Side Quest II [Putting the Dead to Rest]

[reefwood]

Putting the Dead to Rest

Recap

Day 74

6:00am - Brion and Nim wakes up and prep spells.

7:00 am - Nim successfully fabricates Large mithral full-plate and Large masterwork armor spikes. Brion casts greater scrying (14 hr) on Prince Harloom and sees that his in curled up unconscious inside a burlap container that is bobbing up and down. Then, Brion casts wind walk (14 hr) on Brion, Garm, Nim, Skeletor, Ghoul, and the squad flies northwest to Longtree (25 mi @ 18 mi/hr) while 500 ft above the ground.

8:30am – The squad reaches Longtree and investigates while hovering over the desolate town. Bodies still line the street, but there is no sign on movement. Across the plains, however, scattered figures in the distance seem to meander aimlessly. The squad moves toward the grove and spots a pair of larger figures moving in a straight line also toward the grove but from a more westerly direction. They decide to land between the larger pair and the grove.

8:45am – Upon landing, Nim casts a phantom steed for Brion and Garm as well as a greater phantom steed for Skeletor and Ghoul (14 hrs). Garm rides ahead to get a better look at the larger pair. He attempts to approach them from the side, but they alter course to turn toward him, so Garm resumes his original approach. Eventually, Garm can make out that the first figure is a Large humanoid with straps criss-crossing across his chest, and the one behind is actually two figures: a Medium humanoid on a Large mount. All seem to be wearing armor. Not wishing to move any closer by himself, Garm reports back to the squad.

9:00am – The pair comes within shouting distance of the squad but do not respond to Brion's call until his words become more threatening. The rider turns out to be Sir James, once thought dead but who now claims to be better than dead, atop an armored horse with a zombie ogre leading the way. As he approaches, everyone can see an open slit across his blood-stained neck, and the straps on the ogre are actually ropes tied to a burlap sack on its back. After some conversation, the squad agrees to let Sir James take them into the grove to meet the Keeper.

9:30am – Before reaching the grove, Brion turns on Sir James. The battle is short-lived, but Sir James is able to destroy the phantom steeds of Brion and Garm before he is destroyed, but Nim uses command undead to take control of the zombie ogre with an unusual bite attack and the seemingly intelligent zombie horse. Prince Harloom is foundin the burlap sack. Unconscious and immediately terrified when revived admist a cadre of undead and hellish horrors. Brion is able to calm him down, or at least, quiet him. Meanwhile, Nim inspects the magic items on Sir James, and then, the necromancer teleports Prince Harloom to Verdas and updates General Shaw.

9:45am – When Nim returns, the squad continues to the grove with the zombie ogre and horse. Zombies are slowly encroaching on their position but quickly fall behind once the squad moves on.

9:50am – Several fast zombies emerge from the edge of the grove. Skeletor makes short work of them, but Garm and Brion have a harder time squaring off against another Nemedoran that has sided with the undead: the warforged Crow. Once the threat is neutralized, the squad pushes northeast into the grove.

11:10am – Garm hears the giggle of a young child to the southeast. He teleports in that direction and find a red ribbon tangled in a bush. Nim directs an Erinyes to take the ribbon, and another sound is heard - the brief sobbing of a young child - this time to the south. The squad changes direction again, and the zombie horse that Brion is riding almost falls into an overgrown hole in the ground. As the squad passes around the hole, the sound of a small *splash* followed by a *drip...drip...drip* comes from the hole. Garm clears the overgrown brush and hears moaning from below. The hole drops to a slope that slides down to an edge that drops into a cavern full of zombies. Further investigation reveals a ledge at one end of the slope that leads to a tunnel. Etched into the rock above the tunnel opening is a tiny scythe – the weapon of choice for followers of Urgathoa (goddess of gluttony, disease, undeath). The squad enters the tunnel. It twists and turns and branches off several times which leads to numerous loops and dead ends.

11:30am – The tunnel finally opens up into another cavern. Garm detects a faint evil filling the area and strong evil emanating from a tall pile of muck in one corner. Nim detects strong necromancy also coming from the pile of muck. Then, he places his hands on it in an attempt to glean more about the magic. The muck is sticky and dry, but his fingers plunge into a softer, moist layer underneath until stopping at a hard, solid core. A wave of intense pain immediately jolts Nim. He maintains his concentration, but another wave follows, and the third wave is too much for the necromancer. Just as he was about to possibly learn something, his detection spell fizzles.

The officers debate on how to proceed, but before long, a voice echoes from an unchecked tunnel. It claims to be the Keeper and favors the idea of Nim giving himself to Her. Words are exchanged for some time, but eventually, the Keeper opts for a more heavy-handed form of persuasion. Nim summons monsters, but the first devil flees from the Keeper, and Nim's second summon is somehow counterspelled. Meanwhile, Garm and Brion press forward to deal mighty blows with sword and spell against the Keeper – a cloak-covered humanoid donning armor and shield with the flesh rotting on his face and hands. Nim strikes the finally blow, however, by completely disintegrating the Keeper.

Garm searches the tunnel from which the Keeper emerged and comes across ten zombies that he easily dispatches. The tunnel ends in a small cavern that is covered in strange depictions and writings. There are also three tomes sitting on top of a pile of large stones. Nim joins Garm to inspect the walls. The writing is in Orc and appears to be the rantings and ravings of a madman. The depictions are mainly tied to Urgathoa but a few are tied to Pharasma (goddess of fate, death, prophecy, birth) and Norgorber (god of greed, secrets, poison, murder). Nim takes the tomes and attempts to again identify the pile of muck. First, however, Brion washes it clean which reveals a headstone underneath the muck. Etchings on one side depict humanoid figures crawling out of the ground, and the other side shows them devouring other humanoids. An inscription written in Infernal runs along the top and reads, “The Princess steals life with a touch and renews it in spilled blood.” And this time, with Brion and Garm helping to keep Nim alive, the necromancer discovers the power of the headstone.

11:40am – Finally, Nim prepares a magic cirlce and casts planar binding on an Erinyes, but the devil resists capture.

12:00pm – The squad considers how to proceed...

Active Spells:
Wind Walk expires at 9:00pm
Greater Phantom Steed expires at 10:45pm
Command Undead spell cast on zombie ogre and horse at 9:30am


[OOC: Good job last night! I am going to post a recap eventually, but it seems like there are still some potentially major things to accomplish online, so I wanted to set this up for players to continue before memory started to fade.

Things left off at noon (12pm), and you are expected to be rested & ready for duty by 6am the next day, so that gives Brion 10 hrs of non-sleep time and Nim 16 hrs of non-sleep time. The squad is still underground right now and deciding how to proceed. Skeletor is holding the “Zombie Headstone” that weighs 500 lbs.

---

Zombie Headstone

Auras: strong necromancy [death], strong enchantment (compulsion) [language-dependent, mind-affecting], moderate necromancy [evil], faint enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]

Activation: The Headstone is activated by sacrificing a living creature (via coup de grace) and spilling its blood onto the Headstone at midnight. The headstone remains active for 24 hours per HD of the sacrifice.

Effect: The range of the Headstone is equal to 1 mile per HD of the sacrifice, and the following effects occur upon activation and every following midnight that the Headstone remains active.
- Every living creature with HD equal to or less than the sacrifice must make a Will save (DC 19) or fall under an effect similar to the geas spell that draws them toward the Headstone for as long as it remains active.
- Every living creature in range with more HD but no more than double the HD of the sacrifice must make a Will save (DC 19) or fall unconscious until dawn.
- Every living creature with more than double the HD of the sacrifice is unaffected by this effect.
- Every dead creature in range with HD equal to or less than the sacrifice rises as a free-willed zombie. If the sacrifice had 4 HD or more, the zombies gain up to 1 random zombie variant per 4 HD of the sacrifice.
- The sacrifice rises as a free-willed advanced zombie lord on the following midnight with up to 1 random zombie variant per 4 HD of its living form.
- Living or dead creatures with more than 20 HD are unaffected by these activation effects, nor can it create a zombie with more than 20 HD.

Additionally, any living creature that touches the Headstone, even when it is not active, is subject to a slay living spell (12d6+15 damage or Fort DC 18 for 3d6+15) for each round that it is in contact with the Headstone. Creatures killed this way rise as advanced zombies (20 HD max) on the following midnight only if the Headstone is active. If active, and the sacrifice had 4 HD or more, these zombies gain up to 1 random zombie variant per 4 HD of the sacrifice.

* * * * * * *

Okay, so the quick & dirty of the sacrificed creature is that it gains the advanced template (CR +1) and the zombie lord template (CR +1 for humans). Additionally, sacrificng Nim would provide 3 random zombie variants. The zombie variants in the Bestiary do not add to CR, but some of the other ones I have available do add CR +1.

CR is designed to measure the difficulty of challenges for the PCs, and these challenges are usually just faced once, so even though a monster may have several abilities and items, it may only get to use a few of them in a single, short-lived combat. Whereas, playing a monster that you can use over and over again means that you will get much more use out of its abilities and items, which is why some monsters have a higher “player level” than monster CR. A Hound Archon is CR 4, but it counts as Level 7 cohort, and the Skeletal Champion example is CR 2, but it counts as Level 6 cohort.

D&D 3.5 handled this with Level Adjustment (LA) to determine Effective Character Level (LA). Pathfinder has a little section in the back of the Bestiary (Monsters As PCs) that says regular PCs should have at least as many levels as the CR of a monster PC to start out, but then, their monster levels will start to lag and not be as awesome as PC levels, so they actually speed up level progression after starting (3 PC levels for every 2 by the regular PCs), and eventually, they just gain them at the same rate.

What this all means is... that turning into an advanced zombie lord increases CR by 2, and the random zombie variants could increase it further. Nim is at Level 14 and sacrificing himself would turn raise him to at least Level 16. Therefore, the next two times (or more) that he can gain a level, he has to spend his APs to progress but will not actually gain a level, but he will still receive a reward package. Essentially, he has to earn enough levels to warrant his increased Level 16 (or higher), and this will also give the other PCs a chance to catch up. Nim would still obtain rewards as normal, but he could not take another Wizard level until at least Level 17 (or higher if the random zombie variants bump the CR even higher). I'm not sure if War Stories will go much beyond that, but if it does, he may gain another level here and there at a faster rate than the PCs... I don't yet fully understand how that equation works, and Nim may already have enough class levels that he is well beyond the "catch up" rate and will just gain levels normally after Level 17, but I'll figure out the answer soon.

So, what is an advanced zombie lord? The advanced template increases all ability scores by +4 and increases natural armor by +2. The zombie lord template uses the regular Zombie template for AC, base save bonuses, speed, melee attacks, base attack bonus, and damage reduction, but it uses the Skeletal Champion template for HD (+2 racial HD), skills (ranks gained = 4 +Int mod x2 racial HD), and ability scores, and it also gains channel resistance +4 and Toughness as a bonus feat, but it does not gain the staggered special quality. Additionally, the random zombie variants will further adjust stats. For example, the Fast Zombie template adds +2 Dex and removes DR 5/slashing (as well as other changes).

Anyway, go ahead and figure out what you want to do about the Zombie Headstone, if anything, and then, we can get to base building once Brion reports to the general.

Again, it is 12pm with the squad underground, and another thing that you may want to keep in mind is that a Nemedoran battalion is heading this way to wipe out the zombie threat, and they are expected to arrive by mid-afternoon.

---

Mission Score

Sir James, Crow, Keeper = 40 pt
Zombies = 5 pt
Solving the Mystery = 25 pt

Total = 70 pt for a Fair rating (2 AP)

Much like the last side quest, this one has a low total because it was not intended to advance you much.

---

Spoils

Unlike the last side quest, the main aim of this one was not to get stuff (i.e. skeletons or staff), nor did I want the baddies to have an uber weapon that might kill you too easily since this is just a side quest. Plus, it didn't make sense storywise for these baddies to be too powerful anyway. So instead, they were mostly equipped with utility items that might give you or your minions a boost but nothing over the top. And it seems like everything was collected and dispersed and exchanged as we went along, so there's no need to relist everything here. But if there are items taken but not used, you can list them here for Sahme to check out.

EDIT: Magic spoils are listed below. Aside from the armor and shields, and maybe the charisma headband, I believe everything has been put on character sheets already, so the rest of the items are not actually available.

Sir James
+2 Breastplate (30 lb)
+2 H.S. Shield (15 lb)
Headband of inspired wisdom +2 (1 lb)
Belt of giant strength +1 (1 lb)
Cloak of resistance +1 (1 lb)
Wand of cure light wounds x21 ch (CL 1: 1d8+1)
Wand of sanctuary x3 ch (CL 1: 1 rd)
Wand of searing light x10 ch (CL 10: ranged touch for 5d8 damage or 10d6 vs undead or 10d8 vs undead vulnerable to bright light)

Crow
+2 Guisarme (12 lb)
Amulet of natural armor +2
Ring of protection +2
Cloak of resistance +2 (1 lb)
Headband of alluring charisma +2 (1 lb)
Belt of incredible dexterity +1 (1 lb)

The Keeper
+2 Breastplate (30 lb)
+2 Buckler (5 lb)
Amulet of natural armor +1
Ring of protection +1
Cloak of resistance +2 (1 lb)
Belt of dexterity +1 (1 lb)
Wand of halt undead (CL 5: Will DC 14 negates & SR, 150 ft, 5 rd)
Potion of inflict moderate wounds (CL 5: 2d8+5 negative energy)
Potion of inflict moderate wounds (CL 5: 2d8+5 negative energy)
Onyx x5 (100 gp each)

---

Income

No income for Brion or Nim this day cos that's just how side quests work, but I will add 1 extra day for Sahme after the next mission's income.]

[michael]

Wow, the Zombie Lord is awesome! I looked through all of the traits, and I think this is everything that would change from a base creature with no existing racial HD.

2 racial HD
+6 STR & DEX
+4 INT, WIS, and CHA
+4 Natural Armor
4 + Int mod x 2 skill points
Toughness
+3 to Will saves (in addition to increased WIS)
+1 BAB
DR 5/slashing
Channel Resistance +4
1 random zombie variant per 4 HD
Undead Traits

I kinda wish Brion were more ideologically inclined towards this, but it doesn't really make sense for him. I totally think Nim should go for it, though. The only down side is the two caster levels you won't gain, but I think the immediate gains outweigh those long term losses. Maybe you could wait until you're level 15 to make the sacrifice so you have access to your 8th level spells? And all mechanics aside, it would be really awesome if Nim became undead.

[reefwood]

The Zombie Lord template is pretty neat, but I think its the Advanced Template that really puts this transformation over the top. Seems like more than a CR +1, but it is normally meant for monsters, and I suppose monsters usually don't get as well-rounded a benefit from all their ability scores going up.

Anyway, I'm totally cool with Nim sacrificing himself but just want to keep the balance too. I don't have the numbers figured out exactly yet, but Brion & Nim will get at least 2 "side quest" APs for this side quest, and like the previous side quest, these APs can count toward leveling up, but they do not count toward rewards. So, if you level up with 4 APs: 2 from side quest & 2 from mission, only the 2 mission APs count toward rewards, so it would be an itty bitty package (but probably still a fair amount since your base reward amount is so high now).

If Nim did this now, he would be dead during the first day of the next mission, but it wouldn't be hard to work around this. Or rather, it should still work fine and not take too much time for Brion & Sahme to handle the first day solo.

Waiting to do this later is also a potential option, though, I cannot promise what may or may not happen down the road, and it will be important to keep track of where the Zombie Headstone is left and for how long.

[michael]

Regardless of Nim's decision on becoming a Zombie Lord himself, a lot of the following events will progress in the same way.

If you're ok with it happening online, Garm will kill off that huge crowd of undead in the pit. He'll ride a Nitemare and hover 15 feet over them. Then he'll use the +2 Guisarme, Power Attack, and Lunge to pick them off. Killing 10 per minute is probably a decent average, and I'm willing to spend 10 or 20 minutes wiping them out so the main force doesn't have to deal with it.

Then we'd head out of the underground tunnels. We'd leave the forest the same way we came. I'd have Garm use Continual Flame on all the trees surrounding the hole, and also mark a trail of trees with Continual Flame on the way out of the forest. At the edge of the forest, I'd mark another half-dozen trees or so. This will be a marker for the approaching army, so they can easily find the pit, should they want to check it out. We'd also finish off any groups of zombies we noticed on our way out.

The headstone will be taken to the Dead Spike eventually, but first we're going to stop by Verdas and report. Skeletor doesn't need to breathe, so he will windwalk with the headstone 6.5 miles up, so it can't effect anyone on the ground.

Brion will report to his father, and he'll tell Nim to get into contact with Covert Ops. (If he needs to, Nim can use the Amulet of Sending for this.) This headstone will be presented to General Shaw and Covert Ops as a strategic resource that can be used to further the war effort. The transformation the headstone brings creates vastly superior warriors, and soldiers that are ideologically suited for it should be offered the opportunity to undertake the process. "Ideologically suited" could mean either a desire for more power or an alignment with a death god, but loyalty to Nemedor should be an important criteria either way.

Additionally, the side-effects of a sacrifice is an effective weapon if used near an enemy encampment. The headstone could be brought outside an enemy's fortress and a sacrifice made. Most of their soldiers would have to make a will save or either fall unconscious or be drawn towards the headstone. Either way, they're out of the fight, and that's when Nemedoran troops would move in and attack.

Brion would suggest the headstone immediately be moved to the Dead Spike and placed under guard. Where things go from there depends on the reaction of General Shaw and Covert Ops. Brion's Diplomacy is 21, if he needs it. (I had imagined General Shaw to be Lawful Neutral, but that's up to you.)

[icnivad]

Yeah, that's pretty cool. It would be a no brainer for a fighter type, but the two (maybe three) caster levels lost makes it a pretty hard decision. Although with the increased Str and Dex, maybe Nim could transition into a fighter/mage.

[icnivad]

In 3.5, there were some feats that add up to +4 to your caster level to bring it up to your hit die. Do you know if those feats exist in pathfinder? So many of my abilities (like controlling undead), are based on caster level, that the lost levels affects a lot more than my personal spells.
Another thing I was looking into is becoming a lich. It's not quite as cool, but it might be better for Nim anyway since I think it only adds +1 LA.

[reefwood]

I added a recap to the beginning of the opening post and some misc post-session info to the end of the post.

May 3, 2011 19:17:53 GMT -5 michael said:

Regardless of Nim's decision on becoming a Zombie Lord himself, a lot of the following events will progress in the same way.

If you're ok with it happening online, Garm will kill off that huge crowd of undead in the pit. He'll ride a Nitemare and hover 15 feet over them. Then he'll use the +2 Guisarme, Power Attack, and Lunge to pick them off. Killing 10 per minute is probably a decent average, and I'm willing to spend 10 or 20 minutes wiping them out so the main force doesn't have to deal with it.

As long as Nim isn't in a hurry to depart right away, he can direct a Nightmare to help Garm out with this.

Then we'd head out of the underground tunnels. We'd leave the forest the same way we came. I'd have Garm use Continual Flame on all the trees surrounding the hole, and also mark a trail of trees with Continual Flame on the way out of the forest. At the edge of the forest, I'd mark another half-dozen trees or so. This will be a marker for the approaching army, so they can easily find the pit, should they want to check it out. We'd also finish off any groups of zombies we noticed on our way out.

I like this "trail of bread crumbs" variant. As for zombies, they have been handfuls spotted every few minutes as you passed through the grove, but you were able to easily out pace them. Do you now want to take the time to wipe out every zombie you see? It wouldn't take forever, but it would take longer to exit the grove, and you won't know how long until you try. Or you could say that you spend "X" extra minutes killing zombies but then leave the rest behind.

The headstone will be taken to the Dead Spike eventually, but first we're going to stop by Verdas and report. Skeletor doesn't need to breathe, so he will windwalk with the headstone 6.5 miles up, so it can't effect anyone on the ground.

This is a good idea for keeping the Headstone out of range from the ground level, but this will require some work. The Dead Spike is about 75 miles long with people inhabiting the lower third (i.e. first 25 miles). Where would you want to take the Headstone? Just to give you an idea of distance...if you took the Headstone to the near coast of the Dead Spike about halfway up it (approx 35 miles, so 10 miles from spotty civilization), that would be about 100 miles from Longtree. And it would obviously be even further if you wanted to take the Headstone inland and/or farther from civilization.

Also, there will be a Survival check to avoid getting lost, and there will be a penalty for being so high off the ground as well one for going super fast. I've had the super fast penalty in the back of mind since the squad has started to speed around but haven't fleshed it out yet. I will post something about it soon in the OOC thread, as to not bog down this thread with too many posts.

EDIT: Actually, if you are 6.5 miles above the ground, your perception would be much "slower" than if you were moving 60 mi/hr on the ground, so I'm going to say that in this instance, there will be no penalty for moving fast, but there will be one for being so high up. Let's make -1 per 2 miles above the ground, so it would be -3.

Brion will report to his father, and he'll tell Nim to get into contact with Covert Ops. (If he needs to, Nim can use the Amulet of Sending for this.) This headstone will be presented to General Shaw and Covert Ops as a strategic resource that can be used to further the war effort. The transformation the headstone brings creates vastly superior warriors, and soldiers that are ideologically suited for it should be offered the opportunity to undertake the process. "Ideologically suited" could mean either a desire for more power or an alignment with a death god, but loyalty to Nemedor should be an important criteria either way.

Brion would be expected to report to General Shaw, and we'll get to that in time. As for the Covert Ops, I guess one way to put it is that, "You don't get in touch with the Covert Ops; the Covert Ops get in touch with you." But yes, you can use the amulet of sending to try sending them a message. Just let me know when you want to send and what it will say.

Brion would suggest the headstone immediately be moved to the Dead Spike and placed under guard. Where things go from there depends on the reaction of General Shaw and Covert Ops. Brion's Diplomacy is 21, if he needs it. (I had imagined General Shaw to be Lawful Neutral, but that's up to you.)

LN sounds fine for General Shaw.

---

May 4, 2011 13:16:08 GMT -5 icnivad said:

Yeah, that's pretty cool. It would be a no brainer for a fighter type, but the two (maybe three) caster levels lost makes it a pretty hard decision. Although with the increased Str and Dex, maybe Nim could transition into a fighter/mage.

May 4, 2011 13:41:28 GMT -5 icnivad said:

In 3.5, there were some feats that add up to +4 to your caster level to bring it up to your hit die. Do you know if those feats exist in pathfinder? So many of my abilities (like controlling undead), are based on caster level, that the lost levels affects a lot more than my personal spells.
Another thing I was looking into is becoming a lich. It's not quite as cool, but it might be better for Nim anyway since I think it only adds +1 LA.

I should spell out things a little more clearly. The sacrifice automatically gains the Advanced template (CR +1) and the Zombie Lord template (CR +1). On top of that, a 14 HD sacrifice produces 3 additional zombie variants. It doesn't give much away to say that I will roll randomly between 8 zombie variants (there are more, but the others don't fit well with this magic item), some of which are CR +0 and some are CR +1, so Nim could wind up with a total of CR +5. And yes, the zombie variants tend to favor melee characters but do provide some defenses too.

I am still trying to figure out and fine tune how to best balance the CR increase, but no matter what, Nim will have at least 1 level to "make up" and possibly several, and there's no way to know ahead of time since it will be random, so you should be ready to give up on gaining Wizard levels if you attempt this. However, Nim will still earn rewards, and through them, he can expand his spell access in a more roundabout way. He can continue to buy scrolls of the spell levels he knows to add more spells to his spellbook. He can buy scrolls of higher level spells as one-time use items that require a caster level check. He can buy wands of lower level spells but increase their caster level based on the CL he selects, and this won't be useful for all spells, but it could give some spells more power than he could cast himself. He can create a staff with higher level spells that he cannot recharge, but he can have someone at the army recharge it with rewards. However, none of this will help his abilities that depend on class level.

As for feats, there are none that increase caster level in the Core Rulebook. I don't see any in the APG either, and right now, only Alchemist-related stuff is available to PCs anyway.

As for becoming a Lich, that is something that Nim can look into for flavor, but it's not something he will be able to do in this campaign. That would require years of research or an epic quest in of itself, neither of which would mesh with War Stories. And it is CR +2.

In the end, this would definitely be a major trade-off. Gain a lot and lose a lot. It may or may not be something that the character wants, and even if the character wants it but the player doesn't, that is fine too.

---

Anyway... it looks like Garm is going to spend some time mopping up zombies from the back of a Nightmare.

When you return to the surface...how much, if any, time will you devote to destroying zombies while you march out of the grove? And perhaps more importantly, what will you do with the Headstone once you get to the surface?

Also, what about the Zombie Ogre and seemingly intelligent Zombie Horse? Ogre moves at 30 ft and Horse at 60 ft. Overland movement is cut in half in the grove, but they hustle indefinitely as zombies, so it evens out, but they are still slower than the Nightmares (90 ft) and Windwalkers. If you take the armor off the Ogre, that increases his speed to 40 ft (4 mi/hr).

[michael]

One other thing I want to do before we depart is have Brion touch the headstone. He was at full HP at the end of the session, so he can't take enough damage to die from it, and he has plenty of uncast spells and channelings left to heal himself afterward.

There's an 8th level divination spell that tells you the exact location of any person you've seen or object you've touched. It's worth the damage to make sure Brion can keep track of this headstone in the future.

I like this "trail of bread crumbs" variant. As for zombies, they have been handfuls spotted every few minutes as you passed through the grove, but you were able to easily out pace them. Do you now want to take the time to wipe out every zombie you see? It wouldn't take forever, but it would take longer to exit the grove, and you won't know how long until you try. Or you could say that you spend "X" extra minutes killing zombies but then leave the rest behind.

Let's say we won't spend more than 10 minutes killing zombies on our way out. We'll ignore them in small numbers as well, and won't attack unless there are 3 or more.

This is a good idea for keeping the Headstone out of range from the ground level, but this will require some work. The Dead Spike is about 75 miles long with people inhabiting the lower third (i.e. first 25 miles). Where would you want to take the Headstone? Just to give you an idea of distance...if you took the Headstone to the near coast of the Dead Spike about halfway up it (approx 35 miles, so 10 miles from spotty civilization), that would be about 100 miles from Longtree. And it would obviously be even further if you wanted to take the Headstone inland and/or farther from civilization.

I was thinking 20 miles south of the very tip of the spike, roughly equidistant from each coast. That's about 120-140 miles, right? Wind Walk is active until 9pm, and Nim can always prep some teleports to get everybody back if he needs to.

Also, there will be a Survival check to avoid getting lost, and there will be a penalty for being so high off the ground as well one for going super fast. I've had the super fast penalty in the back of mind since the squad has started to speed around but haven't fleshed it out yet. I will post something about it soon in the OOC thread, as to not bog down this thread with too many posts.

EDIT: Actually, if you are 6.5 miles above the ground, your perception would be much "slower" than if you were moving 60 mi/hr on the ground, so I'm going to say that in this instance, there will be no penalty for moving fast, but there will be one for being so high up. Let's make -1 per 2 miles above the ground, so it would be -3.

How difficult a survival check is this actually going to be? I've been up in small planes before, and it's phenomenally easy to identify geographical features and find your way around when you're in the air. When your destination is a really obvious feature, (such as a giant peninsula shaped like a spike) and you're following the coast, you'll find it much more easily than you ever would from the ground.

Brion would be expected to report to General Shaw, and we'll get to that in time. As for the Covert Ops, I guess one way to put it is that, "You don't get in touch with the Covert Ops; the Covert Ops get in touch with you." But yes, you can use the amulet of sending to try sending them a message. Just let me know when you want to send and what it will say.

I may hold off on attempting to contact Covert Ops until I've spoken with General Shaw. I'll suggest to him that they might be well suited for this type of task, and maybe he can help me get in touch with them.

When you return to the surface...how much, if any, time will you devote to destroying zombies while you march out of the grove? And perhaps more importantly, what will you do with the Headstone once you get to the surface

Skeletor should take it 6 miles up immediately and then follow us back to Verdas. When it's time to go to the Dead Spike, we'll use the Amulet of Sending to message him.

Also, what about the Zombie Ogre and seemingly intelligent Zombie Horse? Ogre moves at 30 ft and Horse at 60 ft. Overland movement is cut in half in the grove, but they hustle indefinitely as zombies, so it evens out, but they are still slower than the Nightmares (90 ft) and Windwalkers. If you take the armor off the Ogre, that increases his speed to 40 ft (4 mi/hr).

I think the ogre and horse aren't worth keeping. They should help Garm wipe out those zombies in the pit, but without the advantage of a flying horse. If they both survive, Garm will pick them off the same way he did the other zombies. That one's really up to Nim, though.

[reefwood]

May 4, 2011 21:40:25 GMT -5 michael said:

One other thing I want to do before we depart is have Brion touch the headstone. He was at full HP at the end of the session, so he can't take enough damage to die from it, and he has plenty of uncast spells and channelings left to heal himself afterward.

There's an 8th level divination spell that tells you the exact location of any person you've seen or object you've touched. It's worth the damage to make sure Brion can keep track of this headstone in the future.

Yeah, if Brion wants to touch the Headstone, he can, but I do want to keep track of damage and healing because the next mission will begin the next day, so if he gets hurt bad and rolls poorly on healing, some of it may carryover.

Also, what is this 8th-level divination spell that Brion has prepared? Or do you mean 7th-level? And if you have to do more than just touch it, like keep in contact for a full round or something, there may be a Concentration check required too. Which reminds me... I need to check if I handled the damage checks correctly during the session. I went with the lower DC of half damage, but that was just a guess on the wary side.

I like this "trail of bread crumbs" variant. As for zombies, they have been handfuls spotted every few minutes as you passed through the grove, but you were able to easily out pace them. Do you now want to take the time to wipe out every zombie you see? It wouldn't take forever, but it would take longer to exit the grove, and you won't know how long until you try. Or you could say that you spend "X" extra minutes killing zombies but then leave the rest behind.

Let's say we won't spend more than 10 minutes killing zombies on our way out. We'll ignore them in small numbers as well, and won't attack unless there are 3 or more.

Sounds good.

I was thinking 20 miles south of the very tip of the spike, roughly equidistant from each coast. That's about 120-140 miles, right? Wind Walk is active until 9pm, and Nim can always prep some teleports to get everybody back if he needs to.

20 miles south of the tip would be about 120 miles from Longtree or 110 miles from Verdas. Flying there direct from Verdas would take Skeletor over the recently built Nemedoran dock that is southeast of the Blackfens and is used to ferry troops to Dragon Dock. Not significant, but it is a noteworthy place along that route and could be a bad place for Skeletor to fall out of the sky, if that happened for whatever reason, so I just thought I should mention it for the sake of thoroughness.

Also, I don't think Skeletor will run out of time as long as he gives himself more than enough time to get there in back, but if you wait to do other things before sending him... well, that's why I want to keep tabs on the time and spell durations.

And Nim will not be able to teleport to Skeletor unless he has someway of seeing Skeletor's location, which he might, but again, it's not like you're sending Skeletor to a location that you've been before either.

How difficult a survival check is this actually going to be? I've been up in small planes before, and it's phenomenally easy to identify geographical features and find your way around when you're in the air. When your destination is a really obvious feature, (such as a giant peninsula shaped like a spike) and you're following the coast, you'll find it much more easily than you ever would from the ground.

The Survival DC to avoid getting lost is DC 15,and this is what I usually use when you are trying to get somewhere, so it is a moderately difficult DC but relatively easy for anyone trained in the skill. I have no idea if Skeletor has Survival or a good Wisdom score.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree about landmarks by air, which is why the penalty is so small. But if you told me to go 100 miles in a straight line, the deviation of even a tiny angle could add up being off track a decent amount over so many miles, and if you told me to land a place 30 miles from the coast, I'd be hard-pressed to figure out that exact distance. I could probably do it somewhere between 20 to 40 miles from the coast, but being precise would be harder.

And revealing a little bit behind the DM curtain...some of the Survival checks to reach a location are more for figuring out how long it takes get there. In this campaign, I rarely have a failure result in not finding a place because that would usually derail the mission. On the other hand, time can be pretty valuable on missions, so that has been a better result for failure. It just takes you longer, which could lead to problems...like spells running out

Anyway, Skeletor will have to make a Survival check once per hour, so probably one to Verdas and two to the Dead Spike.

I may hold off on attempting to contact Covert Ops until I've spoken with General Shaw. I'll suggest to him that they might be well suited for this type of task, and maybe he can help me get in touch with them.

Sounds good.

Skeletor should take it 6 miles up immediately and then follow us back to Verdas. When it's time to go to the Dead Spike, we'll use the Amulet of Sending to message him.

This gives me a funny visual in my head. An ogre skeleton floating miles above the city and holding a headstone in his hands and just waiting there...and waiting...and waiting all by himself.

Also, what about the Zombie Ogre and seemingly intelligent Zombie Horse? Ogre moves at 30 ft and Horse at 60 ft. Overland movement is cut in half in the grove, but they hustle indefinitely as zombies, so it evens out, but they are still slower than the Nightmares (90 ft) and Windwalkers. If you take the armor off the Ogre, that increases his speed to 40 ft (4 mi/hr).

I think the ogre and horse aren't worth keeping. They should help Garm wipe out those zombies in the pit, but without the advantage of a flying horse. If they both survive, Garm will pick them off the same way he did the other zombies. That one's really up to Nim, though.

If Nim is cool with this, I'll let you know how it plays out. My next post will probably fast-forward things to Verdas.

[reefwood]

Holding the Charge: If you don't discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the charge indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action. Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack (or an attack with a natural weapon) while holding a charge. In this case, you aren't considered armed and you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal for the attack. If your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack normally doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, neither does this attack. If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge.

One other option for Nim becoming a zombie lord is combining touch spells with the zombie slam attack he gains and not having to worry about provoking an attack of opportunity. This would not be a touch attack, but it would do physical damage on top of the spell effect. Although, it would take 2 rounds to pull off: 1 round to cast the spell (standard action) and 1 round to make the regular attack (standard action).

[michael]

Yeah, if Brion wants to touch the Headstone, he can, but I do want to keep track of damage and healing because the next mission will begin the next day, so if he gets hurt bad and rolls poorly on healing, some of it may carryover.

Also, what is this 8th-level divination spell that Brion has prepared? Or do you mean 7th-level? And if you have to do more than just touch it, like keep in contact for a full round or something, there may be a Concentration check required too. Which reminds me... I need to check if I handled the damage checks correctly during the session. I went with the lower DC of half damage, but that was just a guess on the wary side.

Brion made his Fort save and took 26 damage from the headstone. He had 11 temporary HP, so he was down 15. He channeled Silence into Cure Moderate Wounds and healed 19, bringing him to full.

The spell is Discern Location, but it isn't one he has prepared now. He's touching the headstone now so that he'll be able to use this spell in the future, should the need arise.

Discern Location
School divination; Level cleric 8, sorcerer/wizard 8
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, DF
Range unlimited
Target one creature or object
Duration instantaneous
A discern location spell is among the most powerful means of
locating creatures or objects. Nothing short of a mind blank spell
or the direct intervention of a deity keeps you from learning the
exact location of a single individual or object. Discern location
circumvents normal means of protection from scrying or
location. The spell reveals the name of the creature or object’s
location (place, name, business name, building name, or the
like), community, county (or similar political division), country,
continent, and the plane of existence where the target lies.
To find a creature with the spell, you must have seen the creature
or have some item that once belonged to it. To find an object, you
must have touched it at least once.

20 miles south of the tip would be about 120 miles from Longtree or 110 miles from Verdas. Flying there direct from Verdas would take Skeletor over the recently built Nemedoran dock that is southeast of the Blackfens and is used to ferry troops to Dragon Dock. Not significant, but it is a noteworthy place along that route and could be a bad place for Skeletor to fall out of the sky, if that happened for whatever reason, so I just thought I should mention it for the sake of thoroughness.

Also, I don't think Skeletor will run out of time as long as he gives himself more than enough time to get there in back, but if you wait to do other things before sending him... well, that's why I want to keep tabs on the time and spell durations.

And Nim will not be able to teleport to Skeletor unless he has someway of seeing Skeletor's location, which he might, but again, it's not like you're sending Skeletor to a location that you've been before either.

I don't think Skeletor is going to the spike alone, just traveling higher than the others since he can do so safely. I figured Nim and Ghoul were probably going with him, and I was sending Garm as well. Sorry I wasn't clear on that.

Although that does raise the issue of all of them getting together once they arrive; it's hard to imagine Skeletor not losing track of a few misty figures several miles below him. Perhaps they should all meet up at the very tip of the Spike, since it's an easy spot to find. Garm can use Continual Flame to make a signal once they're at the tip, so Skeletor can locate them, then they all head south and inland.

I'm ok with Skeletor flying over the dock or other inhabited places, as I don't foresee huge disaster, but one of the reasons Garm is going with is to help out if something like that does happen. He can take stock of the situation, teleport back to Brion and report, or even chop the shit out of the headstone with an Adamantine weapon, if it comes down to it. Plus, it's good for Garm to see the headstone's final destination so he can teleport there if he needs to.

The Survival DC to avoid getting lost is DC 15,and this is what I usually use when you are trying to get somewhere, so it is a moderately difficult DC but relatively easy for anyone trained in the skill. I have no idea if Skeletor has Survival or a good Wisdom score.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree about landmarks by air, which is why the penalty is so small. But if you told me to go 100 miles in a straight line, the deviation of even a tiny angle could add up being off track a decent amount over so many miles, and if you told me to land a place 30 miles from the coast, I'd be hard-pressed to figure out that exact distance. I could probably do it somewhere between 20 to 40 miles from the coast, but being precise would be harder.

And revealing a little bit behind the DM curtain...some of the Survival checks to reach a location are more for figuring out how long it takes get there. In this campaign, I rarely have a failure result in not finding a place because that would usually derail the mission. On the other hand, time can be pretty valuable on missions, so that has been a better result for failure. It just takes you longer, which could lead to problems...like spells running out

Anyway, Skeletor will have to make a Survival check once per hour, so probably one to Verdas and two to the Dead Spike.

Ah, ok, that all totally makes sense.

[icnivad]

do figures in mist form need to breath?
Is Garn immune to the headstone's affects? The save is going to be pretty hard since Nim is level 14.

[reefwood]

May 5, 2011 15:36:09 GMT -5 icnivad said:

do figures in mist form need to breath?

A good question about the mist. We tend to overlook the changes that happen you mist up because all that is actually explained in another spell: gaseous form.

The subject and all its gear become insubstantial, misty, and translucent. Its material armor (including natural armor) becomes worthless, though its size, Dexterity, deflection bonuses, and armor bonuses from force effects still apply. The subject gains DR 10/magic and becomes immune to poison, sneak attacks, and critical hits. It can't attack or cast spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components while in gaseous form. This does not rule out the use of certain spells that the subject may have prepared using the feats Silent Spell, Still Spell, and Eschew Materials. The subject also loses supernatural abilities while in gaseous form. If it has a touch spell ready to use, that spell is discharged harmlessly when the gaseous form spell takes effect.

A gaseous creature can't run, but it can fly at a speed of 10 feet and automatically succeeds on all Fly skill checks. It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, as long as the spell persists. The creature is subject to the effects of wind, and it can't enter water or other liquid. It also can't manipulate objects or activate items, even those carried along with its gaseous form. Continuously active items remain active, though in some cases their effects may be moot.

You still have to breathe, and anyone wearing metal armor becomes much easier to hit, and most spellcasting is out. I think one thing to note is that gaseous form and wind walk are pretty similar, but they seem to have different rules for speed. The first one can only fly at a speed of 10 ft and cannot run but succeeds on all Fly checks. The other one can fly at a speed of 10 ft (perfect) or up to 600 ft (poor) per round and the different maneuverability ratings seem to indicate that Fly checks are required because that is the only thing they affect.

---

May 5, 2011 15:36:09 GMT -5 icnivad said:

do figures in mist form need to breath?
Is Garn immune to the headstone's affects? The save is going to be pretty hard since Nim is level 14.

I don't understand what these questions are about? Is Nim going to cast something on Garm? He does have spell resistance, which would apply to the slay living effect, so he might be able to touch it without getting hurt, but I'm not sure what that has to do with Nim's level.

EDIT: Oh...do you mean when Nim is sacrificed? I kind of figured that it would just be Nim and Skeletor at midnight, and Skeletor would coup de grace Nim and then stay to watch over his body. But yeah, if other living squad members are around, that could go poorly for them.

And oh! When Nim dies, all of this controlled undead will be released. Well, sort of. The animate dead link with the skeletons will be forever broken, but the command undead spells will continue to function until they expire, so it will be important to note where the skeletons are left and their last command given. Ghoul will break free from the Command Undead feat but also remain under the command undead spell, so as long as he is with Nim and not anyone else alive, he should be fine.

Also, magic items will need to be re-attuned.

[icnivad]

Yeah, Michael mentioned wanting Garn to come with. Or maybe he was thinking that Garn would travel with, then jump back to the camp before the sacrifice.

I've been going back and forth on whether to sacrifice Nim or not. As a player, I think it actually ends up hurting Nim because so many of the abilities he uses (like controlling undead and summoning demons) are based on caster level. He actually does very little with his physical body(rarely gets attacked, never attacks himself). And this opens him up to being turned. As a character, however, I think that Nim would be very interested in this idea. The idea of eternal unaging life would be very enticing for the short aged human who is already starting to gray. Nim also understands the forces that work around undead fairly well, having spent a lifetime studying them and wouldn't be afraid of the loss of ones "soul", that most people are afraid of. I also picture him having never really questioned gods a whole lot since his powers have always come from within, sort of a scientific approach of "this is how the universe works". But after this last session, I think he is starting to see the direct effects of the gods in necromancy. I think that this specific god would be a good one for him.

May 4, 2011 16:42:18 GMT -5 reefwood said:

I am still trying to figure out and fine tune how to best balance the CR increase, but no matter what, Nim will have at least 1 level to "make up" and possibly several, and there's no way to know ahead of time since it will be random, so you should be ready to give up on gaining Wizard levels if you attempt this. However, Nim will still earn rewards, and through them, he can expand his spell access in a more roundabout way. He can continue to buy scrolls of the spell levels he knows to add more spells to his spellbook. He can buy scrolls of higher level spells as one-time use items that require a caster level check. He can buy wands of lower level spells but increase their caster level based on the CL he selects, and this won't be useful for all spells, but it could give some spells more power than he could cast himself. He can create a staff with higher level spells that he cannot recharge, but he can have someone at the army recharge it with rewards. However, none of this will help his abilities that depend on class level.

Have you settled into a way of doing this yet? I understand the complexity when CR's don't really work the same across the board. Where a wizard turned zombie clearly wouln't gain as much as a fighter turned zombie.

Either way, I like the fluff that it adds to his character. I think I might wait until after the next session before sacrificing myself so Nim will get Level 8 spells, though.

[michael]

Yeah, Michael mentioned wanting Garn to come with. Or maybe he was thinking that Garn would travel with, then jump back to the camp before the sacrifice.

I was definitely thinking Garm wouldn't stick around. He'd go as an escort, and to see the place the headstone ends up so he can teleport to it whenever he needs to, but he'd definitely teleport back to Brion before midnight.. How long he sticks around is still up in the air, as I don't know what Nemedor's official position on the headstone is yet

And oh! When Nim dies, all of this controlled undead will be released. Well, sort of. The animate dead link with the skeletons will be forever broken, but the command undead spells will continue to function until they expire, so it will be important to note where the skeletons are left and their last command given. Ghoul will break free from the Command Undead feat but also remain under the command undead spell, so as long as he is with Nim and not anyone else alive, he should be fine.

So this means all of Nim's undead will be under control of Command Undead spell for now, but he won't have any undead counting towards his HD limit for Animate Dead, correct? That could be quite helpful, actually.