Goblinworks Executive Founder. RPG Superstar 6 Season Star Voter, 7 Season Star Voter. Pathfinder Society GM. 1,048 posts (15,120 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 14 Organized Play characters. 31 aliases.
Sorry for the long silence a lot been going on and after getting pinged on Discord I wanted to drop a note in all my games. I'm actually doing a lot better now, pretty much fully recovered. However, my wife has been really sick, last month she was in the hospital for a week and I'm sitting in the surgery center now waiting to see how things turn out on a few hour procedure she is currently in. Depending on how invasive the surgery is I may be dealing with a lot for at least a month or so taking care of her and the kids and working. On top of that with the holidays coming and the normal delays that revolve around that I am going to say that it's going to be at least January before I look at picking things up again. Maybe if things get better sooner I will try jumping back in before that but I feel like early January is going to be more realistic.
If you need to move on without me I understand feel free to find a replacement if needed and when I check back we can go from there. Sorry for all the absent time, these last few months have just really kicked my butt first physically, then mentally and emotionally. Hope you all are keeping safe and have a good Thanksgiving and Christmas for those who celebrate.
Sorry for the long silence a lot been going on and after getting pinged on Discord I wanted to drop a note in all my games. I'm actually doing a lot better now, pretty much fully recovered. However, my wife has been really sick, last month she was in the hospital for a week and I'm sitting in the surgery center now waiting to see how things turn out on a few hour procedure she is currently in. Depending on how invasive the surgery is I may be dealing with a lot for at least a month or so taking care of her and the kids and working. On top of that with the holidays coming and the normal delays that revolve around that I am going to say that it's going to be at least January before I look at picking things up again. Maybe if things get better sooner I will try jumping back in before that but I feel like early January is going to be more realistic.
If you need to move on without me I understand feel free to find a replacement if needed and when I check back we can go from there. Sorry for all the absent time, these last few months have just really kicked my butt first physically, then mentally and emotionally. Hope you all are keeping safe and have a good Thanksgiving and Christmas for those who celebrate.
Dropping a note in all my games. Finished up with school yesterday, just waiting on the audit for me to officially be done and graduate even though there are no commencements with the whole virus thing. Wife is doing better after brief stint in the hospital. Looking at starting to get back into my games and get posting again sometime this week. My work is really crazy as first kids were coming back on the 17th but now everything is going to be virtual for an indeterminate amount of time, but teachers are coming back still and there is a lot of questions floating out there so bare with me as I ease into catching up on things and getting back into a regular posting routine again over the next week or so.
Dropping a note in all my games. Finished up with school yesterday, just waiting on the audit for me to officially be done and graduate even though there are no commencements with the whole virus thing. Wife is doing better after brief stint in the hospital. Looking at starting to get back into my games and get posting again sometime this week. My work is really crazy as first kids were coming back on the 17th but now everything is going to be virtual for an indeterminate amount of time, but teachers are coming back still and there is a lot of questions floating out there so bare with me as I ease into catching up on things and getting back into a regular posting routine again over the next week or so.
Dropping a note in all my games. Finished up with school yesterday, just waiting on the audit for me to officially be done and graduate even though there are no commencements with the whole virus thing. Wife is doing better after brief stint in the hospital. Looking at starting to get back into my games and get posting again sometime this week. My work is really crazy as first kids were coming back on the 17th but now everything is going to be virtual for an indeterminate amount of time, but teachers are coming back still and there is a lot of questions floating out there so bare with me as I ease into catching up on things and getting back into a regular posting routine again over the next week or so.
Female Gnome Alchemist (Grenadier) 4 | HP 27/27 | Init +5, Perc +9 (Low-Light Vision) | AC 16 T 14 FF 13 | F +5 R +7 W +1 |
Dropping a note in all my games. Finished up with school yesterday, just waiting on the audit for me to officially be done and graduate even though there are no commencements with the whole virus thing. Wife is doing better after brief stint in the hospital. Looking at starting to get back into my games and get posting again sometime this week. My work is really crazy as first kids were coming back on the 17th but now everything is going to be virtual for an indeterminate amount of time, but teachers are coming back still and there is a lot of questions floating out there so bare with me as I ease into catching up on things and getting back into a regular posting routine again over the next week or so.
Luckily, we are near the end of the dungeon and Book 2 isn't quite as heavy on the dungeon aspect (even though there is a good size dungeon in it). Sadly, my school has really slowed me down the last couple weeks. Luckily though I only have about 2 weeks left and then I will be done for good, which should free up my time and, more importantly, my mental bandwidth.
As for the maps, rapid fire question answering. Yes Roll20 is accessible in mobile. You should be able to see the entire complex in Roll20 the way I set it up now, as an example this is what Adistan should see if zoomed all the way out. It would actually be slower for me to remake maps in Google Maps as I have it built out in Roll20. Once we are rolling steady again if you need a quick peak at the map and can't get on Roll20 you can always ping me on Discord and I can generally quickly get you screenshot. If it helps all to Roll20 links are also in my status section for my GM alias you guys are SS2.
I know you guys are waiting on me. Lots to do to jump into the next book and has just been crazy busy. Sorry for the delay all. I don't know exactly when I will kick us off into book 2, but I've only got 2 and a half weeks of classes left at which point my schedule and mental bandwidth should free up significantly.
Male Human (ulfen) | Bard (arcane healer) 5 / Fighter (Lore Warden) 2| HP 41/41 | AC 26 (Base 20) | T 15 | FF 22 (Base 16)| CMD 20 | Fort +4| Ref +8 | Will +4 | Init +4| Perc +10 | Portrait
Orri's eyes go wide as he sees Bella take down Annalla and then turn her attention on him just as Lord Maridos blocks off his escape after knocking out Ipmeek, all while Sophie is getting crushed by a golem and Chrysa lays at his feet bleeding out. Things were looking pretty dark and he refused to let things end this way, especially when he was the one that asked for the others help in exploring this place.
He stands over Chrysa defensively, trying to figure out what he can do and then something comes to mind. With a sly grin he promptly pulls up his sleeve as he glares at Lord Maridos "I told you that you would regret it if you hurt my friends..." He starts to rub his arm over the number one tattoo as he says "I wish Lord Maridos, his golem and all these damn willow-wisps were taken from the material plane, never able to return, sent to the first world to be play things for the fey for the rest of their existence, unable to harm anyone or anything else again, while having no ill effects on myself, Isabella, Ipmeek, Chrysa, Annalla or Sophiel."
Must have missed where you walked downstairs. Yes you can exit into the water down the steps in the other room, just not the observatory area where I thought you were.
Lexi runs away when she realizes there are more enemies coming up on their flank. Verris steps back and takes a shot at the nearest one doing some damage but not enough to end it.
Bixby steps back still somewhat panicked that his magic won't work, while the others collapse in on the new threats. Davor misses, but Gurk makes up for it slicing into one and dropping it while finishing off the one that Verris injured. Adistan similarly cuts down the one near him, cutting the number of enemies in half.
The remaining three move up and each attack a different target.
Luckily this cannon fodder of hell are not particularly skilled and they all miss. With the group armed with silver weapons and barely harmed they quickly dispatch the last remaining foes.
Female Human (Tien) Fighter (lore warden) 1/ Swashbuckler 2 | AC 17 T 14 FF 13 | HP 24/25 | F +4 R +9 W 0 | Init +6 | Perc +5 | Portrait |
Languages:
Common, Elven, Minkaian, Tien
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
Female Gnome Alchemist (Grenadier) 4 | HP 27/27 | Init +5, Perc +9 (Low-Light Vision) | AC 16 T 14 FF 13 | F +5 R +7 W +1 |
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
Piri moves up to the pump house stairs and with his keen eyes spots the glint of something shiny in a small nook underneath. Getting a closer look it appears to be a hoard of some kind which includes 17 pp, 33 gp, an engraved silver compact (worth 250 gp), a platinum-and-diamond necklace (worth 850 gp), a masterwork trident, a +1 arrow-catching buckler, a ring of jumping, two oils of obscure object, and a wand of protection from evil (5 charges).
Verris takes a shot at the one that bit Gurk sticking it with an arrow, but the thing still looks at Gurk with hunger as it chews on some of his flesh. Adistan moves up trying to hit the same one, but the little thing moves out of the way of the incoming blow as his staff hits the empty ground instead.
Bixby tosses some acid at one near Davor. The acid explodes on the one (blue) melting some of its flesh, as a horrid smell fills the air. It splashes on to some of the others and Davor as well, burning each just a bit. Davor jabs his trident at the more injured one and manages to catch it on the side, but the thing is still standing, but looks pretty bad off. He leans over to try and bite one but the smell is too much and he just can't bring himself to get close enough.
Lexi continues her inspiration while she reloads her crossbow and Gurk slices and dices the already injured one near him, making a point to demonstrate that he is the alpha predator over these mutated creatures.
Undettered and seemingly unconcerned as one of their own fall the creatures continue trying to eat Davor and Gurk.
Male Human (ulfen) | Bard (arcane healer) 5 / Fighter (Lore Warden) 2| HP 41/41 | AC 26 (Base 20) | T 15 | FF 22 (Base 16)| CMD 20 | Fort +4| Ref +8 | Will +4 | Init +4| Perc +10 | Portrait
Orri in the Afterlife?:
Orri's eyes shoot open and he sits upright in a panic, things are hazy for a moment but he distinctly recalls fire and the horrible smell of burning flesh. His heart races and he quickly looks around, however what he sees isn't a cave but a bed with soft silk sheets. Taking in the room he soon realizes that he is back in his old room in his father's manor.
Looking up at the ceiling a moment he tries to collect his thoughts not sure if this was a really vivid dream or what exactly was going on. His eyes go wide as he remembers he had just recently been fighting the leader of the trolls, they were winning and Ipmeek threw a bomb, there was a massive explosion, then everything went black. His heart races a moment as panic sets in and he wonders Am I dead? Looking over the room again it almost gives him a sense of peace, being back to his childhood home. He laughs as he thinks Well, if I'm dead at least I'm home, so I guess that's alright. I wonder if father is here?
He is about to stand when he feels something else in the bed with him. He looks over and there is a beautiful woman laying under the covers, just stirring awake from sleep. Orri grins as he exclaims "I must have died and gone to heaven!"
The woman looks up at Orri sleepily then jumps out of the bed pulling the covers with her as she backs against the wall. Feeling a breeze Orri realizes he is naked, seeing his clothes and gear stacked in a neat pile on a nearby dresser. He looks back to the woman confused, and then she just starts screaming.
Orri jumps up out of the bed holding his hands up to show he means no harm as he shakes his head to himself If this is heaven why in the world is she screaming? He looks to her and says "Wait, wait... I know this is crazy, but I don't know what I'm doing here with you, whoever you are... I just woke up here. I thought maybe I died and went to heaven but... are you real? Is this a dream or something?" The woman stops screaming a moment and gives Orri a concerned look as he continues "Look, there is no need to scream. I mean you no harm... I'll just grab my stuff and be on my way ok?"
The woman looks at Orri with fearful eyes, then yells the word that strikes fear into any young man’s heart when he is in a woman’s room naked and disoriented... "DADDYYYYYY!!!!!!"
Orri freezes and just shakes his head before rushing over to grab his stuff. He pulls on his pants as he hears steps coming quickly down the hall. He grabs the rest of his things as he thinks Shit... this isn't heaven, this must be some sort of hell... He sighs not waiting for some devil dad to come throttle him. Luckily he is in his own environment, he knows this house inside and out even if it has been years since he has been here. He stuffs the rest of his clothes in his pack and bolts for the window. Throwing it open he climbs out onto the ledge just as he hears the door to his old room opening. He starts climbing down some lattice he used to use to sneak out when he was younger.
He can hear the woman explaining things to her father and then exclaiming ”He went out the window!” The man yells out a couple names and rushes back into the house yelling curses. Orri is about three quarters of the way down when the lattice creeks under his weight and snaps as Orri falls to the ground. With a solid thud he hits the dirt Damn… it still hurts, this must be real… Laying on the ground looking up at the night sky and the stars, Orri tries to catch his breath after getting the wind knocked out of him from the fall. That’s when things get worse. The back door swings open and a younger man comes out calling back to the house ”I don’t see him Dad! He’s not on the wall.” Someone shouts something inside and the young man goes to find a torch.
Orri crawls to his feet, still having a hard time breathing. Grabbing his stuff he slinks off to the stables across the way. Behind, their are not one but four torches moving around the property, obviously people looking for him. This is definitely some kind of hell… he thinks as he reaches for the stable doors and pulls them open. Luckily there are some horses inside. He grabs a saddle and bridle and suits up one of the calmer mounts. He can hear footsteps coming his way. Just as he climbs on top of the horse and starts to ride out the back of the stables he hears someone shout ”Over here!” Orri doesn’t look back and rides off into the night as quick as he can.
Verris tip toes up behind Gurk, and luckily with her vision can see through the dark and inside the room. The two creatures she sees within she recognizes as abyssal larva, and as is common for Lexi, she knows more than anyone should really know about such creatures.
With the group decided, Valeria requests the driver pull into town. Once you have settled into your new home, you head down the hill and into Stachys. Several of the town's citizens look at you impassively as you make your way to Onora's pub. They don't appear to be particularly impressed.
The starting attitude of the town is indifferent rather than unfriendly thanks to your work at the Jubilee. It can be improved as you make repairs to the town.
The Wolf's Whisker is little more than a large home with a dirt floor. Onora serves ale to a handful of people, but she cracks a tight smile when she sees you.
"Glad you all made it back alright. Did you stop by the estate yet? Folks round here swear it's haunted. I hope you don't have any spooks to deal with!"
She pours each of you an ale and sits down at the table across from you. "So, now you've seen for yourself the sorry state our town is in. I told folks you're here to help, and everything you did at the Jubilee, I think they are starting to believe you are actually here to help, but it will be better when they see it for themselves. There's lots to be done..."
Fixing Up Stachys:
STACHYS
N hamlet
Corruption –2; Crime –2; Economy –6; Law –2; Lore +0; Society –2
Qualities gone to seed
Danger –5
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government autocracy (Tribune Piscum)
Population 71 (50 humans, 6 halflings, 8 half-elves, 1 changeling, 1 half-orc, 1 tiefling, 4 other)
NOTABLE NPCS
Honorary Tribune Onora Piscum (NG female half-elf expert 4/warrior 1)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 100 gp; Purchase Limit 500 gp;
Spellcasting —
Minor Items 1d6 items
SPECIAL QUALITIES
Gone to Seed: The neglect of the settlement has made locals apathetic and the place is run down. (Economy –4; halve Base Value and Purchase Limit; no available spellcasting) Once the PCs implement one civic improvement, one farm improvement, and the mill repairs, they can remove this disadvantage.
After a decade of neglect and heavy taxation, Stachys is a shell of what it could be. The town needs extensive (and expensive) improvements at this point to restore its economy. Listed below are the improvements needed around town, the cost of each, and the number of Loyalty Points the PCs gain by setting an example of competent leadership, as well as any other related benefits. Improvements listed as "advanced" cannot be purchased unless the basic version has been purchased first; Loyalty Point awards for the basic and advanced versions of an improvement are cumulative.
Loyalty Points are a measure of your success in winning the people of Meratt over to your cause.
Civic Improvements, Basic (1,000 gp): Repairing potholes, leveling the streets, repainting buildings, and patching roofs all help improve the quality of life and attract new visitors. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Civic Improvements, Advanced (4,000 gp): Investing more money allows Stachys to renovate its waste systems, build new walkways, and construct new buildings. The PCs gain 3 Loyalty Points.
Farms, Basic (1,000 gp): Basic improvements include repairing irrigation, pulling stumps, and marking outlying roads. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Farms, Advanced (4,000 gp): With more cash, the community can acquire hardier seed, fertilizer, and even magical renewal for the soil. The PCs gain 3 Loyalty Points.
Festivals (2,000 gp each): Festivals to mark special occasions and holidays are an easy way to win support and impress the neighbors, but PCs can't hold more than one festival every 2 weeks. A festival raises the town's opinion of the PCs to indifferent if it has fallen to unfriendly. Inviting a noble to visit during a festival grants the PCs a +2 circumstance bonus on checks to influence that noble during the visit. If the PCs hold at least three festivals, they gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Gold Canyon Bridge (3,000 gp): Rebuilding the bridge over Gold Canyon allows PCs to travel more quickly to Jabris, Moost, and New Towne, and encourages new trade. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Market, Basic (2,000 gp): By paving the village square, coordinating with local artisans and neighboring farms, and hiring a few messengers, the PCs can establish a weekly market to attract more wealth. This improvement helps Stachys become more self-sufficient, reducing the base cost of all future improvements by 10%.
Market, Advanced (2,000 gp): Lending some money to establish a new, permanent store in town helps bring new products and luxuries into the community. Completing this improvement grants Stachys the prosperous settlement quality.
Mill (1,000 gp): The windmill just outside of town broke down in a storm 20 years ago, and no local has the knowledge or money to fix it. With some small investments in repairing the mill, farmers will no longer need to cart their wheat to Pensaris and back. The PCs gain 1 Loyalty Point.
Pump (1,000 gp*): Special. You'll have to venture out to the pump house a few miles away to determine what's wrong with it before you can repair it.
Public House (5,000 gp): Onora's original tavern is little more than an oversized home with a dirt floor. Constructing a true public house provides Stachys with a public gathering space as well as room for brewing. This investment automatically improves Onora Piscum's attitude toward the PCs by one step. This new pub may also attract adventurers. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Statue (1,000 gp): Once the PCs have invested at least 10,000 gp into town improvements, they can erect a statue in town square, honoring the local culture, the local nobility, or themselves. If they choose to honor the local culture, they gain 1 Loyalty Point. If they choose to honor the local nobility, they gain a +1 equipment bonus on Diplomacy checks to influence nobles of the county. If they choose to honor themselves, the statue becomes a minor tourist attraction, increasing the town's base value by 10%.
Temple, Basic (4,000 gp): Stachys has a small shrine to Abadar, Erastil, Iomedae, and Shelyn, and with expensive construction this can be transformed into a small temple to any one of these gods. This improvement grants the PCs access to the healing services of a 1st-level cleric while in town, free of charge. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Temple, Advanced (10,000 gp): With a sanctified altar, expanded library, and charitable infrastructure, Stachys develops one of the nicest temples in the region, providing free education, food, and shelter for locals. This provides the PCs with free access to the spellcasting abilities of a 3rd-level cleric while in town and increases the community spellcasting level by 1 as more experienced clerics visit from neighboring communities. The PCs gain 2 Loyalty Points.
Each repair will take a few days to enact. The taxes Bartelby collected for you are worth 2,000 gp if sold, or 8,000 gp if put towards town repairs. If you repair the farms and inform Baroness Voinum, she will provide you with more resources to put towards town repairs. Baron Okera also pledged funds, but never gave a specific value, you'll likely need to meet with him to discuss.
Dropping a note in all my games. I will be away this weekend, potentially through Monday. Heading to Space Camp with my son for a cub scouts thing so likely won't get an opportunity to post.
With the groups concerted effort on exterminating the spiders they manage to put an end to the threat and eventually free themselves from the sticky webbing. Quiet returns to halls around them.
Out of combat.
Checking the adjoining rooms you find little of interest beside the desiccated corpses of albino crickets the size of small dogs. You do not there is a hall leading south directly out of the room and one leading west out of the northwest room. There is also the hall you left unexplored earlier to the north that also headed west.
Seeing that Caspian and Selde has the spriggen in hand and after seeing Pila get smacked really hard she stomps over toward the fey leader glaring at him "I tried to be nice and give you fey every opportunity to surrender. We weren't here for a fight but that is what you made it, now you will reap what you sowed." Jillian strikes out at the fey hoping to put end this fruitless fight.
Onara nods to Sveng's words, specifically after he adjusts "True, though it seems that the sacrifice is often the burden of the common folk and rarely that of the nobels." she replies as she frowns and turns takes a bite of food. The two go back and forth talking in some depth of the struggles of the common folk throughout history and Onara seems to be impressed by Sveng's depth of knowledge. Eventually she notes "I must say, I think Lady Tanessen was wise to bring you along to assist with things in Stachys. When I return I will be sure to throw my support behind you and your friends to the people of Stachys. I should only hope it will help to give you an upper hand in improving things there."
+2 Successful influence. She is now friendly and when you are all back in Stachy the rest of the town will have their attitude shited one step up in the positive.
Val heads over to talk with the count, specifically about her new lands she is to manage. As she asks about magic the count shakes his head "No, not that I am aware of. I believe it was just hard work from the local people, though I would image utilizing some sort of magical aid may be of use." He takes a sip of wine and then smiles "You know, I just remembered, in the absence of proper leadership I took it upon myself to collect taxes for your lands. I've kept them in holding for your you to use. It is a reasonable sum mostly of timber and supplies, but I'm sure you could sell it off or perhaps put it to good use in seeing the Betonay lands returned to their former glory."
+1 Successful influence. Count Lotheed is now Helpful, the taxes he is offering can either be sold for 2000 gold, or used later to make town improvements worth 8000 gold.
Piri watches Onara and Sveng and picks up on the fact that she enjoys homespun metaphors and colloquialisms.
Weakness discovered again
Toby and Baron Okerra continue talking about their mounts but there is only so much you can on the subject and Toby eventually goes back to his youth and his companionship with Hayseed. The Baron smiles and listens politely as he eats seeming to at least appreciate the long bond the two had shared.
+1 Successful influence.
Once the feast is finished, the servants clear away the tables and chairs, opening up the ballroom for the next spectacle of the evening. A fanfare of trumpets announces the arrival of six halflings dressed like Taldan heroes of yore. They ride atop miniature, gaudily painted chariots pulled by dogs. The charioteers pause to caper and cavort for the noble audience as the servants lay out a racetrack within the ballroom, marked by pennants and whitewashed arches.
As the servants finalize the impromptu chariot track, Purple Finch walks over to the Betony party. Her arms are overflowing as she juggles over a dozen silken sachets. She passes them out to you, three apiece, as she explains.
"The charioteers will race for three dogged laps. You can use these to try and distract the other racers to ensure that your champion finishes first and does not come up short."
A sudden, pained look of anxiety crosses Alista's face - visible even beneath her Purple Finch mask - as she worries whether making a "short" joke about halflings is crossing a line too far.
Perception DC22:
Sir Gul Gusairne appears to be quite disdainful of this event.
Pick a racer to back: Red, Blue, Green, Gold, White, or Black. The halflings race about the ballroom three times, dodging a series of obstacles on the way, while the guests look on and cheer their champions. To spice things up, each guest is given three silken sachets filled with brightly colored powder to hurl at racers in an attempt to blind them. Anyone who throws a sachet at a passing racer must make a ranged attack against AC 14 to hit the driver, or AC 18 to temporarily blind the driver; the sachets count as improvised weapons. Characters can hurl only one sachet each round. You are also welcome to not participate if you prefer.
You will also have one additional social round during the race to interact with NPCs.
Female Human (Tien) Fighter (lore warden) 1/ Swashbuckler 2 | AC 17 T 14 FF 13 | HP 24/25 | F +4 R +9 W 0 | Init +6 | Perc +5 | Portrait |
Languages:
Common, Elven, Minkaian, Tien
Miz sighs as the others are washed away again by the river of blood. She draws her blade and bolts into the room to see if she can't find a way to stop this from continuing.
30ft move, and waiting to make sure there aren't any additional threats before finishing her turn.
Female Human (Tien) Fighter (lore warden) 1/ Swashbuckler 2 | AC 17 T 14 FF 13 | HP 24/25 | F +4 R +9 W 0 | Init +6 | Perc +5 | Portrait |
Languages:
Common, Elven, Minkaian, Tien
When they find the blade Miz shows no particular interest in it, prefering her katana over the simple short sword, even if it did have special properties. She smirks and just shakes her head when Jassminder gives Saiya such blunt criticism. When Saiya replies Miz chimes in "I would be happy to work with you on your technique at some point later once we've gotten out of her." she offers with a smile while following along to the bloody door.
Now with her blade and armor, she will be happy to get near the front and help as needed.
To us newcomers, at some point someone may want to explain the night gaunt since we haven't seen it and even if we had likely wouldn't know what it is :D
There you go. It is a bug/feature? of Roll20 with the lighting. If someone doesn't actually have a light source on them it doesn't *remember* the previous rooms. So I have to remember to put a light source on you before I move you and then take it off again :P
Just a heads up, as you've probably noticed Gudada has been MIA for almost 3 weeks now. I sent him a PM to see if he is still around. If I don't hear back by the beginning of next week I will be looking for a replacement, since it kind of slows things down when our main door checker is missing.
Valeria chastisement leaves Lord Titus tight-lipped and stone-faced. However, Sveng's more pointed jab causes a sneer to cut across Lord Titus' face.
"Bah the girl is fine..." Lord Titus declares to Sveng, raising his arms to the side. "As for the joust, just because your peasant boy got lucky doesn't make you all the heroes of Meratt... Dinner would be served and grow cold before I finished recounting my exploits. Meanwhile, you could scribble your merits on a ripped handkerchief - assuming you know how to write more than your name."
Count Lotheed rises from his chair. He remains wordless, but the groan of his chair leg dragging across the floor punctuates his mood loudly enough. He is visibly displeased by this spectacle, but his free-loading cousin knows well enough to close his mouth and retreat to his own seat.
Despite the host's displeasure, Tribune Onora offers an open, beaming smile as she watches the petulant Lord Titus snatch a glass of wine from a passing servant's tray and stomp away to his chair. She even stifles a chuckle seeing him taken down a peg as Eregos offers one last polite jibe to send him on his way.
"About time someone delivered his foot back to his mouth and spared our ears any more of his trite," Baroness Voinum mutters quietly, within earshot of Valeria.
One influence success is lost with Count Lotheed, but one success each is gained with Tribune Onora and Baroness Voinum.
As appetizers are server and the night progresses Sveng pays particularly close attention to Onara. He notices that she seems to despises anyone who flaunts their wealth and power, but she warms up to anyone who clearly understands a practical skill or two.
Bias Discovered.
Once the dinner is in full swing Valeria seizes an opportunity to get Baroness Voinum's attention and talk to her about imports and exports. The Baroness smiles as she replies "It is good you are already thinking about the most fruitful avenues to administer your lands and more importantly the best means of working with your neighbors. First off, I would recommend you working with Tribune Piscum. She has been administering the lands in the absence of an heir so would have a much better idea of what work lays ahead of you."
She continues on telling Val how this temperate climate is ideal for farming a variety of crops, including grains, grapes, olives, and a variety of fruits. However, because of the overworked soil in many parts of this area of Taldor, such ventures are less fruitful in the county of Meratt than one might think.
Eventually she leans in close to Valeria as she notes "Admittedly, I had a certain fondness for the grapes of the Betony vineyards once produced before the fields flooded and if you can restore the estate farms, I’ll happily agree to a trade deal that would provide you with extensive infrastructure repairs"
+2 Successful influence. Voinum is now Friendly.
Toby makes sure to talk shop with Baron Okerra as they've become buddies after the joust. The Baron smiles and pats Toby on the shoulder happy to relate his advice on riding, one of his favorite pastimes. He notes how he grew up as a young boy riding and has done so ever since. He explains how important it is to establish trust with your mount and treat them it with compassion only then can you form a true bond and really ride as one. The two of you continue on for some time talking about the best ways to handle a mount.
+2 Successful influence.
Both Eregos and Piri try to get a read on Onara, but for the first part of dinner she mainly keeps to herself and focuses on eating, not really talking with the other guests much making it hard to really glean any useful information.
No Success on either
Will let Sydney get in his round 1 during round 2. Everyone else, let's continue on to Round 2!
Was in an SA game that fizzled out. Put together a new character to submit here. Introducing my swashbuckler Mizuko for consideration.
Stats:
Mizuko Tagashi
Female human (Tian-Min) fighter (lore warden) 1/swashbuckler 1 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Pathfinder Society Field Guide, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56)
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +3 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 18 (2d10+2)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will -1 (+4 vs. charm and compulsion)
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee katana +6 (1d8+3/18-20)
Special Attacks deeds (derring-do, dodging panache, opportune parry and riposte), panache (3)
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 16
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (katana), Slashing Grace[ACG], Weapon Focus (katana)
Traits bandit (river kingdoms), irrepressible, twitchy
Skills Acrobatics +6, Bluff +7, Climb +3, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (local) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Linguistics +4, Perception +3, Profession (sailor) +3, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +7, Swim +3
Languages Common, Elven, Minkaian, Tien
SQ swashbuckler finesse
Other Gear lamellar cuirass[UC], buckler, katana[UC], belt pouch, flint and steel, masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], soap, torch (3), trail rations (2), waterskin, 26 gp, 4 sp, 7 cp
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Special Abilities
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Deeds Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Slashing Grace (Katana) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can add Dex instead of Str to dam.
Swashbuckler Finesse Use Dex for att with light/1-hand pierce wep. Use Cha instead of Int for combat feat pre-reqs.
Personality:
Unlike what many view as the common Tien traits of being quiet, polite and meek, Mizuko is fun loving, boisterous and sometimes a little hyper. Her hyperness is especially evident whenever she is scared as she tries to compensate for her fear by staying busy and trying to find a way out.
Description:
Mizuko has a slender but athletic build. She is 5'6" with jet black hair that is shoulder length, and jade green eyes.
Memories:
1) Mizuko is aboard a ship, she is kneeling down in front of a small shrine where a katana rests. The room is stately and the waves are calm. Bowing her head for a long time she eventually sits up right and takes the katana, unsheathing it to look at the blade. After a moment she sheathes the blade and stands, taking it with her.
2) On a ship again, this time in cramped quarters the rough waters tossing her back and forth. It must be a storm as she hears thunder and feels panic and helplessness which seem to be new feelings for her.
3) Older now, Mizuko looks out from a higher vantage point over a land with several rivers. She must be on a ship again, moving as the wind blows through her hair. She feels happy but also uneasy like something is weighing on her.
4) At a tavern, she is standing on the bar doing a horrible job at singing, but having a grand time of it none the less. The world is hazy, she has had too much to drink, but the energy is high and she is having the time of her life.
5) Mizuko is fighting, wielding the katana in one hand skillfully, fighting against a man in nice clothing. To the mans surprise she switches from her slashing motions to stab him through the chest. The man grasps at the wound before falling the the floor.
Triggers:
Nothing really. Anything going too deep into the territory of sex scenes prefer to 'fade to black'
Heading into the prison, before you get stopped you see the cell that Es was being held in. There are four men all badly bruised and beaten and one woman. You don't recognize any of them, but you commit their faces to memory as best you can before being asked to leave unless you want to spend a night in a cell.
Mok/Sapher:
Eventually you receive a letter from the mage. He notes that should you desire to work off your debt he has a task that you could do for him. He has been doing some research on a magical concoction that requires a few reagents that are a little unseemly to retrieve. He notes that while he could get them himself, he would prefer to leave the dirty work up to someone else. He needs a few things, which will likely take several hours to retrieve. First, he needs a hand full of live slugs, the particular species he needs can only be found in the sewers, specifically around some of the processing troughs the city uses to attempt to clean the bodily waste that passes through the sewer system. Second, he needs some mucus from a otyugh, he knows of a den of them that also reside in the sewer and has provided a map to their location. He recommends bringing along some waste in an effort to trade the otyughs rather than getting eaten by them. Finally, he needs the some bat guano. He has marked another location of a vaulted chamber in the sewers where this can be located.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I'm moving slow than usual again with all the family time and festivities as you have likely noticed, but I will start getting back to normal on the 2nd. Will check in as I can but otherwise everyone have a safe and enjoyable New Years!
After the first game of Trucco finishes up and Dame Crabbe comes out the winner, Sveng decides to join in, using the opportunity to speak with the woman further. After his introduction Sveng starts to rattle off different names and Dame Crabbe seems to be truely impressed at his depth of knowledge. As many of the suitors he recommends are from counties further away Dame Crabbe finally notes "I'm impressed by your knowledge of the potential suitors for my daughter, however I'm really more interested in keeping her close. Someone that will be here in Meratt would be optimal. After my husband passed, my daughter is all I have left and I would hate to hardly ever see her if she was spirited away to some far off part of Taldor..."
With a smile and a glimmer of hope in her eyes she asks "Tell me Mr. Catus, you are here with Lady Tanessen if I'm not mistaken. I assume you are someone of import to the new Baroness? You aren't married are you?"
This time Toby faces off against Baron Okerra. The man is an imposing figure and seems to really know his way around his horse. After the customary salutes The Baron skillfully spurs his horse forward, giving him a slight advantage as he races toward Toby. Luckily Toby manages to defelct the blow once again with the shield while leaning in with his lance and striking Okerra squarily in the shoulder, causing his lance to explode once again. The baron teeters for a moment, but manages to stay mounted.
The crowd erupts in more cheers for both Toby and the Baron, though the cheers for Toby quickly outpace that of the Baron. Once at the opposite ends again, the Baron flips up his visor and gives Toby a nod and a wave before he dismounts to let the next batch of competitors compete. Purple finch comes over once again clapping Toby on the shoulder as he dismounts "Great job!"
2 more point for Toby for a total of 5
Valeria continues into the next game of Trucco while maintaing her conversation with Baroness Voinum. As she talks the Baroness listens, but only seems half interested especially as Valeria goes on about tailoring and making acquaintances. She finally notes "I appreciate the offer and perhaps I will take you up on it at some point, but you should be careful who you express your hobbies to. It's obvious, with your age, you lack some experience in courtly matters and I'll give you another little tidbit of advice. While I think having capabilities aside from looking pretty and talking with a honeyed tongue are important, not all other nobles feel the same. You need to be patient, take your time to get to know someone before offering up everything there is to know about you...."
When Valeria has her outburst in congratulating Toby, the woman just rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but doesn't say a word. Instead, she turns her attention toward one of the tables where the food and drink is setup, obviously eyeing the various selections of wines for a moment before turning her attention back to the game of Trucco.
Biases discovered, the baroness doesn't like young people (anyone under 25 has a -2 to check with her) but she has an apparent interest in wines (anyone offering her wine or drinking wine with her has a +2 to checks)
Piri tries his hand at trucco, but after the Count's rebuke he is a bit off and doesn't manage to score a single point. After finding no luck with the game he goes to watch the joust and talk with Onora. However, the woman is so engrossed in the jousts it's hard to really get anything useful from just watching her, and it is pretty apparent she isn't in the mood for any lengthy discussion with her interests in heavily focused on the joust right now.
No success, can't really get anything from her while she is watching the joust
Eregos again finds an opportunity to speak with Baroness Voinum as the new game of Trucco begins. After his introduction, he does pretty poorly this round, but at least manages to score one point, to not completely embarrass himself. Luckily, his focus wasn't on competing but just enjoying the game as he spoke with the others.
His second round of Trucco doesn't go quite as well as his first does, but he doesn't seem too concerned about winning, merely enjoying himself. As he returns and begins complementing the woman and then talking about Cheliax he catches the Baroness, once again eyeing the wine, seemingly less than interested in their conversation.
She eventually notes "While I can appreciate your kind words, as I mentioned to your young cousin, attempts at ingratiating yourself by spouting out frivolous flattery isn't always the best means of carrying on a conversation. One of the problems with all you young ones is thinking you can just use pretty words to make people like you, but there needs to be more substance behind it than just that. Maybe not only their code of ethics and honor are different in Cheliax, but also the way you approach a conversation? Either way, it seems that both of you still have much to learn of the way of things her in Taldor."
Without another word she goes to take her turn at Trucco.
No Success
On to Round 3!
@Sydney You still need to adjust your Round 1 and do your Round 2. Just add these to your Round 3 post.
@Piri To note, Onara and Baron Okerra are both *preoccupied* with the joust and can't be influenced or anything. You can still work on the count if you want, you just rolled poorly which is why he was dismissive, but also, you don't have to do influences on the others if it doesn't make sense for your character. As it stands the only NPCs that can be influenced are Dame Crabee and Baroness Voinum who are playing Trucco and Count Lotheed who is watching the joust.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I'm moving slower than usual with all the family time and festivities myself as you have likely noticed, but I will start getting back to normal on the 2nd. Will check in as I can but otherwise everyone have a safe and enjoyable New Years!
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I'm moving slower than usual with all the family time and festivities myself, but I will start moving us forward on the 2nd, if those still with actions left can get a post in before then. If not I will bot as needed.
Well, I think there are some differences in speed, as you mentioned between a more sandboxy game like Hell's Rebels, or War for the Crown, as opposed to this which is LOTS of dungeon crawling. It seems like the general consensus is that people would prefer using another medium for maps and don't particularly care for the lighting/LoS so after the new year I can see about making the switch. One of the benefits of Roll20 on my side since I am running two copies of this game, I only set it up once and then copy over that work to this game when you get to the appropriate area, but I would imagine there would be less 'setup' with using slides. I can try it out and see how it goes.
As for expediting things I will see what I can come up with and maybe we can find a happy medium. To note, even though the other group is further along, I was already considering something similar for them just to move us even quicker so I will see about working on a solution for that.
Male Human (ulfen) | Bard (arcane healer) 5 / Fighter (Lore Warden) 2| HP 41/41 | AC 26 (Base 20) | T 15 | FF 22 (Base 16)| CMD 20 | Fort +4| Ref +8 | Will +4 | Init +4| Perc +10 | Portrait
Annalla:
”Orri listens once again and it isn’t until Annalla talks about there only being two outcomes thAt his face outwardly shows some concern. The words seem to stick with him, and he thinks back on the two separate memories of his sister. It’s hard, but he is starting to get use to it somewhat. He thinks on the broken version of Bella and how much pain she was in then on this new version that seems to only want to inflict pain. The two are so opposite he doesn’t understand what went wrong.
Eventually, Anna calls his name as he still hasn’t answered her question and he looks at her as she repeats it still half in his own head. ”Huh, what? Oh, we found some cards, they gave us all gifts when we drew from them. It was one of the gifts I received.”
He holds his head for a moment, feeling another headache coming on and finally looks to Anna, ”I’m sorry this is all... it’s all just a lot. I’ll consider your words and see what I can figure out. For now though I.. I need to go lay down...”
Without another word he heads back toward the trading post to his room to rest.
Sophie:
Orri hadn’t been laying down long when Sophiel came to find him. When she presents the belt Orri smiles and bows his head to Sophiel as he exclaims ”Thank you, such amazing work!” Even with his head pounding he is happy to listen to Sophiels request until she starts talking about Bella. As she explains what has happened Orri starts to feel sick to his stomach and all he can do is stare at Sophie in disbelief. When she finishes he asks ”Do you think, maybe with how things went down with the Stag Lord, maybe she got cursed or something? Maybe there is something we can do to fix this? I mean, like you said something happened in there, and for it to be such a drastic change... let me talk to her. Maybe I can figure out a way to fix it. Please just try and avoid here I guess. Otherwise, I’m not sure what else we can do...”
He flops back on the bed holding his hands over his eyes. He was so excited this morning that he made it better for everyone and fixed his sister but something apparently wasn’t right. There must have been something he missed. Maybe if he could just figure it out, he could fix it again...
Day 2 -Wilderness
Orri is quiet on the trip from the trading post to the fort. He didn’t sleep very well, and kept waking up with severe nose bleeds. He wasn’t sure what exactly the deal was but hoped whatever it was would pass.
Chrysa:
Orri listens to the woman’s tale about the Harpy not sure of the relevance until she also ends up bringing up his sister. All he can say is ”Well shit... as Chrysa quickly moves away from him.
When they start talking strategy Orri is the last to arrive and only catches the tail end as Sophie is laying out her suggestions. He eventually chimes in and says ”I think we should track them. More likely to catch them by surprise if we aren’t just waiting for them to come to us. We track them kill them, but keep one alive so we can get more information.”
Male Human (ulfen) | Bard (arcane healer) 5 / Fighter (Lore Warden) 2| HP 41/41 | AC 26 (Base 20) | T 15 | FF 22 (Base 16)| CMD 20 | Fort +4| Ref +8 | Will +4 | Init +4| Perc +10 | Portrait
Orri headed off after Bella gave him his key. He took a bath but only long enough to get clean. He still had some details on his maps he had been working on he wanted to finish up before getting an early nights rest in an actual bed. He was used to traveling and he didn’t mind sleeping under the stars, but he wasn’t about to let a perfectly good bed go to waste.
He had been working on his maps, sketching in small, but extravagant details on some of the more prominent locations when there was a light knock at the door. Going to open it he found a beautiful woman, scantily clothed in a emerald lace dress waiting outside. She had short, fiery red hair and mischievous smile after a brief introduction and explanation that Bella had ‘paid for her services’ the night Orri stood at the door for a moment trying to decide what to do.
After a few moments he nodded and let the woman in. After closing the door she began to undress and Orri promptly put a hand on hers to stop her. He shook his head and smiled then put the strap of her dress back on her shoulder. Her skin was pale and soft, he took a deep breath, his touch lingering for a moment and then moved away and went over to the desk. He asked for the woman, Isla, to take a set on the bed. He brought his maps over to show her and start talking about their journeys.
The two talked for hours, the woman was not only beautiful but educated and travelled. It turns out she was only in her line of work to save up for her studies at the nearby university. She wanted to be a surgeon but the tuition was expensive so rather than give up on her dreams she decided to get some work where she could make money quick and reasonably safely with the higher class clientele of her employer.
Orri enjoyed the company and having someone to talk to. His sister had been distant ever since they lost Dunstan, Chrysa was just kind of off putting and Sophiel was nice enough but they just never really talked, then of course Ipmeek, while he was a valuable member of their group he couldn’t shake the feeling the kobold was only using them to his own advancement of his tribe. In any case he didn’t have anyone to really talk to in any depth. He wasn’t all that talkative in any case unless it was something he was excited about, which worked well in his work as a merchant as he enjoyed talking business, but with three woman and a kobold he just didn’t find much to talk with them about, not to mention all the constant threats they had to worry about in the wild keeping them all on edge. Now though, in the relative safety of the city, he enjoyed having a captive person to converse with even if she was getting paid for it.
As the night started to give way to the dawn, the two ended up falling asleep next to one another exhausted from the night of talking and sharing stories.
Pathfinder Society GM. 1,048 posts (15,120 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 14 Organized Play characters. 31 aliases. 
