Sohala

Clarification You said there were required steps for bubble stabilization and anchoring. I am just going off of that for part of it. The rest are meant more as a concept, me not knowing the full depth you want to go for. The idea is the raw 'spell levels' being used as fuel for constructs, weapons, etc Not a direct RAW for the concept, but 'something' along the lines found : 'These hybrid devices don’t have backup battery systems, but in emergencies, a spellcaster can feed spells into a magic power core to power life support, gravity, and comms (but no other systems). Each spell slot sacrificed to the power core provides 2 hours of emergency power per level of the spell slot.' You could also look towards recharging staves (sinking magic into something to be used later). For the tools, we could look at something similar to rune staves (hard-coded magic/spells, that require magical input to power). You don't need to add it, I just thought 'magic batteries' would be something that exists. It could allow for 'guns' that 'shoot' spells, or just raw energy (elemental or magical).

Getting reminded of the Vault's undecided status, when she was quite familiar with it, caused Prax to grind her teeth. "It is not for them... It is for me." As much as she wanted to be annoyed at him, she came off as disheartened, "I can't be here and there at the same time, nor can I fly between them on a regular basis; but I still want to help... Even if all I am doing is providing fuel." She huffed softly, "Maybe one day the vaulters will help too; even if it is only out of a desire for a profit." She paused, then came back with a resolved tone, "If I must, I will stockpile the filled cores and fly them over en mass myself." OOC Well, it meant FOR them... but I can see how it would be seen as that. If asked, she would rather this be established prior to the council, in hopes of skirting their hierarchy.

Seeing no reason to be cagey about it, Prax played it straight, laying out the initial idea. OOC Writing it OOC for clarity. I think it is safe to say the Vault's magical infrastructure is lacking. They do have a number of spellcasters though. She is looking to stabilize bubbles, along with wanting to open an avenue to supply the war effort (or trade). So, her list is roughly: Rechargeable tools to stabilize bubbles The means to make an anchor point, along with limited teleportation, to a pre-designated location A magic energy storage device - so that she can replicate it Oh, and the robot's remains, if that is on the menu.

Prax wasn't sure if her commander was jesting or not, "A robot, here?" She had tried to blend her magic with the one in her head, with only limited success so far. Perhaps it would represent a missing piece to the puzzle, "Where was it taken?" Unwilling to leave him empty-handed, she brought forth the physical manifestation of a file transfer for what little she had on the constructs. "I don't want this to get lost in the layers of red tape that comes with that bureaucracy. Take this copy, then whatever else happens, it can get to the right hands." Her words were firm, showing no signs of accepting any arguments on the subject. When he reluctantly accepted it, she added, "I will see if I can find more to send you." The thing about standing around with nothing but your thoughts to occupy you, you work through a fair amount shit... So, when the conversation evolved in a foreseeable way, Prax physically sagged inside her suit. All the fire and surety were gone, leaving behind a resigned tone, "I know... I think I knew back in your office. But the disappointment I saw in your eyes... I couldn't bring myself to leave you then, not again." A faint levity occupied her voice with the next words, "A lot good we did... A retired strategist, who doesn't know our tactics and likely hadn't seen magic before a few hours ago, and my snot-nosed self with a few new tricks." The cynicism was layered on thick now, "Two Pillars of the Vault, going to save the world from the infected together..." There was a long pause as she gathered herself, assuming a more professional posture, "Sir, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to remain at this posting. I am duty-bound elsewhere. I have officially received my orders, as issued by yourself. I ask to be permitted to report this change of station to my men and to requisition required supplies for my new role." The last part of her request didn't match her orders, as he was well aware. It then begged the question of why she was asking, was he being asked to authorize a spree of thefts? OOC For flavor, I am saying she has failed to get her Exocortex to work here so far, even if we haven't confirmed that in the downtime area or not.

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Provisional options request: EnforcerPathfinder SRD Prerequisite: Intimidate 1 rank. Benefit: Whenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, you can make an Intimidate check to demoralize your target as a free action. If you are successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If your attack was a critical hit, your target is frightened for 1 round with a successful Intimidate check, as well as being shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. - Pathfinder feat Unnatural AuraDragon 356 pg89 You acquired your power by infusing yourself with supernatural essence of a magical beast. The creature had a scent, aura, or other emanation to potent that it infused your very being. While most creatures barely notice, your aura (even if they are affected by it), animals are extremely sensitive to it and find it disturbingly threatening. Benefit: You Posses an unnatural aura. You gain a +2 bonus on all Intimidate checks and to the DC of spells from the fear subschool that you cast. Drawback: Your unnatural aura distrubs creatures of the animal and vermin types, imposing a -2 penalty on any skill checks or wild empathy checks you make dealing with them. - Dragon Magazine trait

Listening to the commanders callously enumerate the various ways they could kill off their own soldiers turned Prax's stomach. She could accept that these might be dire and uncertain times, but turning your own troops into once-use weapons was crossing a line she wasn't overly comfortable with. 'Even if they volunteered...' she stopped herself. She wouldn't lessen an individual's choice on this, for she had little grounds to stand on... Such thoughts reminded her of Jake, and then the rest of the recent events she had been able to ignore... In her suit, she shook her head to push aside the distractions. A suicide vest was what the description she heard when she refocused on the conversation boiled down to. "We order each man into one. Then if they fall, they take them with them," the older [[please insert the best race]] officer proudly declared. There were mixed sounds from the others, but with recent events, a sentiment of agreement appeared to be winning out. Incredulity was alive and well in her dissenting opinion, "You want to put us at risk of cascading deaths and sabotage? So you can potentially weaponize our losses?" Some part of her heard her commander say her name, but all she was consciously aware of was the reply, "Better us than them." At that, she pressed on, "Have we lost so much confidence in our strength of arms and skill that we must resort to such tactics? I say we-" The commanding voice of her superior boomed through the tent cutting her off, "[[Proper ranking]] Praxerina, that is enough!" As if sensing she was going to start speaking again he continued, "Wait outside, now. That is an order." There was a moment of hesitation in follow through, but she didn't argue further, following the order... Prax stewed in her own thoughts for over an hour as she followed the orders given to her. Her commander hadn't passed along a signal as expected, so there was little else to do. She had thought his actions merely symbolic, removing her as a possible distraction due to her status, but other possible realities were starting to weigh on her. With that in mind, when her commander finally exited, she held her tongue until given leave to speak; a status that came only after a minute of silent staring, "You may speak, if you can contain yourself." His words traveled solely through their comms, so no others could hear. Her self-righteous thoughts were dampened by that, not enough to keep her from speaking though, "You know I am right, sir." Apparently expecting this, his response was swift, "You have also grown willful in your absence, Prax." He didn't give her the chance to respond to his cutting words, "[[Insert name]] has lobbied for those methods often of late. You would have known that if you had been here." He paused, but she sensed a trap and kept quiet. "He will no doubt try to spin this loss as all the more reason to do so. And now you have called his honor into question and wounded his pride." His tone carried with it disappointment, "You may have years of experience from your time in there, but you still haven't learned the battlefield of politics. He will push all the harder now and we can't afford to alienate or be alienated from this alliance. For it to fracture now, would surely mean our defeat." She couldn't help herself, as the words came out, "Even if that means-" He cut her off, "Yes. This new threat doesn't allow for the luxury of your morals. We must defeat it or be defeated ourselves." Seeing this side of her commander was troubling to her. Had she really lost her grasp on the severity of the situation? She had trouble finding the right words. For all her time in the SIM, she had minimal experience fighting the infected. They had been... realization dawned on her as a mental image of a far-flung battlefield, viewed from an isometric perspective, played quickly... There was a long moment of hesitation as she put her thoughts in order. The fire of defiance had left her speech, replaced with thoughtful consideration, "What if there was another way?" When he didn't immediately shut her down, she continued, "You recall in my report when I said there were details I hadn't been able to verify yet? One of them is this..." She pushed a still from the battle recording, with split view active. "The one on the right." Her commander's words came slowly, with a hit of suspicion, "What of it?" Honestly, she wasn't sure if it could be done at all, but at the same time was willing to admit it wasn't a quick solution even if they could, "Could we make ones that would work here? They would be free from the risk of infection." OOC I think there are two command tents? One way back with Jake, the other at the front lines? I think that gets us where we wanted to go wrathgon.

That all falls in line with my expectations, considering the rules in place (multi-progression and feature level cap). I think I have only one other question on the subject: Other than the "take Bloodline level(s) by xyz level(s) based on the strength of Bloodline" are there any restrictions preventing them from being taken sooner?

Okay, I wasn't aware that 'sides' were being enforced. Is there something that prevents classes from jumping sides other than terrible organization? Do we need PrC qualifications to be met by the given 'side'? Sorry, I should have written that out for clarity's sake. CL was caster level and FL was fighter level (for fighter feats). By your response though, it appears I was correct in my assessment. The cleric in the example gets the normal increase of class features from the gained level, but does not get an effective increase from the bloodline portion, even though it would not exceed the character level.

Coming into the tent, Prax could see tensions were high among the gathered brass. An unprecedented defeat of this level had undoubtedly bruised many egos. She knew hers was smarting a bit. Hearing they had slain the guardian wasn't as surprising as it would have been hours ago. Teleporting an entire army past their defenses without triggering an alarm was no small feat. Even when compared to the radical change in tactics they had seen from the infected. Her commander's assessment seemed a bit overblown to her... but she kept that to herself. He would have a better grasp on previous assignments than she would... It was hard to know who had previously served as part of the relic hunter corps, but she doubted if random chance had given them the degree of advantage he feared. Not to mention, they would also have to remember their action in detail... An argument was breaking out between one of the dwarven engineering officers and a human mage, "What do you mean "they tried their best," eh?" The mage tried to defend the limits of their trade in response, pointing out the unknown origins of the enemy commander. They go back and forth until a now familiar unearthly sound comes from Prax's suit. A matching holographic image of the same mentioned commander was suspended in the air, "Do we know anything about it yet?" OOC I am aware Prax is wrong on the method, that is intentional due to the lowered visibility. I am taking your silence on the appearance of the enemy commander for a heavy level of unknown. Took some creative liberties to fit the question in and turn the conversation.