Dr. Si's Curse of the Crimson Throne OOC

Dr Simon · Sep 19, 2008

Neurotic said:
How do you like soulblade idea?

Seems okay, if somewhat complicated for what you get. In the past I've used a simple variant, which is this:

The Bonded Item feat may be taken by any character of 3rd level or above, provided that they have used the item in question through several dangerous situations (and it has made a difference). A bonded item gives a +1 enhancement bonus to its 'normal use'. Most common would be a weapon, gaining this bonus to attack. A suit of armour may also benefit but other items such as thieves tools, rope, artists brushes and so forth are all candidates. Once bonded, the wielder can also spend XP to add further enhancements to the bonded item. Thus a bonded sword can gain further bonuses or special abilities. Obviously this is easier to adjudicate for weapons and armour but imagination can be applied to other equipment.

This means that, for example, swords become legendary because of who wields them, not who made them.

Losing a bonded item may or may not be a real pain. They should be fixable, with maybe a monetary cost for the ceremonial materials. Still on the subject of swords, that gives you a quest to retrieve the Green Destiny sword, or to reforge the Sword That Was Broken etc.

Doesn't give you intelligent items, as such, though.

Neurotic · Sep 19, 2008

Bonded Item

I'm not familiar with that feat and it seems inferior to Item familiar and Ancestral Relic feats (one gives you heavy bonuses, but the cost of loosing it is high) while another allows burning GOLD instead of XP for extra enchantments.

Where can one see Bonded Item?

Walking Dad · Sep 19, 2008

Where is the ancestral weapon feat from?

And I heard that item familiars are some of the easiest to broke rules in UA.

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Only asking. I'm not the DM.

kinem · Sep 19, 2008

Walking Dad: OK - Connecting the backgrounds sounds like a good idea.

My wizard's name is Tristan Fuller, and he could have lost a sister.

I need to read up more on the campaign world.

Shayuri · Sep 19, 2008

Okay, narrowed things down a bit.

I like the idea of a crusading Shoanti for a background. It gives the character a motivation and good hookage, even if it's not a goal that's likely to be realized in the context of the game. It can also be easily adapted to any of the sorcerous bloodlines. However, I'm going to go with either Celestial or Draconic. On reflection, I already have an 'air elemental' storm themed mage in another game, so it'd be good to try a different spin.

The celestial sorcerer would be sort of a budding Shoanti "Moses," for want of a better term. She's raised in ignorance of her true heritage, but as she discovers it, she feels a calling to gather the remote tribes and try to establish a homeland for them. And, of course, help them whenever possible.

The draconic sorcerer would be more of an aspiring warlord sort, claiming 'the blood of kings,' and being more militant in outlook. The basic goal is similar, except that she'd add that eventually, after healing a bit, they'd want to go take back what was originally theirs.

I don't see this impacting the adventure much, save for RP.

I do want to know if you allow Leadership. Bearing in mind that I wouldn't be bringing cohort or followers along on dungeon crawls. Rather, they'd be RP and offscreen assets.

As for connection to the Despised One, I suspect either way she's pursuing a lost child. Either one stolen away from the local orphanage that she knew, or a local Shoanti boy whose family tasks her to please find.

Mechanically, since the other sorcerer is now in another group, I'll probably focus on combat sorcery. Celestial would make a marginally better artillery mage, with the holy fire power (that also, as a bonus, can heal folks). Dracomage is oddly dangerous up close with those clawy claws.

Still trying to decide which I like better. Suggestions are welcome!

Dr Simon · Sep 19, 2008

Neurotic said:
I'm not familiar with that feat and it seems inferior to Item familiar and Ancestral Relic feats (one gives you heavy bonuses, but the cost of loosing it is high) while another allows burning GOLD instead of XP for extra enchantments.

Ah, but I'm not using them, so relative power levels don't matter. I'm going to say no to Item Familiar because PF gives Wizards the option of an "arcane bond" to an object (in lieu of an animal familiar), so that particular concept is already covered. It gives a different effect, granted, but seems no point in re-treading the same ground.

I'm also going to nix the Soul-blade, because as far as I see it the PC has to give up nothing in return for the benefits. Okay, so the thing earns its own XP, but essentially what you get is an item that gets the listed powers at half its owner's level. It's more a magic item than a class ability, and an item that is pretty hard to price.

Neurotic said:
Where can one see Bonded Item?

Well, it's kind of a house-ruled version from Arcana Evolved and the Mystic Secrets supplement for the same. The idea, really, is to spend a feat that then allows you to act as if you had the Craft Arms and Armour feat, except without pre-requisites, but only on one item. In fact it should probably be worded more like:

A bonded item can be improved as other magic items can be. By spending gold pieces (and time and experience points, assuming the character is the one doing the work), a character can add new abilities to his item familiar. If a character links himself to a +1 longsword, for example, it only costs 6,000 gp (or 3,000 gp and 240 XP) to add another +1 of enhancement bonus or, perhaps, a special ability that is equivalent to a +1 bonus (such as spell storing or flaming). The character can accomplish this even without having the requisite item creation feats.

It depends what you want from this. Do you want the ability to "build" a magic item as you go along? In which case this is the best bet. Or do you specifically want an item that "awakens" (as with soulblade or item familiar)? In which case I'd be willing to go with something like the Legendary Weapon rules (with the Scion prestige classes). In either case, the character needs to make some sort of sacrifice in order to improve the item, which I think is more fair than the soulblade concept.

Neurotic · Sep 19, 2008

Items

It's not that there is problem with sacrificing something. I just don't see a point in wasting a feat on something you can find an enchanter for.

If PC goes into town and says to local enchanter, here I need this upgraded, here is the money, he will (mostly) get what he wants. There is no need for a feat.

I'm sorry if I'm little bit slow, I'll read everything again on monday, so I may understand better. Anyhow, just wanted to know how such improvement would be handled

kinem · Sep 19, 2008

Dr. Si, BTW, what will the starting gold be? Can I have scribed scrolls? Thanks.

My wizard will not be a big blaster (prohibted schools: evocation and necromancy). That said he will have the acid dart ability (1d6, 30' ranged touch) from being a conjurer. Would Point Blank Shot add to attack + damage for that?

Dr Simon · Sep 19, 2008

Shayuri - Leadership feat is fine. Either of those would be good with me, and from what I can tell of the future of the campaign, both might have...interesting repercussions. Doubtful that we'd get that far in a PbP, to be honest but it's good to aim high!

Neurotic:

Hmm... well, I don't normally play in settings where magic items are freely bought and sold (except scrolls and potions), I may need to re-appraise my attitude for this setting.

Re: Bonded Item - you are getting a +1 bonus when you use the item for its intended purpose, as well as the ability to add enhancements yourself. In terms of relative feat merit, this is equivalent to Weapon Focus *and* some elements of Craft Magic Arms and Armour. Not *exactly* a waste. It also makes it more of a personal thing than going to a shop for upgrades (flavourwise).

With soulblade I get the impression from the PDF that it's more of a magic item to be handed out by the DM than something that you can buy for your character. Otherwise what you get is a magic item that boosts in power every two levels*. What's to stop everyone from choosing one (in terms of mystical game balance).

*Yeah, it says that the DM can alter how much XP the weapon gets, but that takes the power out of the player's hands. What's the point, if the DM can say "I don't like this idea, your sword gets no XP"? I'd prefer something where the character can choose as and when the item in question gets an upgrade, but to make the choice meaningful there needs to be a trade of some kind. I see no trade with soulblade, and I don't think the trade with Item Familiar has been thought out adequately.

Valthosian · Sep 19, 2008

I'm going to go with the Barbarian and I'll provide a background and character sheet soon, the rogue/artificer was a cool character concept but in a group of 4 I don't see it being sufficiently strong enough to contribute.

That should let Neurotic play whatever he wants