Comments, Compliments, and Complaints

[mackaber]

Flight isn't that important unless we fight flying stuff me thinks. Reach 10 is an extremely powerful asset as it makes flanking so much easier and provides you with extra attacks via AoO.

[Muskrat]

So, the Summoner rules let you completely rebuild your eidolon at every level? That's pretty neat. It may be a bit before I level up--I have a bunch of RL things on my plate at the moment that need to be prioritized.

[Trogdor]

Eidolon
...

The eidolon takes a form shaped by the summoner's desires. The eidolon's Hit Dice, saving throws, skills, feats, and abilities are tied to the summoner's class level and increase as the summoner gains levels. In addition, each eidolon receives a pool of evolution points, based on the summoner's class level, that can be used to give the eidolon different abilities and powers. Whenever the summoner gains a level, he must decide how these points are spent, and they are set until he gains another level of summoner.

...

Evolution Pool
The value given in this column is the total number of points in the eidolon's evolution pool. Points from this pool can be spent on a wide variety of modifications and upgrades that add new abilities, attacks, and powers to the eidolon. Whenever the summoner gains a level, the number in this pool increases and the summoner can spend these points to change the abilities of the eidolon. These choices are not set. The summoner can change them whenever he gains a level (and through the transmogrify spell).

Yup, they can be reallocated each level. But once allocated, they remain fixed until you advance to a new level.

[Muskrat]

I don't know if you can tell us this without ruining anything, V, but I find myself curious how the adventure would have gone if we had not accumulated enough virtue points for Syntira to summon us and we'd fallen under the spell of the Eye of Rapture.

[Vardaen]

The Eye of Rapture, once triggered, shrouds an area as large as one square mile in a powerful meld of enchantment and illusion magic. Those within range see only what they want to see and are filled with euphoric glee. They ignore anything that happens that does not mesh with their preconceptions. The effect lasts for 2d4 hours, and the wielder may alter the illusions witnessed at any time. When the duration expires, the eye crumbles to crystalline dust and loses all magical properties. A DC 25 Will save is necessary to avoid falling under the eye's spell. The eye requires a powerful evil fey custodian to work its magic, as it draws on this fey's darkest thoughts and hate. If the custodian is slain, the eye fractures and crumbles to dust.

Uncooperative PCs
While there are plenty of opportunities to gain Virtue Points throughout the first half of this adventure, it is entirely possible that callous, evil, timid, or blind PCs might not accrue the necessary 11 in order to convince Syntira to aid them. In that case, they are just as subject to the effects of the Eye of Rapture as any other townsfolk. If this happens, the adventure is certainly not over, but it becomes much more difficult. It is possible that one or more of the PCs makes the Will save necessary to resist the eye's effects. In that case, you can run the adventure largely as written, although those who failed their saves are severely handicapped, perhaps even refusing to believe anything their friends tell them.

In the event that none of the PCs make their save, allow them to continue exploring the altered carnival until one of them is injured by the fey. At that point, give him a new save with a +4 bonus. If a PC dies during the course of the exploration, all of the others get a new save with a +10 bonus. Eventually, they might learn the truth, but by then, it might be too late.

Based on how you did with the events, and the death total:

Fewer than 100 deaths (You got this): The murder toll is not extensive. The horrifying incident is not soon forgotten, but little changes in Falcon's Hollow as a result. The PCs are touted as brave heroes who averted complete disaster with their selfless act of valor. Syntira is indebted to the PCs for redeeming her lost children and gives them a fully charged wand of lightning bolt. (If the PCs can't use lightning bolt, pick another appropriate 3rd level spell.) -- I changed that to a much larger collection of goodies.

100–399 deaths: Many die. Falcon's Hollow falls under a pall of mourning for months, and the town shrinks as many abandon it as an accursed place. In addition, a good number of Syntira's followers are polluted beyond redemption (forever becoming dark ice fey). Still, the PCs are heralded as heroes for preventing more death, and Syntira and her loyal followers are able to push her corrupted court members from Darkmoon Vale, banishing them as she once did their forbearers to the frozen wastes inhabited by the Witch Queen.

400–699 deaths: Families are sundered, blood and tears soak the earth and Falcon's Hollow becomes an even drearier place than before, where misery reigns unchallenged and even formerly virtuous citizens become lean predators, mistrustful of everyone they know (even the PCs). The town becomes a hateful place, where men gut each other over a copper piece and bedlam is kept at bay only by Thuldrin Kreed's iron fist, as the lumber tycoon seizes even more power in the wake of the tragedy.

700 or more deaths: Most of the township perishes in the massacre. The snow and ice melt away quickly, but the torment and slaughter visited upon Falcon's Hollow is never forgotten. The woods become a source of terror to most of the hollow's residents and the entire settlement begins to falter. No amount of intimidation can force the lumberjacks back into the shaded glens, and soon Thuldrin Kreed's empire begins to collapse. Survivors abandon Falcon's Hollow in droves, until the ramshackle settlement is little more than a ghost town, prowled by the tormented spirits who lost their lives at the Carnival of Tears (as it henceforth called). Slowly, the land heals and reclaims the stretch of ground cleared by greed and axes, but the vines and trees of Darkmoon are forever infected with evil. The fey wage a war among their own kind, and a cold spreads down from the north, even shrouding summer months in frost and wind.

[Trogdor]

@ Muskrat - in other words, it would have gone very badly.

And all in all, despite the deaths, we did very well. As the description says, a lot of death, but not so much that the town can't recover from it.

[Grimbold]

Trying to think about Torias next level, what class to take.

[mackaber]

Is he straight Cleric up until now?

[Grimbold]

Yep. I think I will take Cleric 5 for 3rd lvl spells and better channeling. Trog also suggested doing that. Perhaps later I will dip into Inquisitor or paladin...

[mackaber]

Dipping with full caster classes is generally a really bad idea. Paladin might have some alluring early abilities, but as a Dwarf your Charisma likely ain't so high that you'd truly benefit from it. Inquisitor? For what the extra Domain/Class skills?

If you're bored of Cleric you could also look into some Prestige Classes. There's some pretty good ones with full BAB progression.