Anything But Normal, Sailing the Endless Falls

[Rystil Arden]

I thought nereids only had the 50% miss chance in water, where they can blend in?

And yeah, an at-will death attack does seem like a bit much (the drown thing is at will, right)?

No, the Displacement is always. The attack itself causes eventual detah on a failed save, but it is very slow. Considering that by this level, we would have access to instant-death effects, it isn't too bad, mind, as I think you'll find that it generally takes so long that we kill whatever the target is before it drowns, even if Nissa drown touches on round 1.

 

[Kelleris]

You mean we have access to phantasmal killer, which allows two saves and is also the highest level spell a full caster at this level could cast, compared to your at-will use of the ability. It's a bigger deal than you make it out to be, especially since you've actually had it since 6th level, when nobody at all gets instant death effects, and especially not at will.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I thought a cabal of water elemental alchemists illegally brewing and trading in poisons would be interesting. It should be something that actually requires the island-ship, though, whatever it is. And I'd prefer having only one prior mission together if that's okay with everyone, since we'll wind up exploring each others' characters in play anyway, so I think it would behoove us not to already be best buddies.

Remember, it has to not be something that requires the island ship, actually. We got the island ship afterwards. That's actually a sticking point in a few backstories--they have their characters on the island ship without knowing the others (though obviously it's a minor edit). Also, this next bit may seem weird, but it is absolutely crucial for Nissa that the group did not form in service of Taala, at least initially (in other words, it didn't start as "Taala calls you all together and says--'Hey you six. Go do this' "). We came together in previous mission(s), and then Taala rewarded us for service to the kingdom.

For what it's worth, I can also cast tongues. I assume that "the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature" overcomes little things like not having the right speech organs. And I would think that Lupaz would be your natural companion for stealth stuff, actually, since I have max Hide and Move Silently as well as things like disguise self, scent, Knowledge (local and geography), and the ability to inflict a -13 penalty on Spot and Listen checks without making a sound.

I'd even go one better--Nissa's natural companion for stealth stuff is Lupaz, though I think we probably won't have much call for it. They've got the same bonus to Hide and Move Silently (and they both have significantly more than Tempest), both can Disguise Self (Nissa's is at will), and their Knowledge sets are complimentary.

 

[Kelleris]

Remember, it has to not be something that requires the island ship, actually. We got the island ship afterwards. That's actually a sticking point in a few backstories--they have their characters on the island ship without knowing the others (though obviously it's a minor edit). Also, this next bit may seem weird, but it is absolutely crucial for Nissa that the group did not form in service of Taala, at least initially (in other words, it didn't start as "Taala calls you all together and says--'Hey you six. Go do this' "). We came together in previous mission(s), and then Taala rewarded us for service to the kingdom.

Hmm, probably a better bet would be having the pre-adventure thing be the battle for Bluegorge, then. That leaves a lot of room still for various people to do various and sundry things, and it's the kind of big event that we could meet during and afterwards have Taala notice the key roles we played, independently of each other to one degree or another. Dealing with a water elemental crime lord in a way that actually requires me to work as part of a group doesn't seem like the sort of thing that Lupaz would be up to unless Taala said something along the lines of "Hey, you six, go make with the adventuring."

 

[Rystil Arden]

You mean we have access to phantasmal killer, which allows two saves and is also the highest level spell a full caster at this level could cast, compared to your at-will use of the ability. It's a bigger deal than you make it out to be, especially since you've actually had it since 6th level, when nobody at all gets instant death effects, and especially not at will.

There's also Psionic Dominate at this level, which is really better than killing them by a wide margin, but yeah. It's a strong ability, but they do get a Fort save and I have to touch them. Water Breathing or something like that will save them, and many creatures are flat-out immune to it.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Hmm, probably a better bet would be having the pre-adventure thing be the battle for Bluegorge, then. That leaves a lot of room still for various people to do various and sundry things, and it's the kind of big event that we could meet during and afterwards have Taala notice the key roles we played, independently of each other to one degree or another. Dealing with a water elemental crime lord in a way that actually requires me to work as part of a group doesn't seem like the sort of thing that Lupaz would be up to unless Taala said something along the lines of "Hey, you six, go make with the adventuring."

Could've been a smaller group with not the whole party, then? Lupaz's backstory was probably impressive enough already to earn him great honour, so maybe this is how some (but not all) of the others gained renown?

 

[Kelleris]

There's also Psionic Dominate at this level, which is really better than killing them by a wide margin, but yeah. It's a strong ability, but they do get a Fort save and I have to touch them. Water Breathing or something like that will save them, and many creatures are flat-out immune to it.

Water breathing, the spell, won't save them if the ability has no duration. They don't even get SR against an Su ability. (go go abbreviations!)

Could've been a smaller group with not the whole party, then? Lupaz's backstory was probably impressive enough already to earn him great honour, so maybe this is how some (but not all) of the others gained renown?

Mebbe. Have to see which way the others want to go, really. I just rather like the idea of all of us happening to be key in some major event, despite not knowing each other beforehand. It introduce (or reinforces) an interesting theme of fate and conflict into our collective backstories. So I thought it might be a good idea to have an overall narrative of one big event like that that none of us have a grasp of the whole picture of.

I'd even go one better--Nissa's natural companion for stealth stuff is Lupaz, though I think we probably won't have much call for it. They've got the same bonus to Hide and Move Silently (and they both have significantly more than Tempest), both can Disguise Self (Nissa's is at will), and their Knowledge sets are complimentary.

I certainly hope there'll be call for it! It's one of only two things I'm any good at, so I kinda need to be able to engage in appropriate scouting and information-gathering activities to do my thing. Even the curses aren't nearly as effective without some idea of what's going on going into a fight.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Water breathing, the spell, won't save them if the ability has no duration.

I would guess that it would--if they can breathe the water in their lungs, then that's it, they're saved from it killing them and that's it (presumably the water breathing spell gives a way to expel the water you are breathing or else you'd drown when it wore off, even on land). Of course, all of that is 100% presumption and it doesn't say it in Stormwrack, but it would definitely be fair. Heck, if I was GM, I'd let an innovative use of the Control Water spell remove the water from the lungs too.

Mebbe. Have to see which way the others want to go, really.

Yep. Nissa could really do anything except an official command from Taala (because that indicates she was already back in court at the time).

 

[Kelleris]

Hmm, yeah. I also like it thematically (I edited the post you quoted).

 

[Rystil Arden]

(I edited the post you quoted).

k

Mebbe. Have to see which way the others want to go, really. I just rather like the idea of all of us happening to be key in some major event, despite not knowing each other beforehand. It introduce (or reinforces) an interesting theme of fate and conflict into our collective backstories. So I thought it might be a good idea to have an overall narrative of one big event like that that none of us have a grasp of the whole picture of.

Could be cool. Keep in mind that Nissa doesn't do wars and battles well at all, so she'd never have wound up doing anything at Bluegorge unless dragged there by her party, so if you want her to show up at Bluegorge, she'll need to have met at least a few of the others previously (possibly fighting the crimelord), and they'll have convinced her to come.

Also, remember that Nissa's theme is that fate and inevitability can be beaten. That may become important if Lupaz's theme is that they can't be beaten

I certainly hope there'll be call for it! It's one of only two things I'm any good at, so I kinda need to be able to engage in appropriate scouting and information-gathering activities to do my thing. Even the curses aren't nearly as effective without some idea of what's going on going into a fight.

Yeah, it's one of the two things Nissa is good at too (skills and not being hit are the two things). Based on the description (and of course I could be very wrong here), we'll probably be doing more combat and social negotiations than actual skulking around, though. Nissa loves going on stealth missions though, so we can cross our fingers