[AP] Curse of the Crimson Throne by GMs Rutseg, Zek and Snowheart (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

Oh! I hadn't even thought of that. I'll go in anyway--good Will save.

Will save: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (12) + 21 = 33

Yikes! Not a humanoid! I expected that to work.

Sorry, before I post, did he attempt his roll vs. displacement?

Totally forgot about that!
1d100 ⇒ 74

Sorry, I was in a rush.

If it helps you feel better the 20 roll would have saved him anyway, at least for one round.

I thought the wall of fire would block Ilsa's stare but I am reading the hypnotic stare ability and it is not clear at all what happens when there is not line of sight with the target.

I am inclined to think it is like the case when the mesmerist is blinded and requires a Concentration check to keep working...

Any actual dialogue you want to add to your spell Zamanda? It might spice up the event and give Trifaccia some cool opportunity to answer in-voice :)

Uh, I'll take a look, but honestly, Zamanda would rather shoot the guy than listen to even another second of his stupid, inane, annoying voice, so... uh, not sure I want to give him another chance. :)

(But yeah, I get it storywise. I'll add some more ranting as it continues.)

Also, since my hit points are starting to matter--have you been subtracting 3 from his damage rolls?

I forgot in the last two posts but had made it before. Ilsa has 9 more hp.

Ouch, and I have been double ninjaed! ^_^

I am happy you all let Ilsa take the duel. She had gone through a tough time all through Scarwall and it was a good repayment that she could be the star here :)

Yeah, thanks everyone! I had a really fun time with that. I had my heart rate elevated a couple times thinking what I'd do next, especially the round I THOUGHT I had him defeated and he didn't turn out to be humanoid, THEN hit me with a blinding crit!!! AAAAhhh!

I'm glad I was able to represent the group well, and it turned out to be one of my favorite pbp moments in a long time. :)

Congrats! Not everyday that a PC can solo someone meant for a party to take on.

Yeah, that was awesome! And yes, not being humanoid was a pretty unpleasant surprise! That was a pretty great duel too - quite a bit of back and forth. At this level things often resolve in one or two rounds one way or another, and this one definitely had some drama instead :)

Pretend I didn't mention--Neolandus. Going back through the last threads, I was trying to see if there was anything else we needed to do prior to scouting out the castle, and for some reason when we were talking to him, I misread that we still needed to do that.

Sounds like scouting entrances is the next plan. Zamanda and I both have pretty great stealth scores and invisibility.

=== List Review ===
1. Trifaccia.

2. Black dragon in Castle Korvosa.

3. Wizard named Togomor. (Castle Seneschal ... deal with)

4. Ishani Dhatri missing. (In castle?)

5. Red Mantis assassins, take 2 (in castle, find proof that Ileosa is behind them)

6. Disband the Gray Maidens. (Sabina Merrin and their chief indoctrinator, (name unknown?) Get surrender or defeat from both... likely in castle)

7. Devils in Castle Korvosa/proof that Ileosa is trafficking with devils.

8. "Capture" Ileosa. (Quotation marks because Zamanda isn't even going to pretend that this is about capture)

... Is there anything else we can do outside of the castle? Could we catch Sabina outside the castle, or lure the black dragon out? Not sure who the "indoctrinator" is, but surely it is someone we already know about from destroying their other stronghold, right?

If Togomor ever comes out of the castle, we could get him as well.

Thanks for the list Zamanda! Great to have it here to reference since it moves so much slower than gameplay.

Since we don't know where individual "missions" are hiding, I figure we just dive into it and see if we can gain some intel inside.

With the dragon, can Kalem start a bloodrage and charge the dragon? If so, could that be done as a surprise round? I doubt that the dragon or rider would be expecting such an attack to come.

I can roll a few opposed Perception rolls for the two factions to see who surprises who if that is what you wish.

Of course there is no reason why you cannot charge in or shot arrows with distance penalties, I just tried to write the event in a way you were swiftly transited from one event to the other, but giving some space for you to add to the narrative or discussing the event, in case you would like to prepare or avoid the combat altogether. That's why I wrote you were "not at spell distance", as I wanted this to be a presentation of the scene and give you time to RP and prepare.

It kind of feels bad to me cutting your previous discussion, changing the location, and then throwing you into initiative in a single post, without you having any opportunity to participate in the direction of the development.

Once at least one of Bashiel and Ilsa have had a chance to speak up their voices, and if things continue to point in this way, I will just roll initiative and let things develop naturally.

Thanks for the prep time. It helps to be able to cast spells ahead of time.

Also, come to think of it... we should probably make sure that there are no stray Korvosans in the way before we engage... if they already ran away (like it seemed), then we're golden, but we definitely don't want to be known as the group that goaded the dragon into killing everyone nearby.

Nah Rutseg, this was good - we got plenty of info to chew on with this scene change without having to fight right away.

Zamanda is still going to fire at it, don't get me wrong... but if we need a chance to prepare or clear the area, or if it is going to move, then pausing to give time for that... but she isn't going to choose to not fight.

Wow! That was a terrible roll Zamanda, sorry for that. Fortunately, when failing to cast defensively you just lose the spell slot, which is quite of a punishment by itself, thus you are safe from any attack anyway.

Just to make sure I'm parsing her explanation correctly - Sabina just said she advocated for imprisoning the Maiden candidates under the Longacre building, rather than executing them. We cleared the base under the Longacre building at it seemed pretty awful. Sabina was behind that?

Yes, what the AP explains is Sabina knew she could not openly oppose the Queen on forcing the Maidens loyalty, but she was able to at least prevent their execution and tend to their most basic needs when she visited the prison. Of course, the Queen had her own ideas about the prison and the resisting maidens, and the place was directly run by Kordaitra and Tisharue, so most responsibility of what happened there on the everyday basis was on them.

Of course, I understand how Sabina's superficial explanation can sound to your characters' ears, specially after your visit to the Deathhead Vault and the horrors developed there :P

Oh, and the reference about a legitimate ruler was a hook in case you wanted to explain her about the plans of the rebels to win over the legitimacy narrative in front of the citizens of Korvosa.

Hei party, I believe the sleeves of many garments are only capable of simulating clothing not a set of full armor.

Sabina's proposal would likely involve penalties for some of you who have better armors and proficiencies.

That said, I am sure there are out there more powerful illusion and transmutation spells and magic items that might do the trick if you want to invest in and trigger the disguise thing, which I think it might be fun.

The hat proposed by Ilsa, or the disguise self spell can do it, but it does not provide the touch and sound of a real armor. Still it might be enough for a casual interaction to go unnoticed (Perception vs Disguise check).

@GM: Looks like the brown mark is actually on the attic floor. Is A65 supposed to be there?

The mark is the entry, which is in the Attic's floor, and corresponds with the floor below ceiling where A65 is located. Think of the Attic as a set of battlements without ceiling.

Logistics wise, is this going to be a dimension door? I'm not sure how close to the castle that range would be right now. We could go buy scrolls of invisibility sphere if we need to sneak closer.

There are buildings around, so plenty of hiding spots to approach close enough to dimension door, you can see in the Korvosa map in the slides, G6 is Castle Korvosa (an actual scale is in the lower right corner). I would say you need at least to see the castle in order to determine the proper direction when using dimension door, perhaps take a K. engineering or Intelligance check to properly determine distance if you try to do it from far away.

If you use teleport or greater teleport, then you only need to have the map and point to the room you want to go. I will consider the Familiarity of having the map as "Viewed once" for the chances of teleport bringing you on place.

By the way, Zamanda, would you like to mark your apartment location in the map?

I think the rest you can discuss in-character on Gameplay

(Zamanda also has a hat of disguise, so I think she's okay at least in that area.)

As for where she lives, I think I worked that out with Snowheart, but I don't remember exactly which building, only that my parents live in Five Corners, and I lived near there, but far enough away to be able to breathe, in Midland.

How about S11? The map says that is a bookmaker... maybe she lives beside, behind, or above that shop?

Parents, let's say right where the O in Five Corners is. That work?

Works for me!

EDIT: About entering in the castle with teleportation, if I properly understand it Bard's Escape is just as dimension door but the allies do not need to be adjacent to Zamanda and do not need to land adjacent to her. On all other aspects it seems to me it works like dimension door and thus still requires to point a direction and state a distance.

Scrying would also help when teleporting people to a precise location.

And there is no limit on the allies, right? Any ally within range (that is willing). But yes, targeting would be the same.

And there is no limit on the allies, right? Any ally within range (that is willing). But yes, targeting would be the same.

In fact it seems you can transport more people! 1 each 2 levels instead of the usual 1 each 3 levels.

"I think we should go now, then try to rest before we start sowing destruction. We may not have a chance to rest again."

Just to be clear Ilsa, you are proposing to rest now before you attempt to attack the castle. Or is the other way around? Attack Togomor, come back to rest, continue the attacks tomorrow?

If you proceed to teleport to the chairs room, please let me know what preparations, if any, you make before dimension dooring there.

Sorry, I was suggesting we go now and rest in the chair room.

BUT I would also support going in, attacking Togomor now, then retreating back to the chair room to rest (and hopefully we could keep them from knowing we were there if he's a recluse).

I’m good to keep going. I did expend some resources on the duel, but as little g as we come out after that fight I should be fine.

I don't remember last time we rested... was it before or after Trifaccia? I don't think I reset my spells last time, so just trying to figure out what I spent and what I have.

You pursued personal goals and rested after talking with the rebels. After you joined up again you visited the tavern, fought Trifaccia, and only an hour later, after another talk with d'Bear, you faced the dragon.

I have counted you invested around 3 to 4 hours more to bring Sabina to Zamanda's apartment, have a long talk with her, plan ahead, and then put that plan on the go.

So now it is evening and dusk is quickly approaching.

Thus, you are lacking whatever you did spent against Trifaccia and the thugs, plus the dragon fight, plus Zamanda casts dimension door to go into the castle.

Spells cast:

Lvl 1 Spells: Shield
Lvl 2 Spells: See Invisibility, Heroism
Lvl 3 Spells: Infuse Self
Lvl 4: Greater False Life

Lvl 1 (2/4) Lvl 2 (0/3) Lvl 3 (0/3) Lvl 4 (1/2)

Spells are running out for the day, as bloodragers don't get all that many. But still...the important buffs are now up!

Greater False Life: 2d10 + 15 ⇒ (4, 2) + 15 = 21

Thanks for refreshing my memory! :)

Looks like I cast Compelling Rant, Gravity Bow, and now Dimension Door, and expended 2 rounds of bardic performance, so my numbers should be up to date.

Silence shouldn’t affect my psychic spell casting, correct?

Very true :)

Edited to resolve this round's Ilsa's casting.

Why is all the Occult Adventures stuff so difficult to retain? It basically makes my language lessons pale in comparison.

Ok, so covering a crime scene... let me think... what about if you give me a Disguise check? Everyone can attempt to aid the character with the highest mod.

Could you let me know if the mage is dead yet? It sounded like he fell unconscious, and I may want to keep him alive.

I do not know it either.

Bashiel rendered him unconscious with his first attack. The other two also strike, so it is in his hand to forgo those two last attacks or press them on the mage, killing him.

I believe Kalem also gets a say, since he did the AOO on him as well. Bash is too honorable and might waver, but I don't think Kalem will.

I also considered that, but since Kalem's AoO happens before Bashiel's AoO and full attack, it will still be on Bashiel's agency to decide.

Well, I know it would be a little retcon since I was last to post, but if Ilsa saw him down she would call out for him to stay his hand, at least until we can discuss the option of me dominating him.

Did anyone make that Sense Motive roll? I did not. I don't see that anyone else attempted it.

sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 1

I guess I glossed over that, sorry... and too late to try to sense motive from a dead guy.

Honestly, I don't think it is a good idea to take him around with us. We know he deals with devils... he isn't a good candidate to try to reform... and he needs to be gone so the old seneschal can step in. I'm against it.

Ilsa, if you want to keep him alive for questioning, you can certainly say that Ilsa alerted Bashiel in a way that would cause him to halt his attacks. I'm A-OK with halting mid-way. However, I otherwise agree with Zamanda that it's probably not a good idea to keep him around with us. In addition to Zamanda's points, in this place, its very likely that someone could dispel domination, and then we'd be in serious trouble.

Just FYI, if we're really retconning this... silence would still be up until they were dead. Death, and therefore starting the clean-up process was the trigger for dismissing that. So, Ilsa would have to alert Bash in a non-speech way. Probably not hard... just trying to rewind.

Alright, with two votes against we can just end him. I thought he might be a great dominated support caster, but good points made.

In addition to deciding where to go next, please tell me if you use some magic to help yourselves, teleportation, or if you go walking, what path do you follow.

Son was born last night. I’m still here for the campaign (taking leave from work, afterall) but posting may be slow.

Oh wow! Congrats Kalem! :D

Take your time, mother and baby needs you now.

Congrats! :)