The sailors appear cowed for a moment, taken aback by Amano's fierce demeanor, and pause in their slow movement as they follow Audric.
After a second, one of them, a Varisian they keep calling 'Dorin,' makes a farting sound with his tongue. "You're the guys who owes *us* money, horn-head!" The others laugh and resume their noise.
The sailors started to follow Audric across the gambling hall floor but quickly became distracted by their witty comments regarding Audric's parentage. Clearly, their sobriety (or lack thereof) has dampened their concentration level.
When Amano joins the group, they start laughing and making little "horns" with their fingers. "Oooh, lookie. One'a the imps got outta its cage!" At this point, although they are armed with clubs hanging on their belts, they are mostly just making a scene and distracting the other patrons.
One of the sailors shouts, "I still ain't got my money!"
Lyan: You begin the quick dash down the steps. I'll let you know when you're there.
Triss:
Spoiler:
The scrolls were Arcane lock and Knock. You'll have to let the others know about the Cloak and Potion, since you were the only one to identify them as magical.
If you are planning to contribute to the conversation, please feel free to jump in with rolls as necessary. Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate are obvious choices, but others might be applicable as well.
Audric approaches the sailors. "Gentlemen! If you would kindly follow me, we can discuss the matter of getting you your rightful reward in private."
Is there a back room to herd these guys into? Bluff to make it seem like they will actually get money, Diplomacy to make them like me:1d20+10=22, 1d20+6=8
"Arrrright!" one of them slurs. "Com'on, guys. The half-breed here says he'll pay ush." He jabs a thumb in Audric's direction.
Another of the sailors lets out a braying laugh and shouts, "I hear those 'halfies' come out with nothing butweeen their legs! 's that true, halfie? you a yooonick?" All the sailors laugh at this.
Larur's office is on this floor and would be a suitable room to usher them into.
What's the movement situation for me to get down there? Either vertically or conventionally?
Vertical movement would require quite a leap and tearing through the gauzy veils that block Lyan from the sight of the patrons below. If you are trained in Acrobatics or Athletics, you might be able to reduce some of the damage taken from such a fall.
The other option is a quick run to the nearest stairway. Lyan estimates it would take about 30 seconds to reach the front door from his current vantage point that way.
As you perform your various duties around the Gold Goblin about midway through a relatively peaceful night, you are each surprised by sudden raised voices near the front entrance.
Four human men, clearly identifiable as sailors by their functional garb and sun-leathered skin, are belligerently shouting alternately at the cashier in her cage and Hans. Obviously a bit left of sober, the sailors shout that they were present at the Goblin last night during the attempted heist and that the whole thing was "set-up to get outta payin' us our winnin's!" The cashier seems to be trying to calm the men, but they are shouting so loudly that her voice is drowned out, and Hans is looking around for someone to tell him what to do.
Amano and Shaeryyn are closest to the action in their respective roles, but Audric and Triss aren't far off. Lyan has the most distance to cover, since he is watching from the catwalks above.
After a relatively uneventful day, the Gold Goblin opens around dusk, and a small number of gamblers wander in over the course of the next hour or so. Things are quiet and each of you is fairly bored at your assigned positions.
Larur wanders the floor, keeping an eye on things and joking gruffly with some of the patrons. Beyar and Hans stand by the vault and the cashier's cage, respectively, and stare into space. Lixy sits behind the ghoulette wheel, giving it a spin for the occasional gambler, and collecting as the shrunken ghoul head on the wheel's hub insults everyone around it.
Please make the following rolls:
Shaeryyn: Diplomacy
Lyan: Perception
Triss: Intelligence
Amano: Intimidate
Audric: Bluff
It might be that the delves are a bit on the hard side. I always run D&D in our group, but, just as an exercise today, I let one of my players run me through the 3rd level delve in Dungeon Delve. He has played the game (up to 9th level) but was unfamiliar with the monster statblocks and some other behind-the-scenes stuff. To counteract this, I quickly threw together 5 3rd-level PCs on the Character Builder, trying out as many new concepts as possible. I ended with:
I figured this was a balanced party, and although they were all new classes to me, I could figure them out pretty quickly. It took me an entire encounter to really get the hang of them, but by the second encounter, I was pretty much good to go.
Well, I got my butt handed to me. The third room of the delve was an ugly TPK in which I surrendered when the sorcerer was the only party member standing and the main boss and his mighty henchman weren't even bloodied.
It seems the formula is to do encounter levels of Party level +0, followed by +1, followed by +3. This is fine, but the writers put in monsters that are sometimes more than 5 levels higher than the average party level. I know the DMG says this is kosher, but in practice I have found it leads to dead PCs.
So, I suggest that everyone who uses the delves be prepared to shovel piles of dead PCs off their dungeon-lawns, because there are some killers delves in this book.
I don't play 4E and am not a fan of it at all. That being said I see the functionality of this product and after flipping through it in store I may pick up the PDF of this product and change the monsters back to their 3.5 counterparts to use for my games...
Coolio. I'm doing the reverse with Pathfinder mods, inserting 4E monsters for 3.x creatures.
What are you running? I have been doing Rise of the Runelords. Pirating off of Scott Betts for some suff, but about 70% mine.
Not to threadjack, but I'm converting CotCT. It's going quite well.
As a personal anecdote, the halfling rogue in my RotRL party snuck into Thistletop and murdered half the goblins there before any alarm was raised. We are halfway through CotCT, and my players still talk about that shining moment for the rogue (who survived the entire AP; this was his personal highlight), and no one at the table was bored while he was sneaking around.
I'm not sure if you were suggesting this but I would like to reiterate that this is not what I consider scouting. To me, once one starts wandering through Thistletop, you have stopped scouting and begun engaging the enemy.
Clearly the entire encounter went way beyond simply scouting, but it didn't start that way. The point being that if the DM is willing to improvise a bit, there is certainly a place for scouting in Paizo adventures, or, at least, as much as there is in any published adventure.
As you observe The Blot, you note that it changes shape and size somewhat, but is generally ovoid in shape and hovers alternately over the harbor and gulf just south of Riddleport. It is dark like a shadow but does allow some light through, albeit dimly, and flying objects can faintly be seen through its obscuring haze. It casts a faint shadow on the ground beneath it depending on the angle of the sun. The Blot seems to move in a pattern that appears erratic until studied closely. It follows an elliptical orbit traveling north over the town and south over the gulf, shifting north and south as the tides shift. It is closest to Riddleport at high tide.
Roughly midday, you stop for a brief lunch at a small open-air cafe near the harbor. While you are eating, you notice the spoon set next to your plate suddenly slides of its own volition until it strikes the side of the plate, sticking there. At the same time, you can feel the fork in your hand pulling toward the plate as well, as if a magnetic force were drawing them together. Other metallic items in your possession, including the dagger at your waist, are subject to this same strange magnetic force. Glancing up, you see other patrons and citizens on the streets looking around in wonder as metal objects go flying, striking larger metal objects with sharp ringing sounds. Bridles stand straight out. Gate hinges creak open. Wire-rimmed spectacles go flying from the faces of their owners. This strange effect lasts for several minutes, then ends suddenly, and the small metal objects all fall to the ground simultaneously, with much clattering and jangling. Everyone around you seems mystified by the strange occurrence.
Nothing else untoward happens as you continue your investigation.
I might go so far as to suggest that Paizo's writers construct encounters the way that most game writers do: with the assumption that the party is going to charge in, swords and wands waving.
Now, of course, not every party operates this way. Some parties are big into scouting and some are big into diplomacy, and I don't think either option is really given all that much thought in the writing of the various AP encounters. This is due, I'm sure, to the limitations involved in writing adventures for an impossibly large number of possible party-types, word-count, etc. such that it seems the target audience must be the average kill, kill, kill party (of course, we could get into a discussion about whether or not that really is the "average" party).
So, I think it's fair to say that Paizo encounters are not written with much thought to scouting, diplomacy, or many of the oddball tactics my party threw at me as we completed RotRL. It is, of course, incumbent upon the DM to figure out the results of actions other than "Charge. Kill." As has been posted above, this is done regularly.
As a personal anecdote, the halfling rogue in my RotRL party snuck into Thistletop and murdered half the goblins there before any alarm was raised. We are halfway through CotCT, and my players still talk about that shining moment for the rogue (who survived the entire AP; this was his personal highlight), and no one at the table was bored while he was sneaking around.
You dine together that evening (a modest meal of cold chicken with some wilted raw vegetables and chunks of decent bread) and much discussion is made of The Blot and any headway the Cyphermages (a local order of wizards, dedicated to study of the Cyphergate) have made into an explanation of the strange phenomenon.
After dinner, you all bunk in the private apartment, which is comfortable, although Amano's snoring is less than ideal. The early rise of the two eladrin and the elf, who never really slept at all, seems an appropriate retaliation toward the tiefling.
After breakfast, Saul assigns each of you a task for that evening's Grand Re-Opening (he explains that it is vital that you not allow the Goblin to sit idle, even for one night).
Shaeryyn: He tasks you with managing the staff on the floor and greeting patrons as they enter the gambling hall. Saul remarks that your pleasant demeanor and attractive smile ought to keep everyone in a good mood.
Lyan: Saul shows you to a series of catwalks that run above the gambling hall floor. These catwalks are essentially invisible from below, due to a gauzy curtain of cloth that hides the catwalks but through which one can see from above. He explains that it will be your duty to keep an eye on the gamblers from this high vantage point, looking for cheaters and troublemakers.
Triss: Saul asks you to use your magical talents to entertain the crowds, juggling balls of fire, and whatnot. He seems confident that the pyrotechnics you showed off in breaking up the heist combined with your natural good looks should make you quite popular.
Amano: Saul sets you up near the front door as a bouncer. He hopes that, after last night's failed attempt, you won't be necessary, but better safe than sorry.
Audric: Saul asks you to deal at the Golem table (Golem is a poker-style card game). The house takes 5% of all pots.
You have the day free to do with as you please. Anyone doing anything interesting?
I get around this by making the cost of the ritual component (25 GP in the case of "Eye of Alarm," the ritual you're trying to remember) be the cost of the item when purchased at the insane mark-up at MageMart.
Let's say, for example, that a spell component is a sprig of rosemary. What's the cost of a sprig of rosemary? In the real world, my grocer sells tiny sprigs in plastic packages which cost $5. In the real world, I also have a bush outside my window where I can break one off and have it for nothing.
Apply the same logic to the D&D world: What you're getting from MageMart is a neat little grisgris bag filled with all the components you need to do the spell, pre-measured, product-tested and guaranteed. If you're on a budget and have the time, you could get all the same ingredients at the bazaar for a tenth the price, and if you were to go out and gather them, say a tenth of that.
Or put it this way:
Spell Component Prices
MageMart: 25 gp
Bazaar: 25 sp + Spellcraft check (you compound it yourself)
Gathered by self: 25 cp of stuff you still had to pay for + Spellcraft check + time for minor quests to get items.
My players were just doing a Find Familiar ritual and were having to run around finding thieves' eyes and the teeth of a rat king, among other ingredients, finally gathering up bags of grot...
I really like this idea from a flavor standpoint ... do you ever feel a problem with treasure balance? I should add that my party has cast Raise Dead twice over the course of the campaign and is therefore down 1000 gp, so I'm not TERRIBLY worried about overtreasuring the party, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.
Does anyone else see this as a problem, or do I just have greedy players? If it is a problem, does anyone see a fair way of modifying the system?
O
So what are they spending their money on?
With effectively no market in magic items in 4th edition, players seem to run out of things to spend on sometime around 6th-7th level. If you have kept the 3rd edition ideas of a functioning magic item market, that may be a bit different.
Ummm ... I'm not sure what you mean by this.
PHB, p.223 wrote:
Your DM might say that you can track down a seller for the item you want to buy or you might have to do some searching, but in general you can buy any item you can afford.
My party adventures primarily in a large city, so they can generally find most items (certainly anything they can afford), and, due to roleplaying circumstances in the campaign, they are able to buy items at the standard cost, without the 10-40% mark-up.
I know this was brought up in another thread, but I will repeat the concern:
My players love the concept of rituals and their utility, but they feel the rituals are too expensive. My party cleric wants to cast the ritual that guards the campsite (I forget the name, because he's never done so), but feels the component cost is too expensive to justify its use nightly. The party is 9th level and almost never uses rituals (other than Transfer Enchantment, Cure Disease, and Raise Dead) even the lowest level ones.
Does anyone else see this as a problem, or do I just have greedy players? If it is a problem, does anyone see a fair way of modifying the system?
You all stay at the Gold Goblin and settle in to your respective jobs. Let me know if you have any particular interests. Otherwise, Saul will suggest some work.
You get to know each other and your fellow employees, and it seems to be a somewhat interesting and enjoyable work environment.
Bear with me. It's end-of-term at work, and I'm scrambling to write reports. I'll post as much as I can, but might be slow until the end of the week. Then I'll be back on track.
I tried to run my first 3.5 game without a battle-mat. The player who had rolled up the fighter with Spring Attack and a pole-arm (with Reach) pretty much chewed me a new one, and rightly so. By trying to keep all movement abstract and ignoring a significant subset of the 3.5 rules, I had totally neutered his character. The alternative was to simply give his character an AoO every time something tried to attack him, which was, of course, compensating too far the other direction.
At the end of the day, I just went out and got a battle-mat, which made everyone happy and, it turned out, was much simpler and more fun than trying to keep everything in my head and redescribe the situation every round.
As someone who has tried both extensively, I feel there's no real difference between the different editions' dependency on battle-mats.
Nope, we are talking characters all the way up to 20th in 3.5E when it comes to "non-mat" combats. As you must remember many years ago as GM's we had basically all the same spells like Cloud Kill, Dimension Door, Teleport, and let's not forget the old Blink (sigh) + the Pyschoportive Psionic Disp/Sci's to boot (thinking 2nd ed. now) and not a battle mat in sight. In fact the only miniatures we ever used were to keep track of matching order when required! Now I'm not saying that there weren't times when there was debate over who was actually where? But most times it didn't really matter that much due to the abstract nature of the game. In a way the introduction of the battle map idea started in 3E, continued and integrated more into the class features in 4E has lead to a need for more precision in combats - sort of cause and effect.
S.
Certainly 3.5 CAN be played without a battle-mat, as you say, by ignoring all of the rules that require one (including many of the AoO rules involving movement and reach weapons) and being very abstract with movement and positioning, but that's not really playing the game vis-a-vis the whole ruleset and amounts to a sort of movement 'houserule.'
You could, of course, do the same thing with 4E, if you really were opposed to the battle-mat, by ignoring all rules associated with exact movement and positioning and being equally abstract in those areas. One could either disallow any powers that force movement or simply abstract those as well:
Player: "I use the Command power to force the wizard to come stand within reach of my sword."
GM: "Done."
Player: "I use Positioning Strike, slashing at the orc's knees and forcing him to stumble back over the edge of that chasm."
GM: "Done."
Again, it would be a 'houserule,' but not any different than 3.5.
Once you have all agreed to his proposal, Saul leaps up from his comfortable chair before the fire. "Excellent," he beams.
He then gives you a thorough tour of the Gold Goblin including the guest rooms that are sometimes rented out 5 sp a night, the master suite (3 gp/night), "The Goblin's Tankard" (a well-stocked bar), and the basement level which includes a crude arena for pit-fighting, which Saul admits generally consists primarily of dog-fights, with the occasional goblin to spice things up. You are also shown a private apartment with three bunkbeds that Saul makes available to you as free lodging, if you are interested. Saul also mentions that meals are offered in the dining room thrice daily, of which you are welcome to partake.
You are introduced to your fellow employees, which number only five, as Larur ruefully explains that the rest quit after tonight's excitement. They are:
Larur, whom you've met: floor manager and aide to Vancaskerkin.
Bojask: Vancaskerkin's personal bodyguard and beastkeeper for the fighting pit. He seems a little under the weather and smells of liquor.
Lixy Parmenter: An attractive, young human girl. She runs the ghoulette wheel in the gambling hall.
Beyar and Hans: Bouncers who keep watch over the vault and the cashier's cage.
Saul tasks Larur with hiring another dozen cooks, croupiers, and servers, which Larur seems confident he can scrounge up in a couple days.
Larur turns to you with a grin. "Welcome aboard, m'lads n' lassies. The Goblin'll be good to ya, be sure of it. Come to me if ya need anythin' at'all. I'll help ya out."
The group breaks up and gets back to cleaning up and closing for the night.
Feel free to roleplay a bit and let me know if you plan to stay at the Gold Goblin or if you have other lodging.
"Well, Saul, we can call you 'Saul', yes? The offer is very generous. But what sort of profit is this place taking in? And what percentage are you considering giving?"
"Of course you can call me Saul. I've never really been one for formality and all that. Of course, you've still not introduced yourselves, so I won't know how to respond," Saul smiles as he says this.
"As for your real question, my horned friend: Well, I'll be honest with you. Right now, the Gold Goblin is hemorrhaging money. Tonight's fiasco certainly won't have helped, either. I'm really hoping that the help of you fine gentlefolk will be the magic that turns things around here. If I'm right, there's no knowing where things might end up."
"10 gold a week is a fine offer indeed. I'm a scholar though, and I'm here to investigate The Blot. Also, I'm not especially low on money. Thanks for your offer, but I'd rather not."
"I understand you all have your own private interests, and I'd not look to get in the way of such things. Barring any particular assignments I might have for you, I can't imagine your responsibilities here at the Goblin taking up much more than a few hours per day, and mostly at night, when it would probably be hard to study that "Blot" thing, anyway. Trust me, madame, no one has so much money that she can afford to ignore a good deal when it's looking her in the face."
The cloak is a Cloak of Protection +1 and you sense an aura in the pouch that strongly resembles that of the healing draughts you have seen in the past.
For the sake of moving things along, I'm going to assume that you all agree to meet with Larur's boss.
Following Larur through a door into the kitchen, from there into a small employee lounge, followed by a flight of stairs and a short hallway with a couple other doors, you reach a waiting area furnished with two plush-but-worn suede couches and a low end table. Larur gestures to the couches. "Relax, m'friends. The boss'll be right witcha." He smiles and then returns downstairs.
After just a few moments, in which you enjoy the warmth of the roaring fire, Saul Vancaskerkin, the man who introduced the events at the beginning of the evening, enters carrying a small pouch in his one hand, an article of clothing draped over the other arm. "Greetings, my friends!" he says with a warm smile. "Please, make yourselves comfortable!"
After placing the pouch and clothing item (which appears to be Angvar's green cloak) on the end table, Saul pulls a concealed bell-pull. After just a moment, a servant arrives with a bottle of wine and glasses for you all. "Please," Saul says, "enjoy a glass of wine as a small token of my thanks to you for your help tonight in preventing the despicable act of those hardened criminals. Also, consider the items that my employees gathered from those foul folk as your rightful payment for such good and honest deeds. Certainly, those bandits have forfeited their claim to any further use of such." He points with his key/hand at the pouch and cloak, indicating that you are to take them.
He then seems to settle down to business. "I, as you may well know, am Saul Vancaskerkin. You might also know that I am a former, retired gang leader from the old days of Riddleport. My life of crime, however, was far from lucrative and, in fact, cost me my health, my fortune, my family, and my hand." He waves his key before you as punctuation, and his face grows grim. "With my wife dead, my sons exiled, and much of my fortune gone, I took what meager funds I could scrape together and was eventually able to purchase this gambling hall, in an attempt to return it to its former glory. I am too old to relocate, and I certainly can't return to a life of crime at this late stage, so I've tried to make the Goblin turn a modest profit. Unfortunately, although I no longer consider myself part of Riddleport's crime scene, I still have enemies among the city's criminals who would love to see me ruined. Despite my attempts to "go legit," I still live under the ever-present shadow of retribution.
"I recognized that Angvar fellow as the leader of a group of street toughs I've seen around the casino before. I know that he and his teensy girlfriend have contracted out to most of the other crimelords in the past, mainly for protection rackets and strong-arm jobs. I've considered throwing myself at the mercy of Zincher or one of the other crime bosses for protection, but I'm loathe to re-enter that world. I got to thinking that with your help, I might be able to avoid any further backsliding into my old ways.
"I was impressed by what my folks told me of your abilities, and I think you might be just the folks who can turn my fortunes around. I'd like to offer you all work as specialists and junior partners here at the Gold Goblin. You'd be working directly for me and assisting in the day-to-day running of the establishment, serving as dealers, bouncers, greeters, whatever you like, but, in reality, you'd be bodyguards-slash-messengers-slash-consultants to me. I'll pay you each 10 pieces of gold per week plus a cut of the Goblin's weekly profits." He smiles at you each in turn, clearly hopeful that you'll agree. "Whatta ya say?"
Scott: I agree with your points about 4E 100%. I agree that it's ridiculous for folks to post on a thread that is ostensibly about discussion of elements of 4E that might be improved and/or are well-designed just to state that they hate the whole system and won't ever play it. I agree that it's impossible to remove role-playing from an RPG with a set of rules, no matter how much those rules focus on combat mechanics, since the role-playing is largely independent of written rules. However, I disagree that there is anything to be gained by arguing these points with the folks mentioned above. There isn't anything to be gained (I don't think WotC's going to give you a commission for converting anyone); the argument isn't likely to be reasonable (one of the folks you're arguing with is calling himself "WotC's Nightmare," for God's sake); and it's really painful to read ... again. I suggest that you let these kind of comments go ... your blood pressure and my computer will thank you.
Sure. He is a quiet guy, a foreigner from across the "peak of the world,' named Dac Kian. He nods in recognition as his eyes sweep the room, but he doesn't seem interested in getting involved in cleaning up this mess.
As you look on, a few Gold Goblin employees bind the would-be thieves and move their unconscious bodies out of the way so the clean-up can begin. After some considerable time, a handful of Riddleport Gendarmes arrives and makes a show of restoring order (even though it had clearly been restored before they arrived). Larur meets them at the front door, and, after a few minutes of conversation and a glance around the nearly empty gambling hall, the gendarmes rather roughly drag the prisoners out the door and into the night without even bothering to speak with you. After finishing with the gendarmes, Larur approaches your group.
"Well, m'lads 'n lassies, 'r ya reddy t'meet the boss? He wants to thank ya personally fer yer help here t'night." He gives you a wide smile, only partly hidden by his shaggy beard. "Follow me."
Triss stands up and confronts the dwarf. "I think the chest would be safer with me, at least until some official arrives here and makes the arrangements so that I and these brave patrons (she points towards the other PC's) get paid for their troubles. I do expect some compensation towards the gamblers as well, after all your security was so full of holes a band of orcs could have come in. Not only that, not even one of the officials or guards actually fought these thugs." Triss eyes the dwarf, hinting about her meaning.
Larur blinks at Triss, clearly surprised by her response.
Audric wrote:
"Yes, but none of us shall be paid if you steal the chest. Now, shall we all *gestures to PCs* retire to the back rooms? It seems the natives are getting restless."
Triss wrote:
"Gold. Is it really such a big deal?"
Triss:
Spoiler:
Re: the taking the gold piece: The tiny chest is, well, tiny. Any money within it must also proportionately be proportionately tiny. It's unlikely you'd get much trade value for any coin you took from the chest. Also, the chest is locked. Sorry.
"Aherm. Well, to some, includin' me boss, it sher is." He takes the chest from Triss, sticks it in a pocket of his vest, and then smiles at you all. "Dinna worry yer heads, though, m'lads 'n lassies. I've a feelin' that ol' Saul'll do right by ye. Now stay outta tha way, whiles we clean this place up. I'll come fetch ya soon enough."
He then begins to stride through the crowd, bellowing, "Loyal patrons! Be of good cheer! The Gold Goblin honners its debts! If you'll all be movin' to the cash windows, the perty ladies there will buy back yer chips at 110 percent of their value! No need to be concern'd!"
Although there is a great deal of grumbling, this announcement seems to mollify most of the crowd, and patrons begin lining up to cash out their chips.
Larur keeps shouting, his face growing red beneath his shaggy beard, "Hans! Beyar! Go wake up that drunk, Bojask, and get 'im to help ya clean this mess up! The gendarmes'll be here soon enough, and we wanna make the Goblin hospitable, ya know!" He chuckles as he heads through an employee door, patting the bulge in his vest.
Anyone want to do anything before the gendarmes arrive?
Shaeryyn is able to find many patrons who are in need of some medical help, and they gratefully allow her to minister to their bruises and burns, although they grumble about "'Smodeus-damned wizards, throwin' around fire 'n thunder, nevermind who's standin' about."
Those who are unhurt, though, echo Amano's question and begin demanding someone to replace their winnings. In a matter of seconds, the scene has devolved into chaos as bickering and enraged guests loudly demand refunds as they attempt to cash in their chips.
A harried dwarf, who, based on the soot on his clothes and the smoke rising from the end of his dark, bushy beard, was a bit too close to some of the pyrotechnics during the battle, quickly climbs atop the central podium, looking at Triss and the unconscious body of Angvar the mage. "Quick, m'lass. Give ta me the wee chest, so's I can lock it up afore this crowd a' deginnerits gits any bright ideas!" He holds out his hand expectantly. "Dinna' worry, m'lass, I'm Larur Feldin, th' floor manniger."
Triss:
Spoiler:
Based on your Passive Insight, this seems on-the-level.
There are still many patrons in the gambling hall, hiding behind the various tables and bars or lying on the floor, trying to clear their eyes from the dancing white spots that blinded them. Now that quiet has descended on the room, you can hear some of them sobbing and others starting to grumble about losing their money in the ruckus.
Although there are several Gold Goblin employees among the bystanders, no one immediately steps forward to take command of the scene.
Triss quickly moves towards the halfling and mage, kicking both their weapons out of reach. She then kneels down next to the mage and checks his pockets for anything special he could use in order to escape, such as the blinding item he used earlier. She also tries to find anything that would help her find out what did this gang do here.
Angvar's gnarled wooden staff lies near his outstretched hand, blackened from magical fire. Triss kicks away the burnt and useless thing, kneels, pushes aside his cloak, and rifles his pouches ...
Triss:
Spoiler:
In your quick search, you dig up a handful of coins, the shrunken chest that belongs to the Gold Goblin, and a pair of scroll cases, one wrapped with a red ribbon, the other with a green one.
The thug his skin crackling from the heat of the fireball, throws open the main door to the gambling hall and flees into the night. Based on the severity of his wounds, you don't expect to see him again anytime soon.
We can now drop out of combat rounds, but I want to give everyone a last chance to do things like Healing Word or whatever, so feel free to post.
Seemingly unconcerned about the fleeing thug, Lyan starts checking the fallen bodies of the antagonists to see whom might still live.
All of the would-be thieves are still alive, merely unconscious. Angvar the Mage, though, is unlikely to survive his continued to exposure to the giant ball of fire that is sitting near him on the podium.
I will assume you are simply KOing all bad guys unless you say otherwise or they continue to take damage after being KOed (like Angvar and the fiery aura of the flaming sphere).
Audric's blast of magical energy strikes the thug, and he screams as bones crack under the onslaught of eldritch power Bloodied. Seeing that the caper is a failure, the wounded thug steps away from Amano's flashing scimitar shift to M12 and then hustles to the doors, trying to escape move to N18. The other thug is overcome by the heat of the flaming ball of fire and falls to the ground, his hair and clothes smoldering.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (UNCONSCIOUS)
Triss
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (UNCONSCIOUS)
Audric
Thug (N18)(BLOODIED)
Lyan (BLOODIED)(+2 to all defenses) <--
The errata says nothing about changing the 'sustain' element of the power, which is where the additional attacks come from, so I assume that is unchanged. I believe the errata was presented because, as written, it sounds like you get two attacks when initially casting it. Thus, Triss's attacks are fine.
A thug finds himself staring a giant ball of fire in the face, but he manages to avoid the tongue of flame that shoots from its side directly toward him. He will almost certainly feel the effects of the tremendous heat the sphere gives off.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (UNCONSCIOUS)
Triss
Shaeryyn <--
Thuvalia the Halfling (UNCONSCIOUS)
Audric
Thug (H12)
Thug (L13)(BLOODIED)
Lyan
I believe that is Amano's 3rd Inspiring Word, which is one too many (previously used on Amano and Triss).
Amano's scimitar slashes across the arm of the thug standing before him, adding another wound to his already torn and bloody leathers. Seeming on the verge of collapse, the bandit desperately seems to be trying to retreat, waving his mace ineffectually.
Angvar the mage, carrying the shrunken gold chest, makes a move to step around the large sphere of fire blazing near him on the podium, the overwhelming heat is too much for him, and he collapses to the ground with a groan.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (UNCONSCIOUS)
Triss <--
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (UNCONSCIOUS)
Audric
Thug (H12)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (L13)(BLOODIED) (MARKED by Lyan)
Lyan
In the interest of moving things along, I'll DMNPC Audric.
Audric calls upon otherworldly forces, and a ray of magical energy springs from his hand, streaking toward the halfling 1d20+4=22, 1d10+4=13, and knocking her to the ground with a cry and a crash. She lies there, immobile. Angvar cries out, "Thuvalia! No!"
The thugs take the collapse of the halfling as their cue that things have officially failed to work out, but each takes a swing at Lyan before retreating. Both manage to land solid blows: Thug 1: Crit; damage 15 hp. Thug 2: damage 8 hp and then move away from Lyan, looking for paths of escape.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (BLOODIED)
Triss
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (UNCONSCIOUS)
Audric
Thug (H12)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (L13)(BLOODIED) (MARKED by Lyan)
Lyan (BLOODIED) <--
So my player's met Vencarlo Orisini for the first time whereupon the first thing one of my players, a brash and cocky swashbuckler, said: ** spoiler omitted **
I had barely gotten to describing the guy, so this caught me somewhat off-guard.
*Sorry about the double spoiler tags, but I know that some players lurk here so I want to play it safe.
I had a similar situation but just had Vencarlo laugh it off, as though it wasn't even a serious-enough question to deserve an answer. He simply steered the conversation back to the topic at hand. If your players are really determined to follow up on their wild guess, you might have Vencarlo hire someone to wear a Blackjack-like costume to swing by, wave at the party from a nearby rooftop, and then head out, all while Vencarlo is standing right next to them. Vencarlo could explain to the look-alike that some friends of his are big fans of Blackjack and this is a prank he's pulling on them, etc.
At the end of the day, though, I don't think it's a terrible thing if the PCs guess Blackjack's identity in advance. When they finally realize the truth, the players will be proud of their lucky guess and Vencarlo can comment on their ability to judge character.
Triss ball of fire explodes into being between the mage and the halfling, scorching both, although Angvar seems to take the brunt of the attack. The carpeting and podium also suffer some cosmetic damage.
As Shaeryyn's attack from the heavens misses its mark, Thuvalia curses at the her smoking hair and armor, fires a volley of sling stones in the general direction of Audric, Lyan, and Amano, and scampers towards the main door. "Come on, Angvar!" she pants, desperately looking to escape.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (BLOODIED)
Triss
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (BLOODIED)
Audric <--
Thug (I11)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (K13)(BLOODIED) (MARKED by Lyan)
Lyan
Amano steps forward, his scimitar flashing, and presses his advantage against the retreating thug. He can see a flash of panic in the thug's eyes as the realization that he might not survive this fight sets in.
Lyan is not injured. Did you mean to Inspiring Word someone else?
Angvar, enraged by his wounds, steps away from Lyan's warhammer and holds out his left hand. Bolts of white lightning leap from his fingertips, spraying outward, seeking Amano, Lyan, and Audric. Audric is the only one of the three unable to dodge the crackling bolts, and he feels his muscles contract as electricity leaps about his body 7 hp lightning damage. After flinging lightning at you, Angvar bends down and grabs the shrunken chest that sits at his feet.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (BLOODIED)
Triss <--
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (BLOODIED)
Audric
Thug (I11)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (K13)(BLOODIED) (MARKED by Lyan)
Lyan (+2 to all attacks)
Lyan's warhammer lashes out once more, thudding into Angvar the 17 hit, so you still have your AP and pulling him away from the shrunken chest across the podium. Blood leaks from Angvar's mouth, and he seems enraged by Lyan's interference.
Initiative
Amano <--
Angvar the Mage (BLOODIED)
Triss
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (BLOODIED)
Audric
Thug (I11)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (K13)(BLOODIED) (MARKED by Lyan)
Lyan (+2 to all attacks)
Audric's ray of frost strikes one of the golden "infernal" decorations on the wall, and Thuvalia spins to find the source of the icy blast. "Angvar! Hurry up!" She sounds worried.
The thug standing before Amano swings his mace, trying to knock the tiefling to the floor, but his low attack is deflected by the warlord's chainmail. The thug then steps back, giving ground, and looking for a clear path of escape. This step, however, puts him directly behind Lyan, who is distracted by this new threat. The other thug, standing on the opposite side of Lyan, growls, "Time to die, elf," and takes a mighty swing. This, too, misses the mark.
Initiative
Amano
Angvar the Mage (MARKED by Lyan)
Triss
Shaeryyn
Thuvalia the Halfling (BLOODIED)
Audric
Thug (I11)(MARKED by Lyan)
Thug (K13)(BLOODIED)
Lyan (+2 to all attacks) <--
