Taggerung559

How is the caravan going to be handled if you don't mind me asking, as far as abstracted vs covered in detail mechanically, or somewhere in between? And somewhat related, will party members be needing to purchase their own supplies as far as food/water/etc goes, or will the caravan be covering that?

James initiative

James Well, James hadn't exactly meant for someone to walk (or flap, whatever) right up to the not-an-eagle, but apparently that happened. He'd have to be more clear with his communication going forward. That being said, the end result wasn't bad, yet. To be honest it was rather entertainingly absurd and he would have given more than chuckle to did emerge from him if the situation wasn't still as tense as it was. On a more serious note though, one enemy was proved to exist, and the expected presence of more was more or less confirmed. Things were still dangerous. "Well, I've wanted to try this trick for a bit. Let's see how it turns out." He says, as he reaches out to Levi and Niiza on front of him. At the moment of contact a pulse of rippling flesh spreads through James into the two of them, resulting in vastly different effects. Levi exploded in size, now towering over everyone. James went in the opposite direction, now coming up to the knees of most of the group. And while nothing so obvious occurred to Niiza, an expansion of muscles did occur. "If the rest of those present don't feel like revealing themselves, I suppose it might be worth heading in to find them." James Wizard/Magus///Psion OOC comments The initial plan was to throw metamorphosis on Levi+Talia, but it can only be shared via touch and she's way over there. Didn't go for the size boost on Niiza as she's under a change shape effect, which is generally a polymorph effect (even if it's written weirdly by the feat she gets it from), and those suppress size changes from other sources. Mechanical actions Activating overchannel for +1 ML to manifest metamorphosis at ML 9, spending 5 PP to perform the base effect (boosted by his improved metamorphosis feat) and spending an extra 4 PP to also apply it to two touched targets via his shared effect discipline power. Levi choices: increased size by two categories (+4 str, -4 dex) and 20 temp HP Niiza: +4 enhancement bonus to str, 20 temp HP James: decrease size by two categories (+4 dex, -4 str) and +4 enhancement bonus to dex. Also spending an arcane pool point on the base effect of that class feature as a swift action to apply flaming and frost to his rifle. Statblock Male Human Spellslinger wizard 1/Eldritch Archer Magus 7//Egoist Psion 8 NG medium humanoid(human) Init +8; Senses Perception +14 ------------------------------- Defense ------------------------------- AC 27, touch 20, flat-footed 19 [+8 dex, +7 armor, +2 size] HP 80 (8 HD; 1d6+7d8+18) Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +7 ------------------------------- Offense ------------------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee Dagger +15 (1d4+6/19-20) Ranged +1 flaming frost Air Repeater +16 (1d8+7+2d6/x4) or +16 (2d4+7+2d6/x4) Special Attacks ranged spell combat, ranged spellstrike Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +8) . . 1st - grease (DC 16) (2), true strike Magus Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15) . . 3rd - slow (DC 18) (2) . . 2nd - glitterdust (DC 17) (2), invisibility, web (DC 17) . . 1st - longshot, snowball (DC 16) (2), enlarge person, burning hands (DC 16), expeditious retreat . . 0th - ray of frost, prestidigitation, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand Psion Powers Known (ML 8th; concentration +15) . . 4th - fold space, psychic reformation, wall of ectoplasm, slip the bonds . . 3rd - metamorphosis, telekinetic force, solicit psicrystal, fettering the shade, banshee’s hearing . . 2nd - specified energy adaptation, empathetic transfer, cleanse body, id insinuation . . 1st - minor metamorphosis, offensive prescience, inertial armor, energy ray, vigor, natural healing, crystal shard . . 0th - detect psionics, hammer talent, thicken skin talent, far hand, vim -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 6, Dex 26, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 10 Base Atk +5; CMB +1; CMD 19 Feats arcane strike, spell cartridges, psicrystal affinity, harvest parts, gunsmith, precise shot; improved metamorphosis, empowered shot, champion’s strike, rapid shot, swift shapeshifter, superior psicrystal (psicrystal weapon), overchannel Skills acrobatics +8, diplomacy +13, fly +8, knowledge(arcana) +16, knowledge(dungeoneering) +9, knowledge(local) +9, knowledge(nature) +9, knowledge(planes) +9, knowledge(psionics) +16, knowledge(religion) +9, perception +14, sense motive +11, spellcraft +16; Background Skills craft (alchemy) +9, craft (weapons) +18, knowledge(engineering) +9, knowledge(geography) +11, knowledge(history) +9, knowledge(nobility) +9, linguistics +9 Traits magical knack (magus), clever wordplay (diplomacy) Languages common, draconic, dwarven, elvish, orc, sylvan SQ arcane gun, mage bullets, opposition schools, psion discipline (psychometabolism), metabolic healing (2), arcane pool (7/day, +2), ranged weapon bond (teleport at will), magus arcana (arcane accuracy, broad study (psion)), spell recall, knowledge pool, shared effect Other Gear dagger, shortspear, battered pistol, spellbook, backpack, torch, masterwork air repeater, explorer’s outfit Current status HP: 80/80 Temp HP: 1 Conditions: none Active effects: Banshee's hearing, inertial armor (+7), offensive prescience (+4, 79 rounds), mage bullets (+1, 9 rounds), arcane pool (flaming/frost, 10 rounds), metamorphosis (-2 sizes, +4 dex, 90 rounds) Arcane pool points: 5/8 Power Points: 28/78 Psionic focus: yes Active energy: fire Wizard spells: -1st: grease, grease, true strike Magus spells: -1st: longshot, enlarge person, snowball, snowball, burning hands, expeditious retreat -2nd: glitterdust, glitterdust, invisibility, web -3rd: slow, slow

keep in mind that you can only take accomplished sneak attacker once, since it lacks text stating it can be taken multiple times. And for another question of my own, what's the stance on pre-game crafting of gear, magical or otherwise (assuming required feats are taken and relevant crafting DCs can be met while taking 10)?

Are traits allowed? And are background skills in play? edit: And is retraining at all on the table (assuming gold costs are spent)

I don't believe I saw mention of starting gold in the character creation thread. Am I correct in assuming it'd be the default 16k gp for a level 6 character?

Mary reflex

James During the deliberation James' ears perked up, picking up something he'd so far missed. Something I thought I'd share with the class: There's a rat hiding on the southern wall. It's pretty huge for a rat, but seems to be just a rat. And there's an eagle perched on the western one. Well, something that looks like an eagle at least. The heartbeat is incredibly bizarre, so whatever it really is I think it's safe to say it's weird. Neither seem fungus'd, so this is new territory. As for strategy...well, it's a bit awkward not knowing for certain where all the enemies are, or if we've accounted for everything. It might be worth striking, letting the enemies counter-ambush, then going from there. Let them play their hand from a less advantageous position than they were expecting. It's not exactly the best plan, but it's more likely to get everyone to reveal themselves than if we start throwing out fireballs I feel like. And we've done a fairly good job on absorbing what's been thrown at us so far. Not that it's a good idea that'll stay true indefinitely. James Wizard/Magus///Psion OOC comments I have at least one more turn of buffing I'd like to throw out before combat starts, if possible. Mechanical actions Manifesting offensive prescience, spending 7 PP Expending a true strike to enchant his rifle up to +1 Statblock Male Human Spellslinger wizard 1/Eldritch Archer Magus 7//Egoist Psion 8 NG medium humanoid(human) Init +4; Senses Perception +14 ------------------------------- Defense ------------------------------- AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 [+4 dex, +7 armor] HP 80 (8 HD; 1d6+7d8+18) Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +7 ------------------------------- Offense ------------------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee Dagger +9 (1d4+6/19-20) Ranged +1 Air Repeater +10 (1d8+7/x4) or +10 (2d4+7/x4) Special Attacks ranged spell combat, ranged spellstrike Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +8) . . 1st - grease (DC 16) (2), true strike Magus Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15) . . 3rd - slow (DC 18) (2) . . 2nd - glitterdust (DC 17) (2), invisibility, web (DC 17) . . 1st - longshot, snowball (DC 16) (2), enlarge person, burning hands (DC 16), expeditious retreat . . 0th - ray of frost, prestidigitation, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand Psion Powers Known (ML 8th; concentration +15) . . 4th - fold space, psychic reformation, wall of ectoplasm, slip the bonds . . 3rd - metamorphosis, telekinetic force, solicit psicrystal, fettering the shade, banshee’s hearing . . 2nd - specified energy adaptation, empathetic transfer, cleanse body, id insinuation . . 1st - minor metamorphosis, offensive prescience, inertial armor, energy ray, vigor, natural healing, crystal shard . . 0th - detect psionics, hammer talent, thicken skin talent, far hand, vim -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 10 Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 19 Feats arcane strike, spell cartridges, psicrystal affinity, harvest parts, gunsmith, precise shot; improved metamorphosis, empowered shot, champion’s strike, rapid shot, swift shapeshifter, superior psicrystal (psicrystal weapon), overchannel Skills acrobatics +8, diplomacy +13, fly +8, knowledge(arcana) +16, knowledge(dungeoneering) +9, knowledge(local) +9, knowledge(nature) +9, knowledge(planes) +9, knowledge(psionics) +16, knowledge(religion) +9, perception +14, sense motive +11, spellcraft +16; Background Skills craft (alchemy) +9, craft (weapons) +18, knowledge(engineering) +9, knowledge(geography) +11, knowledge(history) +9, knowledge(nobility) +9, linguistics +9 Traits magical knack (magus), clever wordplay (diplomacy) Languages common, draconic, dwarven, elvish, orc, sylvan SQ arcane gun, mage bullets, opposition schools, psion discipline (psychometabolism), metabolic healing (2), arcane pool (7/day, +2), ranged weapon bond (teleport at will), magus arcana (arcane accuracy, broad study (psion)), spell recall, knowledge pool, shared effect Other Gear dagger, shortspear, battered pistol, spellbook, backpack, torch, masterwork air repeater, explorer’s outfit Current status HP: 80/80 Temp HP: 3 Conditions: none Active effects: Banshee's hearing, inertial armor (+7), offensive prescience (+4, 80 rounds), mage bullets (+1, 10 rounds) Arcane pool points: 6/8 Power Points: 37/78 Psionic focus: yes Active energy: fire Wizard spells: -1st: grease, grease, true strike Magus spells: -1st: longshot, enlarge person, snowball, snowball, burning hands, expeditious retreat -2nd: glitterdust, glitterdust, invisibility, web -3rd: slow, slow

James rolls

James James gives a slight nod upon receiving this information. It wasn't a lot to be honest, but it strongly suggested their suspicions were correct. So, one entity identified, likely hostile. If it is a trap for us, it'd be rather out of character for there to just one enemy, going off our experiences so far. Do you see anyone else, or are other potential assailants invisible or otherwise concealed again? Anything you can add Vael? While not exactly surprising, it was slightly worrying that there seemed to once again be someone waiting for them. Between this and the dragon turtle that had been buried right in their path, their enemy seemed to be prepared, and the potential that they were being watched wasn't a comfortable one to entertain. James Wizard/Magus///Psion OOC comments I remember us having some sort of telepathic communication method, but not where it was coming from or its duration. For now I'm just running with it. Mechanical actions Talking. Or thinking. Whatever. Statblock Male Human Spellslinger wizard 1/Eldritch Archer Magus 7//Egoist Psion 8 NG medium humanoid(human) Init +4; Senses Perception +14 ------------------------------- Defense ------------------------------- AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 [+4 dex, +7 armor] HP 80 (8 HD; 1d6+7d8+18) Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +7 ------------------------------- Offense ------------------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee Dagger +9 (1d4+2/19-20) Ranged Air Repeater +9 (1d8+2/x4) or +9 (2d4+2/x4) Special Attacks ranged spell combat, ranged spellstrike Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +8) . . 1st - grease (DC 16) (2), true strike Magus Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15) . . 3rd - slow (DC 18) (2) . . 2nd - glitterdust (DC 17) (2), invisibility, web (DC 17) . . 1st - longshot, snowball (DC 16) (2), enlarge person, burning hands (DC 16), expeditious retreat . . 0th - ray of frost, prestidigitation, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand Psion Powers Known (ML 8th; concentration +15) . . 4th - fold space, psychic reformation, wall of ectoplasm, slip the bonds . . 3rd - metamorphosis, telekinetic force, solicit psicrystal, fettering the shade, banshee’s hearing . . 2nd - specified energy adaptation, empathetic transfer, cleanse body, id insinuation . . 1st - minor metamorphosis, offensive prescience, inertial armor, energy ray, vigor, natural healing, crystal shard . . 0th - detect psionics, hammer talent, thicken skin talent, far hand, vim -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 10 Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 19 Feats arcane strike, spell cartridges, psicrystal affinity, harvest parts, gunsmith, precise shot; improved metamorphosis, empowered shot, champion’s strike, rapid shot, swift shapeshifter, superior psicrystal (psicrystal weapon), overchannel Skills acrobatics +8, diplomacy +13, fly +8, knowledge(arcana) +16, knowledge(dungeoneering) +9, knowledge(local) +9, knowledge(nature) +9, knowledge(planes) +9, knowledge(psionics) +16, knowledge(religion) +9, perception +14, sense motive +11, spellcraft +16; Background Skills craft (alchemy) +9, craft (weapons) +18, knowledge(engineering) +9, knowledge(geography) +11, knowledge(history) +9, knowledge(nobility) +9, linguistics +9 Traits magical knack (magus), clever wordplay (diplomacy) Languages common, draconic, dwarven, elvish, orc, sylvan SQ arcane gun, mage bullets, opposition schools, psion discipline (psychometabolism), metabolic healing (2), arcane pool (7/day, +2), ranged weapon bond (teleport at will), magus arcana (arcane accuracy, broad study (psion)), spell recall, knowledge pool, shared effect Other Gear dagger, shortspear, battered pistol, spellbook, backpack, torch, masterwork air repeater, explorer’s outfit Current status HP: 80/80 Temp HP: 3 Conditions: none Active effects: Banshee's hearing, inertial armor (+7) Arcane pool points: 6/8 Power Points: 44/78 Psionic focus: yes Active energy: fire Wizard spells: -1st: grease, grease, true strike Magus spells: -1st: longshot, enlarge person, snowball, snowball, burning hands, expeditious retreat -2nd: glitterdust, glitterdust, invisibility, web -3rd: slow, slow

James This is a posting template that was made without BBcode, since despite allowing it the new site interacts weirdly with BBcode. I'm still a bit salty about that. James Wizard/Magus///Psion OOC comments Nothing to say here just yet Mechanical actions Probably shooting something and casting a spell. Spell combat is fun. Statblock Male Human Spellslinger wizard 1/Eldritch Archer Magus 7//Egoist Psion 8 NG medium humanoid(human) Init +4; Senses Perception +14 ------------------------------- Defense ------------------------------- AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 [+4 dex, +7 armor] HP 80 (8 HD; 1d6+7d8+18) Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +7 ------------------------------- Offense ------------------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee Dagger +9 (1d4+2/19-20) Ranged Air Repeater +9 (1d8+2/x4) or +9 (2d4+2/x4) Special Attacks ranged spell combat, ranged spellstrike Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +8) . . 1st - grease (DC 16) (2), true strike Magus Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15) . . 3rd - slow (DC 18) (2) . . 2nd - glitterdust (DC 17) (2), invisibility, web (DC 17) . . 1st - longshot, snowball (DC 16) (2), enlarge person, burning hands (DC 16), expeditious retreat . . 0th - ray of frost, prestidigitation, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand Psion Powers Known (ML 8th; concentration +15) . . 4th - fold space, psychic reformation, wall of ectoplasm, slip the bonds . . 3rd - metamorphosis, telekinetic force, solicit psicrystal, fettering the shade, banshee’s hearing . . 2nd - specified energy adaptation, empathetic transfer, cleanse body, id insinuation . . 1st - minor metamorphosis, offensive prescience, inertial armor, energy ray, vigor, natural healing, crystal shard . . 0th - detect psionics, hammer talent, thicken skin talent, far hand, vim -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 10 Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 19 Feats arcane strike, spell cartridges, psicrystal affinity, harvest parts, gunsmith, precise shot; improved metamorphosis, empowered shot, champion’s strike, rapid shot, swift shapeshifter, superior psicrystal (psicrystal weapon), overchannel Skills acrobatics +8, diplomacy +13, fly +8, knowledge(arcana) +16, knowledge(dungeoneering) +9, knowledge(local) +9, knowledge(nature) +9, knowledge(planes) +9, knowledge(psionics) +16, knowledge(religion) +9, perception +14, sense motive +11, spellcraft +16; Background Skills craft (alchemy) +9, craft (weapons) +18, knowledge(engineering) +9, knowledge(geography) +11, knowledge(history) +9, knowledge(nobility) +9, linguistics +9 Traits magical knack (magus), clever wordplay (diplomacy) Languages common, draconic, dwarven, elvish, orc, sylvan SQ arcane gun, mage bullets, opposition schools, psion discipline (psychometabolism), metabolic healing (2), arcane pool (7/day, +2), ranged weapon bond (teleport at will), magus arcana (arcane accuracy, broad study (psion)), spell recall, knowledge pool, shared effect Other Gear dagger, shortspear, battered pistol, spellbook, backpack, torch, masterwork air repeater, explorer’s outfit Current status HP: 80/80 Temp HP: 3 Conditions: none Active effects: Banshee's hearing, inertial armor (+7) Arcane pool points: 6/8 Power Points: 44/78 Psionic focus: yes Active energy: fire Wizard spells: -1st: grease, grease, true strike Magus spells: -1st: longshot, enlarge person, snowball, snowball, burning hands, expeditious retreat -2nd: glitterdust, glitterdust, invisibility, web -3rd: slow, slow

Mary Once again sidestepping the energy beam, Mary continues to press the attack, dancing back and forth before taking her swings. Hopefully whatever was driving this things movements had enough of a sense of self-preservation for her darting motions to not be a waste of energy. "I never said this was better Gil, just that I prefer it! There's a difference!" Mechanical actions/OOC comments 5' step up to the bot Full round action: flurry of blows, replacing the first attack with a feint via improved feinting flurry. Attacks will be using both piranha strike and fighting defensively. AC 30 currently. Feinting vs a non-humanoid suffers a -4 penalty, which I have already deducted from the roll. If the bot has an intelligence of 1 or 2 then there's an additional -8 penalty. If it's mindless, the feint auto-fails. Statblock HP: 69/73 Init: +6, Perception: +16 (+18 vs traps) AC: 23, TAC: 22, FFAC: 16 Fort: +8, Ref: +13, Will: +5, CMD: 21 Special defenses: evasion, uncanny dodge, deflect arrows, danger sense +1 Speed: 30 Melee: +14/+14/+9 Temple Sword (1d8+10/19-20) Range: +12/+7 Mosin-Nagant (1d10/x4) Sneak attack: +2d6 Debilitating injury: landing a sneak attack debuffs AC (-2, -4 vs me), attack rolls (-2, -4 vs me), or movement speed (halved) for 1 round. Fighting defensively: -2 to attack for +7 AC Piranha strike: -2 to attack for +4 damage Improved feinting flurry: replace first attack of a flurry with a feint (+21 to bluff) which denies dex to AC for my turn

James After Talia headed out James continued to watch (well, look in that direction. The actually watching didn't do much, what with the invisibility and all that. But it felt right.) for a while. Waiting. There wasn't much else to do at the moment. He could buff up, but it wasn't worth doing so until they knew there were actually enemies around, and they had a plan of attack. The buffs might run out before combat otherwise. Waiting sucked. "So Dwik...do you know much about this outpost? Or at least, much about it prior to...whatever might have happened to it?"

Mary Mary jumps to the side in time to avoid the burst of energy, before circling around a bit in hopes of keeping the bot away from Peggy. A strike is made with the intent of catching its attention. Mechanical actions/OOC comments Move action: move Standard action: attack with fighting defensively, no piranha strike. AC is currently 30 (29 TAC) Statblock HP: 69/73 Init: +6, Perception: +16 (+18 vs traps) AC: 23, TAC: 22, FFAC: 16 Fort: +8, Ref: +13, Will: +5, CMD: 21 Special defenses: evasion, uncanny dodge, deflect arrows, danger sense +1 Speed: 30 Melee: +14/+14/+9 Temple Sword (1d8+10/19-20) Range: +12/+7 Mosin-Nagant (1d10/x4) Sneak attack: +2d6 Debilitating injury: landing a sneak attack debuffs AC (-2, -4 vs me), attack rolls (-2, -4 vs me), or movement speed (halved) for 1 round. Fighting defensively: -2 to attack for +7 AC Piranha strike: -2 to attack for +4 damage Improved feinting flurry: replace first attack of a flurry with a feint (+21 to bluff) which denies dex to AC for my turn

James James stares in Vael's direction as she walks off. Once he can no longer hear her heart he mutters "Right, because the best thing we can do once we finally have the chance to plan and deliberate before a fight is to act on impulse." before turning to Talia and casting a spell of his own, which has the similar effect of making the target visibly disappear. In a louder voice he continues "You have nine minutes before you become visible again. Find out what you can, don't get caught, don't get the other two caught, and don't attack anything or it will end early. Hopefully anything over there doesn't also have ways to detect through invisibility." OOC So, James has "Banshee's hearing" currently active, which lets him hear heartbeats and functions as blindsight 60' vs anything that has one. In case that line seemed weird.