIS +2, CHA +2

Current abilities: Str 8, Dex 25, Con 22, Int 25, Wis 17, Cha 17
Required base:         12     17      16      17      15      15

So yeah, I had that 13 turned into a 17 somewhere along the line.

A slight rejigger gives me Str 8, Dex 23, Con 22, Int 25, Wis 17, Cha 15

Altered ac/cmb/skills to match (also added +2 to perception for racial bonus)

Feats: My second psion bonus feat is swapped for the telepathy feature.

Powers: Swapped Schism for Psionic Freedom of Movement.

Changed the languages to Aquan and Terran and made the other modifications. I figured my Init was +4 since of the armor, but I changed it back to +5.

Iddy's next.

- Okay, your HP is 60 but your rolls tab says 52. Where's the other +8 coming from?

- I'd suggest removing the +1 to AC from mindspy, as it's conditional on successfully skimming the surface thoughts of your opponent.

- Your CMB should be +8, not +7. You forgot to adjust it for your Strength modifier.

- Your CMD is low. You get to add any non armor, non natural bonuses to armor class. That means your +4 wisdom bonus to armor class applies for a total of 26. Likewise, your mindspy bonus applies to that when you have it active.

- Your full attack is wrong. 7+4+1 is 12, not 11. Likewise, your second attack is off. You have +2 BAB to it, not +1. It should be 7. Your ranged full attack is also 1 too low on both. I'd say don't apply point blank shot since it's a conditional, but your range limitations largely makes this irrelevant.

- Damage looks off as well. Your SA is one too high. In particular, dagger sneak attack is at +2d6 when it should be at +1d6.

- The DC of detect thoughts is one too low. It's 10 + 1/2 hit dice + Charisma modifier. That's a total of 16 (18 after ability focus) for you, not 15. (The save DC rises as you level and your Charisma score changes. I suspect you didn't calculate this at all, and the +2 is from Ability Focus. So it should be 18 and not 16.)

- Saves? Fort looks 2 too high. Your base save is 1 (+1 rogue, +0 IB, +0 mindspy), 3 from your Con modifier and 2 from your cloak of resistance. That's 6. Am I missing a booster somewhere? Ref and Will look right, though.

- Your inspiration should be 3, not 2. As noted in invisible blade, that and factotum's inspiration pool stack.

- Skills look right. I mention it since I've used so much red ink already.

- Re: Feats. Can you have them all listed together somewhere, rather than spread out amid class features?

- Your level six feat lacks the name of the feat. I know it's Ability Focus. Also, note what ability it applies to.

- Rogues get penetrating strike as a houserule rather than trap sense. Unless you want trap sense and ACF out penetrating strike. I doubt you do.

Everything else looks good. Whew.

Quote from: Ebiris on September 12, 2014, 02:22:01 PM
cmd: +6 bab, +7 dex (with weapon finesse), +2 size
cmd: same just add 10 for base

edit: I saw your post to Neph suggesting size bonuses are inverted for cmb. Corrected by subtracting 4 from each now. Which makes power selection easier later on!

Cool.

QuoteAbility scores:
Starting stats: 17, 16, 15, 15, 13, 12

Modifiers after race/cat-form/spellwarped/collar/levelups: STR -4, DEX +8, CON +6, INT +8, WIS +2, CHA +2

Current abilities: Str 8, Dex 25, Con 22, Int 25, Wis 17, Cha 17
Required base:         12     17      16      17      15      15

So yeah, I had that 13 turned into a 17 somewhere along the line.

A slight rejigger gives me Str 8, Dex 23, Con 22, Int 25, Wis 17, Cha 15

Yeah, I was sure one of them was off. Glad it's fixed.

QuoteAltered ac/cmb/skills to match (also added +2 to perception for racial bonus)

Feats: My second psion bonus feat is swapped for the telepathy feature.

Powers: Swapped Schism for Psionic Freedom of Movement.

Noted to all of those.

Quote from: Nephrite on September 12, 2014, 02:31:00 PM
Changed the languages to Aquan and Terran and made the other modifications. I figured my Init was +4 since of the armor, but I changed it back to +5.

Fair enough. Fixed then, good to go.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Okay, your HP is 60 but your rolls tab says 52. Where's the other +8 coming from?

The rolls didn't include the +2 CON item I bought:

Level 1:8+3=11
Level 2:2+3=5
Level 3:4+3=7
Level 4:8+3=11
Level 5:5+3=8
Level 6:2+3=5
Level 7:3+3=6
Level 8:4+3=7
11+5+7+11+8+5+6+7=60.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- I'd suggest removing the +1 to AC from mindspy, as it's conditional on successfully skimming the surface thoughts of your opponent.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Your CMB should be +8, not +7. You forgot to adjust it for your Strength modifier.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Your CMD is low. You get to add any non armor, non natural bonuses to armor class. That means your +4 wisdom bonus to armor class applies for a total of 26. Likewise, your mindspy bonus applies to that when you have it active.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Your full attack is wrong. 7+4+1 is 12, not 11. Likewise, your second attack is off. You have +2 BAB to it, not +1. It should be 7. Your ranged full attack is also 1 too low on both. I'd say don't apply point blank shot since it's a conditional, but your range limitations largely makes this irrelevant.

Done. I kept the PBS stuff in since the limitations pretty much ensure I'll always get it. I did make a note for that, though.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Damage looks off as well. Your SA is one too high. In particular, dagger sneak attack is at +2d6 when it should be at +1d6.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- The DC of detect thoughts is one too low. It's 10 + 1/2 hit dice + Charisma modifier. That's a total of 16 (18 after ability focus) for you, not 15. (The save DC rises as you level and your Charisma score changes. I suspect you didn't calculate this at all, and the +2 is from Ability Focus. So it should be 18 and not 16.)

Done. You're right, I just went off of Doppel instead of figuring for stats.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Saves? Fort looks 2 too high. Your base save is 1 (+1 rogue, +0 IB, +0 mindspy), 3 from your Con modifier and 2 from your cloak of resistance. That's 6. Am I missing a booster somewhere? Ref and Will look right, though.

Not sure, I'll put what you got.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Your inspiration should be 3, not 2. As noted in invisible blade, that and factotum's inspiration pool stack.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Re: Feats. Can you have them all listed together somewhere, rather than spread out amid class features?

Alright. You'll have to tell me how you want them split.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Your level six feat lacks the name of the feat. I know it's Ability Focus. Also, note what ability it applies to.

Done.

Quote from: Anastasia on September 12, 2014, 02:53:52 PM
- Rogues get penetrating strike as a houserule rather than trap sense. Unless you want trap sense and ACF out penetrating strike. I doubt you do.

Put Trap Sense back, added the House Rule feat.

Noted Iddy. Everything looks good and that makes sense on the HP.

As far as feats go, I talked to you in PM, so I'll summarize here. If it's a feat, put it with the other feats. It doesn't matter if it comes from gaining levels, bonus feats from classes, racial feats or from where ever else.

My game prep's mostly done. So if you make any large changes to your character from now to game start, toss a post up so I know.

How goes that log, Iddy?

Quote from: Anastasia on September 28, 2014, 09:43:59 PM
How goes that log, Iddy?

It is up. I did the edit of it and got sidetracked before I posted it. Woke up this morning at like 7 am and remembered I hadn't done so yet, and then did so.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on September 29, 2014, 09:21:36 AM

Quote from: Anastasia on September 28, 2014, 09:43:59 PM
How goes that log, Iddy?

It is up. I did the edit of it and got sidetracked before I posted it. Woke up this morning at like 7 am and remembered I hadn't done so yet, and then did so.

Looks solid, thanks.

One more day! Be ready and be prepared. Last call for any pre-game questions or adjustments.

Quick update: You all rested last session. Restore hit points for a night's rest. It wasn't brought up yesterday by mistake.

Also, while I'm at it? Eb and Cor, when does DST end for you?

October 26th.

Likewise.

[13:40] <Moore> OOC: My grant move action doesn't allow someone to ignore AoOs, correct?
[13:42] <Kotono> OOC: Correct.
[13:43] <Moore> OOC: Okay. And do I need to be visible for my Inspire Courage to function?
[13:44] <Kotono> OOC: No, they just have to be able to hear you. Do me a favor and paste both of these rulings into nagging after your turn too, for reference.
[13:44] <Moore> OOC: Of course.

Todo tonight:

1. House rules. Can't believe I forgot that.
2. Wings of Flurry.
3. Wings of Cover.

Houserules are up. Toss any questions you may have in here.

First off, let's talk wings of flurry. The problem comes from this text:

QuoteYou evoke flickering dragon's wings that strike at every target in range, dealing 1d6 points of damage per caster level to all designated targets within 30 feet (snip irrelevant information

It says that it strikes every target in range, then mentions all designated targets. To quote from the SRD about targets: (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#targetorTargets)

QuoteSome spells have a target or targets. You cast these spells on creatures or objects, as defined by the spell itself. You must be able to see or touch the target, and you must specifically choose that target. You do not have to select your target until you finish casting the spell.

So it looks like what we rolled with is the correct application of the rules. We'll see how this shakes out for balance.

Now let's look at wings of cover. This one will be quick on the first part of the ruling.

QuoteIf your foe is about to attack you with a melee, ranged, spell, or psionic attack,

The attack wasn't melee, ranged, a spell or a psionic attack. It was a gaze attack. As such, it wasn't eligible to be blocked by wings of cover in the first place. To be fair, I didn't notice this until I reread it tonight. So that answers the immediate question.

To the second part of the ruling, that means it doesn't stop a lot of supernatural abilities and oddities. It mentions cover against area attacks, though since the wings are translucent, I'd rule they're ineffective against attacks based on vision. Gazes, rainbow pattern and similar things come to mind here. I'm assuming this section about cover and area attacks is independent of the previous information about blocking targeted melee, ranged, spells or psionic attacks.

This isn't the cleanest ruling but this sort of spell isn't one for clean rulings. Feel free to ask about individual situations when they occur, as I know there's going to be cases that need clarification. DM rulings ahoy!

Places and things is updated.

6. For the sake of this game, non-healing cantrips/orisons are infinite. If I feel a usage of a particular infinite cantrip is a problem, I'll address it.

I don't suppose this also applies to Arcane Dilettante? It states: "Once you have used a spell, you cannot use it again until you have rested for 8 hours." At level 2 I get one level 0 spell slot, so even if I have 3 Inspiration to spend, I can only cast 1 spell per 8 hours, technically. If your ruling applies to AD, I can cast the spell X number of Inspiration, but I can't change what spell it without 8 hours of rest.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on October 15, 2014, 12:37:15 PM
6. For the sake of this game, non-healing cantrips/orisons are infinite. If I feel a usage of a particular infinite cantrip is a problem, I'll address it.

I don't suppose this also applies to Arcane Dilettante? It states: "Once you have used a spell, you cannot use it again until you have rested for 8 hours." At level 2 I get one level 0 spell slot, so even if I have 3 Inspiration to spend, I can only cast 1 spell per 8 hours, technically. If your ruling applies to AD, I can cast the spell X number of Inspiration, but I can't change what spell it without 8 hours of rest.

For today I'll rule no. I'll come back to this over the weekend and figure it out, since it'll require looking at Factotum and figuring out how to handle that. I don't have the time before session today.

Inspiration: I'm not sure how this may impact mechanics-wise, but is there a way to spend inspiration to take 10 on a bluff check in combat? A modification of Uncanny Feint from IB 3 maybe?

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on October 15, 2014, 01:15:13 PM
Inspiration: I'm not sure how this may impact mechanics-wise, but is there a way to spend inspiration to take 10 on a bluff check in combat?

Not RAW. You'd need a Factotum ACF for that. Off the top of my head, you'd probably trade cunning knowledge for cunning somethingthatletsyoutake10onskillchecksunderpressure. I can draw something up like that real quick, if you'd like.

QuoteA modification of Uncanny Feint from IB 3 maybe?

Okay, quick point-out here. From houserules:

Quote20. Design note I've been meaning to add: PrCs don't get ACFs or anything like that. Base classes do. This  comes up every now and again and I'd like to have something to point to rather than explain it each time. So here.

Long story short, ACFs are the domains of base classes. Now this is a case with a custom PrC so it isn't the end of the world to tweak it a bit, but basically that sort of variance is designed for base classes. PrCs are about specialization while base classes are broader.

Quickie so I may tidy it up, but how's this look, Iddy?

Alternate Class Feature: Cunning Reliability

Instead of sudden bursts of insight above and beyond, you specialize in inspired reliability.

Class: Factotum

Level: 1st

Replaces: If you select this alternate class feature, you do not gain cunning knowledge.

Benefit: You can inspire yourself to be as steady as a rock. When you make a skill check, you can spend 1 point of inspiration to take 10 on the check, even if you are threatened or distracted. This does not allow you to take 10 in cases where it is not allowed otherwise, such as with Use Magic Device checks.

<Lucy> OOC: I want to prepare a nice and useful index for future use and sort things out. Categories are: maps/information about other places; magical theories that deviate from the standard (spellpool/metamagic/cooperative magic/etc); the magic that the snake coven used to drain people; Flanagan's personal research and notes

Maps and information on other places

There's not much in the way of maps. Flanagan doesn't seem to be much of a cartographer, something he mentions in one of his research entries.

The majority of his information about places is things in and around Rossalund. It looks like was around the island a fair bit, generally in the service of the medusas. There's a lot of information here, though it largely looks outdated with the tragedy that befell Rossalund.

There's a fair bit of information about Freeport Rock. Mostly notes about reliable places to stay/eat/get supplies (this will help if you care to use it for that) and the like. There's a short list of people to avoid and contacts in the magical world there. Or the hedge wizards as he calls them, doesn't seem to think much of the community there.

Beyond that it's scattered references and jottings. You'd need to spend some time parsing it all and gathering facts together

Magical theories that deviate from the norm

There's not a whole lot here, but there's a few bits. Flanagan did some research into 'runic magic', a system to cast purely by prepared runic carvings. It seems to be the domain of the occasional dwarf who comes to the Lost Realm. He didn't get beyond some surface observations due to a lack of material to study. His tentative conclusion is that it's promising but unrealistic to study unless a tutor or information source is found.

There's a short section on 'arcane divining', which seems to be a method of casting clerical magic as arcane spells. It's centered around a strange study of a feathered jungle serpents who teach worthy mages. Highly promising, but the serpents are rare and seldom take students. They also don't like medusas, he notes.

There's also some observation about light mages. These wizards call on the power of the light sea to fuel magic. They're intensely powerful, having magic that deals devastating amounts of damage if properly channeled. There's only one flaw - the rituals to first tap into the power involves ritually blinding yourself in the light sea. Also, the majority of them end up a little 'off', as he puts it. If this is a function of the ritual or a fact of those who would willingly blind themselves isn't clear.

Finally, there's some notes on spellpools. Mostly jots and doodles about notes on the concept. He mentions hearing that there may be one in Saraduel and he notes interest in studying it. The knowledge here is far from revolutionary - just the base basics beyond that possible lead. It looks solid but it's entirely surface information.

The magic the snake coven used to drain people

Nothing productive here. He doesn't talk directly about their capabilities much. He does mention Mistress De'natha and a passing reference alludes to it being a complication of vampirism. He never goes deeply into her situation, however, beyond a mention or two of it being an unfortunate mess.

Flanagan's other personal research and notes

Flanagan appears to be a jack of all trades. He studies a lot of things in light to moderate depth rather than specializing. It's a broad pool to wade through (and also parts are covered above). There's nothing immediately worthwhile here, but a long study could probably glean out useful insights. It's just not the sort of thing that a few hours of reading will reveal.

Re: Feline and talking to low intelligence (1-2) cats.

The Dragon Compendium briefly discusses feline in tibbit languages. It says that tibbits can use feline to talk to any cat. It mentions the stuff about diplomacy in another section (automatic languages if you're looking for it). My take is going to be this:

1. Tibbits can use feline to talk to cats of any intelligence. Lower intelligence felines talk in an extremely basic way that's as much empathic cyphering as real discussion.
2. Feline can't be spoofed by tongues. This is mostly to keep tongues from butting in on speaking with animals and the like. Effects greater than tongues (such as a deity being able to communicate with any creature that has a language) can spoof feline. These are pretty rare to see, so whatever.
3. With both of these in mind, I'm going to rule that using feline to communicate with lower intelligence felines is a supernatural ability. It's just a thing tibbits can do. Catfolk and other cat-flavored humanoids may or may not be able to use feline to do the same feat as tibbits, I'll leave that open for the moment since Dragon Compendium material doesn't always 100% line up with other books. Anyway, as tibbits have a cat form, I feel it's both best and RAI that they can communicate with basic cats.
4. Feline and telepathy. Telepathy would allow communication with a tibbit that only knew feline. However, it wouldn't allow it with a low intelligence feline. They don't know the language (or any for that matter), but a tibbit with feline can still use it to communicate them.

Any further questions on this one?

(This ruling is mostly making feline as written work. I'm half tempted to just give tibbits a racial ability to communicate with felines instead of as a language thing. It would work better than how they use feline to accomplish this and with less headaches. If y'all feel this is a bullshit ruling, let me know and I'll do that. It won't matter anything on your ends, but it'll make this little tangle a non-issue.)

Is there some sort of item that lets you summon something (via the Summon Monster line or similar spells)? I'm talking about something that's either X times a day or uses up your magic when you activate it, not perishables.

Quote from: Corwin on October 22, 2014, 04:40:32 PM
Is there some sort of item that lets you summon something (via the Summon Monster line or similar spells)? I'm talking about something that's either X times a day or uses up your magic when you activate it, not perishables.

A custom item that can use summon monster or similar spells x times per day? I'm sure there's other things that do it too, but nothing comes immediately to mind.

http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-v35--6/sculpt-sound--2868/

Does the "Object" under Saving Throw refer to just an object, or a creature as well?

Quote from: Nephrite on October 28, 2014, 04:20:13 PM
http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-v35--6/sculpt-sound--2868/

Does the "Object" under Saving Throw refer to just an object, or a creature as well?

It just means that objects are allowed a save against it. Creatures still save as normal.

Okily dokily.

Iddy!

Remember that I promised you a flavor piece for doing logs? It's time to decide what you want it be about. It can be anything in the game world (or anything reasonable to infer), though I reserve the right to veto ideas that would be too spoiler heavy. But I'll make an effort to work with whatever comes to mind for you.

Assassin/spy guild stuff? Whatever's closest to that jazz.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on October 29, 2014, 11:53:13 PM
Assassin/spy guild stuff? Whatever's closest to that jazz.

Okay, I'll get it done over the weekend. Poke me Saturday night if it's not up by then.

http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-mage--58/melodic-casting--1918/

You mentioned this might be problematic with PF Concentration.

Quote from: Nephrite on November 03, 2014, 06:58:31 PM
http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-mage--58/melodic-casting--1918/

You mentioned this might be problematic with PF Concentration.

Yeah, Pathfinder concentration isn't a skill, but casting stat+caster level. Skills tend to skew a fair bit higher and are much easier to grant bonuses to. This really touches on a few things.

1. Is houseruling Pathfinder concentration to something else desired? If so, what?

2. If not, is it a problem to use your skill modifier in place of concentration?

I'm toying with making concentration a skill again but making casting defensively an opposed check versus the CMD of threatening creatures. If I do, it won't be until level up for logistical reasons. Opinions welcome.

That aside, there's a lot less ways to boost caster level than skill checks. It's probably bad balance, but I'm going to leave it in place for now. I don't foresee a lot of concentration checks the way the party plays and I run things, so it's not a gigantic matter. If it becomes more prominent, I'll revisit this ruling then.

PF Concentration specifically avoids skill creep, like with booster items and other methods. I like that it works that way.

Opinion:

What would it cost to update my Vestment of Many Styles (https://eberron-hok.obsidianportal.com/items/vestment-of-many-styles) to simulate this: http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/camouflage-paint--322/

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 12, 2014, 04:31:21 PM
What would it cost to update my Vestment of Many Styles (https://eberron-hok.obsidianportal.com/items/vestment-of-many-styles) to simulate this: http://dndtools.eu/items/magic-item-compendium--73/camouflage-paint--322/

There's a few days that could be done. You could get a permanent +5 competence bonus to stealth checks for (2500 base times 1.5 for adding it to the vest; I'll rule that it's similar enough not to incur the off slot cost booster, too) 3750 gold. This isn't quite the circumstance bonus of the paint, but it's much cheaper.

Something that came up today. Studying the rod of wonder magic gave me insight into creating custom spells if I wished. How would it go for a sorc? Could I make them into scrolls after all the research? Or would they become spells known at levelup? Something else?

Quote from: Corwin on November 14, 2014, 03:08:03 PM
Something that came up today. Studying the rod of wonder magic gave me insight into creating custom spells if I wished. How would it go for a sorc? Could I make them into scrolls after all the research? Or would they become spells known at levelup? Something else?

Sorry about the late reply.

Anyway, you can create custom spells for free. There's no expense, though it does take some downtime to do so. If you make a custom spell, you can choose to take it as a spell known as normal. You don't get them as free bonus spells known. However, if you do go to the trouble of making a custom spell, you'll get a free scroll of it when it's done. Further, the scroll doesn't need to survive to choose the spell later, should you wish to take it.

Realistically, Kamhoff can make a copy of most spells you make too, should you wish that.

Test post.

We're back up, excellent. Check my posts in loot for the harp if you're gonna do anything with it.

Pepo wants to have the harp used on him for -2 str / +2 int.

[18:41] <@Moore> roll 1d20+16 Performance
[18:41] <Serith> Moore roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=11]
[18:42] <@Kotono> OOC: Post roll results, including the sickness days.
[18:42] <@Pepo> roll 1d4+1 sickness
[18:42] <Serith> Pepo roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

Quote from: Ebiris on November 20, 2014, 02:40:49 PM
Pepo wants to have the harp used on him for -2 str / +2 int.

[18:41] <@Moore> roll 1d20+16 Performance
[18:41] <Serith> Moore roll for Serith < 27 > [d20=11]
[18:42] <@Kotono> OOC: Post roll results, including the sickness days.
[18:42] <@Pepo> roll 1d4+1 sickness
[18:42] <Serith> Pepo roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

Goes without incident. Pepo gets smarter and less strong, and spends two days in cat hell. Achy, queasiness, vomiting, fever and messy fur that won't stay in place. Altogether not his best two days, but he got the result he wanted.

I want the harp to adjust -2str/+2cha please.

Quote from: Corwin on November 20, 2014, 03:09:42 PM
I want the harp to adjust -2str/+2cha please.

Sure. Neph, make the rolls and post.

Okay, so check this out. Neph wants to take the Fatesinger prestige class from here: http://www.purpleduckgames.com/qbrdii3

Now it has some issues and needs some tweaks, all of which will require me to do some work on it. This won't be done anytime soon, possibly not before next Monday. For the sake of leveling up, treat Fatesinger as a blank class for now. Since Neph's taking bard on the other side, this covers most everything but whatever class abilities it ends up with.

[14:15] <Nephrite> roll 1d6+3 since I doubt the PrCs hit die will be any different, Hatebot
[14:15] * Hatbot --> "Nephrite rolls 1d6+3 since I doubt the PrCs hit die will be any different, Hatebot  and gets 5." [1d6=2]

Roll for the Performance for Lucy

[14:06] * Moore is now known as Nephrite
[14:12] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+16 Performance again
[14:13] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 26 > [d20=10]

[21:18] <C2> roll 1d4+1 sickness, Hat
[21:18] * +Hatbot --> "C2 rolls 1d4+1 sickness, Hat and gets 3." [1d4=2]

+12hp, +1d6 sa, clarity of confusion, upped all known skills, added knowledge local as skill with 5 ranks, darkstalker feat, +22 pp, 2 5th level powers (psionic major creation and psionic true seeing)

Fantastic. Lucy has some rather miserable shakes and stomach flu-like symptoms, but she endures it in good time. Now she's even more lovable and perfect, she just knows it.

Quote from: Ebiris on November 20, 2014, 03:44:00 PM
+12hp, +1d6 sa, clarity of confusion, upped all known skills, added knowledge local as skill with 5 ranks, darkstalker feat, +22 pp, 2 5th level powers (psionic major creation and psionic true seeing)

Looks good.

Quote from: Anastasia on November 20, 2014, 03:58:03 PM
Fantastic. Lucy has some rather miserable shakes and stomach flu-like symptoms, but she endures it in good time. Now she's even more lovable and perfect, she just knows it.

Just as planned! It's a difficult job but someone has to do it.

Quote from: Corwin on November 20, 2014, 04:12:29 PM

Quote from: Anastasia on November 20, 2014, 03:58:03 PM
Fantastic. Lucy has some rather miserable shakes and stomach flu-like symptoms, but she endures it in good time. Now she's even more lovable and perfect, she just knows it.

Just as planned! It's a difficult job but someone has to do it.

If you want it done right, do it yourself?

[22:55] <C2> Ray of exhaustion and ray of enfeeblement stack, correct?
[22:55] <C2> Since one gives a penalty to str and another reduces str from the status?
[22:55] <C2> And they'd both also stack with a str-sapping poison/disease?
[22:56] <C2> Or really any spell that does str damage, though none come to mind immediately
[22:57] <@Ebiris> Yeah.
[22:57] <@Ebiris> Oh wait...
[22:58] <C2> Hmm?
[22:58] <@Ebiris> Hmm. Both apply penalties, but there's no descriptor like enhancement/morale that you get with bonuses. If you consider them untyped they should stack.
[22:59] <C2> A question for Dune, then!

Quote from: Corwin on November 20, 2014, 05:01:28 PM
[22:55] <C2> Ray of exhaustion and ray of enfeeblement stack, correct?
[22:55] <C2> Since one gives a penalty to str and another reduces str from the status?
[22:55] <C2> And they'd both also stack with a str-sapping poison/disease?
[22:56] <C2> Or really any spell that does str damage, though none come to mind immediately
[22:57] <@Ebiris> Yeah.
[22:57] <@Ebiris> Oh wait...
[22:58] <C2> Hmm?
[22:58] <@Ebiris> Hmm. Both apply penalties, but there's no descriptor like enhancement/morale that you get with bonuses. If you consider them untyped they should stack.
[22:59] <C2> A question for Dune, then!

As long as the penalties are from different sources and/or causes, they'd stack.

Regarding ability damage/drain and penalties, they stack. However, a combination of penalties and drain/damage won't reduce you below 1 in an ability score unless you have enough damage/drain to do so. In other words, the damage/drain is applied before the penalties. For example, a commoner with Str 10 who suffers 6 points of Strength damage and then a -4 penalty to Strength from a wizard's ray of enfeeblement would have an effective Strength score of 1.

If in doubt, DM judgment comes into play.

Please update people and especially places!

Quote from: Corwin on November 21, 2014, 05:13:04 AM
Please update people and especially places!

I've been meaning to. I will over the weekend, hopefully.

--

On a related note, don't expect a whole lot out of me today. Need a quiet day, just not feeling it.

Quote from: Anastasia on November 17, 2014, 04:36:21 PM

Quote from: Corwin on November 14, 2014, 03:08:03 PM
Something that came up today. Studying the rod of wonder magic gave me insight into creating custom spells if I wished. How would it go for a sorc? Could I make them into scrolls after all the research? Or would they become spells known at levelup? Something else?

Sorry about the late reply.

Anyway, you can create custom spells for free. There's no expense, though it does take some downtime to do so. If you make a custom spell, you can choose to take it as a spell known as normal. You don't get them as free bonus spells known. However, if you do go to the trouble of making a custom spell, you'll get a free scroll of it when it's done. Further, the scroll doesn't need to survive to choose the spell later, should you wish to take it.

Realistically, Kamhoff can make a copy of most spells you make too, should you wish that.

Is it possible for me to get a spellbook and scribe the researched spells into it using the usual pricing? I may not be able to prepare spells from it, but others (like Kamhoff) could.

Quote from: Corwin on November 21, 2014, 05:02:11 PM

Quote from: Anastasia on November 17, 2014, 04:36:21 PM

Quote from: Corwin on November 14, 2014, 03:08:03 PM
Something that came up today. Studying the rod of wonder magic gave me insight into creating custom spells if I wished. How would it go for a sorc? Could I make them into scrolls after all the research? Or would they become spells known at levelup? Something else?

Sorry about the late reply.

Anyway, you can create custom spells for free. There's no expense, though it does take some downtime to do so. If you make a custom spell, you can choose to take it as a spell known as normal. You don't get them as free bonus spells known. However, if you do go to the trouble of making a custom spell, you'll get a free scroll of it when it's done. Further, the scroll doesn't need to survive to choose the spell later, should you wish to take it.

Realistically, Kamhoff can make a copy of most spells you make too, should you wish that.

Is it possible for me to get a spellbook and scribe the researched spells into it using the usual pricing? I may not be able to prepare spells from it, but others (like Kamhoff) could.

Sure.

Any other harp usages before tomorrow's session?

---

Re: Fatesinger. For level 1 we'll roll with it as written. I'm not going to get to it immediately in any case. That means +cha to AC as a deflection bonus...and that's it, since it's otherwise a bard level.

More on this later. +cha may be too high optimization here, we'll see how it shakes out.

+5 hp, +1 fort, +2 will, +1 to all skills, feat is spell focus: divination for Fatesinger (ugh, but there's no getting around it), Inspire Greatness

No bab/saves gains, Necromantic Bloodline, SR, +cha.

Interested in the Skill Tricks CLARITY OF VISION, DISTRACTING TAUNT, GROUP FAKE-OUT, and MOSQUITO'S BITE.

Primarily Group Fake-Out, but I'm concerned about its usefulness considering the stacking penalty. NEVER OUTNUMBERED however, doesn't stack any penalties, so that might be more useful. Open to ideas/suggestions!

Edit additional questions: I'm considering swapping my Rogue and Fighter levels for Psychic Rogue and Psychic Warrior. Before I do so, I have a few questions.

1) Changing from Rogue to Psychic Rogue will lose me 1d6 of Sneak Attack, 10 Skill Points, and Uncanny Dodge. Also Penetrating Strike, I believe, since that's a Rogue ACF. In place of that, I gain PP, Psionic Powers, and Danger Sense.

I'm cool with the Skill Points and the Sneak Attack hit, but Danger Sense is fairly useless to me, so I was wondering if I could ask to ACF/replace Danger Sense with Uncanny Dodge, and retain the Penetrating Strike ACF since they're both rogue classes, or your suggestion. Though gaining psionics is a big buff.

2) I'm totally cool with everything from Fighter -> Psychic Warrior.

Quote from: Corwin on November 24, 2014, 04:43:30 PM
No bab/saves gains, Necromantic Bloodline, SR, +cha.

A good level for you. Anyway, quick note re: necromantic bloodline.

- Eyebite's an evil descriptor spell. I dunno if you'd use it much, but do note that if you're trying not to go full evil.

- Wail of the Banshee needs to be subbed out, doesn't need to be dealt with until you get to 9th level spells. Energy drain's an easy sub anyway, just heads up.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 24, 2014, 05:35:09 PM
Interested in the Skill Tricks CLARITY OF VISION, DISTRACTING TAUNT, GROUP FAKE-OUT, and MOSQUITO'S BITE.

Primarily Group Fake-Out, but I'm concerned about its usefulness considering the stacking penalty. NEVER OUTNUMBERED however, doesn't stack any penalties, so that might be more useful. Open to ideas/suggestions!

Clarity of vision's fine. Fairly useful if you're dealing with the invisible. Just read up on how invisibility works and what the terminology mentioned really means regarding sneak attack.

What's distracting taunt? I don't see it in there.

Group fake out's useful for what it is. The stacking -2 hurts, but being able to multi-target feints could be useful. I'd consider it a reasonable use of skill points to pick up. Never outnumbered is useful for the same reasons.

[quote\Edit additional questions: I'm considering swapping my Rogue and Fighter levels for Psychic Rogue and Psychic Warrior. Before I do so, I have a few questions.

1) Changing from Rogue to Psychic Rogue will lose me 1d6 of Sneak Attack, 10 Skill Points, and Uncanny Dodge. Also Penetrating Strike, I believe, since that's a Rogue ACF. In place of that, I gain PP, Psionic Powers, and Danger Sense.[/quote]

You would lose penetrating strike, yes. It's probably worth it since you're going all feinty anyway, so you mostly have that problem covered. Anyway, gaining psionics would give you a boost.

QuoteI'm cool with the Skill Points and the Sneak Attack hit, but Danger Sense is fairly useless to me, so I was wondering if I could ask to ACF/replace Danger Sense with Uncanny Dodge, and retain the Penetrating Strike ACF since they're both rogue classes, or your suggestion. Though gaining psionics is a big buff.

I'd be fine with trading danger sense for one or the other, but not both.

Quote2) I'm totally cool with everything from Fighter -> Psychic Warrior.

It's fine, so long as losing full BAB progression from fighter is workable for you. How much this matters depends on the build in question. Make sure you read up on how psionic multiclassing works: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/index.htm#multiclassPsionicCharacters

In other words, you have one unified pool of power points. However, you maintain separate powers known lists that have their own manifester level.

(As an aside, I usually prefer fighter over PW for 1-2 level dips, unless the character is already psionic. I'd rather have the point of BAB than weak manifesting, since the added complexity of tracking psionic powers isn't worth it to me. From a charop perspective, psychic warrior is almost always superior, assuming the character in question has the requisite 11 Int for 1st level manifesting. But not as much as you might think, since the low manifester level and PP limit what powers you do get with the dip.

That all being said, I think switching to PW is worth it for you, since you're already investing in some psychic rogue levels.)

Would you consider allowing this for Psychic Rogue?

"Drow Rogue (DU, p 58): Gain poison use, lose trapfinding."

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 25, 2014, 12:19:23 AM
Would you consider allowing this for Psychic Rogue?

"Drow Rogue (DU, p 58): Gain poison use, lose trapfinding."

Sure, it's just trapfinding.

Edit: I think Pepo has it anyway, and if so, let the kitty deal with the traps.

Neph, mind rolling to stat swap from cha to int for me, via harp? Thanks!

Sure thing. Roll it when you see it and post, Neph.

[12:47] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+16 Harp for Veren
[12:47] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 18 > [d20=2]
[12:50] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+16 Harp for Veren take 2 because clearly I wasn't feeling it the first time
[12:50] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 18 > [d20=2]
[12:51] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+17 Harp for Veren take 3 because what in the world also I forgot I gained a level
[12:51] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 37 > [d20=20]

<Kotono> Also roll 1d4+1 and post that, Iddy.
> roll 1d4+1
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 25, 2014, 01:56:53 PM
<Kotono> Also roll 1d4+1 and post that, Iddy.
> roll 1d4+1
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

What follows is two days of the worst, most violent stomach flu Veren's ever had. Not that this is hard with amnesia and all, but the point is that he spends two days with both ends being all hands on deck for repeated and vigorous evacuations. Really, the migraine headache and fever chills that go with it just seems like extraneous  misery, but he endures all of it and comes out smarter for it.

Quote from: Anastasia on November 25, 2014, 02:00:03 PM

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 25, 2014, 01:56:53 PM
<Kotono> Also roll 1d4+1 and post that, Iddy.
> roll 1d4+1
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

What follows is two days of the worst, most violent stomach flu Veren's ever had. Not that this is hard with amnesia and all, but the point is that he spends two days with both ends being all hands on deck for repeated and vigorous evacuations. Really, the migraine headache and fever chills that go with it just seems like extraneous  misery, but he endures all of it and comes out smarter for it.

Most of that sounds like dysentery.

I've had that before.

Twice.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 25, 2014, 02:52:12 PM

Quote from: Anastasia on November 25, 2014, 02:00:03 PM

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 25, 2014, 01:56:53 PM
<Kotono> Also roll 1d4+1 and post that, Iddy.
> roll 1d4+1
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 2 > [d4=1]

What follows is two days of the worst, most violent stomach flu Veren's ever had. Not that this is hard with amnesia and all, but the point is that he spends two days with both ends being all hands on deck for repeated and vigorous evacuations. Really, the migraine headache and fever chills that go with it just seems like extraneous  misery, but he endures all of it and comes out smarter for it.

Most of that sounds like dysentery.

I've had that before.

Twice.

We have a winner.

Okay, so Conealing Amorpha says: Using concealing amorpha, you weave a quasi-real membrane around yourself. You remain visible within the translucent, amorphous enclosure. This distortion grants you concealment (opponents have a 20% miss chance), thanks to the rippling membrane encasing your form.

Now, I know it doesn't grant total concealment, only partial. What kind of ways can I use it with stealth? I know I can't exactly do hiding in plain sight type stuff, but I'm sure it comes into play somewhere.

I'll answer that when I'm more coherent, Iddy. As for now, here's a preview of Jetina. She's about 90% done, but the last 10% is a little too much for me right now. Sleepy.

Special Attacks: Smite evil 2/day, favored enemies (undead+4, monstrous humanoids+2), channel energy(4d6+7; DC 15).
Special Qualities: Aura of good, detect evil, divine grace, aura of courage, divine health, damage reduction 1/-, healing hands, aura of protection(DC 17), effortless healing, lingering healing(4).

She uses the inquisitor paladin variant. This loses her lay on hands, turn undead and favored enemy. As healer gives turn undead and makes the other two irrelevant, trading those for favored enemy makes perfect sense. She also trades her mount for battle scarred paladin (see homebrew over on the Balmuria:Rules and Setting board) and paladin spellcasting for bonus feats.

Her healing's pretty good. A typical CLW from her heals 1d8+12 and grants fast healing 4 for an additional 7 rounds after. She doesn't provoke AoOs when casting healing spells, so she's a natural combat medic. As healers know their entire spell list and cast spontaneously, she has a whole lot of ways to fix injuries and negative conditions.

While she does have offensive options with her greatsword, she's primarily a healer who can pitch in during combat.

PS: Check out healer in homebrew. There's a ton of spell choices, so suggesting useful ones would be helpful. I'll note that vigor and the like are unusually sub-par for her, since she gives out fast healing when she casts a healing spell anyway.

After the issue with the food, purify food and drink is probably a no-brainer, along with create food and water maybe? Prestidigitation can make all the food have a better flavor and texture if we want.

Gildas had a lot of success with Greater Resistance since it's basically +3 to all saves for a spell slot.

Do her healing bonuses stack with Healing Hymn's?

Quote from: Nephrite on November 26, 2014, 09:17:41 AM
After the issue with the food, purify food and drink is probably a no-brainer, along with create food and water maybe? Prestidigitation can make all the food have a better flavor and texture if we want.

Gildas had a lot of success with Greater Resistance since it's basically +3 to all saves for a spell slot.

Do her healing bonuses stack with Healing Hymn's?

She doesn't get prestidigitation, but y'all can supply that. Greater resistance isn't a bad idea and she can hand that out on request - once she gains another level, since she doesn't get that until 8th level, as healers are on sorcerer progression.

Healing hymn stacks with her bonuses to healing. So how much would a typical healing hymn boost her spells?

Also, if anyone has good PrC suggestions for her, I'm all ears. It would probably be on the paladin side. In a related tangent, she'll be getting an ACF for unicorn companion next level.

+9 as of this level.

A typical CLW from her heals 1d8+21 and grants fast healing 4 for an additional 7 rounds after, assuming healing hymn. Impressive.

I wonder what justifies this level of healing, hm?

Quote from: Anastasia on November 26, 2014, 01:25:57 PM
Also, if anyone has good PrC suggestions for her, I'm all ears. It would probably be on the paladin side. In a related tangent, she'll be getting an ACF for unicorn companion next level.

Radiant Servant of Pelor? Boosts the undead-hate and healing, it looks. (Also the light thing, considering the sea of light.)

Hmm... All of these probably need work (everything seems to), but Hospitaler, Combat Medic, or Sanctified One (Ehlonna) might mesh well.

Knight Protector might, but that's a bit more front-liney.

Todo list:

1. Iddy's fluff piece. Sorry about the delay, I may do a second to compensate.
2. Sheet audit for Iddy post rebuild.
3. Concealing amorpha question from a few posts back.
4. Names and places topic. That's a lot of work, so if someone wants to volunteer, I'm all for it. This is by far the most work, so don't expect miracles here if I don't get to it or get a volunteer.

I have time off this coming week or two, so I'm looking to trim down my backlog. If I missed anything, post it here.

I'd be happy to hear any final insights you said there might be from http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103205.msg1054039.html#msg1054039

I also want to see a variant of Tainted Sorcerer/Scholar that fits well with the world, or the feat(s) version of the main features, like we talked about.

Quote from: Corwin on November 29, 2014, 01:27:58 PM
I'd be happy to hear any final insights you said there might be from http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103205.msg1054039.html#msg1054039

I also want to see a variant of Tainted Sorcerer/Scholar that fits well with the world, or the feat(s) version of the main features, like we talked about.

Not in order of resolution at this point since I'm just tossing them onto the list.


1. Iddy's fluff piece. Sorry about the delay, I may do a second to compensate.
2. Sheet audit for Iddy post rebuild.
3. Concealing amorpha question from a few posts back.
4. Names and places topic. That's a lot of work, so if someone wants to volunteer, I'm all for it. This is by far the most work, so don't expect miracles here if I don't get to it or get a volunteer.
5. Finish research post for Cor.
6. Tainted sorc stuff.

I'll volunteer. I'll make a new thread that I could edit myself, then?

Sure. Feel free to copy/paste anything you need from the old one.

Also, since it's an effort like logging, want a flavor piece?

I'd like to do some investigating in the city. I'd like to find out about the Thieve's Guild and the Assassin's Guild.

The intent is to become a member and take contracts against mages, primarily, so Lucy and Kamhoff can piggy back off the contract and jack arcane research and materials.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 29, 2014, 03:18:54 PM
I'd like to do some investigating in the city. I'd like to find out about the Thieve's Guild and the Assassin's Guild.

The intent is to become a member and take contracts against mages, primarily, so Lucy and Kamhoff can piggy back off the contract and jack arcane research and materials.

Okay, that'll need be done IC as circumstances permit. Monday or Tuesday, depending on how things shake out.

I'd be grateful for one! I'd like a sort of outlook on the deities of knowledge and any legendary notes on such. Similar to what one might find on the Muses or Eidiyia in contemporary literature.

Thanks for the effort, Cor. I'll add your request to my agenda over the week.

A few comments on the kiosk, as well as clarifications so y'all have accurate information.

1. What's the colors for? Any particular color code?

2. Lost Hero isn't naked, but was noted as wearing 'well maintained, polished armor'. Edit: If you're curious about the streaker the guard mentioned, that was Pepo after taking human form for the first time. I thought that was obvious from context, but perhaps not.

3. I get a big kick out of you writing your biases into the information, it's funny as hell. But for the sake of everyone (including me, as I use these sort of topics too), just make sure it doesn't supplant known truths.

4. Were you going to do terms as well?

5. Little didn't mention being a familiar. It's not an unreasonable guess, but he mentioned other servants of his master. His situation with him isn't clear.

6. Probably worth mentioning that the mysterious volcanic island vanished after you escaped the big boom there.

1. Iddy's fluff piece. Sorry about the delay, I may do a second to compensate.
2. Sheet audit for Iddy post rebuild.
3. Concealing amorpha question from a few posts back.
4. Names and places topic. That's a lot of work, so if someone wants to volunteer, I'm all for it. This is by far the most work, so don't expect miracles here if I don't get to it or get a volunteer.
5. Finish research post for Cor.
6. Tainted sorc stuff.
7. Cor's fluff post about knowledge deities.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on November 26, 2014, 02:27:00 AM
Okay, so Conealing Amorpha says: Using concealing amorpha, you weave a quasi-real membrane around yourself. You remain visible within the translucent, amorphous enclosure. This distortion grants you concealment (opponents have a 20% miss chance), thanks to the rippling membrane encasing your form.

Now, I know it doesn't grant total concealment, only partial. What kind of ways can I use it with stealth? I know I can't exactly do hiding in plain sight type stuff, but I'm sure it comes into play somewhere.

It allows you to make Stealth checks with it. In other words, if you have concealment, you can hide without finding something to hide along. In a practical sense, this particular concealment is particularly vulnerable to area attacks. As it's hard to miss the transparent, amorphous blob that hides you.

Feel free to read more here. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/combatModifiers.htm#concealment

1. Iddy's fluff piece. Sorry about the delay, I may do a second to compensate.
2. Sheet audit for Iddy post rebuild.
3. Concealing amorpha question from a few posts back.
4. Names and places topic. That's a lot of work, so if someone wants to volunteer, I'm all for it. This is by far the most work, so don't expect miracles here if I don't get to it or get a volunteer.
5. Finish research post for Cor.
6. Tainted sorc stuff.
7. Cor's fluff post about knowledge deities.

Cor was interested in tainted sorcerer, as seen here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/taint.htm

Taint isn't suitable for this campaign and won't be used here. However, I'm willing to convert a few aspects of tainted sorcerer for him. I'm going to do these as feats, as the PrC is really boring. You get everything at level 1 and then normal casting progression with nothing else.

Blood Component [General]
Prerequisite: Eschew Materials, con 15
Benefit: You may use blood in place of material components. You may use your own blood or the blood of another. Using your own blood is a free action that may be done any time you cast a spell and have the means to draw your own blood, such as a bladed weapon. Using the blood of another creature increases the casting time by a variable amount. A helpless or willing creature requires only a swift action to draw the blood from, while other creatures vary in the time needed. Replacing a material component that costs 1 gp or less requires 1 point of damage. Costlier material components require more, see the table below.



   
   
   
   
   

Component Cost	Damage Dealt
50 gp or less	5
51-300 gp	10
301-750 gp	15
751+ gp	Varies

For extremely expensive components (751+ gp), ask the DM for more information.

---

This is more or less the same. I toned down the damage for the lesser categories a bit, in exchange for toning down the last category. There's not many spells with material components that expensive, but it's best not to make a blanket rule there. It's the sort of thing that can be abused later on, mostly by high and epic level characters. Also, this doesn't cover expensive focuses and the like, so bear that in mind.

I think this makes an decent feat. It's closer to being a class feature, but in this circumstance I'm okay with it.

---

Blood Metamagic [General]
Prerequisite: Any metamagic feat, con 15
Benefit: You can take Constitution damage to power your spells with metamagic. As a free action when you cast a spell, you may choose to take Constitution damage equal to the spell slot adjustment of the metamagic you wish to apply to the spell. If you do, that metamagic is applied to the spell without using a higher level spell slot. You cannot augment a spell to a level above what you would be able to cast. For example, if you wished to empower a fireball, you would need to be able to cast 5th level arcane spells.
Special: If you are immune to ability damage, you cannot take this feat. Likewise, if you are temporarily immune to ability damage, you cannot use this feat as long as you are.

Okay, quick disclaimer. I'm iffy on allowing this in. It's the sort of thing that can be abused, plus it's a higher optimization level than I really want in this game. If you do take this, I'm going to be keeping close tabs on it. Fair warning and all that. It's not that I don't trust y'all, it's that I don't want this game's power level inflating.

---

The rest of tainted sorcerer isn't remotely appropriate or suitable for this campaign, so that's all.

Quote from: Anastasia on November 30, 2014, 11:45:26 PM
Thanks for the effort, Cor. I'll add your request to my agenda over the week.

A few comments on the kiosk, as well as clarifications so y'all have accurate information.

1. What's the colors for? Any particular color code?

2. Lost Hero isn't naked, but was noted as wearing 'well maintained, polished armor'. Edit: If you're curious about the streaker the guard mentioned, that was Pepo after taking human form for the first time. I thought that was obvious from context, but perhaps not.

3. I get a big kick out of you writing your biases into the information, it's funny as hell. But for the sake of everyone (including me, as I use these sort of topics too), just make sure it doesn't supplant known truths.

4. Were you going to do terms as well?

5. Little didn't mention being a familiar. It's not an unreasonable guess, but he mentioned other servants of his master. His situation with him isn't clear.

6. Probably worth mentioning that the mysterious volcanic island vanished after you escaped the big boom there.

1. Red=left for dead, orange=mostly dead, blue=still okay. Just a helpful color-coded guide!
2. I know the streaker was humanPepo. I just thought the green guy was shirtless. I'll reread when I go into more detail.
3. I figured it'd be more fun for me to present a POV writeup rather than the dry facts. If that's cool, I'll stick with it. If I happen to supplant something that goes against what I know/suspect IC, let me know?
4. Maybe later. I need to think about how to handle that, so for now I want to edit the first two posts properly.
5. Just inference. I can add 'presumed' or somesuch in the writeup.
6. Sure!

It's possible to add the first log something came up in. Is that worth the bother?

Up to you on that one.

Question:

Am I able to use Improvisation in conjunction with Bardic Knack on the same skill check that I don't have points in? For example, could I use Improvisation to give me a total of +8 to Profession (Underwater Basket Weaving) if I wanted to?

Quote from: Nephrite on December 02, 2014, 05:59:34 PM
Question:

Am I able to use Improvisation in conjunction with Bardic Knack on the same skill check that I don't have points in? For example, could I use Improvisation to give me a total of +8 to Profession (Underwater Basket Weaving) if I wanted to?

Yes. Improvisation is a luck bonus while bardic knack allows you to use half your bard level in place of your normal skill ranks.

Follow-up question about Bardic Knack, do I round up or down? I've seen conflicting reports on this.

Also, do I add my attribute modifier to rolls made with it? So, for example, if I were to try a Perform (Acting) check, would it be 5+8 or just 5? (Assuming the number rounds up).

Quote from: Nephrite on December 03, 2014, 08:25:20 PM
Follow-up question about Bardic Knack, do I round up or down? I've seen conflicting reports on this.

Also, do I add my attribute modifier to rolls made with it? So, for example, if I were to try a Perform (Acting) check, would it be 5+8 or just 5? (Assuming the number rounds up).

You round down in D&D unless it says otherwise in a particular ability. Bardic knack specifically mentions rounding up, so you'd round up.

You would add your attribute modifier and other bonuses as normal. It uses 1/2 your bard level in place of skill ranks, so everything else works as normal.

1. Iddy's fluff piece. Sorry about the delay, I may do a second to compensate.
2. Sheet audit for Iddy post rebuild.
3. Concealing amorpha question from a few posts back.
4. Names and places topic. That's a lot of work, so if someone wants to volunteer, I'm all for it. This is by far the most work, so don't expect miracles here if I don't get to it or get a volunteer.
5. Finish research post for Cor.
6. Tainted sorc stuff.
7. Cor's fluff post about knowledge deities.

<Moore> Out of curiosity, i just looked that Pixies have a -4 penalty to Grapple Checks, should I have included that in my rolls to escape?

I'm guessing that's for if *I* try a grapple check, but I figured I'd ask.

Okay, after a pretty shit month, I'm finally getting my crap together. I'm going to try and knock out some backlog over the coming few days.

So it looks like I made a serious blunder some time ago. My Charisma modifier is +7, and not +8. I don't know how I got +8 originally, I must've looked at the chart incorrectly. But the modifier is now +7 since I have 24 Charisma.

My apologies.

Addendum: I did not, in fact, make a mistake. I forgot my two bonus stat points went into Charisma to give me 26.

Well, at least that's cleared up.

Cool.

<Iddy> You wanted to do an audit on my sheet since I changed that stuff.
<Kotono> Oh right. Yeah, lemme.
<Kotono> I got a bunch of things that got punted due the whole December drama.
<Iddy> Yeah.
<Iddy> I just remembered.
* Kotono nods. Post a reminder in nagging.

Right, I'll add it to the list.

Is there a source of poisons in the city, or is it something outlawed there?

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on January 06, 2015, 12:56:29 AM
Is there a source of poisons in the city, or is it something outlawed there?

You'd have to be back in town to find out.

Off the record and without checking my notes, I think it falls into legal but monitored territory.

For later dealings-with: Need a ring or dagger of Grave Strike pricing.

I have absolutely no idea what to look into with regards to our shopping. Can anyone suggest anything? I'm open to ideas.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on January 07, 2015, 06:47:08 PM
For later dealings-with: Need a ring or dagger of Grave Strike pricing.

Cross-post this in loot so I can reference it the next time I'm there.

Question: http://www.imarvintpa.com/dndlive/items.php?ID=3141

If I were to get a Vest of Legend, would the +CL for the abilities apply to things I've replaced? For example, I replaced fascinate with Healing Hymn, so could this work on that instead?

I don't know if we're at the point of custom spells yet, but I'd like to, if possible, design one that can be used like Inspirational Boost but to give Inspire Courage some sort of bonus to spells, either in DC or caster level.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 15, 2015, 01:08:42 PM
Question: http://www.imarvintpa.com/dndlive/items.php?ID=3141

If I were to get a Vest of Legend, would the +CL for the abilities apply to things I've replaced? For example, I replaced fascinate with Healing Hymn, so could this work on that instead?

RAW no, but working out some sort of variant that helps with it is entirely reasonable.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 15, 2015, 01:33:31 PM
I don't know if we're at the point of custom spells yet, but I'd like to, if possible, design one that can be used like Inspirational Boost but to give Inspire Courage some sort of bonus to spells, either in DC or caster level.

Okay. Before that, do some homework and see if any other bard spells do anything similar, would you?

Sure, on both counts.

The only things that do anything similar are feats like Metamagic Song or Enchanting song. There aren't any bardic spells that do anything for DCs except to a bard's own spells (and those aren't much, like Songbird and that sort of thing).

If we could work out a variant for that Vest that'd be great, but I don't think I'll have the cash for it anytime soon.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 15, 2015, 03:12:47 PM
The only things that do anything similar are feats like Metamagic Song or Enchanting song. There aren't any bardic spells that do anything for DCs except to a bard's own spells (and those aren't much, like Songbird and that sort of thing).

If we could work out a variant for that Vest that'd be great, but I don't think I'll have the cash for it anytime soon.

Call it 18k instead of 16k and that would be fine for a variant vest.

As far as the magic goes, hm. I'd have to sit down and do some thinking and homework on it.

Okay. I'll put that on the agenda for things I will want to purchase at some point, then.

EDIT: Actually, could I give, say, 6k to Kamhoff now to start work on making something like that and give him the rest later in increments? It doesn't need to give me anything until I give him all the money, I just figured I could do it in payments.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 17, 2015, 12:41:32 AM
Okay. I'll put that on the agenda for things I will want to purchase at some point, then.

EDIT: Actually, could I give, say, 6k to Kamhoff now to start work on making something like that and give him the rest later in increments? It doesn't need to give me anything until I give him all the money, I just figured I could do it in payments.

Yeah, just keep track of what you've given him on your sheet somewhere.

Good news, everyone! Jetina is underlevelled compared to the party (2 below) and participated in (as well as survived) a long, dangerous dungeon. She's earned a level up to catch up to 1 level below the party.

Jetina reaches level 8.

- Paladin 8 and Healer 8.
- 8 on a d10 for 10 hit points and a grand total of 68 hit points.
- BAB rises by 1.
- Damage reduction rises to 2/- thanks to battlescarred paladin.
- Gains a unicorn companion. Not sure if I'll trade this out for something else yet.
- Jetina gains another 3rd level spell charge and 3+1=4 4th level spell charges. She has access to 4th level healer spells now.
- Jetina gains +1 fort.
- It's level 8, so Jetina gets a +1 to a stat of choice. She chooses Wisdom for 22 Wisdom. A bunch of values improve.
- Skills go up as normal.
- Jetina gains a feat from paladin 8 thanks to the holy warrior ACF. She chooses Power Attack and retrains her level 3 feat to Empower Turning.

As an aside, I may retrain her aura of protection for something else. It doesn't fit her take on healing and to be honest, I usually forget about it since it doesn't fit. I'll whip up an ACF at some point soon.

As requested:

<Kotono> As a bit of compensation since I'm blarghfuckle today, if y'all have a good question about the setting that isn't super spoilery, I'll answer it.
<Lucy> What's the Creation myth?
<Kotono> Varies wildly between faiths and islands. I can tell you Qupan's and a few others if you like.
<Lucy> Sure
<Lucy> I figure that with only ten generations going back at the most people would still remember how things started
<Kotono> Qupan made the world with wisdom and knowledge. He plucked it out from all the radiant lights and made it solid from the light itself. Rings of light meld together into one.
<Veren> What's this world's version of the Konami code?
<Kotono> The local line in Rossalund was that a great medusa made the world. She turned the light into stone and the stone into the islands. It was more propaganda than a real stance, but a fair few of the lower classes believed it since they knew nothing else.
<Kotono> There isn't one, Iddy. There is an IDDQD equivalent, but good luck finding it.
<Ebiris> Most places we've seen are cosmopolitan, with a vague exception for the medusa ruling caste in Rossalund. Are there any species exclusive settlements/organizations?
<Moore> Did the demiplane exist before people started showing up?
<Kotono> A couple, but the nature of the plane means cosmopolitan-ness is the norm. Since odd creatures just show up at random times. Falbard has a strong human component for example.
<Kotono> Too spoilery to answer, Neph.
* Moore is now known as Nephrite
<Kotono> I probably won't answer any questions that get into what the demiplane's about, they'd fall under spoileryness.
<Kotono> Anyway, creatures showing up plus amnesia means a lot of the normal divides never established.
<Lucy> Is there a large fiendish presence? And if so do the devils/demons quarrel? Go to open war?
<Nephrite> Are there fey circles?
<Ebiris> Add doppelganger or cat groups for completeness.
<Lucy> Do most people go 'demon? meh' or just the super strong mages?
<Kotono> There are fiends. Devils and demons instinctively can't stand each other (law chaos alone, let alone any racial animus boiled into them, assuming the Blood War is standard here and all that), so they do fight sometimes. It's more individual incidents than organized, though.
<Veren> Is there a doppelganger authority, like there's rumored to be in other places?
<Kotono> There are fey, though there's no separate fey world or anything.
<Lucy> Laf
<Lucy> Now I'm thinking of DS9
<Lucy> And Iddy going off to find this rumored great sea of changelings
<Kotono> Evil creatures tend to look nasty and do things that quickly set them as menaces. The learned might realize a demon is something bad. This tends to sort itself out anyway due to their basic natures.
<Ebiris> Little and Lucy are both cool in my book.
<Kotono> Doppelgangers are in a weird spot in world. They tend to just blend in wherever they end up, since they're social climbers and worms that have amnesia.
<Kotono> There may well be some sort of organization of them, though. But a lot just fall through the cracks.
<Kotono> Same for devils. They tend to instinctively organize, but the nature of the plane means a lot never find other devils.
<Kotono> Anyway, one more question if anyone has a good one and then I'm away for ab it.
<Lucy> Has anyone ever ascended to godhood or claimed to do so?
<Kotono> There have been those that claimed. The reality of it is anyone's guess.
<Kotono> Also, if someone wants to copy/paste all the questions and answers into nagging, that would be nice.

Unnecessary since Iddy did it, but I thought I'd have some fun.

Thanks to both of you.

Jetina retrained aura of protection into the practical defense ACF. It can be found in the homebrew section of Balmuria's Rules and Setting board.It's one of the few ways (besides the saint template) to get Wisdom to AC in medium or heavy armor, albeit with a three level dip in a highly defensive class.

It's also a sacred bonus instead of an untyped bonus, to make it a little less exploitable.

A shocker lizard update summary.

As you all know, I tend to change shocker lizards up from the SRD standard. While I don't want to post the full statblock that I use as a base for them, here's a few things.

1. Shocker lizards can crawl on ceilings without any risk of falling, as well as most smooth or difficult to climb surfaces.

2. Most shocker lizards have a way of dealing lethal damage with electricity when alone, but not always.

3. Various mutations, alterations and advanced shocker lizards are common.

4. Shocker lizards have a tendency towards hive organization, including the ability to share their electricity sense with any other lizard within range. In other words, a group of lizards can make one shared, massive electricity sensing area.

5. Shocker lizards like water, but prefer underground nests and mountainous nests. This replaces the bit in the SRD that mentions they prefer warm marshes.

6. There are strains of shocker lizards that can breathe underwater. As electricity diffuses underwater, they tend to be groups of them surrounded by terribly powerful electrical fields. Woe to the creatures that are seen by them.

7. Shocker lizards are always watching.

When I'm at the city and have incurred a Spellpool debt, let's assume I return it as swiftly as possible off screen, without waiting any days.

Quote from: Corwin on January 27, 2015, 05:04:52 PM
When I'm at the city and have incurred a Spellpool debt, let's assume I return it as swiftly as possible off screen, without waiting any days.

Sure. That's fine, assuming any downtime you can pay off your spellpool debt then.

Also Cor, allow me to nag about the information kiosk.

Sorry, once I work sensible hours it'll resume.
In turn, bugging you back over promised fluff!

Quote from: Corwin on January 28, 2015, 01:56:13 PM
Sorry, once I work sensible hours it'll resume.
In turn, bugging you back over promised fluff!

/me whimpers.

Am I able to use the Harp of Adjustment to only move 1 ability point or does it have to be 2?

EDIT: Either way, I will be taking Dexterity and putting it into Constitution.

EDIT2: Moore would like to see if he can find a Ring of Evasion in the city. He would also try and haggle / use his Diplomatic skills (and the fact that he sort of helped save the city) to see if he could get a discount. If someone could make one, he'd also be happy to give them his skills at competence and insight for some amount of time in payment.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 28, 2015, 04:34:55 PM
Am I able to use the Harp of Adjustment to only move 1 ability point or does it have to be 2?

EDIT: Either way, I will be taking Dexterity and putting it into Constitution.

Two points at a time only. Make the check, post it and roll the duration of your sickness.

QuoteEDIT2: Moore would like to see if he can find a Ring of Evasion in the city. He would also try and haggle / use his Diplomatic skills (and the fact that he sort of helped save the city) to see if he could get a discount. If someone could make one, he'd also be happy to give them his skills at competence and insight for some amount of time in payment.

I generally don't hand out the sort of things that mimic class features like that. If you want evasion, a few suggestions.

The quickest way to get it is a one level dip into Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries. This is a monk-ish PrC and qualifying would be hard for you. The simplest way is a 2 level dip in rogue and monk. There's various PrCs that grant it as well. The following link is a list of things and how to get them, do a ctrl+f for evasion to skip to it.

http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=e3kt2mv9scipceb3ljh0f5obh0&topic=1412.0

There's really no in-character reason for Moore to ever take Monk or Rogue, so I'll just take Evasion from a feat if I'm allowed to do so.

[12:21] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+17 String Instruments for the Harp, 2 Dex to 2 Con
[12:21] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 30 > [d20=13]
[12:22] <Nephrite> roll 1d4+1 sickness
[12:22] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 4 > [d4=3]
[12:22] <Kotono> Congratulations.

+8hp, +1 bab, +1 all saves, +20pp, +2 powers known (adapt body and cranial deluge)

A fairly quiet level.

But hey, I now have a power that can damage Lost Hero, even if it is fort negates.

Something that came up recently. If Magic Missile were used with Fell Drain, and all five missiles were spread out across five people, would they all get a negative level upon being hit?

Is it possible to swap a spell for Kelgore's Grave Mist?

Arcane Fusion is okay for a new lvl5 spell? Summon Undead V?

Are we using summons taking a full round per raw or a standard action as a houserule?

> roll 1d8 HP
<Serith> Iddy roll for Serith < 7 > [d8=7]

+1 BAB, +10 HP (7 roll+3 Con), +1 Spell level, +15 Skill Points (6 IB+5 int+4 houserules)

+1d6 Sneak Attack, Unfettered Defense, Brains Over Brawn, Factotum ACF

Quote from: Corwin on January 29, 2015, 05:01:02 PM
Something that came up recently. If Magic Missile were used with Fell Drain, and all five missiles were spread out across five people, would they all get a negative level upon being hit?

Yes. It reads that any living creature that takes damage from the spell suffers a negative level.

QuoteIs it possible to swap a spell for Kelgore's Grave Mist?

Yes.

(DM disclaimer: Abuse of the no save part of it will result in the spell being given a save, banned or otherwise revised. I can't think of one off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's ways to do that. Blah blah blah, I'm sure you could guess this anyway.)

QuoteArcane Fusion is okay for a new lvl5 spell? Summon Undead V?

Arcane fusion should be okay (possibly abused with shenanigans, but likely nothing end of the world). Summon undead 5 is fine.

QuoteAre we using summons taking a full round per raw or a standard action as a houserule?

One standard action.

6 on a d6, plus Toughness traded for Lyric Spell for an extra 19 HP which brings me to 77. Going to 18 DEX and 17 CON with the Harp.

+1 BAB, +1 Reflex -1 Will due to a math error on my last level up. I actually don't gain Reflex because of the 2 out of Dexterity. 

Gaining Fated Success, which Dune is modifying to 5 to a skill check rather than 20.

I also gain another 3rd level spell and 2 4th level spells.

Adding Glibness (3), Pacification and Shadow Conjuration (4).

Jetina reaches level 9!

- Paladin 9 and Healer 9.
- 6 on a d10 for a total of 8 hp and a grand total of 76 hp.
- BAB rises by 1 to +9.
- Not a single special attack gained, 'cept for spell charges. She gains a 3rd and 4th level spell charge.
- +1 ref and will saves.
- Skills up as normal.
- Jetina gets her level 9 feat. She's not PrCing so that's not a concern. She'll go with improved favored enemy.

That's it. It's a dead level on both sides for her. Level 10 will be much more interesting.

So I have a Permanency (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101739.msg1030599.html#msg1030599) question. I went looking for the rules for it, and the houserules here redirect to the Balmuria ones, and those redirect once more directly to the above link.

Is Magic Circle against Evil a valid spell? It's a 10min/level buff, and it's not really all that impressive since at our level you usually have better resistance and deflection from other sources. The one good thing about it is the defense against mind control. I'm not sure where it would fall. And if it is valid, what about Protection from Evil, which is the same but 1min/level?

Interest in the following spells!

For tracking:

Spymaster's coin

Can the duration be increased? Or can Permanency be used on the coin in question to keep it as a beacon? If so, would it count against one of the two Permanency spells allotted to a person?

Marked object

The duration is actually pretty great here. Can it be used as a beacon to teleport to its current location? If not, what level would a spell that allows this be?

For regular use and possible Permanency:

Battlemagic perception

Because counterspelling is almost never used, and it's a shame.

Detect ship

Because ships.

Because I think it's hilarious:

Servant horde

Hey, did we forget about that person trapped in the Crystal? I feel like we might have.

I tried to talk to him and even offered him a job but he wasn't interested. Now that we found the gem and his usefulness to me is over, someone else can try next!

Any chance Kamhoff will figure out whether the huge necromancy-boosting sword can be reforged into a more elegant one for me? Something ornate to keep on on a hip rather than a claymore to carry on my back? Just want to figure out any appearance changes.

He's actually trapped in Pepo's mind.

I guess he's happy enough with the situation?

Either that or he got absorbed into my psyche.

Shadow conjuration.

Is this a valid spell to take? I wanted to check since it seems to specify that it calls on another plane.

Update: Factotum ACF -> Bonus Feat -> Font of Inspiration (Houserules edition)

Quote from: Corwin on January 30, 2015, 09:22:38 AM
So I have a Permanency (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,101739.msg1030599.html#msg1030599) question. I went looking for the rules for it, and the houserules here redirect to the Balmuria ones, and those redirect once more directly to the above link.

Is Magic Circle against Evil a valid spell? It's a 10min/level buff, and it's not really all that impressive since at our level you usually have better resistance and deflection from other sources. The one good thing about it is the defense against mind control. I'm not sure where it would fall. And if it is valid, what about Protection from Evil, which is the same but 1min/level?

I'd rather not deal with that being permanent, at least for this campaign. The problem is that mind-affecting block is really good - look at how valued it is when it's given out as a class or racial feature. I'd probably allow it on an area or non-mobile object, though.

Quick note: please don't link to dndtools or related sites on the boards, thanks.

Quote from: Corwin on January 30, 2015, 11:05:57 AM
Interest in the following spells!

For tracking:

Spymaster's coin

Can the duration be increased? Or can Permanency be used on the coin in question to keep it as a beacon? If so, would it count against one of the two Permanency spells allotted to a person?

I'd allow it a permanent beacon, sure.

QuoteMarked object

The duration is actually pretty great here. Can it be used as a beacon to teleport to its current location? If not, what level would a spell that allows this be?

RAW no, but changing it a bit to work as one would be trivial.

QuoteFor regular use and possible Permanency:

Battlemagic perception

Because counterspelling is almost never used, and it's a shame.

It's fine for regular use. Not sure about permanency, since the spell expires when you use it to counterspell. I'd lean towards temporary downtime if it was made permanent.

QuoteDetect ship

Because ships.

Yes, with the proviso you'd need to keep the focus on you and worn.

QuoteBecause I think it's hilarious:

Servant horde

Sure, if you want to make a permanent horde of unseen servants, knock yourself out.

Quote from: Ebiris on January 30, 2015, 12:40:25 PM
He's actually trapped in Pepo's mind.

I guess he's happy enough with the situation?

Either that or he got absorbed into my psyche.

Rashemi's in the crystal and waiting in the silence for y'all. Just a clarification.

Quote from: Nephrite on January 30, 2015, 12:53:24 PM
Shadow conjuration.

Is this a valid spell to take? I wanted to check since it seems to specify that it calls on another plane.

Sure.

Quote from: Anastasia on January 30, 2015, 11:20:40 PM
Spymaster's coin

Can the duration be increased? Or can Permanency be used on the coin in question to keep it as a beacon? If so, would it count against one of the two Permanency spells allotted to a person?

I'd allow it a permanent beacon, sure.

Hmm. So for a lvl2 spell, a one-time an expense of 2,000gp and I gain a permanent beacon?

QuoteMarked object

The duration is actually pretty great here. Can it be used as a beacon to teleport to its current location? If not, what level would a spell that allows this be?

RAW no, but changing it a bit to work as one would be trivial.

A lvl3 Greater Marked Object that works as a lvl2 Marked Object in everything and lets you use it as a teleportation beacon?

Quote
Battlemagic perception

Because counterspelling is almost never used, and it's a shame.

It's fine for regular use. Not sure about permanency, since the spell expires when you use it to counterspell. I'd lean towards temporary downtime if it was made permanent.

How about what you use under the Permanency writeup?

QuoteDispel magic and other effects can suppress a permanent spell for 1d4*10 minutes on a successful dispel magic check.

If that works, I'd like to Permanency this lvl3 spell on myself.

Quote
Servant horde

Sure, if you want to make a permanent horde of unseen servants, knock yourself out.

Excellent. I'd like to Permanency Arcane Sight and Battlemagic Perception upon myself, if my suggestion for the latter works. I presume I'd need to buy Permanency scrolls, and going by the houseruled Permanency it would be 1,125gp per scroll (lvl5 spell) plus 1,000gp per spell level I want Permanency'd. Therefore, 4,125gp for Battlemagic Perception, 4,125gp for Arcane Sight and 3,125gp for the Spymaster's Coin beacon.

Once I have your approval, I'll post in Loot.

Kamhoff has a quick annoucenent: The scroll's great, but he needs more grist to work with! All he has is some stone coins and a scroll of prismatic sphere. Next time y'all get treasure, sending him some more things to work with would help. He blew most of his reserve on the terror helmet.

[23:11] <Kobrb> Huh. That's a thing.
[23:12] <Kobrb> I'm not sure if I should ban it 'cause no save, or allow it since it's hamstrung and also keeps the caster out of the fight. Barring ways to mitigate concentration tying you up, anyway.
[23:12] <Kobrb> Uh.
[23:12] <Kobrb> Let me think about that one.
[23:12] <Nephrite> OK.
[23:14] <Iddy> Would the tokens still cost the same? 50gp?
[23:14] <Kobrb> Yes.
[23:15] <Iddy> Well.
[23:15] <Iddy> Moore might become our anti-ship delivery system.
[23:16] <Kobrb> I'm going to ban it - and paste this conversation into nagging, would you Neph - simply because I try and keep no save things like that to an absolute minimum. I don't think the spell's really broken on the surface, though goodness knows it's a great way to set a creature up for a hell of an ambush.
[23:16] <Kobrb> Less for y'all having it and more that if the bad guys start having no save things, it gets unfair in a hurry. I prefer to keep that away from both sides.
[23:18] <Nephrite> Okay.
[23:18] <Kobrb> I'd say add a save, but thenthe spell just really blows.
[23:18] <Kobrb> Like horribly bad.



I will come up with another spell for my Level 4 slot, either way.

Quote from: Corwin on January 31, 2015, 11:23:05 AMHmm. So for a lvl2 spell, a one-time an expense of 2,000gp and I gain a permanent beacon?

Sure, we can do that.

QuoteA lvl3 Greater Marked Object that works as a lvl2 Marked Object in everything and lets you use it as a teleportation beacon?

Sure.

QuoteHow about what you use under the Permanency writeup?

QuoteDispel magic and other effects can suppress a permanent spell for 1d4*10 minutes on a successful dispel magic check.

If that works, I'd like to Permanency this lvl3 spell on myself.

To be entirely honest, right now I'm just not comfortable with that spell being permanent. I had a night to think it over, look at things and let it settle. It's not that it's broken - Jaela could do the same thing but better with that one feat of hers - but that I'm just of the opinion it doesn't fit the permanency mold at all. A spell that's meant to collapse when the desired feature is used runs counter to the concept of permanency.

When I have a spell that I'm not sure how to balance and adjust for permanency - and I don't feel the suppression when dispelled is a suitable parallel here - and that doesn't fit permanency, I'm not going to approve it. It would work better as a custom made magic item of some sort. I'd approve of a custom magic item that was designed well and along the same lines as that spell. Preferably one that wasn't just copying the spell.

For what it's worth, I like the spell and the idea behind it. Counter-spelling is rarely used, you're right about that.

QuoteExcellent. I'd like to Permanency Arcane Sight and Battlemagic Perception upon myself, if my suggestion for the latter works. I presume I'd need to buy Permanency scrolls, and going by the houseruled Permanency it would be 1,125gp per scroll (lvl5 spell) plus 1,000gp per spell level I want Permanency'd. Therefore, 4,125gp for Battlemagic Perception, 4,125gp for Arcane Sight and 3,125gp for the Spymaster's Coin beacon.

Once I have your approval, I'll post in Loot.

No for battlemagic perception, but the others are fine.

Okay Neph, let me know what new spell you go with.

I'll go with Hold Monster.

I would also be interested in eventually making a version of Pacification that affects all people in a large radius, but that can wait for higher-level spells.

Does the city have a Necklace of Adaptation? It's priced at 9k, hence the question.

Quote from: Corwin on February 01, 2015, 04:09:31 PM
Does the city have a Necklace of Adaptation? It's priced at 9k, hence the question.

Yes.

This will be something for later, but would I be able to take Obscure Lore as a feat and have it work with Bardic Knack? (Complete Adventurer, page 111)

It gives a +4 insight to Bardic Knowledge/Lore, which I think would be fair to turn into a +2 for Bardic Knack?

If not I may just ask for a custom feat that does the same thing.

Quote from: Nephrite on February 03, 2015, 01:52:24 PM
This will be something for later, but would I be able to take Obscure Lore as a feat and have it work with Bardic Knack? (Complete Adventurer, page 111)

It gives a +4 insight to Bardic Knowledge/Lore, which I think would be fair to turn into a +2 for Bardic Knack?

If not I may just ask for a custom feat that does the same thing.

+2 sounds fine.

Cool beans. Maybe at 12 then.

Can I teleport with Pepo? Since he's under 50lbs and a cat?

At the earliest opportunity Pepo wants to retrain Intellect Fortress (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/intellectFortress.htm) for Psionic Modify Memory (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/modifyMemoryPsionic.htm)

A ruling on today's knowledge skill question is in house rules. It's as follows:

Knowledge: Minerals, gems and stones can be identified with a Knowledge: Dungeoneering check. This doesn't allow you an idea of the value (Appraise covers that), but allows for basic identification.

So the next time this comes up, we'll have an easy go-to.

Not sure if this goes in loot or in here, but I am going to guess, regardless or whether Kamhoff resurfaces (it's kind of a pun), that the 12000 gold given to him is lost?

Quote from: Nephrite on February 17, 2015, 05:36:32 PM
Not sure if this goes in loot or in here, but I am going to guess, regardless or whether Kamhoff resurfaces (it's kind of a pun), that the 12000 gold given to him is lost?

Sadly correct. If it makes you feel better, he lost a lot more than that.

Pepo's replacement has base ability scores of:

[17:50] <Serith> Ebiris's Scores: 17, 17, 16, 13, 13, 10

A few potential custom spells:





EDIT: One more.

Okay, let's see.

The first one is hideously broken. It basically allows move+full attack for 1 min/level or other such full round shenanigans. It totally blows the class feature (grant move action) it's inspired from out of the water. Needs heavy work.

The second one is...mmm. Besides some minor formatting issues, the spell needs tightening. What do you mean by within range of an enemy? Do you intend it to be a chance to get a free shot in or something else?

Inspire Great Spells is fairly solid. I do think it needs some minor revision, but mostly tweaking as the idea is sound.

This is what I'd recommend:

Inspire Great Spells
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting, Sonic]
Level: Bard 4
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 3 rounds

When you cast this spell, your next use of inspire greatness can be augmented in one of two ways. You may choose to give them a +1 bonus to the save DC of any spells they cast for the duration of inspire greatness or their next spell is affected by the widen spell or extend spell metamagics without any change in casting time or spell level.

These bonuses are in addition to the normal benefits of inspire greatness. If you do not inspire greatness before the spell's duration expires, the effects are lost.

Most of the changes are just rewordings or adjustments to bring it in line with how other bardic music boosting spells work. As for the other two? The first one needs a lot of work so I'm not sure. The second one's salvageable, but you need to express exactly what you mean with the spell.

How about I change the first one to work like the third? I cast it, Inspire Greatness, then someone gets to take an extra move action? If that's still too good I could change it so it requires a standard action to cast.

EDIT: I would also add that I have no problem with it simply allowing me to use the Grant Move action so it also consumes the use of that.

The second one was intended to allow for people who are already in range (melee) of an enemy to be able to take a shot, yes. It should probably be re-worded to say they can make an attack rather than a standard action because that would potentially allow for some other shenanigans.

Quote from: Nephrite on February 22, 2015, 12:48:28 PM
How about I change the first one to work like the third? I cast it, Inspire Greatness, then someone gets to take an extra move action? If that's still too good I could change it so it requires a standard action to cast.

EDIT: I would also add that I have no problem with it simply allowing me to use the Grant Move action so it also consumes the use of that.

Whoops, knew I forgot something. That's worth a try, sure. Make that up and see how it works.

QuoteThe second one was intended to allow for people who are already in range (melee) of an enemy to be able to take a shot, yes. It should probably be re-worded to say they can make an attack rather than a standard action because that would potentially allow for some other shenanigans.

Okay, then it's Snake's Swiftness? Go look up that spell, since I recall it's similar to this.

Quote from: Anastasia on March 04, 2015, 09:00:22 AM

Okay, then it's Snake's Swiftness? Go look up that spell, since I recall it's similar to this.

Yes, it's very similar. It's just not a spell for a free action in this case.

Okay, work with that and whip them up, we'll see from there.

Here you go.

Guess what's coming up for all of us? That's right, it's DST this weekend! At least for those of us in the USA, which means the three of us will be an hour ahead of Cor and Eb. In other words, expect some late starts until we synch back up.

It sucks but there's not much that can be done about it.

Since we have time to discuss it, how did we want to approach this upcoming shindig? Did we want to try and make an airborne knockout poison or just go in with the plan we had?

Poison's pretty boring and I highly doubt it'll knock out more than one or two of them anyway.

This one's up to y'all. Since no Iddy today, today will be a prep and side thing day anyway.

Ah, right, I keep forgetting we run 3 days now. Okay.

If y'all have anything to do in town, this is also the time for it.

Moore would like to talk with Ilas if he's seeing visitors. He'd also like to know what's going on with the mansion itself, legal-wise.

I suppose he'd also ask about Tamas' things.

Oh! One more. Moore would check in with Lekim after all of this.

Today's odd little combat was waiting heavy and had a lot of acting in it. The former inspired a prestige class based around delaying your actions and readying actions.

So that's a thing. It'll be posted within a few days.

Okay, quick thing about Jetina, her serenity and turn undead/channel energy. I'll toss it to all of you, see what you think.

First of all, serenity is a feat that turns many paladin abilities to being Wisdom based instead of Charisma based. This includes turn undead. Jetina's taken the inquisitor paladin variant, which trades away turn undead/channel energy. She gets channel energy from healer, so this isn't a meaningful loss for her. However, despite requiring divine grace as a prerequisite, serenity does not specify paladin turning (or the other abilities, in case you get them in a different class).

RAW, it's correct that Jetina would apply her Wisdom modifier in place of her Charisma modifier to total uses of channel energy. This would bump her up an additional 4 channel energies per day, as well as increase the save DC by 4. RAI, it seems fairly clear that it's meant to be a paladin ability and to boost paladin class skills. Applying it to the abilities of other classes is probably not what was intended by the designer of the feat.

What do you all think? Should I follow RAW or the assumed RAI here?

(Serenity's from Dragon Compendium, by the way.)

Since Serenity doesn't specify where the ability needs to come from, I don't see an issue with letting it apply.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/spiked-pit May I (or Lucy, actually) cast this via Shadow Conjuration?

So as all of you know, Eb's decided to drop out of the Lost Realm. In short, he feels he accomplished what he wanted to with Pepo. His new character isn't working out and he doesn't want to make a new PC. When you combine that with Iddy's time problems and my own lack of enthusiasm for how this game has worked out, I'm going to end this game here. I'll go into the reasons why below.

First of all, Eb dropping out leaves us a player short. I run this games to have fun with all of you, and when a player drops, that hurts my interest a lot. A situation that has players dropping is usually going to damage the game, and in this case I feel it's enough to put this game down.

Secondly, Iddy's been missing sessions lately and his Mondays generally aren't open anymore. This isn't really his fault, as I understand real life has to take priority here, but it's an additional stressor. It's not close to what finished this game off, but it did add some extra pressure and direction towards this choice.

Thirdly, I don't feel this ever quite recovered from my problems back in December. It threw a giant roadblock up that impacted the game for over a month, one that really did a lot of damage behind the scenes. This one isn't any of your faults, it's simply a case where something unfortunate occurred. Sometimes shit happens and it happened here. This would have hurt any game, but it particularly hurt this game since it had pre-existing problems and problems waiting down the line.

Finally, I feel this game had some flaws in the idea and execution. This was touched on in the last feedback topic, but basically my position is the following. The ideas were good on paper but didn't work out in reality. The amnesia one is the most salient, though there are others. I won't rehash this greatly here, since my postmortems will touch on these in due time.

I blame myself for some of this, but I think a good deal of it was bad luck. This game needed me to be involved and circumstances fought against that. I don't think any of you are really to blame (besides arguably about party composition and chemistry, but that's a whole other discussion). Sometimes things don't work out and I feel that's the case here.

No session today at least. I'll be posting more and touching on any possible wrapup later. If there is wrapup, it won't be until next week.

Understandable. It was fun while it lasted, and I enjoyed it. I'm sorry work got in the way, whether it was a little or a lot, but hey, I need insurance and paycheck =)

I do like the concept of Veren and may reengage him in a different game after working on the build some.

Over-all I enjoyed the game, there were just some disconnects and issues that got in the way.

So why didn't you do any flavor posts for this game, anyway? You did a bunch for Vastwoods when it ran, and you did some for Balmuria while this game ran! What gives?

I want to address this one first, since I've been banging my head against flavor posts for awhile now.

I think this one was a case of outsmarting myself. One of the premises of this game is information control. Y'see, you all came in amnesiac and had to learn all about the world on your own. It's a neat idea on paper, but in reality it means I need to control the information you get. So I have to pay attention to what I tell y'all and make sure to keep a handle on what you know and what you don't know.

This translated to a big old case of writer's block. Whenever I tried to write flavor for the Lost Realm, I head-banged right into these self imposed limitations. I'd spend some time considering if what I wanted to write was acceptable and wouldn't spoiler anything. This tended to act as a great big stopper to my creative energies. In other words, the premise of the game sabotaged my own work.

That's not the only factor. December dealt a serious blow to my work. What work I did tended to be for Balmuria, since that was easier and quite honestly? I know Balmuria well enough that it was comforting to work on during that time. I posted one of my bigger projects and one I'm happy with (Queen Morwel) during that time, as I desperately needed the escapism during that horrible month. All of that shifted my creative energies towards something that was familiar instead of blocked up.

Yeah, I'd do some Balmuria work no matter what, but these circumstances made it even more appealing. I tend to do the most Balmuria work when I'm ahead on my current games, blocked on them or otherwise need something I really enjoy. It's not something any of you did, it's just that miserable month taking an even bigger toll than I first expected.

Also, it's safe to say the general discontent and lack of spark for the Lost Realm contributed to a lack of flavor posts. I don't think it was a decisive factor, but it didn't help at all.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on March 25, 2015, 02:37:54 PM
Understandable. It was fun while it lasted, and I enjoyed it. I'm sorry work got in the way, whether it was a little or a lot, but hey, I need insurance and paycheck =)

I do like the concept of Veren and may reengage him in a different game after working on the build some.

Over-all I enjoyed the game, there were just some disconnects and issues that got in the way.

Yeah, it happens. Glad you enjoyed it!

In a perfect world none of us would need to work, and we'd be able to game any time we wanted. Unfortunately it isn't a perfect world.

So what was _____ about?! Or what was...

If you have a question about the game world, I'll be doing some posts about that in due time. I will address one point now and perhaps the ultimate question of the Lost Realm. Namely, what lies beyond it?

It depended.

Y'see, the demiplane and all of its features were fully worked out. What it attached to and why it was made was left flexible. It could hook into most anything I needed.

If I wanted it to be purgatory? It was a purgatory God made to give souls between Heaven and Hell a chance to decide where they'd go. The purpose of the realm wasn't to escape, but to find and live a life worthy of one or another.

If it was a VR simulation? It was a game made by a twisted jerk that had some glitches. Escaping would cause you to wake up in the real world ala that one anime with Kirito that I can't remember the name of. Oh yeah, Sword Art Online. Same idea.

If it was hooked to a typical D&D world? A mad wizard got inspired by Ravenloft and made his own sealed demiplane to play with. Escaping would end with confronting him and getting some revenge, then going to planes as you please.

If it was hooked into the Vastwoods world? An ancient fey, so powerful as to even resist the changes made to the mantle system, created it. He had the mantle of illusions and became so powerful as to make his illusions reality. A cruel but fair king, he awaits players skilled enough to resist all his efforts and escape his illusions.  For what better members of his court than those who proved themselves against his grandest effort?

If it was hooked into Balmuria? It was a test demiplane with two purposes. The first is for deities to express odd aspects of unusual interpretations of themselves in trial runs. (Qupan might well have been a twisted aspect of the Triune Goddess, for example). The second was to find mortals strong enough to triumph over the restrictions and help stand against Shar.

Whatever cause I ended up plugging in, the internals of the Lost Realm were already set. I left the ultimate question flexible, so I could tailor it better to the group if you made it that far. I could even alter any of the premises above, as I had various contingencies in mind should I want that particular one but not that resolution.

Incidentally, the voice Pepo heard at the end was the ruling intelligence of the demiplane. That touches on a whole host of different issues, but it wasn't whatever was beyond it. Also, how his ending would have fit in each possibility.

Purgatory: Pepo proved himself to be a brave cat who made it to his own paradise. This doesn't really fit how Christian philosophy works, but whatever. I wasn't aiming for theological consistency here.

VR simulation: He ended up in a buffering program, a chance to rest and recover before awakening. The sunbeam was to soothe his mind as it takes time to safely leave VR after being in for that long.

Typical D&D: Pepo found his way home.

Vastwoods: The old mage was the fey in disguise, amused and pleased someone finally succeeded. He gave Pepo time to rest and would deal with him in due time.

Balmuria: Pepo found his way home, but with a lot of eyes now on him.

So what about a new game?

I've had this one asked more than once already, so let me answer it. Yes, but not right away. I want to do the postmortem for this game and unwind a little bit before focusing on a new game. Information on that will be provided later.

As I work on posts, let me talk to all of you about one point. As you might know, this is the first time I've seriously used the healer revision I made. How do you think it performed for Jetina? Did it work well? Was it strong enough? Just curious as to what all of you thought about it.

She performed admirably in the role of healbot. I didn't pay too close attention though.

Quote from: Ebiris on March 25, 2015, 03:25:14 PM
She performed admirably in the role of healbot. I didn't pay too close attention though.

Since the class is healer, that's high praise.

I liked her interaction with Moore's Healing Hymn, since it let him buff her ability to do her job.

So why did the Door of Death treat Lucy differently, then? Whimsy? Something more?

Quote from: Nephrite on March 25, 2015, 03:36:09 PM
I liked her interaction with Moore's Healing Hymn, since it let him buff her ability to do her job.

That worked out well, though it was a bit excessive for normal healing.

Quote from: Corwin on March 25, 2015, 03:40:10 PM
So why did the Door of Death treat Lucy differently, then? Whimsy? Something more?

Something more. I'll go into this one in another post.

What was up with that shadow assassin?

The light has several means to deal with those that investigate too deeply into it. One such is a creature that is the antithesis of light, for those who have learned to endure the light but may be vulnerable to the darkness. He is a silent, thoughtless killer altered to be highly alien. His purpose is to track people who survive the light's retaliations and eliminate them.

With CL 20 Disintegrate at will, along with a permanent duration sleep power the shadow assassin is a menace that plays for keeps. His invincible defense makes him moreso, as it can only be parted by light. But even if that is negated, it unleashes a torrent of life-leeching winds to destroy the impudent. Few make it that far, as few manage to survive long against him. Sharm and Moore's resistance against him was his longest battle in centuries, and as such, he grew interested in having a real battle.

Turns out this was the right group to get lucky against him. You managed to figure him out, make all the saves you needed to and finish the battle before he overwhelmed you. This is a fight that could have easily been a TPK, so congratulations on that.

What about that glass shard?

Shadow Chip

Spellcraft

DC: 25 and lower: This little shard of glass is imbued with a tremendous amount of shadowy power. You can't figure out the power, however.
DC 26-30: With a DC 20 Use Magic Device check, you can channel the power of darkness (the dark template) from a creature and back into the glass shard. Restores one charge per template removed from a creature.
DC 31-35: With a DC 25 Use Magic Device check, you can grant one creature the dark creature template.  Takes one charge.
DC 36-40: As the previous, except the template has no drawbacks or corruption. Takes two charges.
DC 41-45:  With a DC 35 Use Magic Device check, you can grant a creature a +2 bonus to Dexterity. A creature can only benefit from this twice. Takes three charges.
DC 46+: With a DC 40 Use Magic Device check, you can grant a creature a single one of the following spell-like abilities: Disintegrate, Endless Slumber, Greater Shadow Conjuration, Greater Shadow Evocation. This ability can be used once per day and the caster level equals the creature's hit dice. Takes three charges.

The shard had 11 charges to start with and 13 after removing the dark template from Sharm and Veren.

Couple of quick ones as I have time before work.

Was Jetina going to return Lucy's interest?

Barring unusual shenanigans, no. She's totally straight. There's not a lot to say here beyond that.

What was up with that island with the harp and volcano, anyway?

A random bonus dungeon y'all found. I know you know that much, so let me go into a bit more detail. The Lost Realm is littered with things like that. They don't need justification as the realm is an artificial one. It was designed to be challenging but possible, to spur wanderers on or to a short demise. The nature of it can subtly suggest that something's creating such challenges.

Why'd Kamhoff die and what was up with his magic?

He died by legit bad luck. Now as the DM, I could've fudged it since the rolling was offscreen. I chose not to for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I don't like to mitigate the risks and the random factor of gaming. No risk, no reward and all that.

Kamhoff's magic was somewhat abnormal. 999 out of 1000 times, he'd be born with no magical potential. He has a rare mutation that ruins magical aptitude. In this case he managed magic anyway, though the mutation muddled his magic somewhat. It did odd things sometimes and hooked into pre-existing magic. This is why he was good at making magic items from other items, by the way. It also managed to snare Macaron and ruin his summoning, though that was both that and impeccably bad timing.

It was 100% platonic.  :(

Sorry about the short delay, had something come up today. I should get another one out soon.

What was up with the light?

That's an awfully broad question, so I'll answer it in broad strokes.

The light is the demiplane's equivalent of the sun. It provides light, life and all those things that life requires to flourish. It serves as a sea as well, and lightskimmers allow it to be transversed. It's also where the greatest mysteries and misdirections of the demiplane lie, a siren's song to those who wish to understand its secrets.

In many ways, the light is a giant trap. A lure to sucker in those without the common sense or too much curiosity. To all but the rarest, it will end them in one way or another. Those rare few may find something more, but it's designed to eliminate those who attempt to unravel its secrets.

So wait, that doesn't really answer the question!

Then ask better questions.

The thing is that the light is a great many things and there's a lot of details to it that don't matter, or were designed to be misleading. Let's start with one aspect: The light clones. in certain cases, a body can be destroyed by the light (light mages require this as a prerequisite) or have other certain circumstances cause the soul to leave the body. However, the creature's soul doesn't go to what lies beyond. It instead sleeps within the light and projects a body made out of light into the Lost Realm. Light mages are attuned to this and can discern who is a light clone and who isn't. So what does this mean?

Honestly, not that much. Light mages, due to being mentally unstable, often come to various conclusions about the light clones. However, the entire setup is a ruse. The only point of it is to lure the brave into investigating the light - where 99.99% of them will be slain. A light clone is as alive as anyone else in the Lost Realm. Bolethon wasn't aware of this, but he was aware nothing safe would come from your efforts. He tried to warn you off, tried to let you know this was a path that would end in death. What he didn't know is that the party was on the path to becoming the .01%, the rare few who might well endure all the light and the demiplane could throw at them.

The various trials from the light - including the shadow assassin - are simply a result of your choice to delve into the light. No one in the demiplane truly has the means (as of now, anyway) to travel to the bottom of the light. Anyone who seeks to will inevitably find their path drawn into the light, one way or another, and thus travel the same road as the party did.

In any case, the light clones were designed to draw people in. There's no grand mystery to them in the end, or any true knowledge to be gained by knowing light clones exist. A light clone is identical to a normal being and follows all the same rules. When a light clone dies, the soul is freed and moves on as normal.

This isn't to say that the light can't make soulless clones that copy you, but that's saved for the ones in chains and certain efforts later on.

So then all the things the light did was to test and challenge the PCs?

Essentially so. Bolethon was trying to tell you that you had a choice. You can live a normal life in the Lost Realm, be an adventurer or whatever. You don't have to challenge the light. One could argue that the wisest choice is to ignore the mystery and embrace your normal life. The voice of the Lost Realm told Pepo as much at the end. The path needed for triumph is seldom a clean and easy one, and many times it is paved with sacrifices, pain and tears.

As a tangent, I mentioned that one of the criteria for being drawn into the Lost Realm is to be a powerful and tragic figure brought low by hubris or bad luck. In these cases, they're considered more likely to challenge the light. It's a designed second chance for certain entities. The exact reasoning why depends on who is behind the Lost Realm.

Speaking of that, which possibility did you favor for that, anyway?

Purgatory was my least favorite idea. I only included it since it was speculated. I've never been a fan of it as a matter of Christian theology and it would take a really Hollywood-ized version of Christianity for it to make any sense with the Lost Realm. I'm not sure I'd be religiously comfortable running that in any case.

VR was possible and my fallback if the party wouldn't buy anything else. Basically if I felt the party's take on everything required a complete wipe when they got out, that the logical structures they'd build wouldn't support anything else.

So it's safe to say I favored any of the D&D ones.

Was there a bottom to the light sea? If so, what was there?

If the doorway of darkness was one way out, what were the others? Could we have, say, teleported back to that place and tried to go through the door?

What were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

Why were we there? I realize that with no defined outer world no concrete situation existed, but did you have any in mind? Ie we were a group of friends before that, it was random, we were all fighting each other in a battle?

Why the amnesia upon entry from an in-universe perspective, and not the meta one? Why did the Lost Realm feel it necessary to strip away all memories like this?

What was with the teleporting to an empty town, and the reset on it that knocked me out?

Did you have anything special planned for any of us? Any direction/events you had planned for us individually?

What would have happened if we had used the Shadow Shard on the Shocker Lizard eggs?

Quote from: Corwin on March 27, 2015, 03:55:34 PM
Was there a bottom to the light sea? If so, what was there?

Yes. Lots of absurdly dangerous ruins, all designed to end whomever got that far. You had to go past the bottom. The loot in them was pretty good, though.

QuoteIf the doorway of darkness was one way out, what were the others? Could we have, say, teleported back to that place and tried to go through the door?

That wouldn't have worked.

QuoteWhat were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

One that would qualify to have a question answered, I presume? To be clear on what I said, quote what I said in the first place so we're on the same page.

QuoteWhy were we there? I realize that with no defined outer world no concrete situation existed, but did you have any in mind? Ie we were a group of friends before that, it was random, we were all fighting each other in a battle?

By default I assumed you were a bunch of random grabs that were lumped together. I'd change this if I felt warranted down the line, since it wasn't something that needed to be answered except if you made it to the end.

QuoteWhy the amnesia upon entry from an in-universe perspective, and not the meta one? Why did the Lost Realm feel it necessary to strip away all memories like this?

Regardless of the person behind it, they wanted to pare down people and force them to start anew. The exact motivations there varied, but it was a way to keep people there and have convenient mysteries to explore.

QuoteWhat was with the teleporting to an empty town, and the reset on it that knocked me out?

A certain circumstance not long before threw you slightly out of alignment. You ended up in a light-based recreation of the empty town, and the shift over was traumatic enough to knock you out. It was mostly a mind-screw, the Lost Realm had some of those. If things like the shadow assassin attacked the body, the empty town attacked the mind and spirit.

<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Snipped line of one question since you reached an ending, did it by /msg instead of a PM window. Everything but big spoilers is fair game.>
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Pepo> What determines who enters the world?
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > There are three factors, split into even thirds. (More)
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > One third are people taken at the moment of death. These are people who had great potential but died before it could be realized. They are often tragic figures brought down by bad luck or their own hubris.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The second third are people chosen by [spoilers]. This distribution (and the other two as well) is sorted to be roughly equal in alignment. A little bit of luck plays in to this, but mostly it's people [spoilers] feel will benefit from it or fit.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The final third is randomly selected. [Spoilers] and [spoilers] can protect important people from being selected. This last third is meant to make sure everything is represented by sheer chance.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > As a bonus: Lost Hero's in category 1.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> * Pepo nods.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> <Pepo> I'm glad someone killed him.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The hubris part, though he's a lot worse here than he was outside. Long story.
<Iddy> Can you tell us which one we fall into?
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> No.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> Well I could, but I won't.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on March 27, 2015, 04:13:47 PM
Did you have anything special planned for any of us? Any direction/events you had planned for us individually?

Somewhat. At this point you'd chosen to challenge the light, so that was taking top priority. Lucy had distinct goals so she was easy, I could just play to them. The rest of you were about giving little nudges and setting you up in the right situations for special things to happen.

So in short? Yes.

QuoteWhat would have happened if we had used the Shadow Shard on the Shocker Lizard eggs?

You'd get shocker lizards with the dark creature template. It's up to you if that's a good thing or not.

QuoteWhat were the criteria for ending in the Lost Realm? You gave a few at the time, and said some were redacted due to spoilers. No time like the present!

Oh, do you mean ending up or something like that? I was trying to figure out what you meant. That makes a lot more sense. Here are the lines without spoilers.

<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The second third are people chosen by the realm. This distribution (and the other two as well) is sorted to be roughly equal in alignment. A little bit of luck plays in to this, but mostly it's people the realm feel will benefit from it or fit.
<Ko-FakeCideonCrisis> > The final third is randomly selected. Varies and varies can protect important people from being selected. This last third is meant to make sure everything is represented by sheer chance.

In the latter, varies was going to change slightly depending on what the exact root of the Lost Realm ended up being. Most likely it would be deities and powers.

What did you think of each PC?

I've largely expressed my opinions here before, so this won't be terribly long.

Lucy: Fun and hit her role well. Was easy to work with since she had a natural goal and all that. Good times.
Pepo: A great source of feline amusement and jokes. Decent PC otherwise, though sometimes hard to work with due to being a cat.
Veren: Decent. Had a few problems but was generally solid at what he did. That rebuild helped a lot.
Moore: Fun. Being the token good aligned person in a party of neutrals was good for material to work with. Sort of felt like he fell into a strange party for him.
Sharm: No real opinion, just wasn't around long enough. Had potential.

What was at "the end?" I mean, presuming the party overcame all the challenges, what then?

Quote from: Nephrite on March 28, 2015, 10:49:18 PM
What was at "the end?" I mean, presuming the party overcame all the challenges, what then?

Confrontation with whatever was behind the Lost Realm. Details vary on what it was.

I had a soft level cap of 20-22 in mind. Epic level characters could have the means to hijack, subvert or otherwise fiddle with the Lost Realm. So any fights before that should be highly challenging to PCs of that level.

In your mind, had that ever happened before? You mentioned the .01% before, so assumedly it'd happened at least once in the last thousands of years?

Quote from: Nephrite on March 29, 2015, 04:38:17 PM
In your mind, had that ever happened before? You mentioned the .01% before, so assumedly it'd happened at least once in the last thousands of years?

Probably not. There had been a few close calls, but they'd been unable to deal with the final challenges. One was a single wizard 22//fighter 22 who managed to get to the bottom and fight his way through a few ruins. He ultimately was overcome by a templated tarrasque and several kolyarut wizards in support. Another was an adventuring party around level 21, they were wiped out at the light generator as they couldn't deal with it fast enough and were obliterated.

I wasn't kidding when the last challenges were noted to be dangerous.

So why did the door of nothingness have a crush on Lucy?

Quote from: Corwin on March 30, 2015, 12:25:41 PM
So why did the door of nothingness have a crush on Lucy?

It reacts a little differently to outsiders is the short version. Demons in particular are associated with destruction and entropy, so it's like seeing a big sister.

What did Jetina see when she was dealing with it? Did she see something different than Lucy?

Also, what was up with the clones in the closet?

Quote from: Nephrite on March 30, 2015, 01:49:52 PM
What did Jetina see when she was dealing with it? Did she see something different than Lucy?

Some unrelated things, closer to what others say.

QuoteAlso, what was up with the clones in the closet?

Representations of light clones. Fairly straightforward and mindscrewy.

What could I have done with the book I brought back?

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on March 30, 2015, 07:10:39 PM
What could I have done with the book I brought back?

Learned a bunch of useful skills and information with it. Easier said than done.

I'll be starting to move on new game stuff around Thursday or Friday. Think I needed a bit more downtime than I expected.

What I'm tentatively going for:

Vastwoods 2. The game will start in Sal Farano, which was mentioned a few times. Excerpts below. It'll start with a fresh batch of PCs.

QuoteFrom the footnotes here: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,102721.msg1045960.html#msg1045960

3 An elven lord who died at 2380 as the result of wyvern poison tainted wounds, which caused this army's defeat in the Battle of Sal Farano.

QuoteFrom the Epilogue and Ribby.

[19:28] <@Kotono> "Sure is," Ribby agrees, "There's forces up there that are moving...and a woman in Sal Farano who can help you stop them before they use it. So," Glancing at them, "Are you up to another quest?"
[19:28] <@John> "Always!"
[19:29] * Feather snorts, saluting Ribby with his mug. "Idiots won't stop themselves. If they need help, that's us."
[19:30] <@Kotono> "I guess it is," Myann agrees, "Sal Farano's a long ways away, to the west, though."
[19:30] <Gildas> Gildas frowns. "They really don't know when to leave good enough alone."
[19:31] <@Kotono> "You have time," Ribby remarks, "It'll take them a few years to get everything together. There's a lot to tell," he goes on, "But you can afford tonight to rest and celebrate. It's the end of one year and the start of a new one." Taking a long pull from his mug, "Right now, let's drink to the fairies being less of a problem." He raises his mug up, "Cheers?"
[19:32] <Feather> "Cheers!" Feather echoes him.
[19:32] <Gildas> Gildas nods. "Cheers to that. The world is a better place."
[19:32] <@Kotono> "Cheers!" Myann taps her mug against his, starting to smile, "To happier todays and better tomorrows!"
[19:33] <@John> "Cheers," John leans over and clinks his mug with everyone.
[19:35] <@Kotono> After another long drink, "Tomorrow's problem..." Ribby murmurs, as he begins to talk. But that's a story for another time. Right now the party is warm, happy and at peace. For the moment, that is enough.

QuoteFrom here: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103168.msg1052260.html#msg1052260

[19:22] <@Kotono> There is more silence. "Is it called the Lalestos?" The dragon asks, calming.
[19:23] <Gildas> Gildas blinks. "Yes, actually."
[19:24] <Feather_> "I know it's just a dream, but there was this guy who sounded all crazy. Felt like he'd use it just because he can."
[19:24] <@Kotono> "Who?" The dragon asks right away.
[19:26] <@John> "I don't remember a name," John admits. "Only person that seemed to know just called him the bastard."
[19:27] <Gildas> "He was made of silver." Gildas responds. "I don't... think we got his name, no. He was too intent on trying to kill us."
[19:28] <Feather_> "Angry silver bastard sounds right to me."
[19:30] <@Kotono> Silence. Your answer is silence. "His name is Xanam." When the dragon breaks it at last, it is with that. The Lalestos is the weapon of last resort against the aberrations, able to destroy entire regions. It was supposed to have been destroyed by common agreement once the war was won. But you say it was activated?"
[19:31] <Gildas> "Ah... well, it was in a dream..." Gildas says. "So it's only a possibility... We can't tell you for certain."
[19:32] <@John> "Yeah, s'weird since all the stuff there was meant to come from our own minds, but that - and the stuff with your mother, sure as hell didn't."
[19:32] * Joins: Feather (~DarkFlame@bzq-79-178-203-167.red.bezeqint.net)
[19:32] <Feather> "There was this woman that opposed him, and we're trying to see if she's real," Feather informs the dragon. "If she is, we can just ask her!"
[19:33] * Quits: Feather_ (~DarkFlame@bzq-79-178-203-167.red.bezeqint.net) (Ping timeout)
[19:35] <@Kotono> "What is her name?" The dragon asks.
[19:36] <Feather> "Uh, she had an accent? And was from Sal Farano?"
[19:36] <@John> "Don't know that either," John admits. "It was a dream and it just kinda threw us into the thick of these battles, to challenge us and awaken our strength for dealing with the mantle thing. What ifs, they were, if we'd taken different roads. But we just skipped right to the climactic battles."
[19:40] <@Kotono> "I see. This information is...worth allowing you to go. I may be in contact again," The dragon rises and takes to the air, calling down, "I am capable of finding you."

QuoteFrom here: http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103110.msg1051258.html#msg1051258

[18:22] <@Kotono> It's not too long for everyone to arrive. Robert's first, followed by several of the brood. He stands before it, hands on hips, "What in TARNATION did all of you do this time?!" The Missus follows along with Em, the two staring with big eyes.
[18:23] <@Kotono> Rashen's next, just giving it a long look over before whistling.
[18:23] <@Kotono> Missy-Anne's next, looking utterly transfixed. She then turns to John and casually asks, "John, do you own that or some of that?"
[18:23] <Gildas> "Do you want the actual story, or one that sounds better to retell to people?" Gildas asks with a small smile.
[18:24] <@Kotono> Hylath follows along, "I haven't seen a castle like this since the time I saw images of Sal Farano," he comments, "Truly, most impressive!"
[18:24] <@John> "These guys had a big flying castle, right? So we took it off them and it turned into that," he jerks his thumb at the edifice. At Missy Anne's question he just shrugs, "Dunno if we ever figured on ownership really. Never much wanted it meself."

This may or may not involve the Lalestos situation. It will take place after Vastwoods, though how much in the future is still to be determined.

I'm thinking starting from 5-7 or so? Vastwoods doesn't skew as high as Balmuria for levels (I don't really consider the epic rules for it, for example), so that's fairly well established in the world. Could start lower but probably not higher. Sal Farano's one hell of a big city and generally elven dominated, so PCs from it will most likely be elven. However, variety is welcome. You should probably stick to things from this layer, though creativity can work around that if you saw something you'd like to play with.

Things to bear in mind.

1. The Lalestos and the strange woman who can help with it. Will you deal with her at all? What sort of woman is she? Does she matter at all in Sal Farano?

2. The fey have recently changed. Would that have impacted your PC at all?

3. What sort of city is Sal Farano? It's primarily elven but they didn't establish it. The roots of the city are human with some influence with raiders from another continent. Expect a flavor article on this well before the game starts.

4. Generally, I expect city slickers in contrast to the rural flavor of the Vastwoods. A typical PC would take one look at the old party and think that they're a bunch of overarmed countryfolk.

If any of this is a dealbreaker for y'all, now's the time to speak up. Y'know, before I get too deep into my prep.

I definitely don't want to deal with hooks left over from the last game, so the Lalestos would better be ignored.

I'd kinda prefer going higher level too, but that's not a deal-breaker. (not necessarily starting higher, just having room to grow higher)

It kind of nixes my first/second choices in some things, but I could make it work.

I'm interested in playing a fey. What is available, and how would it work? Frostwind Virago, Nymph, something explicitly mantle-based (I figure you must have a few builds there)?

What about classes? Vastwoods was harsh on divine casters and paladins, but that could be a facet of the whole village environment and not the world itself.

P.S.
Agreement with ninja Eb.

Quote from: Ebiris on April 04, 2015, 12:21:45 PM
I definitely don't want to deal with hooks left over from the last game, so the Lalestos would better be ignored.

I'd kinda prefer going higher level too, but that's not a deal-breaker. (not necessarily starting higher, just having room to grow higher)

How high level is high level, anyway?

Quote from: Corwin on April 04, 2015, 12:22:21 PM
It kind of nixes my first/second choices in some things, but I could make it work.

I'm interested in playing a fey. What is available, and how would it work? Frostwind Virago, Nymph, something explicitly mantle-based (I figure you must have a few builds there)?

Short and off the cuff? The mantle system changes have had a ripple effect. The fey are slowly changing, so it's possible you could be a fey. That would come with baggage, though. Bear that in mind. More details as I polish and work things out.

Assuming I allow SS for this for balance. If the others end up playing standard elves, it might not work out to have you be a fey, since they have a higher power level. That comes down to party composition stuff, so we'll see. I haven't even posted chargen rules, so going too deep into this is premature.

QuoteWhat about classes? Vastwoods was harsh on divine casters and paladins, but that could be a facet of the whole village environment and not the world itself.

More 'civilized' classes would be preferred. Things like cleric, paladin, wizard. Less rangers, druids and nature classes.

I mostly handwaved religion in the Vastwoods, since it wasn't the focus of the game (plus at the time a contrast from Balmuria was desired). There's a lot of space to work with there. I'll be sorting that out more in the coming prep.

Well like getting up to 20 or so. I don't really care for epic but we could edge into there if it runs long enough.

I mean we got to like level 10 in Vastwoods and that basically made us the best around. I'd like more room than that.

Quote from: Ebiris on April 04, 2015, 12:27:25 PM
Well like getting up to 20 or so. I don't really care for epic but we could edge into there if it runs long enough.

I mean we got to like level 10 in Vastwoods and that basically made us the best around. I'd like more room than that.

To be honest, I wouldn't see a Vastwoods campaign going past 15. 18 at the highest and that's probably optimistic.

It's not really the campaign for super high level stuff, or even stuff past the early/mid teens for levels. There's a tad more of a curve in Sal Farano than the Vastwoods (fey excepted), but not that much more. The setting really isn't designed for the sort of things high level characters bring to play.

Speaking of that, let's have a considerable timeskip. Allow changes to propagate, explain why stronger people are the norm nowadays, the loose threads from Game 1 would be resolved, but at the same time it'd be a couple elf generations into the past so no reliable account of events exists even if we happened to look?

Quote from: Corwin on April 04, 2015, 12:31:05 PM
Speaking of that, let's have a considerable timeskip. Allow changes to propagate, explain why stronger people are the norm nowadays, the loose threads from Game 1 would be resolved, but at the same time it'd be a couple elf generations into the past so no reliable account of events exists even if we happened to look?

Fair enough, but that doesn't really jive with the flavor and style I'm trying to work with here. I mean, why run a Vastwoods campaign if it loses all touch with the style of the world and game? What I'm saying is that if you do want higher level stuff and power levels, this isn't the best campaign idea for it.

I'd rather use something that fits it rather than pound the campaign into a shape it isn't designed for.

Probably best to go in a new direction then, it's not really got the makings of a hit.

Yeah, probably.

Mmm, let's give Neph a chance to chime in here before I say anything else.

I'm with Dune on the "why start a Vastwoods game if it loses touch with things" angle.


I was all for just picking up where we left off, but if that's not in the cards then that's fine. I'd rather, if we play in Vastwoods, that it not be that long after the events of things, maybe it's too far away for our PCs to go investigate anything about it or something, or we have too many pressing issues of our own to deal with.

Quote from: Nephrite on April 04, 2015, 12:48:15 PM
I'm with Dune on the "why start a Vastwoods game if it loses touch with things" angle.


I was all for just picking up where we left off, but if that's not in the cards then that's fine. I'd rather, if we play in Vastwoods, that it not be that long after the events of things, maybe it's too far away for our PCs to go investigate anything about it or something, or we have too many pressing issues of our own to deal with.

Okay. Unless either side changes their mind (speak up now), I'll call this one a miss. Feel free to post if nothing's changed, just so I know and can go back to the drawing board.

I don't think it's really working, so the drawing board it is?

I agree.

My opinion hasn't changed.

Okay, I'm off to the drawing board again. I might get something up this weekend, so odds are we won't see another pitch 'till Monday or later in the week.

Odds are we won't start 'till Eb's back in May now, but I suspected that was going to be the case anyway.

Okay, I've ran another concept by y'all and it seems like it'll float. So a few bits of guidance for now. All of this is subject to change.

- There's a fair chance it'll be good (or exalted) aligned PCs only. Bear this in mind for character creation.

- Starting level will probably be 5. It could dip to 3 or rise to 7 depending.

- I'm not sure how much LA or exotic options I'll allow. That's still to be determined.

- Magical item shopping will be a thing. Closer to B1 than the terror of steam pixie works in B3. On a related note, if anyone has a character idea that involves magic item creation, give me a poke on IRC.

- Stats will be typical !rollchar. If you want to do them early, feel free to grab me and we'll do it. This isn't mandatory, just a courtesy if you want to know what you're working with ahead of time.

- Regardless of what the LA/exotic options end up being, no full outsiders. Native outsiders are okay here, but I feel this game's premise works best with mortals. I'm open to discussing it if someone has a good concept, though.

- Religious groups suitable for PCs (read as: good aligned ones) in this game are likely to start in an underdog position at best. This should be obvious with the game situation. There will be a list of local options and more exotic options will be possible, but justification will be needed. PCs who have a stated interest in serving a particular power or deity can say so now, they'll get special considerations. Gives me easy material to work with in prep.

- Considering the ideas of this game, Charisma probably shouldn't be a dump stat for any of you.

- If you choose to be of exalted alignment, you're going full bore into being an example and putting your neck on the line. To compensate, you'll get a small bonus (a trait or maybe a bonus feat of some kind) to compensate. If your alignment changes from exalted you'll lose that. There will be some IC justification for this.

Again, all of this is still fluid, so speak if you have concerns over a particular idea.

Oh yeah. The tentative name for this is B5: Paragons. Totally subject to change, but that's my beta title. Then again, I called Vastwoods forestgame until just before the first sessions, so eh.

There isn't much in way of concrete detail, but I'm interested. Still hoping to play a fey, likely a Savage Species-style since it's been something I wanted to do in a long game for ages. Doesn't look to be a problem.

[18:46] <@Corwin> !rollchar
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 2, 2, 5, 4 = 15
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 1, 3, 4, 4, 5 = 13
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 1, 6, 4, 3 = 14
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 1, 1, 4, 6 = 14
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 6, 5, 6, 4 = 18
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 5, 3, 6, 2, 1 = 14
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> Corwin's Scores: 18, 15, 14, 14, 14, 13
[18:46] <@Corwin> !rollchar
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 4, 2, 1, 4 = 12
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 5, 2, 4, 1 = 13
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 4, 3, 3, 5 = 13
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 5, 1, 2, 4, 4 = 13
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 3, 6, 3, 3 = 13
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> 1, 4, 3, 5, 2 = 12
[18:46] <Cat_of_Space> Corwin's Scores: 13, 13, 13, 13, 12, 12

Just for the notation, I'm interested, but I'll hold saying/doing anything until you guys get to scheduling since that'll likely be what cuts me out.

Quote from: Corwin on April 05, 2015, 12:41:47 PM
There isn't much in way of concrete detail, but I'm interested. Still hoping to play a fey, likely a Savage Species-style since it's been something I wanted to do in a long game for ages. Doesn't look to be a problem.

Yeah, actual world and game prep will take some time. A few notes on that.

- It'll likely be a largely corrupt/darkened country. Not 100% gone, but not a great place to live. A lot of the struggle will be internal.

- Evil faiths will have some sway there. Umberlee will be a factor at least (the eastern and northern borders are coastlines), with any beyond that still to be determined. Due to other games, Shar and devils (maybe Bane by extension since they're really similar) will likely be cameos/summon monster bait at best.

- The southern border has some mountains. The majority of the area otherwise is flat plains. Not a ton of natural defenses. Pirate attacks on the coast are a problem.

- More than anything else, the people are battered down, weary and afraid. Many are turning to darker places for promises of safety and power. Evil cults and deities grow in influence. Lately, all would be heroes just seem to fizzle out, or to be as miserable as the rest of the realm. Something

So on and so forth. All of that's subject to change since I'm super early in my prep.

Quote from: Iron Dragoon on April 05, 2015, 12:50:03 PM
Just for the notation, I'm interested, but I'll hold saying/doing anything until you guys get to scheduling since that'll likely be what cuts me out.

Fair enough, Iddy. G'luck.

[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 3, 1, 5, 3, 3 = 11
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 6, 2, 5, 6 = 18
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 3, 3, 1, 4, 4 = 11
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 3, 5, 1, 5, 4 = 14
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 6, 1, 3, 4 = 14
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 6, 3, 1, 6 = 16
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> Nephrite's Scores: 18, 16, 14, 14, 11, 11
[12:06] <Nephrite> !rollchar
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 4, 5, 1, 4 = 13
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 4, 2, 6, 3 = 16
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 4, 3, 5, 1, 1 = 12
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 6, 1, 2, 6 = 18
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 6, 3, 3, 3, 5 = 14
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> 2, 6, 5, 1, 3 = 14
[12:06] <Cat_of_Space> Nephrite's Scores: 18, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12


Going with 2 because I am not stupid.

[17:09] <Cat_of_Space> Ebiris's Scores: 17, 16, 15, 15, 14, 13

So is it more a case of a powerful and corrupt minority leading the way with everyone just scared and hopeless rather than basically everyone being an asshole to some degree or another?

Quote from: Ebiris on April 05, 2015, 01:11:46 PM
So is it more a case of a powerful and corrupt minority leading the way with everyone just scared and hopeless rather than basically everyone being an asshole to some degree or another?

It's mostly a slow, steady decline. The world needs heroes. The people can certainly be saved, but they need a spark. They need hope. They need something better than they have now. They need heroes to inspire, ones that won't end up going out and never being seen again, found in a gutter or becoming part of the problem.

Previews are just that: Previews. Nothing here is final yet, so make sure to reread when the information is posted later, as things may change. Mechanics in particular as they go through balancing.

This is meant to be a small reward for choosing exalted alignment, since it'll be taking a firm stand against the evil of the realm. You'll attract attention, for good and ill.

Preview 1: Exalted Characters

To choose to be an exalted character is a commitment. In a darkened realm such as this, it is a brave and bold statement that you will stand up to the darkness all around you. Yet such brave heroes do not stand alone. Those that embrace righteousness are blessed by the Heavens Above. This blessing manifests as a bonus exalted feat of your choice that you qualify for.

Additionally, several new exalted feats are available for this campaign. They're listed below. These feats are meant to be at least marginally better than the ones in the BoED, as many of those are somewhat underpowered.  Being exalted is a serious commitment and should be rewarded as such.

Links are included in certain entries for relevant fluff. They'll be in the feat's name.

Angelic Battlelore [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Skill Focus (Knowledge: Planes)
Benefit: You gain a +5 bonus on knowledge checks about evil outsiders and undead, as well as the lower planes.

Arch-Angel's Mystery (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103088.msg1052237.html#msg1052237) [Exalted]  Second relevant link (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103088.msg1052588.html#msg1052588)
Prerequisite: Knowledge (Planes) 15 ranks, Words of Creation, int 17, cha 17
Benefit: You study the secret lessons of the 77+7 arch-angels of Elysium and learn how to hide yourself from detection. This allows you two ways to use the Words of Creation, ways pioneered by them as they sought to escape the notice of all.

Obscurity: You can hide yourself from the detections of others, creating an effect that shields you while allowing the glories of others to be humbly seen instead. This is identical to a nondetection spell with a caster level equal to your hit dice. Using the Words of Creation in this way deals 14d4 points of nonlethal damage to you.
Invisibility: You can create a cloak that turns aside the eyes of the wicked. This is equivalent to an invisibility spell, except that it only affects evil creatures. Using the Words of Creation in this way deals 7d4 points of nonlethal damage to you.

Eladrin Joy (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103072.msg1054660.html#msg1054660) [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Participated in a revel or celebration in Arborea, cha 15
Benefit: Once per day as a standard action, you can infuse yourself and any allies within 30ft with the zest for life of the eladrin host. This is identical to a good hope spell with a caster level equal to your hit dice. This is a supernatural ability.
Special: Deities who offer the joy domain offer variants of this feat. The exact revel prerequisite and name of the feat vary, but it is otherwise the same. The best known example is Lliira's Laugh.

Exalted Endurance [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Endurance, con 13
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to saving throws against pain based effects, such as symbol of pain, wrack and physical torture. Additionally, you gain 2 hit points for every exalted feat you have, including this one.

Exalted Glow [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Aura of Courage, Nimbus of Light, cha 17
Benefit: Creatures within the radius of the light shed by your nimbus of light (10ft) are immune to fear. This replaces the +4 morale bonus your aura of courage grants.
Special: If you have another aura that grants you immunity to an effect or condition and nearby allies a bonus (such as the aura of sanctity alternate class feature), creatures within the radius of your nimbus of light are also immune to what that aura protects against.

Exalted Healer [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Heal 10 ranks
Benefit: Creatures under long term care from you (by the heal skill) can heal vile damage as if it were normal damage. This requires complete rest. Additionally, you can heal ability drain at a rate of 1 point per day of complete rest, this requires a DC 25 Heal check.

Exalted Protection [Exalted]
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities with the evil descriptor.

Exalted Weapon Mastery [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Weapon Mastery (Melee or Ranged)
Benefit: Weapons that are affected by your weapon mastery feat are infused with righteousness. Any such weapon counts as good aligned to overcome damage reduction. Further, when wielding a weapon affected by your weapon mastery feat, you gain an additional +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls against evil creatures. This stacks with weapon mastery, weapon focus, weapon specialization and similar feats.
Special: A fighter may select exalted weapon mastery as a fighter bonus feat.

Favored of Nature [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Animal Friend
Benefit: No animal will attack you unless compelled by mind-affecting abilities or of evil alignment. If you are in the wild, small animals will stay around you, offer you food, provide warmth and other such things.

Guardian Angel [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Any other exalted feat
Benefit: Once per day as an immediate action, you gain can any one of the following benefits: A +4 sacred bonus to a single saving throw, a +4 sacred bonus to armor class against one attack or a protection from evil effect for 1 minute.

Holy Terror [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Intimidate 8 ranks, cha 15
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to Intimidate checks against evil creatures.

Ilmater's Resolve (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103072.msg1051957.html#msg1051957) [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Exalted Endurance, con 17
Benefit: You are immune to pain based effects, such as symbol of pain, wrack and physical torture. You can bear any pain without the slightest noise or reaction, should you need to. You gain an additional hit point per exalted feat you have, this stacks with the benefit from exalted endurance.

Lathander's Rites [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Vampire Hunter
Benefit: Vampires and vampire spawn reduced to zero hit points and gaseous form by you have the time they have to reach their coffin home before death reduced to a half hour. As a standard action, you can sense the location of any vampire or vampire spawn so afflicted, as well as what direction they are traveling in.

Preacher [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Diplomacy 7 ranks
Benefit: You gain a +3 bonus on Charisma based checks to spread the world of your deity, attract new faithful, gather tithes and promote your church. If you have a Profession skill that accomplishes the same thing, such as profession (preacher), it applies to checks with that skill as well.

Ravagesmith (http://www.soulriders.net/forum/index.php/topic,103074.msg1050890.html#msg1050890) [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Craft(Poisonmaking) 5 ranks
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to Craft(Poisonmaking) checks to create ravages. You can increase the DC of a ravage by up to 10, as if you have skill focus(craft:poisonmaking).

Reveal Evil [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Detect evil class feature, paladin level 5th
Benefit: At will, you may use blessed sight as a spell-like ability. You gain a +2 bonus to any caster level checks to overcome nondetection or similar effects that would prevent you from detecting a creature's evil.

Shining Example [Exalted]
Prerequisite: Sacred Vow
Benefit: You strive to be the best you can. You gain a +2 bonus on Charisma-based checks when you attempt to inspire, lead or instill hope in others. If you perform an act of good while attempting such a check (such as relieving a suffering enemy's pain while you try to negotiate with them), this bonus increases to +4 until the end of the encounter.

I'd link Seira in the last one, but it's obvious plus I'm trying to avoid that. Assume I'll avoid references like that unless PC induced. But yeah, that one is so Seira.

Previews are just that: Previews. Nothing here is final yet, so make sure to reread when the information is posted later, as things may change. Mechanics in particular as they go through balancing.

As this one is purely flavor, bear in mind I may tweak some things.

Preview 2: The kingdom of Malana.

Malana

Government Type: A kingdom divided into 5 districts.
Leader: Dynast Franz Malana.
Flag: A blue flag with a white stripe down the middle.
Capital: Misty Harbor

Malana is an old nation, one that has existed in several forms for over a millenia. For the last few centuries the Malana Dynasts have ruled the kingdom and given it its name. While the land is good and plentiful on the surface, problems have worn down the country in the past century. Pirate attacks are depressingly common, raiding both ship sat sea and ports. Krygur in the south has menaced, though natural barriers have lessened that threat. Kabath to the west has routinely waged war on Malana, as there are no natural barriers to prevent an army from marching in. The most recent Malana-Kabath war was 8 years ago and resulted in the concession of several border territories from Malana to Kabath.

The current dynast, Franz Malana, has ruled since his father died in the most recent war. He is now only a man of 20 years and spends most of his time in the palace. It is commonly said that he allows others to do as they please, lost in his own amusements. His reign has seen the legalization of the Church of the Bitch Queen, long forbidden by dynast edict. He has loosened the ban on the slave trade, allowing slave ships to dock in the kingdom's ports and even sell their wares there. Taxes have risen as well, all said to pay for the dynast's pleasure palace parties. The dynast's lax attention has allowed bribery to flourish and corrupt practices to reign. These days, it is said gold and knives are merchant's best friends.

The common people struggle under these burdens. Taxes sap the money of all but the rich, while corruption ensures that cronyism is the order of the day. Those that seek the help of the dynast find a disinterested court more interested in the next celebration or civil servants openly demanding bribes for anything. The army is overstretched and mainly focused on the borders, allowing pirates to savage the coasts, with only the navy to try and interdict them. Requests for aid are routinely turned down, as military manpower is overtaxed.

Those that turn to religion find a harder path yet. The old churches are all in decline, having lost the favor of most. The Shining Light Cathedral of Lathander has lost the support of the nobility and has fallen on hard times. The Order of the Whirling Fury was wiped out a generation ago by an unknown disaster and has yet to reform, an entire order of crusaders against the dark gone. The Technos of Gond survive, but recent years have seem them lost in their own work, caring less and less of the common man. Other smaller churches have likewise suffered setbacks.

The Church of the Bitch Queen is a wealthy church and rising, for the priests claim to be able to shield ships from the wrath of the sea and pirates - for the right offerings, of course. The Church is more interested in sating their own interests and the wrath of Umberlee, having no interest in aiding those without gold.

The Order of the Senses likewise has a fair deal of patronage these days, but it is an open secret that they engage in demon worship. Yet the women of the cult are beautiful and they have gold enough, so the authorities allow this to run unchecked. It is whispered that those that oppose the cult have their souls sucked out by women so beautiful that a man can do nothing but allow it to happen.

The Frozen are a cult that is established in the southern mountains. They serve Auril and offer protection from winter's ravages. On the surface they seem beneficial, and indeed have a few benefits. Yet the areas under their stewardship become cold and unfeeling, as do the people. Neighbors become uncaring of other neighbors and the snowy streets run red when the wrath of the faithful is stirred.

Beyond religion, dark things move in the wilderness. Goblins, always a small problem in seaside caves, have grown lately and have been seen further inland. Basilisks, a problem thought exterminated in the plains, have shown signs of a resurgence. Darker things yet are said to be moving, leaving the rural populace in a state of growing uneasiness. Do they turn to the corrupt kingdom, the uncaring nobility or the cruel churches on the rise? Where are the heroes to turn to? Are they doomed to stand alone and afraid?

Not the best place for it, but what happens if you are a lvl6 character, Monk5/Pal1, and you take the Practiced Spellcaster feat for Paladin. Do you get Paladin CL 1-3+4=2? Or does it do nothing until you get to lvl9 with Monk5/Pal4, where it suddenly activates and you get Paladin CL 4-3+4=5?

Quote from: Corwin on April 09, 2015, 05:34:23 AM
Not the best place for it, but what happens if you are a lvl6 character, Monk5/Pal1, and you take the Practiced Spellcaster feat for Paladin. Do you get Paladin CL 1-3+4=2? Or does it do nothing until you get to lvl9 with Monk5/Pal4, where it suddenly activates and you get Paladin CL 4-3+4=5?

Paladin doesn't have a caster level until level 4, so it doesn't apply until then.

Previews are just that: Previews. Nothing here is final yet, so make sure to reread when the information is posted later, as things may change. Mechanics in particular as they go through balancing.

As this one is purely flavor, bear in mind I may tweak some things. I'm in that phase where i have to do a lot of the background work, so stuff like this is the norm.

Preview 3: Noble rankings in Malana

Dynast

The undisputed ruler of the realm, though the title also goes to the Dynast's spouse. They are styled His Most Wise Royal Majesty along with any other ranks, honors or titles. The Dynast is an absolute king and his word is law. There is no appeal to his decisions and he is the final arbiter of anything within Malana.

The current Dynast is Franz Malana, styled as His Most Wise Royal Majesty Franz Malana, Lord of Misty Harbor and Commander of the Serene Sea. He has no wife as of yet, and it is common knowledge that he has many mistresses. No (acknowledged) children have come of these dalliances. He rarely addresses the problems of the common people, instead dealing with the issues of the nobility and his own personal interests.

Note that it is customary and correct to capitalize Dynast at all times. Franz is the fourth such Dynast to carry that name, though a Dynast's title does not reflect that until after death. He will be known as Dynast Franz in life and Dynast Franz IV in death.

Prince or Princess

The children of the current Dynast. They are automatically next in line for the throne and are groomed as such. They are styled His Most Wise Royal Highness along with any other ranks, honors or titles. The spouses of princes and princesses are not bestowed this title, they are instead given the title scion of the realm.

There are no current princes or princesses, as Dynast Franz was an only child and none of his father's siblings survived the last war with Kabath.

Scions of the Realm

Royalty that is not in the immediate line to inherit the throne. This is usually a title held by family branches that result from Dynasts with large families. They are styled Lord Scion along with any titles, ranks or honors. In common usage they are simply called scions. Should a scion become in line to inherit the throne, they obtain the title or prince or princess. They are ranked below the Dynast and princes and princesses, equal to scions of the district and above all other nobility.

An example scion is Lord Scion Jonah Malana-Willsworth, Marshal of the Western Front and Umberlant. He is a known cleric of Umberlee and said to be an adviser of the Dynast. He's known to be a capable warrior, though he rose to military rank after the last war with Kabath, so his military skill is unknown. It is no secret that he is quite wealthy, though most of the wealth is said to be tossed into the sea for Umberlee.

Scions of the District

The highest non-royal rank, scions of the district rule one of Malana's five districts. They report directly to the Dynast and are equal in rank to a scion of the realm. Unlike scions of the realm, scions of the district usually use their full title. They are styled Lord Scion along with any ranks, titles and honors. They see that Malana's districts are fruitful and benefit the crown. The position is hereditary, though the Dynast can remove a family from this rank.

An example scion of the district is Lord Scion Garrond DuMarier. A former knight during the last war, he was one of the few commanders to hold his position and adequately oppose the Kabath army. He was once a wandering hero, but accepted an invitation from the previous Dynast to join the army. His fortunes have soared since them, as has his wealth.

Lord

Nobles who serve the scions of the district or who have been honored by the crown. They generally hold property and deal with the day to day problems. These days, most are noted to be remarkably uncaring and self-absorbed. They are styled Lord with no further ranks noted, save for military ones. They are below scions of the district but above the rest of the nobility.

An example lord is Lord Jack 'Silver' Maggen. He holds a large deal of property in the Whitepack Mountains to the south. Is known as 'Silver' for his preferred method of executing troublemakers - by drowning them in free-flowing frozen silver. These public spectacles are mandatory for the subjects of his lands to attend. He is a known sadist and is known to revere Auril. Some claim that he is one of her clerics, but it is not confirmed.

Knight

A noble title above square but below all the others. It is bestowed to military officers who distinguish themselves. Knight is still a fairly common title to be used for armored warriors, and not every person who calls himself a knight is a knight of this rank. They are styled Knight along with any military titles they have. They serve in the military and seldom hold land until retirement, at which point is is customary for the crown to reward them with a holding.

An example knight is Knight Willis Umgard, General of the Western Shield. A big, burly and bearded man, he is noted for his personal lusts. While he is an adequate officer, he is primarily known for his assortment of bastard children. It's known he doesn't take particularly good care of them, and he often forces more troublesome ones into the army.

Squire

The lowest form of nobility. They are above commoners but below everyone else and are not landed. This title is given for a variety of distinguished deeds and accomplishments. It's something of a catch-all and the title is held by a broad spectrum of people. Any noble of knight rank or higher can nominate a commoner the title of squire, but the decision rests solely in the hands of the Dynast. Success and failure usually comes down to politics more than any merit.

Freemen

The general term for the common folk. Goodman is used as well, but the term has fallen out of favor in recent times. The nobility seldom cares to differentiate between freement, but the common folk tend to refer to themselves based on their profession. For example, a butcher may be called Butcher Freeman, a seamstress as Seamstress Freewoman and so forth.

Slave

The lowest rank, until recently forbidden by law. It is still illegal to make a citizen of Malana a slave, but foreign slaves are now tolerated. A slave has no rights and is simply property.

Previews are just that: Previews. Nothing here is final yet, so make sure to reread when the information is posted later, as things may change. Mechanics in particular as they go through balancing.

As this one is purely flavor, bear in mind I may tweak some things. I'm in that phase where i have to do a lot of the background work, so stuff like this is the norm.

Preview 4: Assorted tidbits

Kabath

Government Type: A reformed tribal federation.
Leader: Queen Penelope II
Flag: A black banner with a white lightning bolt in the middle
Capital: Tempalar

Krygur

Government Type: Kingdom
Leader: Prince Alan-Greenholm
Flag: A blue field decorated with white stars, with a silver stripe down the center
Capital: Kryguros

Misty Harbor

The capital city of Malana. It is named for the fact it is routinely foggy. In spite of that, it's home to an amazing natural harbor and is the main port of call for Malana. The fog also gives some protection from pirate raids, though other cities on the cost are not so lucky.

Banam

A city that sits in the higher foothills of the southern mountains. It is a the main coordination point to the defenses of Whitepack Pass and forces rotate between there and Whitepack Pass commonly. Martial law prevails in the city, as the military brooks no interference with its duties. This protects the city from most threats but leaves them open to whatever the army wishes to do.

Fortresses Highspire, Tyr's Spite, Adamantine, Jellan, Breakshield and Iron Resolve

A series of western border fortresses. They coordinate the defenses against Kabath. They also serve as places for travelers to rest - and to be interrogated, as the stories say. Especially travelers from Kabath.

Warmfolk

A port town south of Misty Harbor. Once prosperous, pirate raids have crippled the town. Many sailors have left, families have moved and only the resilient remain. Despite all the losses, the pirates continues to attack.

Known races in Malana

Humans

The dominant species. Ages ago, Malana was elf dominated. Time and weather patterns peeled the forests into plains, and the elves largely left with them. Humans moved in from the west and south and the rest is history.

Elves

A few handfuls of elves remained in Malana. They aren't many and tend to be considered 'human' elves and are raised amid humans. Foreign elves have an extremely low opinion of them. Native elves have all the rights of humans in Malana and racism is generally low. However, they're rarely part of the nobility, leading to tensions.

Goblins

A recurring problem in seaside caves. They have a tribal society and love to start wars, raid and generally be pests. Some are pirates, but most are simply menaces. They're growing more numerous lately.

Earth Genasi

An odd sect of humans and elves moved underground about 5 centuries ago. What happened isn't clear, but they vanished and eventually earth genasi came to set up a few villages beneath Malana. They are an isolated, warlike and xenophobic society. Fortunately, they don't usually make trouble for surface dwellers unless provoked. They worship strange deities such as Grumbar, Ogremoch, Entemoch, Sunnis and others yet.

They aren't citizens of Malana, but they're generally ignored so long as they don't make trouble. A few efforts to stomp them out have lead to entombed divisions and general failure.

Deep Dwarves

Evidence suggests deep dwarves once lived beneath Malana, but all that's left is ruins. It's a mystery, but the earth genasi make exploring it difficult.

And yes, there are half-elves for obvious reasons as well as mixed breeds. More on that later.

Previews are just that: Previews. Nothing here is final yet, so make sure to reread when the information is posted later, as things may change. Mechanics in particular as they go through balancing.

The vile feats are examples. There's more you aren't seeing, but I'm making toys for the bad guys as well as for y'all. Sweet poisons is from Cherry over in the characters and monsters topic, by the way.

Preview 5: Various feats, including racial and vile feats.

Blended Blood [Racial]
Prerequisite: Ancestry of at least three different races
Benefit: Choose one of the races in your heritage. You are treated as that race for the sake of effects, as well as for qualifying for feats and prestige classes.
Special: This feat may only be taken at 1st level.

Born Under a Dark Omen [Vile]
Prerequisite: Evil alignment
Benefit: You gain the evil subtype. If slain, you may choose to rise as a ghost or other undead (DM's discretion). If you do, you cannot be resurrected by any means until you rise as undead and are destroyed.
Special: This feat may only be taken at 1st level.

Dark Champion [Vile]
Prerequisite: Born Under a Dark Omen
Benefit: You may smite good once per day. This is identical to a blackguard's smite evil, except that you gain a +4 bonus to your attack roll and deal extra damage equal to your hit dice. If you already have the ability to smite good as a class feature, you instead gain an additional +2 bonus to your attack and weapon damage rolls when you smite good.

Elf Blood [Racial]
Prerequisite: Elven ancestry, do not have elf subtype
Benefit: You are treated as an elf for the sake of effects, as well as qualifying for feats and prestige classes. You count as an elf to use magical items keyed to elves. You gain a +2 racial bonus to Listen and Spot checks.
Special: This feat may only be taken at 1st level.

Frozen Body [Vile]
Prerequisite: Must serve Auril, con 13
Benefit: Your body becomes as cold and unfeeling as Auril's blizzards. You gain resistance to cold 10, this resistance stacks with any other permanent resistance to cold you possess, but not with temporary effects or magical items.

Frozen Mind [Vile]
Prerequisite: Must serve Auril, Frozen Body
Benefit: Your mind becomes numb as Auril's power caresses it. You gain a +4 profane bonus to saving throw against mind-affecting effects.

Frozen Soul [Vile]
Prerequisite: Must serve Auril, Frozen Mind, Evil Brand
Benefit: You gain the cold subtype, granting you immunity to cold and vulnerability to fire. You are surrounded by winter's chill at all time, which causes any weapon you wield, including natural weapons and unarmed strikes, to deal an extra 2d6 points of cold damage. Your evil brand changes to radiate cold power, which allows evil creatures with the cold subtype to know your patron on sight and that you have her favor. This increases the circumstance bonus to Diplomacy and Intimidate checks against such creatures to +4. This power does not come without a price, as you lose the ability to feel emotions, except for cold rage and icy contempt. 

Hybrid Vigor [Racial]
Prerequisite: Blended Blood, con 13
Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus to Fortitude saves. You may reroll any roll of 1 or 2 when rolling your hit points.

Malanese Elf [Racial]
Prerequisite: Elf, raised in Malana
Benefit: You gain an additional skill point at each level (4 at 1st level).
Special: This feat may only be taken at 1st level.

Smite of the Northern Wind [General]
Prerequisite: Ability to smite good, must serve Auril
Benefit: When you smite good, you may choose to imbue your smite with the power of winter. This adds an extra 1d6 points of cold damage to your smite. In addition, all the damage your smite deals is cold damage. This means it bypasses damage resistance, as all the damage is now energy damage. If you smite a creature that is not good, the smite is still wasted and has no extra effect.

Sweet Poisons [General]
Prerequisite: Must serve Malcanthet, Craft(Poisonmaking) 10 ranks, cha 17
Benefit: You may use your Charisma modifier in place of your Intelligence modifier with Craft(Poisonmaking) checks. In addition, you may choose to change the taste of any ingested poison you create to anything you wish. Doing so increases the Craft DC of the poison by 3.
Special: Several enterprising succubi have sold the knowledge of this feat to the highest bidder. As such, the requirement of serving Malcanthet can be ignored if a teacher is found.

Any last business in here? If not I'll have Drac oldgames this in a couple of days.

Now's the time to speak up.

Goodbye Lucy, the succubus that could. I like to imagine you'll find a library free of light-horrors and full of the best books.

Goodbye Veren, may your blade stay sharp and your treasures flowing.

Goodbye Sharm, you deserved better. You and Veseyra can commiserate over being short-time PCs.

Goodbye Moore, he who would have been better suited for B5 instead of Lost Realm.

Goodbye Pepo, glad you never found Pepo that is not Pepo again.

Goodbye Jetina, did you know my plan was for you to ultimately settle down in Hillsmar? Sometimes you make a new home instead of going back to the old one.

Goodbye Kamhoff, sorry about that whole dying thing.

Goodbye Little, sorry about disintegrating you.

Goodbye Bolethon, you tried.

Goodbye Macaron, good dog.

Goodbye Lost Realm, doubt you'll ever ride again. Here's to concepts that sounded good on paper but didn't work out in reality. Go play with Avatars or something. It could use some company, both games looked good but didn't work out.