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Mechanically, Arue is a very solid self-buffing archer with high base stats, which puts her well above Lann, and you know which enemies to pick for her favored by the time you get her. Aspect of the Falcon, Hurricane Bow, Sense Vitals, she's got it all. She even gets Instant Enemy! wiegieman fucked around with this message at 23:50 on May 17, 2024 |
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May 17, 2024 23:48
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berryjon posted:Ah, Rene Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy. One of my favourite subjects when I was in university. Cogito Ergo Sum for the win! Always be careful being a smartass to a bard, just saying.  What can I say, the pairing of Azata and bard leans towards the Tolkien-esque origins of the bard as keepers of hidden lore who sing the music of creation. I always found that a more compelling archetype than the usual ner-do-well scoundrel and minstrel.
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May 18, 2024 01:15
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Cythereal posted:Always be careful being a smartass to a bard, just saying. I'm pretty sure that that Tolkien So the Azata/Bard pairing could be argued is doing an end-run around Tolkien and back to the good old days of "I'll sing a song to make the Fire dance and caper, and burn your loving hall down!" TLM3101 fucked around with this message at 09:27 on May 18, 2024 |
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May 18, 2024 09:24
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Norse and Irish, and also especially Finnish. Väinämöinen was probably the biggest single inspiration for Gandalf.
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May 18, 2024 09:47
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Yua should be careful horsing around with philosophy like that... she's seen what'll happen if she puts Descarte before the horse
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May 18, 2024 09:51
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In Rainbow Clad The main gate to the keep is sealed shut, but there's a way in over the battlements.  Inside the keep, the party will periodically be hit with an effect called Whispers of the Damned, causing debuffs for those who fail their will saves.  Enemies are more of the same.  A bit of poking around, though, and we'll find a name that might be familiar: Seelah fangirled about Yaniel back in the Shield Maze, and we heard mention of her later in the Tower of Estrod. She was a paladin and a hero of the crusades who was believed to have perished during the fall of Drezen.   (It's hard to believe that life still lingers in such a mutilated body, but the woman raises her head with effort. Clear blue eyes stare back at you from under her gray eyelashes.) "Crusaders, here... I thought I was delirious when I heard the sounds of a battle. After so many years... Are we really retaking Drezen?" "Who are you? How did you end up here?" "My name won't mean anything to you. It's been so many years... My name is Yaniel. I used to be a knight of the citadel, when Drezen was still a proud crusader stronghold. On the day Drezen fell, I was covering the refugee retreat. Alas, I was taken alive by the spawn of the Abyss as they flooded the city. Ever since then, I've been locked up here. Within these walls that were once my home, now a prison and a torture chamber." (The woman drops her head heavily to her chest.) "Yaniel? Oh, I know that name! They used to have marches in the River City in her honor! But that was a very long time ago... It must be so strange to feel alive when you've been dead to the world for so long." (Seelah can't hold back an astounded yelp.) "You've been in this dungeon since the day Drezen fell, sister? But that's over seventy years!" (Sosiel frowns.) "So many years of torture and helplessness... It hurts to even think about it. We'll heal your wounds, Yaniel. Believe me, the nightmare is over." "Yaniel! Yaniel herself! You don't know me, although I didn't mind meeting you! But I went to your memorial service... It was painful for everyone, but your memory brought people together. Many say that we can't give up, because Yaniel didn't give up till the end. So all this is not in vain. Only... I thought you were younger."Note that if the PC is a paladin and you have Radiance, you'll be able to realize immediately that something here isn't what it seems, though you can't determine what.  [Lawful] "You are well remembered, Yaniel. Those who you saved made your name a legend. I have your sword, Radiance, with me, and I wish to return it to you." (The old woman listens to you, slightly tilting her head but winces when you hand her the sword. She looks down at her mutilated, shriveled hand.) "I have no way to hold this sword. My time has passed. Let it serve new heroes. It would only be a bitter reminder of the past in my hands." (Break the shackles) "I will help you." (The freed woman leans heavily against the wall.) "Thank you. After so many years, finally..." "Do you know where the Sword of Valor is?" (The woman closes her eyes.) "I feel its presence, even now when the Sword is weak and dormant. It is near, in this very Citadel. There is a passage from my prison to it. Keep going through the dungeon, and you'll find the banner." "I have to go. My allies are waiting outside, they'll take care of you." "All right. We'll talk later."The other interesting detail you can learn in this conversation is asking her about the fall of Drezen, and she'll paint a different picture of Staunton Vhane than anyone's told Yua before: she describes him as vain and arrogant, that what Minagho preyed on wasn't lust or desire for companionship, but pride and ambition. According to her, that streak of profound selfishness and ambition is what made Staunton vulnerable to the demons' temptations: his belief that he deserved more glory, more power than what his superiors gave him as mere castellan of Drezen.   Near Yaniel's cell is a balcony overlooking what appears to be the Sword of Valor. If the PC worships Iomedae, though, they'll detect that this isn't the real thing: this is a fake, set out in the relative open as a trap.  This chamber nearby is the source of the Whispers of the Damned effect. Pass a few skill checks and you can send the tortured souls of the dead to their rest, ending the effect.  A light show confirms when you've succeeded.  Interesting miniboss, the keep's librarian. He is, in fact, a vampire.  If you go Lich, there's a special reward for not eliminating him for good. As it is, he is duly staked and sent to a probably very annoyed Pharasma.  Moving on, the next encounter of note is yet another exhibit in 'Staunton really wasn't as ostracized and despised as he claims.'   "I could hear the ringing of your anvil from my cell. I thought the only things being forged in the demon-controlled city of Drezen would be chains and spikes for cruel torture... But the music of your forge never seemed evil to me." "Thanks for the kind words. You must have good ears if you heard my forge all the way from the dungeons! And you must be that treacherous demoness Staunton was talking about? Well, nice to meet you. If paladins go over to demons' side, there must be demons going over to the paladins' side. Or it wouldn't be fair, would it?" "What are you doing here?" "What I do everywhere: I forge metal. Everyone can fight, right? Breaking, destroying anyone you ask, they're ready to do it. Creating things, on the other hand... That takes a little extra knack." "You are a true artist, Joran. I remember coming into your forge one day to buy a new knife and I spent a whole hour there, just watching you work. Watching how you beat your hammer on the iron carefully, lovingly, like setting a brush to canvas." "Thanks for the kind words. How's the knife, working fine?" "Alas, it's back in Kenabres. Along with... everything else." "How did you get here?"As with Staunton, only an aeon can help Joran out of this situation he's chosen to be in.  "The horned wench promised him heaps of gold and he believed her, so he came here with her. He's some sort of military leader here, but there's no one to lead except for all sorts of vermin. And I... To everyone he's a traitor worse than Areelu, but to me he's still my brother. I couldn't leave him, bad lot that he is. I followed him, tried to talk him out of it. But it didn't work, he wouldn't listen. Now I've taken up here, working like I do." "We're storming Drezen, the city is almost free. I won't say anything about what you were doing here if you walk away from this. You're free." "Am I?" (The blacksmith shakes his head and shows you his hands.) "See for yourself I'm not wearing any shackles... What keeps me here is stronger than chains it's called brotherly love. And you can't free me from it. Even Staunton himself couldn't break it, no matter how hard he tried!" "Back in Kenabres, you said you'd forge a new scabbard for Radiance once the city was free." "I did, that's true! And that means I've done it. Joran Vhane always delivers on his word!" (The blacksmith opens a chest that stands near the anvil, and carefully takes out a gilded scabbard. As soon as the sword is inside it, it begins to radiate warmth. The steel blade, darkened by time, becomes bright and shiny before your eyes.) "You see, the sword recognizes you! I don't like to brag, but this scabbard is even finer than the one I once made for Yaniel. Well, a good sword needs a good scabbard, right? Use it well and remember me in your prayers." "You've made your choice, Joran. I'm leaving." "Wait."Yeah, there's no talking Joran out of committing suicide by crusader.  "A brother's a brother..." (Sosiel repeats the blacksmith's words, as if tasting them, and frowns without saying a word.) [Good] "This doesn't have to end this way. Maybe together we can change his mind." (The dwarf shakes his head regretfully.) "No. I'm sorry but no. I know him better than you believe me, he's gone too far. No one can convince him, not me, not you, not even Torag himself." "But why do we have to fight, Mister Joran? You're so good. In the River City, I loved going to your forge in winter to warm myself. I would sit and listen to your anvil sing its song: ting, ting, ting... And you never chased me away. You even gave me bread sometimes, or a candy. And now you want us to kill you? Why?" "Sometimes good people have to kill each other. It's just our lot nothing we can do about it." (Joran bares his weapon.) "Enough talk. Words can't change what happens next. Defend yourself!"As someone who's struggled with chronic depression and thoughts of suicide for much of my life, I have an extremely uneasy relationship with depictions of suicide in media, especially cases like this where it's portrayed as the exit for someone caught between conflicting loyalties whose sense of honor forbids breaking any of their oaths even when they have become impossible to reconcile. Your life is worth more than the promises you've made.  But there's nothing for it in this game. At least he was true to his word and upgraded Radiance to +2 status (it would be +3 now if the PC is a paladin and got it special from the start).  Let's move on from this mess.  But not before finding this at the forge. If a sword named Solemn Hour rings a bell, this is Irabeth's family heirloom that she sold to buy Anevia the magic she needed to transition. It is, in fact, strictly superior to Radiance even with Joran's upgrade, but suffice to say we won't be holding on to Solemn Hour for long.  This room holds a bonus boss: if you refrain from killing any of the conjurers, they'll all sacrifice themselves to summon that big, nasty demon. Kill even one and you stop the summoning. The demon has some good loot, but eh.  The ritual leader herself is no joke if you don't put her down quickly.  If you do go for the fake Sword of Valor and trigger the trap, an NPC will mock you later: surely you didn't think it would be so lightly guarded, did you? But killing the guards doesn't trigger the trap and is indeed necessary.  One has the key you need to open the next corridor.  This charming room has a nabasu and multiple waves of ghouls. Fireballs and flame strikes, however, solve a great many 'waves of undead' problems.  A vrock appears and immediately dies.  (The woman walks up to the wall and begins examining it.) "You'll get to the Sword of Valor more easily this way. Perhaps the demons don't know about this passage. The demons... If you think about it, I've spent most of my life among them. I have to admit there's something mesmerizing about them. A single demon might be weak, or pathetic, or cowardly. But when you see them as a collective, it isn't a mass of separate creatures, but a single, great force, a tide, which might be temporarily slowed but never stopped. The front lines of the Abyss, here on the lands of Golarion. Unstoppable, fanatical forward motion. We have something to learn from them, don't we?" [Good] "Evil is evil. Learning how evil works leads only to temptation." "That's right. You only study evil so you can learn how to defeat it. But learning from it... What could you learn from evil, apart from how to do evil?" "Knowledge is priceless! Civilization is curious by definition, and if it becomes clear after the experiment that it was dangerous, the world should know about it! Otherwise sooner or later someone else will think of this experiment and conduct it again." (For a moment, the woman's gaze grows heavy.) "To refuse knowledge because of prejudice? Not the wisest approach, I would think. Here it is. The demons are hiding the Sword of Valor behind this door. Be wary. I heard them bragging about the traps that surround the banner. Magical, of course. The Sword of Valor is nearly impossible to destroy, and if they wish, they will drown the entire room in fire, destroying their enemies while leaving their trophy unscathed. Go now, and good luck!"If you have both Regill and Nenio in the party, Regill reveals his charming opinion that researchers, inventors, and scientists of all sorts should be put to the sword on principle given that their work inevitably leads to disruption and upheaval.  A dretch helpfully walks up to the real Sword of Valor and demonstrates that the defenses are no joke.  This room is a puzzle, pictured here in its solved configuration: each of these runes is the holy symbol of one of the three primary demon lords of the Worldwound, and all three are split into four rings. There are four dials, each of which rotates all the rings for the three. You want to line them up to form the correct runes. If you've been paying attention, the holy symbols of Deskari and Baphomet should be familiar at this point. The third, however, is of a demon lord we've yet to become properly acquainted with (and no, it's not Areshkagal from Nenio's quests). I'll give you a hint: it's a stylized vagina.  Solving the puzzle summons forth the next miniboss.  An obnoxious jerk of an elite shadow demon, with two regulars for backup. If you haven't come prepared with anti-illusion spells, this can be a very tedious affair.    As you might have guessed, that wasn't Yaniel pointing Yua to the Sword of Valor. Someone has been guiding her actions. Someone besides Desna, that is.  (You touch Iomedae's holy banner to brush away the scarlet droplet when you freeze abruptly. All of a sudden, you are aware of your own powers. You are no longer a grain of sand resisting the countless armies of the Abyss. You are something greater. Like Iomedae once rejected her humanity to ascend and gain divinity, you are ready to take the first step on the path to gaining power. But what will your power look like?)Folks, it's time.  The game lets you preview both the powers that come with the mythic paths you've unlocked, and the visual changes. You always have Angel and Demon available. Azata is unlocked by rescuing the Desnan adepts in Kenabres and singing with them in the church. Trickster is unlocked by tricking the cultists at Blackwing Library into freeing their prisoners, and then blowing themselves up. Aeon is unlocked by finding the purple knife in Kenbares and then exorcizing the Wardstone of loyal and fallen angels both. Lich is unlocked by finding the Wand of Zacharius at Leper's Smile, then agreeing to his bargain at Lost Chapel.  Yua will henceforth be followed by a cloud of glowing butterflies at all times. And a dragon.  Mythic 3 brings with it another feat, the first true Azata powers, and access to the Azata mythic spellbook - which is a mix of bard-esque and nature themed spells. Azata spellcasters can quite literally blast their enemies to bits with magic rainbows.  Plant life and butterflies erupt from Yua in a surging wave across the battlements.  (Power descends upon you, suffusing your mortal body, remaking it in its image. It fills your body up to the brim, breaking bones and tearing muscles while at the same time healing them. You raise your head, acutely aware that the wind of freedom will be at your back from now until eternity.) "I feel a warm breeze blowing on my face. It smells like sun, happiness, and meadow grass." (Arueshalae is laughing and crying at the same time.) "I will follow you. I will follow your call wherever it leads me." "So much joy! I feel like laughing, I don't even know why!" "If our crusade turn into a full-blown circus, at least it'll make me feel like a serious paladin in comparison, ha!" "It doesn't matter who you are angel, azata, or kitsune as long as you don't forget your humanity." (The priest smiles enthusiastically.) "I'm sure the crusade will only benefit from having a commander like you." "What an interesting turn of events. Such intriguing power. Girl, if you should suddenly expire, I would be happy to dissect your remains!" (Now is not the time to linger. We can reflect on events later. Now is the time to act!)Lann, Wenduag, and Regill are notably all down on Azata if they're in the party. Cammy and Daeran are ambivalent. Nenio, of course, has exactly the same response to every mythic path.  Look closely and you can spot the new party member!     Rainbows and rays of starlight stream out from the Sword of Valor, healing crusaders and striking down demons. The crusaders cheer, and what demons don't die on the spot flee.  This battle isn't over yet, but I think this is a good point to break. I'll conclude with briefly going over our newest party member. Character Overview: Aivu What's the fun in saving the world if you're just saving it so you can be grumpy afterwards? Chaotic Good Havoc Dragon Romance: No Can I Fix Her: Doesn't Need Fixing Incompatible Paths: All non-Azata While a discussion of Aivu's actual character can wait until she properly introduces herself, she's more or less a full additional member of the party, just one treated like an animal companion for the PC (and if the PC already has an animal companion, you get Aivu as well), as near as I can tell mostly to dodge the six party member limit by letting you always bring Aivu along for free. She's also decidedly non-humanoid, so her equipment use is also treated like an animal companion. As it is, Aivu is a pretty flexible, general purpose companion whose power grows significantly over the course of the game. She's a decent fighter. She knows some magic, a mix of all types (she has a unique spellbook based on but not identical to the bard spellbook). She has a variety of special abilities. Right now she's still very small, but she'll get bigger and more powerful as the game goes on and Yua's mythic power continues to grow - eventually she'll get big enough for the PC (and only the PC) to ride as a mount if you want, and she'll even specifically bring it up when she hits that point to tell you it sounds fun. Small size PCs, of course, get to ride her earlier. Aivu is pretty unanimously beloved by Wrath's player base, and more than one player - myself included! - started our first Azata game intending to use it as a placeholder because we'd heard about one of the late game paths and thought that sounded fun. Then we realized that leaving the Azata mythic path would mean leaving Aivu. Look at her. You don't want to disappoint her, do you? The Crimson Path (This update) Babaus 7 Cultists 12 Ghouls 19 Minotaurs 4 Nabasu 2 Schirs 4 Shadow Demons 3 Vampire 1 Zombies 3 Cythereal fucked around with this message at 16:54 on May 18, 2024 |
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May 18, 2024 16:51
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Should we be worried that Aivu is a Havoc Dragon?
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May 18, 2024 17:12
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Nah, those are the dragons native to Elysium.
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May 18, 2024 17:16
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What is more chippy, cheery, happy good time fun than a little Havoc? -Kane, probably
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May 18, 2024 18:22
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BisbyWorl posted:Should we be worried that Aivu is a Havoc Dragon? Yua did just hijack one of the most sacred artifacts in Iomedae's religion and turn it into her own personal banner featuring a tree and stars. So... possibly, depending on what you define as havoc.
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May 18, 2024 18:30
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Fireball solves a lot not undead problems too! And maybe creates others. One of my DM's favorite lines is 'are you sure you want to cast fireball in this small room/corridor?' and if the player doesn't immediately get their alarm bells rung, she'll happily let them suffer the consequences of lighting the party on fire. She's a fantastic DM but she can be pretty brutal, lol.
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May 18, 2024 18:34
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Havoc can also mean great confusion, which is pretty on point given the modus operandi of the Azata path. I do hope Aivu gets Confuse Ray though, what Confusion Dragon doesn't have it? And that said, from what I gather while the late-game paths make you lose Aivu, half of them have you part ways with her amicably, right? Like, she just has to leave cause no more Azata but it's an amicable parting (we do not talk about the other paths).
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May 18, 2024 18:47
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Aivu's portrait is cute. 
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May 18, 2024 18:48
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Drakenel posted:Fireball solves a lot not undead problems too! A Killer GM pulled this trick on me in high school. TPK.  The Pathfinder 4th Level Spell Controlled Fireball creates a spell that won't hit your allies.Chaotic Evil characters are immune to Whispers of the Damned- this might tip you off to Camellia. I too have struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. Glad we're of the same mind concerning them. I hate that the game makes you kill Joran. I usually have Seelah use Solemn Hour until we give it back to Irabeth. It's a good idea to unequip Radiance before the fight- the game does it automatically when you hand it to Joran for the upgrade. Aivu is my favorite party member in the game.
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May 18, 2024 19:10
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Cythereal posted:
I actually used one of the "pit" line of spells in this room. For the unfamiliar, those open an extradimensional hole for your enemies to fall into, filled with stuff that varies based on the level of the spell, starting with "nothing", proceeding through acid and eventually ending up with "a literal slice of the Abyss". I enjoy those as a combination of control and damage spell. In this case, however, one of the mobs that escaped ended up getting stuck on some geometry somehow and I couldn't target it. Thankfully, it fell back into the pit a round or two later; that could have ended up being an awkward situation. Cythereal posted:Character Overview: Aivu I don't know if it's still the case, but at one point Aivu was tagged as an Outsider. So, uh, be careful where you aim the Banishment spell, if you use it.
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May 18, 2024 21:50
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Joran's line about "sometimes good people just have to kill each other, nothing to be done about it" thoroughly enraged me. What a craven and narcissistic perspective to take. Not unlike Staunton, he conveniently shirks all responsibility for this dilemma and puts it on everyone and anyone else. Given a chance to make his own decisions and make even the slightest effort to change things for the better, he refuses and salves his conscience with pride and excuses. I'm more familiar with despair and hopelessness than I care to admit, and to see a character just shrug and go along with it is simultaneously heartbreaking and abhorrent. At least Staunton has the excuse of being corrupted by a demon. Daeran has some particularly vicious words for him, especially if Ember is also in the party: quote:"I generously toss crusts to a little beggar girl, while at the same time helping my demon-collaborating brother, whose actions have led to the deaths of entire families. Aren't I just a bleeding heart?" Daeran drawls mockingly.
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May 18, 2024 22:22
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We're missing a Dwarf from the Crimson Path. Jorah is no cultist, for all his sibling loyalty to one.
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May 18, 2024 22:37
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AJ_Impy posted:We're missing a Dwarf from the Crimson Path. Jorah is no cultist, for all his sibling loyalty to one. He's living alongside demons and actively working for their cause, forging weapons and armor for them. The specifics of his religious beliefs are irrelevant in my eyes.
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May 18, 2024 22:42
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we now have the best party member
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May 19, 2024 00:26
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Man, those skill checks to release the souls are stupidly hard, and every time you fail, you get to fight some energy draining ghosts. Even my alpha-nerd lich run had to give it a few tries, and if you don't have someone with a maxed out check, just leave it for the experts to handle when you take the city.
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May 19, 2024 00:45
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Capfalcon posted:Man, those skill checks to release the souls are stupidly hard Worst one is DC 30, and everyone's skills now are ranging from +15 to +20 now depending on their associated stats. Annoying, but very doable. Also, one other note about Joran: his line about blood being thicker than water? Here's the original, full saying: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. The exact opposite of what Joran uses it for. Fitting, really. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 03:12 on May 19, 2024 |
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May 19, 2024 01:50
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As a Traitor Deserves While I've received a couple of requests to please slow down the pace of my updates to let folks catch up, I really wanted to finish Act 2 while I'm on a roll and feeling up to it. I update quickly when I'm enjoying a game, who knew?    As soon as the PC completes their mythic transformation, they flash back to Kenabres. Deskari can be heard in the background.      "I still have things to do in Kenabres, but you must leave. Go to the old laboratory, I have a special task for you." "The laboratory! I hate that foul place! But I dare not disobey you, my lady."In case it wasn't clear yet, Deskari actually isn't the main villain of Wrath's story. This is. Anyone looking at the game on Steam can probably guess by the fact that it's her face that serves as the game's banner image.   (There is something off about the stranger's appearance like you're seeing only half of a painting or looking at her with one eye closed. Her silk dress and expensive jewelry are at odds with the set of unfamiliar tools and her ink-smudged hands.) "We've met before. I am Areelu Vorlesh, also known as the Architect of the Worldwound." "Watch it, she's deadlier than a dozen demons. The Betrayer of Humanity. Her words are poison and lies." "Oh! Lady Areelu! I, Nenio, am your most devoted admirer! Your research is an invaluable contribution to the development of science on Golarion! And this experiment with the Worldwound is simply groundbreaking! May I please have your autograph...?" (One look from Areelu and Nenio falls silent.) "You've handled the power of the Sword of Valor well. Such artifacts are almost like living creatures, and they react to... their own kind, shall we say. The Sword of Valor once belonged to a mere mortal who became a goddess. It seems to see something kindred in you. Touching you has left the Sword irreversibly changed. Now it is your banner, not Iomedae's. Although perhaps it will still stop the demons from teleporting to the city, as before." (Ember stares at you, captivated.) "Wherever you go, things change. Someone who lived dies, and someone who died is saved. Objects that were one thing become another. Why?" "Without realizing it, this mad girl just asked a very important question... But for now I shall let you seek the answer yourself." "You've helped me twice already in Kenabres, when we fell into the caves, and here, pointing the way to the Sword of Valor. Why would a half-demon, Deskari's favorite, ever do such a thing?"Areelu doesn't really work for me as a villain, but that's in part because she reminds me very strongly of another video game antagonist who I feel has an extremely similar character but a far superior voice actress. Areelu is voiced by Mary O'Brady, who's been in a smattering of children's cartoons and animated films, Wrath seems to be her first role aimed at an adult audience and her voice feels wooden and flat to me, like she's trying to be sensual and mysterious but kind of forgets to put emotion into her voice. A good voice actor can elevate poorly written roles, especially for villains (see Baldur's Gate 2, I don't think Jon Irenicus would have been a memorable villain in the slightest if not for getting prime David Warner as his voice), but Areelu just doesn't work for me as a performance.  "You don't deserve the name. Architects are creators they build things. What have you created? A hole between the worlds? A wasteland in place of a flourishing country? Millions of deaths? You are no architect, you're nothing but a vandal!" "I create... How shall I explain it to you...? Events. Phenomena. Concepts. My building site is the entire multiverse. You wouldn't call an architect a vandal just because he started by digging some foundations, would you? Now be silent, I'm not talking to you." (She turns back to you.) "I'm not asking you to trust me. That would be unforgivably stupid. But I suggest just suggest that you search, analyze, think. What happened in old Sarkoris? What is the Worldwound? What is happening to you? Search for your answers. And for now farewell!"Specifically, Areelu calls to mind for me the character Rhea from the Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes duology, who is voiced in English by veteran actress Cherami Leigh, who has a list of roles as long as my arm - perhaps the best known to the western RPG crowd is that she voices the female PC in Cyberpunk 2077 (and a shitload of anime besides). I don't mean to be hard on Mary O'Brady (that's a tough comparison for any voice actress), but the quality of Wrath's voices in general is somewhat spotty in my eyes, and Areelu is sadly one of the most underwhelming in the game to me, which further hurts a villain I'm already not super fond of.      The gang gets their new mythic abilities. Most we've seen before, but Sosiel's mammoth is now juiced on mythic power and gets benefits based on Yua's mythic level, and Arue now doesn't auto-miss on attack rolls of 1 - normally a roll of 1 on the d20 system means an automatic miss even if your attack bonuses are high enough that a roll of 1 would still hit, and now that is no longer a factor for one of the party's main damage dealers.  The wonders of video game architecture mean that the previous trip into the keep went in a circle and there's an entire other part of the keep's interior that can only be reached from the other side of the battlements.  In addition to the usual trash is a new type of demon for Yua: omoxes, which appear to be slime demons of some variety.   I chose to not ask why there were naked goat demons in Staunton's bedroom. But for now, it's time for Staunton Vhane to throw his last pity party.   "I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere." (The dwarf's cracked voice sounds like rasping, rusty metal.) "Don't you feel it? She's got that drat rag with her! I can't teleport! She's going to kill us!" "If she kills us, then so be it. But this is my city, and I will fight for it to the end. And you, my love..." (Staunton grasps the chin of the demoness, sinking his nails into her tender skin, and pulls her face toward his, kissing her lips quickly before pushing her away.) "You will be with me. To the end." "This dwarf is a true knight... And that's why he is beyond saving." (Arueshalae shakes her head sorrowfully.) "A demoness knows how to turn a person's good nature against itself. She did it deliberately, knowing that his sense of honor would be his downfall I... have also done this." "Who let this mangy rat out of its cage? Ha! You've made her a member of your party? This succubus whore found a way to betray even the Abyss and you believe she'll be loyal to you?" "Minagho. My jailor. My torturer. You think I mean to do them harm? That Yua will suffer, if I stand at her side? If that were true, why then would you try so hard to persuade her to cast me out?" [Good] "Staunton! Enough of this madness! Your brother died because of you! It's not too late to come back to the side of good."Arueshalae is arguably another example where if Minagho was as competent as she's reputed to be, she would have stopped being sadistic and just killed her. Minagho has never once taken the threat Yua and the crusade poses seriously in this game, even when it's become extremely apparent that this war isn't like it has been in the past. Remember, Arue betrayed the Abyss and started helping the crusaders with intelligence from within quite some time before the game began, according to the Desnans.  "Forget about the queen. She's not here. We're here. The crusaders. Your friends. Do you remember fighting side by side in the ruins of Kenabres? Come back to us." "I have no friends. The Kenabres crusaders treated me like carrion. You personally did nothing to me... But that's just because we barely know each other." "Hey, Nurah. Ready to have some fun?"It's easy to overlook, but this line by Staunton is probably the most important in the game to understanding him in my eyes: he rationalizes away everyone who's ever been nice to him as 'They were only nice because they don't know what I'm really like, they don't count.' That's a very real, very human response to extreme depression, guilt, and post-traumatic stress. I'll delve into it more when I give Staunton a proper analysis, potentially as the next post for the LP, but anyone who's ever read about therapy and various forms of extreme self-negativity has probably heard sentiments like that - maybe even from your own mouth. I know I have from mine.  "What is this? What are you talking about? Huh?" "You'll know soon enough, Lady Minagho!" [Attack] "It's time to decide the fate of Drezen!"Since Yua uncovered Nurah's treason, then took the Trickster option to persuade her the demons are just as bad, Nurah is an ally during this fight. If you don't do those things, she'll be an enemy here as well.  Minagho still hasn't improved a dot since the first time Yua fought her, and she's looking an awful lot less intimidating now that Yua is routinely dealing 50 points of damage per round (with a full attack, assuming all three shots hit) and she's not even the party's heaviest hitter. Arue and Seelah (with her horse's help) hit even harder. Staunton is effectively invulnerable while Minagho stands, so she's the priority target.  "No, my dear. You are. You will either fight to the bitter end, or I'll break your delicate little neck myself! With these very hands!" (The demon's mouth, trembling with fear, opens wide in a hysterical grin, like a wound on her face.) "Are you threatening me, my mortal toy? Me? And with what? With the power I gave you you ungrateful beast! Give me back what's mine!" (Minagho stretches out her hand. A crimson spark flies out of Staunton's eyes and plants itself in her palm. Staunton freezes, stunned; he's silently moving his lips, which have turned gray in a flash, like a fish out of water. The demon turns to you.) "Take him, he's yours! And Drezen too! I don't care about this fortress or this half-wit! Oh, I grow so tired of you mortals! Your humdrum little passions, your constant squabbling, your incessant accusations and excuses! You treat each other like dirt, you push weaklings like these two into our arms." (The demon points at Staunton and Nurah.) "And then you have the audacity to accuse us! Come on, punish your traitors! I've seen this show countless times!" [Chaotic] "Do demons ever get tired of blaming other people for their own actions?" "You're a clever one! Take your filthy rag! Take your befouled ruins! You can make soup out of this moron for all I care. I've had enough war! We lilitu were created for tenderness and love. Stay away from me with your swords and shields!"Thus ends Minagho's time as a threat in this story.  Team lilitu blasts off again.  [Good] "Enough of this insanity. Lay down your weapon, Staunton. Come back to us. You've been treated unfairly, but we can still make things right!" (The dwarf chuckles sadly and without ire.) "You really do believe that, don't you? You really think that you can still change something, somehow bring a cursed soul back to the light..." (He shakes his head.) "I wish I could believe like you do. Hope like you. But I know too well there is no hope. I've been dead for a long time. As a matter of fact, the torment of the last few years I might as well have spent them in the Abyss. The only thing you can do for me is finish me off. Let's get this over with. To arms!"An aeon saves Staunton, for the record, by traveling back in time and rewriting history so that he never betrayed the crusade and Drezen never actually fell. It's one of the big story moments for an aeon PC when they get to really flex their power and fundamentally alter reality to correct what they deem to be a profound injustice.  Yua took off almost half his HP in a single volley, and an even deadlier archer is up next in the initiative order. So perishes Staunton Vhane, the world's most self-pitying pincushion.  "I felt the same way when I renounced the Abyss. I had a whole world at my feet, so big and strange... And no one to make me destroy it anymore." (Nurah rubs her eyes, looking between you and Arueshalae, baffled.) "Who is this, a succubus? On your side? Saying she renounced the Abyss? Ha! Well, if such a marvel has a place in your game, you must have something for me." "Forget about plans. What do you want?" "I betrayed both the mortals and the demons. What does it matter what I want, if they won't let me live in either world?" (The thoughtful expression on Nurah's face slowly turns into a smirk.) "On the other hand... You can be quite convincing, you know. Too bad they won't let me live to see the outcome of your big joke, but I can still play my own! Let me go and... A day will come you'll see!" "You're free to go, Nurah. Your life is yours to do with as you see fit." (Nurah nods.) "Thank you... Commander. Thank you and farewell. You probably won't see me again, not alive anyhow. But you'll remember my name, I promise you that!"This is, for the record, the happiest ending Nurah can get. You can invite her to come back and stay with the crusade, but she'll decline (understandably, really), so this is where she and Yua part ways.  So ends Act 2 of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.    "However, there are some matters that require your attention. I am ready to report, if you have a moment." "I'm listening. Please proceed." "Thank you, Knight Commander. The crusade forces liberated Drezen quickly the demons did not have time to recover from their defeat in Kenabres. Every death is an irretrievable loss, but your leadership has minimized such losses as much as possible. Morale is high among the crusade forces. The battle for Drezen went brilliantly. Your party attacked the demon commanders, cutting off the head of the enemy forces. We suffered some losses, but nevertheless, it was a triumph. Queen Galfrey has been notified already and sent her messenger with a letter for you and a royal reward." (Irabeth gives you the letter.) "In any case, we would never have won if it weren't for your amazing powers. The moment you raised the Sword of Valor over the Citadel, the light of it must have been visible all the way back in Mendev. And the banner itself... it changed after coming into contact with you! Anyone else would call it sacrilege. I don't know what to make of it myself it's surprising, and strange. You know, you've changed, Commander. You've acquired a pet..." (She nods at the dragon following at your heels.) "But, of course, it's much more than that. It's like you were wandering blind before, and now you have found a firm footing. I can sense something emanating from you... I can't explain it... It's like a gust of wind." [Good] "Yes, I am confident now and I'm certain that we will prevail."This is, of course, the most positive version of how things can go based on how long it takes you to reach Drezen and how well the battle for the city goes. If Galfrey is present, you'll have an extra scene with her that's important to the romance. You really want to get the good result of the crusade, because if Galfrey is present she'll give you a magic ring (if she's not she sends a magic cloak), and you can joke about whether it's a wedding ring. Galfrey blushes and chuffs. Naturally, if you make that joke and continue her romance, near the end of the game Galfrey will bring up that remark and go "Y'know, what if it was..."  "We won the battle for Drezen, but this war is far from over. The demons now know our true strength, so we must brace ourselves for a merciless counterattack. They will do everything they can to gain control of the city and destroy you personally, and all of us along with you. The only good news is that cultists make up more than half of their forces, so they will have to march the same roads as our fighters. If they were all demons, they could appear here instantaneously and lay siege to the city. Praise Iomedae for small mercies. The main demon forces are moving out from the city of Iz and the Threshold fortress. Scouts are reporting that for now we don't stand a chance of tearing through the defense and launching a counterattack. We can only gather our forces, rebuff their attacks, and wait for the right moment. Unfortunately, other hostile groups keep appearing out of nowhere. And on top of all that, Minagho is still prowling around somewhere out there... Anevia is trying to find out where that Abyss scum has run off to maybe she's already got some leads. Luckily, we are not alone. Mendev is with us Queen Galfrey has sent us the first reinforcements. They've just entered the city. Besides, news of your victory is spreading throughout Avistan. I'm sure that crowds of new volunteers will soon be pouring into Drezen, inspired by your feat! And that's very good, because you are going to need troops. Here is a brief report about the main problems we're currently facing." (Irabeth shows you a sheet of paper with a list of four items: "demons with special powers"; "secret path?"; "missing patrol"; and "DRAGON!" "What can you tell me about the demons with special powers?" "Remember that nabasu that attacked our camp?" (Irabeth's voice is very calm, but you can tell she's working hard to maintain her composure.) "He had powers that no ordinary demon should have. It is not the only demon of its kind. We keep receiving reports about similar monsters all isolated cases for now, but it's possible that in the future we will see entire squads if not armies of them. We must find out where they're coming from. Find the source of their power and destroy it. If we don't, they will crush us before long. Even you can't defeat an entire army of such monsters." "A secret path? What are you talking about?"Up until now, Wrath has been pretty much a straight-line story. Act 3 is more open-ended, and these four objectives are the main goals for the time being. Each is a subplot of its own, and there will be other matters as well.  "Anevia is trying to find out how the demons are getting into our territory, but she hasn't succeeded yet. Talk to her she will tell you more about what she's doing." "There's a patrol missing?" "Yes, it disappeared without a trace during a mission. We didn't even find any bodies. Maybe someone abducted them or there's some natural threat in the area... We can't rule out the possibility of desertion either. The troop was patrolling the southern road out of the city. The last surviving settlements of Sarkoris lie in that direction, but after the siege of Drezen, contact with them was lost. Hardly any of the inhabitants survived once the demons invaded the area. That's where I started the search." "A dragon besides the one following me, you mean?" "As if we didn't have enough problems with the demons already, now there's a wild dragon in the vicinity. Luckily, it's not part of the demon army if the demons had a dragon on their side, it could pose a serious threat. But there is very little food in the Worldwound, and the dragon doesn't seem to have a taste for demons and cultists. She keeps attacking small squads of crusaders, picking off those who fall behind, ravaging supply trains... The dragon's been sighted frequently in the sky, but we don't know exactly where her lair is. We have someone to help with this though. Do you remember the dwarf who bravely attacked the balor in front of the citadel during the siege? He is back in the city, and he doesn't mind hunting this dragon, apparently. Go talk to him in the tavern we might be able to help each other." "Is that all for now?" "There are a few pleasant matters at the Queen's command, the crusaders who took part in the attack have had their pay doubled, and medals will be awarded to those who were particularly outstanding in battle. You know one of them, the knight Elan from the Houndhearts he led a troop of lost Nerosyan recruits and brought them to the main forces, and later drew the demons' attention in the battle with the balor, allowing the wounded to be rescued. There is one more thing. As you know, there is a vast dungeon under Drezen. It's empty now none of those imprisoned by the demons survived, and we don't have any new prisoners. We've temporarily placed the body of Staunton Vhane in the dungeon. You slew him what are your orders regarding his body? Anevia thinks we should burn it quietly and forget about it. Some want to see his corpse displayed in the square. But I don't think we should behave like demons and barbarians. He may have been our enemy, but he deserves to be buried as a knight. However, the decision is yours, of course." "Have him buried as a knight. He deserves proper rites, at least." "Right you are, Commander." (Irabeth is hesitating. You can see the struggle on her face, as if she doesn't know whether she should say something else.) "Commander... That day, during the battle... I... No, my apologies. That is all, Commander. Thank you for your time." (Giving a salute, Irabeth turns around and quickly leaves.)Act 3 is the longest in the game. Yua's got her work cut out for her and then some. But then the Azata mythic theme starts as another dialogue box pops up...  "I've started hearing voices. That's not a good sign." (You hear a cheery snort, then a tiny female dragon and evident jam fountain enthusiast emerges from behind you.) "Those aren't voices! It's me! I'm a really lovely dragon and your friend!" "Well now, cute little dragon, if that's true, why did you only start speaking now?" "Maybe I was a little shy? After all, we don't know each other. I had to take a look around and get used to things... Everything about the Material Plane is so weird, and gray, and stony... Especially Drezen." "What's your name?" "Aivu. Because I'm little. In my family, our names get longer as we get bigger and older. Just imagine how funny it would be otherwise! Imagine being a five-year-old dragon, barely hatched, but they already call you Rezlarabren or Ilthuliak or something like that!" (The little dragon snorts and you conclude that this is her way of laughing.) "So, where did you come from?"Aivu is precious.  And the second child soldier in Yua's party.  "If I ever meet someone who doesn't want to have a dragon of their very own, I'll make sure to keep my distance from them they clearly have a few screws loose!" "That's what I'm saying," (the little dragon nods knowingly.) "So you don't like Drezen much, eh?" "It's not that I don't like it... You can have fun here too. But I liked my home in Elysium more." (The little dragon frowns comically.) "That makes sense, though. After all, we're fighting the demons, and they make everything around them dull and nasty. But you're going to stop them soon, right? Oh, speaking of demons and fighting! You really need to head out to this beautiful ridge outside Drezen as fast as you can. Your friends are waiting for you there. There's something urgent and important they need to tell you." "Er, what friends?" "They're so nice. They were really happy to see me. They really want to see you. I only flew past them the once, so I don't know much. But it must be important!" "I wonder what's waiting for me this time..." "Something really fun! You'll see!"Well, marching orders are marching orders, be they from a veteran knight or a tiny dragon.  And yes, Aivu follows you around at all times. The Crimson Path This update: Babau 1 Cultists 11 Kalavakus 1 Minotaurs 2 Omoxes 3 Schirs 2 Act 2 Total Ash Giants 2 Babau 33 Bandits 4 Brimoraks 5 Crusaders 1 Cultists 70 Demodand 1 Derakni 8 Dretches 20 Gargoyles 72 Ghouls 74 Ghosts 6 Glabrezu 1 Golems 2 Hydra 1 Incubi 20 Klavaki 2 Lich 1 Minotaurs 5 Nabasu 3 Omoxes 3 Quasit 1 Retrievers 2 Schirs 13 Skeletons 2 Succubi 6 Undead Animals 7 Vescavors 24 Vrocks 9 Wights 11 Wills o the Wisp 2 Wolves 6 Zombies 19 Total 435 Air Elemental Clusters 4 Ash Giant Throngs 15 Babau Hordes 71 Bandit Platoons 324 Brimorak Hordes 30 Cultist Platoons 745 Derakni Throngs 5 Dretch Hordes 58 Earth Elemental Clusters 4 Fire Elemental Clusters 5 Gargoyle Troops 28 Ghoul Hordes 132 Giant Fly Swarms 383 Incubi Hordes 34 Locust Swarms 46 Minotaur Hordes 120 Skeleton Hordes 170 Vescavor Swarms 5 Vrock Throngs 3 Water Elemental Clusters 4 Wight Hordes 30 Zombie Hordes 93 Total 2,307
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May 20, 2024 02:32
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70 years on a single stronghold pretty far from the invasion point. Forget the demons how has Mendev as a country not collapsed inwards on itself? Or fallen apart from infighting or panic?
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May 20, 2024 03:07
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It basically has. That's why the crusades have been so bad after the first one
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May 20, 2024 03:37
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Cythereal posted:
Truly very wise words. 
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May 20, 2024 04:38
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Omoxes are indeed slime demons. Theyre the spawn of Juiblex, Demon Lord of Ooze & Quicksand.
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May 20, 2024 06:25
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EggsAisle posted:Daeran has some particularly vicious words for him, especially if Ember is also in the party:
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May 20, 2024 06:50
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Cythereal posted:Specifically, Areelu calls to mind for me the character Rhea from the Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes duology, who is voiced in English by veteran actress Cherami Leigh, who has a list of roles as long as my arm - perhaps the best known to the western RPG crowd is that she voices the female PC in Cyberpunk 2077 (and a shitload of anime besides). Not a comparison I ever thought of must admit but one that does make sense indeed because of spoilers. But yes, Areelu's tone is mostly emotionless and clinical barring some very few moments, which does line up with the scientist/researcher persona she has and in that regard is fitting, but doesn't make for listening as good as Irenicus or Rhea. Cythereal posted:And the second child soldier in Yua's party. Hey, another FE similarity there too - Down to said dragon child soldier being one of the most powerful party members. Golarion would work well as a setting for plenty of different FE-style games, actually.
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May 20, 2024 09:34
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Those were really good observations on the relative benefits of the bonuses. One thing I completely blanked on is that the second, third and fourth attacks fall off pretty hard, those to-hit bonuses make them connect more reliably, and the damage does look better overall even if the individual numbers themselves are less impressive. After adjusting the skills on my fighters it does feel like I'm doing better. One thing I feel is that the buffs themselves are hugely nerfed in Pathfinder in comparison to D&D 2nd edition games like Baldur's Gate 1 and Icewind Dale. In those games you could turn your buffs on and your brain off and just cruise through with your unbeatable bonuses. Now the buffs don't stack as well, there's fewer of them unless you use specialized classes and they don't seem to last nearly as long. For example the kit that Arushalae comes with, the Paladin and the Spirit Shaman can self-buff in a useful way that stacks with other spells, but it's no longer possible to have your one cleric drop all the mass area buffs onto your team of 5 melee fighters. Cythereal posted:
I'm not sure if it's actually true, but I did *feel* like there was a time limit, so by the end my team was just completely weighted down by curses and exhaustion and the final few battles here were just a slog. This is the point where I got really mad about the way buffs work, because they just last so little time for what are fairly small bonuses that it often seems like they're not worth bothering with. I didn't catch that Minhago is egging Vane on, I kind of assumed that she really did want to run away. But, she really is terrible at her job. She has 28HD, I'm not sure how that translates into caster levels, but she should be able to absolutely wipe the floor with any kind of opponent... provided she used a wall of summons and then started using lockdown status effects to keep people chained down, preferably in combination with the Balor down in the courtyard. It really doesn't help that their team of 3 is outnumbered, every additional attacker gives an outsized advantage, even just three other cultists to soak up hits would have helped her a lot. One note, the part with the Balor, where the demons run away from you is such a morale boosting moment, aren't they supposed to auto-resurrect anyway outside the abyss, or is that only the really big ones? I imagine that if the crusaders saw that their morale would absolutely spike.
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May 20, 2024 09:38
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Most buffs (especially at low levels) add a little bit each, but, well, since most of the monsters don't move around much, you can also be this dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nqjz5R8LrU Of course, that is a royal pain in the rear end, which is why some people resort to installing mods to help with it. A lot of game design since D&D 3E (in both the tabletop and video game spaces) has been about preventing this sort of thing. It also helps to have a general idea of how much you can rest to restore your spell slots, yeah. The game does emphasize the urgency of what you're doing, but you can rest in a lot of circumstances where it doesn't necessarily make sense. (For instance, the game flat-out gives you a pop-up telling you to rest at the end of the Shield Maze because it probably wouldn't normally occur to someone to do that.)
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May 20, 2024 10:55
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Cythereal posted:An aeon saves Staunton, for the record, by traveling back in time and rewriting history so that he never betrayed the crusade and Drezen never actually fell. It's one of the big story moments for an aeon PC when they get to really flex their power and fundamentally alter reality to correct what they deem to be a profound injustice. Does this path acknowledge the time paradox you cause by doing this? You came to Drezen with an army to retake from demons, so why are you there if the city never fell in the first place?
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May 20, 2024 11:41
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Nostalgamus posted:Does this path acknowledge the time paradox you cause by doing this? You came to Drezen with an army to retake from demons, so why are you there if the city never fell in the first place? You're reinforcing the soldiers who have been holding out but being worn down.
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May 20, 2024 11:46
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Nostalgamus posted:Does this path acknowledge the time paradox you cause by doing this? You came to Drezen with an army to retake from demons, so why are you there if the city never fell in the first place? This doesn't happen at right this moment, but later on. And it freaks people out because people can sense that something is profoundly off even if they don't know what. It's the point where people go from "Okay, the Commander is tough but she's fair" to "The Commander is seriously loving weird, are we sure she's really on our side?"
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May 20, 2024 11:46
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Drakenel posted:70 years on a single stronghold pretty far from the invasion point. Forget the demons how has Mendev as a country not collapsed inwards on itself? Or fallen apart from infighting or panic? So the guy that got shanked was a Balor, a Balor is basically on the level of "I can eat an entire army of mortals by myself", like the thing is that demons are in general a good deal stronger than mortals, and an army of them is nearly unstoppable by frankly a bunch of people. It speaks far more to the forces arrayed against the demons that they haven't gotten any further. Also that the demons are constantly infighting, backstabbing, and being immortal have absolutely no sense of urgency in the matter. Mendev still sucks massive rear end for basically throwing away their resources in a pissing contest with a nearly unlimited horde of demons and instead working on some long term solutions to the whole issue.
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May 20, 2024 12:33
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How come Arue has eyes? Aren't all succubi eyeless freaks?
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May 20, 2024 23:18
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Kanthulhu posted:How come Arue has eyes? Aren't all succubi eyeless freaks? Wrong seductive demon. Eyeless demons like Minagho are lilitu, in general pretty high ranking demons. Arue is a succubus, a much lower (on average, there are exceptions) caste of demon. In general the difference as portrayed in Wrath is that succubi tend to seduce people and almost immediately kill them, lilitu tend to play long-term games of corruption. If you push Arue into falling, the main differences are that her hair turns black, her eyes turn red, and she takes off a lot of her clothes. There's a reason why Arue's current outfit has no visible skin below the neck (except for her wings).
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May 20, 2024 23:23
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berryjon posted:Truly very wise words. Aivu/Hagrid buddy comedy when
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May 20, 2024 23:48
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Cythereal posted:Wrong seductive demon. Oops, how embarassing. That's what I get for never paying attention during sundays demonology school.
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May 21, 2024 00:53
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Also, for what it's worth, while there haven't been any posts about the tabletop AP in a while, I'm pretty sure Arueshalae is from the tabletop adventure rather than an Owlcat invention. I also figured out how Nenio works while loving around with toybox. For kitsune PCs and mercs, their human form is considered a shapeshift that can be dispelled. Nenio, however, is initially treated as being in fox form, which the game hides by overriding her model with a custom one (that's identical to her actual kitsune shapeshift once that unlocks) and forcibly unequipping the fox form's bite attack (which is treated as a hidden weapon on the inventory sheet, like other natural weapons). Most of the kitsune racial traits are marked as invisible on Nenio's character sheet, but Keen Senses is visible because that trait got patched at some point after launch and Nenio's custom scripting is coded to hide the old version of Keen Senses and never got updated when Keen Senses was changed to hide the new version. And, well, you can still tell that Nenio is a kitsune from the moment she gets her first level if nothing else because she qualifies for the Nine Tailed Heir sorcerer kit, even though her custom scripting flags her as ineligible for picking up the Magical Tail feat through normal means.
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May 21, 2024 01:06
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Yep Aru is a promoted NPC in the same vein as Sosiel. One of the themes of the AP is "Anyone can be redeemed if they want it" and this is represented by Aru. Her story is largely the same, if a bit narratively less important due to the looser narrative of the AP in general.
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May 21, 2024 02:35
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