Ascension - Mageocracy

Game Master bbangerter

It be interesting to divide our challenges into these areas:
s
1) Drow/Thief - We have a lot of information tying these groups together and they are definitely anti-Radgar.

2) Abyssal/Rebellion - the Rakshasa, demons, and Hezeck's connection.

3) Radgar & Followers - I say followers because the old woman situation seemed to make it likely that he has a crew with him at least. How much do we have that makes Radgar into anything but seeking revenge against the Drow/Thief connection. Maklo's information seems solid which may make Radgar more of a loose cannon that could be pointed in the right direction rather than a primary foe.

4) New undead threat from the vampire sector.

Do we see anything that makes us believe that these factions aren't totally separate?

Which do we see as primary/secondary/tertiary? To me the demonic/Rebellion aspect is most dangerous.

That's mostly a good way to look at it, but I do see some "bleed over" and permutations between the groups.

1) All the drow we know of (Maklo, Firyin, Diguri, Cheyle, etc.) are affiliated with the criminal underworld in some fashion, though keep in mind that they are split into two factions. Up until the Tower raid I would have said they are more focused on each other than us, but that might be changing. We have information to suggest that Radgar's wife was killed bc she had information exposing Diguri and the criminal underworld (therefore drow) in the slave trade. Radgar is definitely anti-drow, but I'm not sure it is clear at this point how much Diguri et al are really concerned with Radgar. He's killing guards, not criminals.

2) I'm not sure how truly connected the Rebels and the demonic forces really are. Hezek has been our main link here, but our interrogation of him suggested he was more of a link between the two sides rather than evidence of them being one and the same. Additionally, my take away from the Roscomia interrogation is that the rebels truly think they are working to make the world a better place (aka not evil). If they are connected to the demons, they are being used by them. I'd recommend seeing these groups as more separate than together. Also, I'm not sure I'd lump the Mauri/Rakshasa we found in with this. Might be a summons/henchman for someone or even a third distinct group.

3) Not sure what "old woman" you mean here. The beggar he swapped places with via the ring? My recollection is that she was just a forced pawn, with no other involvement. Right now Radgar seems to be an independent element, though I do think he is potentially related to the library/Abadar temple episode we just completed. The Ris'jae necromancer came from the same place Radgar reportedly trained...probably more I'm forgetting here. Radgar is something of a loose cannon, in the sense that he is rabidly ant-drow and could potentially be directed against them. Not really sure how to do that though. He has been killing a lot of guards.

4) I think its unclear how much of an "undead threat" we have. Really there are a lot of unanswered questions from our temple/library/Nasul episode that could help fill in the blanks. Why was the area sealed? What does Hast know that he isn't telling us? Can Sona shed more light on this? Is Rakinkal really anything, perhaps the guy with the lyre our speak with dead discovered? Really unclear.

The demonic threat seems the most concerning overall; this is what was behind the Gumlat episode and the attempt to blow up Tiny Town. Hezek and Bannali would be the best leads to go after if we wanted to chase this. Radgar is a big threat too though, we risk continued erosion of the public trust if nothing is done about him. Secondary might be the Thieves. They got back a LOT of folks we captured in that raid, and were able to access the Tower map with the key. Who knows what they are planning next. Tertiary at this point might be the library/temple/Rakinkal angle (though this could change after more info) and dealing with the pesh trade plus whoever killed Rosuc. My 2 cents.

I say

1. Secure tower
2. Secure city
3. Then move to other things.

Though someone (npc) in this damn tower ought to be able to secure it. Stone shape the doors, etc.

@Tenro: I'd agree with you, though my impression is that our group isn't being asked to secure the Tower. It being "unsecure" was really just a function of all the senior folks being gone to Gumlat. With that resolved, the tower itself should be pretty safe.

Looking at it, aren't all our missions really "secure the city" missions? The Thieves, the Rebellion, Radgar.....not sure I see much other things that don't fall in this category. How would you prioritize the Secure City items?

Also, I started combing through the old thread pages to update my notes and in one page I already found interesting info. We really may want to corner that Dether fellow we interacted with before. He seemed to know before we did that the Wailing Spirits (the brothel where we snagged a bunch of prisoners) was "enemy territory". Likewise, he knew of Bannali but clearly didn't like him. An ally with knowledge is a good thing.....

Oh also, Ian said IC earlier than he'd like to help Sona get back into the Tower's good graces, if possible

by secure the city i mean we should prioritize the lives of the guards, without them we can project our authority far less

I'm swamped with RL stuff, but will try to get a post up in the next few days. I'll have a few recommendations as to our specific next steps too.

All,

I'm silent now because my character is in her chambers, but also because I am in the process of moving my family from Richmond, VA to Jacksonville, FL. My time online will be significantly limited and spotty. I will try to keep up on occasion but please feel free to bot my character to keep things moving.

Thanks!

I am going to be without internet access through Wednesday evening. I'll post the loot list from the priest once I get back.

Just my notes on stat changes from that giant's belt. oi the math :D

All,

My family is relocating to Florida over the next few weeks, getting kids enrolled in school, and changing jobs. In short, life is chaos and my posting will be absent or sporadic for the next few weeks.

Sorry and hope to be back soon.

When I got back into Fallout 4 a little, I decided to spend an absurd amount of time modeling Ian's face as best I could.

For those interested in a peek.

Very cool! Hadn't thought of using PC image generators in PC games to make character images for RPG's, but the concept obviously works. Good to see its close to the image you've been using too.

niiiiice. i might try to do that if i actually played humans more.

That's very impressive Ian.

Serelina's player let me know that he is unfortunately dropping out of PbP entirely.

Guess we'll see how we emerge out of this combat, but we'll likely need to reconstitute to continue.

@GM: Has there been any changes in the status of the other groups? I last recall you saying the Rebellion and Thieves (after a re-start even) are defunct as active PC-run groups. Is this still the case, with the Merchants still going strong?

We did some new recruitment in the merchants group, but players have stopped posting for about month now. I'm considering the group dead at this point.

One player had their computer hit by ransomware and wasn't online for about a month. Others may have been in the hurricane zones - not sure. So mage group is the final group still running.

I've got people in town until the end of the month. I will still be checking in, but irregularly. Bot me if needed please.

In case you were wondering how to get a smurf avatar...........

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2usds?Why-is-my-Avatar-now-a-Smurf#1

Wow that is very weird. I wonder why they chose to make 'smorph' do it too.

what about smirf

sm*rf

smurph

smeaurph

They really hit a lot of variants huh. sm0rph?

Sorry for spamming discussion XD

Three different individuals have expressed interest in the recruitment thread. Will get one of them on board before proceeding. As characters go up feel free to add any comments of your own in favor of or against builds or concepts.

Sounds good RE: holding off moving forward until a new PC comes on board.

@GM: Will PM you with some thoughts on the PC applications

Wraxus: Welcome to the Mageocracy! Good to have a full arcane caster joining the group. This is a very sandbox-y campaign with a LOT of leads. We're currently looking to deal with one threat (daemons and their likely leader) but there is a ton more. If you have time, reading through the Gameplay thread will get a sense of the breadth and width of the adventures. Again, welcome!

I have guests in town until next monday, i have been scarce on here due to internet circumstances but i will remedy at that time, please bot me as needed.

Sorry for the long delay. Been preparing my house for sale for the past month+ and last week was especially busy with painting.

Sorry for the long delay. Been preparing my house for sale for the past month+ and last week was especially busy with painting.

i know that feel, im trying to buy a home

pretty sure wall spells are supposed to be straight lines or hemispheres. Blade Barrier's effect line lacks the Shape-able (S) tag. This means that its shape cannot be changed and so it must be either a straight line or a circle.

Interesting, that is not a detail I was aware of. Adjust to the wall then is a straight vertical line north to south between Ian and the priest.

I had a close relative pass away on the 27th. I intend to get back to posting game updates tonight.

So sorry to hear of your loss. Obviously real life comes first. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Wow, sorry to hear. Damn yeah no rush man take whatever time you need.

And grats on 4,000 posts in gameplay.

+1 on the two posts above

____________________________________________________________

Regarding Magic Item/Treasure Divvying, the usual has been to have everyone pick out useful items and then sell what isn't wanted. Not very formalized but it has broadly worked. This is one of the better hauls we've gotten though, so we'll see.

Soliel would be interested in following items, in rank order of interest: Cloak of Resistance +3, Ring of Protection +2, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Ring of Feather Falling.

Interested in the two AC boosts. Currently have a +1 version of each, so if Ian took both, he'd get +2 net AC, and Soliel could have his old ones for +2 net AC. Just an idea since Ian seems to be tanking a lot of hits. We could spread the AC out more evenly between the party if we preferred.

Definitely makes sense to me. AC for Ian is WAY more important than AC for Soliel.

Breastplate +3
Spear of Spell Storing +1
Ring of Protection +2
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Cloak of Resistance +3
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +4
Boots of Striding and Springing
Ring of Feather Falling
Aquatic cummerbund

can't use the breastplate, my spells dont necessarily work with a spell storing item, the AC items won't help me much with an AC as low as mine. Resistance would be good but i have a +2 so that's only +1 net for me. Wisdom is OK for me but I am a CHA caster. Speed's good since my speed is 20. Feather Falling is "eh", that usually works best on whoever leads the party. Cummerbund would be best on whoever swims the worst (armored folks).

While Wraxus could benefit from the either the ring or the cloak, he has versions of each just at a +1 less. And protecting our main front liner only increases hit offense, and through him our protection, so I am all for Ian getting them. Beyond that, while I could use the boots, they aren't very critical for me. Funds would honestly benefit me the most.

OK, so to take everybody's interests into account, how about this:

Sell: Breastplate+3, Spear of Spell Storing+1, Headband of Inspired Wisdom+4, Aquatic Cummerbund, Ring of Feather Falling, Soliel's Cloak of Resistance+1

Ian: Amulet of Nat Armor+2, Ring of Protection+2

Wraxus: Cloak of Protection+3

Edmond: Boots of Striding and Springing

Soliel: Wraxus' Cloak of Resistance+2, Ian's Amulet and Ring+1

Fine by me

Sounds good, just confirming that I am getting a Cloak of Resistance +3, not a Cloak of Protection. Assuming that was just a typo. And thank you, Soliel, for putting in the effort to divide things up!

Yep Resistance, not Protection. So, sounds like a majority are in agreement (hope this works for you too, Edmond).

The sell value of the rest is 18,700 gp's. Divided by 4 is 4,675gp's each.

sounds great to me

Finally getting fully moved this weekend. I am going to be without internet for the next couple of days.

@Wraxus: Firyin has been a re-occurring character in this campaign from early on. He's a drow in the underworld/criminal scene. Originally the right hand man for Shanneth Diguri (the drow female that runs the criminal world in Coran), he tried to overthrow her but failed. He's still around, and has folks loyal to him, but Diguri seems to want him dead and he's not in the greatest of spots. He may have connections to some of the wealthier merchant houses (at least one) and, at times, we seen him as the slightly more palatable underworld element. That said, he is a drow (pretty much a crime in itself in Coran) and is a foe in the sense that he helps run the crime plaguing the city. And there's the fact that at some level he was working with Bannali.

FYI to fellow PC's: After discussing with the GM, I modified Soliel by dropping her levels of the Assassin class and converting them to alchemist and rogue levels. Other than no more Death Attack, functionally she's the same PC. She'll be a bit better at sneak attacks, now has 2nd lv extracts and picked up a few other tricks. Otherwise same PC.

Make's sense, always want to see people enjoying their characters!