If the 8 and 7 are Diplomacy checks, those are still high enough to influence the royal guard.
I'll give Maria a few more hours to make her rolls before I move on to the next day. She can then retroactively roll for this day.
Well that went well :D
I honestly still have no idea what to start using influence on.
Also sorry for my inactivity - somehow I kept getting sidetracked from the sight. Finding that wuxia series on Netflix, Handsome Siblings didn't exactly help - I can't watch it and do other stuff at the same time because then I can't read the subtitles.
Maria, if you just want to roll a bunch of dice, I can apply the results to appropriate skills and groups.
Alternately, since you still have five in-game days and there are no more encounters scheduled to take place after this latest attack, we can hand wave the rest of the influence checks and skip straight to storming the palace. Your call.
Yeah, I'll just throw a bunch of dice and see how it goes. Although at the rate we're going, we'd probably end up turning all of them to our aid in the next five in-game days.
How many should I roll?
Start with 12 and I will let you know if you need more.
Not sure we'll get the ulfen guard, but everyone else is a distinct possibility...
So, did you want to keep rolling everything out or just skip ahead?
I'm happy to skip. We get the Royal Guard and the Arcanosts but not the Ulfen guard or the other investigators?
That works for me. I'll say you can get the Ulfen Guard to indifferent and the others to helpful.
We've never really been big on extensive planning, but here's the preparations I've got.
We should obviously spend the 30k to be able to teleport into the palace itself.
Spells Zhi plans on casting in preparation:
... on herself ...
1 mage armor - 13 hours
1 reduce person - 26 minutes - extended
1 shield - 26 minutes - extended
2 mirror image - 13 minutes
3 fly - 26 minutes - extended
5 mask from divination - 24 hours
7 spell turning - 130 minutes
... on Melodie ...
5 mask from divination - 24 hours
7 spell turning - 130 minutes
... on Sara ...
1 shield - 13 minutes
7 spell turning - 130 minutes
What are everyone else's plans?
Spell turning and shield are both personal spells, Zhi. You can't cast them on others.
Not even with doe-eyes and a big 'pretty-please'?
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and poke holes in my strategy. ;P
Requires two feats that we don't have. Allie/Gabbi have them, but not MeloZhi.
I'll look at plans tomorrow when I'm not tired!
Let me know how you plan to enter as well. Walk in, teleport into the throne room, etc.
Obvious way I think is teleport. If we're going to pay (and we should), when port straight to the throne room if we can. Buy a scroll of Grtr Teleport if need be.
The question will be dimensions - is there anywhere we can port into that would likely be in range of Carrius but not too obvious? A balcony, side chamber etc?
There is an upper gallery of seats that overlook the throne room you could teleport to.
I say we do that then. Then Mel can use the ring and get us all inside Carrius's mind without combat - hopefully!
That works for me.
Sorry I've been slow to post. The hits keep coming here; things are really bad for me at the moment.
Teleporting straight into the throne room seems... I dunno, it seems like the predictable move, and we know that the Carrius there will be fake (an illusion/projection/clone/whatever). I almost feel like we need to find out where the real Carrius is and find some spot that will get us closer.
Also, I will be preparing a bunch of true seeing for us for this event!
We know Carrius has a secret throne room just behind the proper one. The Mages told us. (I think). :)
Melodie is going to put Lotheed's ring on. That should tell me whether Carrius is within 100ft (I think was the range?). If not then I'll have to DDoor closer.
He is within 100 feet. You May want to find a safer spot before you use the ring.
It opens a door for 10 minutes... as long as we're out of sight from the Ulfen this is as safe as it gets I think!
Unless a patrol comes by...
Which applies to the entire palace surely? :P
Having done some reading I can create a doorway that
takes on any form of your choosing, but can be no larger than a 5-foot cube.
If you connect to the mindscape, you designate any number of creatures to be able to see and pass through the door as though it were a normal doorway. You can name specific creatures or categories of creatures, or allow all creatures access. Creatures other than those you designate can’t perceive or use the door, nor can mindless creatures or those immune to mind-affecting effects.
So it doesn't matter where I open the door as long as I don't designate anyone not in our group?
That’s correct.
Melodie, did you want to change which door you want to go through first now that I posted the descriptions of the other emperors?
Naah - stick with Taldaris first. :) He's most likely to be reasonable? I'm not sure how this will match up with the real Taldaris, but hopefully there will be something there...
Finally did my purchases. Sorry for the long delay. It's been a terrible start to the new year.
I bought:
* The aforementioned six doses of dragon bile
* Upgrade for the whip to +3
* A ring of freedom of movement
* Five scrolls of true seeing so I didn't need to use my slots
* A fully-charged wand of cure serious wounds
* 25,000 gp of diamond dust... for... y'know, no reason
* 25,000 gp of diamond dust... for... y'know, no reason
Because it sparkles?
It's used for what!?!?
It's also used for other things.
Ah, very well then. Carry on!
Full verbal duel rules?
Yup, as we did previously with Bartelby and Pythareus.
EDIT: I'll be lowering Determination totals so the debate won't take forever, and anybody can jump into an exchange to participate instead of just one person arguing at a time.
Each of the following things the PCs may have done in the past grants them one edge to use in this duel: brought Eutropia back to life, met the true Taldaris in Axis, and investigated the damaged legend of Taldaris on the Astral Plane.
If anyone else wants to join in the duel do say and I'll shut up. :) Don't want to dominate, I'm just posting so things move on.
Zhi will jump in if Mel asks her to. For now, she's just enjoying watching her wife in her element. :)
Verbal duel rules really favour high Cha characters... not that I'm complaining :)
Zil can take 10 with moment of prescience and get the final clue right?
Most likely!
Hippogriffs are part horse and have hooves.
I will need a bluff check if you are trying to deceive Beldam.
Nope, guess I'm legitimately wrong. I've never seen them with hooves.
Oh well, useless again!
Admittedly, the art for Pathfinder depicts them with claws most of the time, but traditionally they have hooves as their back feet. I can see how it could have been misleading.
I only remember the hooves thing thanks to Total War Warhammer - the Empire's griffons have the hindquarters of a lion, Bretonnia's hippogryphs have the hindquarters of horses.
Now if only they'd give griffons to the High Elves - their tabletop models looked more like a cross between a peregrine falcon and a leopard, really emphasised that they were faster than their cousins from the Empire.
Also, sorry for not saying anything for the skill challenge, but the post outlining it went up after I'd gone to bed and you had it all resolved by the time I logged in this morning.
Just to work out what buffs Maria would have active at the moment, and because I forgot earlier, how long have we been in this mental landscape?
About 20 minutes.
Okay, so I'll check off one use of Shield - she'd have downed one of those before we entered so it would've expired by now.
Barkskin'll still have two and a half hours left.
Greater False Life'll still be up (and I'll roll for that here to save time).
We'll say she downed an Overland Flight one as well, if Sara and her banner weren't coming in here and that thing's still got more than half a day left on it.
Everything else is too short-termed for her to've bothered with before knowing if she needed it.
Zhi, I've knocked off a heal spell for ya.
Still need skill checks from Maria and Zileska.