Dice OOC: Brennen's Bastion

[Silanon]

Since it showed up here and I just found it - the meaning of the letters:

Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): Extraordinary abilities are nonmagical. They are, however, not something that just anyone can do or even learn to do without extensive training. Effects or areas that suppress or negate magic have no effect on extraordinary abilities.


Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): Spell-like abilities, as the name implies, are magical abilities that are very much like spells. Spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance and dispel magic. They do not function in areas where magic is suppressed or negated (such as an antimagic field). Spell-like abilities can be dispelled but they cannot be counterspelled or used to counterspell.


Supernatural Abilities (Su): Supernatural abilities are magical but not spell-like. Supernatural abilities are not subject to spell resistance and do not function in areas where magic is suppressed or negated (such as an antimagic field). A supernatural ability's effect cannot be dispelled and is not subject to counterspells. See Table: Special Ability Types for a summary of the types of special abilities.

 

[Silanon]

Psychie Can you do me a favor and recheck the numbers for your attributes? Maybe I'm just terrible at math right now, but I think you should have 2 more points to spend.

 

[Psychie]

I can do that. Thank you!

 

[Psychie]

I was able to increase Nyx's Wisdom to 10. Thanks again for catching that.

 

[Sherwood]

Ok, I'm going to go ahead and buy a light horse.

 

[Sherwood]

Here is a great magic item that we need to try and get for our cleric:

Phylactery of Positive Channeling – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com

 

[D. Rex]

Silanon

Mixing it myself saves me a lot of money! Should I add up the ingredient costs, or should I go with the craft rule of 1/3rd of target item price?

Alright! Well I'll get gunsmithing and alchemy.

If I spend a skill rank to get a new skill, is that skill unranked?



And can you tell me about the Kobold tribe Grit came from?

 

[Sherwood]

Putting a point into a skill gives it to you, so it is no longer unskilled.

 

[Sherwood]

BTW, which experience point chart are we using?

 

[Silanon]

Mixing it myself saves me a lot of money! Should I add up the ingredient costs, or should I go with the craft rule of 1/3rd of target item price?

I think you're actually doing better than either of those - see the gunsmithing feat you have:

Crafting Ammunition: You can craft bullets, pellets, and black powder for a cost in raw materials equal to 10% of the price.

Or am I misunderstanding the question?

If I spend a skill rank to get a new skill, is that skill unranked?

Sorry, I think I've caused confusion with my response.
There's two states a skill can be in: Either untrained, or trained. It is untrained if you have not spent a skill point on it. As soon as you a skill point for an untrained skill, it becomes trained and you have it at first level.

For example, any character comes with Craft(alchemy): 0. We just don't write that down because there's damn many skills out there, and most characters won't use it. For this character, spending one skill point on it grants Craft(alchemy) 1, and that also means that he is now trained in it. Untrained = skill level 0. It's just a differentiation because there's some skills that you need to be trained in to use them. Is that clearer?

And can you tell me about the Kobold tribe Grit came from?

Damn, I meant to do that... later today, this time for real...

BTW, which experience point chart are we using?

Good question, I haven't decided that yet. Last time, the medium track felt quite slow, so I was considering the fast track instead.

 

[D. Rex]

I think you're actually doing better than either of those - see the gunsmithing feat you have:

Crafting Ammunition: You can craft bullets, pellets, and black powder for a cost in raw materials equal to 10% of the price.

Or am I misunderstanding the question?



Sorry, I think I've caused confusion with my response.
There's two states a skill can be in: Either untrained, or trained. It is untrained if you have not spent a skill point on it. As soon as you a skill point for an untrained skill, it becomes trained and you have it at first level.

For example, any character comes with Craft(alchemy): 0. We just don't write that down because there's damn many skills out there, and most characters won't use it. For this character, spending one skill point on it grants Craft(alchemy) 1, and that also means that he is now trained in it. Untrained = skill level 0. It's just a differentiation because there's some skills that you need to be trained in to use them. Is that clearer?

Damn, I meant to do that... later today, this time for real...


Good question, I haven't decided that yet. Last time, the medium track felt quite slow, so I was considering the fast track instead.

I didnt see the craft ammunition bit! That saves me even more money!



I think its clearer
Did I do my skill points right at least?

And no rush on the Kobold stuff!

 

[Sherwood]

A skill with a Class bonus gets a +3 to it. So, for example:

+3 - Perception (Wis 1, Class, Race 2 )

Your Perception should be +6, not just +3. Other than making those slight changes, you should be good.

 

[D. Rex]

A skill with a Class bonus gets a +3 to it. So, for example:


Your Perception should be +6, not just +3. Other than making those slight changes, you should be good.

Didnt know that! I thought that meant only ranks in class skills gave a +3

 

[Sherwood]

As far as I know, you should get it on skills that you don't need a skill rank in, like Perception. Knowledge skills still need a rank in them to use.

 

[Silanon]

First of all: Tomorrow might be a busy day for me - got personal stuff and elections going on, so expect slower and fewer responses.


As long as I'm not mistaken, you get the class skill bonus only if you did put a skill rank into it. It's a one-time bonus that you get when you become trained in the skill - so any further skill point beyond the first only adds a +1, not more.

From Skills – d20PFSRD:
When you make a skill check, you roll 1d20 and then add your ranks and the appropriate ability score modifier to the result of this check. If the skill you’re using is a class skill (and you have invested ranks into that skill), you gain a +3 bonus on the check. If you are not trained in the skill (and if the skill may be used untrained), you may still attempt the skill, but you use only the bonus (or penalty) provided by the associated ability score modifier to modify the check.


I'll look over your skills tomorrow, Rex - keep the gunsmithing feat in mind for weapon crafting, too, there's more things you can do with it. Upgrading your first gun, for example!

 

[D. Rex]

Yup. I just read over the feat. But before I start working on it, I need to repair it first which would bring it to masterwork quality. And then all the ways I can upgrade it.

Is there a specific lost of mods, or do what sounds right?

 

[Silanon]

What do you mean by mods, exactly? There's a list of all the different things you can add to a weapon or its ammo - see magical weapons - special abilities or something like that.

 

[D. Rex]

Like ways to upgrade the gun. Will check those out!


(Also dont forget Kobold stuff)

 

[Silanon]

Nah, don't ya worry - I'm in the midst of the brainstorming process over here. Might call it a night soonish, though, I'll see how far I get before that.

 

[Silanon]

Alrighty, what do we know thus far about your tribe? We know that it lives in the north of the Bastion, in the mountains there. The northern neighbors are kobolds that do share the brownish grey color of the desert they live in; living in deep caves and tunnels whose origins they themselves might not even know at this point. Lately, they have allied with a dragon; you haven't seen it, and no others have, but your kind knows to read the signs, and your neighbors didn't wait long to spread the news. There's humans and tribes of well-disciplined hobgoblins in the north-east, but they leave you alone for the most part. In the south, there's villages of wood elves, and they mostly leave your tribe alone unless you step too far away from your caves. They seem to accept your presence, but strike whenever your tribe tries to expand after a few good years. The forest is theirs, not yours.

So what does that mean for the tribe? You're not any better than the northern tribe. In fact, if not for them, you would have allied with the dragon yourself. But since being second means being last, your Matriarch, leader of the tribe, would rather explore different options. That's where you come in, I'd assume. In the meantime, you probably live on the way as before, though even more prepared for attacks. The tribe lives in a well-defended area - a few natural caves, but most importantly an old dwarven fortress that might not be in the best state of repair, but filled with traps, scouts and perhaps beasts, tamed by your kind, instead. You live in a relatively strict hierarchy, where age as sign of survival instincts matters, and so does expertise in certain areas. Your talents to pick of different tongues, for example, found both amusement because noone else really needs it, but also respect as it gave you a certain role to fulfill that few others could. For food, your kind hunts on the surface and underground, and finds mushrooms in deep, caves far away from the surface. Maybe those are natural, but the dwarves left perfect conditions for them to spread, building pipes to get water there regularly etc. It's all in a state of disrepair, but your kind is good at improvising, so it's still working, and will work for another long while as long as your kind stays there.
Your kind does mine minerals, and has, for some time, even done some trade with the wood elves - lately, they've gotten their iron and steel from the Bastion, but before that, they asked you for it, though reluctantly.

Lately, after the dragon showed, the desert tribe has tested your defenses - a couple of times by now, and though it is a slow process, it's worrying. Usually, it'd be just a quick clash, but you're entrenched well, and they know it; it's a slow-going war campaign, fighting for every cave and tunnel, then pausing to clear out the deadly hazards your tribe left behind. It'll take a while longer before their attempts will truly threaten your tribe, but at that point you'd rather have your own dragon on your side than fighting theirs in a bunch of narrow corridors that form the heart of your settlement.
In other words, there's time, but it's also of essence.

When the Bastion was built, the humans and their allies did their best to civilize the surrounding area. Together with dwarves, they attempted to retake their old fortress, but failed; underestimating how long your tribe lived there, and how well you knew every little corner there. After that, they left you alone, though they are certainly in constant contact with the wild evles that have an eye on you. Perhaps they'll try to strike once more when they have enough troops, who knows. In fact, you've noticed the arrival of larger regiments of soldiers than usual in the last month or so, and thus the traps on the southern side of your caves are as plenty as those in the north by now. After all, if the dragon you're looking for doesn't deal with your kind, you might be stuck in-between two fighting dragons at some point...

Oh yeah, numbers. It's hard to estimate numbers, you rarely gather in on place. It's always fluctuating, and larger groups might settle down just a few caves farther away to spread through the mountains. Maybe something between 500 and a thousand kobolds, with most of them brilliant minds and fighters if you ask them, and cowards when they're supposed to actually show it.

One day in the far future, if your tribe survives, it's international dialing code will be +134. What more is there to know? Does some of this make no sense at all? You let me know, and I'll give it some more thought tomorrow. Did you want to go for the Sarenrae line as well? Did you only want that one, and I messed up? The alchemist's lab would have been near the mountains, a hermit that was too far away from your cave entrances to get noticed earlier.

 

[D. Rex]

Alrighty, what do we know thus far about your tribe? We know that it lives in the north of the Bastion, in the mountains there. The northern neighbors are kobolds that do share the brownish grey color of the desert they live in; living in deep caves and tunnels whose origins they themselves might not even know at this point. Lately, they have allied with a dragon; you haven't seen it, and no others have, but your kind knows to read the signs, and your neighbors didn't wait long to spread the news. There's humans and tribes of well-disciplined hobgoblins in the north-east, but they leave you alone for the most part. In the south, there's villages of wood elves, and they mostly leave your tribe alone unless you step too far away from your caves. They seem to accept your presence, but strike whenever your tribe tries to expand after a few good years. The forest is theirs, not yours.

So what does that mean for the tribe? You're not any better than the northern tribe. In fact, if not for them, you would have allied with the dragon yourself. But since being second means being last, your Matriarch, leader of the tribe, would rather explore different options. That's where you come in, I'd assume. In the meantime, you probably live on the way as before, though even more prepared for attacks. The tribe lives in a well-defended area - a few natural caves, but most importantly an old dwarven fortress that might not be in the best state of repair, but filled with traps, scouts and perhaps beasts, tamed by your kind, instead. You live in a relatively strict hierarchy, where age as sign of survival instincts matters, and so does expertise in certain areas. Your talents to pick of different tongues, for example, found both amusement because noone else really needs it, but also respect as it gave you a certain role to fulfill that few others could. For food, your kind hunts on the surface and underground, and finds mushrooms in deep, caves far away from the surface. Maybe those are natural, but the dwarves left perfect conditions for them to spread, building pipes to get water there regularly etc. It's all in a state of disrepair, but your kind is good at improvising, so it's still working, and will work for another long while as long as your kind stays there.
Your kind does mine minerals, and has, for some time, even done some trade with the wood elves - lately, they've gotten their iron and steel from the Bastion, but before that, they asked you for it, though reluctantly.

Lately, after the dragon showed, the desert tribe has tested your defenses - a couple of times by now, and though it is a slow process, it's worrying. Usually, it'd be just a quick clash, but you're entrenched well, and they know it; it's a slow-going war campaign, fighting for every cave and tunnel, then pausing to clear out the deadly hazards your tribe left behind. It'll take a while longer before their attempts will truly threaten your tribe, but at that point you'd rather have your own dragon on your side than fighting theirs in a bunch of narrow corridors that form the heart of your settlement.
In other words, there's time, but it's also of essence.

When the Bastion was built, the humans and their allies did their best to civilize the surrounding area. Together with dwarves, they attempted to retake their old fortress, but failed; underestimating how long your tribe lived there, and how well you knew every little corner there. After that, they left you alone, though they are certainly in constant contact with the wild evles that have an eye on you. Perhaps they'll try to strike once more when they have enough troops, who knows. In fact, you've noticed the arrival of larger regiments of soldiers than usual in the last month or so, and thus the traps on the southern side of your caves are as plenty as those in the north by now. After all, if the dragon you're looking for doesn't deal with your kind, you might be stuck in-between two fighting dragons at some point...

Oh yeah, numbers. It's hard to estimate numbers, you rarely gather in on place. It's always fluctuating, and larger groups might settle down just a few caves farther away to spread through the mountains. Maybe something between 500 and a thousand kobolds, with most of them brilliant minds and fighters if you ask them, and cowards when they're supposed to actually show it.

One day in the far future, if your tribe survives, it's international dialing code will be +134. What more is there to know? Does some of this make no sense at all? You let me know, and I'll give it some more thought tomorrow. Did you want to go for the Sarenrae line as well? Did you only want that one, and I messed up? The alchemist's lab would have been near the mountains, a hermit that was too far away from your cave entrances to get noticed earlier.

It all makes sense save for the Cayman Islands reference!

And it all sounds great and I can work with all of it. The fortress even explains why he learned dwarven.



Now! What sort of beasts do they tame there or would be native to mountains? Cause it might be worthwhile for me to get Beast Bond for an animal mount than Crafty as race traits.

 

[D. Rex]

And no, I wasnt going the Sarenrae route anymore.

 

[Silanon]

Now! What sort of beasts do they tame there or would be native to mountains? Cause it might be worthwhile for me to get Beast Bond for an animal mount than Crafty as race traits.

Just looking at the Pathfinderwiki, we have: weasels, bats, giant ants, dire boars and slurks. Slurks in particular might be fitting (think of slimy toads with walruss teeth): From their background, they were bred by the dwarves, but never reached the point where the longbeards weren't too disgusted to actually put them to use. Apart from that, any other species that feels like a kobold could get use out of it and lives either in desert, forest or mountain is worth a consideration; so just tell me if you have something specific in mind. Something like an ibex might be too large and need too much space, so probably smaller animals work best.

 

[D. Rex]

Just looking at the Pathfinderwiki, we have: weasels, bats, giant ants, dire boars and slurks. Slurks in particular might be fitting (think of slimy toads with walruss teeth): From their background, they were bred by the dwarves, but never reached the point where the longbeards weren't too disgusted to actually put them to use. Apart from that, any other species that feels like a kobold could get use out of it and lives either in desert, forest or mountain is worth a consideration; so just tell me if you have something specific in mind. Something like an ibex might be too large and need too much space, so probably smaller animals work best.

As much as I have an odd fondness for the sabertooth toads. I knew once I saw the giant weasels I had to have me one as a mount. Plus I think they will be a good bit better for the longer surface journey.

A weasel would be awesome.

 

[D. Rex]

Gonna keep Crafty. Beast bind gives me a plus 2 in animal handling and ride as well as making those class skills.


However those are already class skills for a gunslinger. So I can get a little more out of Crafty.