Watchtower––Volume Three

[Barbarian MD]

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Couple of points to discuss:

1) I noticed that no one has the feat "Craft Magical Arms/Armor." I'm going to retrain Finn's feat "Practiced Spellcaster." This will result in a CL drop from 12 to 10, but I think it will be completely worth it to the group as a whole. [Stycotl, with Finn having this feat, any way we can gimmick some ritual magic that would allow the transfer of a magical enhancement from one weapon to another, or one piece of armor to another?]

On that note: I'm now taking requests OOC. It will take a little bit of time before this happens IC.

2) If anyone can condense War Weaver into a copyright-legal form, I would appreciate being able to peruse it. If I remember correctly, it's largely the formatting and specific wording of the documents that are copyrighted, and simply posting the requirements and a listing of what abilities come at which levels (sort of like the website-that-must-not-be-named-on-these-boards does) is okay. Once I can take a look at it, I'll look into homebrewing a divine version. Right now I've swapped out my LA for 2 more levels of Church Court Inquisitor, but if War Weaver advances spellcasting either at 1st or 2nd level, I could instead take Divine War Weaver 1-2.

3) Skill points: does anyone have ranks in craft (armor) or craft (weapon)? If no one does, Kyrill will be taking ranks, but since we can now share craft skills, I'll go for something else if someone already has them. If someone wants to go in with me on this, I could max out one and you could max out the other. Stycotl, crafting takes forever according to RAW. Any houserules regarding makings weapons/armor?

Kyrill:
History 3
Nature 9
Planes 3

Finn:
Arcana 4
Planes 4
Religion 8

Starry-Eyes:
Arcana 10
Architecture 2
Dungeoneering 14
Geography 2
History 2
Nature 5
Religion 1

Oldqua:
Arcana 4
History 4
Planes 11
Religion 15

Levi:
Architecture 2
History 4
Local 1
Psionics 1
Planes 3

Justice:
Arcana 15
Architecture 5
Dungeoneering 10
Geography 1
History 1
Local 1
Nature 15
Nobility/Royalty 1
Planes 15
Psionics 15
Religion 15

Hans
Arcana 5
History 3
Planes 3

Kuru ?

BEST
Arcana 15
Architecture 5
Dungeoneering 14
Geography 2
History 4
Local 1
Nature 15
Nobility/Royalty 1
Planes 15
Psionics 15
Religion 15

4) Stycotl, Relentless Dispelling is a Lesser Invocation, but is limited by a dispel check of 10 (like Dispel Magic). Any chance I could retrain it with a Lesser Invocation that loses the "relentless" part of the invocation, in exchange for the limit to increase to 20 (like Greater Dispel Magic)?

5) Kyrill's raging sheet is now updated. I'll be taking this previously discussed feat: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143091. It came down to this vs. improved grapple, since he seems to find himself in the same situation over and over again, but it'll just have to wait.

6) I have no idea what the following items do:
power stone - personality parasite
power stone - time hop
instruments of the blood gift
psicrown of the evader
psicrown of the dominator
Could someone enlighten me?

Oh, Bone Ring looks promising. Rod of Metamagic Extension, too.


7) Stycotl, can we sell these items somehow? "Trade them" with Celestial bureaucrats?

Finn listens, enraptured, as Starry-Eyes talks through the night. At first he is quite excited to discuss the ramifications of a more permanent sign, but as she speaks of dying, he becomes horrified. It is only as daylight begins to dawn on the Eastern horizon that he is finally won over, and gives tentative support for her plan. Yet it still makes him uneasy to think over, and he loses himself in his breakfast in an attempt to stop thinking of it.

Later in the day, as Kyrill changes form to inspect the weapons, he has a thought, and broaches the subject with the werebear. "Sir, it occurs to me that you spend a lot of energy lugging around your armor, and I see a potentially fatal flaw. What happens should we need to fight in an antimagic field? You would shrink down to the size of a man, and yet your armor would not. But I have an idea: refit your armor, resize it to your birth-form, and I might be able to enchant it to grow with you. Then, if we fought in an antimagic field, your armor would return to its non-magical size, and still be useful to you, rather than a trap of steel.

"Granted, I've never before enchanted armor before, but it doesn't look too hard--I'm beginning to see the patterns of flow in these items."

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Basically, I'm going to upgrade Kyrill to 16+2 ranks in Craft (Armor), to give him a 19 points (counting ability modifier). The craft check on his armor would be DC 23, which would be easy enough to hit with an aid another. He could even voluntarily increase the DC to 33, use a masterwork item, aid another, and take 10 each time.

10,500 gp = 105,000 sp
DC 33 x 33 check = 1089 = 97 days... (barring a house rule--oh please let there be a houserule).

Anyway, aside from the very silly crafting rules, he could craft it using the mithral from his large full plate to create a medium-sized full plate. Then Finn could hit it with the re-sizing armor enhancement. And this way Kyrill won't die as quickly in an antimagic field.

...

Kyrill studies the list of items carefully, and then plucks the Torc of Heroic Sacrifice from the pile, clasping it around his neck without a word.

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Don't think anyone will mind Kyrill taking damage in your place. Yay for having almost half as many hit points as a Tarrasque!

Studying the list further, he addresses Lemion. "Sir, it strikes me that we have no use for many of these items. Would it be possible to requisition other items from Celestia by convincing the bureaucrats to trade for these?"

[Barbarian MD]

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I don't know if anyone has calculated the value of these items yet, but I just did. Holy crap.

Not counting the potions and a few items that I couldn't quickly figure out prices for

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orb of frost (radiate aura of cold: 2d6+4 cold at 10' radius; swift act (de)activate; CL 12); greatsword of wand of disintegration-23; instruments of the blood gift (MIC); greater tentacle rod) w/ greater crystal of return (MIC)

the total value of the items before us amounts to...


818,663 gp

Sell all of that for half value, then divide by 8 characters, and that amounts to a little over 50,000 gp each.

If Kyrill could count that high, he'd pee his pants.

[Stycotl]

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That wall of text (spread across two or three posts) was larger than usual, even by your standards!

pooh, pooh.

I should point out that the harpoon is medium sized, which is a HUGE penalty for Kyrill to use. Anyone that can make use of it, have it it; he just picked it up at the time because we were going after Shet and I wanted him to have about twenty weapons on him.

'course, it'll shift size with you when you grow during a rage, but that still leaves it one size too small at the moment.

Now if only I knew what half those items did...

unfortunately, this is where i have to open up my magic item compendium and have lemion start describing them all. tedious work. anyone else that has a magic item compendium is more than welcome to help out, IC of course. either say that they have seen a similar kind of magic item before, or simply recognize and understand what the enchantments would do, or that they caught a mental glimpse of it through lemion's thoughts, etc.

all of you, feel free to start persuading the team leaders––in character (though ooc explanations are fine along with the IC banter)––that the item you really want would be good for the teams in yours hands because of [______].

Minor question: Stycotl, is Kyrill's magic item (reward from a while back) somewhere in that pile, or is that coming later in the future?

it'll be in there. i just have to finish it first.

Ah... "greatsword of wand of disintegration-23"? Is that a regular Greatsword that also functions as a Wand of Disintegration?

you've never heard of that artifact? major artifact of the typo gods. now i have to go through my notes and see if i can remember what the hell i was supposed to be writing there...

The Rod of Metamagic Extension - is that a Metamagic Rod of Extend spell?

yes.

Also... what was the questionable morals of the word in question that the Dagger of Denial didn't fall under the same category?

the dagger isn't an artifact; the greatsword is sufficiently powerful that the council wanted to oversee its destruction personally. lemion gets to choose what happens to the dagger. it's still in the pile because i am working on some sort of mechanic for reenchanting items (in this case specifically stripping it of its tie to vecna and its evil personality; though i haven't actually finalized the rules for it yet.

I do think Teleporting the giant beastie on top of his buddies was particularly inspired, and if I have my way Hans will continue to be as bad-ass as I can possibly make him. I accept this bad-assery and will bad ass more in the future, this I vow!

cool.

your badass level will be on level 1; so you'd end up with something like this:

1: BADASS Doppelganger RHD//Chaos Mage 1
2: Doppelganger RHD//Chaos Mage 2

or something like that. if you ever get anyother badass level, it'll apply to level 2, and so on.

remember that if none of the badass feats sound appealing to you, you can always homebrew more, and i'll pass them off if they aren't over/underpowered.

I also agree, strangling an abomination with ghostly possession, if only for one round, and riding around inside it as a means of playing the Spotter is suitably bad-ass for our Old' Ghostie.

EVERYONE: i need to know ASAP whether oldqua gets the badass level so that jack can update the character. so far, it is unanimous; is there anyone that thinks that oldqua's stunt wasn't badass? if you truly don't feel that it was, don't be afraid to speak up. that'll just force us to aim for a higher mark.

i want your votes on this finished in two days so we can lay it to rest.

Erfel was a war weaving Bard and routinely hit the War-Weaved Network with Cure spells on everyone. A war weaving cleric would be any worse how?

i forgot about that fact. no, that never bothered me when erfel used the weave for healing spells. i was jsut reading up on the prc and responded to the variant suggestions, and their concern that healing spells would be overpowered.

so, healing spells will function under the same rules as anything else, if we end up with war weaver abilities in the teams.

I have a Feat request for Levi's 13th level feat:
Professional Luddite [Skill]

hmmm. a skill feat, and i think i've already ok'ed a few of those. i'm concerned about the abilities at 14 ranks and 19 ranks. i'd allow it with these changes: if the effect is permanent for either of the abilities (area effect or magic item), then it only suppresses it for 1d4 rounds; if it is not permanent (a weapon enspelled with magic weapon or something similar), then it is dispelled. or maybe i'll allow the actual unmagicification of an item or permanent effect, but at +10 DC or something, and you can choose to just suppress it instead if you want, even if you roll that high.

does that sound fair to you guys?

Investigator

that one would be ok as is.

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for the rest of you, certain f&k feats are allowable (though i haven't made a list of which are and which aren't, partially because it depends on the character). so if you really want one, run it by me.

For Hans at level 13 I'd like to pick up a PrC that might be a little... not good aligned (as well as move his levels around a bit to get full casting on one side, the end result is in the next spoiler). The Bloodcarver lets you bleed in exchange for a bonus to Chaos Weaving checks. Hans could get up to a +8 bonus on weaving checks for 8 damage that can't be healed by magic (though fast healing applies).

that would work.

Either that, or not taking level 13 and instead using it to burn 2 levels worth of level adjustment (50%+50%?), if you'd be willing to allow that. Not take Bloodcarver but still get all Chaos Mage on one side and pick up that second level of Survivor.

yes, you can buy off as much LA as you have XP to spend. just remember, if you go in the hole (less xp than you need to be at the level you are at), you won't go any lowert than 12th level, but have to catch back up before you can start shooting for 13 again.

Man, that's a big list of items.

yeah, i had to make up for the fact that you guys didn't really get anything on highpoint. plus, you all fought off an almost company-sized enemy unit, so there was a lot of loot used against you that the survivors get to enjoy.

Any chance this would make the harpoon large sized?

hmm. i know that enlarge person/expansion change weapon size. i don't know about a were's alternate form though.

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Is there a rules-legal way to do that, or could we get a houserule/homebrew solution, Stycotl?

i've never seen any system already in place for that kind of stuff. but i don't think it would be too hard to come up with one. i've been tinkering with similar ideas already, so this can just be added to the list.

As for changing weapons... as written, Dispel Magic makes something nonmagical for a few rounds. Polymorph Any Object lets you change one object into another. So in theory, you could dispel it, change it to your weapon of choice, and then let the dispel expire.

you guys familiar with the incantations of unearthed arcana? this is what i've been thinking of using in order to cannibalize magic items, etc; and when i do, i might just make dispel magic and polymorph any object part of the ritual. plus, lemion has artificer levels...

Of course, that requires an 8th level spell....

you guys are almost there.

Oh yes, as for the substitution level: Nobody's said no, but everyone's chimed in with a 'yes'. Where does that put me?

if we're not missing anyone's vote, then you're golden.

lessee: yays: josh, jack, gnorman, tacitus, mhvaughan

nays: ?

not voted: vorpal, have you voted? i think you are the only one that i can't find.

I've managed to read everything, understand very little, and arrive at a point of curious confusion.

what are you confused about? let me know and i'll clarify what i need to (i'll readily admit to be unintelligible pretty darn near all of the time).

Oldqua = Badass, 1 in 20 wins, 19 in 20 we all die. Sounds pretty Badass.

well, not everyone. but i was shooting to make it a lethal enough encounter that 1-2 PCs could/would/should die. oldqua's victory over the rukanyr champ kept it from constricting the crap out of you guys for a decent amount of time. and as much as i love kyrill, he was the number one target there.

I'm thinking about dropping all 10 bonus skill points on craft armor or weapon, but crafting takes forever, or at least, it does in games other than this one.

excepting for rare exceptions, you'll probably have enough time during the between-chapters downtime to craft at least one semi/complicated item, or at least make some really good headway on it. your mileage will very there, and i do have some very short downtimes planned, but not too many.

I imagine a lot of "aid another" could happen to speed up the process,

yes, that would help a ton. find someone with some ranks in whatever you want to craft and partner away. if no one else does, lemion has a number of craft skills. so do a bunch of the nonwatchtower NPCs that you guys will have access to.

but I wanted to ask: Stycotl, do you have any house rules about crafting?

not yet, though i might in the future.

Notice
Have polished up draft for the rewrite of the Green Star Adept here.

Suggestions/critiques welcome.

looking it over now.

Starry-Eyes no longer needs to sleep, most people do. So adventuring or not, that's an extra 8 hours per day for working on stuffs (unless you're an Arcane caster).

i don't think i've actually ever seen that RAW, but if it isn't, it should be.

Also, I can never remember where to find it, but isn't there a section on improving magic items, that would let you build a +1 Sign for the normal cost & time, then upgrade it to +2 for the difference in cost (and time) between a +1 Sign and a +2 Sign, and then upgrade it again for the difference in cost&time between a +3 Sign and a +2 sign?

i am not sure. but that is something that i have allowed before (and have done before myself in other campaigns).

Well... I guess I'll write in the boost level, then. Hmm... if I put it at 1st, which the original instructions seem to suggest, do I get the *4 skill point boost for first level? Quite useful, that.... I think I'll go with the recovery ability... just because I hate rolling 1's on saves.

yes, you get it *4 at 1st level. remember though that the 10+int mod replaces whatever your old skill point mod was for that level.

Oh, and a question:
If I roll a natural 1, then negate the nat-1 with a luckblade or other 'normal' reroll mechanism, do I still get a CMA point for it?

i ruled a no on that earlier, but i haven't actually PMed the creator about it, so i don't know what his intent was. you are more than welcome to if you want.

Lemion nods in Levi's direction, his face wrinkled into a smile, I thought you might want to work the traps, Levi. Your efforts in that simulation were actually pretty decent. It was set up to be a little more uncontrollable than is normal in real life though, so I hadn't expected you guys to make it through that one unscathed.

Congratulations on your new responsibility, Starry-Eyes.

That reminds me, Kyrill. Your promotion came through as of this morning. Once you were named as second team's leader, you were put on the papers for a raise in paygrade. You are now a first sword.

The gnome chuckles as the chaos mage gives himself a lump with the spiked chain.
Careful, lad. Those things pack quite a nasty bite.

Kyrill cycles through his forms for a moment, picking up the harpoon as he does so. When he takes his large warform again, harpoon in hand, it has grown considerably along with him.

Kuru watches him closely, more curious as to what the others intend to do with the treasure than interested in it for its own sake.

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haven't checked posts since yesterday, but will update probably tomorrow morning. i'm posting this incomplete one now though so you don't have to wait any longer.

[Barbarian MD]

Kyrill is somewhat surprised to see the harpoon grow in size when he does.

"Lemion, how exactly does this weapon work?" He listens quietly to the answer, raising his eyebrows when he learns that the strength of the user is imparted to the weapon. He turns to the others: "I'm not very good at throwing things, but it seems that I could stab something at close range instead. This weapon was infuriating when it was inside of me."

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Quick Draw is sounding better and better. Any chance Kyrill could stab something with this, draw his sword, and then continue a full attack action? Or I suppose he could charge an enemy, stab it with the spear, and then quickdraw/full attack on his next turn. Either way, this thing would be a beast bolstered by a +23 strength.

Does anyone else want this? I could see it being really useful in the hands of someone who could throw it, conceivably more useful, in fact. It could be used to pin down a caster, causing them difficulty while casting, from afar, or in the case of our last encounter, someone could have pinned the winged caster with it before she could escape/teleport all over causing trouble.

Kyrill is humbled by the promotion, though not as much as the responsibility he had already received with Squad Two. "Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint you."

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I got my hands on a very simple (and therefore legal) version of War Weaver (thanks!). I'll definitely use this, and retrain a smidge. Stycotl, what was the feat that Douglas used to incorporate the weave into the network?

The Divine War Weaver would be basically the same:
Pre-reqs: craft (weaving) 6, knowledge (religion) 6
Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells

BAB 3/4, Good Will, HD d4, Skills Int+2
1) Eldritch Tapestry
2-5) Quiescent Weaving 1-4
5b) Enlarged Tapestry

This will be the new progression, unless you object, buying off 2 LA:
1) Warlock 1//LA
2) Warlock 2//LA
3) Warlock 3//Cleric 1
4) Warlock 4//Cleric 2
5) Warlock 5//Cleric 3
6) Eldritch Disciple 1//Cleric 4
7) Warlock 6//Church Inquisitor 1
8) Eldritch Disciple 2//War Weaver 1
9) Warlock 7//War Weaver 2
10) Warlock 8//War Weaver 3
11) Eldritch Disciple 3//Fax Paladin 1
12) Eldritch Disciple 4//Fax Paladin 2

So it'd be cutting out one Paladin level, replacing it with Warweaver, and then gaining two more Warweaver levels through the power of XP.

Bottom line: Warlock 12, Cleric Casting 10.

Any objections?

I don't have an empty feat slot for the tapestry-net feat, but I could certainly get it at the next level up.

[Jack_Simth]

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unfortunately, this is where i have to open up my magic item compendium and have lemion start describing them all. tedious work. anyone else that has a magic item compendium is more than welcome to help out, IC of course. either say that they have seen a similar kind of magic item before, or simply recognize and understand what the enchantments would do, or that they caught a mental glimpse of it through lemion's thoughts, etc.

Will do. And Oldqua's old enough to actually have that be practical, as well as having Lore....

all of you, feel free to start persuading the team leaders––in character (though ooc explanations are fine along with the IC banter)––that the item you really want would be good for the teams in yours hands because of [______].

Will do

you've never heard of that artifact? major artifact of the typo gods. now i have to go through my notes and see if i can remember what the hell i was supposed to be writing there...

Sorry....

the dagger isn't an artifact; the greatsword is sufficiently powerful that the council wanted to oversee its destruction personally. lemion gets to choose what happens to the dagger. it's still in the pile because i am working on some sort of mechanic for reenchanting items (in this case specifically stripping it of its tie to vecna and its evil personality; though i haven't actually finalized the rules for it yet.

Gotcha.

EVERYONE: i need to know ASAP whether oldqua gets the badass level so that jack can update the character. so far, it is unanimous; is there anyone that thinks that oldqua's stunt wasn't badass? if you truly don't feel that it was, don't be afraid to speak up. that'll just force us to aim for a higher mark.

Note: I've gone ahead and written it into my character sheet for now, but I also put it in there in such a way that it's pretty easy to remove if needed. Just for grins, I'm also respecting the max 4 skill points at level 1, even though I picked them up later. Makes for a rounder character, anyway,

you guys familiar with the incantations of unearthed arcana? this is what i've been thinking of using in order to cannibalize magic items, etc; and when i do, i might just make dispel magic and polymorph any object part of the ritual. plus, lemion has artificer levels...

Only slightly. Oooh, and Artificer? Those make NIFTY additions to parties....

you guys are almost there.

True. Highest PC is, what, 13th at the moment, for 7th level spells?

yes, that would help a ton. find someone with some ranks in whatever you want to craft and partner away. if no one else does, lemion has a number of craft skills. so do a bunch of the nonwatchtower NPCs that you guys will have access to.

... wasn't there something about a new power from the nifty party Society Mind that permits anyone in the network to operate as though they had anyone else's ranks in Craft, Knowledge, and Profession?

i don't think i've actually ever seen that RAW, but if it isn't, it should be.

... I thought I included a quote off the SRD, and linked, with the relevant portions underlined for that one... did I goof up the formatting?

i am not sure. but that is something that i have allowed before (and have done before myself in other campaigns).

Ah, found it: The section's titled Adding New Abilities:

A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions. The cost to do this is the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 sword.

... not that it matters, what with it being properly approved by the DM.

yes, you get it *4 at 1st level. remember though that the 10+int mod replaces whatever your old skill point mod was for that level.

Yep - so I go from 4*(6+Int and other bonus) skill points to 4*(10+Int and other bonus) skill points - gain of 16 skill points.

i ruled a no on that earlier, but i haven't actually PMed the creator about it, so i don't know what his intent was. you are more than welcome to if you want.

Eh, it's mostly moot at this point - a luckblade is on my 'things to get eventually' list, but I don't have one yet.

Oldqua chimes in over the net as questions are raised about what things do: "I've actually seen most of these before...

That's a powerstone - basically a mentalist's version of a scroll - of personality parasite; causes a second personality to develop in a subject for a short time... a personality that wants to hurt the subject. Doesn't have access to the body to do it, though.

That other gem is a powerstone of Time Hop - pulls someone out of time for a little while; can be used both offensively to get one opponent out of the way while you deal with another, or defensively to put someone who's in bad shape somewhere they can't be hurt and don't get worse for a little while.

Those spiked chains are rather nasty... they soak up the blood of the injured, and use that power to hurt the current target a bit more .... and they can knock people around a bit more than most weapons do. Oh yes, and they have a rather caustic acid. The skull plaque is a defensive item when fighting undead - doesn't do much, really, but eh, makes them slightly less likely to hit you.

The Torc of Heroic Sacrifice lets you take a blow for another, once per day.

The instruments of the Blood Gift... that's a set of items, actually, which let a Sorcerer burn his own blood for various effects a few times per day.

The Rod of Enervating Strike is... well, an infinite wand of healing for me, of low value for anyone else. Basically adds a little Inflict Light Wounds spell on a slightly magical mace. And I heal reasonably quickly anyway, so it's not all that grand, even for me. Although... the type of damage it does kinda skips the problem I have with hitting people on the material realm... hmm... mind if I keep that one?

The Dagger of Denial... we'll probably want that one in storage, for now... it's an unholy intelligence that Worship's Vecna, can detect magic at will, and can dispel things once a day reasonably reliably. Might be useful if we can redeem it, but otherwise... no. But then, I suppose even if we can't, we *might* be able to threaten it with destruction to do our bidding, what with it being intelligent. Who's best at laying threats?

The Tentacle Rod is a strange device, in that it attacks on it's own, as long as it's held. It'll sometimes exhaust people, too. Handy if you're not much of a fighter, as it fights reasonably well.

The Ankh of Ascention lets you burn one Prayer to make another have a bit more oomph. Only works three times a day, though. Still, it's very useful for those prayers that last a long time, once invoked. I could use that one, I think....

The Belt of Mighty Blows lets you hit harder a couple of times per day.

The Bone Ring gives you a small measure of protection against some of the nastier attacks undead can bring to bear.

The Greater Boots of the Mountain King let you ignore most rubble, charge up and down slopes, and can wrap you in a protective layer of stone occasionally.

The Crystal Mask of Discernment gives a person a bit of extra insight into what another is intending, making you a bit harder to fool.

The Psicrowns... are basically a mentalist's version of a Staff. Each has a few powers it 'knows', and some mental strength to use with them.

The pair of The Fist gauntlets are actually two independent items - spiked, adamantine gauntlets that make you immune to having your armor magically altered in temperature, and gives you the option of expending a little magic to make them hit a bit harder.

There's more I recognize... but I think I've gotten a bit carried away... is there any specific item anyone's curious about?"

[Barbarian MD]

Kyrill wanders over to the dagger. "This thing is... intelligent? Do you mean to say someone's soul is... trapped inside?"

The barbarian is clearly uncertain, holding it carefully between two outstretched claws and looking questioningly at Oldqua.

"You want me to... scare this dagger into behaving, is that it?" He turns his attention back to the dagger. [color="#663300]"Listen, you, dagger, thing: I've got a blade that will slice you in half quite easily. Can you see me somehow? If you can, you should be able to see what I may be capable of. You better behave for us, or I'll destroy you into really tiny...pieces. Here, I'll show you."[/color]

He draws his blade and slices a tree in half with barely any effort. He then hands the dagger over, hoping he's made his point and that someone else can take it from here.

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Kyrill's from a VERY low magic world. Intelligent items are a totally foreign concept.

Intimidate: (d20)[11]+39
that's right: +39. He talks with his muscles, not his astounding oratorical abilities. : )

[Jack_Simth]

Oldqua shrugs, and replies across the mental link "It's not expected to be someone's trapped soul - sometimes, when making a magical item, the item develops a sentience of it's own. This is one such... very old; the four originals were gifts from Vecna to keep his priests in line. It's sentient, evil, can see and hear you, can talk to you if it wants... including directly into your head... can detect magic whenever it wants, and can disrupt magic about once a day. It's got some other things it can do if you establish a particular type of Divine connection to it... but yeah. It's smart, it's evil, and it'll be out to hurt you if given the chance. Still, most Evil things are inherently a bit selfish, so threats against it have a chance of working... but it's going to betray you as soon as it can. Best leave it alone, though, as it fights back."

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Oh yes, and that thing has a serious weight of evil about it - it's Unholy, so as a good-aligned character, you gain one negative level for wielding it... and with an Ego score of 26, you gain two negative levels for picking it up. And with an Ego score of 26, it can force you to make a Will save (DC = Ego score = 26) or force you to give it a concession whenever you do something the item doesn't agree with ... and the list includes a lot of things. Oh yes, and it's 'once per day, or when a critical situation comes up'. So if you want to try wielding it in battle, you soak three negative levels, and THEN make a Will save. But you might be able to intimidate it into doing what you want, regardless.... although as it's treated as a Construct, it might be immune to it as a fear effect... I'd have to check....

[Barbarian MD]

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Don't worry about me: I want nothing to do with it. I just figured I'd see what happened.

[josh13905]

Xavier's hands dart with blurring speed into the pile retrieving the gloves. He slips off his own battle-scarred gloves, and flexes his deadly hands, "While I have gloves like these mine have been marred, by time, and do not work quite as well, while the difference may be hardly noticed by others, it may just be the last grain of sand that completes the mountain." He continues to peruse the items eyes examining each slowly, with concealed interest.

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Thanks for the support Stycotl, but I think I'm ok now.

Gloves of Dex +4 are slightly better than my current +2 version...
Ring of Force Shield just adds to Xavier's already high, invisible barriers of AC, but I don't really need it, it would just help.

Lastly the Orb of Frost; Xavier has a way to gain Cold Resistance 10, and if this reduces any damage he can fire off a ray of fire for 2d6 damage next round also as a swift.

The problem I see is its just too many actions, and 2d6+4.

But just wondering can you take items with you into the ethereal plane, and then drop them off having them materialize in the other plane? Perhaps inside a creature?

[Barbarian MD]

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The only things I'm interested in are the metamagic rod for Finn, the bone ring, and the boots for Kyrill. If it's possible, I'd like to transfer the magic from the great axe to my fullblade, and the harpoon might be useful. Now, I'm not saying I want all those things--I'm just saying those are the things that my characters would find useful. More than any of that I'd like about 5000gp to work with on Kyrill's armor.

Does anyone else even USE weapons? Levi has a crossbow. Hans, Starry, Finn, Justice are casters. Kuru doesn't use weapons. Xavier is unarmed. Oldqua uses weapons, too. So, am I correct in thinking Kyrill, Oldqua, and Levi would be the only ones interested in these things?

"Leave your old gloves out--someone else will benefit from them. I'll take them if no one else will."

Finn address Levi and Lemion. "Tell me about this Erfel. He was casting spells through the net? How did that work? That sounds like something I'd like to learn.

[Jack_Simth]

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Oldqua's a caster, first and foremost; sure, he's got full Martial proficiency, but he's 3 points shy of full BAB, doesn't have Power Attack, has a low strength (10, although for most purposes it's a strength of "-"), and has problems when trying to get usable weapons in melee (needs Ghost Touch). Plus he's usually got better things to do - buff spells, or telekinetic grappling. The Negative Energy Rod is good (as positive/negative energy bypass incorporeality), the Gloves of Dex are good, the Rod of Extend Spell is good, the Ankh of Ascention is useful (especially in combo with the Rod of Extend Spell - +4 Morale to saves for the entire party (well, except for those immune to mind-affecting stuff) for five hours using two 3rd level spells? Most people would consider that fairly good... although this party's saves are pretty high already)

Oldqua considers, and says across the network "Well, that Ankh of Ascention would be rather useful for me - I've got a number of prayers that can guard the entire squad fairly effectively against magic, and that would make the prayers last longer, be harder to remove, and more effective. I could also make use of the Rod of Enervating Strike... it has the ability to hit things more effectively than most melee weapons I can wield... not that I'm in melee much ... and has the added benefit of being able to speed my own healing if we're in a hurry. The Rod of Metamagic Extension is likewise useful; I have a few prayers that last all day, and that would make them last two... which means I could apply them to someone else, as well as myself. But I will abide; I understand it's up to the squad leaders to divy things up, after all."

[Stycotl]

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Oldqua then looks back to Justice, and relays across the mental link "Yes, quite nice... pity it'll be gone by tomorrow. You chiseled that statue earlier.... do you think there's a big enough block of stone or metal around here to make one of these things that'll last until I wear it out? As we're not normally going to be working directly with each other, it'd be handy to have. I'm not sure how to transport it normally, though... hmm...."

actually, the two teams won't split up very often. most of that is simplys so that half of the players don't sit out, bored out of their mind for weeks, while we try to catch one group up to the other.

occasionally it will happen though (i think it has once so far).

[Stycotl, with Finn having this feat, any way we can gimmick some ritual magic that would allow the transfer of a magical enhancement from one weapon to another, or one piece of armor to another?]

yeah, i'll work on getting that ritual written up when i can. until then, assume that there is one and rp as if preparing for it. i'll have lemion make sure you guys can do it.

Stycotl, crafting takes forever according to RAW. Any houserules regarding makings weapons/armor?

nope. except planes with mutable time properties. that is all i can think of at the moment.

i suppose that i have used another ritual (i once played a character that focused on ritual incantations; it was loads of fun and allowed me to brainstorm all kinds of things like this) that made so you didn't have to actually forge the metal and carve the wood and stuff; the ritual itself would pick up the raw materials and craft them according to your directions.

it was expensive, and adding a time-cheating factor would up the price and the DC, but that would be cool.

Kuru ?

BEST
Arcana 15
Architecture 5
Dungeoneering 14
Geography 2
History 4
Local 1
Nature 15
Nobility/Royalty 1
Planes 15
Psionics 15
Religion 15

kuru has:

know (history) 13 ranks
know (planes) 10 ranks
know (religion) 10 ranks

no craft or profession skills.

so he only benefits the group with history unless we're split up.

4) Stycotl, Relentless Dispelling is a Lesser Invocation, but is limited by a dispel check of 10 (like Dispel Magic). Any chance I could retrain it with a Lesser Invocation that loses the "relentless" part of the invocation, in exchange for the limit to increase to 20 (like Greater Dispel Magic)?

not for a lesser invocation. however, there are other options. we could see about getting fin some items/spells/etc that raise his dispel modifier; you could trade out one of your greater invocations for whatever that one is that functions as greater dispel; you guys can suggest others too if you have ideas.

i seem to recall that boosting dispel checks is actually pretty easy.

7) Stycotl, can we sell these items somehow? "Trade them" with Celestial bureaucrats?

definitely. the citadel is pretty well stocked, and always looking to increase its loot––i mean, its equipment.

Finn listens, enraptured, as Starry-Eyes talks through the night. At first he is quite excited to discuss the ramifications of a more permanent sign, but as she speaks of dying, he becomes horrified. It is only as daylight begins to dawn on the Eastern horizon that he is finally won over, and gives tentative support for her plan. Yet it still makes him uneasy to think over, and he loses himself in his breakfast in an attempt to stop thinking of it.

for a second i thought it said you lost your breakfast.

Basically, I'm going to upgrade Kyrill to 16+2 ranks in Craft (Armor), to give him a 19 points (counting ability modifier). The craft check on his armor would be DC 23, which would be easy enough to hit with an aid another. He could even voluntarily increase the DC to 33, use a masterwork item, aid another, and take 10 each time.

the image of fin working at a forge with a tiny tack hammer just came to my head and made me smile.

10,500 gp = 105,000 sp
DC 33 x 33 check = 1089 = 97 days... (barring a house rule--oh please let there be a houserule).

Anyway, aside from the very silly crafting rules, he could craft it using the mithral from his large full plate to create a medium-sized full plate. Then Finn could hit it with the re-sizing armor enhancement. And this way Kyrill won't die as quickly in an antimagic field.

depending on the kind of armor, that doesn't seem all that ridiculous to me. some of the ornate plate mails took forever to make.

however, i'd be willing to ok a ritual that could cut the time by quite a bit. it would be pricey though.

also, i was just thinking that the more skill ranks you have in the related craft skill, the quicker you could do the same job that a lesser craftsman would require. i have no clue how to work that into the mechanics, but it's an idea you could play with.

Quick Draw is sounding better and better. Any chance Kyrill could stab something with this, draw his sword, and then continue a full attack action? Or I suppose he could charge an enemy, stab it with the spear, and then quickdraw/full attack on his next turn. Either way, this thing would be a beast bolstered by a +23 strength.

yeah, that works with quickdraw. and yes, it would be potent in kyrill's paws. there's even that throw-on-the-charge feat that might be kind cool, although somewhat niche...

Does anyone else want this? I could see it being really useful in the hands of someone who could throw it, conceivably more useful, in fact. It could be used to pin down a caster, causing them difficulty while casting, from afar, or in the case of our last encounter, someone could have pinned the winged caster with it before she could escape/teleport all over causing trouble.

you might be the best person to use it, unless oldqua's gonna telekinetically hurl it around.

Stycotl, what was the feat that Douglas used to incorporate the weave into the network?

i don't remember one for the weave, though my memory is pretty short. but he did have one for bardic synergy that i do remember.

Telepathic Inspiration
Prerequisite: Inspire Courage +2 class feature, 12 ranks in a single Perform skill
Benefit: You can use your bardic music and similar abilities through telepathy. Doing so replaces the normal range of the ability with the range of the telepathy you are using, and allows you to use such abilities without making noise. As the sounds you can imagine and send over the telepathic link are not limited by the physical capabilities of your voice, you can gain the effects of one masterwork musical instrument of your choice (see Complete Adventurer pages 124-127) when using this feat regardless of whether you actually have or are using such an instrument, though you must have 12 ranks in the chosen instrument's associated Perform skill. Limits on the number of targets of each ability still apply. This feat does not grant the telepathic ability required to use it.

The Divine War Weaver would be basically the same:
Pre-reqs: craft (weaving) 6, knowledge (religion) 6
Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells

BAB 3/4, Good Will, HD d4, Skills Int+2
1) Eldritch Tapestry
2-5) Quiescent Weaving 1-4
5b) Enlarged Tapestry

This will be the new progression, unless you object, buying off 2 LA:
1) Warlock 1//LA
2) Warlock 2//LA
3) Warlock 3//Cleric 1
4) Warlock 4//Cleric 2
5) Warlock 5//Cleric 3
6) Eldritch Disciple 1//Cleric 4
7) Warlock 6//Church Inquisitor 1
8) Eldritch Disciple 2//War Weaver 1
9) Warlock 7//War Weaver 2
10) Warlock 8//War Weaver 3
11) Eldritch Disciple 3//Fax Paladin 1
12) Eldritch Disciple 4//Fax Paladin 2

So it'd be cutting out one Paladin level, replacing it with Warweaver, and then gaining two more Warweaver levels through the power of XP.

Bottom line: Warlock 12, Cleric Casting 10.

Any objections?

that works.

I don't have an empty feat slot for the tapestry-net feat, but I could certainly get it at the next level up.

if erfel did have a feat like that, then definitely get it going. if not, then make it!

Only slightly. Oooh, and Artificer? Those make NIFTY additions to parties....

yeah, but lemion won't be with you guys on missions very often. he's "in the rear with the gear," as we say in the usmc. 'course, that's a decent place for an artificer to be.

True. Highest PC is, what, 13th at the moment, for 7th level spells?

yep. sometimes i think i should have started you gys out at 5th level or so, to save me the pre-epic headaches for a little longer.

... wasn't there something about a new power from the nifty party Society Mind that permits anyone in the network to operate as though they had anyone else's ranks in Craft, Knowledge, and Profession?

yes, there is. it's gonna take me a little bit of time to get used to that though, so feel free to keep reminding me.

Ah, found it: The section's titled Adding New Abilities:

good, good, good. less that i have to homebrew.

But just wondering can you take items with you into the ethereal plane, and then drop them off having them materialize in the other plane? Perhaps inside a creature?

not as far as i have ever seen. if you take it to the ethereal and leave it, it stays.

Kuru doesn't use weapons.

wrong! kuru is a weapon. he actually has to have a concealed carry permit on him at all times. it would be open carry, but his dazzling aura makes so people can't actually see him. thus, he's hidden. i think that's badass enough for an awarded badass level or two.

The instruments of the Blood Gift... that's a set of items, actually, which let a Sorcerer burn his own blood for various effects a few times per day.

just dawned on me that this would be somewhat thematically appropriate for hans on his new career track. the choker and barbs would have to be tweaked so that they would be useful to a chaos mage, but i'd be ok with that if he wants them.

RETCON

Kurukshetra listens to Xavier's talk about meditation, I know it works, and I do have some time nowadays, especially during our training periods, to devote to it. More than I used to outside of the Watchtower actually. I just need someone that can show me what I haven't learned yet.

The dragon regards him hesitantly, wondering if Xavier does not wish to teach meditation. The idea seems strange to Kuru, but he figures that humanoids are strange creatures anyway, and this wouldn't overly upset him.

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just as a hint, kuru isn't a pure psionicist. he has more monk levels than manifester levels.

The dragon continues to listen as Fin and Starry-Eyes discuss the Cerulean Sign and her transformation. He too seems concerned about the need to die in order to undergo the ritual. It seems risky to him, but she is the master of her fate, and Kuru values freedom over protecting people from ideas that seem strange to his youthfully narrow perspective.

He'll just have to help make sure that nothing goes wrong when it is time.

LATER

Kuru regards Justice's shining armor with satisfaction, enjoying the way the metal gleams in the light––almost as magnificent as his own dragon scales. He doesn't mean to be superior about it, but doesn't even think to hide from the network that his natural armor is among the most beautiful things in the multiverse in his own eyes.

When Justice mentions that he does not yet have a noncombat role specified, he pads over to the warforged, working a kink out of his right shoulder. He laughs when the sculpture forms out of the ether, particularly approving of the heading. I don't have a secondary role either at the moment. I think my specialty will be easier to pinpoint as I grow up.

You though, it seems like you'd be perfect for general utility. You and Hans both seem to be capable of conjuring anything you want.

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team leaders, anyone that you can't come up with a secondary role for, just put "support" or something similar. justice and kuru can be jock straps until we all dream up a title more creative than that.

either way, let's get all of that decided and done with.

When Oldqua launches the psi-crafted pry bar-spear at the old granite, it hits hard enough to blast the whole slab into powder and rubble. The weapon sags a bit before coming to rest lodged in the ground at an angle.

Lemion turns his attention to Kyrill, Certainly, the Citadel will trade as much of this stuff from us as we wish to give them. They even have an impressive armory that you can peruse if we decide not to exchange for an increase to the budget.

And as for how the harpoon works, I know little about how to actually use it. That would take practice. But I do know that it will jerk a large tree clear off of its roots. But I suppose that you know that too.

Kurukshetra seems thoroughly creeped out by the idea of a personality parasite, even more bothered by sentient, malicious artifacts, and also bewildered that Oldqua knows so much about all of this magic.

Lemion too is impressed with the ghost's examination. "Well, maybe I should go on a vacation..."

The gnome frowns when Kyrill chops the tree down, Calm down, Kyrill. We only have a few of those on the demiplane––very few indeed after the balor's attack––and I'd like to keep the rest of them. Any of you know how to mend a tree?

Kuru forgets about the evil weapons and personality parasites as he sees Kyrill standing over a fallen tree, and cracks up laughing.

Intimidate the dagger, or entertain it. I'm not certain which one was your goal there, team leader.

Then the dragon is looking at Celestica, She gets my share; I have no need for any of it, though she will likely see more battles while serving with the Citadel and could use some of this. And she fought as hard as any of us in that hall.

The dragon looks around challengingly, wondering if any of his team mates would begrudge the girl some of what he feels she earned.

The elf cringes at the idea of taking treasure from the Watchtower, a group of warriors that she feels unworthy of associating with. But Kuru insists, and she finally shrugs, "If there is anything left over that would be useful to me, then sure. If not, sell it and equip yourselves better."

Lemion looks to the team leaders, and it is obvious that he is going to leave it to them. He turns his attention instead to Fin's question about Erfel. Erfel, well, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how his weave works. For that reason I am going to see if I can get him to pay us a visit soon. Or my friend from Mendea. One of the two.

I don't know what he and Levi concocted together, but they were a very capable team. This is one of the biggest blessings that I have, in working with the Watchtower, is getting to know some of the most brilliant and dedicated people in the multiverse. There is a reason why you all were chosen. That includes you too, Celestica. I learn a lot from all of you.

LATER

The morning passes quickly, and as time lags on, Loraln still has yet to show up. Lemion oversees some informal lessons on the cosmology of the planes and the nature of the gods, ending with his thoughts that most of the gods seem to be tied to only a few planes of existence (some of them have broader ties than others), and if their ties were ever severed to those planes, they would lose much of their power.

They'd still be immensely powerful, most of them, but only a shadow of their normal might would be evident, as the energy of the planes that they are bound to is almost like lifeblood to them.

After a while, the gnome retreats to the fortress for a while to do some paperwork while the teams exercise in the grass and rocks outside. Someone come get me when Loraln shows up. I'll be in the cellar.

[Barbarian MD]

Kyrill looks a little embarrassed. He sheathes his sword and stomps over to the tree, picking it up and fitting it as carefully as he can to the stump. "Hit me, Finn."

Finn shrugs, and a cone of brilliant light shines forth, enveloping the tree in a blast of positive energy.

Kyrill tentatively lets go, and the top holds. Cocked at a slight tilt and backwards from the way it was before, but it holds. He breaks out into a childish grin.

He catches Lemion before he leaves: "Lemion, I've been mending my armor all my life, but I've never made anything before. Finn had a good point about antimagic fields, and I think I'd like to try to forge a suit or armor. Is there a forge on site? Are there any raw materials I can work with, like Mithral or Adamantium? We can melt down my current armor after it's done, to replace your stores, but I believe this is going to take a long time to make, and I don't want to use the metal of my armor to make a new suit, since we'll likely be deployed again before it's done."

"As well, I agree with the idea of placing Justice in a "utility" position. Does that solidify Squad Two enough for you?"



...

"I'd very much like to meet this Erfel, sir. I like the way he thinks about magic, and I believe I might be able to accomplish some of the same things, given a demonstration."

Finn meanwhile procures the help of Justice in laying the magical weapons out on the field in a row. For the next hour or so, he paces up and down, studying the individual pieces, placing a tiny hand on the metal, looking with more than his eyes at the way the magic flows from point to point. Occasionally a soft glow surrounds him as he stares at a piece, and at one point he stands between two pieces, arms stretched to each, with his eyes closed and his head back, concentrating.

After a while he returns. "I think I could create some of this!" he shouts in triumph. "And Kyrill, I think it might be possible to transfer the magic from one weapon to another!"

[Jack_Simth]

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actually, the two teams won't split up very often. most of that is simplys so that half of the players don't sit out, bored out of their mind for weeks, while we try to catch one group up to the other.

occasionally it will happen though (i think it has once so far).

Ah. Well... oh well, it's still in-character. Nothing says Oldqua can't be confused on a point or two.

Oldqua picks up on Kurukshetra's confusion over the network, and addresses it over the network "It's no special trick. People have tried to use things very much like these on me, or on people I was with, in the past. All the items have already been identified and named - I recognize most the names, but that's just because I'm very, very old, and have picked up a very large, very random assortment of information over time. Trust me - if you ever get to be as old as I am, you'll have similar things happen. It's actually part of why I tend to ramble on so - I've mostly lost track of what time means, and have a different definition of 'soon' than do most people, and so take my time when I'm speaking. I've been trying to cut back... oh."

[Barbarian MD]

Standing with the list in hand, Kyrill addresses the Watchmen after Lemion's departure:

"Alright everyone, settle down. I think this might be best. I'm going to read this list of items one at a time. If you want to use something on this list, call out. If more than one of you wants it, well, we can decide that together. Oldqua, you'll probably have to explain some of these items to us. He begins, slowly sounding out some of the syllables, but doing a passable job otherwise.

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Here's my idea: I'm going to post the list and put the names of characters beside items that they've already said they wanted. The next person to post should copy my list and add your own name beside the items you want. Everyone can copy and paste the list, until we've gone through all the characters. Don't be afraid to put your name beside an item that someone else has already put their name beside. If, at the end, you're the only one who has put your name beside an item, I don't see any reason not to give it to you. If multiple people want an item, we'll discuss together how to split them up. At the end, we'll take a look at the unclaimed items, see how much gp we can get for them from Celestial bureaucrats, and then sort out how to split up the money. That might give some order to this process of sorting out almost a million gp worth of stuff.


7,000gp worth of small gems;
black pear-400gp,
black star sapphire-4,300gp;
gold chalice w/ emeralds-12,330gp;
aquamarine-600gp;
staff of evocation-34 charges-44,400gp;
ring of acid resistance: minor-12,000gp;
+4 large studded leather; - Finn (to strip the enhancement off)
+3 ghost touch sling;
power stone-personality parasite-4th-700gp;
power stone-time hop-3rd-375gp;
oil of magical vestment +4-2,400gp;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst; - Hans
orb of frost - Xavier
wand of suggestion-16 charges-3,600gp;
wand of wall of fire-10 charges-4,200gp;
+3 huge greataxe of wounding; - Kyrill
wand of disintegration-23;
+2 studded leather of greater fortification w/ wilding clasp;
skull plaque (MIC);
torc of heroic sacrifice (MIC); - Kyrill
instruments of the blood gift (MIC);
rod of enervating strike (MIC); - Oldqua
a pair of "the fist" gauntlets (MIC);
dagger of denial (MIC);
greater falchion of charging collision +3,
crystal echoblade (MIC);
greater tentacle rod) w/ greater crystal of return (MIC);
ankh of ascension (MIC); - Oldqua
belt of mighty blows (greater one mighty blow; 3/day) (MIC);
bone ring (MIC); - Kyrill
greater boots of the mountain king (MIC); - Kyrill
force shield ring; - Xavier
drums of panic;
mace of smiting;
silver raven figurine;
3-potions of cure serious wounds;
potion of fox's cunning;
2-potions of invisibility;
potion of barkskin;
potion of protection from arrows;
gloves of dexterity +4-16,000gp; - Finn (+2 for group), Oldqua, Xavier (+2 for group)
stone horse (courser)-10,000gp;
crystal mask of discernment (command thought is psionically imprinted)-10,000gp;
psicrown of the evader-5/356 pp-357gp;
psicrown of the dominator-312/450pp-14,040gp;
rod of metamagic extension-11,000gp; - Finn, Oldqua
wand of contagion-18 charges-4050gp;
heavy psionic steel shield+4-16,170gp;
+4 fleshgrinding, thundering harpoon - NOT Kyrill

I know I had earlier said I wanted to harpoon, but I realized that it makes up about 1/8 of the entire pile's value (128,000gp, I believe). It'd be selfish to take it, in addition to the other things that I want AND the gold I'll need for his armor.

In addition, I need to pump Finn's charisma if he's going to include everyone in the Tapestry. He's limited to 4 + himself at the moment, so I'll be requesting about 36,000 gp for a Cloak of Charisma.

Edits: So Justice has VoP, so he'll need some gp to go towards that (I think we could get away with the bare minimum for WbL.

And Kuru doesn't want any of it.

Starry-Eyes wants X gp for her Cerulean Sign.

Still waiting on Levi and Hans.

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More to come, but have to go.

P.S. Found this from Watchtower Volume I:

Skilled War Weaver
You are much more efficient in the weaving of your eldritch tapestry than normal.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Tapestry and Quiescent Weaving I class abilities, 14 Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma
Benefit: You can add one more spell than normal to the Quiescent Weaving ability, and the maximum spell level that you can cast into the Eldritch Tapestry and Quiescent Weaving abilities is raised by one.

Master War Weaver
You are much more efficient in the weaving of your eldritch tapestry than normal.
Prerequisites: Skilled War Weaver, Eldritch Tapestry and Quiescent Weaving III class abilities, 19 Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma
Benefit: You can add one more spell than normal to the Quiescent Weaving ability, and the maximum spell level that you can cast into the Eldritch Tapestry and Quiescent Weaving abilities is raised by one.
Special: The effects of this feat stack with the Skilled War Weaver feat.

ALSO, I had forgotten about the houserule to make spells with Personal into Touch spells. That was for Erfel's War Weaver, and I'm going to be using it. I'll be able to hit those in the Tapestry (limited to a total of 4+Finn at the moment) with True Seeing, Blur, etc.

Kyrill, whenever you're ready to forge your armor, I think I can help. I can petition for a spell tomorrow that will help you by giving you a number of unseen servants. I don't have much skill in this sort of work to speak of, but thanks to Levi, these servants will all be able to use your own skill at armorsmithing. I'll have to stay close by, so it would be best if you can move your forge out into the practice yard, but if you can't I have some things I want to try out on my own anyway.

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Unseen Crafter FTW. 5 Unseen Crafters, each using Kyrill's ranks, and working for days without stopping, so long as Finn stays within close range. One could make the argument that this should cut the crafting time down from 100 days to 6, since they'll be working 24 hours instead of 8, and the fullplate is multiple pieces, and therefore each piece could be crafted separately, rather than just using "aid another" checks.

Finn could cast a divination spell, asking whether we'll need to deploy in the next 6 days. If the answer is "no," Kyrill can sacrifice his old armor to produce his new armor.

[Gnorman]

PLEASE, TAKE MY SHARE OF THE PROCEEDS AND USE IT TO REBUILD THAT WHICH WAS DAMAGED IN THE ATTACK. OR TO PAY FOR THE DIAMONDS NEEDED TO RESURRECT THOSE WHO WERE KILLED. I HAVE NO NEED FOR MATERIAL POSSESSIONS.

[Barbarian MD]

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So, just out of curiosity, I went through and figured a real-life timeline of events, just to take stock of everything we've been through. Stycotl, how long has all this been in Game-Time?

March 31, 2009 - Introductions: Kuru and Levi are introduced to Kyrill, Erfel, Sefu, Dalbar, Calypso, and Kelurn.

April 4, 2009 - Kyrill has strange dreams of getting married.

April 8, 2009 - Deployed to Highpoint. Mechs, Explosions, More Explosions.

July 24, 2009 - Left Highpoint by portal, with Tegen, but lacking Calypso //Level up to Level 11, training begins.

July 28, 2009 - Sefu leaves. Elric, Hans, and Kettenbar join the team.

August 3, 2009 - Watchmen leave for "Boot Camp" (har har)

August 7, 2009 - Watchmen meet the "Witch Woman." Dalbar accomplishes a Crowning Moment of Badass in the Labyrinth.

August 13, 2009 - "Witch Woman" defeated, continue on to Boot Camp.

September 15, 2009 - Court of the Hidden Flower

October 1, 2009 - The most insane battle in all of PbP history begins. Thus begins FOUR MONTHS of combat rolls and 30+ rounds of combat. Things were frozen, beaten to death, scorched, chopped, stabbed. A vrock was used as a club. Hans blew himself up. Lots of squirrels led the way to victory. Multiple PC deaths, including Elric and Kettenbar.

January 7, 2010 - Hans has his own Crowning Moment of Badass when he drops a giant worm from the sky.

February 21, 2010 - Bhairadya is finally sliced into pieces by Kyrill after being hit by a TON of magic. Shet escapes with the soul of Kettenbar in a dagger. //Level up to Level 12

March 15, 2010 - Watchmen pursue Shet into Hell. Finn joins the team.

April 1, 2010 - Watchmen catch Shet. Battle is joined. Holy Crap that's a lot of demons.

May 31, 2010 - Dagger stolen from Shet. He is somewhat confused by this. Watchmen exit via portal before the forces of Hell can close in.

September 6, 2010 - Weary Watchmen return to Celestia. Many new faces await, and they have names! (Xavier, Starry-Eyes, Celestica, Justice, Oldqua.) Erfel, Dalbar, Kelurn all reassigned. Epic singing contest.

September 30, 2010 - Celestial ceremony interrupted. Oldqua the Badass uses an aberration as his own personal mecha. Xavier takes down the Big Bad with a punch.

November 11, 2010 - Fight in Exchequer winds down. (We finished a battle in less than 2 months? Impossible!) //Level up to Level 13. Presented with 3 level's worth of loot, original Watchmen no longer poor!

[josh13905]

"While I have little need for conventional weapons, I once found a Mage who was kind enough to make for me a special piece of enchanted weaponry. The man enchanted strips of cloth that can be wrapped over one's forearms in order to enchant his strikes. However finding such things has never been easy, and so the ability of transferring magic from one weapon to another intrigues me."

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Nothing to add to equipment atm, but I am interested in how the weapon transfer works.

So yes Xavier does use magic 'weapons,' but a vary special set of them.

He has wounding on them already, so even against high DR'd foes his crazy amounts of attacks should be taking them down.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

"I may not be alive, but my spirit will still remain. I've died before, and was brought back for the purpose of putting this body to the best uses I can think of. This time it should be a little more pleasant." Starry-Eyes reassures the dragon and fairy.

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Ok, before I look at items, I planned on pumping most of my new level's worth of moolah into my Cerulean Sign. How does this effect my share of the booty before us?

I think I also missed where exactly it came from...

*wades through the great bunch of text again*

[Barbarian MD]

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Vorpal, to answer your question, it represents the fact that we haven't gotten any loot in three levels. The original characters are all still working with 49,000gp. Specifically, this loot is said to have come from our 35 round battle that spanned Winter 2009-2010.

If we were to sell all of it and split the gold evenly, it would be a little more than 50,000gp apiece. Tacitus could make the argument that about half of it belongs to him, since Hans, Levi, and Kyrill were the only ones present at those encounters, but I think we ought to split things for the benefit of the team. How much do you need? I imagine it would be easy to get you what you need.

[josh13905]

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If you guys are down tons of loot then by all means take what you need to catch up,

Oh and Xavier will request a rope if one can be made available

No Jack, I don't have a rope, I have the 'unlimited' sashes that comprise a monk's outfit though.

[Barbarian MD]

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So, I guess one of the goals (but not necessarily the primary goal, or even secondary or tertiary--those prime spots belong to making sure the party as a whole is strong) of loot distribution would be to bump everyone who's Level 12 AT LEAST to 88,000 gp (no reason to hold you guys back, though--seems we've got plenty to go around) and everyone who is Level 13 up to 110,000 gp. Hans, Levi, Kyrill, and Finn are all currently at 49,000 gp. I'm not sure what you guys used when you created your characters, but we can get you up to at least that level as well. But, if you don't want that gp, I'm sure everyone else will gladly take it!

[Jack_Simth]

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As per recruiting, new characters were done at:
"wealth by level: normal for 11th level"

[Barbarian MD]

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So at a bare minimum that's 12,000 gp for everyone that just hit Level 12 and 61,000 for Hans, Levi, Finn, and Kyrill, but we've got such a big stinking pile of stuff here that everyone is probably looking at at least 40-50,000 gp, or 80-100,000 worth in items. Sign up for items using the list I posted earlier, and we'll see how everything shakes out.

Let's see, that shakes out to be (61,000 x 4 = 244,000) + (4 x 12,000 = 48,000) = 288,000 gp. I calculated the total value of the pile to be around 850,000 gp, so we have around 550,000 gp that's unclaimed by WBL.

[Jack_Simth]

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Hmm. That's more than enough for two Greater Stone Golems, almost enough for three (196k each)... but as we're also 30% or so of the way to the next level, a bit above WBL is expected.

[Barbarian MD]

Enhancement Transfer Rough Draft

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This is how I'm envisioning enhancement transfer.

Let's use Weapons as an example. The enhancement cost is as follows:

+1: 2,000
+2: 8,000
+3: 18,000
+4: 32,000
+5: 50,000
+6: 72,000
+7: 98,000
+8: 128,000

1) Let's say we have a mundane Greatsword and a +1 Defending Longspear.

We could transfer the +1 Defending to the Greatsword and have a mundane Longspear. Simple and done.

2) Now, let's take a +1 Greatsword and a +2 Defending Longspear. We now have two options:

A) We take the two and swap their magical energies. We now have a +2 Defending Greatsword and a +1 Longspear.

B) We could ADD their magical energies. But, because of the exponential growth in magical pricing, we can't simply say it becomes a +3 Defending Greatsword. Instead, we need to look at the pricing of each individually. We have a +1 item (2,000 gp) and a +3 item (18,000 gp). That amounts to 20,000 gp, which will only amount to a +3 item. +1 magical energy is lost in the transfer, but you have the option of ending with a +3 Greatsword or a +2 Defending Greatsword.

3) Now, let's see what happens when we combine the magical energies of much bigger weapons. Let's take a +5 Greatsword and a +4 Defending. Find their individual value (50,000 + 50,000 = 100,000) The result is a +7 Greatsword, or a +6 Defending Greatsword. So only 2,000 gp of magical energy is lost, but the result is less than a simple 5+5 magical enhancement.\

4) Now, let's get complicated. Let's take a +3 Greatsword, a +2 Defending Longspear, and a +2 Vorpal Tribble. We now have enhancement bonuses worth 18,000 + 18,000 + 98,000 = 134,000 gp. That would get us a +8 bonus, or a +3 Vorpal Tribble.

Note that no NEW magical enhancement can be added using a ritual--you're simply using what's already in existence. Therefore, you can't add a Brutal Surge Enhancement to a weapon by combining Defending and Acidic Burst weapons.

Now, the thing that seems dangerous is allowing multiple weapons into the mix. Take enough +1 weapons, and you'll eventually reach a +10. But it would take A LOT of weapons. I'm sure power gamers would do it, though, so let's add an arbitrary limit, like "the number of separate magical energies that you may manage during a ritual is equal to your ability score bonus from your primary casting score." And let's also add a time involved (again an arbitrary number): N-1 (where N equals the number of weapons in the ritual) days x total enhancement bonus of the weapons involved. So a +5 Greatsword and a Vorpal Tribble would take 10 days, and a +5 Greatsword, Vorpal Tribble, and +2 Longspear would take 12 x 2 = 24 days.

Does that make sense? Any suggestions? I suppose the next thing to do would be to clean it up and post in on the Homebrew thread, but I'd like to get feedback from y'all before I do that.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

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but I think we ought to split things for the benefit of the team. How much do you need? I imagine it would be easy to get you what you need.

Oh, don't know I really 'need' anything. I'll definitely let everyone else have first picks. Just curious.

If I could gain enough extra gold to make my sign even better, say a +4 instead of +3 that'd be great.

Just going to take almost two weeks, even for a +1 that she can eventually improve.

[Barbarian MD]

As the Watchmen listen to Kyrill read the list aloud and ask to claim various items, Finn cannot shake a feeling of unease. A glance to the sky does nothing to alleviate his worry, and he cannot help but think that Loraln is long-delayed in his arrival.

He leans over to the Watchman beside him and murmurs: "I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to worry about Loraln's lateness. You don't suppose there's been another attack, do you?"

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[han voice]I've got a bad feeling about this.[/han voice]

ITEM LIST:

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Reposting for ease of locating

Here's my idea: I'm going to post the list and put the names of characters beside items that they've already said they wanted. The next person to post should copy my list and add your own name beside the items you want. Everyone can copy and paste the list, until we've gone through all the characters. Don't be afraid to put your name beside an item that someone else has already put their name beside. If, at the end, you're the only one who has put your name beside an item, I don't see any reason not to give it to you. If multiple people want an item, we'll discuss together how to split them up. At the end, we'll take a look at the unclaimed items, see how much gp we can get for them from Celestial bureaucrats, and then sort out how to split up the money. That might give some order to this process of sorting out almost a million gp worth of stuff.


7,000gp worth of small gems;
black pear-400gp,
black star sapphire-4,300gp;
gold chalice w/ emeralds-12,330gp;
aquamarine-600gp;
staff of evocation-34 charges-44,400gp;
ring of acid resistance: minor-12,000gp;
+4 large studded leather; - Finn (to strip the enhancement off)
+3 ghost touch sling;
power stone-personality parasite-4th-700gp;
power stone-time hop-3rd-375gp;
oil of magical vestment +4-2,400gp;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst;
2+ spiked chain of bloodfeeding brutal surge acidic burst; - Hans
orb of frost - Xavier
wand of suggestion-16 charges-3,600gp;
wand of wall of fire-10 charges-4,200gp;
+3 huge greataxe of wounding; - Kyrill
wand of disintegration-23;
+2 studded leather of greater fortification w/ wilding clasp;
skull plaque (MIC);
torc of heroic sacrifice (MIC); - Kyrill
instruments of the blood gift (MIC);
rod of enervating strike (MIC); - Oldqua
a pair of "the fist" gauntlets (MIC);
dagger of denial (MIC);
greater falchion of charging collision +3,
crystal echoblade (MIC);
greater tentacle rod) w/ greater crystal of return (MIC);
ankh of ascension (MIC); - Oldqua
belt of mighty blows (greater one mighty blow; 3/day) (MIC);
bone ring (MIC); - Kyrill
greater boots of the mountain king (MIC); - Kyrill
force shield ring; - Xavier
drums of panic;
mace of smiting;
silver raven figurine;
3-potions of cure serious wounds;
potion of fox's cunning;
2-potions of invisibility;
potion of barkskin;
potion of protection from arrows;
gloves of dexterity +4-16,000gp; - Finn (+2 for group), Oldqua, Xavier (+2 for group)
stone horse (courser)-10,000gp;
crystal mask of discernment (command thought is psionically imprinted)-10,000gp;
psicrown of the evader-5/356 pp-357gp;
psicrown of the dominator-312/450pp-14,040gp;
rod of metamagic extension-11,000gp; - Finn, Oldqua
wand of contagion-18 charges-4050gp;
heavy psionic steel shield+4-16,170gp;
+4 fleshgrinding, thundering harpoon - NOT Kyrill

I know I had earlier said I wanted to harpoon, but I realized that it makes up about 1/8 of the entire pile's value (128,000gp, I believe). It'd be selfish to take it, in addition to the other things that I want AND the gold I'll need for his armor.

In addition, I need to pump Finn's charisma if he's going to include everyone in the Tapestry. He's limited to 4 + himself at the moment, so I'll be requesting about 36,000 gp for a Cloak of Charisma.

Edits: So Justice has VoP, so he'll need some gp to go towards that (I think we could get away with the bare minimum for WbL.

And Kuru doesn't want any of it.

Starry-Eyes wants X gp for her Cerulean Sign.

Still waiting on Levi and Hans.

[Stycotl]

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hey, i just remembered something (i think): i don't actually have access to the net right now to look, but i think that my original plan had been to let kyrill go to dharti first thing in the morning, and that he'd miss the briefing by loraln.

so, i'll say that this was lemion's original plan, but that loraln had been told everyone had to be there for the briefing. so mhvaughan, don't forget to remind lemion about it IC after the briefing.

+4 fleshgrinding, thundering harpoon - NOT Kyrill

I know I had earlier said I wanted to harpoon, but I realized that it makes up about 1/8 of the entire pile's value (128,000gp, I believe). It'd be selfish to take it, in addition to the other things that I want AND the gold I'll need for his armor.

let's see if anyone else even wants it, and then you can accept or reject it. in the end, it should be about what is the best for the teams; if you having it is better than someone else having it, then you'd have a strong argument for taking it.

alternatively, it might make a cool weapon for oldqua, assuming kyrill wants to carry it for him. it'd double as a trap smasher. we might want to modify it so that it used oldqua's mental ability modifiers instead of strength, or change some other things about it. but it would be a powerful debuffer––throw it at the beginning of the encounter and watch it shake its target to pieces by the end of it.

ALSO, I had forgotten about the houserule to make spells with Personal into Touch spells. That was for Erfel's War Weaver, and I'm going to be using it. I'll be able to hit those in the Tapestry (limited to a total of 4+Finn at the moment) with True Seeing, Blur, etc.

yeah, i don't think i ever put that on the front page; i'll check when i get home. that goes for everyone; spells labeled "personal" can be applied to others at a range of "touch."

Unseen Crafter FTW. 5 Unseen Crafters, each using Kyrill's ranks, and working for days without stopping, so long as Finn stays within close range. One could make the argument that this should cut the crafting time down from 100 days to 6, since they'll be working 24 hours instead of 8, and the fullplate is multiple pieces, and therefore each piece could be crafted separately, rather than just using "aid another" checks.

hmm, that's a good idea––though it won't exactly like that, but i'll work it in.

Finn could cast a divination spell, asking whether we'll need to deploy in the next 6 days. If the answer is "no," Kyrill can sacrifice his old armor to produce his new armor.

go ahead; but realize that the answer could always be tricky, or change dependent upon PC or NPC actions.

So, just out of curiosity, I went through and figured a real-life timeline of events, just to take stock of everything we've been through. Stycotl, how long has all this been in Game-Time?

...

wow. ok, mhvaughan deserves some kind of an award for this; i'll have to figure something suitable out (like maybe finishing his custom magic item someday soon).

and that's not even the beginning, because i was a player in the original watchtower that lordsmoothe dm'ed. so it has been going on since some time during 2008.

August 7, 2009 - Watchmen meet the "Witch Woman." Dalbar accomplishes a Crowning Moment of Badass in the Labyrinth.

that was a moment of awesome-sauce, and i forgot all about it. if dalbar ever makes an NPC appearance in the game, or if obscurejones ever comes back to play him, he's getting that badass level.

if i remember right, you guys were all stuck in the witch's labyrinth, and dalbar managed to bring the whole thing down on her. that threw you all back into the material world where she could be killed.

i'll check it out sometime, but i think that was the gist of it.

October 1, 2009 - The most insane battle in all of PbP history begins. Thus begins FOUR MONTHS of combat rolls and 30+ rounds of combat. Things were frozen, beaten to death, scorched, chopped, stabbed. A vrock was used as a club. Hans blew himself up. Lots of squirrels led the way to victory. Multiple PC deaths, including Elric and Kettenbar.

i only have maps made for 18 rounds (some rounds had 3 or 4 maps too, dependent upon how much the battlefield changed between posts), though i might be forgetting some, and i did lose track of what round we were in a few times. either way, that was a large battle, and the source of all of your mundane/magical income at the moment.

March 15, 2010 - Watchmen pursue Shet into Hell. Finn joins the team.

April 1, 2010 - Watchmen catch Shet. Battle is joined. Holy Crap that's a lot of demons.

yeah, well you were in hell... did ya expect fluffy bunnies?

September 30, 2010 - Celestial ceremony interrupted. Oldqua the Badass uses an aberration as his own personal mecha.

we are full circle back to highpoint.

Xavier takes down the Big Bad with a punch.

she went down a lot quicker than i expected her to; granted she's a shadowcaster with monster levels, but i had her decently decked out, and she had a number of levels on you guys...

(We finished a battle in less than 2 months? Impossible!)

let's see if we can beat the record with the next match.

Nothing to add to equipment atm, but I am interested in how the weapon transfer works.

me too. i'll get it fleshed out in the next couple of weeks, though i'm in finals right now so it might not happen till after the 15th or so.

Tacitus could make the argument that about half of it belongs to him, since Hans, Levi, and Kyrill were the only ones present at those encounters, but I think we ought to split things for the benefit of the team. How much do you need? I imagine it would be easy to get you what you need.

If you guys are down tons of loot then by all means take what you need to catch up,

So, I guess one of the goals... ...of loot distribution would be to bump everyone who's Level 12 AT LEAST to 88,000 gp

i am not going to referee treasure splitting. and i honestly don't have too many intentions of making sure that i keep everyone's up to wbl (though you will probably have times when you are below wbl––such as up until this point––usually i tend to default to higher than wbl, so don't worry too much).

i'm trying to take an interest in the IC aspects of the treasure, while making sure everyone is OOCly satisfied. but if that means that one of you gets 35,000 gp of exactly what he wants, and the others are all sitting at 70,000 gp apiece, then so be it.

just make sure that no one is unsatisfied by the split; talk it through. if any of you are too embarrassed to admit to the group that you are unsatisfied with the split, then PM me, and i'll try to fix it.

4) Now, let's get complicated. Let's take a +3 Greatsword, a +2 Defending Longspear, and a +2 Vorpal Tribble.

mhvaughan, you are the glue that holds this campaign together. without you, boredom would run rampant.

i am actually working on my own mechanic for this, but your system is intriguing. i want there to be a price for the ritual, as if building the enchantments from scratch. but i want the price to be lessened depending upon what strength of magical item you are cannibalizing for the ritual. therefore, i think that there needs to be a cap on how much you can augment with sacrificed magic items.

Just going to take almost two weeks, even for a +1 that she can eventually improve.

that might change once we get some specific variant rules on crafting going.

Edits: So Justice has VoP, so he'll need some gp to go towards that (I think we could get away with the bare minimum for WbL.

And Kuru doesn't want any of it.

kuru is VoP too; however, i'm not going to be ridiculously strict about making sure the VoP characters give away their WBL requirements to charity. justice, pick a worthy donee and give something away. kuru has already picked celestica.

the rest of you can keep or give away what you want. and lemion has already washed his hands of the treasure trove, seeing as you guys earned it all (yes, that includes you new guys. you more than pulled your weight).

[quote]ITEM LIST:

Reposting for ease of locating

yeah, you guys fill out mhvaughan's list and let's get the treasure part over with. take too long and i'll get bored and start the next chapter before you're all properly outfitted...

Before he goes inside, Lemion answers Kyrill's question, There is a small forge to the rear of the fortress, but it hasn't been used in decades, and would need some refurbishing. Sadly, this is the kind of heavy labor that the sprites wouldn't be able to do themselves. There are no raw materials though, and I think most of the tools are gone; we'd have to spend some money to get it working again.

We can do this, but it will take some time, especially since we have a lot of training to cram in between missions. In the mean time, there are a few smithies at the Citadel, and I can get you clearance to use them, and even get you authorization to train under the smiths there if you wish.

And yes, if Justice and Kurukshetra are given "utility" roles, I think that it might satisfy the administration officials, Loraln among them.

Then to Finn, he says, Good. I will see about getting someone here to train you, and to help me in the creation of a redundant item that could do a similar thing.

Lemion leaves them to work out the details, while Kurukshetra listens to all of the strategy regarding splitting up the confiscated equipment in only slight boredom. The dragon's attention is drawn to Fin and Kyrill as they discuss metalworking and magical enchantments, but he doesn't understand much about it.

Later, Kuru starts fidgeting, also wondering what is keeping the justice archon so long. Where is Loraln. I know he is busy, but so are we... The dragon stands, stretches, and leaps into the air, winging his way around the tower in wild, recklessly fast circles that give the impression of a dog chasing its tail or a child with pent-up energy running rampant through the house on a rainy day.

[Jack_Simth]

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alternatively, it might make a cool weapon for oldqua, assuming kyrill wants to carry it for him. it'd double as a trap smasher. we might want to modify it so that it used oldqua's mental ability modifiers instead of strength, or change some other things about it. but it would be a powerful debuffer––throw it at the beginning of the encounter and watch it shake its target to pieces by the end of it.

Interestingly, when doing a Violent Thrust... attack rolls do use Charisma for him (damage rolls don't, though). I am currently planning on having Oldqua grab Ghostly Grasp (Libris Mortis) next level, though, which will really make him a monkeywrench in the gears of the universe - things have trouble touching him without permission, but he can touch things just fine.

By the way: What level of optimization do you like? Violent Thrust Telekinesis can get a little borked - "Weapons cause standard damage (with no Strength bonus; note that arrows or bolts deal damage as daggers of their size when used in this manner)" - arrows are cheap & light, even when there oversized - the 'dagger' damage at 1d4 balloons to 3d6 if they're Colossal (which weigh in, strangely, at only 2 and 2/3rd's pounds each), and can be enchanted with Greater Magic Weapon in groups - that Ankh of Ascention would let Oldqua put a GMW on a set of 50 Colossal arrows to make them +4... and then in the first round of combat he could take a standard action to launch 12 of them at an opponent. And then repeat it 1d4 rounds later (until he runs out of bolts - four iterations, longer than most battles). I figure the regular ballista bolt usage isn't gamebreaking (hard object, 300 lbs = 12d6 damage - single-target Cone of Cold that's harder to land, essentially), and it's easy to roll & envision, so that's what I went with for now.

yeah, i don't think i ever put that on the front page; i'll check when i get home. that goes for everyone; spells labeled "personal" can be applied to others at a range of "touch."

Handy... some of the best Clerical buffs can now be applied to others... as soon as Oldqua gets to the point where he can reach out and touch someone (next level, with Ghostly Grasp, or sooner, if we can make that work with Ghost Touch Gloves or something).

Of course, with a little help from the Society Mind, we can do that anyway... how's that Echo work? One additional person for every four points your manifester level is above the caster level of the effect copied, or some such? So if Oldqua casts Divine Favor at Caster Level 9 (for the +3 Luck to attack/damage), you could echo it to two people by spending 13 Power Points? Ditto for Righteous Might(CL 9 is the minimum - +4 Str, size boost) and Divine Power? Buff the tanks into C'zillas right quick that way...

i am not going to referee treasure splitting. and i honestly don't have too many intentions of making sure that i keep everyone's up to wbl (though you will probably have times when you are below wbl––such as up until this point––usually i tend to default to higher than wbl, so don't worry too much).

Interestingly, there's both IC and OOC reasons for the characters & players to want to approximate WBL - or at least use it as a guideline for splitting. OOC, it's for game balance and relative character power. IC, it's for getting the strongest team while still giving a nod to the more experienced members.

Oldqua considers, and asks across the network "So... do we want to draw up some battle plans, seeing as how we seem to get in a lot of fights?"