I don't think he ever rolled one. He initiated the fight, and it's pretty much been back and forth since.
Annnnnnd, she is no longer hiding. Initiate plan B: Paralyze, detain and punish.
Ok, no problems either way, I should note beforehand.
Do we have some kind of pretense for attacking/apprehending these folks? They are clearly not half-orcs and were arriving when Marcello and I were (and therefore were not a part of the destruction of the sentinel). Are we going the 'you hang out with this guy, so must be in on it, or at least a sympathizer' route?
Just wanting to know how I should play this out.
Crystal, Crystal. Have I ever lacked a possible underhanded method or explanation before?
As per the newly declared Public Law of Defiance;
"All conspirators that has sought to hinder the rightful ruler, Lady Fate, the Benevolent from reclaiming her throne will be duly punished. They will be detained and brought before an elective court where they will receive justice."
One of the benefits of the Magister role is that I can churn out laws as long as Fate doesn't veto them.
Hmmmm...that seems sketchy at best for non-Garroth people. Prudently oppressive.
I do my best.
Fate also asked for Victor to come up with a pretext for this latest bit of oppression, so she is especially happy to let him do his thing :)
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"You......shall......be........assimilated!
Listen here, ya' half-orc. They are clearly Fate-bots!
So here's a thing about the sentinels. You can give general orders like "round up all the half-orcs" or specific orders like "find a half-orc carrying a big sword", but if you say "go find Garroth", they'll just go up to everyone asking if they're Garroth. You can't communicate a mental image, and they can't communicate well with each other. So just because the four you're commanding know who to chase doesn't mean the others know who this half-orc is. That said, since they're still trying to round up half-orcs, there's a good chance he'll still run into trouble of some kind. Just maybe not any that you can immediately recognize and scry upon.
Victor, can you give a breakdown of your skill ranks?
Oh Lord, I am a wizard.
Fine, fine. I will have that answered by tomorrow.
Yes you may.
Well to be fair I hadn't planned on giving you any of it this early in the week, but if the opportunity presents itself, I may make something happen. Though I should point out that the heroes are already at a disadvantage.
Indeed. Our mech warriors have yet to join the fray. Probably should get an initiative up for them, too.
That all depends on Sarcon.
Ummm...robominions? Sarcon?
Normally wouldn't make suggestions, but if we are gonna be botting Victor for a bit, might I suggest a 35 ft retreat and using his scroll of Murderous Command to have the bear attack Patry? I think the bear would have to charge to get to Victor again, and the upside is pretty sweet, if it succeeds. Or just back up and cast Ray of Enfeeblement and start nerfing it.
My apologies, allies...wasn't expecting a PvP on a Monday, though I should have expected it.
Question for you, DM-Kal.
Can I take Aboleth Lung? Was looking at the cleric list, and it is totally on it. I wouldn't be opposed to you nerfing it, like the spell ending if the subject loses consciousness due to lack of breathable water or something.
Forward-thinking...would you be opposed to Protective Penumbra? That way I can walk around in the daylight a bit and not start undue rumors about the fact I'm only seen at night?
I see nothing immediately wrong with Penumbra, though clever folk might wonder about your perpetual shadow.
As for Aboleth's Lung, I am presently disinclined to allow racial spells for other races, but perhaps it's a fleeting mood I'm in. What do you all think?
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If we are allowing race-specific spells, I'm grabbing Windy Escape next time I get a first level spell known :)
Completely overlooked that it was racial...and didn't remember the fact that we had already discussed that very point earlier. It won't hurt my feelings too much if you disallow it. There are plenty of other good spells.
As for the shadow...I could go around in a palanquin or something...something that would provide a certain amount of shade already. Anything to keep the big secret from being spilled.
Certainly. Though don't forget the special rules we discussed about concealing your (un?)nature.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Right...basically that I look the same, except for when I am about to feed, or when a copious amount of blood is being spilled around me, right?
At that point do I grow fangs? Look feral? Flush? Grow claws? All of the above?
That's what I'm here for :)
Btw, DM-Kal. I would be eternally grateful if you could eventually give me cause to use this image.
I hadn't even thought of that. Of course I was trying to be as hands-off with the combat as possible, so I didn't think about much. You can go ahead and declare another batch approaching, rolling a d4 for the direction of entry. If that sounds reasonable to everyone else that is.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Sounds reasonable. They've had plenty of opportunity to retreat.
Seeing the fight breaking up, what did you all think of the encounter?
Aside from that, what do you think of the game so far? Suggestions or criticisms?
I liked the encounter. It definitely established a theme of overpowered heroes with unlikely odds going against the established evil villains. Getting their ass whipped, going back to regroup, then trying to assault us where we have less help or they can take us by surprise (hopefully between Fate and Sarcon they can come up with something sufficiently villainous/out of the box to counter it).
That being said, I don't think I want that to happen every day of the week, either. That was just Monday! I think I was looking for more of an RP exchange, and it turned into a slugfest due to Victor's surprise attack.
So I think:
1) Perhaps limit non-weekend combat encounters to 1/week.
2) Find a way to involve the PC's not in the scuffle...maybe encourage them to participate, find some way to get them involved, give them a little action or encounter they need to perform on their own. I can't imagine it was much fun for Garroth and the other minion they have over there to just hang out all this time.
Beyond that, still enjoying it immensely. I think next time we encounter them (in the streets, that is) I would like to generate more friction without actual combat, but that's more for my fellow players than anybody else.
Having watched from the sidelines, I was happy with how it went. I do agree that a more non-combat encounter might be fun.
Aside from it being in-character to expect others to do "her" bidding (she has already convinced herself this was all part of her plan), I kept Fate out of the combat to try to keep it more sporting.
While defeating the heroes early might sound fun, I want to make sure the hero players feel like they have a chance. If they lose hope, they might decide to ditch the game, and then nobody gets to play.
As a matter of fact, this discussion is giving me an idea.
Does the keep have a dining hall by any chance?
I see where you're going with that...
I had intended for it to be a courtyard inside the main gate that led directly to the throne room, and not have any other portion deliberately accessible. However, I we can insert whatever seems appropriate between the courtyard and the throne room, as needed.
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The battle I had no problem with. Well maybe a little bit that the map made us all look like comically large giants standing on one of those old maps you had as a child to drive your cars around on.
If there is a Next time, I would love it if there was a map where we could actually see the difference in size on us, robominions and horses and so on. (I know you just threw the map out there as a rough understanding of it all, just saying.) :)
I'm on with the idea of only making fight encounters to 1/week so it doesn't turn into "Who-Can-Kill-Who-The-Best!" No fun in that in the long run :)
Yes, the Heroes need to be involved in a way where we don't just simply jump over and start to chop away at them. I will have a talk with Victor, ask him where his train of thought was in this and all.
But if we could make an encounter where they will start hating us more and we will start hating them more... Like family reunion!
So, all in all: I liked it, but I think that it would be really boring if every encounter with them turns into a murder/Slaughter battle of wet noodles.