Works for me. Catherine is using the "Ian Fleming" method of mystery solving.
You show up in town, have a drink, play some cards and casually say, "My name is Bond, James Bond." After you've slept with the bad guys woman, they all show up and try to kill you. When they fail, they run back to their lair and once you follow them, you call in Felix Leiter to have them all arrested and put in prison, on the American taxpayer's dime. M calls write after you finish sleeping with the bad guys woman again, but before you've had a chance to tell her goodbye. That reminds you that you want to go one more round, and then you throw her off the boat.
Works every single time, even when it's not James doing it. 8)
If Catherine's going around sleeping with Bond girls, I'll need pics :)
Catherine and Kendra... it has an allitterative ring to it.
The mod does say you can use Kendra as a romantic option for one of the PCs...
... the darker side of me questions the word "one," and wonders if that should be inflated.
Ah....the old Varisian love triangle!
a stone gargoyle atop him, obviously having fell from one of the towers, crushing his face and neck
All I can think of is Hot Fuzz.
Heya, just want to fill everyone in on my future (next two weeks) plans.
I have a lot coming up in the next two weeks. I took step one of my medical licensing boards today, have a month's worth of assignments to do before the 7th and leave for Savannah on the 6th. I will be on the road until 12th or so and then will make an abrupt move to Staten Island from Florida on the 13th for my clinical rotations. I do still plan to make a post a day however.
With that said, please, never wait on me. I would be appalled if I knew the whole group was waiting for me just to say, "Uh, I take a five foot step and swing my sword." Please feel free to DM PC me whenever it's convenient, make any rolls you like and I will catch up at the first opportunity.
I hope everyone is good with Catherine's running mental dialogue. It seems more interesting than saying, "Catherine waits until the person shows up to read the will."
I'm loving the inner dialogue, and the hints of some sort of conspiracy going on. :) I'll do what I can to make sure the party doesn't forget that you're there, and when necessary, I'll make any dice rolls/perform actions.
Try not to meta-game too much into Kendra's thoughts. In a face to face game I'd never do it, but here, with a lot more time for posts, I can experiment and try different things out.
No worries on the meta-gaming. If I'm accurate about anything at any point, it's probably as likely to be accidental as not.
Catherine started suspecting Kendra of something solely because she wore red to her father's funeral. Since then, she looks at everything Kendra does with a jaundiced eye. When you said she looked angry for just a moment and then covered it up, Catherine just knew it had to be suspicious.
Hopefully, my writing will show that Catherine is suspicious of everyone in the long run. She comes from the north of Ulastav, specifically the Shuderwood - a hunting grounds for werewolves. I imagined that this would make her fairly suspicious since you can never tell who will sprout fangs at any given moment.
There will be times when Catherine is accidentally accurate. There will also be times when she is completely off base. Neither instance will change her basically suspicious nature.
After all, so far she's decided that Kendra, the Professor, the priest and Vitaliy are all necromancers, despite very little evidence. The fact that some of them may actually be necromancers probably balances out the fact that some of them probably aren't. 8)
I'll try not to meta-game while still keeping up my running commentary. I thought Catherine's, "I don't have a very suspicious mind" was one of the funniest things I've said in a game for ages. Catherine suspects EVERYONE of something and the less likely their guilt looks, the more she thinks their being clever about it.
Did some reading on Take 20...looks like it doesn't count when searching. Bummer... Even though it makes sense. I'm going to houserule it that if there are no immediate known threats, you can Take 20 on a search. In this case, searching the professor's room doesn't change the results.
I guess it isn't house-ruled. Read here
hmm.... I could brew up a mutagen, but that would only give me a +2 on the check (+4 to physical ability score), but I don't know if you want us to play mutagen as a full Jekyll/Hyde thing or as just a simple boost to physical abilities (with unknown adverse "side effects).
Which would you envision for this world? I think Echo only has theoretical knowledge or mutagens, so it could make this an interesting class feature for character development.
Even then I'm not sure that a +2 would be enough to make the check if you're letting me take either 10 or 20. Would using a mutagen be something I should look into at this time?
hmm.... I could brew up a mutagen, but that would only give me a +2 on the check (+4 to physical ability score), but I don't know if you want us to play mutagen as a full Jekyll/Hyde thing or as just a simple boost to physical abilities (with unknown adverse "side effects).
Which would you envision for this world? I think Echo only has theoretical knowledge or mutagens, so it could make this an interesting class feature for character development.
Even then I'm not sure that a +2 would be enough to make the check if you're letting me take either 10 or 20. Would using a mutagen be something I should look into at this time?
You can play up the character however you want. Thematically, The Jekyl/Hyde angle is perfect, as the whole campaign is gothic horror. I found this page for you to give you an idea of how the build could look and work.
Using the mutagens, going for the Jekyl/Hyde approach, make sure you describe the transformation after quaffing the drink.
As for using a mutagen, that's completely up to you. I'm not really a big fan of giving out the DC for an action (especially this one), so you'll have to experiment a bit.
At this point, the game becomes pretty sandboxy, so you'll all need to come up with individual, or group plans. I can handle both, but obviously sticking together as a group is easier.
I guess it isn't house-ruled. Read here
I know that it doesn't really matter here, but at our table Take 10 and Take 20 were pretty rare. We pretty much only used them if there was no consequence to failure like cutting down a tree in the middle of a plain or throwing a rope over a tree limb. It never worked for climbing, searches, swimming, riding, crafting or anything else where screwing up might cost you.
So, that's what I expect. Anything I get on top of that is bonus to me.
I read about ten posts of that other thread and then quit. It was too rules lawerly for me. I seriously doubt the entire campaign comes to a screaming halt because I fail a perception roll. Therefore, whatever you decide is fine with me.
In this instance, I'd recommend a +1 to a +5 for "having a really good plan on how to search." Consider it a roleplaying bonus, or a circumstance bonus, or don't even consider it at all. I am having fun no matter how it works out.
Taking 20 usually works out fine if you actually factor in the time sink. Rather than a half hour to look through the room, you are taking an entire day to sift through every item in it.
But enough of that, is everyone cool to rest the night, then head back to the Restlands in the morning to find that crypt?
But enough of that, is everyone cool to rest the night, then head back to the Restlands in the morning to find that crypt?
It's only noon...
...but I can work with it if you want.
It just seemed a bit unnatural to walk back to the cemetery right after we left it. Also, plenty more books it seems.
As I recall, some researching can do us well in this adventure.
Perhaps we could go and visit with Father Grimmsboro BEFORE desecrating someone's grave, or what only appears to be a grave but is actually a cache of magical weapons. If people are as touchy as Jorminda described, it'd be best to be above board with these people as often as we can.
Hmmmmm....do I sense some out of character information being thrown into the mix...??
Perhaps we could go and visit with Father Grimmsboro BEFORE desecrating someone's grave
Neglecting to suggest that was entirely intentional on my part.
No, I work at a church so I (as a player) could see a problem with traipsing around a graveyard without permission. Echo wouldn't care as much, as long as we know what we're doing and not actually desecrating someone's grave.
Argh. My Romanian accent needs some work! Let me know if I'm overdoing it or completely butchering it. I think I've been hamming it up a bit lately. Still trying to get a feel for Dawn, I'm afraid.
just want to say hi so no one thinks i vanished. got held up at work last night, should be able to post tonight around dinner time. thanks and sorry.
Sorry everyone...had to take my wife to the hospital again. Looks like she's getting surgery tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll do a proper post tonight...hopefully after Ulam gets one in.
I hope your wife's surgery is quick and successful. 8)
She's going in for surgery tonight. Crossing my fingers there are no complications. :) Surgeon said it's pretty routine. I guess the ultrasound and scope were bad enough they pushed it forward.
I'm working on some battlemaps for the key locations in Ravengro. Do you guys care if the scenery is added in? The only reason I ask, is because nothing ever seems to be the correct size in Dundjinni. Some things are huge, and others are too small.
I for one don't need a huge amount of aesthetic detail. The only things I'd need to see would be cover, rough terrain, and other practical items.
Here's a sample of a map, which is far from finished. Some of these locations are HUGE.
I know the same tile pattern is annoying...building up my collection, so there'll be some more variety by the time I'm finished.
Is that overview enough for everyone? More zoomed in, more zoomed out? I need to redo the tokens so that they're the right size...a little on the small side.
That looks fine to me.
In this one case, too small is better than too big
I think that's really awesome! Congratulations. I'm looking forward to what the whole thing looks like. 8)
A new sample of the same map. :)
That red squiggly line is supposed to be curtains. The big pile of mess is debris. If you click the '100%' button, it zooms in to just the right amount.
Very nice! I for one would not mind looking at maps such as that. Very cool, GM!
Those are very nice indeed. I can't wait to see what they go to!
Look great Tom.
Nice team you have. Some really interesting characters. Do you mind if i read your stuff, as I had on other CC adventures? (Got a soft spot for that AP, i confess..)
Welcome along for the ride Escahrid. :) it's been a little slow lately, but I'm hoping it picks up in the next couple of days, now that my wife is coming home :)
Hey everyone, I'm sorry for not posting much exposition with Viktoria at the moment. I'm still having trouble getting inside her head.
Don't worry Viktoria....this game should last awhile, so you've got some time to figure her out :)
You guys can head out and do whatever, whenever you like...I'm waiting on you guys now.
So, next stop, Temple of Pharasma? Who all is in for this little day trip?
Looks like Vitaly is definitely staying to continue the study of these texts. Looks like Ulam, Catherine and Dawn are going. What about Echo and Viktoria?
I think Echo is staying:
"...those who want to visit the father can do so, while the rest of us can stay here and either rest, study, or do whatever else we would like around here.
I'm not even going to guess as to what Vik is doing, hehe. But, yeah, right now it looks like its just Ulam, Catherine, and Dawn going.
I'll do a post later in regards to visiting the church, and Vitaliy researching. Is there anything in particular Vitaliy is researching?
If Viktoria and Echo want to jump in, go ahead.
Echo is interested in that locked book still. She really doesn't like being told "no," even by inanimate objects.
If the book doesn't yield to the keys that were given to her by Catherine, then she'll look around the various notes in the professor's study to see what else she can find out about Harrowstone
You've already discovered everything there is to know...I'll add all of the knowledge checks in the main thread.
I am very sorry to have missed the last few days. I'm in the middle of my move to New York and a massive family emergency has arisen with my in-laws. I will do my best to catch up/post.