No, sorry for the confusion. I was just offering to carry folks' stuff for them if encumbrance is a problem. Thom's already sucking in most of the ways that carrying a heavy load sucks ... so we might as well use him as pack mule.
After Thom and Lucius finish playing this out, I think we should get this show on the road and fast-forward to the morning, heading for one of the safehouses.
Soooooo....
Where to first? :)
What are our options again?
Nyserian manor, Topaz Solutions, or the Tower of Estrod
We don't really know much about them other than they served as safehouses for the Baphomet cultists, so I'd say we should visit them in whatever order would lead to the shortest/safest circuit out from the Heart, to all three, and back again.
Alternatively, we can roll a d3.
I vote alphabetical order. The alphabet has never steered me wrong!
I've rearranged the treasury spreadsheet: Cash is now on it own sheet, with a full ledger and formulas and everything. Filling in a new row for a cash transaction will automatically update the count of each currency type, and calculate our total value and weight.
Not having multiple data sets on the same page has also made it possible to start hiding the 'red' rows in the item list. I've hidden the ones I can. Some can't be hidden without some re-arranging because they being sets of merged cells.
I vote alphabetical order. The alphabet has never steered me wrong!
Tower of Estrod, then? Fine with me.
Lol. I was thinking Nyserian, but i really don't care.
I'm happy with any of the above. I'm currently house sitting at my wife's parents so my posting is much slower than normal.
I'm also happy with any of the above.
Let's go with the Tower, if we need a tie-breaker.
(I'm back; I'm still jetlagged, though, so posting may remain sporadic for the week.)
So far the most votes towards the Tower of Estrod.
I'll give it until tomorrow morning to hear otherwise, then I will post the next scene going with the Tower of Estrod.
I think we're settled on that, DM. Post away, please.
I highly recommend Painlord's Rule of Two:
Painlord's PbP Rule of Two: Designed to reduce dithering, this rule suggests that after one character has suggested an action (or course of action) and it is seconded, that's what the party does and the GM should go along those lines. The other players are still welcome to post other actions, but the GM may assume that the seconded action is where/what the party is going/doing. This helps keep momentum moving AND reduces the stress on the GM on knowing when to proceed.
It really speeds things up, which is important in PBP.
Yep. Let's move on.
Thirded.
Oh, hey, I'm wrong. I thought disguise self had a range of touch, not 'you'. Lucius can use the scrolls, Aero can use his scale or the scrolls...everyone else is just out of the disguise kit. I still think the plan is sound: does Thom still want to come to the door with a +4 Disguise (+2 from his Chr, +2 from the kit)? If he took off the mask, the abyssal rune on his face might work in our favor.
Here's a question: Lucius is rather full of himself, so he'll probably just try to look like a demonic priest of some kind, but he could try to look like Hosilla instead. What do you think? (Aero should do the talking in that case: the un-feminine voice would not be covered by disguise self.
Secret messages are fun.
So is leaving your teammate to be "entertained" by cultists :)
So is leaving your teammate to be "entertained" by cultists :)
That's what's so fun about secret messages: it's really the other way around.
So at this point we have Lucius preparing to enter the room down the stairs and meet his doom (mwhahahahahah).
Nebbin and Saoirse are stuck outside with a closed door and boots approaching.
Aero and Thom left doing the fake prisoner routine and the guy getting slappy.
Fun!
Well, i'm trying to see if Aero has anything else left he wants to do ... like attempt to cast Sleep like Lucius suggested. Otherwise, Thom's not likely to continue to let himself be slapped around much longer.
I was really, really hoping Faxon was a human. Or at least humanoid. So now I'm really, really hoping he buys this lie.
Plan B is glue him to the floor with a tanglefoot bag and run like hell.
I was trying to wait a minute in case Lucius saw something he didn't like and came back up or the guards here were distracted by noise from Lucious downstairs.
Of course Thom might have less patience than Aero, especially since he's the one getting slapped around.
It's moments like these a GM lives for :)
I think its a generally bad idea to wait for a distraction from downstairs. If that distraction comes, Lucius is likely in more trouble than he is now. If we cause too much of a ruckus and it gives up Lucius's play, he can try to fall back to us.
Plan B it is, then.
Yep. Things were developing too slowly for Thom's tastes. Mostly, he got too many curveballs and is unarmed inside a cultist stronghold. I figure worse comes to worse, Aero can still maintain his cover if he needs to.
Also, what action is it to slip the manacles? Standard or move?
Also, what action is it to slip the manacles? Standard or move?
I was assuming move, like drawing or stowing equipment, but that's actually a good question.
Are these standard manacles? I'm of the mind that this could be a swift action since it's just a push of a button as Lucius explained it.
EDIT
Standard action if they are false manacles, here's the link to UE. LINK!
They aren't false manacles: They're just normal manacles that aren't locked (which means if cultist/thug guy looked closely they'd notice).
But that's a good precedent.
I'm inclined to rule that it is a move or even a swift action instead of a standard. Even though you explained the button push, unlocked manacles would in reality just require Thom to tug them apart. But since he just Captain Kirk'ed the guy I'm not sure it's going to matter :)
I think Lucius's only possible edge right now is he's better armed than he looks, since his mace is disguised as a cane But mostly, he's in trouble because we're really on Plan D.
(A being charm, B being lie, C being tanglefoot and run.)
Well, hang on, man! We just gotta wrap this fight up here.
I am away at KublaCon for the weekend. I should be back Monday night and ready to go!
As long as we're announcing absences, I'm going to be travelling between Saturday and Tuesday. I will have internet access, but really any time I have to myself will be going into finishing some freelance, so you probably won't hear from me until Wednesday morning.
I'm assuming that this long weekend (in the US) will stop many of us from posting.
I'm in the same boat Ross...I've got some freelancing to finish!
Duration is 1 round, which I think means it expires at the beginning of the caster's next turn. But it isn't worth the recon, given that Lucius would most likely miss anyway. I'd rather just assume Lucius was still dazed by having his brain invaded than roll dice, crit, and invalidate actions already taken.
Heck, the only reason I looked up the duration instead of shrugging and moving on is because, since Lucius uses command the inverse situation is also good to be aware of.
Sorry all, sick today...been sleeping for most of it.
no problem. hope you feel better, man.
Saoirse, Aero, I think we're waiting on you guys.
Faxon seems to shrink somewhat from Thom's rage. He shudders at the nick the ghostly weapon inflicts on him.
This made me laugh.
Premature Happy Birthday!
Where in LA are you going? I live to the west of LA.
Happy birthday! Where in LA are you going to be?
And I of course meant East of LA instead of West.
I'm visiting friends in El Monte (there now) and taking a field trip to Carlsbad for a counsin's wedding reception on Saturday.
Cool! El Monte's not that far from me, I live in La Habra and work in Brea.
Have fun...Carlsbad's a fun place.
Fashion aside, Lucius has the lowest saves, so I'd happily have him take the cloak, but he's already nabbing the bracers, so if anyone else wants it, I'd be happy to share the wealth.
Edit: That is to say, arranging Lucius's stats with little concern for the resulting saves is not an excuse to hog all the magic items. If anyone wants a snappy cloak, just say the word.