False Spark

[Xavion]

IC
Dice Thread
Recruiting

Player	Character	Role/Concept	Goal
Samduke	Dawn Quixote	Ranged Martial/Support	Seek vengeance for their parents killer
Benoojian	Randal Thorpe	Summoner, Wizard stuff	Given a mission by an Astral Deva.
Llyarden	Ario	Blaster, Face, Traps	Find a mythical empire of androids
TankLaser007	Bogzunlurz "Bogz" Jarnauga	Wizard/Technomancer	???
Chambers	Dola Durnan	Tank, Healer	Religious mission investigating a possible artifical spark

House Rules:

Spoiler

Show

Feat Tax stuff
Dodge has the effects of Mobility and counts as it for prerequisites.
All characters get Weapon Finesse, Power Attack, Deadly Aim, and Combat Expertise for free so long as they meet the prerequisites.
Any feat that requires Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, or both now requires either. Precise Shot no longer requires Point Blank Shot.
Improved Combat Maneuver feats are condensed into Skilled Maneuvers and Forceful Maneuvers, these have no prerequisites. The former covers Grapple, Steal, Feint, Disarm, and Dirty Trick, the latter covers Reposition, Bull Rush, Drag, Overrun, Trip, and Sunder.
Craft (Firearms) may be used in place of Craft (Weapons) as the prerequisite for Create Enhanced Firearm

Homebrew content I've just left in the discord.

[Xavion]

Ok, so Benoojian and TankLaser007 had some kind of backstory, but it was unclear on exact motivations why they're here. Can make sure wealth and everything else is all done now.

There's also the matter of how exactly to start, cause you're all from wildly different backgrounds. I've left IC fairly vague for now of just in town, maybe some of you could know each other, we could skip some setup stuff to straight to venturing towards the mountain, although I've got potential ways could have people meet up in advance if wanting to do that.

[samduke]

Dawn Quixote will speak in blue

I think it best if the party already knows each other saves some time.

@gm you should not need the dice thread we can make rolls here or ic , as needed , spoiled if needed

I am gimpped right now as a few days ago i hurt my wrist

[Chambers]

Dola will speak in Bold Brown and she's ready to go! What are some of the ideas you had for getting us all together?

[Llyarden]

Ario will speak in this sort of purple. I think he's ready to go, unless we want to do any balancing to make sure we're all more or less on par with each other.

I agree that us knowing each other beforehand would be better - failing that, at minimum, I think everyone in the party should know at least one other person in the party and trust them enough to be willing to trust their acquaintances in turn.

[Benoojian]

You can summarize Randal’s motivation for being here as “Prevent the birth of an evil God” if you like, though the Deva that sent him here may have ulterior motives. He will speak in Green

[Xavion]

I'd considered a few ideas, so there's a bunch of options available for how you could know each other. Given multiple of you are relatively recent arrivals to the area, maybe some of you met on your way here? Ario is a local too and regularly probes the mountain and surrounding areas so maybe some of you tried to recruit them as a guide. It could be as simple as you met in a tavern, hearing another talk about plans to head to the mountain.

However, for a more town specific option there's Greg's. Greg is an elderly troll scholar who lives in tower and studies the mountain, the things that come out of it, and the surrounding region. He has a fairly comprehensive private library he opens to the public and is nearly always open to a chat, and is the most knowledgable person in town on the mountain and its inhabitants so regularly gets visitors by people looking to explore the region or the mountain to try and find information on it. It's not really a hub in the same way as a tavern or a town square, as people tend to be a bit more serious while there both due to the common context of researching dangers for a potentially life threatening trek and also Greg kicks people out who cause problems.

So yeah, lots of ways you guys could know each other, could try and come up with more too, but you guys know your characters better than I do.

An example of some basic knowledge could provide, although Ario would also know, the dragons that make the mountain so dangerous for your average person are glass dragons. Not true dragons, but still quite fierce, they're named as such because the way their scales shine in the light makes them look kinda like they're made of glass. They thrive in the area because their breath attack is unusually powerful against objects and constructs, leaving them to be somewhat of a natural predator to any robots that wander out of the mountain. This is part of why robot attacks aren't too much of a problem for the region, they rarely live long enough to be a problem. However they are still a problem for adventurers because from the perspective of your average glass dragon most adventurers are basically talking bag of meats covered in shiny valuables. Exact numbers aren't known, but there's at least a dozen believed to live on the mountain. Even at your power it'd be worth being wary of them, although a lone glass dragon shouldn't be too much of a threat for you as a group it could be quite dangerous if you had to deal with one alone.

[Chambers]

Greg sounds like the kind of resource that Dola would need before heading into the mountain, so she'd go visit him after learning about him. Like other spark hunters, her interest would be in the recent rumors about the artifact. What might it look like, how heavy is it, what's it made of, etc. Beyond those specifics she'd also be interested in learning what the general conditions are like inside the mountain. She can offer either trade in kind with stories from dwarven history he might not know or promise a cut of the loot from her upcoming expedition.

[Xavion]

If you tried hinting about the spark to Greg you'd get nothing, while he's knowledgable on most things around here he hasn't heard of a spark actually existing. As a hypothetical topic he could give some theoretical information on it, but as said in the premise there's never actually been one known to exist so he wouldn't be able to give you any idea what it actually would look like. Most he could give you is that if one did theoretically exist, it could look like almost anything physically, but would likely be incredibly obvious to anything that can detect psychic energy due to the immense amount of it it'd contain, even a basic detect magic would work.

On the mountain itself, it's a mix of natural caves and caverns which can contain normal threats, wurms, bulette, wandering giants, and so on; and the more artificial caves. Tunnels and rooms made of metal, sometimes lit by technological lights, although most of them seem to be without power. They tend to be made out of rather unusual materials, most commonly found is an exotic alloy of adamantine and steel known as glaucite, an incredibly durable metal, able to take even more damage than adamantine, but easier to damage and so much heavier it's basically useless for weapons and armor. Those areas contain a few threats, some of the more natural ones that have wandered in, but also robots and aberrant trolls are relatively common. Robots would be well known as being weak to electricity, although some robots are protected against that, aberrant trolls normally are less dangerous than a normal troll, but are still potent both physically and magically. Luckily none of you are chaotic, what with trolls specialising in law magic.

He wouldn't be asking any real kind of payment, sharing information you find would be enough. He's probably wealthier than any of you anyway, he's been dealing in what comes out of that mountain for as long as anyone in town remembers.

A lot of this info could be presented IC, but I figure this is more background stuff. Basic research your characters would've done as mentioned, like how Ario would just know about glass dragons, as an android has gone near the mountain, dragons with an anti-android breath living in the area would just be a known quantity. I'm not entirely sure how much to ramble on here or what to say really, as I could ramble about the setting for a while.

Also on the note of basic background stuff which has come up and everyone would know, "trolls" aren't dnd trolls, inspired partially by discworld they're literally beings made of rocks and crystals. They're naturally lawfully aligned, are generally quite intelligent, and are sorta more like earth elementals, although distinctly not elementals mechanically or really thematically. So Greg visually is more like the grandpa troll from Frozen if you know them, although taller. Greg is also a nickname, but most people in town wouldn't know his real name anyway. They're very rare on Deimos, even a major city may only have two or three, so it's probably for most you've never met one in person before Grenhome unless you had some reason to study lawful magic. DND style trolls still exist, but they're just considered a type of giant.

[Chambers]

Neat. I'd like to post IC but I'm not sure where to start. Are you wanting us to RP meeting each other, or start all of us together in a planning meeting, or already at the foot of the mountain with our backs packed?

[Xavion]

Yeah, as I mentioned near the start, I wasn't sure exactly where we should start, or any of you wanted to start, so I left the initial IC post kinda vague. Could easily start with you all already having headed out, or just in a planning meeting. Easier to assume you've met probably, but don't have to.

[samduke]

okay well my wrist is now not swollen and I can at least type.
reading the intro 5 days travel to the mountain, dawn will be purchasing a mount and related gear

I am hoping that you will allow at cost. <566.5 gp>

Harness 2 gp 2 lbs.
Saddle, exotic military 60 gp 40 lbs.
Saddlebags 4 gp 8 lbs.
Animal feed, carnivore (10 days) 5 sp 50 lbs.
Warcat combat trained 500 gp

Warcat
N Size Large
Speed 40 ft. INIT: +6
Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
AC:17 <10 +0 ab +2 db -1 sb +6 natural armor +0 defl +0 misc
FF:15 TO:12
HP:54 HD:6d8
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Ability Scores Str 23, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +11 (+15 grapple); CMD 23 (27 vs. trip)
Saves: Fort 9 Ref 7 Will 3
Special Attacks: grab, pounce, rake (1d6)
Special Qualities: low-light vision, scent.
Attack bite +9 1d8+6
2 claws +10 1d6+6
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Perception +8, Stealth +7 (+11 in areas of tall grass), Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Stealth (+8 in tall grass)

[Xavion]

okay well my wrist is now not swollen and I can at least type.
reading the intro 5 days travel to the mountain, dawn will be purchasing a mount and related gear

I am hoping that you will allow at cost. <566.5 gp>

Bit and bridle 2 gp 1 lb. OR Harness 2 gp 2 lbs. *<-whichever is more appropriate
Saddle, exotic military 60 gp 40 lbs.
Saddlebags 4 gp 8 lbs.
Animal feed, carnivore (10 days) 5 sp 50 lbs.
Warcat combat trained 500 gp

Warcat
N Size Large
Speed 40 ft. INIT: +6
Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
AC:17 <10 +0 ab +2 db -1 sb +6 natural armor +0 defl +0 misc
FF:15 TO:12
HP:54 HD:6d8
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Ability Scores Str 23, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +11 (+15 grapple); CMD 23 (27 vs. trip)
Saves: Fort 9 Ref 7 Will 3
Special Attacks: grab, pounce, rake (1d6)
Special Qualities: low-light vision, scent.
Attack bite +9 1d8+6
2 claws +10 1d6+6
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Perception +8, Stealth +7 (+11 in areas of tall grass), Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Stealth (+8 in tall grass)

So this is like, a custom weakened warcat? Was just trying to figure it out. Why not just use the tiger stats and flavor it as another variety of big cat? Anyway, definitely not opposed to the idea of a mount, was just trying to figure out what was going on with those stats. I feel like harness more appropriate for a cat than a bit and bridle too.

[Chambers]

Yeah, as I mentioned near the start, I wasn't sure exactly where we should start, or any of you wanted to start, so I left the initial IC post kinda vague. Could easily start with you all already having headed out, or just in a planning meeting. Easier to assume you've met probably, but don't have to.

Ok. Are you going to make a decision regarding this or leave it up to us?

[samduke]

So this is like, a custom weakened warcat? Was just trying to figure it out. Why not just use the tiger stats and flavor it as another variety of big cat? Anyway, definitely not opposed to the idea of a mount, was just trying to figure out what was going on with those stats. I feel like harness more appropriate for a cat than a bit and bridle too.

actually it is the tiger almost word for word, I just added the info from the animal companion warcat
into the areas of the tiger where appropriate. the attributes are almost identical.

I will edit out the bit and keep the harness - same price

[Xavion]

actually it is the tiger almost word for word, I just added the info from the animal companion warcat
into the areas of the tiger where appropriate. the attributes are almost identical.

I will edit out the bit and keep the harness - same price

Yeah, that was part of why I was confused, it did look almost just like the tiger. I'd say just stick to tiger stats mechanically, can reflavor as a more exotic kind of big cat if you want, but it means I don't have to try and assess like "How much stronger is this than the normal tiger and what should that do to the price?", cause at a glance it looks like basically just a better tiger. Slightly buffed stats and abilities. Also if the minutiae of your mounts combat capabilities matters you're likely in big trouble.

Ok. Are you going to make a decision regarding this or leave it up to us?

Looks like people starting with just some stuff around town, so I'm good with that approach of just like first IC stuff still in town. We can still decide here if any of you previously know each other or any specific interactions, and I'm good with timeskipping a bit as soon as people feel appropriate.

[samduke]

Yeah, that was part of why I was confused, it did look almost just like the tiger. I'd say just stick to tiger stats mechanically, can reflavor as a more exotic kind of big cat if you want, but it means I don't have to try and assess like "How much stronger is this than the normal tiger and what should that do to the price?", cause at a glance it looks like basically just a better tiger. Slightly buffed stats and abilities. Also if the minutiae of your mounts combat capabilities matters you're likely in big trouble.

under PFsrd / animals-animal-gear
under Riding animals
Animal Price Price if Combat Trained
Tiger 325 gp <500 gp> so I applied combat trained as the cost
then under that listing for Tiger
Tiger
N Large animal
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8

DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +3 natural, –1 size)
hp 45 (6d8+18) **<- using the game build rules for HP this should be 48
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +3

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +10 (1d8+6 plus grab), bite +9 (2d6+6 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks pounce, rake (2 claws +10, 1d8+6)

STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +11 (+15 grapple); CMD 23 (27 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Perception +8, Stealth +7 (+11 in areas of tall grass), Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Stealth (+8 in tall grass)


now compare to * the differences are in bold

Warcat
N Size Large
Speed 40 ft.
Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
AC:17 <10 +0 ab +2 db -1 sb +6 natural armor +0 defl +0 misc
FF:15 TO:11
HP:54 HD:6d8 **<- using the game build rules for HP
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Ability Scores Str 23, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +11 (+15 grapple); CMD 23 (27 vs. trip)
Saves: Fort 9 Ref 7 Will 3
Special Attacks: grab, pounce, rake +10, 1d8+6
Special Qualities: low-light vision, scent.
Attack bite +9 1d8+6
Attack 2 claws +10 2d6+6
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Perception +8, Stealth +7 (+11 in areas of tall grass), Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Stealth (+8 in tall grass)

so the warcat is only just slightly tougher, with slightly more hp and uses most of the tigers stuff.

However if you feel that is to much then I do not have an issue with the base tiger it does everything the animal companion warcat does.

edited

[Xavion]

Sorry for vanishing for a few days, stuff happened. I'm still around and interested in this succeeding, I'll be posting on the IC thread today.

On the warcat vs tiger thing, I'll say just stick with the tiger stats yeah. The warcat isn't a huge buff but it is a strict buff so I feel like it should cost more, I don't want to work out an increased cost, and also both of them die almost immediately to like a CR 16 enemy anyway so the extra few hitpoints and AC should hopefully never matter.

[samduke]

On the warcat vs tiger thing, I'll say just stick with the tiger stats yeah. The warcat isn't a huge buff but it is a strict buff so I feel like it should cost more, I don't want to work out an increased cost, and also both of them die almost immediately to like a CR 16 enemy anyway so the extra few hitpoints and AC should hopefully never matter.

fair enough adjusted on my sheet

[samduke]

@Xavion
I regret to inform you that I am leaving this game

[Xavion]

Alright, so still occasionally having issues with the forums but it's definitely better.

In other things, Samduke left, and tanklaser never turned up so looking back at others who had made characters. I figured before I picked I'd ask here first for your thoughts.