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Kurtomatic

Fellow role-players, I hope you had a good weekend. The pet cemetery tours that Janice and I helped with for the Animal Rescue League of Boston went well, despite the rain.

Dexter and Paul, we missed you at last night's Pathfinder: "Holy Steel" teleconferencing session! Here is my update for that heroic fantasy game, which I ran using Skype on Sunday, 25 October 2009:

"28 to 31 December 1230 B.C.E.:" The team known as "Holy Steel" had traveled from the "Vanished Lands" to the distant empire of Khemet (New Kingdom Egypt), where they encountered plots perpetrated by cultists of Set. While on a diplomatic mission at the court of Pharaoh Ramses II, Drow Ranger "Faelonia" [Dexter V.H./absent] had disappeared, but her companions had recovered the Book of Thoth from the pyramid of Unas.

The travelers approached Pi-Ramesses (Per-Ramesse) from Bubastis to the south, along the mighty Nile River. Khery-heb (Wizard) "Derek" [Paul J./absent] cast Nondetection on the case carrying the Book of Thoth and noted that he would soon have to return to his world (Paul's Pathfinder: "Crossroads of Eternity").

After some discussion, "Ibrahim" [Byron V.O.] said he would enter the capital first. The pesedjer Ghazi/Khery-heb (human Paladin/Wizard) planned to report at the temple of Amun, accompanied by fellow Ghazi Nebkar, Eseteri Kahin (Elf Druid) Arianna, and Ibu, the officer assigned to escort him while he was on temporary release from house arrest while awaiting a kenbet (trial) for treason.

"Milos" [Beruk A.] reluctantly agreed to bring the Book of Thoth to Prince Khaemwaset, the high priest of the god of knowledge, head of the Medjai (secret police), and the archaeologists' royal patron. The pesedjer khebenti (human Rogue/Gatecrasher) donned local garb with qedeshot (Bard) Nialla and shaman (Cleric) Vian.

Caracal-woman Shikari (feline Ranger) Raziya and awakened cat Rafi stayed outside the city with Derek to search for dragons Quenamun and Thilgatha, as well as Faelonia and her squad. They hoped to stay one step ahead of the evil followers of Set.

Neb acquired a boat for Ibrahim and company, who openly entered Pi-Ramesses' north gate. They noticed an ancient silver dragon and a surprised blue drake guarding the area. Ibu announced Ibrahim's return and got an armed escort to the temple of Amun, god of rulership. Ibu carried evidence for Ibrahim, who was searched.

During the commotion caused by the accused shova (traitor), Milos slipped into Avaris through its southern gate, where he had previously spotted with his spyglass a huge black dragon playing senet, a board game, with an ancient brass dragon. Nialla pondered about what could compel -- and feed -- so many large creatures working together.

Bold Ibrahim and his followers strode right into the temple of Amun before being stopped by priests and guards. The king's charioteer demanded to be brought to Hunumethet, chief ghazi of Isis. She came to him with 12 armed Ghaffir and 12 priestesses, and they went to talk privately.

Relieved to be among friends (for the moment), Ibrahim gave a full report on his findings at the pyramid of Unas, including how cultists of Set had desecrated the tomb. He presented evidence, including Memory Crystals with images of the sacrilege, weapons from summoned monsters, and rubbings taken of altered enscriptions.

The Clerics of the goddess of magic were shocked as Ibrahim, Arianna, and Neb described demonic guards and the dimensional portal installed in a mortuary temple. Most damning of all was a letter linking Prince Sethemwie, the current crown prince, to the illegal activities.

Hunumethet expressed dismay and noted that the items must be shown at Ibrahim's kenbet, both to clear his name and to uncover a potential coup. She also agreed to hold the evidence until the knight needed it, because he would again be searched and interrogated back under house arrest.

Meanwhile, out in the dusty streets, Milos hid the Book of Thoth in a cart of onions and rode past apartments, warehouses, and palaces to the temple of Ptah. The stealthy Rogue covertly notified one of the Medjai of his presence and was led by an old woman to a small courtyard behind the temple of Utu.

There, Milos, Nialla, and Vian found several people preparing fragrant foods, including fresh bread, stews, and roast duck. While making small talk with the old lady, Milos realized that she was Khaemwaset in disguise!

They discreetly discussed getting the relic to safety and Ibrahim's situation. The prince told the khebenti to avoid the villa he had rented previously, as well as the chapel of Isis, because they were being watched by Settites. Learning of a decent hotel, Milos left the artifact in the temple precincts with the disguised high priest.

Before leaving the temple of Amun, Ibrahim swapped his enchanted plate-mail for a less valuable suit and handed over custos (intelligent khopesh) Akhu for safekeeping. Hunumethet said she would send some troops south to Saqqara to secure the pyramid of Unas but explained that she could not yet openly defy Prince Sethemwie.

Amid confused crowds, Ibrahim returned to the custody of the pharaoh's guards, some of whom were doubtless agents of serpent-headed Set. Although the empire was still mourning the deaths of Prince Ramessu and Queen Isetnofret, he hoped for a speedy trial to thwart Sethemwie's plot.

Elsewhere in the port city, Milos cautiously resumed his cover as a merchant and expected to hear from agents of Assyria....

Sometime later and far to the northeast, the [face-to-face Boston-area D&D4e party] "Faith-Based Initiative" stopped by the village of Pledwilt on the Plains of Sathendo. The wanderers helped "Kurick" [Dave S.C.] set up his fiefdom of "Stormhold" before continuing on their way to the Bamor Mountains and (they hoped) the Helm of Gunnar....


As always, please stay in touch with one another and remember to update your Player Character records. Also, we'll all need to review our notes on relevant N.P.C.s in Pi-Ramesses before next weekend! Take it easy, and have a Happy Halloween, -Gene

>>Pathfinder: "Holy Steel" team roster (as of autumn 2009/"winter 1230 B.C.E."):

-"Faelonia Telcontar" [Dexter V.H.]-female Drow (western Dark Elf) Ranger/Aristocrat, ambassador, and champion of Vulkan; NGl, Level 12/2

-"Rellim Dorathan" [Mark M./Non-Player Character]-male Quelanthi Fighter/Cleric of Aerdary (High Elf: Labelas), friend of Faelonia; CGn, Lvl. 5/5

-"Noony..."-male Svirfneblin "scout" (Deep Gnome Rogue) and follower of Faelonia; NGc, Lvl. 8

-"Argentis"-female young adult silver Dragon Sorcerer, companion of Faelonia, along with wolf Facon and hawk Azrael; NGl, Lvl. 5

-"Dalis"-Heart Bow, Protector of the Wild, intelligent artifact currently borne by Faelonia, along with the Bracers of Air Control, NGl

-"Ibrahim al-Sufaia" [Byron V.O.]-male Suthern human Ghazi/Khery-heb (Egyptian Paladin/Wizard) of Isis and former "Dragonslayer"; age 27, LGn, Level 13/3

-"Nebkar 'Neb' Khaneferu"-male Suthern human sailor/Ghazi (Paladin) of Ishmas, former follower of Jaguar Woman Ranger "Grace" [Carolyn M.P.] currently attached to Ibrahim's team; LGn, Lvl. 1/7

-"Arianna Leafsplitter"-female Sylvan (Wood) Elf Druid and follower of Ibrahim; TNg, Lvl. 8

-"Quenamun"-female young adult gold Dragon Cleric of Bahamut and steed of Ibrahim, along with Blink Dog "Bink" [Stuart C.G./N.P.C.]; LGn, Lvl. 6

-"Akhu"-male Custos (enchanted khopesh), former Paladin of Ishmas/Isis and mentor to Ibrahim; LGn

-"Milos Valoren" [Beruk A.]-male Barbari human scout [Rogue/Fighter/Gatecrasher from Ted A.H.'s D&D3 "Solar Gods: the Ether Wars"] and former "Liberator"; age 27, CGn, Lvl. 10/3/3

-"Thilgatha/Rhiannen?"-female young adult copper Dragon Fighter and companion of Milos; CGn

-"Nialla Burkin"-female Suthern human Qedeshot/Battle Dancer (Bard/Monk), former crewmember of the "Dragon's Bane" and follower of Milos; NGc, Lvl. 7/1

-"Vian"-female human Guti shaman (barbarian healer) and follower of Milos; CNg, Lvl. 9

-"Onslow"-male Demi-Elf (Half-Drow/human) Barbarian from the "Crossroads of Eternity" [Paul J.'s D&D3.75 campaign] and late follower of Milos; CNg, Lvl. 8

>>Associates:

-"Lord Mage Derek Ranell" [Paul J.]-male human Wizard from a Prime Material plane parallel to the "Vanished Lands" (Paul J.'s "Crossroads of Eternity"); age 30, NGc, Lvl. 16

>>See other files for the latest party rosters and updates for the following games:

>>Fantasy campaigns
-Gene D.'s D&D4e "Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative"
-Gene D.'s Pathfinder: "Holy Steel" teleconferencing team
-Gene D.'s D20 "Gaslight Grimoire" (steampunk/fantasy)
-Paul J.'s Pathfinder ("D&D3.75"): "Crossroads of Eternity"
-Brian W.'s Savage Worlds: "Fierce Frontier" and other games
-Dave S.C.'s Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition "Attos"
-Lord of the Rings Online multiplayer online game

>>Comic book superheroes
-Gene D.'s D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2e: "Drake's Port" scenarios
-Paul J. and Josh C.'s D20"M&M"2e games
-City of Heroes: "Dimensional Corps Online" supergroup

>>Space opera RPG
-Dexter V.H.'s D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition "Revenge of the Sith"

edemaitre

After a long break, I'm joining up with a new RPG group (trial basis for the time being). I'll be joining an existing group in the middle of an existing Pathfinder AP using PFRPG rules. After talking with the GM, we came up with the basic concept of me playing a bard. He commented that he was excited about seeing how the new bard worked. I was interested as well; my last bard (3.0) flopped pretty hard. And I figured there were others out there interested in seeing how the new bard played. So ... here I am, sharing my experience.

The AP is Curse of the Crimson Throne. So if you haven't played it yet, there might be spoilers in here. I'm going to try to focus mostly on the bard and how it played, but I can't guarantee that some roll I make might reveal some important info and I report on it.

I don't have info on ability score generation/starting gp, but there are some things I have pretty much decided on. 1) Feat: Extra Performance. It gives 6 extra round of Bardic Music per day. Compared to the other group member, I have two real areas of differentiation: skill points and bardic music. So I should play these areas up. 2) race: halfling. I've played humans before. the new half orc is actually golden for a bard but I don't want to push things that much when I'm new to a group, elves and gnomes would also be good choices (elves for the magic penetration and dex bonuses, gnomes for the cha/con bonuses) but I feel I tend to play a character that can more universally get along with everyone as a halfling so I am going that route. 3) short bow: after a few quick calculations I figured out that a bard really needs to be good at every ability. Cha for bardic music/deceiving, Wis to notice when they're being deceived, Int for lots of skill points (so they can deceive better), Con to survive the hit form someone I failed to deceive, Dex to get away from those figured out I deceived them, and Strength to do damage. Well, of those, I can tank Strength if I only fight with a short bow. So that saves me some ability points right there. Con, sad to say, is probably going to be a 10, if not lower. Besides, the party has a paladin, druid and a cleric (and a sorcerer, but that's not helping nor hurting this point) and they tend to be short range/melee attackers. So Str tank. And give me that short bow, the one where I don't need a Str bonus to use.

I'll give a full description of the character with reasons for the choice once I've gotten that far. Until then, have fun.

Dale McCoy is President of Jon Brazer Enterprises. Visit our website to find out about our upcoming Pathfinder Compatable product: Book of the Faithful: The Power of Prayer.

dmccoy1693