Homebrew Tome Game [Sessions]

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Pretty much a storage of the events of my new campaign. I'm starting off with level 4 characters, the setting info can be found HERE...

Cast: Aasimar Knight 9: Son of a well-known adventurer that was subject to a character assassination (current king is the last real adventurer in the royal line, and thus potential civil war from an 'heir by combat') by the local kingdom (subservient kingdom to the Empire)and forced into exile. Currently serves the Empire of the Sun for glory as a knight errant to bring back honor to the family (his father has gone kind of batty since his exile).
Abilities:Str 17, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12
HP 99, AC 33 (+2 cover, +2 Dex, +2 dodge, +11 armor, +6 shield), Saves +12/+8/+10, DR 4/- & 9/adamantine, (Energy) Resist 15, SR 21
Full Attack: Longsword or Lance +15/+10 (1d8+7/19-20)
* +9d6 with Designate Opponent
Skills: Diplomacy +16, Handle Animal +17, Intimidate +14, Ride +20, Listen +4, Sense Motive +13, Spot +15
Feats: Command, Elusive Target, Great Fortitude, Mage Slayer, Mounted Combat, Whirlwind Attack
Equipment: Magic Force Shield, Magic Adamantine Carapace, Longsword, Lance, Morningstar, Heavy Crossbow, silver alternative for each weapon, Heavy Warhorse, Magic saves amulet, Helm of Telepathy

• Gina, Aasimar Conduit of Carceri 7: Neophyte temptress, groomed and trained in the pleasure palaces of Carceri, awaiting a random summons to seduce the first mortal wizard. She did not expect to be used by an unseen force she could not interact with, nor did she expect to experience the beginnings of true love for a man she knows she could never be worthy of.
  Abilities: 8, 12, 10, 14, 15, 18
  Skills: Concentration, *Bluff, Diplomacy, *Use Rope, Spellcraft
  Feats: Harmless Form, Persuasive (community material, rank 9 ability be more like the Bard's Fascinate?), Stolen Breath, Large Size, Wings
  Spheres: Dominion (basic), Seduction (expert)

Marshal: Aasimar Marshall 8: Ranked member of the military within the Empire of the Sun, the leader of the group on paper due to his position.
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 18
HP 104, AC 28 (+1 Dex, +2 Dodge, +1 shield, +14 armor), Saves +13/+10/+9, DR 9/adamantine, Immunity to fatigue/exhaustion/sleep
Full Attack: Macuahuitl +15/+10 (3d6+9/x3, DC 16 or dazed)
Skills: Heal +15, Intimidate +16, Handle Animal +17, Listen +15, Spot +15, Ride +16
Feats: Combat School, Command, Elusive Target, Phalanx Fighter
Equipment: Headband of Intellect, Magic obsidian macuahuitl, Belt of Strength, greataxe, invulnerable arm (acts as buckler w/out attack penalty), magic adamantine carapace, magic charisma earrings, magic saves amulet

• Sarou, Vanara Assassin 6/Monk 1: Young assassin to the Empire of the Sun, Sarou saw a chance to gain favor under one with such voice and such leadership as Marshal. Sarou has begun to gather like-minded masters of the subtle arts, and is well on his way to founding a dojo of ninjas; all loyal to Marshal.
  Abilities: Str 8, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 8
  Technique: Whistle of the Iron Golem (all attacks deal 10' speed damage)
  Feats: Combat School, Insightful Strike, Sniper
  Skills: Balance, Disguise, Gather Information, Jump, Sleight of Hand, Sneak, Tumble
  Spells Known (7/5/3):

Ethedril Killyl: Drow Samurai 9: Exiled from a failed coup in her Underdark city, she conquered a kobold settlement at the surface, incurring the life debt of a svirfneblin priest and his disciples to aid in her exiled lordship. Cursing the sun's brightness, she has the priest banish her sight so that it can no longer bother her. Now, she hopes to further expand her dominion, and will attach her company to the next band of powerful people in hopes of discovering new areas to dominate.
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 20, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12
HP: 56, AC 24 (+9 armor, +5 Dex), Saves +8/+11/+11
Full Attack: Masamune +17/+12 (2d6+4/18-20)
Skills: Escape Artist +17, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +13, Listen +26, Sense Motive +14, Tumble +20
Feats: Blind-Fighting, Command, Danger Sense, Horde Breaker, Skill Focus (Tumble), Subtle Cut, Weapon Finesse, Whirlwind Attack, Blindsight 5' (B)
Equipment: Ancestral Weapon (Masamune), Magic Mithril Chain Suit, Magic Resistance Cloak, Magic Blindfold of Listen, Flight Belt, Magic Belt of Constitution
* Kiai! House Rule: When using kiai, every threat range greater than 20 adds one to the critical multiplier (x4 for weapon)

• Urorae Darkhearth, Whisper Gnome Cleric of Kiransal 7: A gnome living on borrowed time, every moment of his life incurring further debt to Ethedril. He is kept alive by the legendary blade of second chances, impaled through the gap where his heart used to be.
  Abilities: 10, 12, 16, 13, 16, 6
  Skills: Appraise, Concentration, Spellcraft
  Feats: Corpsecrafter, Item Crafter, Eternal Caster
  Domains: Deathbound, Debt

Lost Characters

X37: Lower-plane Half-Orc (Paizo-style) Ghoul Fiendish Brute 5/Monk 1: Former half-orc, subject to extreme experimentation by the Blackened Grove (hence the ghoul and fiendish traits) as a potential weapon, but the project was stopped by a raid from the Empire of the Sun before they could begin mental conditioning. Owing them his life, he/it serves the Empire.
Abilities: Str 32, Dex 8, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 10
HP 67, AC 25 (-1 size, +2 armor, +9 natural, +5 Wisdom), Saves +11/+10/+9
Full Attack: 2 claws +16 (1d6+13), Bite +11 (1d8+8.), & Slam +11 (2d6+8.)
* all attacks inflict a negative level and 2 Con damage
Skills: Hide +1 (2 ranks), Knowledge (History, Dungeoneering) +7 (7 ranks) Intimidate +9 (9 ranks), Listen +11 (6 ranks), Spot +11 (6 ranks)
Feats: Enervating Touch, Combat School, Large Size, Harmless Form, Master of Terror
Equipment: Sundark Goggles, Belt of Strength, Tooth of Wisdom, Handy Haversack

• Tezcateotl, Human Cleric 4: A war criminal from the Blackened Grove, primarily as a government researcher in undeath, and is in fact X37's creator. Tezca is a priest of one of the Great Gods, Xeg-Vet of the Chalk and Lord of Negative Energy, worshiping for access and understanding undeath in a manner not unlike a mad scientist.
  Abilities: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14
  Feats: Body Assemblage, Corpsecrafter, A Feast Unknown
  Skills: Concentration, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Religion, Planes)

Tow: Tiefling Beguiler 7: Comes from a family of wizards with a rather dark past (as shown in their bloodline), but was too lazy to be as academic as a normal wizard, so took the more intellectually laid-back path of the beguiler; making him the black sheep of the family and losing out on family assistance. Now works for the Empire for money.
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 23, Wis 12, Cha 10
HP 47, AC 17 (+2 Dex, +5 armor), Saves +3/+4/+6
Full Attack: Rapier +3 (1d6-1/18-20) or Hand Crossbow +6 (1d4/19-20)
Skills: Bluff +11 (9 ranks), Concentration +11 (10 ranks), Diplomacy +12 (10 ranks), Disable Device +15 (9 ranks), Disguise +2, Gather Info +9 (9 ranks), Move Silently +13 (9 ranks), Knowledge (Arcana, Local) +15 (9 ranks), Knowledge (dungeoneering, geography, history, local, nature, nobility, planes, religion) +7 (1 rank), Search +15 (9 ranks), Sense Motive +10 (9 ranks), Sleight of Hand +2, Spellcraft +18 (10 ranks)
Feats: Expert Tactician, Spell Focus (Enchantment), Silent Spell, Teleport
Spells per Day: -/8/8/5
* Houserule that allows infinite cantrips per day, preparation casters using what they have memorized as the ones they cast at will that day
Unique Spells Available: Miser's Envy
Equipment: Mithril Shirt, Magic Ring of Intellect, Rapier, Hand Crossbow, Crown Leige of Hypnosis (3/day empowers hypnosis)

• Tenoc the Engulfing, Human Fire Mage 4: Former member of the Coronal Guard, he retired to become the head of a noble house, bits of his essence having burnt out from his job and retains some measure of imbuement from the Empire of the Sun. His house was the first to resist Brawn's depravities, and suffered the worst, him being the last of the line and imprisoned until the party came. However, Tow saw this as a golden opportunity to begin a series of layered hypnosis castings to create his own thrall, only adding to the tragedy that his life, but at least now he is content.
  Abilities: Str 8, Dex 20, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 24
  Feats: Sniper, Weapon Finesse
  Skills: Concentration +8, Escape Artist +12, Intimidate +14, Listen +7, Spellcraft +8, Spot +7

Together, this rag-tag group fights crime!

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Session I
The party is eating in the communal area, and are called upon by one of the Knights of the Aetheric Flame, elite soldier of the Empire of the Sun. He informs the party that a minor clan of dwarves, the Kashtal, to the northeast have ceased trade with the Empire. They are on the outskirts of the dwarven mountain range, and their silver is more valuable to the Empire of the Sun than to Dwerrowhart. As of two weeks ago, communication stopped and as of yesterday, several of Kashtal dwarves entered the town to 'requisition' some of their silver, speaking of royal treasure with the Dredge King. With grim declaration, the Knight informed the party that they must reopen trade with the Kashtal silver mine, by any means necessary.

After speaking with a few other dwarves, as well as the sole surviving dwarf, they discovered that the Dredge King came to the Kashtal clan and reasserted rule. Ancient dwarven history speak of the Dredge King as a powerful dwarf that was so certain of his race's destruction, that he enacted a policy not unlike nuclear holocaust by taking himself, his clan, and powerful secrets with him into the depths of the earth so deep none saw him again (nor his magicks). Only dwarven historians remember the legend of this dwarven lord living in the dretches of the earth, the Dredge King, and his eventual return to the surface to reinstate his own deluded glory of dwarvenkind.

And so with half the battle done, they travel onward towards the Kashtal silver mine, which is a week's journey by horse. Towards the end of their journey, they enter the woods, which is known for its excellent boar hunting. There's some lout sniffing sounds from off the road, and suddenly a trio of large, black boars with burning red eyes attack the party. X37 throws their carcasses upon the wagon after the battle, noticing that eating their flesh is akin to chewing tinfoil (with fillings), which only reinforces their unnatural state.

They see the mine, which is guarded by half a dozen armed dwarves, that are visible. Cast gives a declaration, in the name of the Empire of the Sun, that they should reopen trade. The dwarves state that they're autonomous thanks to the Dredge King and no longer need what the Empire can provide, nor even the meagre scraps of Dwerrowhart; but they seem kind of unsure of their words, as if slightly confused with their own feelings. Cast wishes to speak with the Dredge King himself, and mentions that they can deal with the apparent corruption in the land. This fails to sway the dwarves, stating that while their is an influx of bloodtrees (tree-based disease that turns their leaves razor sharp, along with blood absorbant moss), they don't mess with that area of the land, and the overly vicious boars are controllable; and the Dredge King does not wish to see anyone right now.

Erring on the side of caution, the party acquiesces with their wishes, and asks if there's someone in the woods who would know more about the bloodtrees. They're informed of Crazy Mattie, who lives deeper into the forest to the southeast, and bid the party farewell. It is night by the time the party makes camp in their so far futile search of Mad Mattie, and Marshal holds watch. While the rest sleep, the night is broken by a female bodiless voice that asks questions, responding with answers of her name being Matilda (chuckling that she must be mellowing, as she used to be called 'Mad' rather than 'Crazy'). She asks Marshal to choose which of his friends he would miss the least, the sound of invisible footsteps and unseen blades being drawn surrounding their heads. Marshal responds that he will not choose such, making Mattie bemusedly declare that the death to come will be one of convenience. At which point, the sound of breaking tree branches and a corrupted boar carcass falling from above awakes the entire party.

Liquid-like moonfire pools out of the boar corpse, gathering into a single glowing ball, where a voice emits and informs the party that something corrupts the woods is experiencing the upwelling power of spring after a very long winter. However, this renewed upwelling is being filtered with something foul, and as the power of the land comes from the earth below, it is most likely that the source of darkness stems from the nearby mine. With this, she tells the party they know everything she can tell them of use, and asks them not to seek her out again.

That morning, they ride up to the Kashtal silver mine again, this time letting Tow speak to the dwarves. He discretely informs them that they're returning much of the silver they sold to the Empire of the Sun and need to discuss repayment with the Dredge King. He also informs the dwarves that his travelling companions are kept in the dark of this because of security, as they're but hired muscle. With lucky rolls, they get permission to enter the mine to speak with the Dredge King himself, who appears as a gnome-sized deep dwarf with no body hair at all except for a wild mane of white hair atop his head (no eyebrows, no beard, no arm hair, etc) and a slightly tarnished crown nested within.

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Session II
Cast opened dialogue with the Dredge King, declaring in veiled threats of the danger of ceasing an established trade between the Kashtal clan and the Empire fo the Sun. The King's response was one of indignation, and demanded that they kneel and submit to the judgement of treason. This was a spell of fealty, and only Cast actually suffered from it, stepping aside from the combat while the dwarf guards attempted to subdue the party.

It was a drawn-out process, and the dwarves were brutally drained dry of life by X37 along with an overall wearing down of the spellcasting king until he begged for mercy. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the king was a dretch in disguise; a dretch being among the lowest form of demon (or tanar'ri amongst true nerds) in the hierarchy of the fiends.

In its mewling, it revealed that it was brought to the world by a summoning circle, but it never saw the summoner (the circle was broken, so it could leave). It found a book nearby that it learned from to cast spells as a true practitioner, which revealed that it was much smarter than the average dretch (but was still average by human standards). From there, it found the Kashtal clan and decided to take advantage of its newfound knowledge.

The book was written in simplified demon script, and was expertly designed for best understanding by a fiend such as the dretch to learn the magic within.

The party forced the dretch to show it the location it was called to, and from there, they used their excellent tracking skills to find footprints left by a humanoid that either flew off or teleported away after summoning the dretch; further proving that this was the work of a powerful wizard that went out of his/her way to leave little trace and deal maximum damage to either the Empire or the Kashtals.

Not wanting to deal with a rampant mind-controlling fiend, the party killed the dretch and told the dwarves the truth (slight twisting to say the fiend actually did the killing of those guards below). Once trade was agreed to resume after mourning, the party returned to the Empire of the Sun.

There, they looked around for general work, also attempting to find out if anyone in the city is powerful enough to perform a scrying. While they were at it, they put their ear to the ground to find other jobs, and heard about the following...
* The Linguist, a Decipher Script specialist, was seeking aid in getting a tablet translated/decoded (basically help in convincing a powerful priest to perform a divination)
* Chantico, the head Imperial wizard, had an open call for anyone willing to go on a will-o-wisp hunting expedition (running low on essence for the secret page spell)
* One of the Empire's farther out towns was holding a major swordsman tournament soon = caravan guards, exhibitionists, & contestants all being viable jobs to go near the event

The party split up for the Linguist and wizard.

Tow attempted to use comprehend languages on the tablet, a remnant from the ruins of a wizard-oriented culture, but couldn't make any headway compared to what the Linguist had done so far. To Tow's knowledge, only Netzahual (head cleric & 2nd-in-command of the Empire) had a chance of being able to perform a divination, but he figured the cost would be inconveniently large. So, he went to the Small Gods Ghetto to see if a priest of the owl goddess Oxom (portfolio: curiosity/knowledge, death, wisdom) would be able to perform the rites more cheaply. The priest didn't have the skill, but was willing to pay for a message to be delivered swiftly to his high priest to see if he was willing to do this favor.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party sought Chantico to see what he offered for their services. Chantico told them that will-o'-wisps can be found at the Fetid Moor, near the border to the Blackened Grove. He was willing to craft a single magic item for the party (or requisition one) in exchange for a wisp corpse. After some extensive haggling, the party convinced him to attempt to scry on the author of the dretch's book as well (with the expectation they would be near him as added guards for the attempt due to the danger).

The Fetid Moor was close, and by the time a response could be heard from the High Priest of Oxom, they figured they could get a will-o'-wisp and return in time. They heard of the banshee mushrooms (shriekers that make listeners shaken), and how they attract will-o'-wisps and decided to use it as bait.

The fight was long and drawn out, as the wisp was incredibly dodgy and so was the one character that could actually get enough bonuses to hit back (X37, who did alot of damage). Eventually, they were victorious and when they saw the glimmer of what seemed like more on the way, they high-tailed it home.

They got their payment, a magic item would begin to be crafted, and they decided to have the Marshall receive it. As for the scrying attempt, it turned out that the target has access to a dungeon due to the 404 error received; much to Chantico's relief, as he worried about Detect Scrying on someone powerful enough to bind a dretch out of hell (assuming the author and summoner are the one and the same).

We closed this session with a level-up for everybody. The next level-up should likely occur as soon as a major plot hook begins and is completed.

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Session III
After returning home, they receive their monetary compensation for the service and have Chantico perform the scrying while under disguise and guard. As it turns out, the wizard is protected by dint of 40' continuous material, but they got some information, that the wizard has access to a dungeon.

As they leave for the two week journey towards Oxom's Caravan, they eventually pass by a cloaked figure that walks stiffly, and are suddenly ambushed by four ninjas hurling acid flasks, stabbing with wraithstrike dan bongs, and letting the animated full plate hack away at the enemy. Cast and Marshal were severely injured, and it took Marshal's Aura of Healing to keep the two alive by the second round. Fortunately, they injured the ninjas sufficiently for three of them to sprint away into the brush (one was slaughtered by X-37's long spear), and they disarmed the construct of its animating necklace. Originally I had intended the amulet to just be a light source, but it was a clever tactic so I changed its stats to make the amulet the source of its power (not like it was going to survive anyway).

Taking a stop at a town later that day, they sat down and had a good chat with Rayne, the local law enforcement and weather mage (high level adept, cold and electricity). Their drink was interrupted by half a dozen disguised ninjas; one was the piano player, one was the barkeep, another a patron, a waitress, one was hiding in the rafters, and one was disguised as a table. They didn't do as well because X-37 was able to spot them in time during their attack, and cut almost all of them down, except for an AoO that was responded with a wielded smokestick to the face that gave the ninja enough of a distraction to get out of sight.

Rayne, recognizing them for the adventuring type, encouraged them to be on their way quickly after interrogating the ninja survivors. A few charms and threats with ghouls later, and they got a fair bit of information: the Barghest's Maw has reformed, currently led by a goblinoid with a blue tint and access to alot of magic.

The ninjas weren't informed as to whom their target was, but were warned that Cast was particularly dangerous, and thus their first target. The dojo they stayed at wasn't the guild's HQ, and they weren't informed as to where it is. While interrogating, they detected a clairvoyance sensor, dispelled it, and killed the ninjas (removing their tongues afterwards to make sure speak with dead doesn't work).

Leaving town swiftly, they encountered a group of heavily wounded soldiers, having suffered an attack from orcs. A couple showed signs of red fever, and many suffered wounds from insect swarms, which Marshal greatly assisted in dealing with in his healing skills/powers.

Oxom's Caravan was set up next to an Imperial outpost, and a red 'X' was painted on the side of the major wagon, along with several hanging daggers at the four points. Tow recognized them as signs of protection from the Scratch guild, a group of particularly vicious ninja bodyguards. Knocking on the door was the high priest himself, an older halfling that knew a fair bit about the party. He mentioned that he wasn't actually under the protection of the Scratch, but he knew that the party was being targetted by ninjas, so he set up the ruse to keep them at bay.

Giving some information in exchange for his divination, the priest was surprised to know that the Barghest's Maw had reformed after the death of their founder half a century ago (the details given in the setting are post-scene, as word will spread), which makes it relatively valuable information. Performing the spell, it was revealed to him that the key to the tablet's cipher is at Riddle Manor, behind the white fence and in the center of the red carpet. He informed the party of likely dangers, sphinxes, mazes, & minotaurs; as well as the location of the former dojo of the Barghest's Maw before it was originally destroyed (north of the Imperial capital, in the shadow of the peak of the Caverns of Flame).

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Session III.5
Technically the prior session was an impromptu session, but I ran through most of my plans that day, and our regular session suffered. Probably for the better, because the player for Cast was unable to make it for that session, so this is going to be a bit shorter than normal.

Heading out, they made camp within the wastelands. While resting, Marshal saw an orc enter his darkvision range, looking parched to the point of being a walking corpse. A dry sirrush of sand and salt stirred around it with gusto that could be felt from his spot, it's cold, dead eyes looking at him with hunger. He awoke the slumbering beast X37 and Tow, who were within easy reach, and the sudden movement made the walking corpse react.

Charging forward, it tore into the group, its aura of salt scouring their flesh while it pinned Tow to the ground and started to literally suck him dry. X37 lifted him into the air, only to find himself overtaken by the swarm of sand and released the creature; which subsequently found itself chopped in half by Marshal's blade. At which point, the whirlwind formed into a child sized humanoid whose face was nothing but a gaping maw, and sucked what liquids it could before being rended by the rest of the party. Technically the dessicator was able to return to swarm form before being killed, and was literally invulnerable to any and everything the current party could do, but we decided to let Cast (the player wasn't present, remember) re-enter the fight for a single round (crawled out of the wagon) and turn on his Sun Plate for a round, which was enough to finish it off.

Within a minute, they heard hoofbeats heading towards them, and a war wagon approached, manned by half a dozen orcs bearing the insignia of the Bloodtooth clan. The lead orc's eyes glowed red (normal orcs only have reflective yellow, not actual glowing eyes) and wore noticeably better gear than the rest, and he demanded of the party to identify themselves and tell him if they saw a salt demon.

With animated gesticulation, Tow cast silent charm person on the vampire orc (as they discovered, but Tome vampires retain their old type as a subtype, so I ruled them vulnerable since they have Dark Minded), so they wouldn't get too hostile. From there, they discovered that the orcs were after the salt demon they just fought, a spawn from the Hungering Maw that already killed some of their clan. With thanks, the orc warned the party to stay away from the forest for the next few miles, because that's where a Blacked Grove outpost was patrolling for the time being; the orcs having a trade agreement with them for aid in food production (both prisoners for the vampire elite and plant growth/create food/water for the rest), in exchange for the occasional hassle with the Empire of the Sun. Not wanting to have an unneccessary fight on their hands, Tow has them leave peacefully by this point.

After a total of a week and a half, they reach the location of the former headquarters of the Barghest's Maw, the Shadow Beneath the Flame; northern base of the mountain peak of the Caverns of Flame, a forest of blackened trees and soot-covered soil. They encounter some passing salamanders, but X37 kills the medium size one in a single round (leaving the three small size ones left to whiff pointlessly against their massive ACs).

Within the barely standing dojo, they find little except a palpable chill, until Tow casts detect secret doors and finds the remains of an underground passageway underneath a broken statue. While there were numerous traps down the hall (ninjas, their shoes are probably trapped), a fair number had rusted shut or broken with age; and a symbol of weakness was accidentally wiped clean, which knocked Tow into a waking coma. He would've likely found it, but they had X37 (about the size of the barghest founder, which the hall's built for) do trapfinding by grabbing a tree trunk and knocking it around the place; no idea why.

There were inscriptions around the place, indicating it to be an ancient goblinoid cavern that mentioned their gods avatar coming down and consuming their enemies; along with a technique of consuming only part of a creature to bestow strength and power.

In the deepest part is a still smoldering censer, the room ice cold. They knocked it over, releasing a cinderspawn which did some Charisma drain to Tow and Marshal (gave it whirlwind attack, and they just had Tow strapped to X37's back) before getting smacked down. Scavenging a bit more, they found a necklace of goblin skulls with inscribed names of historically significant people that died, as well as recently activated alarm wards (Tow wasn't able to identify or tell the party what he saw until tomorrow). Inside one of the skulls is a necromantically enchanted onyx gemstone, but identification won't occur until they return to the Empire of the Sun.

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Session IV
Overall, a relatively uneventful session due to the player for Cast getting very distracted by phone calls, food, shiny things, etc. They also sidetracked events a little over halfway through into something I hadn't planned for. We were also without X37 due to the player having RL concerns, which they felt the pain for such later.

Once in town they hawked off the lot of their stolen goods and eventually made a contact with an interested buyer in the ninja-specific items; where Cast did not join at the exchange due to the less-than-legal situation. At an empty theater, they met a robed hobgoblin that purchased the equipment with much more money than it was worth, and then delivered a message as a representative of the Barghest's Maw. So as to cut down on the bloodshed, a neutral location has been chosen where the party and the leader of the ninja clan will meet to come to a 'final decision'. In the bag of money was placed the location, a city called Herrein one month's journey away (with frequent sea voyages).

The party took this offer and began their travel, which ended up costing them most of the money they made from the hawking of their spoils of war. Herrein in a city of extreme class difference, gothic architecture, advanced technology, and a slight problem with lycanthropes. They were told to seek out a shop named "Jack's Extermination", which they found, the shop sign showing a large mousetrap and flanked by two actual gargoyles. Extremely cautiously, they opened the door from 30' away with the open/close cantrip to see if the gargoyles responded, and tip-toed in with the expectation of them moving and attacking. The stone eyes twitched minorly at them, but otherwise they never moved.

Inside, the small mousey shopkeeper got confused by their demands to speak to the Barghest's Maw, but eventually remembered a delivery from the Great Tinkerer for a pair of foreign aasimars and a tiefling. He found the box and revealed a life-sized toy monkey with cymbals in its hands, but before he could touch it or face the party, the device shot a knife into his head (promptly fell, unmoving) and began to clap the cymbols together.

Spells of defense flew on, but it did nothing else but clap for a moment and a magic mouth began, "The ninjas only needed you out of the way, and a two month goose-chase satisfied their employer. Sorry you got fooled." A round or two later, the shopkeeper got up with a splitting headache (the knife only took him to -9 and fast healing got him conscious). Not asking questions, the party grumbled and began their month journey home, the lot of them very tempted to work even harder to hunt down the ninja clan so as to kill them all.

Once home, many news were revealed. The orcs of the wastelands are beginning to unite under the banner of the Hungering Maw, and assault the borders with the Empire. The Blackened Grove has gotten an influx of soldiers with darkness spewing armor and are making more serious offenses. And the minor kingdom that is Cast's home very unexpectedly & recently swore independence after aid from the Empire of the Sun from a grass-roots rebellion to depose the king on seemingly baseless (but now known to be fully justified) accusations of fiendish pacts.

Not sure of what to do, they party ultimately decided to surprise me and head for Riddle Manor, a mere four day journey south. They found traces of kobolds and eventually the entrance to the maze. Before attempting the open gate/entrance, they searched for secret doors and found one, where Tow promptly fell down a 50' pit to open said door. Climbing out, they took the secret entrance...which took them into the main corridor in plain sight of the open gate. They never tried the front entrance, which would've revealed that the gate is actually completely blocked off by an invisible wall (requiring the side entrance to get around it). Walking down the maze of corridors (10' wide, 15' high), they didn't even attempt to check for traps and set off a wall scythe. Promptly, they had Tow hold the front to check for traps, where his Take 10 ended up finding every single one as they moved.

Note, the resident apparently took things easy and only trapped half of a 10' wide hall. Sometimes, after a turn/intersection, it would switch to a different half, but never did it have a trap on a lone side. Of course, thinking this too obvious of a trap, they check the safe side to be certain.

At a major intersection with fountains and such, they see a pair of minotaurs at the end of another hall. Their response is to cast a defensive spell and Marshal uses his battle shout, which prompts the minotaurs to take out their greataxes. Cast charges forward and harms one a fair bit, only to get grappled and held against a wall scythe trap (auto-reset, pretty much auto-hit when he's pinned), while the other minotaur squeezes around and gets ready to take on the other two. A short interplay with Marshal, only to find himself grappled and held above the minotaur's head and about to be coup-de-graed on its horns.

While other spells had been attempted, I've been rolling natural 18s and thus Tow's magic was largely wasted. By this point, Tow's hypnotic pattern finally works and the minotaur just stares blankly while Marshal struggles out of its grip. The other minotaur, confused as to why its buddy got stupid, finished off Cast (-19) and starts to walk over. Tow casts another hypnotic pattern before the other minotaur can un-fascinate his friend. Marshal's healing aura gets Cast conscious within three rounds, where they look unthreatening and nonchalant until they both charge and power attack the more injured minotaur into death (this broke the fascinate effect on both). The other minotaur trips & chops at both of their faces from the provoked AoO, misses the chop part because of their very high ACs, then goes down from Tow's crossbow.

They begin to read the writing on the walls (all in Giant, which Tow uses magic to translate), which is where we end the session for the night.

[virgil]

Session V
We are without the player for Tow this session because he is attending his high school reunion. Silly people and their 'social obligations'. While he's gone, X37 serves as trapfinder by carrying a light load's worth of large tree branches to rub against the walls ahead (*thunk* don't step there).

Upon the walls of the intersection from earlier, written in Giantish, are minor prayers of protection to the various Small Gods as well as a mention of the 'true path' to Riddle Manor: follow that which runs up and down the stairs, yet never moves.

The party delves deeper into the labyrinth, eventually spotting a kobold that scampers out of sight, and they hear a deep grinding of stone ahead. At a turn, they get suspicious and search the corners and notice stone dust on the wall opposite the hallway. X37 puts down the sticks and whips out a 30 Strength check on the wall, busting down the semi-false wall Koolaid style, revealing a creature with a surprised bovine face down the hall.

X37 states something, but the minotaur goes into a defensive stance and seems to not understand. Surprisingly, a kobold climbs up from behind the minotaur and yelps out a reply. In exchange for not attacking, they'll show the hallway that leads to Riddle Manor, though neither of the two know which set of stairs is the right one. Accepting, they go, and choose the stairs that has a carpet on it (there were other features for the four others, but no other had railings or carpeting).

They then see Riddle Manor in all its idyllic glory, as well as sphinxes flying about. As they walk the cobblestone path (each stone carved with a different shape or even a face), they're interrupted by Turan practically leaping from behind the manor and in front of the door. Cautious and worried, the party introduces themselves, and are surprised by her courtesy & fairness as she lays down the ground rules.

Once inside, they're shown to their rooms by barely tiny-sized gargoyles moving about with groundskeeper tools. The shortest one is squat and smokes a cigar, speaking gruffly and seeming to be the most 'intelligent' of the crew. It's later revealed that they are constructs left behind by the prior owner to serve as cleaners and maintenance staff, originally charged by and tied to the estate. While I originally wrote down just animated objects, I had an inspiration & though it cooler if I gave personalities. For the hell of it, I placed several of the tiny gargoyles dressed as Tibetan monks taking shifts moving the gold discs of a 64-piece Tower of Hanoi (not a large one, poker chip thickness).

Once in their room, they begin to search for anything that looks like a red field or white picket fence, eventually thinking of going non-literal and declaring the painting with the open mouth with a tongue sticking out as the answer; receiving the code book to translate the tablet.

They thank Turan for her hospitality, and decide to use their three questions. There is nothing concerning the origins of the Hungering Maw, nor the control of the Hungering Maw, and there is knowledge stored in the Manor that can fuel a kingdom. I planned for this potential, and gave them the rules for how they may become the owner of Riddle Manor. Out-of-game, this must be a riddle solved by the player himself, and he cannot receive any help from the others without them being close enough to be in the blast radius of all those symbols. They have 3 real-time minutes to solve the riddle, or I assume a wrong answer is given by the character.

The three players accepted the challenge & risk together.

X37 was the character they decided would receive 'ownership', and the riddle was...out of the five icons provided, which is the most unique?


They guessed correctly after two minutes. Turan bestowed ownership, and revealed that almost all of the rules were just tradition she followed for three hundred years, and is essentially not required to tell anyone anything about the inventory list. Now, part of the reason she had the rule against 'general search' questions for confirmation is that the owner cannot actually do such himself and has to ask himself specific questions to confirm or deny. In Turan's case, she was present for a large number of the secrets stored (obviously not all, as her presence isn't required for storage) and has a good memory; which was not transferred with ownership. She knew that it was potentially dangerous to empty out the estate of its secrets, warning of 'a place of power without a purpose'.

However, there are several duties with being the owner of Riddle Manor that Turan informed X37 of. While he is free to leave the estate, this will create a formless icon in his stead. If anyone stands before this icon and requests to become attuned, the icon will state the riddle, waiting for a short period of time before resetting and requiring a year and a day before the requester can ask again (if he takes too long or answers wrong). Also, there is a request for a riddle that the owner is compelled to provide if asked and is unable to attack the requester until they respond. Turan does not know what the riddle is nor what happens if answered, but all Riddle Manor owners intuitively understand this duty; and in her experience, it is best to not delve into the nature/origin of this responsibility. Turan does reveal that she is aware that there is a True Owner of Riddle Manor, and she saw faintly but once in the shadows of the estate, killing a portly man. She never found a trace of either, and got a blank response when she queried her 'inventory' concerning it (neither confirmation nor denial, but simply...nothing).

X37 indicated that he was fine with letting Riddle Manor continue normally, and was delighted to find out that Turan and her mate would prefer to remain in what has been their home for centuries, and thus serve as guardians and slayers of those who answer the formless icon incorrectly (more stable than just letting it sit open).

And so, the party heads back to the capital. Once there, they begin their planning for travelling to Cast's homeland to retake the kingdom, which will aid the Empire by returning the flow of conscripts and tax money.

Everyone levelled, and we went through the introductions of Marshal's and X37's cohorts. Cast will get his cohort and more followers with the acquisition of his homeland, as he's likely to become king; while Marshal's followers won't be revealed until later.

I'll add the stats and background/origins of each cohort in the first post.

[virgil]

Session VI
The party suits up and begins their 6 day journey of subtle entry to Crystalis, Cast's homeland, in order to free it of the oppressive reign of Brawn the Giant Slayer. Having heard rumours of a shadow demon and the impressive darkvision of the barbazu, they don't act until early morning, so they can act under the cover of the sun.

Nearing the crafter's home that Sarou (Marshal's cohort) spoke of, they spied a pair of barbazu marching towards it as well. Hiding Cast, in case they recognized him, they walked up and bluffed their way as employees coming to deliver more precise orders. Believing them, the barbazu waited outside while the party interrogated before they collected the tax money.

They obtained information on the secret entrance, a grain storage area that leads almost directly to the throne room, allowing the ice sculptors to go in without drawing attention to themselves. They're ice sculptors because King Brawn had been having a large amount of never-melting ice from the Frozen Islands shipped and stored within the throne room to add to the decore.

Bidding a good day, they contemplate a manner to get past the two barbazu guards at the grain storage. Eventually, they just have Tow teleport between them and bluff that he's there to tell them the Empire of the Sun is invading along the road to the west and they need all the help they can get. They believe him, and the party gets four rounds before the barbazu figure out what's going on and give chase down the 5' wide tunnel. A dozen lemures block the hall, giving Marshal a chance to two round half of them as he chews through them (they had readied actions to charge once they had room) while X37 and Cast struggle against the two barbazu (bad luck for them, good luck for me).

Shortly, they kill them all and get to the back door, which leads to a lush greenhouse with a small lake and a fountain made to look like a waterfall in the middle. There's a straw hat wearing hobo sitting on a rock in the lake, fishing. His face is painted to look dirty with a white frown over his mouth, and several brightly colored patches line his ratty clothes. One shoe is removed and a piece of string tied to a toe. The string led up to a crate (3' tall) near the back door, tied to a stick propping it open and a magic sword underneath along with a pile of gold. Figuring it to just be a joke, Tow walks over and grabs the sword, which makes the fisherman shout 'Aha!'.

It also causes a concert grand piano to fall on Tow's head (6d6 damage).

The party draws their weapons and readies to attack/defend against the man, who doesn't do much else besides introducing himself as Cali. They talk for a bit, and he says that he hangs around for the fishing, also informing the party the king is likely not taking visitors. At some point, Cali informs the party that not many people actually talk to him, as apparently they just snub him; what he'd really want is a catalogue.

Assuming this would get on his good side, Tow teleports himself back to the Empire at a library and gets a catalogue of historical angels (no idea where they got that idea), then starts teleporting back. I figured teleport trap of the Jester is actually anticiapte teleportation, and had cast it on King Brawn earlier that day. This was within range, next room over from the throne room and all, which made the King come charging through in his full suite of demon armor, ice aegis.

This ensues a battle, as King Brawn recognizes Cast and assumes the worst. King Brawn is a human Fighter 5/Barbarian 2, built on 28 point-buy and old age penalties, wearing magic armor/shield/strength/deflection. In the first round, the King 'calls in his last favour' from Cali, who assists for a single round...Low Comedy with a bucket full of chum, three cans of chicken soup (or shrink item alchemist's flasks), and sending three unseen servants (from servant horde) each with bumblebee shaped boxes w/fire trap next to the party; all while whistling 'flight of the bumblebee'. After that round of appreciably harming the entire party, he goes to nap and continue fishing for the rest of the fight.

The fight is several rounds of doing nothing against Brawn due to his AC and lucky saving throws, followed by a couple real hits and Brawn using Lift and CdG on Cast; releasing him into the pond that is deceptive in its 30' depth (the ACP is enough to sink him). However, he's taken down and knocked unconcsious through Tow's whelm.

After some interrogation of Brawn, who is ready to just die rather than suffer any further indignity, they find out that close to three months ago, Cali arrived as a wandering jester/moocher. Several days later, the shadow demon arrived and offered Brawn a chance for greater glory of the kingdom and for him to finally sire a child that could inherit the throne. Desperate to keep the family line going, he agreed and hired the Barghest's Maw to assassinate Cast (later finding out it's just as good if he's not there to question his rightful rulership during his rise to power, as detailed earlier). Later, a neophyte temptress demon along with a contigent of barbazu, and he gained the manpower to declare independence.

Deciding it would be more useful, X37 simply knocks Brawn out and will later keep him imprisoned until he's good enough to be able to eat souls.

X37 threatens to attack Cali if he doesn't comply and spill the beans as to who summoned all of the fiends that wander the kingdom, and is given a highly trapped envelope that he decides to try and read as close to the jester as possible. This barely hurts Cali, and gets ready to attack, but Cast talks the player out of the idea since he thinks the danger/effort is useless and won't get the information. With a grumble, the ghoul listens.

They search the grounds, and all of the mortal guardsmen are relieved to see that it's the rightful heir to the throne and that the evil Brawn is defeated. Finally, they find the Queen along with the temptress who was to soon be the mother of Brawn's child (this was before the ritual was begun). The Queen reveals that she carries the child of Cast's father from shortly before he was killed (barely shows), which fits the rumours Cast heard of the Queen being seen in the town with his father shortly before he died; and did this out of loneliness and secretive rebellion against her power-mad husband. Figuring her to be safe, Cast opts to keep her as a duchess.

As for the temptress, she has high society training; imagine the Companion from Firefly, only with darker background, and elevating Cast's status through pleasing other kingdoms fits within her capability. She never saw her summoner (much like that dretch from earlier), but found a note informing her of freedom if she worked with Brawn. Now, she is left as a freelancer, and living on the Prime is with the advantages provides in the Tomes. Cast decides that she's trustworthy enough to hire on, and she's introduced as his new cohort.

Next week, the party begins the process in cleansing the land of the barbazu and finding out the location of the shadow demon.

[virgil]

Session VII
Finally, it's been a month since the last session due to RL situations cancelling the game three times. We've gotten back together and one of my old friends is visiting, so I cooked him up a spot character to join in (basic halfling barbarian).

As they had 13 hours before midnight, the appointed time that shadow demon arrives to speak with King Brawn, Tow took advantage of this and started to rest in one of the guest rooms. During this time, X37 & Marshal headed down into the dungeon to see if there were any important political prisoners. There's a barbazu guarding the place, and doesn't believe X37's statement that the contract's been changed (no shadow to give the go-ahead), but does state that none of the prisoners are allowed out unless King Brawn's around to approve. When X37 pulls out Brawn's corpse to show him, the barbazu curses at his wording and lets them in, himself leaving since the contract's null with the boss dead.

As an aside, Kast leaves orders with the guard to deny entrance to any of the barbarzu, stating that their king is busy. Since they don't know he's dead yet, they're not going to storm the place, so it suffices as a decent stalling maneuver.

There are two specially designed cells, one holds our spot-player and another holds a political prisoner. The temp-player is held inside a magically treated iron cube less than 2' on a side, held up on chains above a 60' pit. Marshal suppresses the magic of the box, which makes it possible for X37 to make the DC 30 break check to open it. They find the halfling's equipment, the still beating boar's heart (magic Strength booster, requires periodic nibbling, regrows that damage), creepy; which amuses everyone. In the other room, the political prisoner seems to be a human heavily bound with ropes that are connected to a series of yet more ropes that hold up a 2 tonne boulder slightly above him (so if they're broken, the boulder falls and crushes him), the human can't see because he has a metal plate tied over his eyes, and there are mild burn marks around the area. The man is named Tenoc, where further detail on his origin will be revealed in the stat write-up with Tow (semi-cohort). Suffice it to say, he doesn't give much help for the moment, because he assumes it's just a torture ruse to make him think he's getting out; so they leave him for Tow to speak with.

Once Tow finishes resting and recovering his spells, he goes down to the catacombs and uses hypnotism on Tenoc to convince him to assist in fighting the shadow demon. X37 goes into his true form and picks up the boulder, carrying it off, so now Tenoc can safely explode in flame to remove the rope.

Midnight nears, and two barbarzu arrive to escort one of the nobles on charges of wrongful summoning, pushing him forward in chains. Everyone is in the throne room, hiding in illusions, along with an image of Brawn on the throne and a false cage for Kast. After a bit of cajoling, the barbazu are told to leave the prisoner, so they walk out the room. During the conversation, the noble seems dazed and confused, and said the thing he summoned was an item in his pocket, which turns out to be an darkness enchanted gem (later revealed to be a crappy 1gp onyx). As soon as the room is enveloped in darkness, the shadow demon springs out and pounces upon Kast for a fair bit of damage. The barbazu come charging back in, failing to summon a single lemure, and get slaughtered by X37. The shadow demon itself is beaten down before it can do anything significant (the barbazu had a damning darkness on them, but it was dispelled by Marshal when it came out).

Tow and Marshal head up to the top of the castle/ziggaraut, create the largest floating head you can do with a silent image, while Marshal shouts as loud as he can to inform all of the barbazu that Brawn is dead and they must leave immediately. There's some clean-up over the next two days, and Gina eventually gets word (they don't know she switched sides) that they have a new contract. There's some sneaking around and ambushing, followed by awakening the barbazu in the dungeon (which makes it waste a round when it tries to teleport away and fails due to the depth of the dungeon) and hypnosis gets it to reveal that the new contract is with some 5' tall dwarf-like wizard that wears white robes, speaks High Infernal, provides virgins, and tells them to call him The White.

While travelling to the capital to go through the coronation, the Empire proves reluctant to attempt to scry on The White since he's not revealed himself to be an enemy to the country, is obviously powerful enough to watch for scrying, and now has a small army of teleporting fiends that are individually on par with a Coronal Guard. Once I speak with the players again, after having initially given them nothing, I'll go ahead and let them have heard of someone that looks like The White with a good enough Knowledge (nobility) check; which will be a dwarf known for being the spokesman to a white dragon far to the north.

[virgil]

Session VIII
A decent game today, though we were without Tow once again (car trouble).

The party made their trek back to the capital of the Empire of the Sun, using the best horses of the kingdom to speed up the trek. Soru informs Marshal that he's been doing well getting a dojo formed, and his presence would be appreciated (think drill sergeant) as well as using his perceptive ability as a test for their stealth. Tezcateotl, excited with his progress, shows the new neophytes he's recruited as well as his undead crafting results. They reacquaint with Chantico, who is sporting a missing arm due to a particularly dangerous attack from the Blackened Grove when a strike team hit the capital.

While the two go through town selling and upgrading their gear, Cast prepares for the coronation ceremony, which includes a solo fight against an elephant. A large part of the capital is there for the ceremony, and Cast ends up defeating the elephant with only 2 hit points left (it was an incredibly close fight, saved by his warhorse's extra attacks). This dismays Cast incredibly at the performance of his character, especially after looking at Marshal's numbers were he to fight the elephant instead. In fact, he decides to retire his character and make a new one, having Cast return to the kingdom to rule rather than adventure.

In order to keep him involved, we used that one-shot halfling barbarian and had Cast's player use the stats, saying that he had family where the party was going and he'd help a bit before reaching the place.

Their decision is to go forth and assist with the orcish horde under the banner of the Hungering Maw. Chantico, who is on break doing a couple minor items, have the day off long enough to be able to cast shrink item & two phantom steeds w/an Extend Rod. The halfling was small enough to be a passenger, and the shrink item was for a pair of heavy warhorse skeletons packaged in a chest and set for 'inactive' until reassembled (takes an hour and some negative energy); the latter a compliment of Tezcateotl.

The travel is cut down from two weeks to two days thanks to this, where they find a village retrofitted into a defensive outpost about 15 miles before the border to the wastelands; the fight having gotten serious. There are three wounded Coronal Guard, about 200 basic soldiers, and five Coronal Guard patrols currently keeping an eye on the borders (one Guard plus seven very well trained soldiers). Marshal gives out a bunch of group healing activities and the party is appraised of the situation. There are four minor camps and a major one, sending small groups to test the border defenses and are likely massing a large attack.

The party decides to attack one of the minor camps (after a patrol leaves, so their numbers are low), sending the halfing to the front to jump over the gate and open it. Inside, they fight 14 orcs, a dustblight (treated as children of the Maw, acting as leaders), and a dessicator with the swarm template (set for sand). Before the dessicator can do much, the rest of the camp is killed in fairly short order, the orcs in their dying breath tell the dessicator to run for the main camp. This keeps the party from a painful fight, as none of them have area attacks of note, but it does make them have to leave fairly quickly because the main camp will be alerted.

Resting back at the outpost, the party waits an extra couple days for Tezcateotl to bring everyone's followers (assumed that Tow's running back and forth forth for information); namely by him purchasing transport wagons, converting them to be pulled by bipeds (along with Tow bringing the horse skeletons back for reassembly), and having them pull tirelessly.

[Psychic Robot]

Which icon is the most unique?

[Starmaker]

Which icon is the most unique?

I'd say #5.

[virgil]

That is correct, it is the only one without a unique feature.

[Heath Robinson]

That is correct, it is the only one without a unique feature.

It's a matter of perspective. Number 5 has the unique property that you must define all 4 pieces of information about the shape itself in order for your selection to be unambiguous. Every other shape has a single property that defines it. However, the fact that the shape does not have any unique properties is a uniquely identifying piece of information.

Basically, number 5 has the unique property of not having any unique properties. Seriously, though, I'm just a hardcore pedant. I like the fact that you made the least "unique" shape the right answer.

[JonSetanta]

Which icon is the most unique?

The hexagon...

It's an opinionated riddle. No true correct answer, pretty much whoever matches the inventor best.
There's a card-based party game like that.

[virgil]

Ugh, I don't know what to do with the player for Kast. He saw his numbers in comparison to Marshal's and wept with inadequacy to the point of retiring his character. Now, he's back in that frustrated mood of being able to make a character neither swiftly nor optimally, especially in comparison to what I create. Assistance (even advice on which class), if anything, frustrates him even more. It's actually enough for him to consider the option of just not bothering and dropping out of gaming for an indeterminant period again.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

Why not just ask him what he wants to play, and then making it for him.

Usually you can start with a concept like:

Boastful Gunslinger. Fastest shooter in the West. Once killed a man just for looking at him. Travels with a party through inability to negotiate fairly (or intimidate) for rewards, lack of planning ability, and needs someone to pay for his drinking/womanizing habits when times are tough.

And end up with something like:
Human Rogue 4
1 - Point Blank Shot
1 - Two Weapon Fighting
3 - Blitz
*slightly modified houserule: in addition to all characters with BAB of +6 having Quickdraw, all characters with Dex 20 have Quickdraw by default. This is a bit more sensible than the Sleight of Hand hack for Quickdraw, and still explains why most roguey characters draw weapons instantly.
*slightly modified item: you can get a hand-crossbow 'clip' that auto-reloads up to 10 bolts for you. This makes hand crossbows still inferior to throwing acid flasks, but slightly better than darts (darts have 10' shorter range, but may be drawn as a free action by any character).

Stats (26 Point Buy):
Str 8
Dex 21 (with a +2 item)
Con 10
Int 16
Wis 8
Cha 6

Skills: Max ranks in Balance, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Slight of Hand, Move Silently, Hide, Gather Information, Disable Device, Open Lock, Search, Spot, Listen

Abilities: trapfinding, +2d6 SA, Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense +1

Saves: +1/+9/+0

Attack: Masterwork Hand Crossbow (+9/d4+3 (Blitz))
Full Attack: 2x Masterwork Hand Crossbow (+7/d4+3 (Blitz))

Combat strategy: Get first draw and kill opponent (25 damage on average if successful with 2 attack rolls). Hide, Tumble, 5' step back and shoot, whatever, just get Sneak Attack.

Items of note:
+2 whatever of Dex, 2 masterwork hand crossbows (magical auto-reloading hand crossbows at higher levels)

Advancement Strategy:
Next feat is Flick of the Wrist or some custom-made feat that gives that ability in addition to a number of others. You can roleplay this as drawing his hand crossbow so quick that by time the opponent realizes it he is already shot in the throat.

At level 6 or so, both of those become Brilliant Energy hand crossbows (still inferior to acid flasks) at no cost to the character (roleplay it as him shooting down some other duelist or something). This is cooler than the acid flash (you can shoot people through doors and windows and shit), and inferior (no splash damage, d4 compared against 2d6. Right around level 6 is the level that ACs take off, so this about right.

NOTE: The above is not awesome-powergamed by any stretch of the imagination, it is just good and fun to play.

[virgil]

Assistance (even advice on which class), if anything, frustrates him even more.

Out and out making the character for him dissociates him from the character and makes him feel like it's not his while also being a constant reminder of his inadequacy at making a character.

[Meikle641]

I'd recommend those "Bolt Thrower" things from "Underdark". They're like Hand Crossbows, only better. Same damage, better range and they hold 3 shots...But that doesn't fix the existing problem.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

I was just throwing down on paper the concept from Stephen King, retooled for D&D.

You are playing in Tome, so you can't really go wrong with any particular feat. Have him 'make' the character in the sense that he will select the class and assign stats and give equipment, and you can give him a series of feat choices to choose from.

The following is the procedure that we use for new players (which, do to relocation, typically outnumber regular players):
1 - player decides what alignment they want to play (typically their own)
2 - player decides what kind of race they want to be (this usually helps define a character concept quickly). Basic choices: tall/beautiful, wide/strong, small/sneaky.
- - - - - a small/sneaky evil character will usually be presented with the basic options: evil goblin, witty kobold, mischievous halfing
- - - - - a wide/strong evil character will have the deugar (+0 LA), orc, demon choices, for example
3 - player rolls stats (yes we still roll, mostly due to newbie luck) (5d6 drop 2). The player then assigns stats.
4 - Player is presented with options for character concepts (spell, shield, bow, sword/dagger), and recommended with classes that fit that description (Beguiler/Fire Mage/Conduit, Cleric/Knight/Marshall, Ranger/Fighter/Cleric/Rogue, Samurai/Fighter/Rogue)
5 - Player is then given a smattering of feats to choose from, as present in a standard build of that type (for example: TWF, Point Blank Shot, Luddite, Stealthy for a rogue)
6 - Player then selects equipment (very level-dependent, usually just assigned)
7 - Player then makes a description that must include the following:
- - Color of hair, eye, skin, and armor
- - 1 Memorable in the past
- - 1 Life goal (may or may not be related
- - 1 basic interaction with party member (if they can't come up with one, we will do a 'how did you save the life of the player to your right?' sometimes)

Usually by then they will have something like Good Dwarven Cleric of Pelor (with feats and basic character outline). Also, they will feel moderately attached to the character.

I recommend a procedure like this. For the most part it helps people to realize concepts that they didn't know they wanted to play. With F&K, for the most part, the mechanics will make it so that you don't suck very much.

[CatharzGodfoot]

What was wrong with the knight?

[virgil]

He saw what his numbers looked like in comparison to Marshal's if the two were to fight completely separately (Marshal with his own buffs vs Kast without someone else's buffs).

[CatharzGodfoot]

I don't see much difference.

[virgil]

Marshal, by himself, is fighting at +16/+11 (3d6+12) and AC 25 (27 vs evil).
Cast is fighting solo at +10/+5 (1d8+4) and AC 29.

Marshal could lose 6 points in his attack to have an equal attack bonus, equal damage with Designate Opponent, AND have an equal AC (PA 4, Expertise 2). Include better DR and invaluable group utility, and Cast just felt superfluous.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Ah, so the statistics you have way up in the thread are quite out of date...