Hell's Rebels AP - Down with Thrune!

Game Master GM Red

Barring a 4e fiasco, there will be some things we like, some things we hate, and a requirement to buy a lot more new stuff to replace the stacks of stuff now consigned to the trash heap of beloved hobbies.

Neither excited nor particularly bummed. Resigned to the inevitability of a publisher's need to produce and sell more products.

New edition means a new rebirth.

But it also means you start waiting. When will they have a 2e Oracle ready? Will it have the same look and feel as 1e Issil? I don't know. It's the exciting part.

But I'll be 1e'ing for a while. I've had a keen eye on Ruins of Azlant, whenever I find "free time".

^I kinda feel the same way. I can afford to not be as bummed as some because with the bulk of my playing being done online *and* still being pretty new to PFS, I've got plenty of 1e material to keep my 1e characters busy for the foreseeable future.

Probably won't be making very many more 1e PCs, though, except for using what race boons I've accumulated/will accumulate before the switch. Looks like I've got my Samsaran and at least one Aquatic Elf to do something with...*ponders*

I'm good with the reroll, Pádraig.
This fight is looking dicey. It was on the higher end of the roll table, and then I went and rolled well. Fleeing is always an option.

So...this is probably a bit out of the blue, but conversation in a different game led me to write the following and I thought it deserved being posted here, too.

It's kind of a sappy, 'I love you guyyyyys' thing except without the alcohol? :)

And technically I think I already have means to touch base outside the forums with everyone in this game but the general sentiment is still the same :)

Well said.

I still keep in touch with many friends I've met throughout the years playing games online (Mostly WoW and Pathfinder). Once the games end the relationships don't need to (although they do tend to slow down quite a bit).

Having the google hangouts/chat thinger is a nice way to keep in touch and as you all can tell from my end, just to chit chat about stupid crap like the weather and what's been going on in our own real worlds. A great place to vent or just talk to another person. Something everyone needs from time to time.

Don't you know internet friends are the best kind of friends?

Joking aside, I agree with you, and platforms outside of the forums (like Hangouts) are really great for talking about topics unrelated to the game we're playing in.

You do form a sort of relationship with the players you play with and the GMs running your game, and when they disappear, you feel like something's missing, even if it's small, and can't help but wonder what happened.

This is one of the things that keeps me coming back to these forums; that even though I don't really know anyone here in person (except Uesugi/Bishop/Karmic Knight, who I met here and who happened to work just down the street!), there's a sense of responsibility I feel to come back here daily and update. On days that I'm tired or busy, I genuinely feel like I'm letting people down if I don't update my games, or if a GM is waiting for me to post and I'm holding up combat. It's not unlike being in an MMORPG guild. Most days I post out of interest rather than obligation, but if I didn't care about my players/GMs/community, I'd probably quickly lose interest in writing posts!

Busy here at work, but I can echo all the sentiments posted here!

I'm playing Pathfinder to meet up with cool people I wouldn't meet up with otherwise. The game is more like an excuse to meet up. It's kind of like sitting around to watch Sportsball or talk about your favorite TV show: it's just a common glue that breaks the ice.

I'm also aware that Pathfinder is going to change. I started playing D&D 2nd Ed long ago in middle school, came back in college in time for 3rd ed and then switched to Pathfinder when I saw what 4th ed was about. I've played video games since the late 80s. I'm used to changing and upgrading the system I play. That's a small price to pay to hang out with all of you.

So expect plenty more posts from Issil (unless this choker kills her) and expect plenty more from me.

I hope there's no hard feelings, after having dropped out of the google chat thing. It was fun and useful for a while. But since we agreed to limit discussion to HR-only, I just decided to limit my ooc chatting to the discussion thread as a way to reduce the digital clutter in my own life.

Man, I really don't want anyone to die.
I'm always nervous when I get into combat situations like these, and aren't really sure how to handle killing PCs.

I hope there's no hard feelings, after having dropped out of the google chat thing. It was fun and useful for a while. But since we agreed to limit discussion to HR-only, I just decided to limit my ooc chatting to the discussion thread as a way to reduce the digital clutter in my own life.

None here Larry, miss having you in on the random discussions though. Digital clutter is as thing for me, luckily its not super high on my priority list to reduce :)

Man, I really don't want anyone to die.

I'm always nervous when I get into combat situations like these, and aren't really sure how to handle killing PCs.

I'm brainstorming my next character as we speak.

Wait, no I'm not, OutPost is keeping me busy. Don't kill me off until OutPost ends!

No hard feelings at all Larry! Your presence is missed but I can understand the desire to keep digital clutter and the like to a dull roar :)

And definitely don't want anyone to die either! I technically killed a PC at my Runecarved Key table but then they got better...

(Was not expecting a 2nd level character to be packing a Breath of Life scroll but there it was!)

Been a busy Wednesday. I expect to update this evening when I get home.

Ha, lucky bastard making that roll to go with my s@@~ roll! At least things didn't get physical, I appreciate that. I'll also be sure to redo my forgery!

I think I'll be taking deceitful as I'm planning on taking the Spy Master prestige class and deceitful is a prereq!

Also, this is a good time to sell off extra loot on the spread sheet. Please claim something or unclaim it if you no longer want it so we can sell some things off and generate some $$ for our characters and the Silver Ravens if needed.

My main question would be all the scrolls, are there any that may not get used?

Pádraig Henry will take Persuasive as his bonus feat.

I agree, we should sell off what we're unlikely to use. The scrolls are nice situational items, though, and I'm loath to part with them.

I'll take a look at the loot list later. Prepping for a F2F session this afternoon.

Geoffrey is split between taking Persuasive or Alertness as his bonus feat. Any advice would be much appreciated :)

As for the potions in the Loot list, I say Padraig, Geoffrey and Victor each get one. Also that MW chain shirt would look good on Geoffrey's back he he.

I also say we hang onto the scrolls, at least for now. They are always useful and do come in handy in a pinch.

Alertness seems to fit Geoffrey's role as protector, boosting Perception to avoid nasty surprises and spot danger and Sense Motive to determine deception and the intentions of potential foes and allies.

Ok then Alertness it is!

BTW I updated all of the items on the Loot List with what Geoffrey thinks should be done with them. Since he claimed the MW chain shirt he will add his original chain shirt to the list.

Thanks for updating the list, Geoffrey.

To do:
- Finalize your bonus feat choices
- Deposit at least 8 gp more into the treasury to get it to its minimum
- Sell off any unwanted loot (looks like most items have been updated on the Loot Tracker now)
- I'll roll for a CLW wand this week

Let's also start talking about what 3 activities you'd like to choose for the upcoming Activity Phase.

The main choices are Recruit Supporters, Earn Gold, Spread Disinformation, and Reduce Danger. You can also Recruit a Team, Change your Officer Role, Guarantee an Event, or Lie Low.

Refer to pages 27 and 28 of the Player's Guide for full details, or ask me and I can give you further information.

I'd certainly say earning gold should be one. And maybe something to reduce our chance of an event or danger. Or we could recruit another team that can earn gold and have 2 earn golds!

OK, I decided Deceitful is slightly more in character for Issil. Man, all but Alertness has exactly 1 skill I want to invest in. I'm gonna leave Disguise by the curb.

Earn Gold is our number 1 priority. We need to maintain the 40 gp minimum and pay for next week.

While I would love to reduce danger, we only have a +2 for a DC 15 Security check. Is there any way we can improve our security check further?

I agree with Issil here. We need to earn gold, and also consider Upgrading our team, though 250 GP is a steep price currently.

The only way I can think of to increase our Security is to switch Focus to Security, which I am not in favor of, though the Sentinel (Padraig) can lend his bonus to resolving a Security check.

Okay, same as Geoffrey I was torn between Persuasive and Alertness but finally decided to opt for Persuasive as it seems to fit better as Morv gets better at talking to (and threatening, as needed) other people.

I'm definitely on board with keeping the scrolls as they're all stuff that could come in handy during one of those 'oh sh!t' moments that sometimes happen....well, except the scroll of Pass without Trace - selling that one would probably be fine. Selling the gold tooth and Geoffrey's old chain shirt are fine, too.

Definitely agree that Earn Gold is probably our biggest priority at the moment. Being able to recruit a second team to help with that would be nice, but I'm also concerned about the danger level. Maybe Earn Gold, Reduce Danger (w/ Padraig helping), and then Recruit a Team?

Works for me.
We can also sell Pádraig Henry's original leather armor. Sorry for not catching that sooner. Not a lot, but every copper helps.
I think that we should hang onto the scroll of pass without trace. There may come a time when it could be quite handy for someone with a decent UMD trying to avoid guard dogs, animal companions, infiltrate a dusty room, etc.

PASS WITHOUT TRACE

School transmutation; Level druid 1, ranger 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range touch
Targets one creature/level touched
Duration 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
The subject or subjects of this spell do not leave footprints or a scent trail while moving. Tracking the subjects is impossible by nonmagical means.

Sounds like we're going with Earn Gold, Reduce Danger (using the Sentinel's +1 bonus to the Security check), and then Recruit a New Team.

Which team would you like to attempt to recruit? This will affect which of the 3 Organization checks we'll need to make (Security, Secrecy, or Loyalty) as well as the DC of the check.

Let's recruit some Traders. It's a DC 10 Security check. They can Earn gold for us. Eventually we'll be able to upgrade them so we can pay for upgrading teams.

Ok thanks for any input that went into the loot list. Sounds like we should just hold on to the scrolls for now. Some are definitely useful, others could be so we'll hold 'em till we get desperate.

We should decide how much of our loot that is getting sold will go into the Silver Raven's coffers. It costs gold to recruit a team I think? And we need to get up to minimum gold. We should just take that out of our loot, and if a wand of CLW is available, take that out too, then divide up the meager remains.. if any.

So actions: Earn Gold, Recruit Traders, Earn Gold? How's that sound? With the Tieflings streaming in looking for their green paint we shouldn't need to recruit anyone for a bit....

That would work for me too!

Sounds like we have a plan. Thanks Victor!

Make it so Number One...errr...GM Red!

a rope tied to your... manhood and a rock on the other end of the rope

I've actually seen Hindu sadhus (holy men) do this in Nepal.

Great rolling there Red! We're in the gold now baby!

PS, did recruiting a team cost us gold? We'll need to take that out of our group loot if so. Also, can you roll up that wand of cure light? I'd like to get that on the loot list so we know if we get any spending money to play with this week.

Padraig: I bet they didn't use large rocks like I was envisioning. Sorry, 'Old School' is a hilarious movie IMO. I'm not tying any ropes down there, not fer nothing.

Caution: Trigger Warning for those offended by Eastern mysticism and another from Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal.
Once the word got out, it became a must-see stop for all the Spec Ops teams I worked with in the country. Cultural immersion with no risk of cultural appropriation!

Huh...the more you know!

Working ye olde graveyard shift tonight guys so I'll try to catch up on Gameplay when I can!

Totally stole your Spell & AoE Templates slides, Lady Ladile, and created a link in all the scenarios I'm running. Thanks for putting that together.

Thanks Padraig, but as I mentioned elsewhere they're actually borrowed from another PbPer named Stormstrider after a random search led me to his slides. He's cool with others using them but I wanted to give him credit just the same (and have now done so on the slides themselves) :)

I'll amend my slide to give him credit. But I wouldn't have found them, if you hadn't posted them. So you've both earned my thanks.

Let's hunt some rats!

Victor, get over here!

One of the things I find most challenging as a GM is walking the fine line between keeping the mystery alive and ensuring I don't annoy the players with too many disjointed and vague hints. With an AP, plot elements take longer to develop, so you won't always have a quick answer to everything or be able to solve every puzzle as it arises.

I want the players to feel a sense of reward and gratification for solving the mystery without being hand-fed too many hints, but I also don't want anyone to feel helpless.

All that to say... You're on the right track!

Huzzah~!

In other news, I'm working night shift tonight and Saturday night so while I'll try and check in and update when I can, feel free to bot me as needed.

With there being plenty of bookkeeping in this AP, I'd forgotten a few key bonuses...

- As long as Rexus remains an ally of the Silver Ravens, the rebellion’s Notoriety score is reduced by 1 (to a minimum score of 1) at the start of every Upkeep phase.

- As long as Laria remains an ally of the Silver Ravens, all Loyalty checks to take the Recruit Supporters action gain a +2 bonus.

I'll apply the top one retroactively in fairness. There have been two Upkeep phases so far, so I'll take 2 off your Notoriety.

Do we also get the bonuses to skills based on the city modifiers? Like Sleight of Hand, Bluff, etc.

Sort of. Um, don't hate me guys, but I just reread the city stat block on Page 16 of the Player's Guide, and there are other bonuses and penalties to rolls based on the current state of Kintargo's government. I think we had been missing these before.

I've summarized them in this sheet.

No worries, so long as my bluff doesn't take penalties I can live with it :) Nice to see people are easier to sway with the right verbal 'english'.

Had a bunch of work nonsense crop up that's kept me busy through the night; I'll try and get caught up sometime this morning after work if I can.