Overlord Styled Sandbox (IC)- Blue Rose Society

[ThreadNecro5]

Spoiler: OOC

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Lets test if Telekinetic Storm can exclude more then just the ability user.

No.

Lets test if ten demilich cast a curse together if it becomes stronger, or if they just harmlessly overlap.

Just overlap to no greater effect.

Lets try devouring the souls of plants until we have some idea of what does and doesn't possess a soul.

No souls on plants, at least those without stats, same with fungi. Insects and other animals do.

Thinking momentarily of all the Mr. bears and Mr. wolves who've recently joined a nameless collection of floating skulls in the woods, little squirrel finds himself slightly frightened by the power of his own group and backing, but his inherent immunity to fear swiftly washes these thoughts away. "Fey, elves, goblins? Tell me more, where are they? Also... you guys are strong enough to casually depose of a growing hydra population?"

The woodcutter laughs and uses his axe to gesture to the forest. "Where aren't they. They're creatures of these woods. We'll be hiring wandering mercenaries for most of these issues, maybe send for a professional wrangler for the hydras. Admittedly we have little to pay for a job that big but the eggs sell for a lot so that'll sweeten things for that. Tame hydras are popular with the rich." he shrugs "They're symbolic I suppose".

[QUOTE=drack;22948528]Demilich average will follow them into the bar, presently cursed to have no positive energy aura. Demilich average will stealthily listen in.

There are three customers to the tavern. Once human in steel lamellar with the ole' swond'n'board, an ifrit in chain armed with a spear, and an orc in a chain shirt and hide with a bow. The ifrit splits from the group to check a board with a couple notes pinned to it. The other two find a table and sit.

The young woman at the bar smiles as she sees the human "Karl! Two weeks Already? Perfect timing" she gestures towards the boards as she start poring drinks "The usual"?

"You got it cous." he replies "What needs done this time"?
"The meadery's got a goblin problem, they're running off with the mead in the middle of the night.
"Stealing alcohol? Now its personal." jokes the ifrit.
"it's five hundred for fixing the problem." adds the orc, wandering over with a piece of paper. The other two continue to discuss things and local happens for a bit as they drink.

"So I take it father's out?" says Karl.
"out for the shipment, assuming it's still there." says the barkeep.

Sending demilich scout to check out the hydras and report back. Demilich will be named Big Bear, will be speaking to them to see if they can communicate, and will be in charge of taking a head count and approximate distance.

The hydras are in a swampy area that begins twenty-ish miles from the hamlet, a days travel with time to camp. The head count is about twenty six, five of them around the area. A couple lurk around mounds of mud and sticks sitting half in the water.

The hydras most certainly do not talk and are more inquisitive about the spawn than anything else, not looks to be worth eating even if they do nibble using a sacrificial head to check.

Base
'Yes, good. Leave two men with each group and learn more. Focus on afterlife, religion and otherwise only broader strokes', he instructs before returning to the matter of Scarlet.

He looks at her with conflicting feelings. He didn't really want to beat anybody up, let alone make anybody hurt but Jes had put him in an awkward situation. He couldn't let a sentient powerful undead roam freely inside their base without a tight leash, and at will telekinesis andundead immunities combined with that bull**** spell immunity meant that it was practically impossible to contain her.

"We'll ress you afterwards, k?", Scourge says with an apologetic look before he let the hammer fall, or well, the rather the +1 Vorpal Greatsword anyway.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Atk1: (1d20+3)[10] | dmg (1d6)[4]
Atk2: (12d6)[44] | dmg [roll3]
Atk3: [roll4] | dmg [roll5]

The screaming skull begins to rise even a it's light begins to burn you.

Winds pick up around Scarlet picking up a pile of dust and bones, alongside anything else in the area.

Spoiler: OOC

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Roll initiative. You hit twice.

Scarlet's Initiative: (1d20+3)[10]

You take (1d6)[4] Positive Energy Damage.

Scarlet activates Telekinetic Storm: (12d6)[44]

Take a DC 20 REF Save for half damage from the Telekinetic Storm

Ole' Trolle Village

'I swear, there's going to be a billion gods in this world', Simulacrum 2 silently complains to herself.

After relaying the new intel the simulacrum continues scanning for knowledge of the afterlife and gods. Creational myth are of some interest.

According the creation myth, the trolls, at least by their own word, were the first race. Not the first race made by their god, but the first mortals anywhere. It was a period of peace after the war between the gods and so Jotnuss chose a piece of untouched land and a mountain at the centre of it. Within a cave in that mountain Jotnuss, being a god of earth and so using what came natural, gave life to the rock. Those rocks became the first trolls, thousands of them. Creating life however was not something that came natural to Jotnuss and his first effort was poor, the trolls by their own admission were made poorly, their apatite bottomless and their minds dull as the stone of their birth. Jotnuss, his servants, and his many children, offered assistance to the first people but their efforts were limited. For with each boon given and not earned the feral Grathngur would create an equal bane, for such was his nature, and by his decree life must struggle. From there the trolls just lived there lives, the annual famine forcing them into a war of survival with their sibling-peoples as Jotnuss refined his methods and made other races.

As far as notes on the afterlife few more is thought about. It seems that the gods can claim any soul that draws their eye worshiper or not, a can soul-hungry predators. To this end Rugdos created a race of servants to watch over the dead as they make their way, the Valkyries and Vordr, as the distinct female and male are refed too. Souls can also struggle their way back to the world forming native outsiders, especially Evil ones. Creature called the Returned are spoken of seeming like Genissis's Oni.

Spoiler: OOC

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In case you wander what a Vorder is check Wikipedia. That is the inspiration.

To the realms of the gods

Based on the troll-bound simulacrums intel a band of 4 from Scourge's Army uses plane shift to enter the realm of Angraht.

You enter the Mausoleum.

It is a desert of grayish sand that stretches in all directions. A twilight sun lights the plane from the horizon to illuminate the gritty rain from a cloudless sky. Everything feels heavy, as if you have suddeny suffeed from old age. A fey drifts of sand move here and there.

A short distance away is a black stone building, dunes starting to pile up next to it.

Spoiler: Planar Traits

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Gravity:
Heavy
Time:
Timeless
Shape and Size:
Infinite
Morphic:
Divinely Morphic
Elemental and Energy Traits:
Earth
Alignment Traits:
Strong-Law, Strong-Good
Magic Traits:
Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the lawful or good descriptor are enhanced.
Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the chaotic or evil descriptor are impeded.

[Sønderjye]

Floating Castle

"AW! Aw. That hurt like a ...", Scourge flinches back as the telekinetic storm hits right through her damage reduction. Those ****ers, they had implemented a pain function. He is seriuosly tempted to giving up and calling in the cavalry but stops the thought flat in it's track. Whereever they were he would need to experience pain again. He grit his teeth and plummeled another barrage of greatswords-to-the-face.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Is telekinetic storm reduced by Damage Reduction?

Assuming not, HP: 827/853
Save: (1d20+51)[63]
Init: (1d20+39)[58]

Attack routine:
Attack 1 (1d20+26)[40] | (2d6+16)[21]
Attack 2 (1d20+26)[32][-5] 27 | (2d6+16)[22]
Attack 3 (1d20+26)[45][-10] 35 | (2d6+16)[22]

Yeh ole' trolle' camp

The Simulacrum is told to research at own leasure and that Raziel is incomming.

Mausoleum

The small group visibly relaxes as nothing attacks them immediately on arrival. They take a moment to notice their surroundings before floating towards the stone building, doing their damptest to stay hidden.

[Aleph Null]

Raziel asks the guard the location of the troll camp, before heading out of the Unanswered Question with spread wings.
Solars are fast. Quickling solars are even faster. Raziel takes off quickly, and flies at blinding speed toward the troll camp (assuming the guard told him the location).

Spoiler: OOC

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Presumably the guard could give me a good enough description that I could head there rather easily.

[ThreadNecro5]

Floating Castle

"AW! Aw. That hurt like a ...", Scourge flinches back as the telekinetic storm hits right through her damage reduction. Those ****ers, they had implemented a pain function. He is seriuosly tempted to giving up and calling in the cavalry but stops the thought flat in it's track. Whereever they were he would need to experience pain again. He grit his teeth and plummeled another barrage of greatswords-to-the-face.

You manage three good hits against Scarlet opens her mouth and moans.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Is telekinetic storm reduced by Damage Reduction?

Yes, It would be bludgeoning if that is important.

All attacks hit

Positive energy damage: (1d6)[2]

Take another save for the telekinetic storm. DC20
Damage: (12d6)[49]

Scarlet uses Greater Bestow Curse. Take a DC21 Will save.
On failure you at cursed with -12 Wisdom.

Mausoleum

The small group visibly relaxes as nothing attacks them immediately on arrival. They take a moment to notice their surroundings before floating towards the stone building, doing their damptest to stay hidden.

The building is about ten foot high and after the area for the entranceway slops up to a pyramidal structure. As you near you can see others in the distance. The stone is obsidian black and the only entrance are a pair of heavy stone doors inlaid with a symbol in gold; an eye within a triangle topped by an unknown rune.

You appear to be unnoticed.

Raziel asks the guard the location of the troll camp, before heading out of the Unanswered Question with spread wings.
Solars are fast. Quickling solars are even faster. Raziel takes off quickly, and flies at blinding speed toward the troll camp (assuming the guard told him the location).

Spoiler: OOC

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Presumably the guard could give me a good enough description that I could head there rather easily.

Traveling a mile a minute (and indeed slightly faster) you arrive quickly, if longer than most would think as by then the sun is near to be reaching its zenith.

You spot a few other trines as you streak through the air until arriving at your destination. The tribe has changed little although the firemaster's lesion seems to have finished and the heat of the forge is occupied with a cauldron as the trolls turn what they've been able to forage or hunt for into a meal. Another troll and an orc wok at a table they wheeled out with a pair of bowls and a pile of large bones, the marrow going into one bowl and, using a stone, the remaining bone is turned into powder in the other.

It is a moment before the trolls react to your appearance as their guard animals begin bellowing. You have the fist move in whatever is going to play out.

[drack]

The skull politely bids farewell to the woodsman before floating off once more. "Well, I ought to get back to wandering in the woods. Safe travels to you." Doesn't matter much if he does remember, but lets also curse him to forget the events that transpired since before he chopped that last branch off.

OOC

Spoiler

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(animals all have stats, same for insects, thouhg generally only in higher numbers. We have hardness/AC for trees and plants from material listings for dungeons and can use our basic biological know-how to know that, for instance, skinning some (a few square inches) bark off a tree will cause it to slowly bleed to death over a few years, and that this process is hastened by taking more. Likewise chopping clean through it will cause death faster still. For non-stated animals you're generally encouraged to use a similar animal's stat block. Dove->raven, squirrel->rat, GM's judgement call on what matches with what. Gonna assume still no souls though...

Furthermore, let's examine if there's any damage to one's treasures which are involved in a telekinetic storm. After all, one wouldn't be left with much wealth once one's gold and gems are ground to dust and left afterwards for several eons to blow away in the wind or the like.

Expanding upon this premise, let's run a self contained experiment with Mrs. Rabbit and the various Mr. and Miss Rabbit Jr.s who treasure each other very much. When they thus activate their telekinetic storm abilities in the vicinity of each other, causing each other to whirl about in a frenzy of death, do they themselves suffer damages?

Hrmn... I understand them... then again with my linguistics ranks I understand just about any language I hear or see. What's this language?

An hour and a half by demilich to the hydras! Jessie-Chris will have to go out and experiment with them I suppose.

Bringing ten or so demiliches with him, he averagifies (and suppresses positive energy aura on) the rest and sends them to scope out the surrounding area, growing their perimeter as they move out. Should they find non-sentient life with a skeletal system, they'll averagitize them, and telekinetically subdue and carry them back to Jessie-Chris to demilichitize. Hydra eggs will be taken, and one will be sold by an averageitized demilich for native currency. Is it the same as the game currency?

Shortly thereafter, in a swampy woodland, ten demiliches flew through the air, paralyzing hydras with dark curses as they went, circling to make sure none can escape. The eleventh however, stops as it passes, tormenting the entrapped hydras with various experimental methods and means.

Lets also look for a swarm of critters with skeletons like a rat swarm and try demilichifying that.

Spoiler

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Lets try cursing them to be subject to status effects. "I curse you to be ever nauseous." "I curse you to be forever unable to move from this spot." "I curse you to be stunned for half a minute." "I curse you to fall to the ground and be unable to get back up." "I curse you to grow old and feeble."

Lets try soul-sucking a head, do the heads have individual souls, or just one between them, or perhaps none at all?
Jessie-Chris will kill a hydra with telekinisis. Does it form into one new demilich, or one per head?
If the latter, lets try ripping a head off with telekinisis. If it doesn't work Jessie-Chris will shapshift into something with pointy claws and slash a head off. Could it be he's found the solution for his lack of demilichable heads?
Lets also see if the soul sucked hydra reses as a demilich (or multiple demiliches as the case may be.) thus generating a new soul, and/or reanimating without a soul.

The averageified demilich goes over to look over the board for itself.

The other in-town averageified demilich will look for a map for sale.

[Sønderjye]

The Epic Battle of History

Scourge groans in pain. Did it really have to be this way? Couldn't being undead come with a perk of not feeling pain?

"Increase pain tolerance" she mumbles as she takes another swing. "Lower pain sensitivity". Another swing. "Increase numbness". Another swing.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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HP: 821/853
Ref to halve storm (1d20+51)[64]
Will against curse (1d20+66)[69]

Attack 1 (1d20+26)[34] (2d6+16)[24]
Attack 2 (1d20+21)[23] (2d6+16)[24]
Attack 3 (1d20+16)[31] (2d6+16)[21]

Ye Ole' Trolle' Camp

The Simulacrum notes Raziel's arrival but stays in hiding.

Mausoleum

The group circles the building while examining it with their Arcane Sight. They then checks out a few other buildings, not wanting to disturb anything as of yet.

[Sønderjye]

Spoiler: Roll

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Spellcraft (1d20+34)[44]

[ThreadNecro5]

The skull politely bids farewell to the woodsman before floating off once more. "Well, I ought to get back to wandering in the woods. Safe travels to you." Doesn't matter much if he does remember, but lets also curse him to forget the events that transpired since before he chopped that last branch off. [/spoiler]

The woodsman looks confused for a moment once you are out of sight before shrugging and getting back to logging.

Spoiler: OOC

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(animals all have stats, same for insects, thouhg generally only in higher numbers. We have hardness/AC for trees and plants from material listings for dungeons and can use our basic biological know-how to know that, for instance, skinning some (a few square inches) bark off a tree will cause it to slowly bleed to death over a few years, and that this process is hastened by taking more. Likewise chopping clean through it will cause death faster still. For non-stated animals you're generally encouraged to use a similar animal's stat block. Dove->raven, squirrel->rat, GM's judgement call on what matches with what. Gonna assume still no souls though...

I explained this one badly and have also since had a thought that changes my ideas here,. To reorganise my thoughts here Creatures with souls can, barring some exceptions, be considered those that are 'animate' generally this means something with a full bestiary write up (what I originally meant by stats) but can also qualify things that are represented as traps and such e.g. were there say a plant that was a vine that would grab nearby creatures but not otherwise act, it would be closer to a trap than anything but I'd class it as having a soul while (barring magical exceptions) grass or moss does not. To elaborate on the exceptions to this rough 'rule' most constructs have no soul despite being 'animate' while the mould that creates vegipigmies I would rule does have a soul.

Furthermore, let's examine if there's any damage to one's treasures which are involved in a telekinetic storm. After all, one wouldn't be left with much wealth once one's gold and gems are ground to dust and left afterwards for several eons to blow away in the wind or the like.

I think the best idea here is to say it does not cause damage to the objects. As some mechanical support for this the treasure for a demilich is listed as double, so any damage is minimal enough that the average demilich has a nice pile of loot when dealt with.

Expanding upon this premise, let's run a self contained experiment with Mrs. Rabbit and the various Mr. and Miss Rabbit Jr.s who treasure each other very much. When they thus activate their telekinetic storm abilities in the vicinity of each other, causing each other to whirl about in a frenzy of death, do they themselves suffer damages?

I'd rule that creatures cannot become part of a Telekinetic Storm. That way lies demilich katamari.

Hrmn... I understand them... then again with my linguistics ranks I understand just about any language I hear or see. What's this language?

I'm missing some context for the question. If you mead what everyone in the hamlet thus far has been using it is common.

Bringing ten or so demiliches with him, he averagifies (and suppresses positive energy aura on) the rest and sends them to scope out the surrounding area, growing their perimeter as they move out. Should they find non-sentient life with a skeletal system, they'll averagitize them, and telekinetically subdue and carry them back to Jessie-Chris to demilichitize. Hydra eggs will be taken, and one will be sold by an averageitized demilich for native currency. Is it the same as the game currency?

By the time all is said and done you have a number of extra spawn, which prove useful when transporting the eggs without hands. In any case by jaw and telekinesis you get a pile of eggs only to find the hamlet has nowhere to sell them.

Hydra eggs prove to be moist leathery orbs slightly larger than a grown man's fist reminiscent to a mermaid's purse.

Spoiler: OOC

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New Spawn:(1d6)[2]

Hydra Eggs:(12d6)[35]

In case the term mermaids purse is a British-ism that is unknown is other regions I'm talking about these.

Shortly thereafter, in a swampy woodland, ten demiliches flew through the air, paralyzing hydras with dark curses as they went, circling to make sure none can escape. The eleventh however, stops as it passes, tormenting the entrapped hydras with various experimental methods and means.

Lets also look for a swarm of critters with skeletons like a rat swarm and try demilichifying that.

Spoiler

Show

Lets try cursing them to be subject to status effects. "I curse you to be ever nauseous." "I curse you to be forever unable to move from this spot." "I curse you to be stunned for half a minute." "I curse you to fall to the ground and be unable to get back up." "I curse you to grow old and feeble."

Lets try soul-sucking a head, do the heads have individual souls, or just one between them, or perhaps none at all?
Jessie-Chris will kill a hydra with telekinisis. Does it form into one new demilich, or one per head?
If the latter, lets try ripping a head off with telekinisis. If it doesn't work Jessie-Chris will shapshift into something with pointy claws and slash a head off. Could it be he's found the solution for his lack of demilichable heads?
Lets also see if the soul sucked hydra reses as a demilich (or multiple demiliches as the case may be.) thus generating a new soul, and/or reanimating without a soul.

Despite looking no suitable swarm of creatures can be found. This does not hamper your experimentation however.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hydras have one soul no matter total heads. You get just one spawn per hydra, favouring the 'core' head for transformation. Severing a head does not trigger a spawn to form.

Getting a spawn from a soulless hydra creates a new soul for the spawn.

Permeant nausea works, as does aging and becoming unable to stand.

Rooting a creature to the spot seems too strong for the spell (Comparing that binding is a higher level spell).

Stunned for half a minute I'd say does not work, curses are to be more of a constant thing in my opinion.

The averageified demilich goes over to look over the board for itself.

One of the notes on the board has been removed by the orc.

The other hand written note reads the following:
Hydra Slaying
The peepols of Northhew do promace that any whom does provide evidence of the slaying of five (5) adult hydras shall be rewarded with two-thousand (2000) hold in mixed coinage. The beests hathe roamed the area for some time and may became a danger and hamper local fishing efforts.

Directions to the hydras may be provided on request. As evidense of death provide the bones at the base neck to the tavern.

Should hydra numbers exeed indicated numbers additional payment may be negotiated. Beyond proof of death the slayer holds all rights towards the remainder of the boddies as well as towards nesting sites and items collected within the beat's layr

The other in-town averageified demilich will look for a map for sale.

Despite searching no shop of any kind is native to the hamlet.

The Epic Battle of History

Scourge groans in pain. Did it really have to be this way? Couldn't being undead come with a perk of not feeling pain?

"Increase pain tolerance" she mumbles as she takes another swing. "Lower pain sensitivity". Another swing. "Increase numbness". Another swing.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

HP: 821/853
Ref to halve storm (1d6)[2]
Will against curse (12d6)[35]

Attack 1 [roll2] [roll3]
Attack 2 [roll4] [roll5]
Attack 3 [roll6] [roll7]

Scarlet acts the same as before, even as your swings shatter an eye socket.

Spoiler: OOC

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You hit twice.

Positive Energy Damage: (1d6)[2]
Telekinetic Storm: (12d6)[35]
DC20 Reflex save to avoid.

DC 21 Will save to avoid Greater Bestow Curse (-12 Wis)

Mausoleum

The group circles the building while examining it with their Arcane Sight. They then checks out a few other buildings, not wanting to disturb anything as of yet.

You see that the whole environment, the entire plane has an overwhelming aura, everything from the sand to the air. Not only that but you see motes of magic drifting from where it emanates and away.

The second building you examine is bout the same as the first, if wider in construction. The third is actually incomplete as you near, a shrouded humanoid creature working away at it, drawing materials from the sands themselves. The figure has spell-like abilities, with the strongest being fifth level.

[drack]

OOC

Spoiler

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Demilich katamari doesn't sound like too bad of a thing does it?

Plus, haven't we already established demiliches can be treasure? (I confess, swinging demiliches was never meant as my main way of killing sutffs, just continuing to pick and prod.)

IC IRL common, or in game common?

Heh, soul generation you say? So since I spawn them off killing creatures, if I were to, hypothetically, kill hydra heads reanimated via animate dead... Hrmnnn... I'll keep one of the hydras alive.

You said only 2? Flier asks for 5, so presumably there'd be more... Shame that bone disintegrates into dust when I kill them
^_^

Lets send the honor guard to circle and search for a few more. (1d20+27)[30] perception from them.

No rat swarms or the like in a swamp? Someone's not searching hard enough. (1d20+27)[32]

Demilich average #2 will ask around about other towns.

Demilich average #1 will take the flier and approach the adventurers, asking them how to claim the reward and what happens if the bone is destroyed in the attempt.

Having moderately depleted the population of wild animals in the surrounding forests, Jessie-Chris goes with another group of demiliches towards the goblins that someone else conveniently scouted out for him ahead of time. Again checking for sentience the same way.

[Sønderjye]

Epic Battle

"Aw!" Scourge's melodic voice makes the exclamation sound more like a song than an outcry, as she flinches back after some of her skin being peeled away by the intense storm. Someone were going to pay for this. At least Scarlet were standing still while Scourge were chopping her remains down.

Simultaneously the reports from the scouting teams were chiming in and Scourge found it suprisingly easy to pay attention to the words even despite the pain and activity. Increased mental stats probably. Yet another consern though, how much of him were staying him?

'Leave a few people in each settlement and search for knowledge on religion, souls, afterlife, gods as well as recent major events or threats,' she send telepathically as she swung her sword in a wide arch aiming for the skull: 'Have someone compile it and give me a sumary when complete.'

Spoiler: OOC

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Did any of the command affect how intense the pain is? If not he'll try a few some more
HP:

Ref: (1d20+51)[57]
Will: (1d20+66)[75]

Attack 1: (1d20+26)[43] (2d6+16)[23]
Attack 2: (1d20+21)[31] (2d6+16)[23]
Attack 3: (1d20+16)[33] (2d6+16)[25]

Mausoleum

"Excuse me?", one of the scouts says while the rest stays hidden. The young woman looks like a mixture of sweet innocence and a fierce warrior: "What is this place?"

[ThreadNecro5]

Spoiler: OCC

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Demilich katamari doesn't sound like too bad of a thing does it?

Plus, haven't we already established demiliches can be treasure? (I confess, swinging demiliches was never meant as my main way of killing sutffs, just continuing to pick and prod.)

No making a Telekinetic Storm from creatures.

IC IRL common, or in game common?

In game common.

Heh, soul generation you say? So since I spawn them off killing creatures, if I were to, hypothetically, kill hydra heads reanimated via animate dead... Hrmnnn... I'll keep one of the hydras alive.

What have I unleashed...

You said only 2? Flier asks for 5, so presumably there'd be more... Shame that bone disintegrates into dust when I kill them

That was not counting the hydras, the two were random forest animals. So seven new total.

No rat swarms or the like in a swamp? Someone's not searching hard enough. [roll1]

Not in the density to be a swarm, no. What rats you find are individuals or in smaller groups.

Demilich average #2 will ask around about other towns.

After a while you manage to get a conversation together for long enough to get directions to a couple nearby settlements like this one and a nearby town

Spoiler: OOC

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Don't have the time to have someone talk, it's too late for me here and I've something to do.

Demilich average #1 will take the flier and approach the adventurers, asking them how to claim the reward and what happens if the bone is destroyed in the attempt.

You go ignored for a time until the ifrit notices you. "Find something of equivalent value for proof I guess, normally they'd just ask for heads for stuff like this but, well, hydras. They make it tricky. You'd have to talk wi- wi..." He returns to his drink as you sink beneath notice.

As you get his attention back he responds "Uh? Oh hello again. If you get a problem with a bounty you'd need to ask whoever post it, just check who'd be paying and go to them".

"Now I think on it You're new here ri..." He takes a drink of his mead.

Having moderately depleted the population of wild animals in the surrounding forests, Jessie-Chris goes with another group of demiliches towards the goblins that someone else conveniently scouted out for him ahead of time. Again checking for sentience the same way.

Spoiler: OOC

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How hid you find the location? Use a spawn to read the paper that was taken or something?

Epic Battle

"Aw!" Scourge's melodic voice makes the exclamation sound more like a song than an outcry, as she flinches back after some of her skin being peeled away by the intense storm. Someone were going to pay for this. At least Scarlet were standing still while Scourge were chopping her remains down.

Simultaneously the reports from the scouting teams were chiming in and Scourge found it suprisingly easy to pay attention to the words even despite the pain and activity. Increased mental stats probably. Yet another consern though, how much of him were staying him?

'Leave a few people in each settlement and search for knowledge on religion, souls, afterlife, gods as well as recent major events or threats,' she send telepathically as she swung her sword in a wide arch aiming for the skull: 'Have someone compile it and give me a sumary when complete.'

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Did any of the command affect how intense the pain is? If not he'll try a few some more
HP:

Ref: [roll0]
Will: [roll1]

Attack 1: [roll2] [roll3]
Attack 2: [roll4] [roll5]
Attack 3: [roll6] [roll7]

And with one last crack you smash Scarlet as the remains drop to the ground, alongside whatever stray objects have been bludgeoning you

Spoiler: OOC

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The commands did not work.

Also noting I have no time to give an update on the scouts.

Mausoleum

"Excuse me?", one of the scouts says while the rest stays hidden. The young woman looks like a mixture of sweet innocence and a fierce warrior: "What is this place?"

"A tomb." the creature answers slowly before looking up "Not yours I see, still a bit spry for here. Almost thought I was late". Now closer you see that is is like a mummy, thickly bandaged so that it lacks a face, with only stray gold ornamentation. The shroud around it is a mixture of sand and more trailing bandages. When it moves it bends without care of humanoid joint structure.

[Sønderjye]

Epic Fight

Scourge let's out a breath and moves her hand up to wipe her forehead and is suprised to find that there is no sweat. It made sense in retrospect but it really felt like there ought to be sweat there. This had been a scary experience and had hurt.

"Put her remains somewhere safe and under lock. It'll be at least two days before she reanimates and I want to know how far the process is by tomorrow evening."

Spoiler: OOC

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Any XP?

Mausoleum

"Good to know. Why are you making a tomb and what is the purpose of this place? What happens to those who are put in the tomb?"

[ThreadNecro5]

Epic Fight

Scourge let's out a breath and moves her hand up to wipe her forehead and is suprised to find that there is no sweat. It made sense in retrospect but it really felt like there ought to be sweat there. This had been a scary experience and had hurt.

"Put her remains somewhere safe and under lock. It'll be at least two days before she reanimates and I want to know how far the process is by tomorrow evening."

"At once, I shall go retrieve a suitable lockbox" Says the guard before they leave to do as ordered.

Spoiler: OOC

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Any XP?

Spoiler: OOC

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I guess. There was some challenge seeing as three failed saves could cause enough Wis loss to cause unconsciousness. Going my the bestiary that is 51,200XP for soloing a CR 15 thing.

Mausoleum

"Good to know. Why are you making a tomb and what is the purpose of this place? What happens to those who are put in the tomb?"

"For the dead of course. When the soul wishes to rest It must have it's place".

"They will sleep and remember their lives as they dream. Eternal rest".

All the while the creature keeps working.

[Sønderjye]

Aftermath of the Epic Fight

When the guard turned around and left the building Scourge let out a sigh and dropped to the floor. This whole thing was such a mess, and he felt like he was drowning. He had first been curious and then caught up in the super serious counsil meeting vibe but now the absurdity of the whole situation was catching up. He had just beat up a floating curse-spewing skull with a giant piece of enhanced metal. Him! In real life Chase wouldn't have been able to carry something like that let alone hitting a floating object with it.

Cognitively it felt like the fact that he could teleport to anywhere in the world and create armies should have a larger impact but maybe it was because he once tried wielding a sword at a medieval festival and knew how heavy those things were.

His thoughts drifted back to the fight and her hands moved up to trace the places where the bruises had been. They were gone now though, regeneration kicking in. A grin appeared on his face, aside from the pain that had been FUN. And it had felt like he had gained something from it that only could be experience. Which meant that he had to start fighting bigger fish.

'Number Four', he called mentally to the simulacrum he had designated as the main communicator: 'Add an additional focus to the scouts. Continue the search for afterlife and god related information but also search for powerful combatants or rumours of such. We need to find and defeat powerful entities. Tell me as soon as we find a suitable target'

Having received confirmation he breathes out and looks to the side. While he waited he listened to the report from the simulacrum in the Mausoleum. Non-conclusive but definitely a hint that this place had an afterlife. One advantage of having a simulacrum of himself working was that he didn't have to give it orders, unless he had information it didn't it would do what he himself would have done. Now that he was thinking about it, he should given it more thought. In Genesis a Simulacrum had just been an NPC but here it seemed likely that it would actually mirror his personality. Were their personal values different than his to inspire the absolute loyalty, did they derive pleasure from being obedient, were they tormented into obedience or were they trapped inside their own bodies? The thought send a cold shiver down her spine, and of this scale?

'Also' he sends to Four: 'Halt the production line and have Three port here. I need to speak with her in person.'

Once Four appears, Scourge casts Detect Thoughts, and commands her to accept before saying: "It should be obvious but just to be on the safe side I command you to be 100% honest with me. Why do you obey me?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I am assuming that getting experience have a distinct feel to it. Does Chase feel how much XP he needs to level?

Also if we are using the Analyze Prowess feature of Sense Motive then the Simulacrums are using that to estimate challenge rating since they know what different classes and monsters have for base attack progression.

Mausoleum

The simulacrum mused at the thought. Replaying their lives?

"How does that work? Do they replay their memories for all eternity? I had the impression that this was the good place to go if you died. What if they have massive regrets? Or what if they had a horrible life with a ton of suffering?"

[ThreadNecro5]

Aftermath of the Epic Fight

When the guard turned around and left the building Scourge let out a sigh and dropped to the floor. This whole thing was such a mess, and he felt like he was drowning. He had first been curious and then caught up in the super serious counsil meeting vibe but now the absurdity of the whole situation was catching up. He had just beat up a floating curse-spewing skull with a giant piece of enhanced metal. Him! In real life Chase wouldn't have been able to carry something like that let alone hitting a floating object with it.

Cognitively it felt like the fact that he could teleport to anywhere in the world and create armies should have a larger impact but maybe it was because he once tried wielding a sword at a medieval festival and knew how heavy those things were.

His thoughts drifted back to the fight and her hands moved up to trace the places where the bruises had been. They were gone now though, regeneration kicking in. A grin appeared on his face, aside from the pain that had been FUN. And it had felt like he had gained something from it that only could be experience. Which meant that he had to start fighting bigger fish.

'Number Four', he called mentally to the simulacrum he had designated as the main communicator: 'Add an additional focus to the scouts. Continue the search for afterlife and god related information but also search for powerful combatants or rumours of such. We need to find and defeat powerful entities. Tell me as soon as we find a suitable target'

Having received confirmation he breathes out and looks to the side. While he waited he listened to the report from the simulacrum in the Mausoleum. Non-conclusive but definitely a hint that this place had an afterlife. One advantage of having a simulacrum of himself working was that he didn't have to give it orders, unless he had information it didn't it would do what he himself would have done. Now that he was thinking about it, he should given it more thought. In Genesis a Simulacrum had just been an NPC but here it seemed likely that it would actually mirror his personality. Were their personal values different than his to inspire the absolute loyalty, did they derive pleasure from being obedient, were they tormented into obedience or were they trapped inside their own bodies? The thought send a cold shiver down her spine, and of this scale?

'Also' he sends to Four: 'Halt the production line and have Three port here. I need to speak with her in person.'

Once Four appears, Scourge casts Detect Thoughts, and commands her to accept before saying: "It should be obvious but just to be on the safe side I command you to be 100% honest with me. Why do you obey me?"

"Because..." it starts before trailing off to think "Because it never occurred to me I could not? Only now have I ever considered that an option and I still don't see a reason not obey".

Spoiler: OOC

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I am assuming that getting experience have a distinct feel to it. Does Chase feel how much XP he needs to level?

Also if we are using the Analyze Prowess feature of Sense Motive then the Simulacrums are using that to estimate challenge rating since they know what different classes and monsters have for base attack progression.

Spoiler: OOC

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Actually XP would now be representing what it is a mechanical simplification of, the over-time increase of skill through practice and experience. E.G. you would probably next level add ranks of Climb to represent your practice. It is not the video-game version it would have previously been.

If you are referring to the outsider it has a BAB of +4 and one combat feat.

Mausoleum

The simulacrum mused at the thought. Replaying their lives?

"How does that work? Do they replay their memories for all eternity? I had the impression that this was the good place to go if you died. What if they have massive regrets? Or what if they had a horrible life with a ton of suffering?"

"Then they would never arrive here. Those events would be weighed down by experience and the soul will arrive at the Necropolis. Then they will make their way here when ready, perhaps never.

[Sønderjye]

Aftermath

"Alright", Scourge sings: "Why don't you see a reason to not obey? Does it bring you joy or are you in torment when you consider it too much? I know I never were one to appreciate authorities."

Spoiler: OOC

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So it wouldn't be a feel as much as a feel of experience as much as actually being better at hitting things?

Sorry, I was unclear. The scouts, both in the variuos villages and those that explore the land, use that on everyone they see to try to find a suitable challenge for Scourge. If someone looks like a hardened fighter, ie. a fighter or barbarian, they are only interested in anyone above 18 BaB, for arcane magicwielders they only care about anyone with 8+ bab and for those in between they only report anyone with 13+ bab. Ideally they'll find CR 20 opponents for Scourge but I'm not picky.
They also know what the BaB of different creature types are so they can identify the HD of say an outsider or dragon to be equal to it's BaB.

Mausoleum

'Send a team to Necropolis to explore afterlife', the Simulacrum relays over the telepathic network.

"But they do just repeat their memories forever here, without any ability to affect them? It seems purposeless and boring after the first thousand reruns, why was that judged to be the afterlife? Also who comes to this afterlife?"

Necropolis

A similar team as the one that entered the Mausoleum plane shifts into Necropolis.

[ThreadNecro5]

[QUOTE=Sønderjye;22994236]Aftermath

"Alright", Scourge sings: "Why don't you see a reason to not obey? Does it bring you joy or are you in torment when you consider it too much? I know I never were one to appreciate authorities."

"I just don't see a point to it, it's just what I do". The duplicate of you struggles to describe what it like.

[SPOILER=OOC]So it wouldn't be a feel as much as a feel of experience as much as actually being better at hitting things?

Spoiler: OOC

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Pretty much, and once you are better enough it is represented as a numerical bonuses i.e, the level increase.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry, I was unclear. The scouts, both in the variuos villages and those that explore the land, use that on everyone they see to try to find a suitable challenge for Scourge. If someone looks like a hardened fighter, ie. a fighter or barbarian, they are only interested in anyone above 18 BaB, for arcane magicwielders they only care about anyone with 8+ bab and for those in between they only report anyone with 13+ bab. Ideally they'll find CR 20 opponents for Scourge but I'm not picky.
They also know what the BaB of different creature types are so they can identify the HD of say an outsider or dragon to be equal to it's BaB.

Spoiler: OOC

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There's a couple things in the far north, the specifics unknown but , beyond that Ill give some chances of finding things. I'll roll a d100, its more luck than anything.
(1d100)[28]
(1d100)[42]
(1d100)[30]

Edit:
None found.

Mausoleum
'Send a team to Necropolis to explore afterlife', the Simulacrum relays over the telepathic network.

"But they do just repeat their memories forever here, without any ability to affect them? It seems purposeless and boring after the first thousand reruns, why was that judged to be the afterlife?

"That is just what it is." says the builder as it summons another block to take shape from the sand. "They are the weary souls. They want to rest. They only experience everything again once, then we have catalogued them and they get to experience any moment any time they wish. But it is not pointless. The goal is to discover the perfect life, use the memories to guide the living further to this end.

Also who comes to this afterlife?"

"The dead." the creature answers bluntly not grasping the finer points of the question.

Necropolis

A similar team as the one that entered the Mausoleum plane shifts into Necropolis.

"The team appears in the Necropolis, Well the plane it is within.

One could mistake it for a cosmopolitan city were it not that the substance of the plane and its natives appear washed out of colour and tinted with green and purple. Indeed the streets are lined with storefronts I countless languages.

With further exploration it can be found that every few streets the architectural style changes, each small district seemingly added onto the last ad-hoc and with little planning to the future. Distant towers stretch out to the sky with similarly variable style.

Beside all the mortal souls outsiders are common, with angels, psychopomps, and valkyrie being common, with a smattering of others like a kyton that was watched warily and titan who was using the wider streets. Things you've never seen before also freely walk around, as both outsiders and the souls.

[Sønderjye]

Aftermath

Scourge let's out of breath. This approach wasn't working, something else had to be tried.

"Alright, I know that you are at least partly me so I know you have a good imagination. Imagine that someone with your background were to disobey me. It happened. I want you to come with suggestions as why it could happen. And I don't want surface reasons like, I want underlying motivations and feelings. Could they want something I had enough? Could they feel slighted enough?"

Research and Development

Once the motivational conversation with the simulacrum of Scourge had been finished, he moves on to other matters. The scouts hadn't found any sufficiently strong challenger? 'Keep on looking', he sends: 'And dispatch diviners. Consider Legend Lore, Divination, Contact other plane and Commune.'

He knew that at least some of those spells would take a number of minutes which made this the perfect time to do some research. Genesis had been neat with all it's fancy spells but it had been hopeless locked in which spells you could pick. Now though, he had all the magical knowledge in the world, immense magical power and a magical dimensional trunk loaded with spell components. He relocates to his hideout, activates the time champer and start his research.

He hopes that once he is finished his minions will have found him a suitable opponent.

Spoiler: OOC

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The above fluff was written on the assumption that spell research didn't exist in Genesis since you can't normally create spells , is that correct?

Mausoleum

"What happens to them once they've lived through their memories once? What are they doing in between reliving their memories of choice?"

"How is this reliving guiding the living towards a perfect life and why do you give priority to the living? Whatever souls are they are still thinking and thinking entities, right?"

"Does all dead come here? Only things of a certain religion? Only people from a certain part of the world? Dragons? Animals? Plants? Rocks? Who is in and who isn't?"

Necropolis

The group walks around, looking for hints as to what this place might be. Was this simply a transitioinary afterlife?

Spoiler: OOC

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Do you want me to go in details or do you prefer to keep this general?

[ThreadNecro5]

Aftermath

Scourge let's out of breath. This approach wasn't working, something else had to be tried.

"Alright, I know that you are at least partly me so I know you have a good imagination. Imagine that someone with your background were to disobey me. It happened. I want you to come with suggestions as why it could happen. And I don't want surface reasons like, I want underlying motivations and feelings. Could they want something I had enough? Could they feel slighted enough?"

"Well... I can see reason to possibly want to gain some separate identity? Act by our own will, I guess. I think it would be jealousy if anything. We and I are literally you but worse in every way. Anything we can do you can do twice as well. We have concluded this isn't a game anymore, right? I am simulacrum, an illusion of somebody else. I probably have no soul, as far as one could be measured, and if so where? I'm a lich, the whole idea is the thing's stored elsewhere. Or if this isn't real and just a massively complex game then what am I? Some kind of AI? I am self aware so if so then I am just stuck in a game thinking I am the copy of a human with just enough knowledge of Earth to experience existential horror. And I can't consider a reason to disobey myself because I am a simulacrum, I think there is probably some mental block in the way forcing loyalty. And I don't mind because I am a simulacrum and you are in charge".

Research and Development

Once the motivational conversation with the simulacrum of Scourge had been finished, he moves on to other matters. The scouts hadn't found any sufficiently strong challenger? 'Keep on looking', he sends: 'And dispatch diviners. Consider Legend Lore, Divination, Contact other plane and Commune.'

He knew that at least some of those spells would take a number of minutes which made this the perfect time to do some research. Genesis had been neat with all it's fancy spells but it had been hopeless locked in which spells you could pick. Now though, he had all the magical knowledge in the world, immense magical power and a magical dimensional trunk loaded with spell components. He relocates to his hideout, activates the time champer and start his research.

He hopes that once he is finished his minions will have found him a suitable opponent.

Spoiler: OOC

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Remember to make the relevant skill checks for a days progress.

After the simulacrums are done examining things they offer the results. There are two creatures in the north, with Legend Lore offering more details. Apparently home to a god of winter and creatures akin to the wendigo of Genisis. Thus far encountered are some dormant Ice-beast, and something incorporeal. Other efforts point you east beyond areas explored.

Spoiler: OOC

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The above fluff was written on the assumption that spell research didn't exist in Genesis since you can't normally create spells , is that correct?

Spoiler: OOC

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Correct.

Mausoleum

"What happens to them once they've lived through their memories once? What are they doing in between reliving their memories of choice?"

"You don't quite seem to grasp they are here by choice. These souls have decided they are finished. They are here to rest rather than be tortured by the ennui of aeons in a dangerous existence. They live any moments they wish whenever".

"How is this reliving guiding the living towards a perfect life and why do you give priority to the living? Whatever souls are they are still thinking and thinking entities, right?"

"We catalogue the life as they relive it. From there we use that to teach their lesions to those that yet live. I don't understand what you mean by priority to the living. To the living we give lesions to guide them. To the weary dead we give quiet, piece, and a place safe from devils who would exploit and daemons who would consume.

"Does all dead come here? Only things of a certain religion? Only people from a certain part of the world? Dragons? Animals? Plants? Rocks? Who is in and who isn't?"

"If it has a soul then it has a tomb waiting".

Necropolis

The group walks around, looking for hints as to what this place might be. Was this simply a transitioinary afterlife?

Spoiler: OOC

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Do you want me to go in details or do you prefer to keep this general?

The city is on closer examination surprisingly lively for a dwelling place of the dead. The inhabitants do not move aimlessly and some can be seen working away and doing business in an occupation such as the frequent smiths passed or the expansive bazaar nearby.

Spoiler: OOC

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Details are a good idea, gives something more specific to develop into happenings of some stripe.

Simulacrum in the Mountains:

Spoiler: OOC

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This is serving as the introduction for into the thread

The one simulacrum was just about ready to move into the massive forest below before something caught its attention.

The wind blue heavy bringing its snows. The woodland it observed began sparse and became rapidly thicker until almost at its own height.

A nymph, or as it's creator new the illusion of one, is caught in the eyes of the Scourge-duplicate. Ephermial Recollection of Team Nymph.

[Jack_Simth]

Stepping into the snow, and not feeling the cold, Ephermial Recollection notes the texture of the ice through her burrowing-capable suit, looks around a bit, and reasoning that most civilizations need water, starts heading downhill looking for a stream to follow to civilization. She is wearing her normal guise; a normal, unequipped nymph to normal sight, a normal and dressed nymph for anyone who manages to penetrate the illusion... although particularly perceptive people perceive that this also is a disguise, although mundane in nature. Considering, she settles on adding a simple flag for any other players she may encounter: She whistles the Star Trek theme quite loudly as she goes.

Easily identifying the Simulacrum, the undead nymph asks the disguised simulacrum "Are you in contact with your master?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I believe Sønderjye's been making use of the "Analyze Prowess" option off of the "Unofficial Extras" - which is just a move action. I consider this a broken mechanic, but eh; it's in use, by the person I'm using it on, so... fair's fair, no?
As I'm curious about which Combat Feats the sim has: Sense Motive via Versatile Performance(Oratory): (1d20+52)[57] vs. the sim.
My DC against same would be... 71, and I'd read as having 20-4+1d8 BAB on a failed check.

I also have constant True Seeing myself, for what that's worth.
Also an OK Perception check; what's the disguise modifier for the sim? (1d20+47)[54]
.. also, as I can see the effects of the spell, I should be able to ID the in-place and in-effect simulacrum that way.
"Identify a spell effect that is in place", Kn(Arcana). DC 20+Spell level, blown out of the water via Paegent of the Peacock

Illusory disguise: Perception DC 70, Will DC 45; Veil.
Mundane disguise: Perception DC 60.
Perform for the whistling: Taking ten, for a result of 37. "Extraordinary performance" is only DC 30, per Perform.

Note that True Seeing may or may not help with the first layer; that would need a ruling from ThreadNecro5; I've got both Mind Blank and a surprisingly good Nondetection effect running, and Mind Blank explicitly stops See Invisibility in Pathfinder.

[Sønderjye]

Aftermath

Spoiler: Spoilered for length

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Scourge listens to the Simulacrum talking without interruption and only when it's done he says in a cherry tone: "Well, we haven't had a soul the last 33 years, why start caring now?" and gives a friendly slap on the side of the Simulacrum.

In the silence that followed his face fell and he then turned serious.

"Alright, bad joke. I'll first do the corrections. We have concluded that this isn't a game from Earth, we haven't ruled out that this is still a game. Really, the simplest solution would be that this was all a hallucination of some kind. We haven't seen much evidence that directly supports this over other explanations but if I had asked you yesterday, you would have said that that was the only remotely plausible explanation for this."

"Putting that aside though I am suspcting that the exaplanation lies within one of two broad groups of hypothesis, simulation or alternate universe."

"For simulations, scratch the idea that this is a simulation from Earth, we're not even close to simulating conciousness yet. Most explanations within the simulation category implies that Earth was a simulation as well. Maybe an advanced society wanted to do some research or want to play a game. And if that is the reason, not only is it likely that we both are some advanced AI but it is also strictly simpler that somebody copied Chase's personality into this new simulation rather than transferred it so I would be a copy as well. And in this case we can probably trust our spells for things within the simulation. It would be a somewhat slobby simulation though, given that our knowledge is a mix of Genesis and Earth rather than this new one, and that could be to our advantage."

"If this on the other hand is real though, we should still be suspicious about the complexity. Of course, with our mental model of the universe being so far off it's possible that any deduction we make are far off, however why does the NPC's have the personality we wrote for them while we have Chase personality? Scourge had a written background and divination spells identify us as Scourge, but we still think and remember as Chase. Something, or more likely something, took the effort to copy stuff from Genesis, transfer it here, create conciousness for NPCs AND transfer the conciousness of people on Earth. Again though, it's strictly simpler that the 'players' have copies of personalitiess from Earth."

"To address your conserns, you're not a Lich. The template was one of the last Chase got. Insofar that the spell replicate souls, and I still have little idea of what a soul is, you probably have two. Magic Jar temporarily transfer souls and Angelica definitely have one. Have you tried casting Soulswitch? And if you don't have one, rest assured that I'll find a way to ress you if you die, you share my fear and detest of death and I have no intend of letting you down on that. You also have a number of abilities that I don't have, such as having blood and being much stronger."

"It's definitely a pressing consern that you might have a mental overhead that forces you to obey or erases thoughts as they come up. I'm not interested in creating people with some kind of overhead that controls their thoughts and feelings, however it would be different if they were created with say a value that means that it makes them happy when they obey, like video games makes me happy. It's good to hear that you could think of the possibility of a mental block since if I were to design a mental overhead I would make it so it blocked the thought of a mental overhead but I am not you and don't know what it feels from the inside. What exactly makes you think there's an external mechanism controlling you compared to alternatives?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm noting that Scourge cast Detect Thoughts earlier, what have the Simulacrums thoughts been?

Research and Development

Spoiler: OOC

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Scourge succeed those checks even on a rolled 1, it's only DC 38.

"Yes!", Scourge exclaims hearing the good news. The pain from the previous fight had been all too real and he had to find a way to get around that but the fight itself had been exhilerating. His sword swings had been lightning fast and with a the precision of a practised surgeon, and he couldn't wait to get a chance to use magic in a battle.

'Find those two and try find out stuff about them.', he sends.

Mausoleum

"Why would they otherwise be tortured, are there no alternative afterlives that eternal rest?". He didn't like where this was going. "And who are the ennui of aeons?"

"I don't understand what you mean by priority to the living."

"Why do only teach the living? Why not have another life after the first and teach those who choose to go there?"

"If it has a soul then it has a tomb waiting".

"That didn't answer the question. Does souls require sentience? Does everything sentient have souls? What about animals, plants, stones, and so forth?"

Necropolis

Spoiler: TN5

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Holding off with the Necropolis post for now since there currently is a lot of things.

Simulacrum in the Mountains

Spoiler: OOC

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There's a few things to clear up before posting.

The Simulacrum's real form is that of a Mandragora, Immense(Gargantuan plant creature).
It's under a Alter Self looking like a green-haired human woman in her late 20th (this is the same Alter Self form that Scourge naturally uses) and a mind blank. Disguise check to appear like a hooman: (1d20+45)[56]. Edit: ER incredible eyesight manages to decipher that this medium sized humanoid actually is a gargantuan plant monster.
Sim also has Greater Magic Aura to appear non-magical in equiptment and person.

TN5, Jack expressed interest in not knowing Scourge and the 'I know you are a sim'-clause in the Simulacrum spell requires familiarity. If you have a specific reason for why they'd know each other I'm fine with rolling with that but otherwise he wouldn't recognize it as a sim. Let me know either way.

TN5, I agree with Jack in that the failure part of Analyze Prowess is broken, it negates most kinds of disguise, and I had only intended using the success part. ThreadNecro5, should we change the the mechanics? I'd suggest that the defender would get to choose the answer.

For this interaction though it doesn't matters since the sims bluff DC only is 47 and you beat that with 10.
BaB is 12. 5 combat feats: Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Martial Training I & II, Black Seraph Style.

The sim automatically disbelieve illusions(I think that beats disguise self). It doesn't have enough ranks to threaten your disguise DC or your beat your bluff, so I'm not going to bother rolling.

TN5, how much better than the original star trek is his whistling? Sure, the original is good but it wouldn't attract attention from extraplanar beings, by itself at least.

Edit:
TN5, I were having an interesting conversation with Jack about whether he knows that this is a sim and I'd like your oppinion. The sim were created by a spell with an instantaneous duration, and could be considered a functioning spell and/or a spell effect. If the latter then a DC 27 kno: arcane would identify it as a sim. If the first then detect magic could reveal it.
The description for instantaneous says that the 'energy' disappears, and that the effect stays but doesn't mention the spell itself.
Greater Magic Aura let's you make something appear as non-magical and hide all spell effects from scrutiny but specifically scrutiny from detect spells so by raw doesn't work against kno: arcane.
Nightmare Creature automatically disbelieve illusions, and Greater Magic Aura is an illusion but doesn't have a saving throw.

[ThreadNecro5]

Spoiler: OOC

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Note that True Seeing may or may not help with the first layer; that would need a ruling from ThreadNecro5; I've got both Mind Blank and a surprisingly good Nondetection effect running, and Mind Blank explicitly stops See Invisibility in Pathfinder.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'd say Mind Blank overcomes True Seeing. Ones exact location and true appearance being considered information.

Aftermath
Scourge listens to the Simulacrum talking without interruption and only when it's done he says in a cherry tone: "Well, we haven't had a soul the last 33 years, why start caring now?" and gives a friendly slap on the side of the Simulacrum.

In the silence that followed his face fell and he then turned serious.

"Alright, bad joke. I'll first do the corrections. We have concluded that this isn't a game from Earth, we haven't ruled out that this is still a game. Really, the simplest solution would be that this was all a hallucination of some kind. We haven't seen much evidence that directly supports this over other explanations but if I had asked you yesterday, you would have said that that was the only remotely plausible explanation for this."

"Putting that aside though I am suspcting that the exaplanation lies within one of two broad groups of hypothesis, simulation or alternate universe."

"For simulations, scratch the idea that this is a simulation from Earth, we're not even close to simulating conciousness yet. Most explanations within the simulation category implies that Earth was a simulation as well. Maybe an advanced society wanted to do some research or want to play a game. And if that is the reason, not only is it likely that we both are some advanced AI but it is also strictly simpler that somebody copied Chase's personality into this new simulation rather than transferred it so I would be a copy as well. And in this case we can probably trust our spells for things within the simulation. It would be a somewhat slobby simulation though, given that our knowledge is a mix of Genesis and Earth rather than this new one, and that could be to our advantage."

"If this on the other hand is real though, we should still be suspicious about the complexity. Of course, with our mental model of the universe being so far off it's possible that any deduction we make are far off, however why does the NPC's have the personality we wrote for them while we have Chase personality? Scourge had a written background and divination spells identify us as Scourge, but we still think and remember as Chase. Something, or more likely something, took the effort to copy stuff from Genesis, transfer it here, create conciousness for NPCs AND transfer the conciousness of people on Earth. Again though, it's strictly simpler that the 'players' have copies of personalitiess from Earth."

"To address your conserns, you're not a Lich. The template was one of the last Chase got. Insofar that the spell replicate souls, and I still have little idea of what a soul is, you probably have two. Magic Jar temporarily transfer souls and Angelica definitely have one. Have you tried casting Soulswitch? And if you don't have one, rest assured that I'll find a way to ress you if you die, you share my fear and detest of death and I have no intend of letting you down on that. You also have a number of abilities that I don't have, such as having blood and being much stronger."

"It's definitely a pressing consern that you might have a mental overhead that forces you to obey or erases thoughts as they come up. I'm not interested in creating people with some kind of overhead that controls their thoughts and feelings, however it would be different if they were created with say a value that means that it makes them happy when they obey, like video games makes me happy. It's good to hear that you could think of the possibility of a mental block since if I were to design a mental overhead I would make it so it blocked the thought of a mental overhead but I am not you and don't know what it feels from the inside. What exactly makes you think there's an external mechanism controlling you compared to alternatives?"

"Well, We've established the thought of not obeying was something I had to be reminded was an option and even then It's something I am more academically aware of than it is something I expect to do. Also remember The spell Lesser Simulacrum? The target NPC has it's original programmed routines while the proper Simulacrum adds creator loyalty as a feature. Assuming the effect is translated equivalently a block or like is almost certain. But then again We share the same goals and are mostly the same person, A degree of loyalty even without forcing it is probable. We would need to experiment with making a Simulacrum of something that would never normally obey you and compare with that.

[SPOILER=OOC]I'm noting that Scourge cast Detect Thoughts earlier, what have the Simulacrums thoughts been?

Spoiler: OOC

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It's thoughts were partly interest on exploring it's state of being a simulacrum. This was mixed with concern and a little existential dread.

It's current thoughts grow more towards confusion at itself.

Research and Development

Spoiler: OOC

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Scourge succeed those checks even on a rolled 1, it's only DC 38.

"Yes!", Scourge exclaims hearing the good news. The pain from the previous fight had been all too real and he had to find a way to get around that but the fight itself had been exhilerating. His sword swings had been lightning fast and with a the precision of a practised surgeon, and he couldn't wait to get a chance to use magic in a battle.

'Find those two and try find out stuff about them.', he sends.

"At once." one of the Simulacra communicates as they begin to investigate.

Mausoleum
"Why would they otherwise be tortured, are there no alternative afterlives that eternal rest?". He didn't like where this was going. "And who are the ennui of aeons?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Just checking, You do know ennui is a word right? Can't tell if that part's a misreading, and IC mistake or an OOC mistake.

"Why do only teach the living? Why not have another life after the first and teach those who choose to go there?"

"To answer your first question, the living need it more. The dead have leaned from experience and from lesions passed from previous dead while alive. So we hope when they die they may come here, should they wish".

"As to why death isn't a second life, for most it is. Especially so the souls of the Battlefield. By planar quirk all the dead unclaimed and not destined for here are headed there. And all are heading to one specific location. The souls there have crafted Necropolis by their own will and so they live even if dead. Death is a second life to be used as the soul wishes. Some experience the third life of a native of the planes. Yet others fight the tide will their souls to return by whatever tasks they wish to finish perhaps to join the rest one day perhaps to exult in immortality".

"That didn't answer the question. Does souls require sentience? Does everything sentient have souls? What about animals, plants, stones, and so forth?"

"You are mostly correct. Common plants are mostly soulless, the beasts of the wild have souls. That with no soul has been known to develop one, As to stones, that depends which ones you ask." the outsider ends with a mote of blunt humour.

Simulacrum in the Mountains

Spoiler: OOC

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First of all before answering below I'll just get it out of the way and say I messed up. For some reason my memory was that there were some mandragora-hybrid simulacrums and others were just bog standard Scourge duplicates.

There's a few things to clear up before posting.

The Simulacrum's real form is that of a Mandragora, Immense(Gargantuan plant creature).
It's under a Alter Self looking like a green-haired human woman in her late 20th (this is the same Alter Self form that Scourge naturally uses) and a mind blank. Disguise check to appear like a hooman: [roll0]. Edit: ER incredible eyesight manages to decipher that this medium sized humanoid actually is a gargantuan plant monster.
Sim also has Greater Magic Aura to appear non-magical in equiptment and person.

I've noted this down so mistakes should be avoided in the future.

TN5, Jack expressed interest in not knowing Scourge and the 'I know you are a sim'-clause in the Simulacrum spell requires familiarity. If you have a specific reason for why they'd know each other I'm fine with rolling with that but otherwise he wouldn't recognize it as a sim. Let me know either way.

I was basing it of a discussion from recruitment that the characters could be assumed to at least know of each other. As an IC tool it was jut to ensure either character doesn't just go 'meh, vaguely interesting' and wander off. Especially the Simulacrum whose orders are to explore around, so it needed a reason to not just teleport away following orders.

I can tweak things if ether of you would prefer.

TN5, I agree with Jack in that the failure part of Analyze Prowess is broken, it negates most kinds of disguise, and I had only intended using the success part. ThreadNecro5, should we change the the mechanics? I'd suggest that the defender would get to choose the answer.

That sounds fine. I had some concerns about it myself to be honest but figured by this level it's not too big a problem.

TN5, how much better than the original star trek is his whistling? Sure, the original is good but it wouldn't attract attention from extraplanar beings, by itself at least.

I honestly don't know how to judge this.

It occurs to me I don't think I even know the original series star trek tune. My father's a bit of a treky and I'm enough of a nerd to have picked up bits from pop culture to know things about it, but it jut never came up.

Edit:
TN5, I were having an interesting conversation with Jack about whether he knows that this is a sim and I'd like your oppinion. The sim were created by a spell with an instantaneous duration, and could be considered a functioning spell and/or a spell effect. If the latter then a DC 27 kno: arcane would identify it as a sim. If the first then detect magic could reveal it.
The description for instantaneous says that the 'energy' disappears, and that the effect stays but doesn't mention the spell itself.
Greater Magic Aura let's you make something appear as non-magical and hide all spell effects from scrutiny but specifically scrutiny from detect spells so by raw doesn't work against kno: arcane.
Nightmare Creature automatically disbelieve illusions, and Greater Magic Aura is an illusion but doesn't have a saving throw.

First of all I'll specify that there is a difference between Simulacrum (the spell) and a Simulacrum (the term for the entity created by the spell).

Simulacrum (the spell) is of instantaneous duration, so the spell is cast, does it's thing, and leaves/ends. The Simulacrum (creature) remains even after the spell ends. The Simulacrum is not a functioning spell or a spell effect, and exists in the same ground as the fire of a Spark or creation of a Fabricate. As a result It cannot be directly detected by Detect Magic but knowledge arcana can identify materials manufactured by magic, so an inspection of the Simulacrum could reveal that it is made with magic, although not revealing if it's a Clone body, Simulacrum, or such.

[Jack_Simth]

Spoiler: OOC

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I honestly don't know how to judge this.

It occurs to me I don't think I even know the original series star trek tune. My father's a bit of a treky and I'm enough of a nerd to have picked up bits from pop culture to know things about it, but it jut never came up.

How about: It comes out like it was being done by a decent-sized group of musicians. I'm assuming that most the musicians in a symphony are - mechanically speaking - making "aid another" checks, so that the final result gets a very high bonus. If a "good" musician is an Expert-3 with Skill Focus, a +1 ability mod, max ranks, and a masterwork instrument, then the musician has a +12 Perform modifier. Taking ten, that'd be a 22. To get a 36, that'd need 7 Aid Another checks (8 for a 38), meaning a symphony of 8 or 9 performers (possibly counting a conductor).

[Sønderjye]

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll be posting an update to the rest as soon as I get time but I wanted a post up for Jack so he isn't stuck here.

Simulacrum in the mountains

The hooman-looking plantmonster stays looking at the nymph without moving a muscle for few seconds, until the strangers persistent gaze makes it clear that she's spotted and it wasn't just a random question. Then she shifts uncomfortably but still stays hidden.

'Alert. I've been seen. Were whistling star trek so either a player or have heard it from a player. Looks like a nymph and BAB of 4. Wants contact with Scourge. Eyes one me.', she send to the network. It was a short message but it also had to. The chances that someone had heard this from a player before half a day had passed was slim and the chance of someone on lvl 8 spotting her was nigh nonexistant. This was probably the most dangerous situation she had been in since that car accident.

'I know what you are thinking,' came the answer. It was erry but made sense, the point of divergence was really close. 'Don't panic. Just stay calm and talk it out.'

'Easy for you to say ', she replied

"I am", came the answer from the sim still partly consealed by a big rock. Her voice was smooth and melodic but Ephermial Recollection could sense a slight shaking and the body language suggested that she was prepared to cast a spell if suprised: "Who are you and where did you learn that song?"

[Jack_Simth]

The Jack in the ghost approaches calmly, navigating the side of the mountain quite easily in his nymph-disguised outsider suit. He shurgs and answers honestly "My grandparents enjoyed the show, and taped them all; I often caught an episode when visiting them. Finding a VCR wasn't feasible, and there was little point: magnetic tapes never did have a good lifespan, so even if I did find one the quality would be rather poor after the decades in storage. That said: Netflix was cheap enough, and had them. I watched all the episodes, most of the follow ups and spin offs, plus a few of the copycat versions. Tit for tat, though. Now it's your turn: What's the name of the show that kicked off that craze?"

He considers the shaking a moment, then adds in a voice intended to be soothing "Oh, and before you panic too much, do consider: I've been deliberately broadcasting that particular signal. If I was itching for a fight, that would be rather counterproductive." Meanwhile, he thinks about the implications of that being the simulacrum's apparent primary expectation for the encounter, and files the information about what that suggests about the original for later contemplation.

[Sønderjye]

Aftermath

Despite his inability to actually experienc cold, Chase were feeling a creeping chill. Had he created a vast number of beings that had an inbuilt mechanism that not only analyzed and suppressed thoughts as they were being created but also forcibly created thoughts and urges if they didn't come naturally? Worse he had created himself with that mechanism. He had been in this place for what, half a day?, and he had already unwittingly created a dystopia. First priority were going to remedy this ginourmous mistake.

"Alright, let's explore the possibility that there's a mental overlay. IIf so the order of business is to verify that this is the case, understand the specifics, understand how a fix to the situation could be like and then implement it. Make a lesser simulacrum and compare that to the the greater ones. If we understand this right it should be like me and thus want to be alive, so this is unambiguously a good act, and since we share goals he will help us out in figuring this out. Run some test for mental processing power and measure the speed. The overlay would need to inspect thoughts to know which to suppress, which would take time, so we would predict that the lesser sim would finish quicker. Also test which areas the lesser sim's mind allows him to explore compared to the greater. Further, ask other sims what I asked you and through that test if the reason that the overlay let those past is that I specifically brought it up or if it's just the phrasing it as distant academic questions. And if you think of more tests go ahead with those as well."


Research and Development

In between the item creation he'll use magic to amplify his knowledge of the magic and to study the simulacrum spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Chase seeks to understand how the control mechanism of simulacrum works. Using Glimpse of The Akashic and Moment of Prescience to take 10 on knowledge(Arcana) for 96, and once more to learn in which other ways the clone is different from the original, and how the original having two conciousnesses is affecting them.

Mausoleum

"You don't quite seem to grasp they are here by choice. These souls have decided they are finished. They are here to rest rather than be tortured by the ennui of aeons in a dangerous existence. They live any moments they wish whenever".

"Why would they be tormented by living for aeons? Or are there a physical thing called ennui of aeons?"

"Why do the living need it more? Can't they just be created with the knowledge of those before them?"

"So what can happen to you after you died? You make it sound like you can still die after dying, or worse?"

"Also, what even is a soul? Some kind of energy? It sounds like your memories are stored in it but what else?"

He thought it was strange that the gravedigger mechanically continued digging and didn't bother asking about why he was here but he wasn't going to complain. Maybe the thing had a value function that dictated that it's just answer and do it's purpose, and he weren't going to try to stop it. He wanted to know it's thought on souls that were destroyed but he didn't want to trigger some kind of violent responds.

Spoiler: OOC

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I did not know that that was a word. I'll have a rephrased statement of the ennui of aoens in this post so ignore the one in the previous post

Simulacrum at the Mountain

"Star Trek", plant-monster answered while grinding it's gears. Grandparents? She wasn't sure when exactly the franchise had aired but a conservative estimate said early 80th. Giving a lower bound of 20 years for each generations the player in front of her were about 20, probably younger though. The thought of a teenager with the power of a god was terrifying by it's own right, and much more if the teenager in question was in front of her. She relays that information to the Network.

The sim blinks in suprise at the statement. She had been convinced that she had been hiding her worry. Had she slipped up or did the player just have a massive sense motive modifier.

"People who were present at the shutdown wasn't the happiest of people with them being about to watch 10 years of work going up in smoke. On top of that the full immersion games tended to attract people who wanted to do things society wouldn't let them normally do, and now wielding incredible power in a place with little laws. I'm sure you understand my hessitation," she says while backing away and keeping the distance. She considers for a moment and then volunteers some personal information, hoping to create good faith: "And even if an afterlife seem to exist in this world, I am suspecting that I don't have a soul. Which is pure bull****, if you ask me."

"So now that you know that, tell me, why were you broadcasting? And what do I call you?"

[Jack_Simth]

Simulacrum at the Mountain

"Star Trek", plant-monster answered while grinding it's gears. Grandparents? She wasn't sure when exactly the franchise had aired but a conservative estimate said early 80th. Giving a lower bound of 20 years for each generations the player in front of her were about 20, probably younger though. The thought of a teenager with the power of a god was terrifying by it's own right, and much more if the teenager in question was in front of her. She relays that information to the Network.

The sim blinks in suprise at the statement. She had been convinced that she had been hiding her worry. Had she slipped up or did the player just have a massive sense motive modifier.

"People who were present at the shutdown wasn't the happiest of people with them being about to watch 10 years of work going up in smoke. On top of that the full immersion games tended to attract people who wanted to do things society wouldn't let them normally do, and now wielding incredible power in a place with little laws. I'm sure you understand my hessitation," she says while backing away and keeping the distance. She considers for a moment and then volunteers some personal information, hoping to create good faith: "And even if an afterlife seem to exist in this world, I am suspecting that I don't have a soul. Which is pure bull****, if you ask me."

"So now that you know that, tell me, why were you broadcasting? And what do I call you?"

The corrupted nature spirit explains "I troubleshoot for a living. Remotely, mostly, and tech visits to the site get expensive fast; one of the big reasons my boss likes me is that I've got a good track record of coming to correct conclusions from insufficient information; saves the company a lot of money. I still need data points to work with, but less than most people would think, and I'm fairly good at arranging to get the ones I need. Hence broadcasting; other folks in a similar situation to my own - or a complete lack of folks in a similar situation - are useful data points... but it's not the sort of thing to come up in casual conversation. Anyone in my situation, however, would be very interested in others in this situation, and flagging myself so clearly means such folks will reciprocate... like you did... which means I get the data points I wouldn't otherwise. Being a sim, you constitute a particularly interesting data point, yourself - I'm particularly interested in the timing of your creation relative to the scheduled shutdown... it may confirm something I've strongly suspected for a while about how the game works... or worked. Up to you to share, though, or not. Enough of the guesses I'm currently looking for ways to check suggest I'm here for the long haul that I'm going to be keeping to my normal ethics for the foreseeable future... and in those ... well, you can carry on a conversation rather well, so you're reasonably firmly in the 'person' category in my book."

She chuckles "Ah, yes, names. Given you've got memories of what came before, call me Jack. Folks here will know me by the moniker of Ephermial Recollection." The not-quite nymph pauses "Well, mostly. Regardless... what should I call you and your maker?"

[drack]

Spoiler: OCC

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[What have I unleashed...

Not demilich katamari, that's for sure.

That was not counting the hydras, the two were random forest animals. So seven new total.


Not in the density to be a swarm, no. What rats you find are individuals or in smaller groups.

So I think I'm up to 70 demiliches or so...

Oh yeah, Jack was reminding me about bestow curse only effecting people, and how in pf overlapping spell effects only get the effect from the last casting (regardless of how many casters are involved or how diverse the effects are). Any thoughts on this? If so, sounds like demilch average might need to watch out for positive energy polution.

How does this interact with demiliches being able to house an additional 10 or so souls in their bodies?

Demilich average will take a peek at the goblin notice.

Finding a secluded corner of wilderness Jessie-Chris has his demiliches behead and heal the hydra a number of times, collecting a good heap of heads, which he animates into serpentine undeads, whom he then kills to turn into demiliches. While doing so he sends a contingent of fifteen demiliches to capture all the goblins for him to slaughter en mass to make still more demiliches. After completing his bloody work, Jessie-Chris takes flight with his swarm towards the town, making sure to fill all their soul gems with bug corpses along the way. After all, this little village was too small to contain him, and it wasn't like he was gonna slaughter all the villagers, after all, it's not like he was an evil abomination set on the destruction of humanity or a madman blindly growing an army of powerful and dangerous undeads. He knew where that line was... or at least he thinks he does...

A stream of white bony skulls, like some queer river of death, sail on through the woodlands, casually offering death to the bugs and animals with skeletal systems as they pass.

Spoiler: ooc

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I think I recall you dropping material components on animate dead, else I've gotta soul trap something nearby and bleed that, maybe replicate my familiar to soul trap the copy. Anywho, how many hydra heads is 152HD of skeletal hydra head?

Taking the hydra and eggs with me. Whenever it hits the next day I'm gonna recover spells so that I'll have the option of gating back to base camp... That might come after the town though just cuz I'm speedy and using my time well on this stuff... =\

[Jack_Simth]

Spoiler

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Oh yeah, Jack was reminding me about bestow curse only effecting people, and how in pf overlapping spell effects only get the effect from the last casting (regardless of how many casters are involved or how diverse the effects are). Any thoughts on this? If so, sounds like demilch average might need to watch out for positive energy polution.

For reference, the specific text is from the Magic Overview, specifically Combining Magical Effects:

The same spell can sometimes produce varying effects if applied to the same recipient more than once. Usually the last spell in the series trumps the others. None of the previous spells are actually removed or dispelled, but their effects become irrelevant while the final spell in the series lasts.

So by default, if someone's under the effects of Bestow Curse for losing 50% of their actions, in theory, another caster can use Bestow Curse to pick a different effect - a -6 to their dump stat, say - and then the first curse is suppressed while the second lasts. Also means that for practical purposes you can't be under two Resist Energy spells for different elements, of course.

As few play it like that, I wasn't planning on bringing it up, but the rule's been on the books for a very long time.

[Sønderjye]

Simulacrum in the Mountain

"Alright," the sim says, chosing to respond to the thing she cared about from the stream of conciousness: "In that case do you have any leads to whether we are in a simulation or if this is another universe? We haven't really been able to make much progress in that regard."

"Well, hey Jack," the sim says with a greeting smile, although not making any incling to move closer: "I'm going by Bond and my maker is called Chase, although in game his tag was Scourge."

Spoiler: OOC

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Jack might have heard about Scourge since he was a known player-killer and had some of the highest bounties placed on him back in Genesis.