(OOC) The Primeval Dark

[Stevesciguy]

Your characters are well-aware of the effects, because they know of the existence of conditions in each sector. Carrying Steel could blow you up, and in another sector it could be darkleaf cloth. Or specifically 32 marbles in a glass jar. Alchemical equipment can definitely be effected, just as readily as a bullet or sword might. It's not always an easy-to-interpret, cut-and-dry answer either. Often experiencing an effect doesn't cleanly draw a line to understanding it.

Bloodblock functions more-or-less as Chroma described, with one caveat to cursed wounds. While grievous wounds are patched or mended via a successful heal check (which typically imparts a lesser effect, not remove it completely), cursed wounds are a different story. Cursed wounds almost always deliver some form of potent grievous wound, however the grievous wound cannot be mended via a heal check until the curse is lifted (something that not everyone would know, unless they've tried to cure such a wound before - player discretion).

This isn't every single curse, however, it is something of a standard for close to 90% of any cursed wounds you suffer. The minor 10% that don't follow this template are typically extremely bad, in that the actual bleedy-wound is not the function that makes the wound lethal. In the case of the cursed wounds inflicted by the Gloams, these wounds impart a stacking-bleeding grievous effect that will quickly kill you, if hit by multiple attacks or given time. While this example is not immensely difficult to cure, the fact that any cursed wound even requires a cure before the wound can be mended means, in the real game - you're probably screwed like everyone else. There's consumable resources which can help prolong the life of an afflicted person, but if you can't get them out to someone who can help, or have such an individual in your company... you're already dead (insert Fist of the North Star clip).

Basically, going out and fighting Veilbeasts means you're accepting the fact that you're playing a game of rocket-tag, because the 'save-or-suck' is real.

Fortunately, for the purpose of the tutorial, it's just a shorter clock, and the effect will be removed upon successfully completing the objective and moving on - or dying. There are a number of various potentials and additional equipment which you can start investing your time and money into if you want to fight such creatures (or just cover your bases if things go south). So plenty of options exist to better prepare you for dealing with such dire threats, but the lethality and threat constantly reiterated in just about anything pertaining to these creatures cannot be understated - and also forms one of the central lessons which should have been taken away from this encounter;

These things are bad news.

Understood. Cursed wounds usually can't heal until curse is removed. The exceptions are usually much worse. Characters might know this depending on experience, I imagine Erik does purely because he's been in this game for over a decade.

Out of curiosity, then... exactly how experienced are our characters? How regularly do Gales dive? While I can't imagine that any of us have ever killed or even fought a Veilbeast, have we seen them firsthand?

How rare is someone of Erik's age and experience in this profession? Is Erik freakishly old by Gale standards because of how dangerous tainted areas are?

These are probably questions I should've asked sooner, but it didn't come to mind until now.

[forg99rules]

Also, I did start the group 2 IC with the intent to finish, but some things happened and I ended up in some long conversations so.... yeah. Probably not going to finish it tonight sadly, but we're chugging along. It's good to see that no one got merked yet. Walt is in a bad spot, and Faux is... yup. But that aside, everyone did much better than expected

Group 2 will get their shake at crazy things as well, but I'll likely need to bring in at least one more PC to supplement them due to the nature of the difficulty. I'll likely be pulling from group 3 and let one of those guys get their shot, on the rail. (Lucky day.)

oooh i hope Loimi gets his shot on the rail... if hes on the rail then its more likely for him to survive lol... though i would still try and survive even if he doesnt get on the rail

[flat_footed]

oooh i hope Loimi gets his shot on the rail... if hes on the rail then its more likely for him to survive lol... though i would still try and survive even if he doesnt get on the rail

Signs point to yes, haha.

[forg99rules]

Signs point to yes, haha.

Well Varag still exists as well, and with me already running stella its possible he may get picked. If so then no hard feelings from me lol, not sure how well Varag would do on his own either... where i know that i could probably do about the same with Loimi being solo. Just a lot more likely to survive on the rail than off it.

[flat_footed]

Well Varag still exists as well, and with me already running stella its possible he may get picked. If so then no hard feelings from me lol, not sure how well Varag would do on his own either... where i know that i could probably do about the same with Loimi being solo. Just a lot more likely to survive on the rail than off it.

Ancient does seem to still be around, yeah, and hopefully still watching these threads. But no, my wild guess is Mornings has a traincar made for two coming around the bend.

[Mornings]

Understood. Cursed wounds usually can't heal until curse is removed. The exceptions are usually much worse. Characters might know this depending on experience, I imagine Erik does purely because he's been in this game for over a decade.

Out of curiosity, then... exactly how experienced are our characters? How regularly do Gales dive? While I can't imagine that any of us have ever killed or even fought a Veilbeast, have we seen them firsthand?

Not all Gales dive. Looking at it, you habe to remember that less than 40% actually come back out again, so of course not everyone does it. For the majority, their first dive is their last. The club is committed to uncovering clues as to what happened to the world, but they have specialists and veteran teams to fill different needs. Erik was a mercenary before, but mercs don't all dive. Even Harriers are primarily hired soldiers for major cities, or whatever is left of a nation. Standing armies aren't really a thing anymore, since most professional soldiers perished during the Night.

None of the PCs were Gales for an exceptionally long period of time, so in matters relating to actual organized campaigns into such region's, no one's an expert, but that doesn't mean no one is a veteran either. Merely having survived entering tainted land makes one a 'veteran', at least in name, but it speaks volumes of their capability and instinct while faced with impossible odds.

Veilbeasts that don't hide themselves are typically the magical or physical busier types. Imagine an otherworldly murder bot with a slew of nightmarish and indescribable spells that rend reality.

It's safe to say that none of the PCs have seen those kind of creatures before, or they'd be dead, or diverged to some alien universe. Perhaps you managed 'see' a gloam before, but effectively half the party 'died' after one round, and these are lesser gloams. Explaining how you survived a similar encounter would take some thought. These beasts hunt in packs of 6 to 12, and it can be an extremely hard fight even when prepared.

How rare is someone of Erik's age and experience in this profession? Is Erik freakishly old by Gale standards because of how dangerous tainted areas are?

These are probably questions I should've asked sooner, but it didn't come to mind until now.

Diving mercs usually retire before turning 30, having survived at least 2 or 3 campaigns, switching to training new men to take over their role in the field. Most men obviously don't live that long if they do dive.

[Stevesciguy]

Alright, so being a Gale doesn't even necessarily mean we've been in a tainted area before, much less actually tangled with anything that might live in such areas. Getting into a situation where you might see a veilbeast - or even a veilchump, like these lesser gloams - probably means you're dead. Most people only go in once, and probably won't come back out, and even the most elite divers probably only have done it 2 or 3 times.

And sitting at 35(pre-imprisonment) would have made Erik pretty old for the profession, especially if he was still actively working.

So making it out of this situation would put us above most people, just having survived the environment, and having been face-to-face with some of the residents, even weak ones, would put us even higher.

I think my problem was that I misunderstood what you meant when you originally talked about how deadly the tainted lands and veilbeasts were. I was going by my definition, which is a lower scale than that of this world/game.

[Ancient]

Ancient does seem to still be around, yeah, and hopefully still watching these threads. But no, my wild guess is Mornings has a traincar made for two coming around the bend.

Still around though going through this with the training wheels off is a whee bit intimidating.

[forg99rules]

Still around though going through this with the training wheels off is a whee bit intimidating.

If we get put in then we would have the training wheels on since he would put us with Group 2 instead of having us be our own group and not having the rail to help us.

[Mornings]

If we get put in then we would have the training wheels on since he would put us with Group 2 instead of having us be our own group and not having the rail to help us.

Indeed. Buuuut, Group 2 arguably has a harder encounter ahead than group 1, due to the teamwork involved and the potential to kill off you and your friends. Loimi and Varag are in play.

Buckle up bois.

[Stevesciguy]

The first potential!!1!1!!

[forg99rules]

YAY im in, time for some rolls

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Will: (1d20+10)[28]
Percep: (1d20+19)[32] - to see what i can around me
Knowledge (History): (1d20+15)[22] to figure out where i am
Knowledge (Local): (1d20+16)[33] to figure out where i am
Knowledge (Planes): (1d20+18)[31] to figure out where i am

[forg99rules]

yay i passed, forgot to roll the 1d4 though...

(1d4)[2] x 2 for 10ft movement

[Stevesciguy]

YAY im in, time for some rolls

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Will: [roll0]
Percep: [roll1] - to see what i can around me
Knowledge (History): [roll2] to figure out where i am
Knowledge (Local): [roll3] to figure out where i am
Knowledge (Planes): [roll4] to figure out where i am

O.o

How did you get your skill bonuses that high?

[forg99rules]

O.o

How did you get your skill bonuses that high?

Tools as well i am adding my Wisdom to some checks... plus i have high int/wisdom so that helps as well... really though

Spoiler: Brains over Brawn

Show

At 3rd level, you gain your Intelligence bonus as a modifier on Strength checks, Dexterity checks, and checks involving skills based on Strength or Dexterity, such as Hide, Climb, and Jump. (Factotum lvl 3 Dungeonscape)

is fixing alot of skills for me as well. When building my character i went for some powerful stuff. Time Seer for example is awesome... I am getting a +5 to all my Knowledge and Perception

[Stevesciguy]

Tools as well i am adding my Wisdom to some checks... plus i have high int/wisdom so that helps as well... really though

Spoiler: Brains over Brawn

Show

At 3rd level, you gain your Intelligence bonus as a modifier on Strength checks, Dexterity checks, and checks involving skills based on Strength or Dexterity, such as Hide, Climb, and Jump. (Factotum lvl 3 Dungeonscape)

is fixing alot of skills for me as well. When building my character i went for some powerful stuff.

...I didn't realize we could get 3.5 stuff too. I'm gonna have to look through some stuff.

I might grab that ability, Erik's Int is 'only' 15, but +2 to a bunch of skills, especially ones so key to survival would be pretty solid.

I've literally got a small list going for abilities to pick up for Erik at this point

Edit: how did you get the time seer template?

[forg99rules]

...I didn't realize we could get 3.5 stuff too. I'm gonna have to look through some stuff.

I might grab that ability, Erik's Int is 'only' 15, but +2 to a bunch of skills, especially ones so key to survival would be pretty solid.

I've literally got a small list going for abilities to pick up for Erik at this point

Edit: how did you get the time seer template?

I have both Time Seer and Eldritch templates, Time Seer is a +1 and Eldritch I got down to a -1 so they cancel eachother out, I got them just by asking the DM if he would allow it and then writing a good enough backstory to warrant it being allowed.

There are a lot of abilities that are useful out there, finding the ones that fit best is hard to do.

[Stevesciguy]

I have both Time Seer and Eldritch templates, Time Seer is a +1 and Eldritch I got down to a -1 so they cancel eachother out, I got them just by asking the DM if he would allow it and then writing a good enough backstory to warrant it being allowed.

There are a lot of abilities that are useful out there, finding the ones that fit best is hard to do.

Oh, that's pretty cool, I'd never thought of that. Wouldn't work with Erik, though, he's meant to be a pretty mundane, if badass, human. He doesn't even know he has magic, yet, because he got it from introspection during his imprisonment. It'll be fun to RP him working it out.

I just realized the sort of... irony? I guess, that's arisen. His band got destroyed because they were accused of using magic, and now he actually is magical

[flat_footed]

Indeed. Buuuut, Group 2 arguably has a harder encounter ahead than group 1, due to the teamwork involved and the potential to kill off you and your friends. Loimi and Varag are in play.

Buckle up bois.

I did a thing!

Though to be honest, I feel like the person in movies who finds the hidden passage by fiddling with something completely unrelated. "Hey guys, look at this pretty statue on the wall." *CLUNK* "-and this doorway that just appeared!"

[Mornings]

I did a thing!

Though to be honest, I feel like the person in movies who finds the hidden passage by fiddling with something completely unrelated. "Hey guys, look at this pretty statue on the wall." *CLUNK* "-and this doorway that just appeared!"

Lol the encounter itself hasn't been changed or initiated by your actions. That's the benefit of the rail; you don't really have any player agency, but the objective is to make you feel like you do.

Group 2 had a tough encounter from the get-go, with a finite number of rounds to do something about it. You could have done more, had the group been quick, but at least you were able to tackle the big objective with the help of Regina. Now all that's left is to face off with the results and what you were able to turn in your favor.

[Stevesciguy]

So, I was looking at my sheet... one of the feats I took was improved weapon maneuvers, but I just realized that as an aggregate of several Improved [maneuver] feats, it probably requires combat expertise... which I don't have. So I'm swapping that out to fix things.

[Ancient]

Mmm, dialogue, let's see if I can respond

Will save vs helpless (dc15): (1d20+10)[18]
Move recovery (if successful) (1d4)[3] x5 feet

[Ancient]

Nat 20 on the Sense motive, I definitely know Mr Shadow wants to eat my soul now.

[Mornings]

Nat 20 on the Sense motive, I definitely know Mr Shadow wants to eat my soul now.

Note, there are no 'fumbles' or critical's on skill checks in Pathfinder. Also, the use of sense motive is mostly utilized against static DC's when not prompted via opposed checks; those being 15/20/25. The default applications of the skill are either as a hunch, determining if a creature is possibly enchanted, or if someone is trying to pass a secret message (which is rarely used, due to magic). It's typically a pass/fail skill with ambiguous results at best, and you can autopass most optional checks just by having a high enough bonus. There's never anything 'definite' about this skill, and opposed checks can be dangerous in certain circumstances in the case of false-positives and poor hunches. Intuition isn't always right, but it does exist regardless. Try not to get yourself killed with what you think you know.

[flat_footed]

Things went later than expected on this side of the world, I'll have to get my IC up tomorrow.

[Mornings]

Things went later than expected on this side of the world, I'll have to get my IC up tomorrow.

kk, sounds good. will be working on Faux's post shortly.

[Mornings]

posted for faux, all that's left is stella, then we're back at the top for GRP1

[Stevesciguy]

Somehow, Faux seems to be having a worse time than we are

Has he hopped off the rail?

[Mornings]

Somehow, Faux seems to be having a worse time than we are

Has he hopped off the rail?

Faux attempted to DDoor and his check to succeed didn't pan out.

As I mentioned before, he's used the one 'planned' dimensional encounter in the tut. He's still very much on the rail. However, anyone else who fails a forced stability check is rolling versus the real thing from now on. Its recommended to avoid that if possible, but sometimes it might be preferable to just take your chances if death looks certain. Not everything on the chart is terrible, so you could luck out. It's just a question of how desperate you are, and if you're willing to put it all on the line.

[forg99rules]

Trisk I am curious how you got a +24 to acrobatics... cause your sheet says +4 and I don't see what would be giving you a +20 to it.