Rumors of My Death: An AIMhack Campaign

[Nioca]

LEVELS!

 

Okay, just the one.

Click to reveal.. (Mal Travers, the L6 Lacewing Wannabe Hero)

Mal Travers

Race: Lacewing

Occupation: Aspiring Hero

Alignment: Optimistic Naive

Deity: Phol-Phoram

 

ATTRIBUTES

Level - 6

Skill Points - 01/72

Strength - 6

Dexterity - 6 (+1)

Intelligence - 3

Health -17/45 (+6)

Stamina - 05/10

Speed - 5/5

 

SKILLS

Martial (Swords) - 8 (+1) (36 XP)

History - 4 (6 XP + RB)

Thievery - 4 (+1) (6 XP + RB)

First Aid - 4 (10 XP)

Perception - 4 (10 XP)

Nature - 2 (3 XP)

 

TRAITS

Heroic Valor (Perk) - Mal's drive to do good has resulted in him developing an iron will in the face of danger. Whenever he's reduced to 0 HP, instead of going unconscious immediately, he gets a 1 round grace period, capable of performing any action he could while healthy. Mal can choose to extend this grace period additional rounds, but this results in his stamina bleeding out twice as fast as it normally would, and any additional damage he takes will wind up damaging his stamina instead. This only works once-per-encounter.

Misty Escape (Perk | 0/3) - As an immediate action, turn into an insubstantial mist for one round and take 5 damage. This mitigates damage you've just taken. Usable up to X times, where X is half your level.

 

BATTLE TECHNIQUES

Click to reveal..

Wings of Fury (1 STM) - Mal leaps and takes wing, either flinging himself upward and attacking a low-altitude foe or hurtling over obstacles (or creatures) and slashing at a chosen enemy. After the maneuver, Mal's defense is reduced for one round while he recovers his footing. Depending on the distance involved, the technique may require more than 1 stamina to perform.

 

Blitz Barrage (1 STM) - Unleashes a devastating and lightning-quick barrage of blows onto a target, doing elevated damage and either penalizing or outright stunning the victim for 1 round.

 

Impregnable Barrier (1 STM) - Once per encounter, can designate a foe as blocked. For the rest of that encounter, Mal will keep his shield positioned between himself and the designated foe, providing defensive bonuses and minor damage reduction against that particular enemy, at the cost of a minor defensive penalty and inability to use the shield against other enemies. This technique is nullified if Mal engages the designated enemy, and requires a shield to perform.

That said, I really do hope we get an opportunity to identify stuff, resupply, and generally get a good night's rest. Because I seriously doubt this party has good odds of survival if we hit anything more than a minor encounter. And at any rate, we can't just haul around bulging packs of unidentified stuff.

 

And if we do get that opportunity, I recommend it's done between sessions, rather than taking up most of session 5. But that's just my two cents.

[Ephesos]

Hey everyone... so a couple of things:

1. My apologies about the log. Had a crazy couple of days since the session, it will be coming as soon as possible.
2. If you have not filled out the calendar yet, please do so. At present, it looks like the next best session date is Monday, November 22nd, at 6pm CST. If you cannot make that, please speak up!
3. If you have not yet leveled up, please do so before the next session! To level up...
   • Increase one of your attributes (STR/DEX/INT) by 1.
   • Increase your HP by your STR score.
   • Spend 12 skill points via the same system as in character creation. You can hold onto skill points for next level if you want.
   • Either post the results here, or PM me.
4. ...
   Click to reveal.. (A brief interlude... mild spoilers)

   As you slowly pick yourselves up off the ground, you see Finnio hurriedly get to his feet, grabbing madly at his share of the treasure. As he makes to run as fast as he can away from the destruction, he immediately collides with a human woman bearing two sheathed blades. Finnio tumbles back to the ground, dropping several magic items.

    

   "Aaah! Adira! Get the nether out of here, it's not safe!"

    

   The woman looks briefly at Finnio like she's seen a ghost.

    

   "Finnio! But... but we thought you were dead!"

    

   Finnio takes a brief look over his shoulder at the smoking wreckage, and then glances at the rest of you.

    

   "Yeah, they saved me. Now I'm leaving. Run!"

    

   With that, he takes off running, leaving an awkward pause in his wake. The human stares at you, your wounds, and the mess that you have clearly caused.

    

   "Um..."

5. If that wasn't clear enough, Mistborn will be coming back with a new character next time. It'll get posted in here as soon as we're finished ironing out the details.
6. Obviously everyone has some stuff they'd like to take care of as soon as they find a skilled sage, healer, or well-stocked shopkeeper. I make no guarantees as to the availability of any of those things in Sarden (particularly as it is now), but just the same I'd appreciate it if people would PM me with the full list of what they'd like identified, so I can make some appropriate checks secretly and get some responses set aside for the session.

Any questions?

 

Originally Posted By: Plaram, master pyromancer

"I don't have time to answer these questions. There are greater things afoot in this world than you can imagine, and someone has to stand up and deal with them. And since I don't see embers gracefully spiraling from your godsdamned fingertips, I'm going to guess that person isn't you."

[Dintiradan]

Wait, so every time one of Mistborn's characters dies or runs off, another one comes to take its place?

 

[Dantius]

At last!

 

Click to reveal.. (Kurex)

Name: Kurex

Occupation: Travelling Mage

Alignment: Magnificent Bastard

Race: Human

Deity: Imaunte

 

Strength: 5 (+1)

Dexterity: 2

Intelligence: 7

Speed: 5

Health: 40/40

Stamina: 10/10

 

Magic (Evocation): 9 (+1, 9 pts)

Magic (Conjuration): 5

Magic (Abjuration): 2 (+1, 3 pts)

Martial (Sword): 3

Composure: 2

Stealth: 1

Perception: 1

 

Perks:

-Smug - When you hit an enemy, gain +1 to all intimidation rolls against them for 1 round.

[Mistb0rn]

Hey, I wanted Adira ever since Adon had to leave, but then I got stuck with Finnio. Not my fault.

 

Why do you ask? Are you tired of me or something?

[RCCCL]

I will not be able to do Monday, as it is one of my normal nights to work, I've submitted with the calendar. Thanks again to Sarachim for taking over for me. Eph, if you could pm me what I'm currently carrying, I've no idea if I "picked up" anything else after I left, also my current HP/Stamina, thanks.

 

That done, my level, though I still need to get a new spell.

 

Click to reveal.. (Josun)

Name: Josun

Race: Dragonborn

Occupation: Cleric

Alignment: Calm

Deity: Phol-Phoram

 

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 3

Intelligence: 8 (+1)

Speed: 5 (4 w/armor)

Health: 0/33

Stamina: 1/10

Skill Points: 2

 

 

Magic (Conjuration): 6

Magic (Abjuration): 5

Religion: 6 (+1)

Martial (Mace): 4 (+1)

History: 2

First Aid: 1

Composure: 1

 

Perks:

-Divine Healing - When healing, heal 1 extra HP. Also +1 to all healing rolls.

-Break Enchantment - Attempt to dispel an enchantment or curse.

[Ephesos]

...oh god. Wow, now that the calendar is full up on responses, the next available day for a session is... well, tomorrow. And then, nothing until December 1st.

 

Um... while I originally contemplated trying to run a session tomorrow, that's just flat-out not going to happen unless I just don't sleep tonight. And I'm already far enough behind on sleep that I really cannot afford that.

 

So, my apologies, but the next session is Wednesday, December 1st, 6pm CST. Unless anyone has a substantial schedule change, that's the earliest we can do it.

 

Still working on the log. Sorry folks.

 

Originally Posted By: Iliandib, sage

"I dream that one day I might walk among the stars as those of the Far Expedition once did. Would that it were within my reach."

[Nioca]

I sent my list in. Plus some shopping to attend to, should the opportunity present itself.

 

That said: Kurex, unless there's something behind the scenes going on that I'm unaware of, there is no way you are currently at full HP/STM. I've got Kurex at 10HP/1STM. And Ephesos outright said that we weren't gaining any HP back from leveling (as in current HP. Max HP is obviously going up, we just aren't getting any healing for it this time around).

 

(Also, Josun, I've got you at 0HP/1STM, but that may not be entirely accurate. The ending got a bit hectic.)

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

(Also, Josun, I've got you at 0HP/1STM, but that may not be entirely accurate. The ending got a bit hectic.)

I saved his life, but Eph didn't specify how many HP he got back.

[Nioca]

Assuming he did in the first place and wasn't just stabilized at 0. He also didn't specify what his stamina was either; 1 stamina is just my guess, since Eph said Josun would bleed out in 1 round if not healed.

[RCCCL]

Well, sounds like it got real exciting after I had to go, now I really can't wait to read the log!

[Lilith]

oh yeah. sarachim kind of almost got josun killed by following aurora's advice a little too well. sorry about that.

[RCCCL]

What did you do? Try to pep talk me into climbing down a cliff?

[Lilith]

i offered sound tactical advice. unexpected explosions followed.

[Nioca]

Lilith, this is the Order of Unexpected Explosions. Unexpected explosions are to be expected at this point.

 

Damaging the laws of physics and the natural order of life and death was a bit new, though.

[Dantius]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

That said: Kurex, unless there's something behind the scenes going on that I'm unaware of, there is no way you are currently at full HP/STM. I've got Kurex at 10HP/1STM. And Ephesos outright said that we weren't gaining any HP back from leveling (as in current HP. Max HP is obviously going up, we just aren't getting any healing for it this time around).

I'm lazy, so I just quick quoted Eph's post a couple pages back where he introduced the characters and worked on the levelup from there, and then I updated my actual character sheet on my home computer later, since I don't actually remember my HP/STA totals days later.

...Wait, I've been doing that for every AIMhack campaign I've ever been in. How have you not noticed that until now?

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Dantius

Originally Posted By: Nioca

That said: Kurex, unless there's something behind the scenes going on that I'm unaware of, there is no way you are currently at full HP/STM. I've got Kurex at 10HP/1STM. And Ephesos outright said that we weren't gaining any HP back from leveling (as in current HP. Max HP is obviously going up, we just aren't getting any healing for it this time around).

I'm lazy, so I just quick quoted Eph's post a couple pages back where he introduced the characters and worked on the levelup from there, and then I updated my actual character sheet on my home computer later, since I don't actually remember my HP/STA totals days later.

...Wait, I've been doing that for every AIMhack campaign I've ever been in. How have you not noticed that until now?

Simple. In Brigandage, you weren't actually putting current HP in your level-ups, and in Blood Marsh, we typically weren't taking enough damage for it to be noticeable (and at any rate, we gained HP from leveling and often rested at the end of sessions), meaning that it could effectively be written off as a calculation error on my part (that, and I was more concerned about Amadan's HP).

[Ephesos]

GAH. FINALLY.

 

Woot. Log.

 

Click to reveal.. (Also, QUOTES!)

• Finnio: "Revenge sounds good. Reward money sounds good. A team of people between me and any enemies sounds good. I'm in."
• Josun: "As we say in the army, "Even the best laid plans only last till the enemy shows up.""
• Aurora: "Are you sure it's not you who-- aw, he didn't even stick around long enough for me to sadden him."
• Kurex: "Relax, I'm a sage. I know what I'm doing. Well, no I don't. But I know what I should be doing when confronted with something I don't know what to do with."
• Mal: "...I'd personally try not to invoke the wrath of these pellets just yet."

 

Still processing everyone's levels.

[Triumph]

A very impressive, fun, and entertaining session to read!

 

Would it be correct to assume the "Glacial Knot," is the item the party was sent to retrieve? And will you ever post the secret messages the party's employer sent to them?

 

Definitely interested to see where this goes.

[Ephesos]

I do intend to post the letters from Gotay eventually, but not yet. Definitely not until all of them are completed or rendered impossible to complete.

 

(Also, you have no idea how many times I had to check the following quote to make sure I'd spelled "ghoul" correctly. Damn you, KoL!!!)

 

Originally Posted By: Egues-Tol, necromancer

"One of my students thought that by defeating a powerful ghoul, he would absorb its unearthly strength. Instead, he inherited the creature's tormenting nightmares. There are powers we should not tamper with."

[Tirien]

I know how you feel, Eph. I cam't spell zombie correctly unless I take alot of time to do it right now... KoL killed my spelling!!

[Ephesos]

I could've sworn I posted this already, but everyone should have been updated by now on what they pulled out of the dungeon.

 

Also, meet Mistb0rn's new character, Adira!

 

Click to reveal.. (Adira, adventurer)

Name: Adira - Level 6

Occupation: Adventurer

Race: Human

Alignment: Heroic

 

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 4

Intelligence: 5

Speed: 5

Health: 40/40

Stamina: 10/10

 

Martial (Blades): 6

Magic (Transmutation): 5

Magic (Conjuration): 3

Stealth: 4 (RB)

Perception: 4 (RB)

Nature: 3

Crafting (Alchemy): 3

First Aid: 3

 

Spells:

-Enhance

-Haste

-Zelmair's Scaleskin

-Elemental Blade

-Elemental Orb

-Sudden Corrosion

-Chameleon

-Double Strike

-Reflect Stance

 

Perks:

-Dual Wielder - Adira suffers no penalty for attacking with both weapons.

 

Originally Posted By: Vothella, lacewing dreamthief

"Most in Sarden prefer to lead by brute force, simply throwing slaves and minions at whatever troubles them. Rikkla and Trassak were different, ruling by subtlety. I wonder what this city will come to with their passing."

[Mistb0rn]

I've finally gotten around to some stuff I've been putting off, so here I have for all you interested parties: I got a letter from Adon and did a quick interview with Adira.

 

[Nioca]

Woo! RomD tomorrow!

[Ephesos]

Indeed! Remember, 6pm CST, in spidwebRP.

 

Originally Posted By: "Future-Perfect Chronomancy"

"In the event that this book's text changes, it is highly recommended that all readers immediately adopt the changes made, lest it collapse the time continuum as per the addendum on page 354."

[Tirien]

Judging by the quote, im going to guess that Kurex really screwed things up.

 

What? Its easy to blame things on Kurex.

[Lilith]

we have now equalled our record of 2 sessions without a pc death. let's go for 3!

[Ephesos]

Woo, sorry about the delay everyone, but the log of session 6 is now available! There is no leveling up to be had, but at least nobody died.

 

Click to reveal.. (Also, QUOTES)

• Adira: "I think I have an idea of where we could start looking if you're trying to find a sage or healer."
• Mal: "No one said anything about conspicuositinous."
• Josun: "Sorry, I've had a few too many things blow up near me recently."
• Kurex: "I think I'll take the credit for that, thank you very much."
• Aurora: "Don't get me wrong, I don't think of myself as some kind of hero. But I do pay my debts."

 

With that, the next session will be this Wednesday, December 8th, at 6pm CST, in the usual room (spidwebRP). Be there!

 

 

 

Also, I will likely be gearing up to run a one-shot over the holiday, since I'm anticipating that making a full session of Rumors happen will be difficult. So far, this is all I know about it:

Title - "Escape From Sarden"

PCs - The less fortunate denizens of Sarden.

[Dintiradan]

Quote:

we have now equalled our record of 2 sessions without a pc death. let's go for 3!

C'mon, what are the chances of two PCs dying in the same campaign? It would be like lightning striking someone twice.

Quote:

Also, I will likely be gearing up to run a one-shot over the holiday, since I'm anticipating that making a full session of Rumors happen will be difficult. So far, this is all I know about it:
Title - "Escape From Sarden"
PCs - The less fortunate denizens of Sarden.

Cool -- would be interested in this, depending on the day and time. But I think one-shots are wonderful opportunities for people who haven't had a chance to participate in a campaign yet.

[Triumph]

Wow. The scheming minions of Kyrophius have certainly made a mess of Sarden. I do hope we find out more about ol' minotaur-snout.

 

Also...I keep getting the irksome sense that there's a lot of backstory that poor log-readers like me don't know. For example: Rikkla stole Kurex's magic staff??? Was that planned all along? Roughly how much is / has been said and done that the general public doesn't know about in this campaign?

 

Previous campaigns seemed to have so much more transparency.

[Mistb0rn]

Originally Posted By: Triumph

Also...I keep getting the irksome sense that there's a lot of backstory that poor log-readers like me don't know. For example: Rikkla stole Kurex's magic staff???

Don't feel too left out. It was the first I'd heard about it, too.

[Lilith]

my guess is that's his character-specific quest

[Tirien]

Or Kurex is insane, and just THINKS that she stole his staff. With Kurex, it's kinda hard to tell.

[Triumph]

Nah, with Kurex, I hold the maxim "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."

[Nioca]

Wow, we had some really bad luck last session:

 

Aurora - Average 10.83 (+0.33) with NO Criticals and 1 Fumble (5.56%)

Adira - Average 10.27 (-0.23) with NO Criticals and NO Fumbles

Josun - Average 8.82 (-1.68) with 1 Critical (9.09%) and NO Fumbles

Mal - Average 7.71 (-2.79) with 2 Criticals (11.76%) and 1 Fumble (5.88%)

Kurex - Average 7.53 (-2.97) with NO Criticals and 3 Fumbles (17.65%)

 

PARTY AVERAGE - Average 8.97 (-1.53) with 3 Criticals (4.05%) and 5 Fumbles (6.76%)

 

Hopefully things improve next session.

[Triumph]

Must be one of those artifact you all picked up. Or you alerted Zarusa?

[Dintiradan]

Do you have the number of total rolls? We could calculate statistical significance, if you want.

 

Originally Posted By: Triumph

I do hope we find out more about ol' minotaur-snout.

Who? I don't remember any minotaur.

[Nioca]

For the campaign? 522 (Kurex 134, Aurora 117, Mal 105, Josun 87, Mistb0rn 79 (Adon 43, Finnio 25, Adira 11)).

 

For the session? 74 (Aurora 18, Kurex 17, Mal 17, Adira 11, Josun 11).

[Triumph]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Do you have the number of total rolls? We could calculate statistical significance, if you want.

Originally Posted By: Triumph

I do hope we find out more about ol' minotaur-snout.

Who? I don't remember any minotaur.

Well, there was a sort of deus-ex-minotaur, in Sarden, at the end of the Selos campaign. And here are reports of a minotaur in Sarden cropping up again.

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Triumph

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Originally Posted By: Triumph

I do hope we find out more about ol' minotaur-snout.

Who? I don't remember any minotaur.

Well, there was a sort of deus-ex-minotaur, in Sarden, at the end of the Selos campaign. And here are reports of a minotaur in Sarden cropping up again.

...Methinks you missed the joke.

[Triumph]

...

[Lilith]

hey y'all don't forget the next session's tomorrow

[Ephesos]

Indeed, session is tomorrow, 6pm CST!

 

Originally Posted By: Tamia, Scholar of All

"It is worth noting that while the various tribes of humans scattered across Mote exhibit wildly-differing cultural patterns, they all seem to share two key traits. First, they avoid contact with the outside world when at all possible. And second, they respond quickly and violently to any aggression from outsiders."

Minotaur-lovers will want to pay attention when the one-shot happens...

[RCCCL]

Less than an hour to go.

[RCCCL]

Since our party got to rest last time, I get a new spell.

 

Click to reveal..

Silence: (1Sta) Target is unable to cast spells or talk for a number of rounds.

[Lilith]

While we're talking new spells, Aurora also has one:

 

Click to reveal..

* Calm - Instills a sense of peace and relaxation in the target, making them less wary and alert. Hostile characters affected by Calm are more likely to become willing to negotiate, and will suffer a penalty on attack rolls if they choose to attack.

[Nioca]

Okay, a list of the loot we've got thusfar:

Click to reveal.. (Artifact List)

MAL

Evening Star (Magical Longsword)

Flame-Etched Greatsword (???)

Rat Panpipes (Summons Ghostly Rats)

Agonized Panpipes (???)

Light Pellets (Creates Bright Light, usable 4PD)

Gray Pellets (Creates Smoke/Fog/Clouds?)

Black Pellets (Creates Darkness?)

 

KUREX

Bolt Glasses (Fires massive fireblasts; Jagged edges can cause damage)

Unknown Cloak (Identified?)

War Gauntlets (Identified?)

Unknown Gauntlets (???)

Ice Eagle Wand (Summons Ice Eagles)

 

JOSUN

Flight Boots (Allows brief flight)

Summoning Prism (+1 Summoning Spells, can store a summoned creature)

Holy Symbol of Mariona (???)

Dehydration Mace (Dehydrates things on impact)

Plague Whistle (Summons a plague of locusts to attack whoever blows it)

 

AURORA

Displacement Boots (+1 Defense?, causes wearer to warp when hit/attacked?)

 

ADIRA

Spider Cloak (Contains spirit of a spider?)

Iron Bullet Lantern (???)

Dagger of Healing (+1 Melee, 3PD Healing)

Reddish Clay Bead (???)

Simple Brass Ring (???)

Cold Crimson Robes (???)

Webbed Shield (+1 Armor, weapons stick to it, difficult to unequip)

Whisper Blade (+1 Melee, +1 Crit/Fumble Range)

 

OTHER

Cat (Friendly)

We probably need to spread this stuff out a bit. Aurora could use the Dagger of Healing to rather great effect, and it doesn't make sense for Mal to be carrying all three bags of pellets. Additionally, Kurex is carrying two presumably identified items that could be useful, but seeing as we haven't been informed of what they do, it's hard to say.

 

For ID, we've got nine items that could use identification.

 

-Agonized Panpipes (could be a powerful weapon for anyone)

-Unknown Gauntlets (completely unknown, but could potentially be used by anyone)

-Brass Ring (Again, unknown but could be used by anyone).

-Spider Cloak (Not fully identified)

-Iron Bullet Lantern (Because having a secondary light source is a good idea. Not every dungeon comes stocked with working torches)

-Holy Symbol of Marion (Josun could probably use this)

-Reddish Clay Bead (No idea)

-Flame-Etched Greatsword (Not important, not only do both major sword wielders already have magic weaponry, but a two-handed weapon would interfere with Mal's Shielding and Adira's Dual-Wielding)

-Cold Crimson Robes (Kurex would probably be interested in these, if we knew what they did)

 

Mind, I'd be willing to have Mal be a guinea pig for a few of these items. Because... honestly, I'm starting to suspect the only way we're going to figure out all of these is to start trying them.

[Tirien]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

OTHER
Cat (Friendly)

Wait, when did cats become artifacts? Does it shoot bolts of lightning? Set things on fire? Ask for cheeseburgers?

[Triumph]

Cool stuff! I hope the party will do totally amazing deeds of gallantry and daring with it all next time!!! Or at least not die.

[Nioca]

Well, it was originally the ivory cat-headed wand.

 

Speaking of which, we probably need to decide on what kind of cat it is.

 

My personal opinion? Since it was an ivory wand, I'd say make it a white cat. Maybe a British Longhair (basic white cat), a silver-white Siberian (Bigger, hardier, more likely to survive adventuring. Plus, irony bonus), or Himalayan (well, it was a cursed wand... ).