>>115639
Hey, welcome back! You picked a pretty good place to come back actually, both parties are in places where you can do stuff with minimal catchup.

The Fire Hawks are still on the escort mission. Problem of the week is a port town with a strike interrupting resupply. We're basically just talking to npcs right now, Maru could easily step into that.

Dungeon Team came across a deck of many things and strngy drew way too many times. The Tl'dr is Nist now has a Holy mission, and used a wish to get everyone to safety. There's a new thread where the new team is RPing getting to know each other, and we're just starting to do level ups. Kent is fine, Isaiah is still down but fixable.

The full backlog is pretty fun, though. Delros Frist's tower almost turned into a comedy of errors, and the deck of many things stuff at the end of the old dungeon thread is a fantastic mess.

It's fun to see my fat boy Geoffrey is still alive somehow, I was loosely following the developments with the monster chase and I'm still following where I can.

Keep up the good work, you're playing him as flighty as he should be. A+

>>115639
Santova's back! We missed you!
Important things that haven't been mentioned

-Nistamatsin drew sixteen cards from the Deck of Many Things

-We now have a submarine that can go through solid ground. It will take months before we are all trained in its use.

-Helen has been poofed back to her original group by means of a Wish spell. This means Kent and her have met up.

>>115642
Thanks Riot. I've been trying to play him like you would!

Have to do some IRL doctors-and-lawyers stuff with my wife, tomorrow and the next day. Should have more mental energy free for level-ups in thread 7, fleshing out relevant NPCs in thread 6, and zombie elephant joyriding in NQ:rttWP after that.

>>115648
No worries. Take as long as you need to.

I'd like to note that the title of thread 7 is, among other things, a deliberate reference to two different idioms about getting into deep trouble by your own deliberate efforts, in ways an outside observer could easily recognize as foolish: "giving [person or group] enough rope to hang themselves" and "when you're at the bottom of a hole, it's time to stop digging." The idea of 'digging deeper' within yourself to find the energy for some redoubled effort when seemingly exhausted, as well as more literal rope and holes in the ground, are also relevant.

Has anyone figured out what specific type of archon offered that quest to Nistamatsin? Once you do, the 'gotcha' clause in this bizarrely alignment-reversed 'deal with the devil' should be fairly clear.

>>115709
From some quick research, Trumpet seems the closest fit. They've got the marble skin, the pupilless eyes, and they ask sacrifices of service and time.

I don't think anyone has observed an instrument in Lt.Cmdr. Jalkaren Blessed-Is-The-Light's possession, though.

(Some of the other types are pretty easy to rule out- she doesn't have a dog's head, she's not a ball of light, she was described as having swan-like wings, not metal ones).

>>115711
If that were the case, what would the catch be?

So, i apologize if i appear a bit misinformed, but this thread is a bit long to read all the way through. Anyway, I wish to join in this quest. Strngy has told me stories about the exploits of these characters and it sounds like a lot of fun. So i guess here we go!

Name: Valeno Nahesa
Race:Vishkanya(snake person)
Class:Townie
Specialization: Rogue/Poisoner
Higher Ambition: To become a Walking Viper (a master of poison in one aspect or another E.g. Knowledge of poison or inventing a new poison, etc.)
Lower Ambition: Voyeurism.
Mutation: The ability to squeeze through and around any tight spaces. Valeno being a vishkanya can bend and flex their slender 5'4 frame through spaces as small/wide as their head. Which in Valeno's case is 20 inches.
Phobia: Statues. A terrible encounter with a demon disguised as a statue and almost dying has left Valeno with fear of them. Stone statues specifically, iron golems and animated armor might give them the willies, but stone statues are straight up scary.
Vulnerability: Attracts demons, and is not well equipped to dealing with them.
Innate Power: Poisonous blood and spit. Vishkanya are known for being venomous, their effects vary from vishkanya to vishkanya. For Valeno this is a sickening and nauseating poison. Usually inducing vomiting and flu like symptoms for a short period. (1 minute or so?) Having poisonous blood also comes with a resistance to other poisons and toxins.

Initial Equipment:
Left Hip: Catalog of Poisonous Creatures and Plants by Master Theuban. (A vast catalog of known poisonous plants/creatures, what they do and how to extract them).
Right Hip: Poison. (specifically a powder form poison that can Charm creatures. Not a love potion sort of effect, but puts the target into a favorable state of mind.)
Left Shoulder:Rope
Right Shoulder: Mapping Tools
Chest/Neck: Bandolier of Knives
Top of Head:Helmet
Someplace Uncomfortable: Thieves' Tools.

Valeno was born in the vast desert a lower class Vishkanya couple, but was kicked out at a young age to fend for themselves. (This is common in Vishkanya culture.) Learning quickly to lie and steal helped Valeno to survive on their own. However seeing the opulent and famous lives of the Walking Vipers wanted that life too. Or at the very least get rich trying. One day, during a fateful expedition with a group of adventurers, Valeno, attempting to pluck an emerald from a stone statue, instead awoke a powerful demon. This demon, Be'Loshipru, after failing to kill Valeno, instead cursed them to be a beacon for demons in the world. Now lost from their expedition group, Valeno will use whatever cunning they have to achieve their goals. If they don't die first.

Hopefully this works, i figured i started in the crazy dungeon somewhere. Also is art acceptable?

>>115717
I got us a new player guys!

>>115714
Hmm I'm not sure. And looking through the pfsrd I couldn't find anything that fits the bill better either.

>gotcha clause
I imagine worst case scenario is that Nistamatsin ends up just as bound as he was before.

But it's okay everyone I have Protection from Good. No worries.

>>115717
Hey, welcome to the game!

>but this thread is a bit long to read all the way through
You don't really need to read the whole thing. All you really need to read are the rules (which you must have, to have done char gen).

Setting lore can mostly be picked up on the go, and character introductions can be handled when you run into them in-game. If you want a quick overview of stuff, I recommend the wiki at the top of the thread (the list of npcs is probably the most incomplete part).

>i figured i started in the crazy dungeon somewhere
Yup.

>>115714
Not a clue. I didn't see anything type-specific in what I read that jumped out at me.

One obvious possibility is he "gets the sword" no matter which way things go ("Congratulations" *stab*), although how fatal that would be depends on if the deva keeps hacking until the safety net from the statue and extra lives wears out, and how deadly 4th tier named weapons are / if that would bypass those protections (we know 6th tier breaks fate / prophecy).

>>115717
>spaces as small/wide as their head. Which in Valeno's case is 20 inches
That's a... pretty big skull. GURPS figures a typical human head is a SM -5 target, equivalent to a sphere only 5 inches in diameter. Let's upgrade this mutation to say you can squeeze through 6" pipes with moderate difficulty, and anything more than a foot wide you can slither through almost as fast as running down an open hallway, but odd anatomy poses occasional problems for medical care and you can't wear off-the-shelf rigid armor.
Elaborating on the vulnerability a bit, demons find Valeno Nahesa's flesh inordinately delicious and beneficial, like a ripe mango marinated in mild healing potions. They can catch the scent from miles away, even without otherwise extraordinary senses of smell. Additionally, wrestling holds, entangling vines, sticky goo, anything that a Freedom of Movement spell would provide immunity to, as long as it's from a demonic source, Valeno cannot escape without assistance. An imp could tie a flimsy piece of string around their wrists and it might as well be a set of steel manacles welded shut, at least until one of their friends finds a pair of scissors, though this would not necessarily stop them from, say, kicking the imp to death with unencumbered feet.

Saliva-poison is a nerve agent, causes extreme nausea in a matter of seconds if you can get it into an open wound or mucous membrane (eyes, mouth, etc.) Vomiting stops after a minute or two, runny nose and general misery persists until the victim can get a good night's sleep. Never has any effect at all on demons, or mortals with significant demonic ancestry. Generating an effective dose takes about ten minutes, longer if dehydrated, sometimes faster if hungry or enraged. Can't speak coherently with more than two doses in your mouth. If a larger quantity (which probably means saving it up in a flask or something) is allowed to soak through someone's bare skin or thin clothing, without an actual wound, mild nausea starts after 15-20 minutes and persists for hours, along with runny nose, fever, and trembling. This is mainly useful for persuading someone their carefully-guarded food supply is already rotten or otherwise compromised. Resultant disruptions in routine can provide the opportunity to introduce something more serious. It would take a ridiculously large quantity to reliably kill someone outright, unless they were in very poor health to begin with, but a dozen doses or so in reasonably rapid succession can produce convulsions, unconsciousness, and leave any normal person bedridden for weeks, which is just as good for most tactical purposes. Can also decide not to secrete poison, though waiting half an hour and/or washing out one's mouth with a cup of hot coffee (which completely neutralizes the poison if it hasn't been applied yet, and helps recovery at least a little bit) would be advisable before kissing non-vishkanya.

Otherwise, looks good!

>in the crazy dungeon somewhere
How would you feel about approaching the complex near Zelkor's Ferry from below, at a point where it connects to deep tunnels and caverns?

>is art acceptable?
Not only accepted, but greatly appreciated. Mapping is particularly important, and I'd like you to actually draw and post any map you're making in-character.

>>115728
>(we know 6th tier breaks fate / prophecy).
Nistamatsin's new spear is above that level, but has no particular effect on fate or prophecies because it's not Vorpal. Sixth tier is simply the lowest at which the Vorpal quality can be attained, while fifth tier is the highest which can be reliably produced with techniques known within the Drakocracy. Beyond that point, you're looking at ancient artifacts or quirky prototypes, and it's extremely rare for such things to be any better outside their specialties than a general-purpose 5th tier named weapon would be. Kazleth's axe might lose a fair side-by-side comparison with a 2nd tier named weapon involving tasks such as demolishing an ordinary wooden door, all else being equal.

>>/quest/830978
TECHNICALLY, does this mean Hore and Azure get partial healing if hit by Rhea's beam? I mean, Hore is a pyrokineticist and Azure has Phoenix blood. I'm mainly asking this because Azure is a godless nymphomaniac whose healing abilities are strictly physical, and designed to work in areas where magic is restricted or illegal. Or not working right. So while Pog might not have any problem getting a tattoo or brand of Rhea's mother on his butt, Azure MIGHT object to carrying around a golden rosary of fire if it's associated with a goddess.

Long story short, the Youngmasons do pray for a safe journey to the afterlife, but an entire 16.7% of the family's gross fortune has been subsumed by massive religious donations that amounted to NOTHING (They were swindled by a genuine religious order working with the express permissions of an actual god. "Warhammer Book of Grudges" doesn't even begin to describe what the Youngmasons did when they found out.)

>>115734
Azure meets condition 1, and Hore meets condition 4, but not vice-versa. Condition 3 could be as simple as "we, the undersigned, agree to help each other out in whatever ways we can, except when we don't feel like it," plus two signatures, scrawled on a bar napkin which is then left somewhere safe back in town.

A tattoo wouldn't work for condition 2, though, since it's a body mod rather than equipment.

It took me a while, but I think I figured out which class Azure should get:

Primary: Bard (Serenader)
Secondary: Rogue (Medic)

This custom class balances between (A) healing targets, (B) buffing allies, and (C) mind dominating foes.

>They were swindled by a genuine religious order working with the express permissions of an actual god
Praises be to The Guild and Brem Marst! Capitalism Ho!

>>115733

>spaces as small/wide as their head. Which in Valeno's case is 20 inches.

I completely forgot to type that it's supposed to be a 20 inch circumference. Which just so happens to be around 6 inches in diameter.

Also, i love what you did with Valeno's vulnerability. However, a quick question: In the imp-string scenario, if there were say a knife on a table, or a particularly well angled corner, could Valeno cut the string themselves? Or does their vulnerability render all objects and environment useless?

Lastly, can Valeno coat a dagger with poison in a pinch by licking it? And i had stated that Valeno's blood is also poisonous, is that still the case?

You can start me wherever would be appropriate, I am eager to get started!

(Oh, and i mostly meant character artwork, but i will certainly lend a hand to map-making.)

>>115740
It's good to have new people! Welcome to the crew, we hope you enjoy your stay!

On that note, I just want to check in and see if you're still around Tunic. Haven't seen you post in the new firehawks thread in a while. It would be a shame if we didn't have your input anymore.

Also thank you everyone for the welcome back and the recap! Looks like there's been a lot going on! Strngy, the art looks great, I love the little hat you have Kent. still need to read what happened after we dodged the non-existent boulder in the dungeon thread but I'm caught up on the fire hawks thread and the disc thread. I, as always, have ideas for a new character, but I'm not sure how active I can be, so I don't know if it's wise to try to initiate any actions that result in me introducing a new character.

>>115740
>circumference
Problem there is, "20 inch circumference" could also describe a mail slot 9 inches wide and 1 inch high, which is NOT big enough to fit a skull through.
>could Valeno cut the string themselves?
No. With a demon's cooperation, you could absolutely abuse this curse to make substandard rope, jewelry-grade chain, etc. functionally indestructible, as long as Valeno's own weight or muscle power is the main source of mechanical damage which would otherwise be inflicted. In the scenario described, your best option without nearby allies might be holding the string over a candle until it ignites.
>coat a dagger
Yep, simplest way to get it into an open wound. Saliva doesn't stick to metal all that well, though, so try to apply it immediately before use and make sure the first swing connects.

Between the bandolier of knives, and the concealed lockpicks and surgery tools, you also have a few mouth-darts, which will be coated with saliva as an inevitable part of normal use.
>blood
Sticks to blades better than saliva, but it's also harder to replenish. I'm not seeing 'clean sterile cloth suitable for bandaging' on that inventory, and open wounds will make the demon-attracting scent even more obvious, so consider carefully before injuring yourself.

>>115745

Great! Good that we clarified, I did get a "D" in geometry. Do I need to wait till a new thread to get started, or am I just going to be dropped in at some point?

And I figure any other questions should just be posted here in the meantime? I have never done this before, and honestly all I ever do was lurk. And is it best to just roll in each post? Oh, and will Valeno start at level 1?

>>/quest/831147
Wait, isn't insulting Maru and her half-siblings a Foul Implication (Level 5)? And even if it's just talking (Level 2) Maru swearing (Level 3) allows Captain to use Grapples and Leg Sweeps (Level 4), but not a Hard Unarmed Attack (Level 6) like headbutting.

Also, I've chosen a class for Pog: Unstoppable Black Blooded Bloodrager, forgoing spells in favor of Black-Blood-fueled antimagic constitution-based berserking, or whatever lineage works best with high constitution.

>>115746
>And I figure any other questions should just be posted here in the meantime?
Yeah, you can put any OOC conversation or questions whenever in this thread.

>And is it best to just roll in each post?
You roll whenever you attempt any significant action.

Probably faster to list examples of things you don't need to roll for:

1) Really simple actions. For example, cantrips outside of combat or other stressors. Walking across a room in town. That kind of thing.
2) Continued actions / letting it ride. Simplest example here is conversation. If you roll well for diplomacy with an npc, you can go back and forth, having a conversation that lasts a few posts, without worrying that every follow up question could be a crit fail that turns them against you. Some actions logically span more than a single post to resolve.
3) Asking clarifications from the DM (or other players). This is a (mostly) text only interface. Sometimes something, as described, won't be clear or may seem ambiguous to you. You can ask clarifications without rolling for spot every time. (Although rolling for a spot check to get a more detailed look at something/someone/someplace is certainly an option).
4) Roleplaying with the other PCs. I mean, you could roll for that, and maybe other players would factor a great or terrible roll into how their character reacts, but mostly that's ruled by what players feel makes sense in-character.

If you're not sure if a given situation requires a roll, it's generally safer to roll. Not rolling when you should have could result in an automatic fail of some kind. An unnecessary roll, at worst, gets ignored by the dm.

Oh! And in case you didn't know, we're playing low numbers good. When you roll 3d6, 3s are great, 18s are terrible.

>>115748
Oblique insulting implications, or vague praise for someone Maru hates, would be category 3: half-truths. When Maru replies with characteristically foul-mouthed outrage, that category 5 makes 6 permissible. Maria Agate, if she considered the risk of such an exploit at all, probably thought of it as an appropriate punishment for anyone who couldn't keep a civil tongue in their head, and (not having seen the actual duel) badly underestimated how much damage this guy could do in a short period of time with limited tools.

>non-spellcasting bloodrager
Pretty sure that would just be a barbarian.

>Maria, not having seen the actual duel
I thought she was at the staging ground, which had line of sight to the rock? (Seeing as Viste portalled from one to the other). And Ji could see, as he reacted the Viste's fall.

Not that having seen the fight or not would prevent her from instituting a flawed security measure.

I think there's enough wiggle room in Maru's character to not suicidally attack him and risk the lives of the whole crew, but I do feel as though killing him is suddenly a high priority, and if I or she underestimate or fuck up things could quickly go south. Just like a heads up in case anyone wants to take preventative measures

If we wanted to be really nitpicky, if that humming could be formally classified as a form of torture, that would be cat 9.

The lesson here is really you don't want cute and overly complicated warding schemes- you want things that are simple, straightforward and effective. ...and one probably shouldn't explain your warding scheme well enough to a prisoner that they can game the ruleset.

>>115756
I'm kinda waiting for actions I'm in the middle of to proc, first. Davina can't react to that news until her conversation with the bug finishes and Maru tells her (and we don't know how long Maru will be out or how long till someone finds her), and the end of my retroactive conversation with 'Cap' is sorta relevant to how she would handle him escaping now.

But, yes, attempting to kill him could go pretty bad pretty quick. First, it allows him to escalate to deadly force, if his bonds are still in place (not sure how time consuming or difficult it would be to get them removed) and secondly that's almost certainly a breach of contract. Esmeraude is paying us to extract / escort the two of them out of dodge. Attempting to kill him could cost us a payday, and turn her against us too.

Most frustrating part is we were almost at Overmire, when we would have parted ways anyways. He's escaping less than a week from release. (Unless he's not actually planning on escaping and is just making life difficult for us on principle).

>>115757
Yeah, in hindsight it seems incredibly obvious that he would attempt an escape, but after Davina had such a successful conversation with him, his calm demeanor threw me off. Wanted to get Maru interacting and doing something in the game since I had been out, but looks like I underestimated which NPCs were the most risky to have a conversation with.

>>115753
I could have chosen Azure to be a mesmerist or Pog to be a barbarian, but that's just not in character.

Azure isn't good at focusing; she got killed less than an hour into the dungeon following a dancing light. With her higher ambition of fame, and the general contrast of a mesmerist's life, surrounded by mindless drones who can't properly appreciate her dazzling performances of their own free will, this isn't a fulfilling class path. On the stat side of things, while mesmerists are generally more powerful in terms of mind control and detection-defying speechcraft, they also have few effective healing skills and fewer effective party-encompassing buffs. For a support character whose main purposes in combat are to keep her tank partner alive and buff the whole party, and whose main purposes outside of combat are to get through socialization and seduction with less-than-average focus, the mesmerist class is too specialized to be of effective application.

Pog, on the other hand, isn't a skilled combatant and never will be. His huge size and long years of repetitive, undisciplined work mean his dexterity is a semi-dump stat. Barbarians and Bloodragers alike require strength and constitution, but Barbarians also need dexterity to hit their targets, and Bloodragers require charisma to cast spells. Pog has neither of those, so I looked around for a build that would forgo spells in favor of some powerful ability or passive boost. I found the latter in the form of the Untouchable Rager, a bloodrager archtype that sacrificed spellcasting for ludicrous spell resistance, ridiculously effective for guarding against high-powered magic and friendly fire from Azure's area-of-effect spells that she cast with herself as the center and Pog right below her. After that, it was a matter of finding the right lineage that used Constitution for attacking effectively. Black Blood might not be the best choice, so I'll look around. The other choices I had for lineage were Draconic and Forge-Born, which might work.

Even so, I'll still consider different class choices if you can give a solid argument on which class is more suited to my playstyle, or what unique class abilities would be tantalizing to strive for.

>>115757
Well, he hired us to provide passage. I thought the only reason we had him tied up was because we were afraid of him singlehandedly hijacking the ship. If he wants to leave then why stop him? Unless he has something to gain from screwing us over here somehow.

>>115766
The Fire Hawks butchered his army. They dislocated his wrists. They chained him up with the power of polite speech and good manners, and they left his hands tied and his free will restricted on a boat for days. And the only other thing that stopped him from murdering everyone on the boat was Esmeraude and her claim to nobility. Which, after the cluster@#$% that was losing her army followed by a coincidental but rumor-spawning instant jungle growing right after she panicked, isn't much of a @#$%ing claim, not helped by sleeping with Hore of all people.

Captain's got an entire skeleton and two wrists to pick with our party, everyone associated with them, and anyone within a ten mile radius of anyone associated with them. If Esmeraude doesn't talk him down and he escapes? It may take years, but heads will roll.

>>115759
I wouldn't beat yourself up over it.

As for Davina vs Maru's experience, well, of the two of them, it makes sense Maru would be more vulnerable to provocation.

>>115764
>Pog, on the other hand, isn't a skilled combatant and never will be
Seems to me that a barbarian, or a berserker, are the quintessential unskilled combatants. Raw power over skill or form.

>>115766
Well, Esmeraude hired us, and we never gave him a choice in the matter.

>why stop him?
Honestly, depends on how Esmeraude reacts (if she doesn't care, it doesn't affect our payday) and if he takes the opportunity to try and pay us pack for some of the grief we caused him.

>>115771
I'd also point out, beyond speculation, we don't actually know what motivates this guy.

One important example: does Esmeraude hang out with him because he's powerful and tolerates her out of past obligations, or does he maintain loyalty to the surviving heir of the house he once served? We don't know which way (and to what degree) the power dynamic in their relationship goes.

>>115774
If I do select the Barbarian instead of the Bloodrager for Pog's class, I'd rather choose the Armored Hulk archetype. The Berserker archetype is designed for sustained regeneration continuous rage, which doesn't heal that high a fraction of Pog's maximum HP. And Barbarians usually wear light-medium armor; Pog's heavy plate armor is GRAFTED TO HIS BODY, so the Armored Hulk heavy armor bonuses are a must. Overall, the Armored Hulk is good for Tanking, which Pog is all about.

>>115775
>what motivates this guy
Asking Esmeraude herself is still an option, and there's some big things you might've been able to deduce from initial description and context.
>>112459
>Seeking to subvert or disrupt that system was considered an atrocious crime, reckless malice to the point of madness, and so a new class of spirits - demons - emerged to specialize in exactly that.
>>112492
>Demons perpetrate or provoke corruption, cruelty, degradation, terror, and so on, as an end in itself, not necessarily with any larger or longer-term agenda.
>>/questarch/804828
>not a normal person. He turns to face [Viste], and his expression is pure rage, without a trace of confusion or fear, even when he tries to speak and nothing but gurgling red foam comes out. Apart from the hole through his chest, he's got a mark on his forehead, like somebody carved a complicated symbol with a dull knife and then kept trying to re-do it for weeks until it got infected, His left sideburn and about two-thirds of his right jaw are clean shaven, while the rest is a scraggly mess of two-inch-long unkempt beard
>>/questarch/711840
>stereotypical self-neglect, melodramatic blasphemy, or random aggression

>self-neglect
>scraggly unkempt beard, half shaved off
>obvious infected wound, no sign of treatment

>melodramatic blasphemy
>mark on his forehead, like somebody carved a complicated symbol with a dull knife

>random aggression
>his expression is pure rage

The Netseth family was accused of consorting with demons in an irresponsible manner, and chose to fight and/or flee rather than stand trial, not in fear of political machinations backed by a witch-hunt mentality, but rather because the allegations were essentially accurate. Esmeraude personally is indifferent to morality, but prefers to solve her problems with sex and/or violence; "Cap" is indifferent to sex, actively hostile to any sort of organized morality, and considers lack of violence to be a problem in and of itself, because he's possessed by a demon.
>>/questarch/804942
>The possessed man
His loyalty to Esmeraude was initially established by magical bindings, but has become habituated and might persist even if he were unbound, much like Nistamatsin's selective pacifism.

>>115757
>If we wanted to be really nitpicky, if that humming could be formally classified as a form of torture, that would be cat 9.
Apparently it was too indirect, subtle, and unconventional to fit the definition of 'atrocity' Maria encoded into the knots. She could patch the issue easily enough, given a bug report from Maru and an opportunity to untangle the whole mess and re-tie it.
>>115754
Staging area was on the beach, at the bottom of a rocky slope, just outside the town's defensive wall. Chosen for proximity to the ship and improbability that the bandits would attack there. Viste opened a portal from the staging area, up to the branches of a tree above the slope, then a second portal over across the battlefield to the site of the duel. Vos tackled "Cap" back through that second portal, positioned to take the brunt of the falling damage rather than reach the safe up/down portal (which might have closed by then, anyway).

Any suggestions to what else Hore should ask to the union workers?

So Azure's busy propositioning for freelance work, using her song and dance routine to lure customers over, while Pog is busy doing lumberjack work. Can I still give them actions for the week, or should I stay quiet and let them rake in cash?

>>115788
Well, to quote Maru, fuck.

I'm pretty sure I wrote off most the demonic clues in his appearance as "high level PCs accumulate weirdness". But dang, I was really focused on not dying horribly in that fight if I failed to notice that narration straight up called him possessed.

Pity we didn't catch on. Pretty sure I would have taken a different approach in my current conversation. (And I probably would have charged Esmeraude more).

On the downside, we've been keeping him cooped up for days and days, and he's almost certainly going to stir up some trouble in town. On the upside, he's unlikely to abandon Esmeraude, which means he'll probably be back, in one way or another. Using her as a lever to reign him back in until we can part ways will be tricky, but honestly, probably less difficult than fighting him. (And would come with less collateral damage).

>>115746
>Do I need to wait till a new thread to get started
Pretty sure you're going to start in this thread. >>/quest/829557

Not sure if you can jump right in and start exploring, or if you're waiting on some kind of intro from JamesLeng.

>Oh, and will Valeno start at level 1?
Probably, yeah. Everyone else has so far, and the PCs closest to your starting point just hit level 2, so there's not a huge gap.

>>115806
I was waiting to see how they responded to the last batch of questions you asked, actually.

The rest of the party has been roleplaying interactions and such while we figure out the level ups and before we dive into the dungeon. I'd say have Azure and Pog jump right in. There's a bunch of weirdos to play off of.

>>115810
>some kind of intro
Intro! Yes, the fungal garden thing. Probably that's next. I've got several irons in the fire which I'm... juggling? Something about spinning plates? Trying to pace myself and not get overwhelmed again, mixed success as you can see from the quality of that metaphor.

>>115809
>failed to notice that narration
Consider this further evidence of the value of reviewing previous threads, and incremental progress on those "TODO" bits in the wiki.

>>115746
Depending on if I can get Kent drunk out black, and how well Valeno's first foray into the dungeon goes, I might try to roll up a new character to come join you. Dungoneering is always more fun with friends.

Not sure it's wise, given my ability to commit time, to roll another character, but I can't resist making them. Here's a character concept, phrased in a more wordy and less eloquent way than I would like, looking for more succinct revisions and necessary changes, from anyone who wants to pitch in or help out. Obviously not urgent at this point, given I don't have a free slot, but I wanted to throw it out there while I had everything in mind.
Name: Bulgruf, Many Woman
Race: Half-giant/Goliath the sterile offspiring brithed from a giant, with the genes of another, smaller elvenoid mixed in. Going for a Hagrid kinda vibe here, and angling towards some sort of "powerful build" type racial trait for access to bigger lifting loads and larger tools.

Class: Soldier. Pretty self explanatory

Higher Ambition: Atone for her sins by making art that betters the world; essentially, it cannot be art for the sake of art, and cannot be art simply for her, or done because she likes it or wants admiration; it has to be art created out of altruistic intention, for the viewing of others, that has the possibility to change the way a passerby is thinking, at least to a degree. It can be sold, but it cannot be created with profit being the only motive, it can help her gain status, but cannot be created only to gain status, etc.

Lower Ambition: An unabiding love for dogs. Also pretty self explanatory. Not sure if it would extend to wolves or other canines, or how it might be appropriate to react if say a pack of rabid dogs attacked her, or if something like the devil dog Vos encountered were to become hostile towards her.

Phobia: Afraid of her past mingling with her present. Ex: Running into past colleagues or victims, and fearing they will interact with allies or others who know her, afraid of someone she doesn't know possessing knowledge of her that is unreasonable for a stranger to know, afraid they might share said knowledge with others she knows even if the stranger has no ill will and hasn't indicated they would do anything, or even if they swear they wouldn't tell, etc; however, her diceminating the information about herself to others would not cause fear. Similarly to how one might feel if they chose to share nude photographs with an individual, vs knowing someone possesses nude photographs of you and might at any moment decide to share them against your wishes, or that someone you know might see nudes of you that someone else posted a long time ago. It's not about just anyone seeing them, more so about people you know right now, and about choices in the past coming back to haunt or affect your present.

Mutation: Any food that isn't raw acts as a local anesthetic, and provides little nutritional value, but is otherwise harmless; conversely, she is readily able to digest raw food, and gains abnormally high nutritional value from said foods, even foods that one could not normally digest for useful nutrition, such as a echidna milk or woody flowers, despite still needing the same amount of calories
Supernatural Vulnerability: Doing "evil deeds" temporarily causes her soul to age, leading to detrimental physical and spiritual effects. The more heinous her deed, the longer she is "aged", and the worse the effects are, causing symptoms ranging from general weakening of the body and soul, to severe arthritis and physical impairment, to the near total loss of all physical senses, memory, mental faculties, and ability to act in general. It cannot outright kill her, but can obviously put her in such a state that she cannot care for herself. I'm imaging timelines not extending past a month for any deed evil enough that she could feasibly commit it in this game, although something like committing large scale genocide or a similar atrocity would lead to essentially being in a vegetative state for year, most normal "evil acts" would be on the time from of hours to days, so as to keep play at least somewhat accessible in the case of triggering her vulnerability.

Innate Power: An ability to conjure and trade abnormal, worthless items with creatures that would not normally be capable of understanding barter, in exchange for mundane favors. For example: Bulgruf meets a wolf out in the woods; she offers to give it a trinket if it tells her where the nearest source of water is. In her possession, a piece of pumice, shaped in the vague likeness of a pile of noodles, with an inch of twine dangling from it appears. If the wolf accepts her gift, something that is has no value to it, she then knows where the nearest source of water is. Not sure how to refine that down, but the basic goal is that it's an agreement the creature can say yes or no to, the materials can't be kept by her or her companions, or profited off of in any way, they are not pre-existing, and the trade goods should be artistic in nature, and not at all something an animal would normally want. Mechanically, I was thinking it could affect anything with an intelligence score, but nothing smart enough to comprehend language. So it wouldn't work on undead or insects, but it would work on something like rats or wild animals. I just like the idea of a huge woman trading tiny crude pieces of art with forest animals in exchange for favors. The more I'm reading through it though and trying to explain the concept, the more it sounds like it's just a weird way to phrase "can requisition favors from animals". Maybe I could instead change it from being spontaneous to requiring art she's made?

>indifferent to sex [...] considers lack of violence to be a problem in and of itself
>gets free, visits a whorehouse
Clearly this is going to end well.

Anyone want to consider plans before we jump into this mess?

I don't really like the prospect of a violent rematch with 'Cap', although that is one option. Besides that, there's trying to pressure Esmeraude to bring him to heel (not sure if catching her with her hand hovering above the cookie jar would make her more likely to cooperate, or panic and make things worse), trying to talk him down ourselves (kind of a long shot- play on the fact we're working for someone he's loyal to). Plan way far down the alphabet might be to use Prisoner to control Esmeraude if she proves more liability than asset, but that introduces as many problems as it solves.

Want to talk about our characters' Theme Songs, or is that not recommended?

>>115836
>racial trait
Whatever racial traits you want should be expressed as a mutation/parasite, vulnerability, or phobia, or all three plus an innate power. "Big and strong" is a valid mutation, since, while it's not exactly concealable per se, neither is it obviously monstrous or unnatural, and it implies as many disadvantages as advantages. Nonstandard armor and clothes, problems with tight spaces and fine manipulation (though likely not to the same extremes as Pog).
>Class: Soldier
>Specialty: Pretty, Self-Explanatory
She's physically attractive and an endless barrel of exposition? So far I'm picturing Sailor Jupiter as a drill instructor.

>requisition favors from animals
Let's make that a vulnerability instead. Random normally-nonsapient critters frequently petition her for minor but inconvenient favors, and she can't refuse them outright, only add conditions (which have to be logically possible, though they need not be reasonable), ask for something in return, or otherwise haggle. An endless parade of flaky deadbeat animal 'friends' who know just how far they can push her, because http://oglaf.com/kindlyhunter/ any time anyone asks (in appropriate formal terms, possibly in some obscure liturgical language which all the temporarily-uplifted animals know and anyone else could pick up by listening to them) about her own capabilities or what honor-bound obligations she's already laboring under, she has to give a complete and honest answer. Of course, other party members can interrupt before negotiations conclude ("Aah! Talking grizzly bear! Kill it!"), or she could filibuster and stall until the petitioner loses interest and wanders off to do something else.

Phobia, then, could apply to situations where an existing promise becomes impossible to fulfill, and Innate Power could be the energy-blast thing from the original 'corrupted princess' example, with the amusing twist that it's completely useless until you acquire some actual jewelry.

Higher ambition could be to create art that teaches everyone who sees it to emulate the instinctive nobility, honor, and virtue of blink dogs, while lower ambition could be to escape her various debts and obligations without technically violating any of them.

>>115874
Whore's Guild does far more than just sex, same way Masons & Bricklayers do more than literally piling up rocks. All sorts of personalized entertainment, massage therapy and a few other related medical fields, relationship counseling, and, most relevant at the moment, they've got a few rope-bondage specialists on staff.

Remember that bit in the sage's tower, where the sealed doors wouldn't open until the effect timed out, or was forced with magic, or the door itself was chopped down, because it was a divine curse from the God of Locks? Well, what happens when it's Agatia's power being challenged, instead? What's her answer to everything?

>>115874
If I were him, a huge shipment of trade goods and rations, already established earlier in this thread as valuable to him, would be my priority. Revenge might be nice, but it might be nicer to lure my enemies away, reunite with those I am loyal to, separate them with a distraction and steal their cargo, ruining their reputation and ability to gain capital. It may not be as simple as we're suggesting, considering just how capable he is.

>>115879
Well, on the plus side, cleansing fire that burns evil and the impure might be one of our more direct methods of actually harming someone demon possessed. If the wards blew up on him, he's probably hurting.

On the downside, Agatia likely sees whores as impure, and there was likely at least one bondage expert in close proximity to those bindings when they went up.

>>115881
Yeah, one drawback is we are on the defensive- the ship is big, obvious target if he wants to hurt us, and we can't leave it completely unprotected.

>>115878
>Racial trait

yeah, we stated before that race doesn't provide noticeable bonuses; I was thinking this would fall under the category of natural biology, the same way Elves live longer than humans or Nistamatsin has terrifying demonic traits, or how a merperson might easily breath water by extracting air through their gills. Conceivably all these things could be a mutation on someone of a different background, but logically they are within the regular curve for that race and don't count as a mutation. The thought was that since Bulgruf is bigger than most other folk, she has to utilize tools that are bigger than those for ordinary folk.

Specialization: I actually forgot that part, shame on me for not utilizing all my available points of articulation. That being said, I have immediately fallen in love with the idea of her specialty being focused on aesthetic appeal and straight-forwardness. Unfortunately I am more familiar Takeuchi's husband and his work than I am hers, as exemplified by the fact that I had to look her name up, but I don't even have to spell check Togashi. Still though, with Sailor moon having an emphasis on transforming between different faces, and one of Bulgruf's character traits being the personal emphasis she places on the intersection between one's identity and their duties (hence the name Many Woman- she has had many jobs, and been called many names, and considers herself many different women, rather than one woman who has grown and changed) I think the correlation is even more fitting.

Higher Ambition: To create art that inspires others to emulate the noble and virtuosic nature of Blink Dogs

Lower Ambition: To find peace from the animals hounding her

Mutation: Bear-woman- She is abnormally large and sturdy, eats her food raw, and if she cannot store enough calories to fuel her bulk she can enter a sleep-like state that slows her metabolic processes. Obviously requires most tools and attire to be custom made.

Phobia: Past sins and impossible obligations will come back to haunt her.

Vulnerability: Random normally-nonsapient critters frequently petition her for minor but inconvenient favors, which she need not outright accept, but cannot outright refuse.

Innate Power: She can call down lightning bolts from sky with a grizzly roar, or from any jewelry/magical, non-fabric item she is currently in contact with.

Like magical jewelry energy blasts, but tailored to fit the sailor Jupiter theme; the idea is that she has to essentially loudly declare her intentions and shout or scream angrily while doing so, much in the way a tv character might dramatically scream while utilizing their special move or powering up. Jewelry, or magical items such as a wand, or tiara, but not something like a magic shirt or gloves or cloak, can be the source of the lightning instead of the sky, allowing her to use it more easily in confined spaces, and giving her greater precision in targeting, and perhaps re-skins the effect to give it the appearance of being it's own unique special move. Sky lightning has no real ability to target beyond a small specific area, but jewelry lighting is based of the quality of the item it originates from.

>>115877
As for theme songs, I don't really have too many songs I feel are appropriately fitting for any of my characters; I found a song that I thought fit one of the former player characters a while back, but haven't really found anything that just clicked since then.
Do you have theme songs in mind for your characters?

>>115884
>Innate Power: She can call down lightning bolts from sky with a grizzly roar,
No. It can be various different types of energy, depending on the specific focal object. The focal object must be primarily decorative (it can also be some sort of functional tool, but value as an art object must exceed practical value, and yes, thanks to GURPS I can quantify that kind of thing down to the cent), and it must include either gemstones or precious metals, preferably both. An amulet consisting primarily of a cluster of pearls held together by silver wire with a jagged gilded spike descending from it would probably produce lightning; earrings stolen from the high priestess of Obox-Ob might instead produce jets of acid, regardless of appearance. Fancier jewelry produces more powerful and interesting effects, but magical properties of the jewelry are completely irrelevant.

Roaring and gesticulating and otherwise announcing the attack is preferable, but not strictly necessary. You can skip the stealth-defeating setup by paying one fatigue point.

>>/quest/831688
Like I said, Bard Serenader with variant multiclassing in Rogue Medic. It's a complicated class, but the basic concept is a "Hello Nurse" who's not reluctant to use her sex appeal.

First off, the bard feats that I'm replacing with Serenader feats aren't very applicable to Azure's background and playstyle. Azure isn't as much an academic as Hore; she's been trained in a few subjects involving politics and physics, but spent her childhood living in an underground mansion surrounded by luxury, her family's faith is basically semi-agnostic so they'll pray to the gods but will use any and all scripture as toilet paper, most arcane technologies and magics used in the Youngmasons' architectural designs were treated as black boxes and curriculum was in favor of physics and legal issues, etc. Azure understands engineering and nobility, but not much else, and at the core of her training is the skill she needs as a businesswoman - diplomacy. That means bardic knowledge and Lore Master are thrown out the window, replaced by Silver Tongue Adept and Silver Tongue Master. She's a songstress, so she might be enticed by other bards' songs to learn from them but is too narcissistic to be charmed by others that easily. That replaces Well Versed with Hard to Charm. Her phoenix blood means she hasn't experienced courage for most of her life, but she has learned to charm others during her travels for sensual indulgences. That replaces Inspire Courage with Serenade. And of course, Azure doesn't want others to run away from her from fear, she wants them to be entranced by her beauty. So that replaces Frightening Tune with Song of Devotion.

Second, while there are other classes which appeal to her higher ambition, like the Diva class, they just don't work or don't feel right for Azure. Diva might be an appealing class, but Azure's criminal reputation (mostly due to Pog) means she needs to be on the move, and is infamous instead of mainly famous. Divas also play out as abusive insulters, who break things and then accuse others of being too incompetent and meek to serve them with expensive wine glasses they deserve, which doesn't fit Azure's personality. Azure might be spoiled, but she's an pampered hedonist, NOT a sadistic brat.

Third, Azure can't rely on spells alone. There are situations when she might run out of spells, or spellcasting might be restricted, or even dangerous to cast without permission. The medic class is for out-of-combat situations when she and other injured members of the party are idle, allowing her to spend some time healing without using up her magics. Salves are mostly for in-combat situations, to give out simple healing after her bardic performances run out, with healing spells only used if someone takes a big hit or after a fight. The added dodge bonuses at higher levels also tie in to her avian features. Generally speaking, if there's a "ranger archetype" that can be used for variant multiclassing healing, I'd consider taking that instead. To multiclass, I'd have to give up Inspire Courage, and Heroics; for Azure, those aren't exactly things she believes in.

Still, in retrospect, taking the variant subclass means Serenade will only affect a single target at high levels. I'm planning to have Azure take on high-level multiple-target charm spells however, so it balances out. If you want, I can play Azure as a Serenader with no variant multiclass.

Here's the spell list I came up with:
Cantrips - Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Know Direction, Resistance, Unwitting Ally
Level 1 - Cure Light Wounds, Tap Inner Beauty, Aspect of the Nightingale (basically one healing spell and two beauty accessories)

At her current level plus charisma modifier, she can cast 3 1st-level spells a day. If you see any spells that are even more effective at increasing charisma, constitution, or just plain "must-have for any bard" useful, let me know.

I gave it some thought and decided Pog can be a barbarian, but an Armored Hulk archetype. He's clearly not good at dodging, but has excessive layers of heavy armor. Couldn't find a better choice.

>>115890
Unwitting Ally is a fiddly little tactical thing that I can't figure out how to represent in GURPS terms, so swap that out for a personal grooming and feather-recoloring effect.

Aspect and Inner Beauty are mostly just +2 to stuff you're already good at, which is bland and redundant. Instead, how about Fool's Gold and Innocence?

>>115885
Hore- Caravan Palace: Lone Digger
Azure- Caravan Palace: Wonderland
Pog- Caravan Palace: Rock It For Me
Ivori- Squirrel Nut Zippers: Soon
Embri- Squirrel Nut Zippers: The Suits Are Picking Up The Bill

Hore's an action girl, one waiting for the right moment to lay waste with plasma bolts and ax-crazy.
Azure's haughty and dreams of having it all, even when she has less fortune than she realizes. She'll get there, though, or die trying.
Pog's a happy-go-lucky spontaneous dangerous creep.
Ivori's a parasitic influence, a shadow with a murderous, maddening agenda; in this case, "Soon" feels like someone hijacked a marching song and turned it into a dirge of doom, much like Ivori sneaking in the background to turn someone else's story into a living nightmare followed by death.
Embri entices others into a debt they believe to be charity. Embri's training in ninja arts was as a geisha-assassin; think Assassin's Creed Hide-in-plain-sight tactics, where she uses charm to lure others only to discreetly murder them while everyone is watching but no one is paying attention.

>>115892
>swap that out for a personal grooming and feather-recoloring effect
You mean Prestidigitation? Sure. Might come in handy, anyway.

Important question: Should I have Azure get Spark? This is so she can commit regenerative suicide at any given time, like say, if her wing is broken and she's seconds away from having her head cut off by a reaper, or if she's trapped underground and doesn't want to spend the next three days starving to death. I mean, it's a powerful tactic, but I think it might be creepy with a side order of unintended and costly side-effects. If you're not going to let me pick this, I'll just get Light so Azure can make torches that won't set her on fire.

>Aspect and Inner Beauty are mostly just +2 to stuff you're already good at, which is bland and redundant.
I figured stacking would be overpowered if it wasn't limited: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0767.html
Note that Azure has taken dump (7-8) scores in Strength and Constitution (not like she needs either), and slightly above average (12-13) scores in Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. Everything else goes straight to Charisma. This is BEFORE she gets the charisma bonuses for being a phoenix-blooded harpy mutt.
I'm getting Eagle's Splendor (+4 to Charisma) at level 3. I figured I could push it a little further with Tap Inner Beauty. I'm also planning to fill Azure's 2nd-level spell list with other stat boosts, like Fox's Cunning (motive is to make Hore a genius when she's inventing stuff), Cat's Grace (For Hore and Pog during combat), Boiling Blood (Pog's an orc, this makes him even stronger), Human Potential (target gets to choose which stat to temporarily increase by 2), and Cure Moderate Wounds (getting a healing spell in each spell level category).

... Okay, important question: what happens when you cast Rage on a berserker? Do they use their Rage Powers when someone else forces them into Raging, or is it as if they have no Rage Powers whatsoever? Because if the former holds, that might be a good replacement for Human potential, or Fox's Cunning, or whatever.

>Fool's Gold
Well, Azure lost most of her gold coins from exploding. But she does spend a lot of cash, so yeah, this makes sense.

>Innocence
Yyyeah I can see why she'd want that.

Also, I haven't selected a Versatile Performance yet, but the first two are Singing(Bluff and Sense Motive) and Dancing(Acrobatics and Fly), that I'm sure of. Important question, since the wiki might have a typo: Masterpieces require both performance skill ranks and an appropriate sacrifice (feat or known spell), but do they also require the Versatile Performance feat?

>>115889
>No lightning

Alrighty then, if that's not an acceptable power, what would you recommend for a lightning oriented innate ability? I was imagining she had access to her innate power previously, but didn't readily have access to metal/gemstone jewelry, and thus was still discovering these new aspects; If it comes only from jewelry, it undercuts some of what I had envisioned, and I think I'd prefer to focus on the lightning aspect over the jewelry aspect. If it helps, I was envisioning she came from a nomadic background, located somewhere similar to the Mongolian steppe, and life revolved mainly around herd animals and controlling access to farmland.

>
To address music, I've had some time to think it over; Your character's music choices are interesting Kome, but I can see a connection. The music video for Lone digger is particularly appropriate for Hore, even if I'm not sure how the some relates. Wonderland makes a lot of sense to me though as a song for Azure.

I'm not set on any of these but I had some songs I thought were at least reminiscent of my characters, even if they're not quiet "theme song" material

Maru: "invincible" by OK GO (her original concept was actually conceived to this song

Isaiah: "Be Human" by Scott Matthews. Not neccisarily for the "be human" ascpect, but more for the similarities on a yearning for experiences one can never have.

Kent: Kent was harder, as they're A) one of my happier characters, and B) not super defined in terms of personality yet. Maybe "Crazy in Love" by Kiyoshi Yoshida

Riv: Probably something off of downward spiral by NIN, not sure what exactly though. Maybe some variant of "The Tree Song" by Kiyoshi Yoshida as well.

Stone: Also harder, but maybe "Circle of Life" by Elton John

Alphious: Hardly said one line, but I have something of a picture for his character in mind- "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin Daddys I think is fitting for his hedonist nature

Curious as to whether anyone else has songs they feel fit their characters.

>>115895
>You mean Prestidigitation?
I'm breaking it up into narrower effects. If you want a single spell that can do as many different things as Prestidigitation, it's going to represent experimental exploration, which means it's going to be unreliable.
>Should I have Azure get Spark? This is so she can commit regenerative suicide at any given time, like say, if her wing is broken and she's seconds away from having her head cut off
Broken limbs or other severe injuries already autoignite, assuming the air is breathable. Spark wouldn't significantly accelerate the process. Dancing Lights is a better pick, unless what you're looking for is a ranged weapon.
>what happens when you cast Rage on a berserker?
Time under the spell doesn't count against their daily limit of controlled rage, same as with a skald.
>Important question, since the wiki might have a typo: Masterpieces
Serenader isn't much of a change, it's still well within the scope of the bard class in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. What practical capabilities are you looking for from these 'masterpieces,' exactly?
>stacking
Passholdt's Minister of Punctuality, Einsoku Amphoranung, routinely combines Alter Self, Ant Haul, Boiling Blood, Bull's Strength, and the Half-Dragon and Lolth-Touched templates to push his carrying capacity up above twelve tons, and then Intimidating Prowess to apply that same overwhelming force socially. He's also got a lot of permanent Symbols of Scrying, some in places the smugglers think he doesn't know about.

Don't worry so much about plus or minus two. Circumstantial modifiers or mundane training and practice can do that, and it's only going to matter when the dice come up really close to the threshold of success or failure anyway. Instead of thinking about that, think about the kind of conditions under which Azure's social skills would face overwhelming adversity. Per http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/700/roleplaying-games/advanced-rules-diplomacy , the only situation where a diplomacy check's difficulty can scale upward indefinitely is when the party you're seeking to persuade isn't interested in talking at all. In Exalted, the simple way to avoid most social-combat problems is by switching to physical violence, because it happens so much faster than people can normally construct a persuasive argument. GURPS has rules for language barriers and cultural differences which make communication - and thus persuasion - more difficult. And every system has some threats which just can't be dealt with socially at all. You might be able to call off a golem or zombie by subverting it's handler, but they aren't necessarily accessible, and nobody negotiates with an earthquake. In "min/maxing," minimizing weaknesses comes before maximizing strengths. That's not alphabetical. It's because getting K.O.'d before you bring your strength to bear makes the exact magnitude of that strength irrelevant. What are Azure's weaknesses?

>theme songs
>Nine Inch Nails
Nistamatsin wears huge nails on his head and shortens his name to 'Nin'. This is not a coincidence.

I haven't really thought about musical influences for the rest of my characters.

>>115902
>if that's not an acceptable power
I wasn't saying it was completely unacceptable, just that it wasn't the specific power I was thinking of. I hear "pretty soldier" and I think of weaponized princess bling. Malkov has a lightning-based power, but it's very short ranged, basically an enhancement to his unarmed strikes. If you want http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/call-lightning/ an artillery effect, something which can reliably hit targets far away and behind cover, there should be some compensatory limitations. Setup time, FP cost or other cooldown requirements, conditions under which it doesn't work, that sort of thing.

Maybe one of her parents or grandparents was a huraka? Could go for somewhat broader wind control powers, with the major limiting factors being how long she has to prepare and how much open space is around her. So, underground in 10' wide tunnels, roaring just produces a blast of wind which can knock people down, or rearrange fog inside the Bloodmist Labyrinth. In larger caves, several minutes of setup produces a swirling vortex which can expend itself by releasing electrical discharges comparable to a single siege crossbow magazine. Out on the open steppe, a day or more of standing on a hilltop and howling (while clouds swirl, revealing your approximate position to anyone within a hundred miles) could culminate in a crackling hurricane to devastate an army.

>>115907
Well, that just makes it seem obvious in retrospect. Nistamatsin actually made me think of the song "Otherworld", which is the result of a bunch of different people who aren't related by a common band; Nobuo Uematsu, Michio Okamiya, Takuya Sugimoto and Bill Muir being the main names I see associated with it.

>>115908
Ah, gottcha. In my head, I was imagining the jewelry emulating iconic sailor moon devices such as the wands or tiaras, but as I though about the intersection between her background and such I got more attached to the idea of lightning and stormy weather than the jewelry concept which originally inspired it. The power you described sounds great; fantastic, even. Thematically I quite enjoy the picture you painted of her shouting on a hilltop.

On a side note, do you feel it's appropriate or useful to keep this thread going? Or should we start up another disqu thread to keep this from getting too long? Pros are obviously a shorter thread, cons being we split up the information and potentially cause confusion.

>new disthread
We've actually been planning it for a while now. I just promised to make a hex map for the title card and have been dragging my feet. I'll try to get it done tonight.

>I'm breaking it up into narrower effects. If you want a single spell that can do as many different things as Prestidigitation, it's going to represent experimental exploration, which means it's going to be unreliable.
"Preen Feathers" it is.

>Time under the spell doesn't count against their daily limit of controlled rage, same as with a skald.
I guess I'll get this so Azure can add some extra, non-fatiguing rounds to Pog.

>Serenader isn't much of a change, it's still well within the scope of the bard class in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.
Cool.

>What practical capabilities are you looking for from these 'masterpieces,' exactly?
Honestly, I picked them for their high rank requirements because they'll be taken at higher levels, nothing we need to worry about any time soon. But for a phoenix, divine light is weaponized sunlight worthy of a harpy, and an earthquake would turn the tide for a harpy in a valley.

>What are Azure's weaknesses?
Low Strength and Low Constitution, minimal combat skills, prideful, high-profile (hard to stealth, maybe the feather preener can fix that though), and unknowledgeable about the world in general.

Pog covers Azure's physical weaknesses, but there are times when they are separated or she's in a fight; covering this means (A) talking her way out, (B) running like hell, or (C) finding a new partner to hide behind.
(A) High Diplomacy and Bluff ranks.
(B) High acrobat and fly skill ranks thanks to Versatile Performance: Dodge.
(C) Attempt to charm an enemy / neutral party into protecting / fighting for her.

I guess that's somewhat limited. Here's a list of 1st-level spells I'm considering, in addition to Cure Light Wounds, Fool's Gold, and Innocence:
Vanish - Invisibility makes fleeing easier.
Unseen Servant - For triggering traps, but this might not be that useful.
Unnatural Lust - Oh man, if Azure and Ivori are in the same party, this is a must-have.
Touch of Gracelessness - If Azure is up against a fast opponent, one round is all she needs to slow him down for the remainder of the fight.
Touch of Blindness - Same idea as gracelessness.
Toilsome Chant - Because Azure was raised by dwarves. I could take this and forgo the medic subclass, making her buff to skills MUCH more useful.
Timely Inspiration - What are the rules for this? Do I just call out that I want to use it if someone's roll is pretty high? Because this is one hell of a spell.
Share Language - Because of what you said about some language barriers. But I'm making Azure learn linguistics, so would this help or be redundant?
Shadow Trap - Simple yet effective.
Remove Fear - This is to help Geoffrey stick together, but would it anger him?
Memory Lapse - If negotiations go south with an individual powerhouse, this could be the difference between life and death.
Liberating Command - Could help if she's held by a brute.
Jitterbugs - Keep target distracted from pummeling Azure and company
Itching Curse - Same idea
Hideous Laughter - This might be funny.
Haze of Dreams - Slow the enemy down, and fleeing is easier.
Ear-Piercing Scream - Now THIS looks like a winner.
Cultural Adaptation - Might help diplomacy. Maybe.
Charm Person - Always useful, but Serenaders are mostly Charmful anyway
Blurred Movement - Azure is either perched on Pog or on the move in combat, standing still isn't something she does while arrows and axes are being thrown in her face.
Adoration - Azure is a sucker for fame.

Honestly, I don't like playing mage characters because of the excess number of spells. It's one big complicated optimization problem, and I don't understand what synergizes from the documentation alone.

>>115892
>Unwitting Ally is a fiddly little tactical thing that I can't figure out how to represent in GURPS terms
I'm not sure if it's a problem, but Maru's currently got that on her list.

>>115893
>She'll get there, though, or die trying.
>She'll get there, though, or [and] die trying[, repeatedly].
Fixed that for you.

>>115906
>spark for auto-suicide versus self inflicted injuries igniting
The main advantage I see for spark for that purpose is she could activate it while restrained, and unarmed.

>>115910
No rush, historically, threads don't break till around 2k posts, and that limit might have been adjusted. (Nice looking hex maps is something I've been putting off ever since we hit the overworld too).

>gdoc, Hore, Mutations:
>Low-level nanomachines assist with natural healing. Hit points regenerate slightly faster based on satiation, which decreases slightly faster. Sleep heals from burn faster. Does not restore any hit points when dying
>Kome was here, is this legit to add?
Kome, for future reference, that document is meant to be a reference for known capabilities and inventories. And I don't recall this being introduced at chargen, or level up. Unless JL says otherwise, I don't think Hore has what amounts to built-in ring of regeneration?

Good rule of thumb is if you can't copy paste it from a thread, it probably doesn't belong there.

>>115911
I can sympathize with the challenge of trying to pick useful and interesting spells from long lists, that's for sure.

strngy 2017/09/21(Thu)02:40 No. 115923 ID: af6e04
File 150598682294.png - (71.15KB , 1295x921 , maplayout.png )

>>115062
Threw this together in hexographer just to see if I've got the layout right. Anything I need to fix?

>>115923
Might wanna label the Bloodmist Labyrinth by name, since we now know of 3 different dungeons accessible from the overworld.

>>115923
Hex northwest of the canyon should actually be coastal hills, not swamp. Monastery is in the swamp hex northeast of the canyon. This was an error in Davina's initial map. Otherwise, looks good!

All right, Azure's updates pushed to gdoc, pending further revisions.

That leaves figuring out Rhea's spells, and everyone else's everything.

>other spells Azure is considering
Of that list, what jumps out at me is
>Remove Fear
Given that pretty much every PC has some fear that could disable them at a critical moment, measures to counter that will probably be useful. (Although, with the appropriate application of charm and social skills, a bard might have some ability to calm someone down without a dedicated spell).

I was afraid to ask this, but since I chose Variant Multiclassing so Azure could be a Serenader with the medic sub-class, does that mean Azure loses Bard spells per day and spells learned at level 3 along with her level 3 feats, or does she keep the spells per day and spells learned but loses the level 3 standard bard feats and any level 3 archetype feat replacements? Because Unnatural Lust is kind of important for her to get if when Ivori eventually gets a turn. Wiki doesn't really explain this part in detail.

>>115945
>Variant Multiclassing
This is NOT a straight-up Pathfinder game, and that particular variant is not one I am using. Azure's medical expertise can be represented by regular skill points, particularly considering she's more of a decadent dabbler than a proven professional. Hore Wutashi doesn't have (functional) Eclipse Phase-style medichines, either; she might have once, but they burned themselves out sculpting her biologically impossible elvenoid/goblinoid hybrid physiology into something that could survive puberty, and nobody she's ever met has the skills OR the tools to do basic nanotech diagnostics and maintenance, let alone major repairs.

I have lost count of how many times I have told you (you specifically, kome, nobody else does this to nearly the same extent) to stop making up mechanics. This is my quest, I make the rules. I'm trying to make those rules fair and consistent (among other things) and I'd accept constructive criticism, or even pedantic analysis of errors and self-contradictions, but I neither require nor appreciate your blunt and presumptive "assistance" in the task of game design itself. If the muse compels, I strongly suggest you try running your own quest to get it out of your system, instead of bucking for moderator status in this one every time I go too long between bapping you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.

If anyone wants to know how the rules work in this game, just go right ahead and ask me, preferably from a more or less in-character perspective. http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17231/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanics-a-brief-primer

Speaking of which:
>>115914
>Maru's currently got [Unwitting Ally] on her list
Swap it for Detect Recreational Intoxicants. Can't spot, say, cyanide, but tracks down a pipeweed stash just fine, and 15 seconds of concentration is enough to assess degree of sobriety with greater practical precision than modern breathalyzers (since it seamlessly accounts for degree of tolerance, nonstandard drugs, interaction effects, etc.) from twenty yards away and through some walls.

>>115948
>Stop trying to add game mechanics like nanomachines
Sorry. I thought it was canon, seemed way too overpowered anyway. I'm not going to argue about you removing it.

>No variant multiclassing
I'm reading heavily from d20pfsrd because I don't have a complete 'framework' on how tabletop RPGs work in general. Can you put a cliffs' notes of rules you don't want us to bother you about into the character page or some other google document or something?

>Just finish up your character
Other than some minor worries that versatile performance doesn't allow you to respec skill points (should add a few anyway for safety) and a few more questions that can wait until she gets to level 3, I got her level 2 configuration set up.
Revised Feat List:
0th Spells - Preen Feathers, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Know North, Resistance
1st Spells- Cure Light Wounds, Fool's Gold (the one where someone in possession of a gold piece you cast the spell on is susceptible to your charms), Remove Fear
Versatile Performance - Sing
Skills - Appraise 1, Diplomacy 2, Disguise 1, Fly 1, Heal 2, Linguistics 1, Perform (Dance) 1, Perform (Sing) 2, Profession (Courtesan) 1, Profession (Merchant) 1, Profession (Architect) 1

>>115950
>I thought it was canon
It's my understanding that Hore does have nanotech of some variety or another. The problem is that they doesn't count as a formal mutation, or have the in-game effects you claimed they have. (Largely, they seem to be fluff that justifies some of Hore's powers, or the way automated repairs unlock new capabilities on level up).

I mean, basically every character has things that are true about them that don't immediately translate into hard mechanics or stats.

>Can you put a cliffs' notes of rules
If I may be so presumptuous, I'll give it a whirl.

Character creation rules are as described in the dungeon thread OP. You don't need any external resources there, except maybe as inspiration for mutations / abilities / vulnerabilies / etc.

The level up process boils down to picking an archetype for broad development.

Then, based on that archetype, JL will suggest or ask you to select spells and/or feats / new abilities consistent with that archetype. (And you can ask for input from other players for brainstorming, if you need or want it).

I like to think of this as selecting additional tools for your toolbox.

You don't need to worry about what d20pfsrd or anything else says about how to build a character. We're only really using external resources as lists of spells / abilities / powers / feats / whatever to reference.

I may be over-simplifying, and it's true that tabletop familiarity might save you from asking what things or how many of them you should be selecting at a given level up, but that's hardly necessary, and it's easy to ask.

>skills
In the same vein, you don't really need to keep track of those. JL just treats you as good (or not good) at a skill as makes sense for your character's specialization and established history.

For example, you'll notice there's no list anywhere stating out how good Davina is with a sword, or diplomacy, or charming a partner into bed, even though you can infer she's good at those things from her background.

I think where you're having trouble is you're treating this as something very rigid and predefined and complex (which to be fair, are all things tabletop games can be) when this game is more organic. I might call it free form, but that really doesn't capture the care and thought JL so obviously puts in weaving elements together.

>>115953
>The level up process boils down to picking an archetype for broad development.
It's also possible to focus on practical capabilities without much of an archetype (other than what's been established in character creation and over the course of play), even very narrow specializations like "I want to get better at flirting without saying anything out loud, just with posing and suggestive gestures, particularly to orcs" or "I want to get better at stabbing folks, specifically by kicking them in the kidneys with this specific pair of high-heeled shoes. And also walking around in a dungeon while wearing said shoes without falling down all the time, I guess." The way GURPS works, spending points on a narrow specialty (three one-point perks for the high heels thing, plus however many in a technique for targeting a given hit location with a given type of attack) makes you better at that one thing than if you'd spent the same number of points on broader expertise, and when the specialty hits diminishing returns it'll spill over to the general skill anyway. The World's Greatest Eye Surgeon is going to be at a disadvantage when the task at hand is clamping off a spurting artery inside a gunshot wound to some other part of the body, but still far better than somebody who's never been trained in surgery at all.

But that's quibbling. Mageykun seems to be on the right track. More generally, if you want to know the rules, go back and read what I've already written about them in this thread, the previous discussion thread, and the various quest threads. If I had a more condensed "cliff notes" version ready to go, it would already be in there somewhere.

I could do all the research myself, compile and tidy up my notes and spoon-feed 'em to... someone who's not actually one of my patrons, even at the $1 per month "guaranteed response contingent on patron not being a jerk" level, last I checked? I could do a lot of different things, but I have to prioritize.

Well, I'm out of ideas. Is there anything else Hore can ask the union?

>>115957
Well logically, now that you've gotten an understanding of what the problem is, and that you've gotten chummy with them, you could try persuading them into resupplying our ship. Either:

1) Bribe / persuade the strikes to help us out, despite the strike.
2) Try to resolve the root cause of the problem so the strike goes away.

I'm not exactly what solution would satisfy #2, and for #1, the question is what you offer them.

Or you could decide you'd learned enough and leave to touch base with the rest of the party, and maybe get dragged into what's happening with 'Cap' and Esmeraude. Or you could ignore responsibility and take advantage of the free drinks to get blackout drunk. Lots of options!

>>115948
>http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17231/roleplaying-games/dissociated-mechanics-a-brief-primer
An interesting read, and gives me the vocabulary to explain why, say, Davina hasn't gone out of her way to ensure Comfort for the Lonely is always active.

>and you can ask for help or input if you need it
Speaking of:
>>/quest/831049
Input on Rhea's spell list? Stuff like light or spark and some fire effects seem inferior to or redundant with Rhea's innate stuff. Producing flame and resisting fire she's already got down.

Probably one of the only obvious shoe ins is Purify Food and Drink. I guess detect poison would be practical for a chef although I sorta want to resist giving literally all of my characters the same spell.

>>115948
Sounds useful. I missed that the first time around- just noticed when I was going back and checking up on my spells to see if I took light. Sadly, I did not. Still, that seems useful enough- got a good nose for drugs. Thank you Magey for keeping everything up to date

>>115968
Option 1 - Hore's charisma is low, she got lucky this time. Azure's the one with all the speechcraft skills. Pass.
Option 2 - Tried to suggest selling unique secrets to the Nyancompany, but it looks like they've racked their brains and found nothing they want to give out. Hore would need more data to figure out a better solution.

So I guess she'll just say goodbye and tell the Union she's going to meet up with her team to try and mediate this situation.

>>115970
Well, in a bind, that flaming melee weapon trick might work for a light source? In general though, you do have party members who can create light, and if you're concerned with the immediate brothel basement situation, Viste does have Dancing Lights.

Although I'm not sure if Maru woke up soon enough to tag along or not.

>>115972
1) I'd point out that these people already like Hore. (I mean, Hore is sorta salt of the earth and crude in a way that dockworkers can relate to her. Plus, dog people. And you've been hanging out drinking together, which is often good for making friends). You've got a circumstance bonus to leverage, here.

Don't be so quick to dismiss option outside a character's specialization. Sometimes, the best person for the job is the person in the right spot, not the person with the highest skill.

I mean, what's the worst case for trying and failing? Your new pals say no, or they toss you out of the bar, or maybe a crit fail results in a bar fight.

>>115974
Spark would also produce light at a negligible initial cost- the flaming weapons don't last long, and spark is at will, but property damage is obviously a concern. Light isn't an immediate issue, just a generally useful tool. Maru doesn't have dark vision, and she's scared of cap. Being able to see better would be comforting for her IC. OOC, I'd rate it as a bad idea unless we're unable to see

>>/quest/832437
This means Hore and Vos get lost for three hours, doesn't it.

Do I roll to see WHERE Hore and Vos end up that is definitely not near any other party members, or will you build a scenario without additional roll input?

>>116003
If you're really lucky, you might crit your way out of danger- although I doubt a crit fail and crit success back to back will simply cancle out with no consequences- more likely, you'd be left with something advantageous happening to Hore, and some lingering pentaly attached to Strngy

>>116003
Well, Hore could try to do something to mitigate or influence that poor roll, but it is a little tricky since you don't know what it will cause, yet.

Never let the eel-man navigate!

Who's "Ann Onamouse" ?

Not me; is that a new patreon? I don't remember there being 4 before, and if I'm not mistaken the monthly total just went up

>>/quest/832583
... Are high rolls good now? Or are the bugs just that experienced?

>was quietly murdered
Wait, I thought Viste was simply an alternate persona that Davina uses via disguise checks.

>>116038
>Wait, I thought Viste was simply an alternate persona that Davina uses via disguise checks.
Yes, but Vos doesn't know that, in-character.

The poor roll resulted in Vos drawing the wrong conclusion from the available evidence.

>>116026
Apparently we can add mystery solving to that list.

strngy 2017/09/25(Mon)00:45 No. 116047 ID: af6e04
File 150632550165.png - (33.60KB , 900x220 , map.png )

Here we go! Hope it looks alright.

strngy 2017/09/25(Mon)00:51 No. 116048 ID: af6e04
File 150632591845.png - (34.92KB , 900x220 , map.png )

Made a small (but probably useful) change

>>116048
I like the textures.

Two positional details: the hex with Zelkor's Ferry in it should be flipped left-for-right, and the red bear's hex should be flipped top-for-bottom.

Might also be sensible to represent the paved- road-and-aqueduct connection between Passholdt and Orcmeet somehow, as well as the border fort in that hex immediately east of the red bear.

Thanks to some combination of effective movement speeds, communication through holding up signs, and a series of elaborate plans that fail abruptly and catastrophically just short of the finish line, I am picturing 'cap' as Wil E. Coyote and Viste as The Roadrunner.

>>116050
I'm personally satisfied with which side of that paradigm I'm occupying.

>Did she look him in the eye? Did Maru?
...level 0 interaction allows level 1 response. Prisoner imitates eye contact, and unless the interrogator lacks exposed eyes, involuntarily or unconsciously returns it. Which allows a level 2 responses. It's trivially easy to shortcut 0 to 2. Lies of omission are only off the table for a prisoner spontaneously volunteering information.

Yeah that goes in a bug report. Although my verdict is already "scrap this entire framework for something simplier that's much more biased towards the interrogator." The current model is far too biased towards the prisoner. For example, the interrogator has no way to be certain what level is active, while the prisoner functionally always knows what he's being prevented from doing.

>whisperweb
...Which would allow trivial remote escalation if an accomplice swears at him.

>>116053
I can't find the binding rules anywhere, I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I'm gonna go ahead and act without them, based on the fact that I think it makes sense IC that Maru also forgot the exact details- meticulous planning isn't really her thing

How do we defuse the situation? Captain is on the verge of manipulating Maru into attacking, if we can just gag him before he says too much...

Hore has a creepy little gnoll laugh. Should I have her laugh at the song to defuse it, or would that trigger a high-level counter?

strngy 2017/09/26(Tue)00:51 No. 116076 ID: af6e04
File 150641229172.png - (37.39KB , 900x220 , map.png )

New and improved!

>>116069
>I can't find the binding rules anywhere
This post >>/quest/818953

You're currently holding a lethal weapon to his neck, so I'm pretty sure the whole scale is open to him right now.

>>116072
I... think it's just a matter of putting him back in the box at this point and ignoring provocation?

I mean, I was kind of hoping Maru's crowning moment of awesome, where she got cap to crack and actually show fear was pretty much it.

We got him dead to rights, and he knows at least some of us are willing to put his head on the table. He can't seem to help being provocative or bluster in the face of that, though.

Obviously this isn't a perfect metaphor, given how different this is from a pen and paper tabletop RPG, but let's say a level 9 warrior have 100 health- a critical hit guarantees you do damage, but 2d8+2 still isn't that much off the top as compared to say, 1d8+2. Clearly this is still a social encounter, and the dice system works a bit differently, but it makes sense to me that a single crit doesn't instantly solve everything- just diffuses the results of Vos fumbling a roll, and putting cap on edge. Maru is currently waiting on Viste to make the decisions as to how to proceed; if she were in charge she probably would have tried to cut off his leg so he can't run away anymore, and hauled him back to the ship to get locked in a dark box where no one can see or talk to him. Her little speech was really more for herself, and everyone else than for cap- even if you don't like what's going on, trust that the boss- Davina, and Viste as an extension of Davina's will, are handling the situation, and don't make any stupid decisions, no matter how much you want to kill the guy in front of you and wipe your hands of this whole mess. She's telling herself and Vos that they should trust Viste, and telling Viste that she's upset, but she's doing her best to keep it in check and let her handle it instead of subverting her authority and forcing her to manage cap and 3 other people.

>>116079
He asked what you want. Maybe try telling him what you want, at least with regard to his own immediate behavior?

>Maru is currently waiting on Viste to make the decisions as to how to proceed
>Maybe try telling him what you want
Ah. Clear, detailed, non-cryptic orders.

The enemy of taciturn, enigmatic alter egos the world over.

>>116124
I don't know about Davina/Viste, but Maru wants him dead. Hence her waiting for orders.

I would imagine we want him to come back to the ship peacefully, but honestly? It doesn't seem like a good idea to keep carrying him around, too much risk compared to the reward. We've seen the captain would be capable, under the right circumstances, of executing everyone on the ship and stealing it. The sorceress, if given the choice, would probably not be sentimental enough to turn down such an opportunity. Not sure what the boss thinks but Maru is skeptical that there's something worthwhile to risk keeping him around

>>116076
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/116125