DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Anastasia]

Her size increases to large at 19hd (and she'll become huge at 36hd). If/when Alicia proxies her she'll probably take alter size so she can be fairy sized again. For now she'll keep the Change Shape Su ability that Morwel gave her so she can be a medium sized elf when out of combat. Being large means she gains +8 str, +4 con, +2 natural armour, and -2 dex. She especially dislikes that last part.

Size increases are purely optional, she can take them or not as she wishes. I usually only apply them if it feels right for the creature in question.

Using the outsider side for skills/bab/saves/hp/etc.

Figured, that's a pretty good call.

She also keeps Familiar Toughness. Alicia can make her a familiar with her divine ability, maybe it'll give her more hp than she normally has!

Scary.

As far as class breakdown goes...Warmage

Into Abjurant Champion now. And... wait. No, she can't because she can't cast any abjuration spells. Haha wtf. Warmage doesn't have like mage armour or shield or anything like that?

You know what, no. Fuck this.

Sorcerer, she's a sorcerer now. Fuck you warmage, you suck. I thought you could be cool but adding like 7 damage to a magic missile with warmage edge is so not worth this bullshit

Yeah, warmage is a weird one. Side note: warmages are houseruled to get good fort saves plus warmage edge is war mage level + int modifier. Not that I'm really disagreeing with you here, just saying.

Incantrix could be good.

Serious question for everyone, have I ever allowed anyone incantrix? I'm pretty sure I've turned it down a few times when asked before.

Okay checking, most recent comment was for Rat and Iddy in B4SS prep, which comes down to this comment from IRC logs: > I've discouraged Incantrix before, not sure if I ever banned it. I didn't allow it then, though B4SS is admittedly lower power than this.

What about something for evasion/mettle/divine grace? Nah. Feel kinda naked being without any of those at epic but I can't see Marie as a paladin, even a paladin of freedom. Can't really afford to drop caster levels either. At least she can get improved evasion whenever Alicia uses divine familiar on her.

It doesn't fit her, no.

Marie would tell you there's a moral in that.

A terrifying moral, no doubt.

[Ebiris]

I've never asked about incantrix nor can I recall anyone else.

If it helps Marie isn't really shaping up to be a powerhouse even with that, though it does feed her magic missile gimmick extremely well between the metamagic feats and the metamagic reduction.

[Corwin]

You've always hated Incantatrix, yes.

Re: the spell that just nukes any one ability, it has no save. Wtf. Whether lvl8 or 9, that's bullshit!

[Anastasia]

You've always hated Incantatrix, yes.

Re: the spell that just nukes any one ability, it has no save. Wtf. Whether lvl8 or 9, that's bullshit!

Gah, I didn't even notice that. Good catch, thanks Cor. Editing.

[Anastasia]

I've never asked about incantrix nor can I recall anyone else.

If it helps Marie isn't really shaping up to be a powerhouse even with that, though it does feed her magic missile gimmick extremely well between the metamagic feats and the metamagic reduction.

Run me through how her gimmick is looking, by the way?

[Ebiris]

Okay, so she has -3 metamagic reductions from the two epic feats and incantrix, then another -1 from arcane thesis, so basically on a magic missile spell she can apply any metamagic with a cost of +4 or below for free.

Thus for 2 1st level slots she casts a quickened/twinned/repeating/fell drain/entangling and a twinned/repeating/fell drain/entangling magic missile for a total of 4*7 missiles on round 1, then on round 2 she can cast it again while the repeat spells go off so she gets 8*7 missiles.

So the damage for it would look like...

[18:03] <@Ebiris> roll 4#7d4+14 and 4 negative levels
[18:03] <Rei-chan> Ebiris rolled : 4#7d4+14 and 4 negative levels --> [ 7d4=19 ]{33}, [ 7d4=16 ]{30}, [ 7d4=17 ]{31}, [ 7d4=24 ]{38}
[18:03] <@Ebiris> roll 8#7d4+14 and 8 negative levels
[18:03] <Rei-chan> Ebiris rolled : 8#7d4+14 and 8 negative levels --> [ 7d4=18 ]{32}, [ 7d4=21 ]{35}, [ 7d4=19 ]{33}, [ 7d4=15 ]{29}, [ 7d4=18 ]{32}, [ 7d4=13 ]{27}, [ 7d4=15 ]{29}, [ 7d4=9 ]{23}
[18:03] <@Ebiris> roll 33+30+31+38+32+35+33+29+32+27+29+23
[18:03] <Rei-chan> Ebiris rolled : 33+30+31+38+32+35+33+29+32+27+29+23 --> {372}

So for 2 rounds of action that's not really an exceptional amount of damage. But it's consistent and her SR check is at +38 or so on magic missiles so barring golems she's pretty much always going to land them.

[Anastasia]

Weekly Roundup

Alicia

A good week. I enjoyed the tail end of the Marie Balmuria trip as well as the feelings when Marie was formally discharged from her familiar role. That hits home - she had one of the best runs as a familiar ever. I admit I'm fond of Marie, I've always enjoyed her for what she is as well as her back and forth with Antenora. It's extremely comfortable. Anyway, rest of the week was promising - the Radiant Sister hunt could be good next week and the Calley interrupt was interesting. That was purely because of Andrea, a nice little callback to that in B2.

I find Alicia works best with a purpose. She feels very purpose and task driven, which fits her personality and her goals.

Moore

I really enjoyed the interaction and the path crossing at Whimsical Sweets. That was all good stuff, the sort of meeting that helps bridge gaps well. Massive points for catching some of the numerology beyond the obvious of 777 pieces to complete. I seed lots of little references like that, most of them are missed so it's always gratifying to see someone catch a subtle one. Anyway, the week felt good, got stuff done and is setting up a chance for some real, solid combat with the entire group. I'm looking forward to it.

Moore feels best when I let him do whatever. It's his strong suit, and a nice contrast from others. He's very independent.

Tryll

Yeah, weekend session, I wanna see more here. I'll reserve comment here pending managing one this weekend. We'll see how it goes.

Alyssa

What I enjoy about Alyssa's node is how well Jarem, Emily and Alyssa interact. There feels like three strong personalities there (even if part of Emily's personality tends to the insecure and passive) that bounce off each other. It's the best node for that right now - Moore's node is a bit different, since Kaja essentially has three straight men to bounce off of and Alicia's node is hugely purpose driven for example - just three people going off each other. Really, it was a fairly mundane bit of searching Radiance and dealing with xag-ya, but that made it enjoyable.

Alyssa's more task driven, but also has lots of her own ideas, so that's an interesting middle ground here.

Seira

I'm not going to lie, I've enjoyed this entire Balmuria visit. It's touching base, reestablishing characters after 2+ decades have passed IC and altogether honing the edges of all of that. All the chats with Mia and Abagail have been great, letting me directly show worldbuilding I've only alluded to (as much of this hasn't been in focus or relevant).  Seira's great to bounce things off with for that, as she tends to fill it in well and also notice things. The comment about the two seas today was a good and interesting one, for example,

Seira's much like Moore (or Moore's like Seira) in that she's hugely self driven, but a bit tasky, too. I dunno where I'm going with that, I did it as a one off line with Alicia's roundup and just kept doing it.

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa

What I enjoy about Alyssa's node is how well Jarem, Emily and Alyssa interact. There feels like three strong personalities there (even if part of Emily's personality tends to the insecure and passive) that bounce off each other. It's the best node for that right now - Moore's node is a bit different, since Kaja essentially has three straight men to bounce off of and Alicia's node is hugely purpose driven for example - just three people going off each other. Really, it was a fairly mundane bit of searching Radiance and dealing with xag-ya, but that made it enjoyable.

Alyssa's more task driven, but also has lots of her own ideas, so that's an interesting middle ground here.

Yeah, it's pretty much pure RP going so far. It's fun and decent going.

Alyssa's having to be task driven because there's so much to do for her.

[Anastasia]

Indeed.

Side note for Cor and Neph: There's a bit of T's personality in Jarem, though just a little. T was competent but still T, while Jarem is a self assured warrior tested by time. Still, a bit of the confidence and a smidge of the cockiness there, though Jarem tends to provoke for entirely different reasons than T.

[Ebiris]

Alicia

A good week. I enjoyed the tail end of the Marie Balmuria trip as well as the feelings when Marie was formally discharged from her familiar role. That hits home - she had one of the best runs as a familiar ever. I admit I'm fond of Marie, I've always enjoyed her for what she is as well as her back and forth with Antenora. It's extremely comfortable. Anyway, rest of the week was promising - the Radiant Sister hunt could be good next week and the Calley interrupt was interesting. That was purely because of Andrea, a nice little callback to that in B2.

I find Alicia works best with a purpose. She feels very purpose and task driven, which fits her personality and her goals.

Yeah, discharging Marie was nice, a mix of sadness at losing something so comfortable and happiness at a job well done. Calley showing up was kind of neat, even if having my everything picked apart by a little kid kinda stung. For Latha's talk about taking over his guardianship, it was nice to call that back to how things went with Hugo at Androlynne. Having the child-like outsider take part there was pretty much fully expected by destiny and GM but it ran hard into Alicia's feelings on parental responsibility and the rights of children.

As she said to Latha her feelings there mean it makes even more sense for her to take over with Calley but it's also a seductive argument that flatters her ego, which she's not blind to. Still between Jessica's somewhat more competent than the norm kids and the dynamic Hugo/Dawnhope pairing we could give Calley some friendly peers to play with if he lived in Sylica, plus it'd give Andrea more of a role too since she'd be stuck as part of that group, so it could be interesting to explore. Plus Alicia and Syala have deliberately avoided having children to avoid ending up in a Neverborn scenario because Ao is a dick, so Calley as a surrogate kid would give them something to work those parental instincts off on.

[Anastasia]

Yeah, discharging Marie was nice, a mix of sadness at losing something so comfortable and happiness at a job well done.

Pretty much. Marie's won. She's gotten her dream and even more now. It's nice to see it for her, but it's melancholic as well. Changes like that always are.

Calley showing up was kind of neat, even if having my everything picked apart by a little kid kinda stung. For Latha's talk about taking over his guardianship, it was nice to call that back to how things went with Hugo at Androlynne. Having the child-like outsider take part there was pretty much fully expected by destiny and GM but it ran hard into Alicia's feelings on parental responsibility and the rights of children.

Calley picking everything apart was intentional. He has a child's innocent bluntness combined with the knowledge of a sage and the power of an epic D&D character. It's an odd combination, letting him make the sort of childish, innocent statements of (as they see it) honesty that an adult never would. A child doesn't have the knowledge to examine things at that level, Calley does. It's an odd combination I'm trying to hone from that point of view. He doesn't entirely act as a child of course, who could with what he knows? But still, I think it worked well enough for that.

As she said to Latha her feelings there mean it makes even more sense for her to take over with Calley but it's also a seductive argument that flatters her ego, which she's not blind to. Still between Jessica's somewhat more competent than the norm kids and the dynamic Hugo/Dawnhope pairing we could give Calley some friendly peers to play with if he lived in Sylica, plus it'd give Andrea more of a role too since she'd be stuck as part of that group, so it could be interesting to explore. Plus Alicia and Syala have deliberately avoided having children to avoid ending up in a Neverborn scenario because Ao is a dick, so Calley as a surrogate kid would give them something to work those parental instincts off on.

It's justifiable, but not everything justifiable is the right choice or free from being a temptation. That's really the crux of the dilemma, one I'm glad Alicia twigged on. This is a question I don't feel there's a clear right or wrong answer to (assuming Alicia's basic morality rules out less than morally upright options, of course). Taking Calley or working something out is entirely reasonable. So is leaving him with his parents, trusting in Whimsical Sweets to protect them, or some other hybrid of those.

[Nephrite]

Moore

I really enjoyed the interaction and the path crossing at Whimsical Sweets. That was all good stuff, the sort of meeting that helps bridge gaps well. Massive points for catching some of the numerology beyond the obvious of 777 pieces to complete. I seed lots of little references like that, most of them are missed so it's always gratifying to see someone catch a subtle one. Anyway, the week felt good, got stuff done and is setting up a chance for some real, solid combat with the entire group. I'm looking forward to it.

Moore feels best when I let him do whatever. It's his strong suit, and a nice contrast from others. He's very independent.

It's one of those things where, since he's been an outsider (not literally, but you know what I mean) to all these stories, it was interesting for him to be able to see people he'd heard about before. I'm trying to avoid having him pull on plot threads from other people but sometimes it's necessary just... due to how things end up being connected.

Moore's really tired of hearing people tell him 'no you can't do that' when there seem to be all sorts of examples of things that have proven that there's always a possibility. It's kind of why his new thing is now "possibility," since that seems to be what's driving everything. That, and he sees Sylvie a lot differently than he thinks other people do, so this is a personal battle for him, outside of everything else going on. He gets to be selfish about one thing every now and again. And hey, he seems to be on the right track so far!

As for the ritual -- hey, only 776 pieces to go!

Also, yes, Moore himself is finding that he needs to just go out on his own and be an adventurer -- well, an epic one, but an adventurer nonetheless. He can't just wait for quest hooks, as it were, he can make his own at this point.

Note to self: Have him inform Seira about that after they're done with their current mission, which I think is going to go pretty well, just due to the hit-and-run tactic they're trying to employ right now.

[Anastasia]

It's one of those things where, since he's been an outsider (not literally, but you know what I mean) to all these stories, it was interesting for him to be able to see people he'd heard about before. I'm trying to avoid having him pull on plot threads from other people but sometimes it's necessary just... due to how things end up being connected.

Yeah, some interconnectedness is inevitable due to the premises involved. I wouldn't worry about that too much as long as you all understand that and solve any issues there maturely.

Moore's really tired of hearing people tell him 'no you can't do that' when there seem to be all sorts of examples of things that have proven that there's always a possibility. It's kind of why his new thing is now "possibility," since that seems to be what's driving everything. That, and he sees Sylvie a lot differently than he thinks other people do, so this is a personal battle for him, outside of everything else going on. He gets to be selfish about one thing every now and again. And hey, he seems to be on the right track so far!

Fair enough. I honestly hope you succeed (while knowing if you even have a chance at all, and what's really in play, DMing can be an exercise in doublethink), for in spite of her issues I've always wanted Sylvie to find a happy ending, yet she isn't able to. In a better world Janson would never have died and she's be happy with him, maybe even raising a second child and having made peace with that part of her life. In a better world, she would have given up 21 and avoided all of that, as for all the power it grants, it's still something profoundly unnatural to mortals and immortals alike. In a better world - ah, you get the point.

I do really like that you've chosen to try and save her, I think it's a nice goal to have and I appreciate it OOC. It's just IC, [spoilers] and other reasonings make people doubt you can. That's all, don't read it as me trying to discourage you OOC.

As for the ritual -- hey, only 776 pieces to go!

Progress.

More seriously, you can imagine you'll find more than one piece per place generally speaking. 777 different, distinct quests is a bit much for the scope of the game, after all.

Also, yes, Moore himself is finding that he needs to just go out on his own and be an adventurer -- well, an epic one, but an adventurer nonetheless. He can't just wait for quest hooks, as it were, he can make his own at this point.

Moore has a need to do things, yes. Very self motivated.

Note to self: Have him inform Seira about that after they're done with their current mission, which I think is going to go pretty well, just due to the hit-and-run tactic they're trying to employ right now.

Shock and overwhelm tactics by epic level threats are hard to defend against, especially higher epic threats, unless the position is hardened and fortified by something equally or more powerful than them. Just like a bunch of mid level PCs going to wreck a ramshackle goblin fort, they often can't meaningfully deal with the power imbalance.

Until they pull out something that can or a surprise, but that's not 100%.

Are you familiar with Tucker's Kobolds? If not, google it. In short, intelligent opponents try to reasonably mimic them in preparation, when possible. Two salient points of it - they fight on their terms whenever possible and focus on attrition. The thing is that epic level 3.5 PCs can largely ignore or circumvent those manner of things, especially when a bigger power gap exists. Like for example, the efreet are using that here. Funnel your opponents, force them to come to you and weaken them before any climatic battles. There's more to it of course, but that's the crux of it all. It's interesting to see the back and forth of it in game as it plays out, as well as the times it doesn't.

At the same time, I tend to run epic 3.5 in a fairly, well, epic style. Think super heroes, that sort of thing. Epic level characters are pretty much that, so I accept it and run with it, so I try not to get super gritty into it, either.

[Anastasia]

Miranda reaches level 31.

- Valkyrie 31 and Ranger 31.
- 2 on a d8 for a total of 10 hit points and a grand total of 405 hit points.
- BAB rises by 1 to +31.
- Gains 31st level ranger casting. She selects another heal.
- Spell resistance rises by 1 to 42.
- Skills go up as normal.

[Anastasia]

7/30/18: Red Knight's Skill is now a pal 6 spell. Considering it's a faith exclusive spell right now and the Red Knight does have some paladins, this feels reasonable.

From the Spell Collection changelog. Just heads up. I don't think this hits any of you, but worth mentioning it.