GralphidBlackstrip

Yeah, I suspected that was the case, but figured I'd give a poke just in case anyone was still motivated to continue. I really like my character and am still intrigued by the game premise. I've always liked the idea of an urban-based campaign that focuses on a single city. Oh well.

Pokes GM.

"The more the merrier." Velras says with a shrug, and walks down the stairs. Mechanics Velras takes point and goes down the stairs (although he can climb on air if they let out on him), with the others behind him. Statblock and Tracker 39/57 Spell points left Martial Focus: 2/2 Active Effects: The World, Swords, The Fool, Strength, and The Emperor (Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Enhance Equipment (unarmed strike, warhammer, 7 other armors/weapons) Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Darkvision (Duration: 20 hours from opening scene, from Zella) Staunch Resistance (Will, Reflex) (Duration: 160 minutes from night-time, applies to whole party) Cast Nature's Carapace (metal) and Resist Elements (fire, enhanced) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) Nature's Sense: Earth (Tremorsense 90 feet) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) blessing of the watch, hunter's blessing (+2 on , , , , and damage rolls made against humans. +2 on checks, , , and checks in urban areas), Blacksmith Maintenances: Clarifying and Quickening Reinforcements Blacksmith maintenances (+4 reflex and will saves), and Armor Maintenance (+4 armor, reduce ACP by 4) Defenses: AC: 48, FF: 36, Touch: 23, CMD: 39 (+2 per size category larger than me attacker is, +4 vs trip and +5 vs sunder) Cold/Elec/Acid Resistance 10, Fire Resist 36 and recover 1 HP for each damage prevented Fort: +17, Ref: +22, Will: +19, (all saves roll twice and take better) HP: 240 Immunities/other: Immune to disease, poison, age. 130' move, climb (including through air, or earth glide speed Skills: Acrobatics +42*, Climb +31*, Diplomacy +24, K. Engineering, local, and nature (+21), Perception +16 (+7 on traps, +2 bonus and auto-check to find unusual stonework or metalwork), Prof Blacksmith* +34, sense motive +24, Knowledge local +23, Stealth* +24 *Can take-10 even when rushed or threatened +5 insight bonus to skills when taking 10 Misc: Can make AoOs even when flat-footed. When suffering penalties to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, or ability checks, reduce the total penalty by 2, to a minimum penalty of -1.

I am considering GM-ing a high-ish level (12 maybe) gestalt pathfinder spheres game. I know from past experience that there will be a lot of interest. The twist is that I was considering requiring one side of the gestalt to be spheres of Guile classes only (with the other side your choice of SoG, SoP, or SoM, including base class archetypes) The motivation for this is: 1. I've read the rules, but still don't feel like I know Spheres of Guile very well and this seems like a way of learning how it works in practice. 2. My first glance is that Spheres of Guiles characters are less powerful but have a lot of utility. The hope is that having one side be SoG would lead to characters that are more flexible but have less raw power than a more open gestalt. The premise of the game by the way would be that a fairly generic fantasy world is shocked when a vastly powerful, and previously unknown underground civilization launches devastating attacks on it. Desperately fighting and barely holding on, the leaders of several nations beg a group of heroes to perform a likely suicide mission: attempt to infiltrate the tunnels and act as a mobile guerrilla force sabotaging soft targets, burning supply depots, and/or provoking revolts to try to even the odds above-ground. The PCs would be in foreign turf and vastly outnumbered, and thus forced to rely on stealth, diplomacy, infiltration, and clever planning instead of raw strength. So would the spheres of guile requirement make people more or less interested in the game? Do you perceive any problems with this idea?

"I don't know. I'm pretty difficult to kill and lighter than most of you, I'll go first. If it is a trap, I should survive it. You all follow." Velras suggested Mechanics Velras is just going to walk down the stairs. Statblock and Tracker 39/57 Spell points left Martial Focus: 2/2 Active Effects: The World, Swords, The Fool, Strength, and The Emperor (Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Enhance Equipment (unarmed strike, warhammer, 7 other armors/weapons) Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Darkvision (Duration: 20 hours from opening scene, from Zella) Staunch Resistance (Will, Reflex) (Duration: 160 minutes from night-time, applies to whole party) Cast Nature's Carapace (metal) and Resist Elements (fire, enhanced) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) Nature's Sense: Earth (Tremorsense 90 feet) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) blessing of the watch, hunter's blessing (+2 on , , , , and damage rolls made against humans. +2 on checks, , , and checks in urban areas), Blacksmith Maintenances: Clarifying and Quickening Reinforcements Blacksmith maintenances (+4 reflex and will saves), and Armor Maintenance (+4 armor, reduce ACP by 4) Defenses: AC: 48, FF: 36, Touch: 23, CMD: 39 (+2 per size category larger than me attacker is, +4 vs trip and +5 vs sunder) Cold/Elec/Acid Resistance 10, Fire Resist 36 and recover 1 HP for each damage prevented Fort: +17, Ref: +22, Will: +19, (all saves roll twice and take better) HP: 240 Immunities/other: Immune to disease, poison, age. 130' move, climb (including through air, or earth glide speed Skills: Acrobatics +42*, Climb +31*, Diplomacy +24, K. Engineering, local, and nature (+21), Perception +16 (+7 on traps, +2 bonus and auto-check to find unusual stonework or metalwork), Prof Blacksmith* +34, sense motive +24, Knowledge local +23, Stealth* +24 *Can take-10 even when rushed or threatened +5 insight bonus to skills when taking 10 Misc: Can make AoOs even when flat-footed. When suffering penalties to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, or ability checks, reduce the total penalty by 2, to a minimum penalty of -1.

My Sundering of magic isn't actually a spheres of magic effect (it's from spheres of might), so it doesn't use my casting tradition. But fair point on the detect magic. Someone else in the party want to try true sight?

Velras finishes bending a small piece of iron into a loop, the metal glowing red from the heat of his bare hands. He takes the loop and stares through it at the stairs. "Huh, I don't see any magic." Mechanics Statblock and Tracker 39/57 Spell points left Martial Focus: 2/2 Active Effects: The World, Swords, The Fool, Strength, and The Emperor (Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Enhance Equipment (unarmed strike, warhammer, 7 other armors/weapons) Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Darkvision (Duration: 20 hours from opening scene, from Zella) Staunch Resistance (Will, Reflex) (Duration: 160 minutes from night-time, applies to whole party) Cast Nature's Carapace (metal) and Resist Elements (fire, enhanced) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) Nature's Sense: Earth (Tremorsense 90 feet) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) blessing of the watch, hunter's blessing (+2 on , , , , and damage rolls made against humans. +2 on checks, , , and checks in urban areas), Blacksmith Maintenances: Clarifying and Quickening Reinforcements Blacksmith maintenances (+4 reflex and will saves), and Armor Maintenance (+4 armor, reduce ACP by 4) Defenses: AC: 48, FF: 36, Touch: 23, CMD: 39 (+2 per size category larger than me attacker is, +4 vs trip and +5 vs sunder) Cold/Elec/Acid Resistance 10, Fire Resist 36 and recover 1 HP for each damage prevented Fort: +17, Ref: +22, Will: +19, (all saves roll twice and take better) HP: 240 Immunities/other: Immune to disease, poison, age. 130' move, climb (including through air, or earth glide speed Skills: Acrobatics +42*, Climb +31*, Diplomacy +24, K. Engineering, local, and nature (+21), Perception +16 (+7 on traps, +2 bonus and auto-check to find unusual stonework or metalwork), Prof Blacksmith* +34, sense motive +24, Knowledge local +23, Stealth* +24 *Can take-10 even when rushed or threatened +5 insight bonus to skills when taking 10 Misc: Can make AoOs even when flat-footed. When suffering penalties to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, or ability checks, reduce the total penalty by 2, to a minimum penalty of -1.

Oh yeah, I forgot I had that. Basically all of Velras' magic is doing forging, which is not quiet. Whoops.

My Detect magic is free as long as I spend a minute to cast it, so let's see if that detects a magic aura. If it is, I can try to sunder it, which also doesn't take any resources besides an action. The only downside is that depending on Llyarden's interpretation, it probably makes as much noise as combat does, so it might alert any residents that we're here.

Velras can't see through illusions, but he can detect magic. I'll try that first to see if I can find an illusion aura. Assuming it is, I can then sunder the illusion.

Velras cocks his head, considering the strangeness. He mutters to himself, twisting himself around, looking at the stairs. "The intense focus of light but pointillism, into this juncture bits of light surround rough, inverted sky – The heavy mirage of dots, landscape locked" After a minute, he nods his head, he takes out his hammer. "Got it. A hard blow, right about ... there, would do it. If it's an illusion, the vibrations would counter the arcano-harmonic resonance. If it isn't an illusion, I'd just look silly." Velras hefts his hammer, considering his options. Mechanics I spend 1 minute to cast Divine, looking for magic auras on the staircase. That won't let me see through the illusion, but will let me see the illusionary aura if it exists. Taking 10 on K. Arcana is a 31 on the check to identify the school (includes bonus from The Fool) Statblock and Tracker 39/57 Spell points left Martial Focus: 2/2 Active Effects: The World, Swords, The Fool, Strength, and The Emperor (Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Enhance Equipment (unarmed strike, warhammer, 7 other armors/weapons) Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Darkvision (Duration: 20 hours from opening scene, from Zella) Staunch Resistance (Will, Reflex) (Duration: 160 minutes from night-time, applies to whole party) Cast Nature's Carapace (metal) and Resist Elements (fire, enhanced) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) Nature's Sense: Earth (Tremorsense 90 feet) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) blessing of the watch, hunter's blessing (+2 on , , , , and damage rolls made against humans. +2 on checks, , , and checks in urban areas), Blacksmith Maintenances: Clarifying and Quickening Reinforcements Blacksmith maintenances (+4 reflex and will saves), and Armor Maintenance (+4 armor, reduce ACP by 4) Defenses: AC: 48, FF: 36, Touch: 23, CMD: 39 (+2 per size category larger than me attacker is, +4 vs trip and +5 vs sunder) Cold/Elec/Acid Resistance 10, Fire Resist 36 and recover 1 HP for each damage prevented Fort: +17, Ref: +22, Will: +19, (all saves roll twice and take better) HP: 240 Immunities/other: Immune to disease, poison, age. 130' move, climb (including through air, or earth glide speed Skills: Acrobatics +42*, Climb +31*, Diplomacy +24, K. Engineering, local, and nature (+21), Perception +16 (+7 on traps, +2 bonus and auto-check to find unusual stonework or metalwork), Prof Blacksmith* +34, sense motive +24, Knowledge local +23, Stealth* +24 *Can take-10 even when rushed or threatened +5 insight bonus to skills when taking 10 Misc: Can make AoOs even when flat-footed. When suffering penalties to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, or ability checks, reduce the total penalty by 2, to a minimum penalty of -1.

Saberfan: Thanks, glad you like the concept. It amused me, and equally important, I think it would be fun to play. Hmm, embraced by kindred is intriguing. Saberfan already let me just take full outsider anyways, so the feat would just grant me not needing to eat and not aging, which would help mechanically match what I'm going for. Have to figure out what I'd drop for it though.

Vance want to take first pass at lock-picking? Velras can always do the "smash the door with a hammer" method of lockpicking otherwise. I actually have a decent skill at disable device, but it's not great and I forgot to buy lock picks.

Posted something IC to try to trigger some movement.

Velras grins. "All right, let's go!" With that, he slings his hammer over one shoulder, then with the other hand and legs, simply starts walking upwards through the air. Every now and then he reaches out with a foot, as if looking for a stable spot, although all the foot ever comes down on is empty air. Nonetheless, he seems to find some purchase and continues his rapid ascent. Assuming the others will follow behind him, Velras quickly hurries to the top of the building. Mechanics Using skyspider's Touch to climb on air, I can easily auto-hit the target with taking 10, which I can do even when rushed or hurried. Statblock and Tracker 39/57 Spell points left Martial Focus: 2/2 Active Effects: The World, Swords, The Fool, Strength, and The Emperor (Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Enhance Equipment (unarmed strike, warhammer, 7 other armors/weapons) Duration: 16 hours from opening scene) Darkvision (Duration: 20 hours from opening scene, from Zella) Staunch Resistance (Will, Reflex) (Duration: 160 minutes from night-time, applies to whole party) Cast Nature's Carapace (metal) and Resist Elements (fire, enhanced) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) Nature's Sense: Earth (Tremorsense 90 feet) (duration: 260 minutes from night time) blessing of the watch, hunter's blessing (+2 on , , , , and damage rolls made against humans. +2 on checks, , , and checks in urban areas), Blacksmith Maintenances: Clarifying and Quickening Reinforcements Blacksmith maintenances (+4 reflex and will saves), and Armor Maintenance (+4 armor, reduce ACP by 4) Defenses: AC: 48, FF: 36, Touch: 23, CMD: 39 (+2 per size category larger than me attacker is, +4 vs trip and +5 vs sunder) Cold/Elec/Acid Resistance 10, Fire Resist 36 and recover 1 HP for each damage prevented Fort: +17, Ref: +22, Will: +19, (all saves roll twice and take better) HP: 240 Immunities/other: Immune to disease, poison, age. 130' move, climb (including through air, or earth glide speed Skills: Acrobatics +42*, Climb +31*, Diplomacy +24, K. Engineering, local, and nature (+21), Perception +16 (+7 on traps, +2 bonus and auto-check to find unusual stonework or metalwork), Prof Blacksmith* +34, sense motive +24, Knowledge local +23, Stealth* +24 *Can take-10 even when rushed or threatened +5 insight bonus to skills when taking 10 Misc: Can make AoOs even when flat-footed. When suffering penalties to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, or ability checks, reduce the total penalty by 2, to a minimum penalty of -1.