So a couple of days ago someone asked about S9. This topic is pretty important since going after Nine should be a first major project we'd wish to undertake, so getting a hang on their abilities is important. Currently, their members are:
Hatchet Face: Power nullifier and brute. In all likelihood his powers shouldn't interfere with ours, but even if they did we can just murder him in melee anyway. There is a distant chance of some kind of combo where he is used to nullify us while other capes attack, however overall he is largely insignificant. What is significant about him, however, is that he is a cape nullifier, so capturing him to bomb capes by using Dominate + Teleport to drop him on people is something we should for sure consider, even against rest of Nine
Murder Rat: Teleport, enhanced reflexes and and wound infection. Irrelevant and uninteresting for us
Burnscar: Flame teleport, generation and manipulation. Irrelevant and uninteresting for us
Shatterbird: Wide area silicate control. While her overall abilities are not that important against us, it is possible that they could interfere with our bracelet. Something to consider. She is not a combat threat, although capturing her might be of some use for some future super projects. I would still put her in "irrelevant and uninteresting" category
Crawler: Dawww, baby Tarrasque dies when it reaches 0 hp? Ain't that sad. He is a brick that doesn't move fast enough, hit hard enough or has strong enough acid for us to really care about him, and we have ways of dealing him once everyone else is dealt with. Irrelevant, although his regen might be somewhat interesting
Mannequin: His combat power is largely irrelevant to us. His Tinker stuff can be pretty relevant however, so capturing rather than killing might be prudent
Siberian: Man, finally we get to people who are neither irrelevant nor interesting. Siberian is less of a threat than you'd expect, as we have plenty of ways of getting out of her melee range and staying at range. So while she can be deadly, and indeed the Siberian is the only deadly thing in this roster as far as we are concerned, we can just not get close to her, and other members S9 can't really support her in getting her closer to us. The bigger issue with Siberian is that Cauldron support Manton, so we might run into opponents other than S9. I will talk more on that below. Finally we do have ways to challenge her - it will be very interesting to se how she fares against Prismatic Sphere, for example. The way we actually get her is by using Sarzari Shadow Memory in conjunction with TT to discover existence of Manton, at which point we just dominate him and use projection to murder rest of the gang
Bonesaw: Very relevant and very interesting. Her powers might even harm us, since coming up with a plague that can attack rock monsters is possible even for her. As such hiding our true nature until we take her out is very advisable. The true danger of Bonesaw, however, are countless plagues she might have ready as a deadman switch. Realistically there are two ways to deal with this - one is to have Wish online so we can counteract them. The other is to just say fuck it and let Cauldron and Protectorate deal with the fallout. Just because we can solve all their issues doesn't mean we have to do it.
Jack Slash: Man of many gay romances, last but certainly not the least. Well, Jack does fall a bit into "irrelevant and uninteresting" category for us, as his overall combat power is not that important to us, outside of specific setup where he can bring down very big blades. His real power should be worthless against us - in case that it is not, he goes from just a dude with at will power we don't care about, to giving S9 perfect teamwork against us. We can still win in that case, it will just be less of an absolute walk in the part. We, of course, want to kill him.
There are four main reasons to go after S9. There should be a major bounty on their heads, and it would be a huge PR win for us if we become known as cape who took out the Nine. In a way they are even worse than Endbringers - at least with Endbringers you can say that they are invincible natural disasters. Nine are just humiliating Protectorate with their mere existence. More importantly fact that Cauldron supports Manton means that we are liable to meet with them in we go after S9, which has a possibility of vastly accelerating our own progression speed. Cauldron generally has no issues with Parahumans ruling the world, although there is always possibility of them fighting us on account of Iluontar being an alien. Still, this contact with them will be worthwhile even if they turn out to be antagonistic.
Most important thing, however, is killing Jack Slash. His ability to trigger Scion endgame makes Jack one of the very few loss condition we have in this quest. By quickly and completely eliminating Jack, we can ensure that scenario in which Jack communicates with Scion will never happen. In theory, we could also use Jack to communicate with Scion ourselves, although this is risky and I don't see much reward out of doing it.
Hunting S9 shouldn't be that hard. Between Detect Location and Greater Teleport finding them is easy, at which point we can pick and choose if we want to do more of a hit and run while taking them out one by one, or do we want to just go in as hard as we can. The ideal strategy would probably be engaging them somewhere where they don't have access to many hostages, figuring out Manton via Shadow Memory(provided it works on this plane) and taking out Siberian, then going after Bonesaw. After those two are out, we can hunt down others at our leisure. Having at least a singular Wish ready would be ideal as well. Some additional preparation can be done on our end, especially if we have TT helping us get maximum info.
With a little luck on BB end, in about two days of in game time we might get to the point where we can consider this seriously.
For the most part I agree. Jack should probably be a priority target, given how much his power likes to break the rules and how much trouble he can cause. Besides, he is the main reason why 9 still exists. On the other hand, Siberian is very dangerous, so it might make sense to get rid of Manton first. Other priority targets are Mannequin and Bonesaw. The first one is a Simurgh bomb, so we should probably just kill him. The latter, however, is curious in that we may have a chance to straighten her brains and subsequently even win her over to our side. Her abilities are quite interesting, I'd say she's worth capturing rather than killing. Hmm, I wonder if we have something to change the alignment?
The rest of the members are not that dangerous, even if we miss someone, I don't think Nine will be able to recover. However, there is no point in leaving them there. Crawler is problematic, I would say it's better to just seal it rather than fight him. Hatchet Face is unlikely to nullify magic, but it is better to keep a distance from him, or quickly kill him in melee. Shatterbird depends on its surroundings, so it is better to ambush the team away from the glass. Burnscar is interesting in that she is fairly sane until she uses her powers - we could try to capture her to find a way to protect her from the agent's psychic influence. Considering that this happens to all parahumans in one form or another, this is extremely important research.
Murder Rat might not even be a member now. Maybe it makes sense to capture it and try to restore Mouse Protector? Not sure if this is possible though.
Another possible member right now could be Chuckles, who is capable of high speed, super strength and accelerated thinking, so much so that he is unable to communicate. The degree of threat is somewhat unclear, but unlikely to be high.
Ooh! Very interesting planning that I have no intention of helping with whatsoever (at this time)!
I'm mainly posting this to let y'all know that at the moment, the vote is perfectly tied between the two options. In the case of a tie like this, I'll probably end up going with whatever feels to me like it would be more relatively in-character for Iluontar (well, depending on each individual circumstance), as a heads up. Probably, still a case-by-case thing on that front. That's all for now, I'll leave y'all back to your premeditated execution planning!
For the most part I agree. Jack should probably be a priority target, given how much his power likes to break the rules and how much trouble he can cause. Besides, he is the main reason why 9 still exists. On the other hand, Siberian is very dangerous, so it might make sense to get rid of Manton first. Other priority targets are Mannequin and Bonesaw. The first one is a Simurgh bomb, so we should probably just kill him. The latter, however, is curious in that we may have a chance to straighten her brains and subsequently even win her over to our side. Her abilities are quite interesting, I'd say she's worth capturing rather than killing. Hmm, I wonder if we have something to change the alignment?
The reason why Siberian takes priority is because she can protect Jack with her ability to make things invincible. While we can still try to kill Jack while he is not being protected, or try to circumvent this protection, the effort needed to do so should be roughly equal to subverting Siberian, at which point we can just do that. Once Siberian is down, the rest of S9 can't really do much to hinder us since they lack punching power to actually damage us.
I don't care about saving Bonesaw. While her powers are quite interesting, the effort required to deal with her mental health is not something I want to spend our time on. I would much rather murder everyone but Manton and Hatchetface, who we can just Dominate and park them underground in our tent with some provision until they are required. I suspect that majority will feel different about this, however.
The rest of the members are not that dangerous, even if we miss someone, I don't think Nine will be able to recover. However, there is no point in leaving them there. Crawler is problematic, I would say it's better to just seal it rather than fight him. Hatchet Face is unlikely to nullify magic, but it is better to keep a distance from him, or quickly kill him in melee. Shatterbird depends on its surroundings, so it is better to ambush the team away from the glass. Burnscar is interesting in that she is fairly sane until she uses her powers - we could try to capture her to find a way to protect her from the agent's psychic influence. Considering that this happens to all parahumans in one form or another, this is extremely important research.
As you say, what happen with the rest is largely irrelevant. Crawler can be dealt using dominated Hatchet Face and Manton while Shatterbird dies to Polar Ray or three. Burnscar is so off my radar she might as well be in Infernus.
Another possible member right now could be Chuckles, who is capable of high speed, super strength and accelerated thinking, so much so that he is unable to communicate. The degree of threat is somewhat unclear, but unlikely to be high.
Yeah. Like the thing with worm capes is that they are level 3 warrior with some random at will ability or two. About 80% of capes are just completely irrelevant to us in any capacity, 15% are practically irrelevant because they are humans and our combined perception, stealth, speed and offense makes it hard for them to actually get in scenario where they can use their powers(i.e. Clockblocker, Ballistic), 4.5% are somewhat relevant but any concentrated effort on our end just rolls them(Lung, Armsy etc) which leaves one in two hundred capes that actually has overwhelming enough powers, or a full package so they can actually pose a threat we need to think about defeating(Cherish, Eidolon, Siberian etc).
It is similar to how Worm gets bullied by anything anime related because speed, except instead of speed we have "being completely well rounded super high level rpg character" while our enemies are by large just dudes.
Dominate Person/Monster sounds like it would be a good counter to Bonesaw. Even if she has defenses, they are unlikely to be absolute. We just prepare it at 15th level or something so the DC is crazy high.
Though we should check how it interacts with capes first. Tinkers especially.
If we try to fight them 9v1 we might have issues with action economy. Especially if they have hostages or something so we need to be careful about AoE.
If we can catch them somewhere without people however Wail of the Banshee should shred them.
Going back to our character sheet, I have to wonder which exact Metamagic Feats we do have besides Heighten Spell. We do have a bunch of slots for them. Quicken is as always the best one, especially seeing how our slots go. Reach is great since it should let us outrange majority of capes, especially with teleport spam, while Still Spell or Silent Spell in particular might come in useful if enemy tries to directly counter our spellcasting, although chance of us taking those Feats is somewhat low. Selective Spell might let us actually use our Wail without murdering half of the city - Merciful would do that as well, but against chance of us getting that Feat are quite slim. Something like Rime Spell or Seeking Spell to upgrade our Polar Ray or even Concussive Spell to upgrade Wail would be an overall improvement, although I do suspect that we got bunch of Feats that increase our numbers(Empower, Maximize etc) which will likely be largely useless to us because we either kill things or they don't really care much about numbers.
Last two are Extend and Toxic. Extend is great because it pushes our 1h per level spell super hard, so we can cast certain buffs before writing down new spells, and have them last more than 24h. Toxic Spell is an interesting one - it is not a Feat I would usually consider, however fact that we had applicable item in our hand on start is somewhat of a giveaway. Since we can craft for days, I suppose it is not a terrible option.
I would assume that our Metamagic Feats are: Heighten, Quicken, Extend, Reach, Toxin and Intensified. It is just a decent generic spread that would allow Iluontar to fill up his higher slots with variable spells.
I have to wonder which exact Metamagic Feats we do have besides Heighten Spell. We do have a bunch of slots for them. Quicken is as always the best one, especially seeing how our slots go.
Ah, here's a hint, your spell slots from levels 10 and up, when prepared by habit and revealing they were there, they were prepared exactly as the had been the day before (Only Heighten wasn't mentioned, because I did not want to have to add Heightened to every singe dang one of those), and you do have a way to cast sneakily. That will be all for now.
Although, I suppose that with Arcane Sight and our skills we can just go somewhere in the middle of nowhere, cast spells and try to figure out exact metamagics current one can by observing our spells. Something for the task list.
Scheduled vote count started by Sckribe on Nov 20, 2023 at 12:24 AM, finished with 72 posts and 10 votes.
[X] Plan Open Communication
-[X] Express to her that you are not a case 53, but you would like to engage her services for your own goals.
-[X] Express that you believe yourself to be stronger than her current team to a large degree, but would appreciate underlings as you set yourself up.
-[X] Express that there are a great deal of things that you can fix, and that your powers are overall rather vast, to the point of being able to easily match what she's getting from her team.
-[X] Upon learning she has a gun to her head (which should come out relatively easily with our intelligence), offer to deal with it as a show of good faith.
[X] Plan: Proposal for cooperation.
-[X] She probably had something she wanted to say earlier, didn't she? Was it her initiative for the meeting?
-[X] Don't push too hard - you don't want her to panic and do something stupid.
-[X] Compliment her powers of observation and encourage her to provide you with information in exchange for money, or perhaps a favour, as long as there is nothing illegal about it.
-[X] If in the process you realize that her current employer is holding her back with death threats... Well, that's a problem you're willing to help with.
-[X] You're open to the idea of hiring her on a more permanent basis, although to do that you'll probably have to trust each other more.
-[X] Try to be mysterious without confirming or denying her conclusions.
Damn, just started reading an hour ago and caught up now. Was going to tie break for cooperation but I didn't make it.
Anyway, I'm down for making nice to ally Tattletale for our first minions, but if we're really gonna try to be an enlightened despot than perhaps we should consider leaving for South America or Africa, the two continents where we'd face the least resistance from people we'd actually respect.
South America apparently is a reversal of cape culture, with villain dominated government and heroes in the shadows so that could be interesting.
I guess we could try for Asia and try to take on Russia or China.
Scheduled vote count started by Sckribe on Nov 20, 2023 at 12:24 AM, finished with 72 posts and 10 votes.
[X] Plan Open Communication
-[X] Express to her that you are not a case 53, but you would like to engage her services for your own goals.
-[X] Express that you believe yourself to be stronger than her current team to a large degree, but would appreciate underlings as you set yourself up.
-[X] Express that there are a great deal of things that you can fix, and that your powers are overall rather vast, to the point of being able to easily match what she's getting from her team.
-[X] Upon learning she has a gun to her head (which should come out relatively easily with our intelligence), offer to deal with it as a show of good faith.
[X] Plan: Proposal for cooperation.
-[X] She probably had something she wanted to say earlier, didn't she? Was it her initiative for the meeting?
-[X] Don't push too hard - you don't want her to panic and do something stupid.
-[X] Compliment her powers of observation and encourage her to provide you with information in exchange for money, or perhaps a favour, as long as there is nothing illegal about it.
-[X] If in the process you realize that her current employer is holding her back with death threats... Well, that's a problem you're willing to help with.
-[X] You're open to the idea of hiring her on a more permanent basis, although to do that you'll probably have to trust each other more.
-[X] Try to be mysterious without confirming or denying her conclusions.
Things being as they are, you decide that while it has been nice, there's no reason to push or otherwise be nasty about it all, and so you generally let yourself relax a touch, un-stiffening your posture, and after letting a moment pass you say, "Ah- Pardon me there, was there, ah, anything you had wanted to say, earlier? From yourself, or someone else asking you, possibly?"
Ah, and you can practically feel yourself returning to your usual state of interpersonal ability, which is very much not ideal and you'd hoped you could ride that wave you'd hit for longer. Still, you couldn't help but continue and ask those, hopefully let her say her piece, get out the nerves.
She takes a sip of her coffee, and looking slightly better, she says, "Yeah, given your, situation, I was going to offer somewhere to stay for a couple nights. I have a place I share with some friends sometimes, well my boss pays for it, but well, he doesn't need to know. I figured while you were there maybe you'd get to know them, possibly stick around for a while."
Hm. The idea of having somewhere better than the sewers to stay does sound quite appealing, you'd have to mull it over. Although that one part in there was extra interesting, something of a schism between her and her boss, perhaps? Still, given her friends are probably referring to the Undersiders, and they appear to have no particular leader, you're not particularly who she'd be referring to. Sticking around was somewhat retreading old ground, again, ending up on her team- or at least what you believed was her team, but at the very least garner some form of sympathy or goodwill.
You had to admit to yourself, that brief moment where you truly got to put your mind to use was, enjoyable. You took a sip of coffee as you thought. It was nice, and had garnered a fair amount of goodwill on it's own, let alone her still deciding to just sit here and talk with you some, rather than make her excuses and leave. A part of you actually kind of hoped that perhaps you might be able to do have a sort of mental contest or the like agian, perhaps under more overtly amicable pretenses or circumstances, like a game of chess or the like.
She had also had some more coffee during this brief pause, and it seemed like she'd relaxed quite a lot more, having moved back to something of a content resting face based on what you could tell- wait, mostly disguised as she was sipping, a miniscule smile.
It had only been a few seconds since she last spoke, a perfectly reasonable pause for both parties drinking coffee, as you said, "I will have to think your offer over for now. I must say, I have to give my compliments on how observant you are. You have certainly made me feel a touch more heard and seen than normal. I have to imagine you notice quite a lot of things, and certainly know the local area better than I do. Would you be amenable to possibly being something of a local tour guide? You show me around town, tell me about the sights and, well, I have a few hundred dollars on me now, or perhaps down the line return the favor? Nothing unsavory on either of our parts, of course, I'd not ask you to go into anywhere best avoided or the like."
Her grin is almost immediately back on her face, as apparently a mild amount of flattery can go a fair ways.
Lisa fairly firmly presses a loose strand of hair back behind her ear on one side of her head as she stands up and says, "First one's 'on the house', if you can finish up."
You quickly do finish the last of your coffee and throw it out in the same can Lisa does hers on the way out. The both of you walk through a a very fair portion of Brockton Bay for several hours as the day goes on, her pointing out various locally known obvious landmarks, while also far more subtly pointing out more cape centric details. After a certain point, you notice that she's begun to almost pre-emptively bring up the things you'd find more interesting than others. You find it a sort of, oddly endearing without being demeaning, if anything it's in something of an impressive way.
What feels like it's been surprisingly quickly you find your impromptu 'Tour' ending where the downtown meets the ocean, almost directly due east from what was pointed out to you as being Arcadia High (apparently they actually did employ a faraday cage to prevent cell phone use, and that wasn't just a rumour told to out-of towners to mess with them, but they did not have their own private security either, unless you counted the police parents or Victoria Dallon).
She ended the tour, looking far more in her element, by saying, "So, what'd you say?"
You paused, and said, "I'd say that if we'd been on longer terms, I'd offer to hire you outright."
Lisa seems to sober a little as she says, "And if we'd been on longer terms, I might have let you make that offer. Sorry to say, but," she looks out in your real eyes again, her tone not wavering but she leans in just slightly, speaking softer, massaging her temple with her right index finger, thumb extended, other fingers curled in, "My boss would kill to keep me on."
Oh. Ohh. Well then, with that in mind, you think you're beginning to see why she chose to approach you on her own and so quickly, for someone who's power would fare better with longer observation- of which you have just spent an entire afternoon walking with her while she had an excuse to repeatedly use it and speak to you. Honestly, you almost have to respect her still pulling that off after your first interaction.
Regardless of that, you say in response, "I see, that's very much a shame. Well, if at any point you do plan on putting in your two weeks notice regardless, perhaps you'll think to contact me?"
She raises an eyebrow, and taps her foot in the direction of a particularly large bug, "What, from my work phone?"
Ah, her phone is bugged or otherwise tracked, right.
She makes some odd breaths in, before pulling out a tissue from her purse and- that's not quite a real sneezing fit, but you can hear her very quietly and quickly mutter while seeming to recover and slightly wipe off, her tissue covering her face mostly, "I'm trusting that your senses are actually as absurd as my power's telling me they are, my boss is Coil, real name Thomas Calvert. You can't go after him, not yet, or he'll know it's me. Reach out on PHO to 'All-Seeing Eye' in a few days."
She says at a normal tone, "Sorry, I might've got a cold or something, I should probably get going. Be seeing you, Akil."
You nod as she begins to turn and walk away, "See you around, Lisa."
Where you're standing, you can see both the rig and the boat graveyard in and across the bay, respectively, and not far behind you is the head PRT office. Overall, you'd say that probably went well.
What next?
[ ] Write In.
Iluontar, Unique Xiomorn Wizard ? | CR ?
?? Large Outsider (Earth, Elemental)
Initiative: ? Perception: +70 Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 120 ft., ?
DEFENSE
AC ? Touch ? Flat-Foot ? (+6 Armor, +? Dex, Natural Armor +?,)
HP ? (?); Fast Healing 5
Fort ? Ref ? Will ?
Defensive Abilities: ?; DR ?; Immune: Elemental Traits, ?; SR ?
OFFENSE
Speed: 40 ft., burrow 30 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (Average), ?; earth glide
Melee: 4 claws +? (2d4+? plus Crystallization), or, Enchanted Monowhip +? (3d6+?, 18-20/x3), or, Enchanted Dagger +? (1d4+?, 19-20/x2)
Ranged: Enchanted Dagger +? (1d4+?, 19-20/x2), ?
Special Attacks: Crystal burst (DC ?), Crystallization (DC ?), Rend (2 claws, 2d4+?), Wizard Spellcasting
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips — Prestidigitation, Acid Splash, Read Magic, Detect Magic
1st (DC 30) — Comprehend Languages (6), Mage Armor (2), Magic Missile (2), Shield (2)
2nd (DC 31) — Locate Object, Mirror Image (2), See Invisibility, Invisibility (2), Alter Self (5)
3rd (DC 32) — Arcane Reinforcement (2), Arcane Sight (3), Battering Blast (2), Dispel Magic (3)
4th (DC 33) — Bestow Curse, Dimension Door (2), Greater Invisibility (3), Phantasmal Killer (2), Lesser Geas (2)
5th (DC 34) — Baleful Polymorph, Break Enchantment (2), Dominate Person (5), Teleport (2)
6th (DC 35) — Disintegrate (5), Mislead, Veil (1), Antimagic Field, Sarzari Shadow Memory
7th (DC 36) — Ethereal Jaunt (2), Finger of Death (2), Greater Teleport (3), Prismatic Spray (2)
8th (DC 37) — Dimensional Lock (2), Discern Location (3), Mind Blank (3), Polar Ray
9th (DC 38) — Dominate Monster (3), Time Stop (3), Wail of the Banshee (3)
10th (DC 39) — Polar Ray (4)
11th (DC 40) — Polar Ray (3)
12th (DC 41) — Polar Ray (3)
13th (DC 42) — Wail of the Banshee, Finger of Death (2)
14th (DC 43) — Wail of the Banshee (3)
15th (DC 44) — Wail of the Banshee (2)
16th (DC 45) — Wail of the Banshee (2)
17th (DC 46) — Wail of the Banshee (2)
STATISTICS
STR ? DEX ? CON ? INT 47 WIS ? CHA ?
BAB: ? CMB: ? CMD: ?
Feats: Heighten Spell, ?
Skills: Appraise +61, Bluff +16, Craft (?, ?, Mechanical, ?, ?) +89, Craft (?) +97, Disable Device +86, Disguise +71, Knowledge (Arcana) +100, Knowledge (Engineering +86), Perception +70, Sleight of Hand +78, Spellcraft +122, Sense Motive +2, Stealth +89, ?
Languages: Common (Golarian), Terran, Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Aklo, Androffan, Infernal, Celestial, Draconic, Dwarven, English; Telepathy 300 ft.
SPECIAL QUALITIES
Item mastery, Item shaper, ?
ECOLOGY
Environment: ?
Organization: Last of Your Kind (Alone)
Treasure/Inventory: 5 30,000 GP Black Sapphire Gems, 1 Artisan's Outfit, 1 Bedroll, 1 Blessed Blook (W/Superior Lock), 1 Commander's Expidition Pavillion (Improved), 1 Crowbar, 1 Decanter of Endless Water, 1 Enchanted Adamantine Dagger, 1 Enchanted Boots, 1 Enchanted Cloak, 1 Enchanted Glasses, 1 Enchanted Mithral Monowhip, 1 Enchanted Silken Ceremonial Armor, 1 Enchanted Technological Bracers, 1 Explorer's Outfit, 1 Fishing Net (25 sq. ft.), 1 Flint & Steel, 1 Folding Pole, 1 Graviton Reactor, 1 Handy Haversack, 24 Immovable Rods, 1 Needles of Fleshgraving, 50 Golden Scrolls (10 Blank), 1 Robot Frame (Perfectly Intact), 1 Portable Hole, 3 (50 ft.) Power Cables, 4 Power Receivers (3 in use between Signal Booster, Bracers, Monowhip), 1 Signal Booster, 1 Spyglass, 1 Traveler's Any-Tools, 3 Vials of Black Lotus Extract, 2 Vials of Terinav Root, 1 Winter Blanket, 1000 Pinches of Ruby Dust (50 GP Each), 1 High-End Laptop, 3 Smartphones, 1 Flip-Phone
Cash: $295.00
Crystal Burst (Su) As a standard action once every 1d4 rounds, Iluontar can create an explosion of razor-sharp crystals at a range of up to 120 feet. These crystals fill a 30-foot-radius burst and deal ? points of piercing and slashing damage (Reflex DC ? half). The save DC is Constitution-based.
Crystallization (Su) A creature struck by any of Iluontar's claws must succeed at a DC ? Fortitude save or take ? points of Dexterity drain. On a critical hit, a target that fails its save instead takes ? points of Dexterity drain. As long as a creature suffers this drain, portions of its body appear as living green crystal and it gains the earth creature subtype. A creature whose Dexterity score is drained to 0 in this manner transforms into a green crystal statue, as if affected by flesh to stone. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Item Mastery (Ex) Iluontar can always activate spell trigger and spell completion items as if the spell were on his class list.
Item Shaper (Ex) For the purposes of crafting magic items or constructs, Iluontar is treated as though he had all item creation feats.
This item Functions as a Combined Commander's Tent and Expedition Pavillion, containing the best features of both.
Weight: 1 lb.
Aura(s): faint Evocation, moderate Divination
Total Price: 41,000 GP
Description
This small flag sports a banner that is 2 inches wide by 3 inches tall and has a thin wooden dowel that serves as the flag post. When a creature plants the flag in the ground and speaks the command word, the flag expands into an ordinary-looking, windowless tent of stout canvas with the flag falling over the outer side of the entrance flap. The tent fills a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet, but, inside, it measures a full 30 feet by 30 feet. The entrance of the tent consists of a vestibule with an outer and inner flap for keeping light from spilling out,.
Inside, the tent contains a central table and several chairs and cushions, and three small "bedrooms" (separated by curtains) along the back wall. The center table features a blank map. Once per week, any creature inside the tent can utter a second command word to transform the map into a model of the nearby area, as sand table (see page 164).
The temperature inside the tent is 70° F if the exterior temperature is between 0° and 100° F. For every degree the exterior temperature is below 0° or above 100°, the interior temperature decreases or increases, respectively, by 1°. The pavilion also provides protection against the elements, such as rain, dust, and sandstorms. The pavilion withstands any wind of less than hurricane force, but a hurricane (75+ mph wind speed) or greater force destroys it.
While the commander's tent is in tent form, the user can utter a third command word while holding a new flag to replace the flag on the tent with one of his own choosing. The two pennants swap places. A fourth command word causes the tent to break down, returning to its miniature flag form, ejecting any creatures still inside the tent.
Total Price: 92,002 gp
Total Equivalent Enhancement Bonus: +6
Max HP: 43
Hardness: 28
Weight 1 lb.
Damage 1d3 (small), 1d4 (medium) Critical 19-20/x2 Type piercing or slashing
Range Increment 10 ft. (thrown)
Category light Proficiency simple
Weapon Groups light blades, thrown, tribal
----
This jet-black blade is curved viciously, and is dull, never glinting in the dark.
----
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand skill checks made to conceal a dagger on your body.
Adamantine: Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20.
Enchanted With;
+2 Enhancement Bonus to attack and damage rolls
Agile
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot none; Price +1 bonus; Weight —
Description
A character with Weapon Finesse can apply her Dexterity modifier to damage rolls with an agile weapon in place of her Strength modifier. This modifier to damage is not increased for two-handed weapons, but is still reduced for off-hand weapons. This weapon special ability can be placed only on melee weapons usable with Weapon Finesse.
Axiomatic
Aura moderate evocation CL 7th
Slot weapon quality; Price +2 bonus; Weight —
Description
An axiomatic weapon is infused with lawful power. It makes the weapon law-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against chaotic creatures. It bestows one permanent negative level (Core Rulebook 562) on any chaotic creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded.
Impervious
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot weapon quality; Price +3,000 gp; Weight —
Description
An impervious weapon is warded from damage and decay. A metallic weapon cannot rust and a wooden weapon cannot rot or warp, even by magical or supernatural means. An impervious weapon gains double the normal bonus to its hardness and hit points for each point of its enhancement bonus. The break DC for an impervious weapon and the wielder's combat maneuver defense against sunder maneuvers against the impervious weapon each gain a bonus equal to twice the weapon's enhancement bonus.
Returning
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot weapon quality; Price +1 bonus; Weight —
Description
This special ability can only be placed on a weapon that can be thrown. A returning weapon flies through the air back to the creature that threw it. It returns to the thrower just before the creature's next turn (and is therefore ready to use again in that turn). Catching a returning weapon when it comes back is a free action. If the character can't catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown.
Ricochet (Adapted from Ricochet Hammer)
Price +12,000 gp; (Must be a Returning Weapon)
This weapon can strike multiple foes with a single throw. If the wielder has multiple attacks from a high base attack bonus, he may throw the weapon so it rebounds off the first target to strike at a second target, and so on for each of the wielder's additional attacks. The distance to each target adds to the total range of the weapon, and range penalties apply.
The weapon can only ricochet if it successfully hits a target; if it misses, it stops ricocheting, has no further attacks that round, and returns as normal for a weapon with the returning property. Because ricocheting attacks are treated as separate attacks, modifiers that only apply to one attack roll (such as true strike) only apply to the first attack and not the others. The ricochet attacks count as the wielder's additional attacks for that round.
Assassin's Dagger (Base Item)
Aura moderate necromancy CL 9th
Slot none; Price +2,000 gp
Description
This wicked-looking, curved dagger provides a +1 bonus to the DC of a Fortitude save forced by the death attack of an assassin.
The wearer of these suede boots ignores an additional 10 feet of falling distance when she successfully uses Acrobatics to soften a fall. Once per round as a free action, the wearer can use the boots to gain a +10 competence bonus on an Acrobatics check to jump, treating such jump as though she had a running start. The wearer also receives this +10 competence bonus on Acrobatics checks to avoid attacks of opportunity during the jump or to balance after landing.
Using the boots in this fashion strains the lower body. If the wearer attempts a second such jump before at least 1 minute has passed, she must succeed at a Fortitude save with a DC equal to the DC of her second jump attempt or injure her legs. This injury reduces her speed by half for 24 hours, or until she is successfully treated with a DC 15 Heal check or at least 1 point of magical healing. The DC of the Fortitude save increases by 5 for each additional jump attempted until at least 1 minute passes between jumps.
Enchanted Cloak (Wings of Flying+)
Total Price: 55,500 GP
This grey cloak has feathers all about the collar and uppermost shoulders, and is evocative of the wings of a perched owl in the way it falls when worn or hung.
A pair of these wings might appear to be nothing more than a plain cloak of old, black cloth, or they could be as elegant as a long cape of blue feathers.
When the wearer speaks the command word, the cloak turns into a pair of bat or bird wings that empower her to fly with a speed of 60 feet (average maneuverability), also granting a +5 competence bonus on Fly skill checks.
These thick leather cords wrap around the wearer's biceps and shoulders. When worn, they make the wearer's muscles appear larger than normal. The wearer treats his Strength score as 8 higher than normal when determining his carrying capacity. This bonus does not apply to combat, breaking items, or any other Strength-related rolls, it only contributes to the amount of equipment or material the wearer can carry.
Enchanted Glasses (Greater Sniper Goggles+)
Total Price: 50,000 GP
These round glasses have thin black rims that form a subtle crosshair like pattern on the inner edges of the lenses.
Enchanted With;
Sniper's Goggles, Greater
Description
These glasses function as sniper goggles, but the wearer gains the +2 circumstance bonus on each sneak attack when making a sneak attack at any range.
Sniper Goggles
Description
The leather strap attached to these bulbous lenses allows their wearer to fit them to his head. The wearer of these goggles can make ranged sneak attacks from any distance instead of the normal 30 feet. When making ranged sneak attacks within 30 feet, the wearer gains a +2 circumstance bonus on each sneak attack damage die.
+1 Agile Impervious Resizing Mithral Monowhip
Total Overall Price: 85,500 GP
Total Technological Price: 70,000 GP
Total Enchantment Price: 15,000 GP
Special Material Price: 500 GP
Total Equivalent Enhancement Bonus: +2
Type light melee; Proficiency exotic; Weight 1 lb.
Damage 1d10 (small), 2d6 (medium), 3d6 (large); Damage Type S; Critical 18-20/x3
Range —; Capacity 10; Usage 1 charge/round; Special Performance, reach, touch
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A monowhip is a deadly melee weapon capable of inflicting horrible wounds, even in the hands of the weak. An inactive monowhip looks like a short metal baton, but when it's activated, a small weight detaches, revealing a 15-foot-long monofilament length. Wielded like a whip, a monowhip slices deeply into targets and can inflict grievous critical hits with shocking ease. Attacks made with a monowhip resolve as touch attacks, and they ignore hardness as if the monofilament were made of adamantine. A monowhip's damage cannot be enhanced by strength, as the monofilament slices with equal ease regardless of the force applied. Activating a monowhip is a move action; once activated, the whip consumes power incredibly quickly, at the rate of 1 charge per round.
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Material: Mithral, Price: +500 GP
Enchanted With;
+1 Enhancement Bonus to attack and damage rolls
Agile
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot none; Price +1 bonus; Weight —
Description
A character with Weapon Finesse can apply her Dexterity modifier to damage rolls with an agile weapon in place of her Strength modifier. This modifier to damage is not increased for two-handed weapons, but is still reduced for off-hand weapons. This weapon special ability can be placed only on melee weapons usable with Weapon Finesse.
Impervious
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot weapon quality; Price +3,000 gp; Weight —
Description
An impervious weapon is warded from damage and decay. A metallic weapon cannot rust and a wooden weapon cannot rot or warp, even by magical or supernatural means. An impervious weapon gains double the normal bonus to its hardness and hit points for each point of its enhancement bonus. The break DC for an impervious weapon and the wielder's combat maneuver defense against sunder maneuvers against the impervious weapon each gain a bonus equal to twice the weapon's enhancement bonus.
Resizing
Aura faint transmutation CL 5th
Slot none; Price +4,000 gp; Weight —
Description
A resizing weapon instantly shrinks or grows to suit the size of any creature that picks it up unless it is currently wielded by another creature. It reverts to its original size 1 round after it leaves its wielder's possession
Used for ceremonial displays or occasionally worn (albeit with no additional benefit) over heavier armor, these robes consist of several layers of cloth and an outer layer of silk intricately woven with gold brocade designs and covered with metal studs.
Enchanted With;
+5 Enhancement Bonus to Armor
Advancing
Aura faint necromancy CL 5th
Slot armor quality; Price +1 bonus; Weight —
Description
A suit of armor with the advancing special ability allows its wearer to move through fallen enemies to the forefront of any conflict. Once per round when the wearer of a suit of advancing armor reduces an opponent to 0 hit points or fewer with a melee attack, she can immediately move up to 10 feet as a free action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If this armor is created as barding, the effect is triggered if either the mount or its rider reduces an opponent to 0 hit points or fewer, and allows the mount to move up to 10 feet. The advancing special ability can be applied only to heavy armor.
Burdenless
Aura faint transmutation CL 5th
Slot none; Price +4,000 gp; Weight —
Description
Burdenless armor distributes the weight of the wearer's load more efficiently, allowing her to carry more without suffering the effects of encumbrance. The wearer's carrying capacity is increased by 50% across each load (light, medium and heavy).
Comfort
Aura faint transmutation CL 5th
Slot armor quality; Price +5,000 gp; Weight —
Description
Armor of comfort sheds dirt and sweat as they accumulate, and remains as comfortable as weather-appropriate clothing regardless of environmental conditions. A suit of armor with this enhancement always looks immaculately clean, can be slept in as though it were light armor, and does not cause a penalty to the wearer's saving throws to resist the effects of extreme heat. In cold weather, it counts as cold-weather clothing. In addition, the armor's armor check penalty is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0).
Ghost Touch
Aura strong transmutation CL 15th
Slot armor/shield quality; Price +3 bonus; Weight —
Description
This armor or shield seems almost translucent. Both its enhancement bonus and its armor bonus count against the attacks of corporeal and incorporeal creatures. It can be picked up, moved, and worn by corporeal and incorporeal creatures alike. Incorporeal creatures gain the armor's or shield's enhancement bonus against both corporeal and incorporeal attacks, and they can still pass freely through solid objects.
Impervious
Aura moderate transmutation CL 7th
Slot armor/shield quality; Price +1 bonus; Weight —
Description
A shield or suit of armor with this special ability is especially hardy. It gains double its enhancement bonus to hardness and hit points (instead of just the enhancement bonus), its break DC increases by double its enhancement bonus, and it gains a bonus on saving throws against direct attacks (such as a rust monster's rust ability) equal to its enhancement bonus.
Shadow, Greater
Aura strong illusion CL 15th
Slot armor quality; Price +33,750 gp; Weight —
Description
As shadow, except it grants a +15 competence bonus on Stealth checks.
"This armor blurs the wearer whenever she tries to hide, while also dampening the sound around her, granting a +5 competence bonus on Stealth checks. The armor's armor check penalty still applies normally."
Slick, Greater
Aura strong conjuration CL 15th
Slot armor quality; Price +33,750 gp; Weight —
Description
As slick, except it grants a +15 competence bonus on Escape Artist checks.
"Slick armor seems coated at all times with a slightly greasy oil. It provides a +5 competence bonus on its wearer's Escape Artist checks. The armor's armor check penalty still applies normally."
Enchanted Technological Bracer (Fate-Woven Braid of the Norns (Improved))
Tech Capacity: 40
Tech Charge Usage: Varies by function
Total Overall Price:
Total Technological Price: 88,530 GP
Total Enchantment Price: 15,000 GP
This singular jet black bracer is built to be worn on the left arm, and has a dull gloss to it's metal. On the side meant to be on the interior of the forearm, set almost perfectly into the material itself, is three thin strings of gold that run from nearly end to end.
---
Technological Functions;
Commset
Price 6,000 GP
Usage 1 charge/hour
This device allows for communication between two commset users. A commset carries audio and visual signals, and includes a builtin camera that can record all communications being broadcast. Communication between two commsets requires both users to tune their individual devices to the same frequency. A commset has a range of 1 mile—beyond this range, communication is impossible without enhancing the signal strength with a signal booster (see page 51). The price and cost listed for this item are for a single commset.
Chipfinder (Prismatic)
Price 76,500 GP
Usage 1 charge/hour
When the chipfinder function is activated, all active tracker chips within a 500-mile radius appear as glowing dots on the screen, indicating the direction and approximate distance to each installed tracker chip, as well (customizable) identification number for each chip. The screen can filter out unwanted data to make it easier to track a specific chip. This range is a signal, and can be enhanced by a signal booster (see page 51) or blocked by a solid enough barrier.
Flashlight (Improved)
Price 30 gp
Usage 0, but must have at least 1 Charge available.
When activated, the flashlight creates a beam of normal light in a 60-foot cone. It also increases the light level in the area beyond this initial cone by one step, out to a 120-foot cone. It does not increase the light level in normal light or bright light. A flashlight has no effect in areas of magical darkness.
Fire Extinguisher
Price 6,000 gp
Usage 1 charge
This function open a small hole at the wrist-end of the bracers, from which a thin nozzle pokes out. When activated as a standard action, the fire extinguisher creates a 15-foot cone of misty vapor that swiftly extinguishes fires within its area of effect. Against magical fire effects, such as those created by a wall of fire or similar spell, the fire extinguisher only extinguishes the part of the larger effect its vapors directly contact. Continual magic flames, such as those of a flaming weapon or fire creature, are suppressed for 6 rounds before they automatically reignite. To extinguish an instantaneous fire effect or spell, the wielder must use a readied action with the fire extinguisher to counter the effect; this can cancel the entire effect, provided the source of the effect is in the extinguisher's area of effect.
When used against a creature of the fire subtype, a blast from a fire extinguisher deals 4d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 15 halves). A breathing creature exposed to a direct blast from a fire extinguisher is not harmed as long as the area is relatively well-ventilated—using a fire extinguisher in a confined area with poor or no ventilation can result in slow suffocation (at the GM's discretion).
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Enchanted With;
Fate-Woven Braid (Improved)
This item functions as a Fate-Woven Braid of the Norns, except the 3/day use limit has been expanded to any number of uses, and the Price is increased to 15,000 GP.
However, it is still subject to a three-fray limit.
Each single fray can be repaired at 1/3 the creation cost.
Fate-Woven Braid of the Norns (Standard)
Aura strong abjuration and evocation; CL 16th
Slot wrists; Price 9,000 gp; Weight —
Description
At first glance, this circlet of plaited hair interwoven with a single gold thread appears to be nothing more than a personal memento or a lover's token. Closer examination reveals that each strand of hair seems to have neither a beginning nor an end. Most of these braids are blonde in color, but other hues are not unknown.
Up to three times per day, the wearer of a fate-woven braid of the norns can potentially negate a disastrous turn of fortune. Upon rolling a natural 1 on a saving throw or after failing a saving throw against a death effect, the wearer can activate the braid as a free action to reroll the saving throw.
The golden thread is vulnerable to severe twists of fate, though. If the result of any reroll obtained by the braid is ever a natural 20, the golden thread frays, permanently reducing the braid's daily reroll uses by one. If all three daily uses are eliminated in this manner, the golden thread snaps and the fate-woven braid of the norns falls apart into a nonmagical pile of wispy gray hair. A fate-woven braid of the norns uses up the entire wrists slot, even though the user wears only one at a time. The user can't use another item (even another fate-woven braid of the norns) that also uses the wrists slot.
AN: Right, that was an interesting thing to write out the other end of.
Well not doing anything about him doesn't mean we can't spy on him. Hmm… I don't think we have any direct scry capabilities so it'd be the hard way to find him. But now that we know about him, he does have such a nice underground lair. Shouldn't let it go to waste.
Giving ourself a case 53 tattoo is fine, but I'm against revealing ourself so quickly.
[X] Plan: Information Gathering
-[X] Give yourself a Case 53 tattoo in a suitable location.
-[X] Continue you your language studies. The minority communities appear to have their own tongues, it shouldn't take long to discover them.
-[X] Maintaining stealth, track the movements and valuable territories of these "parahumans" so that you may better study them and gain a grasp of the local political scene.
[X] Xses and Os
-[X] Find a mirror - perhaps in your tent, or one in mall after work hours. Check your entire body, especially any tattoos you might have. Investigate tattoos
-[X] Go through your inventory once again, focus on trying to find any hidden compartments and the like. Then go through your spellbook, and make a tally of reagents we are currently lacking.
-[X] Go through our scribed scrolls, try to understand their purpose.
-[X] Go to a remote location. Cast the spells that you have in higher slots, and try to understand what is different about each
-[X] Find some random person on the internet or newspapers, a celebrity of some sorts, and try casting Discern Location to find them by using information available online
We need to do some basic housekeeping before doing stuff.
[X] Plan: Information Gathering v2
-[X] Find a secluded mirror to examine your true form. Give yourself a Case 53 tattoo in a suitable location if you don't already have one.
-[X] Check our belongings for hidden compartments and for what reagents and spell components we need to build a stockpile.
-[X] Go through your spellbook and make sure you're familiar with all your spells. Mark down any you're unsure about for future testing.
-[X] Continue you your language studies. The minority communities appear to have their own tongues, it shouldn't take long to discover them.
-[X] Maintaining stealth, track the movements and valuable territories of these "parahumans" so that you may better study them and gain a grasp of the local political scene.
There is this thing called "abstraction". When communicating on this forum, you don't need to care about understanding electronics or programming or any number of things that happen for you to post on SV. In the same way I don't specify every single thing our character does because I don't have to, he is a smart guy who can figure out small things himself.
So while I could write 500 words plan on how we are going to check everything and then fly a mile in the air and so on and on, I prefer not wasting my time on dumb shit just because you are deathly afraid of GM going "aha! you didn't specify that you wouldn't stab yourself in the face!".
