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OK, you want to forge orders. First thing you need to know is who the orders ought to be from.
Ok. Davina knows the leader of the CCG, which has pretty much officially been renamed the Queensmen now, although some people still use the older name, is Tombus Regegious, and knows enough about him that she could make a reasonable attempt at getting a letter to look like a set of written orders that came from him originally.
Factors that potentially complicate this, that Davina is smart enough to be aware of: She has no sample of his handwriting, so if the commander of the guards at the salt works knows his handwriting, it will probably not fool him. She does not know of any official seal or crest or anything else that the Queensmen may use in their official written orders, if anything like that exists. She doesn't know whether the guards are likely to accept orders from the Queensmen anyway.
Mitigating factors: The rumors suggest that these people are mercenaries, not dottari, and the dwarf leading them is not even from Kintargo. So he's unlikely to be intimately familiar with the handwriting or even the official forms used by the Queensmen, if there are any.
OK, so, I've made the check for you. If you want to have forged papers, you've got 'em. You can decide exactly what you want the orders to say.
Yeah, one thing I've learned from the other Hell's Rebels game I play in there are a lot of areas where detailed planning is important. Unfortunately this doesn't work too well in pbp and can really bog things down.
Not sure if this should be here or in Gameplay.
Knowledge (local) check to see if Jessibel knows what the penalty is for being caught outside after curfew.
JESSIBEL'S PLAN v. 2
1. Build four rafts with slightly-raised platforms, ideal for sewer travel but also capable of crossing the nearby rivers. We'll also need poles for the sewers and oars to cross the river.
2. On the night of the new moon, paddle the rafts across the river from the Nest through the Villegre sewers in teams of two. I'm recommending Jessi & Sabrina, Davina & Lucius, and our two strongest characters (Dom & Leora) towing the fourth raft behind them, with Kiri (and her darkvision) riding it as a lookout. From there we'd cross the river, either to the Argo Isle sewers or a longer voyage around Castle District to the sewers of Old Kintargo, close to the salt works.
3. A small team dressed in Queensmen gear (Dom & Jessi?) knock on the salt work's front door and ask for permission to interview the strix captive there to get information about another strix outlaw who caused some damage at the Aria Park protest, producing some sort of falsified documents if necessary; the rest of the team hides nearby out of sight. If the bluff works, we'd get at least a peek inside the salt works and hopefully some idea of the prisoners' location, condition, and how they're being guarded. Maybe we could even pass a coded message to Kiri's dad. If the **** hits the fan here, this is where the attack begins.
4. After the interrogation, the undercover team quickly briefs the others and we make last-minute plans. At this point we could either pull off a 'prisoner delivery' bluff with Kiri, hoping to get the drop on the guards or maybe we take out the next guard shift first.
5. Return--prisoners in tow--to the rafts and navigate the Argo Isle sewers to the safe house and stay there until morning. Then we'd likely separate into smaller groups and either return to the coffeehouse then or wait until nightfall and do so via the rafts.
PROBLEM: With Jessi's crappy Diplomacy roll, we probably don't have a safe house.
Ideas and thoughts. I like the plan.
JESSIBEL'S PLAN v. 2
1. Build four rafts with slightly-raised platforms, ideal for sewer travel but also capable of crossing the nearby rivers. We'll also need poles for the sewers and oars to cross the river.
Do we think we will have an issue with sending people out in the small groups during the day from the safe house? Assuming we have one? If we can do that, then we don't need four boats. Will four boats even fit in the Wasp Nest? Don't forget we already have one. I just have to go pick it up and pay the "deposit". I got the impression from the GM, maybe incorrectly, that one boat would hold us and maybe Kiri's papa, but not all the prisoners.
2. On the night of the new moon, paddle the rafts across the river from the Nest through the Villegre sewers in teams of two. From there we'd cross the river, either to the Argo Isle sewers or a longer voyage around Castle District to the sewers of Old Kintargo, close to the salt works.
I was thinking of moving via boat the night before. Hanging out in the safe house that day. Then moving out.
3. A small team dressed in Queensmen gear (Dom & Jessi?) knock on the salt work's front door and ask for permission to interview the strix captive there to get information about another strix outlaw who caused some damage at the Aria Park protest, producing some sort of falsified documents if necessary If the **** hits the fan here, this is where the attack begins.
I like this.
4. After the interrogation, the undercover team quickly briefs the others and we make last-minute plans. At this point we could either pull off a 'prisoner delivery' bluff with Kiri, hoping to get the drop on the guards or maybe we take out the next guard shift first.
I think it would look weird to show up and question a prisoner late at night, and then turn right back around and bring another "prisoner" in to the salt works. I think it should be we question or we deliver not both.
There are some things I think we are still missing or not done.
Pick up the boat
Forge the orders
Buy and scrolls, wands or silence arrows etc
Remember Dom is at the "Happiest Place on Earth" from now through the 20th. Personally I'd hate to be botted for the first official Ravens strike against Thrune. That should give us time to get/make the stuff we need or want.
I think I've been basing my boat ideas off the following three vessels:
barge
raft or raft v. 2
rowboat
Raft v. 2 and rowboat can carry up to 4 and up to 3 Medium passengers respectively. Maybe the boat the gnome was offering is different and bigger?
Re: Bringing In the Prisoner: Yeah, I reluctantly agree with your assessment. It'd be a stretch at best.
Re: Half-Orc Loose in Disney World: Totally forgot about that! GDI! I agree that it would suck for Dom's player not to be present for the raid, but at the same time we don't want to lose our already-slowed momentum (and maybe Lucius as a player) by waiting another whole week.
A Possible Compromise? How about a little side mission over the next week to clean out our projected route through the sewers? The first book of the Council of Thieves adventure path has a set of sewer encounter, or I could volunteer to write up some and then have Jessibel feign ignorance...if the GM would be kind enough to run them? That way Dom would be back for the big raid and Lucius would actually have something to do other than wait for us to come up with a plan.
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The carrying capacity of a rowboat always seemed pretty low to me. I doubled it by fiat. It can fit eight people, so the seven (if Sabrina goes) Ravens plus Papa Windfeather. If Lucius doesn't check in with me or post in the thread by the time we begin this, I'll have him stay out for now, on the grounds that the musket is too loud for stealth.
I don't think building a raft that can navigate the sewers and cross the river is practical in the space available in the Nest.
I've got contingencies for random sewer encounters in any case. I could easily just roll one up instead of rolling percentile dice to find out whether one occurs or not. Might be simplest to go ahead with the boat trip and see what comes up during the trip from the Nest to the river.
Wow, thanks for taking the time to write that up, Jessi! I'm sorry to hear the first version got eaten :/
A few questions/ideas about the part of the plan that actually involves getting into the salt works itself section of the plan (#2 and 3 on Jessi's plan). What are we trying to accomplish by having disguised people sneak into the Salt Works? I think the answer to that question helps us pick a strategy.
Option A: Get the jump on the guys at the Salt Works
If this is what we are trying to do, then I would suggest:
Two people who can use the scrolls/wands of sleep/silence disguise themselves as Queensmen and one prisoner who can incapacitate the guards get inside. They can shut down the guards ASAP, allowing the rest of the party to get inside and everyone rescues the prisoners.
Option B: Distract the guards at the Salt Works so the sneaky people can sneak the prisoners out.
Our two best bluffers (or a good bluffer and someone who isn't good at sneaking) go in with some excuse to distract the guards. While they are busy, the other party members sneak in to rescue the prisoners.
Option C: Scout out the Salt Works
The two best bluffers, or one good bluffer and one person with good perception go in with an excuse to distract the guards. This gives those PCs time to scout out the Salt Works and gather info. They could then either signal the rest of the party to come in immediately, or try and leave and come back later with the rest of the party.
A few miscellaneous questions:
-Have we seen the Queensmen employ only humans, or have we seen other races? I'd hate for Dom to pretend to be a Queensman, but the guards catch on because he's a half-orc.
-Do we know how long it will take to row from the Wasps Nest sewers to the river; from the river to the Salt Works; or from the river to the sewer near the Salt Works? Or will we learn these as part of our scouting mission we are currently discussing? To Davina's point, we might not be able to do it all AND break into the Salt Works in the same night.
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You've only seen humans in the Queensmen. However, Domitius has strong human heritage and can appear human fairly easily.
Based on the maps that Laria has given you and her experience with navigating boats through the sewers, you can get there within a couple hours -- it's no slower than walking the streets. In fact, the map you have looks like most of the sewers follow the major streets more or less exactly.
GM: Can you give me a ruling on this?
I'd also like to make a check to see if Jessi knows anywhere she might be able to buy used (i.e.--not fully charged) wands in the city.
And another check for the above....
I realize I'm kinda metagaming, but I really don't want us to spend most of our gold on stuff that we'll use during this rescue and then rarely ever again. And I'm not a big fan of sleep as an ambush spell, what with its 1 round casting time and the lower save DC from it coming from a wand.
I believe we may be overthinking things. If we can overcome the dwarf and four guards on duty quickly (and arm the prisoners), we can't be stopped. It would be four guards against 14 or 15 armed enemies; if they're smart, the second crew runs and tries to raise an alarm. Then we might have troubles later with dottari/Queensmen pursuit.
It might be better to try to eliminate the sleeping guards first and then take on the main building.
I hope you folks don't mind me fastforwarding a bit here. I was getting really tired of planning, planning, planning with no action. :D
Jessibel: Yes, there are shops where you can do it. The various magic item shops are listed on the Kintargo Map, but we don't have to go into detail. The Newt Market is your best bet near the coffeeshop for used wands. Scrolls are also an option if you don't want to buy a whole wand.
Any 1st-level arcane or divine spell has a 75% chance of being available in wand form. Psychic-only spells are rarer, so let's say 10% chance if it occurs only on a psychic spellcaster list and not on any others. 50% chance said wand is fully charged, 50% chance it is partially used. If it's partially used, it has 5d10 charges, and is priced appropriately.
Second level spells are harder. The price of a new 2nd level wand is 4500, which exceeds Kintargo's base price, so they aren't available. However, used wands are lower than this price, so there might be one available. In that case, there is a 35% chance of a wand being available, with 4d10 charges on it, and a 10% price premium because of rarity.
This situation might change if martial law was to be revoked, since its current status is making merchants steer clear of the area, and in fact the entire nation of Cheliax is having trade grind to a halt as the Glorious Reclamation disrupts the free movement of people and goods.
I just want to make sure I understand what's happening. We picked up the boat from the gnome at the marina and sailed it to the sewers under Villegre and are trying to return to the Nest, correct?
Also, since I forgot to roll it in the Gameplay thread:
Assuming we don't all end up as fungus fertilizer, we should still be planning the rescue of Kiri's father.
We still have a major problem: Assuming we succeed at the break-out without casualties, we'll have approximately twice as many people as can fit in our one boat. (I'm assuming 5-6 PCs plus Sabrina, Kiri's dad, the Forvian Crowe fellow Laria thought might be worth recruiting, and then 7-8 other prisoners. Actually, according to this post, at least some of the other prisoners are part of Crowe's group and worth recruiting (according to Laria).
That's why Jessi's insisting on another boat. I think/thought the plan was to take the sewers to the safe house to stay off the streets and avoid dottari patrols after the break-out and then return to the Nest in smaller groups the next day and/or night via the boat(s). Yes? No?
Oh yeah--and Jessibel rolled a natural 1 on her Diplomacy check to get the vagrant to move out of the potential safe house, so we may not even have that secured yet.
I also vote for dom slowing the boat down! I'll post in character soon, Leora will cast bless.
For some reason I thought the boat was to just get us, the ravens and Kiri's papa, in and out of the district, and that we'd be running through the streets at night to a safe house not far from the Saltworks. Maybe letting Crowe's group take off in one direction while we go in another once we get clear of the SaltWorks.
Davina - Jessi is waiting on the results of her diplomacy check to see if we get the safe house or not.
GM - was Jessi able to get the safe house while negotiating with the squatter?
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Well, let's see. I don't actually see a diplomacy check, but I do see a bluff check and a bribe. Let's find out if the bum can see through the lie.
When Jessi says her lie (or half-truth, really) about the other group of homeless folks coming, he winks at her and says, "Sure, whatever you say, guv. I'll use this to spend the night somewhere warm, get a nice hot bath and a mug of ale -- and I won't say anything about where I got it."
Her subsequent work on securing the place so that it will be able to be occupied by the escapees while still looking vacant goes well.
So yes, you have the safe house. The only loose end is that the squatter probably figured out that Jessi wasn't telling him the whole truth.
Thanks GM, that helps a lot with the planning!
So since we seem to have secured the safe house, I suggest we go with Davina's suggestion. If I'm remembering correctly, we would all go to the safe house after freeing the prisoners. Then, the next day or maybe the next night, we let the other prisoners leave to do their own thing, and the party, along with Kiri's dad, takes the boat back to the Wasp Nest.
Since we will probably be suspicious that people are looking for the escaped prisoners, and Jessi probably doesn't trust the squatter, we can keep watch while we rest at the safe house.
Did i get everything? Any other ideas, questions, concerns?
Jess pointed out the small move the prisoners hole in the plan. How far away is the safe house from the saltworks? Looking at the map it seems that area is pretty condensed so a quick run through the streets shouldn't be too bad. Just a few blocks.
Hey guys, I'm back from vacation and getting back in my groove. My plan is to get read up today and post later as appropriate. Anyone got a fifty-words-or-less version of where we're at?
We picked up the rented boat, rowed it across the river, and are now in the sewers under Yolubilis Harbor/Villegre mapping/clearing out a sewer route for Rescue Kiri's Dad Night. We've found some killer fungi and are fighting about as capably as usual (i.e.-not very). I believe you have a dagger out and studied the fungus for an attack.
I believe you have a dagger out and studied the fungus for an attack.
Studied Target isn't a thing for me anymore. :) Still, thanks for covering me during the week away!
We wanted to wait on the liberation of the SaltWorks until you were back. The fun should be had by all. I hope the Disney was fun for you and the kiddos.
Post is up.
We wanted to wait on the liberation of the SaltWorks until you were back. The fun should be had by all. I hope the Disney was fun for you and the kiddos.
Gee, thanks! We had a freaking blast. The boys (age 6.5 and 4) ate it all up, from their first plane ride to every minute in the park, and overall were well-behaved, and did well with both the heat and the crowds. Good times all around.
PS - Jess, "throw money at it" was a freaking killer line. Tres bien fait.
Gee, thanks! We had a freaking blast. The boys (age 6.5 and 4) ate it all up, from their first plane ride to every minute in the park, and overall were well-behaved, and did well with both the heat and the crowds. Good times all around.
Good to hear!
PS - Jess, "throw money at it" was a freaking killer line. Tres bien fait.
Yeah, I figured it fit in with her spoiled rich girl persona.
Found another potential flaw in our rescue scheme: We need to find out if the Queensmen are allowed to be out after curfew or if that's just allowed for dottari patrols. If the CCG goons aren't supposed to be out, that hurts out whole "Try to interview the strix prisoner" bit. Rather than put a wholly out of time and context post in the Gameplay Thread, I'll make the roll here.
@ GM Unless I've missed it somewhere, I'm still waiting on a reply about this (also a result of 22).
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The general penalty for breaking curfew is getting locked up for the night, as well as being interrogated about what you're doing out so late, and a fine, that is thought to increase with repeated infractions.
Although the curfew technically applies to everyone, those "executing their duties to the empire" are exempt, such as dottari, and, one can safely presume, members of the militia.
Yay, welcome back Dom!! Glad you and the kids had fun!
I *think* the last thing we need before going to the Salt Works is the wands and scrolls.
GM Can we roll to see which are available so it's easier for us to decide? Let me know if you'd rather roll, or else I can do it based on the rules you mentioned for wands. Are the rules the same for scrolls (75% chance of level 1 spell of being available)? What about second level scrolls, since they are cheaper than second level wands? I would like to see if the following are available, fully or partially charged.
-Wand of Silence
-Scroll of Silence
-Wand of Sleep
-Scroll of Sleep
Some other miscellaneous thoughts on magic stuff
-If our rebellion focus is stealth, it may be worthwhile to pick up the wands as they would be useful for future break-in missions.
-Leora can prep forbid action which might help a little during the mission
-We still have the scroll of pass without trace, it might help with our escape/ hiding, but I don't think anyone can use it
-We also have the scroll of whispering wind if Jessi needs to pass a message during the mission
-I'll probably take scribe scroll at third level
Silence: L2 spell, Leora or Jessi can use.
-Scroll: 150 gp each
-Wand: 4,500gp (90gp per charge) (less likely to be available due to price)
Sleep: L1 spell, Jessi can use.
-Scroll: 25 gp each
-Wand: 750 gp each (15 gp per charge)
Yes, there are shops where you can do it. The various magic item shops are listed on the Kintargo Map, but we don't have to go into detail. The Newt Market is your best bet near the coffeeshop for used wands. Scrolls are also an option if you don't want to buy a whole wand.
Any 1st-level arcane or divine spell has a 75% chance of being available in wand form. Psychic-only spells are rarer, so let's say 10% chance if it occurs only on a psychic spellcaster list and not on any others. 50% chance said wand is fully charged, 50% chance it is partially used. If it's partially used, it has 5d10 charges, and is priced appropriately.
Second level spells are harder. The price of a new 2nd level wand is 4500, which exceeds Kintargo's base price, so they aren't available. However, used wands are lower than this price, so there might be one available. In that case, there is a 35% chance of a wand being available, with 4d10 charges on it, and a 10% price premium because of rarity.
OK, if I roll less than the % needed, then the roll is successful:
(at 10% price premium)
Woohoo, my out-of-combat rolls continue to rock!
So we can buy, if we want:
Wand of sleep, 29 charges, 435gp
Wand of silence, 19 charges, 1881gp
We do have the funds to buy both (2733gp in the party fund), if we want. What do you guys think?
GM Are the % chances the same for the scrolls? How about the silence scroll since it is second level, but under Kintargo's base price?
I think it would be a good idea to have the wands on hand.
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Since it's under the base price, it's the standard 75% chance of it being available. However, you have some inconsistencies in your post above. In the wand of sleep roll you have low being good, and in the wand of silence you have high being good. I'll let it go this time but please be consistent in the future.
Doh! I'm sorry about that GM. I just failed at reading my own post. 5 numbers is way too many for a drunken cleric to handle ;)
Anyway, on to the wands. Low is good for these rolls too. They have to be under 75 to succeed.
Found a slight error in my build, never realized I get the basic kinesis utility talent for free at first level. I have added that to my build.
To the GMs question in the game play thread, Leora is good to go. She will prep sanctuary and forbid action.
Any last thoughts on the wands/scrolls? If I don't hear any other suggestions within 24 hours, I'll go ahead and assume we bought both wands and that Jessi has the sleep wand and Leora has the silence wand.
I tried to get to a light load, but I can't if we're going to be out overnight. I need my alchemy crafting kit to make my extracts at the safe house the next day.
Cripes! Isn't that what you've got that new gardener for--to carry your "fertilizer and pesticide" kit? :)
@Leora: I reluctantly added the wand of sleep to Jessi's character sheet and she's resigned herself to a life of poverty. She can't use the scroll until she learns read magic next level of bard.
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You can use the scroll if you are able to decipher it with a Spellcraft check, but I won't require that for purchased scrolls since the seller presumably identifies it for you.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cripes! Isn't that what you've got that new gardener for--to carry your "fertilizer and pesticide" kit? :)
Never thought of that. "Here gardener hold my stuff until I need it." :)
It's gonna have grass stains all over it by the time you get it back...
How dare work get busy. Take care of yourself GM.
Good luck getting caught up at work. Recharge those GM batteries while you're at it.
And at night, honor Cayden Cailean by raising a few drinks for a good cause. Or a bad one. Bah--screw the causes altogether! Just drink (like a pirate whenever possible)!
Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna build my own shrine to Cayden. With blackjack, and hookers! In fact, forget the shrine!
Just to point out for future reference there was no need to rule on the blast dealing full on the swarm. In point of fact all blasts deal full on swarms, even ones that can't be damaged by weapons.
Even the weakest kinetic blast involves a sizable mass of elemental matter or energy, so kinetic blasts always deal full damage to swarms of any size (though only area blasts deal extra damage to swarms).
Added the more detailed entry on kinetic blast into my alias for ease of reference.
Yeah I wanted to give Dom and Jessi a chance to do something before Leora acts again.
I'd meant to post last night, but then I fell asleep (sorry). What do we think, how hard should I stop Kossrani (i.e. with my hands or my falcata)?
EDIT: you got it, Jess (I only asked in case you wanted to let misdirection have more of a chance to play out, personally Dukkan is more than happy to let his blade do the talking). Post reflecting that idea coming up.
Falcata. No quarter.