The Noctuary [OOC]

[remetagross]

A cheap workaround against Mordenkainen's Disjunction is the use of a Spellblade keyed off of that spell.

[Metastachydium]

@Meta: alright, let's say they don't know each other yet.
Noted, I'll skip the party-wide Polymorph for the moment.
Good to hear about the Rod / Orb - I personally love them - but they might not cut it at those levels, and they don't help vs ability drain or negative levels. I guess we'll go back to friendly temples when we need the big divine spells. Or you could spend some bennies on a Staff of Restoration (+ Revivify? or Delay Death?), up to you.

Like I said, I have a lot of cash to burn! The staff sounds like an idea, if someone else can operate it (for a Fey, Delja is horribly unmagical).

2/ Mage's Disjunction is actually a good topic to discuss. It's quite painful, not so much for the spells which are fair game (though I'd prefer a dispel check with a hefty bonus, personally), but for the items that inevitably get destroyed. Do you have a houserule there? The PF version has items turn non-magic for 1 min/level instead, except on a 1 on the save.

Yeah. Irreversible debuffs are scary.

Pixie (scouting)

Two Sprites? Poor Lorwyn.

Alright, then I'll keep the ring for the fateful day when this happens... and just hope the mage is close enough that it works, given the limited range!

Speaking of rings. Know that Chain has most gracefully allowed us to keep a partially charged Ring of Three Wishes that we lifted off of some dead body in the previous act of the game.

Thankfully I'll be hard-pressed to match - to take some examples - the AC of Delja

Well, do consider that at the end of the day, she's stuck as a grumpy little blue ball of AC who sometimes stabs things. While you? You still have a Dragon. (Okay, Dragon-adjacent entity, but also a caster!)

I've been Disjuncted once. I was utterly appaled at the time, mainly because there had been no warning whatsoever. In hindsight...it was not that big a deal. We lost our magic items, and yet, the campaign kept on, we slowly started to find some new stuff, and it actually was quite refreshing to have "naked" dudes for a little while. Like we were 12th-level PCs but back in 1st-level environment.

…says the guy with VoP!

@Metastachydium so here's more details about what happened to Ux after our previous gig together.

-After our little stint in the Twelve Factols (an inn the party was in for business purposes but that can't fit in a Huge dire bat), the party exits the inn. They find Grimbug (a friendly cambion) and Ereshki (Ux's Warbeast Dire Bat, his pumped-up Knight mount which he adores) both laying in a pool of their own blood, alongwith a dozen passers-by. PSeudonatural ooze mephits (high-CR critters that were slowly invading Sigil at that time) are happily suctionning their blood off and mulching the odd leg or hand. Ux is suitably horrified, yadda yadda the party moves forward, the plot with the Dustmen is resolved as we discussed in the former OOC thread.

That's even sadder. Poor little big bat! (Grimbug, on the other hand… He really did sound like the guy who'd have bravely bolted at the first sign of danger. Dude knew what his pay grade was, and it wasn't Crzay Mephits That Make Delja Cry Tier. Could have made a fun "the news of my death have been exaggerated" encounter later.)

Rasabu (the most deadpan yet friendly Sahuagin ever)

(That guy is cool. I liked him a lot.)

His strength will now be mystical in nature, more closely matching the attributes of his god. His muscles fade but he has gained additional wisdom and insight into the ways of the world. And he has sworn never to own anything again.

…except the undying (yet affectionate) ANNOYANCE of Delja. Many thanks for the long version! EDIT: Did he get to meet Ereshki the Brave Hero Bat in the world after, by the way, if only briefly? If not, Bahamut is officially the worst therapist ever.

I think it would be funny if Delja had reached out to the Fey Court on Faerun for information and Lorwyns patron gave Lorwyn the task to assist her.

Oh! good thinking. Maybe she asked the Guardians of the Green to help put her back on track or at least find her old companions currently doing wild things elsewhere (see Ux's quest above); they promised they'll pull a few threads to get her out of their forest; figured she's a Fey and put in a word with the Court; who being jerks with the logic of a weirdo, tasked someone who hates the Fey with helping her instead of doing what she actually asked for several months late. Best thing is, it works as a reason for them to converge and coopertae regardless whether they start together.

Any good comedic pairing needs a straight man and that'd be Lorwyn.

Heh. Delja spent the previous game thinking she's the straight man. Relatively speaking she wasn't consistently wrong.

[remetagross]

Heh. Delja spent the previous game thinking she's the straight man. Relatively speaking she wasn't consistently wrong.

Too real and yeah, I still need to pull off a few lines, but Ux will have his Big Emotional Group Hug Moment© with Celestial Ereshki, of course. And then write a postcard to Delja, even.

Let's say I start off this adventure with Syana, maybe, and at some later point when all the pairs get to meet, there'll be a happy reunion moment where Ux and Delja face again, with lotsa emotion (or maybe not), lotsa witty comments, and lotsa teary remembrances of good old times. How about that?

It'd be nice to summarily describe how we parted ways, too. Any ideas?

[namo]

A cheap workaround against Mordenkainen's Disjunction is the use of a Spellblade keyed off of that spell.

Unfortunately, Spellblades work only against targeted spells, which Disjunction is not. It really is quite hard to counter.

...says the guy with VoP!

lol

@remetagross: The level of detail you gave for your recent backstory is truly useful.

I was thinking that Syana could have helped Ux in his quest to Tiamat's lair (not an easy feat to pull, after all). Perhaps as a favour to Bahamut.
But if you don't like that premise, we can reverse it, and perhaps he saved her from a pickle while on his way to get the soul.
Either way, that would be the basis for a pretty strong bond, and I feel it's good to have some bonds since the Noctuary could theoretically awaken dark ambitions/rivalries.

[Metastachydium]

Too real and yeah, I still need to pull off a few lines, but Ux will have his Big Emotional Group Hug Moment© with Celestial Ereshki, of course.

(Lawful) GOOD.

And then write a postcard to Delja, even.

…which she never gets because she's drunk in a muddy ditch and it isn't waterproof. INSTANT ANGST!

Let's say I start off this adventure with Syana, maybe, and at some later point when all the pairs get to meet, there'll be a happy reunion moment where Ux and Delja face again, with lotsa emotion (or maybe not), lotsa witty comments, and lotsa teary remembrances of good old times. How about that?

I'll have to retweak my idea of Delja's recent history, then, but I think I'll do. Because that's actually pretty neat. Also, the mental image of Delja getting fished out of her ditch expecting it's Ux or at least Myriad, only to then find it's a dour-looking stranger who hates Fey (i.e. Lorwyn)… Yeah, that's too funny.

You still up to it, Chambers?

It'd be nice to summarily describe how we parted ways, too. Any ideas?

Let me sleep on it (I'm a tad too tired to think coherently right now). We'll get back to that!

[Chambers]

Yep! Should be good.

[paradox26]

I will be happy to start off with Aeric. I have to go back through the backstopries to figure out how we would have met.

I will take Battlemagic Perception as well, but I am not high enough a caster level to be able to cast Disjunction for dispelling purposes, so I will have to try something else. I will throw the question open to more experienced players, as I have never built a spellduel type of character before. I have level 9 psionics powers, and level 8 arcane caster spells. WHat can I do to defeat a disjunction spell? I ask because I seem to be the primary spellcaster for the group, so I will take that as one of my principal duties.

Also, just wanted to check if everyone has a method of flying. I can take flight spells if needed, but getting a flight item each will save on spell slots.

[namo]

Spoiler: for paradox26

Show

Without investing too much, I would say: grab Anticipatory Strike (Complete Psionics) because that will let you take an action out of turn (not something to overuse in PbP since it makes the DM job harder, having to rewrite posts).
Readying your action can work too, but is less flexible.

Then interrupt their spellcasting by either counterspelling, blasting or blocking them.
Blasting should be your go-to - it requires less investment, or rather is more generally useful. Orb of X (Acid / Force / ...) could work or Energy Missile. Blasting also helps to kill them, which is good.
If you think they'll resist blasting (via energy resistance), throw a line of effect blocker in front of them (e.g. Wall of Stone, or Wall of Force if flying - the latter would be destroyed but would still stop the Disjunction).

Then the remaining part is not being flat-footed (you can't use immediate actions when flat-footed), but you don't have access to Foresight (level 9 spell) yet, and the other ways to get that probably won't fit your character. Just get decent senses (for potential surprise rounds) and decent Init and hope for the best.

I added some hooks to Syana's "sheet" in this thread - not sure if they will be useful, but it's a start.

Also I noticed a link to an IC thread in the OP, which I had missed (or which wasn't there?), but we still have some arrangements to make, I guess.

[paradox26]

Thanks for the ideas, namo. That helps.

Actually, I may be able to swap my advanced psion levels for wizard levels, and reverse it so that I cast 9th spells and 8th psionics. That would solve the problem, and I know spellcasting better than psionics anyway. Plus I have already put more metamagic feats in than metapsionics.

[Metastachydium]

Yep! Should be good.

Cool! Let's do this!

It'd be nice to summarily describe how we parted ways, too. Any ideas?

Okay, I considered the whole thing somewhat more thoroughly. What I think might have happened was that Delja probably urged Ux Utanar to just go awaym and likely in her usual blunt terms. Ereshki's death rattled her as well, if not, naturally, quite as much as Ux. But what she reacted even more poorly than that (and her failure to help prevent it: Ereshki was something of an honorary teammate even to her) was how she reacted to Ux reacting to it. Ultimately, Delja isn't and never was driven by some righteous cause. The reason she came to first associate with Ux and Myriad was so that she have something to focus on and help to keep her focused. With Ux getting all broody and melancholy after Ereshki refuses to come back, she begins to sense a risk that he'll slide part even further and then she will slide apart again, which causes her frustration. But she genuinely cares about Ux Utanar at the same time, and accordingly, sh is increasingly ashamed of her frustration with a grieving man mourning a partly shared loss. That she feels equally ashamed of taking advantage of Ux's current state (and continually poor Sense Motive) to keep business with the Dustmen running smoothly and to keep working with Sofie at a need-to-know-basis doesn't help.

So once the critical part of the mission that she doesn't trust herself to be able to manage on her own (or with Myriad who, loose in Sigil, is like a kid loose in a candy shop), they sit down to talk it out. Since this is after the first round of talks with Rasabu, she may or may not know what Ux has in mind in terms of doing something about his loss, but either way, she tells him that, especially with the most pressing tasks that kept them busy handled, there's no point going on together like this, and it's probably time to pause operations until such time as there will be. Delja being who she is, evidently doesn't bother to explain her own emotional rollercoaster motivating this proposal.

[remetagross]

This is excellent stuff. I'm down with that. Ux, being the oblivious brute that he is, and blinded by grief at that, would completley fail to notice Delja's inner turmoil. So they part ways in a thought-out, if sad, manner, and do expect to meet again sooner or later once everyone has sorted out their own issues. The interesting thing is that then, they're going to be face to face again maybe earlier than they expected. Since they are, basically, chancing into each other while following the lead of the Noctuary. It's going to be interesting.

However, once they meet again, they'll have the opportunity to discuss their former states of mind a bit more thoroughly, all the more so that Ux now has ranks in Sense Motive :D

By the way gang, here is the awesome Ux Utanar, DFA version, courtesy of the awesome Metastachydium:

Spoiler

Show

[remetagross]

Namo, Syana and Ux could have met either in Sigil, on Toril (he comes from Cormyr) or in Celestia.

-On Sigil: maybe they are introduced to each other by an NPC that realizes they are both looking for the Noctuary and their goals could be more or less aligned. Rasabu, the cleric of Bahamut? A librarian at the Society of Sensation? An eladrin in the Free League?

-On Toril: maybe Syana has been called upon by the Hathran to do a little quest for them involving the Knights of Cormyr, of which Ux is a former member, and he happened to be there at that time?

-On Celestia: what if Syana had come to ask Bahamut about the Dragonsong and met Ux in his palace?

[namo]

I like the last one, Celestia; appropriately epic, but also with a "oh, someone else from my plane, far from home" feel.
And that way it's up to the DM whether their meeting was pure serendipity or if some higher power (not necessarily Bahamut!) orchestrated it.

The next and last step, I think, is to pick our starting place, remetagross. Any thoughts on that? I think any of the big cities near the Sword Coast (is it called that all the way from North to South btw? I'm not a Forgotten Realms buff) would work, like Waterdeep, ...


By the way, I'm pretty much done with my sheet, though it's likely I'll find marginal tweaks to do before we start.
How is everyone else doing? paradox, I think you still had a bunch of power and spells to pick?

[Taelas]

The Sword Coast is the coast bordering the Sea of Swords, which stretches from Luskan in the north down to but not including Tethyr.

My sheet should be finished.

[Metastachydium]

This is excellent stuff. I'm down with that. Ux, being the oblivious brute that he is, and blinded by grief at that, would completley fail to notice Delja's inner turmoil. So they part ways in a thought-out, if sad, manner, and do expect to meet again sooner or later once everyone has sorted out their own issues. The interesting thing is that then, they're going to be face to face again maybe earlier than they expected. Since they are, basically, chancing into each other while following the lead of the Noctuary. It's going to be interesting.

However, once they meet again, they'll have the opportunity to discuss their former states of mind a bit more thoroughly, all the more so that Ux now has ranks in Sense Motive :D

Man, that is going to get awkward! And blow Delja's entire jawbone off. "Crap, he can hear intent now?!"

How is everyone else doing?

I should have NEVER agreed to buying a custom-built staff! The price of those things is a horrible pain to calculate. I believe one with Restoration (1 charge) and Greater Restoration (5 charges) would give a final sum of 72300 gp (someone do check my math, please), which paired with a Rod of Transposition for 6000 (I suddenly realized an ability to switch places with someone squishier is something a ball of AC like Delja should have tools for), would solve my cash overflow problem, so I'm as good as done.

[Chambers]

My sheet should be ready. If anyone would like to suggest changes or stuff to take in the future I'm open to it.

[namo]

I should have NEVER agreed to buying a custom-built staff! The price of those things is a horrible pain to calculate. I believe one with Restoration (1 charge) and Greater Restoration (5 charges) would give a final sum of 72300 gp (someone do check my math, please), which paired with a Rod of Transposition for 6000 (I suddenly realized an ability to switch places with someone squishier is something a ball of AC like Delja should have tools for), would solve my cash overflow problem, so I'm as good as done.

Man, I feel bad now.
I didn't think you were going to go through with it, so I spent some time researching options on my end. It turns these spells are surprisingly hard to get if you're not a cleric (or not cash-rich like you), but I found that Planar Binding is a good way to get them. I've never used it before, but I figure using it for healing is fairly non-cheesy. So I added Planar Binding to Syana's Runestaff.

Still, your staff will be a much more direct & easy way to get there.

I got 71650gp as the price, so we're hopefully in the right ballpark. But it's actually cheaper to get a staff for each, since you can then decrease the CL for Restoration to the minimum (8): I end up at 67650 this way, and you'll have "twice" as many charges!

My sheet should be ready. If anyone would like to suggest changes or stuff to take in the future I'm open to it.

I checked it briefly, and couldn't find much to add.
You could be interested in the Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis (Tome of Magic) which for about 22k gets you solid Hide bonuses (which you may not need), but more importantly Hide in Plain Sight except while in the light, which could be useful when Invisibility fails you or the enemies can See Invisible.

Also, the Epic Invocations will presumably become open, so you might want to check their prerequisites: they're very strong, but IIRC they often require Invocations you generally wouldn't want to take.

[Metastachydium]

Man, I feel bad now.
I didn't think you were going to go through with it, so I spent some time researching options on my end. It turns these spells are surprisingly hard to get if you're not a cleric (or not cash-rich like you), but I found that Planar Binding is a good way to get them. I've never used it before, but I figure using it for healing is fairly non-cheesy. So I added Planar Binding to Syana's Runestaff.

That's pretty much the more wholesome that line can get. I like the idea!

Still, your staff will be a much more direct & easy way to get there.

I got 71650gp as the price, so we're hopefully in the right ballpark. But it's actually cheaper to get a staff for each, since you can then decrease the CL for Restoration to the minimum (8): I end up at 67650 this way, and you'll have "twice" as many charges!

…
Yes. Let's do that instead, thanks. Two staves it is. (Also, I trust my initial number even less now. I used separate CLs for the two spells, which is technically plausible, assuming collaborative crafting, but makes the difference in our final numbers all the more suspect.)

EDIT: Also, that left me with 6000 odd gp worth of extra cash. I bought two pairs of Sending Stones (makes sense for Delja, given how frustrating her inability to communicate with her former teammates got during her Alone Time got). Chambers, since she's working with Lorwyn now, she can have the other halves of both pairs for now, free of charge.

[Chambers]

I checked it briefly, and couldn't find much to add.
You could be interested in the Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis (Tome of Magic) which for about 22k gets you solid Hide bonuses (which you may not need), but more importantly Hide in Plain Sight except while in the light, which could be useful when Invisibility fails you or the enemies can See Invisible.

The Collar is a great idea. I think I might just add the Dark template instead though, given it's just +1 LA and with LA Buy off she'd still have 20 class levels.

Edit: Re: Epic Warlock Invocations

I'll respec a little so she can take Dark Transient at Epic. All I need to do is increase her ranks in Knowledge: Planes. She already has Fell Flight and Flee the Scene. Her next class level will be Epic Arcane Trickster 1, which will advance her Warlock casting to 18th level, giving her an additional Dark invocation known that she can use for Path of Shadow, qualifying her for Dark Transient at the same time.

Edit 2: The Dark creature template suggests Alignment as rarely Good, so we'll just go ahead and take a small step towards Chaotic Neutral. I think for her character this connection to the Plane of Shadow is something that has strengthened over time as part of her Feypact. Given that most people don't really think about their alignments, I think she still considers herself a "Good" person. So it won't really change her backstory or motivations, but I think it would be good grist for the RP mill to have her get stuck in a situation where she's faced with the reality that she's changing in more ways than she thought.

[chaincomplex]

Unfortunate news, GentlemanVoodoo had something come up in his personal life, and we will no longer have a co-DM.

In any case, it seems like groups are forming, let me know where you'd like to start the campaign. We'll begin in medias res so feel free to sketch a developing situation if you wish, I'll adjust it appropriately; alternatively, in three days I'll open up the adventure, and if I've heard nothing I'll just make something up.

A lot of good role playing happens in-character and not in the background setting. We can leave some vagaries for later: now we need to start the adventure.

[paradox26]

Sorry to hear about GentlemanVoodoo. I hope they are okay.

I will be able to get my sheet finalised in time. I just need to figure out how we got together. I have been busy and haven't had time to look at the backgrounds.

[remetagross]

I like the last one, Celestia; appropriately epic, but also with a "oh, someone else from my plane, far from home" feel.
And that way it's up to the DM whether their meeting was pure serendipity or if some higher power (not necessarily Bahamut!) orchestrated it.

The next and last step, I think, is to pick our starting place, remetagross. Any thoughts on that? I think any of the big cities near the Sword Coast (is it called that all the way from North to South btw? I'm not a Forgotten Realms buff) would work, like Waterdeep, ...


By the way, I'm pretty much done with my sheet, though it's likely I'll find marginal tweaks to do before we start.
How is everyone else doing? paradox, I think you still had a bunch of power and spells to pick?

To be fair, I'm not well versed in Forgotten Realms geography either. Let's say it's Waterdeep and call it a day. Like...our contact in Celestia told us to inquire there, for some reason?

[namo]

A lot of good role playing happens in-character and not in the background setting. We can leave some vagaries for later: now we need to start the adventure.

Agreed! Also, I'm eager to start.

(Sometimes my PCs are fully fleshed out before the start of the adventure; this is not the case for Syana but I can always backfill via flashbacks or other devices along the way.)

In any case, it seems like groups are forming, let me know where you'd like to start the campaign. We'll begin in medias res so feel free to sketch a developing situation if you wish, I'll adjust it appropriately; alternatively, in three days I'll open up the adventure, and if I've heard nothing I'll just make something up.

OK, so Ux and Syana are starting in Waterdeep; perhaps the easiest accessible portal from they were led there.
I'm happy to let you create the situation.

[Metastachydium]

Unfortunate news, GentlemanVoodoo had something come up in his personal life, and we will no longer have a co-DM.

Too bad. I really was curious to see how this'd have gone. All the best, good Gentleman, if you're reading this!

In any case, it seems like groups are forming, let me know where you'd like to start the campaign. We'll begin in medias res so feel free to sketch a developing situation if you wish, I'll adjust it appropriately; alternatively, in three days I'll open up the adventure, and if I've heard nothing I'll just make something up.

A lot of good role playing happens in-character and not in the background setting. We can leave some vagaries for later: now we need to start the adventure.

YES! Le's get this going! I still have to make a quick mundane purchase for Delja, neccessary for a stupid plan I expect to fail. As for starting position, I kinda feel like Lorwyn and D. are totally the type of people who are skulking in a decrepit abandoned building somewhere close to Candlekeep proper as of now. How do you feel about that, Chambers?

[Chambers]

YES! Le's get this going! I still have to make a quick mundane purchase for Delja, neccessary for a stupid plan I expect to fail. As for starting position, I kinda feel like Lorwyn and D. are totally the type of people who are skulking in a decrepit abandoned building somewhere close to Candlekeep proper as of now. How do you feel about that, Chambers?

Sounds likely. Perhaps they are meeting someone that supposedly has a lead on a book that would get them inside. Maybe some place a little more dangerous than the environs of Candlekeep? Skullport is nice this time of year if you'd like to start closer to the others in Waterdeep and that's Lorwyns home town, so she'd have more contacts there. There's also a powerful thieves guild in Westgate that would work as well. The Harpers are always sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and wind up knowing all sorts of things if you'd prefer to start working with them and that could happen at basically any tavern in the Sword Coast given their spy network.

[Metastachydium]

Sounds likely. Perhaps they are meeting someone that supposedly has a lead on a book that would get them inside. Maybe some place a little more dangerous than the environs of Candlekeep? Skullport is nice this time of year if you'd like to start closer to the others in Waterdeep and that's Lorwyns home town, so she'd have more contacts there. There's also a powerful thieves guild in Westgate that would work as well. The Harpers are always sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and wind up knowing all sorts of things if you'd prefer to start working with them and that could happen at basically any tavern in the Sword Coast given their spy network.

Starting close to the others is tempting, yes, but I don't know about Waterdeep (or Skullport, which is almost the same place); it's big, which helps with mergers andacquisitions, but it's somewhat far away. And Delja would probably not touch a Harper's cold dead body with a stick unless she has to. She is mildly allergic to good guys of the overzealous sort.

Impatient as she gets, she would probably militate for having at least some advance positions ready in Beregost or the outer Cloakwood, perhaps with Athkatla serving as a hinterland for big purchases and big contacts, as well as direct access to the sea. It's the kind of place where weird transactions are business as usual. (Also, she has a very dumb Plan B, which probably even she doesn't think will work but is a good enough excuse for her not to stray too far from the mark.)

[Chambers]

If Delja's got a plan already let's go with that, since Lorwyn is supposed to be helping her anyway.

[remetagross]

Agreed! Also, I'm eager to start.

(Sometimes my PCs are fully fleshed out before the start of the adventure; this is not the case for Syana but I can always backfill via flashbacks or other devices along the way.)



OK, so Ux and Syana are starting in Waterdeep; perhaps the easiest accessible portal from they were led there.
I'm happy to let you create the situation.

Fine by me; let's roll :)

[Metastachydium]

If Delja's got a plan already let's go with that, since Lorwyn is supposed to be helping her anyway.

Well, I must stress again that it's a very bad plan, but the proximity of the two major ports flanking Candlekeep, particularly Athkatla allows for some course correction. Let's start in Beregost's northern outskirts, then.

[Taelas]

Varis is also a relative newcomer to the Realms, and Aeric has essentially just arrived. That could be how they got to know one another? Varis would have a better idea of what a new arrival would need to know, so maybe he was brought in to help Aeric get settled?