DM Shade's The Misty Manor [Solo] (Inactive)

Game Master Arrius

Herein we discuss the strange and terrible events of the Misty Manor!

The first few scenes serve to establish Thaddeus's overall personality. The adventure hook proper will come soon.

The story starts in Lepidstadt, as the wandering doctor surely must come to some area frequently (as I judged it, the university) to receive his message.
I had envisioned Thaddeus covering for professors as an alumni or cross-examining the students' education. Perhaps he received an invitation to oversee the final days of the examinations.
Which of them is up to you (or feel free to suggest another reason for him returning to his school).

Currently, the rounds Thaddeus starts the story doing include students' yearly assessment before a short break.
Feel free to rip the student a new one or show understanding. >:D

The first few scenes serve to establish Thaddeus's overall personality.

Well, so far I've discovered that he is both highly principled and outspoken. Very entertaining combination.

I had envisioned Thaddeus covering for professors as an alumni or cross-examining the students' education. Perhaps he received an invitation to oversee the final days of the examinations.

Probably the latter, in addition to meeting some colleagues and catching up on the latest happenings in academia. No long-term commitments.

Feel free to rip the student a new one or show understanding. >:D

Why not a bit of both? :P

Forgetting things was quite unlike him, and it made him uneasy.

...
Lost in thought, the doctor completely forgets what he is looking for, and takes another sip of his coffee.

Oh this is good.

Had Lepidstadt changed, truly? Or merely his perception of it?

Nice.

Question: Does the music help in the mood? Occult Academy has good soundtracks (though it is a less-than-good anime in its own right).

Note--there is a minor mistake in the date: 4714, not 2714.

Question: Does the music help in the mood? Occult Academy has good soundtracks (though it is a less-than-good anime in its own right).

It certainly helps, though the site that you're using seems a tad dubious...

Note--there is a minor mistake in the date: 4714, not 2714.

What, no time travel? :P

@Time travel: Too soon.

:D

Is there anything you'd like to buy to do before you leave on the overland route to Ardis?

Not really. Thaddeus is eager to be on his way. Or perhaps anxious is a better word. Still, he will make sure to inform all the relevant people at the university of his sudden absence, and arrange for someone to deal with any appointments he might have booked for the coming week. He won't leave without knowing that his patients' are being cared for, even if it takes him a few more days to make arrangements. He will also pay for the costs if need be, though his primary methods would probably be either employing his authority over the students to delegate responsibility, or calling in on some old debts from colleagues at the university.

By the way, it's the 11th of April (Gozran) 4714. That corresponds to the sixth lunar month (Sweet Moon), day 11.

Mind if I just stick around Lepidstadt and help Katherine get into the university? :P

It seems she struck a cord with the old man.

Of course it's possible, but Dusek can handle it when he comes back. What is more convenient is to write a letter of recommendation, but since Thaddeus didn't test her in her intended field of study, it's unknown if she's fit to enter metaphysics or the university as a whole (especially since he probably disapproves of the whole science).

It seems she struck a cord with the old man.

Of course it's possible, but Dusek can handle it when he comes back. What is more convenient is to write a letter of recommendation, but since Thaddeus didn't test her in her intended field of study, it's unknown if she's fit to enter metaphysics or the university as a whole (especially since he probably disapproves of the whole science).

Nah, I'm ready to move on. I wouldn't have minded staying and chatting with her for a while longer, though. I had this whole spiel about divination magic ready to go and everything! :P

As I understand it, deciphering a script runs between 20 and 30, but it is a 'secret check'.

I wasn't really looking for a translation. Just seeing if I recognised the language. I was thinking I could take 20 later, during the trip. Speaking of which...

Leaving the ankh back on the nail protruding from the wall.

I was actually going to pocket the thing, if you don't mind. Overall, I would appreciate fewer assumptions when it comes to what Thaddeus is doing or thinking. As a player, if I'm not able to react to what's going on, I don't really have much to do.

@Katherine: Of course. The game has opportunities to interact with several other interesting characters. Curious morticians, wandering inquisitors, figures from the past, and annoying reporters all await their turn!

@RP: Excellent point. Please forgive my presumptiousness. You can keep the symbol and study it on the way, of course.

The format of solo campaigns causes a more blurred distinction between pcs and npcs. That can be a good thing and a bad thing.

@Thaddeus's Thoughts: Not to say too much, but the italicized interjections and thoughts (and unitalicized) are not Thaddeus's true thoughts. Those are provided by you, the player (hence why they sometimes see things that aren't real, or find a student's answer as wish-washy when Thaddeus does not see it).
Think of them as errant thoughts, or echoes of the perceptions of some subconscious mind that are not intrusive enough to warrant serious psychiatric attention (or suspicion).
These thoughts might not reflect what Thaddeus thinks or believes, and may be cynical when Thaddeus is hopeful (or vice versa).
After all, this game explores not only themes of horror, but an occultic version of the Id, remember?

That being said, I can tone it down, although they do prove their worth at a later time (and help set the mood and give different perspectives).

I'll be away from one to two weeks.
Once back, I'll continue the game.

Back.

How was everything?

Not too shabby. Welcome back!

As I see it, the Lychfield Fever struck a series of connected villages in mid-Ustalav. During the epidemic, profiteers and doomsayers emerged making wild claims and provoking panics that led to Masque of the Red Death-like scenarios, where nobles holed up for decedent parties as people died from the plague.

The fever was to a degree deadly but not overly so, and one thing it did was slow down or suspend vital signs (invoking stroke-like symptoms). As Doctor Dusek attended to the disease (alone or with help from a nonprofit healers' organization or with allies like Dr. Harry), he encountered several enemies
A. plague doctors who abused patients by brainwashing them in their state of lowered consciousness into thinking that they were zombies of his animation, using them for terrorizing the countryside and intimidating local nobility, forming the patients into an army of terror, as well as alchemists who practiced on live 'zombie patients' as guinea pigs
B. apothecaries and snake-oil salesmen who took advantage of the fever and sold poultices to guard from animation
C. overzealous undead-hunters who were not talented to detect real undead
D. doomsayers and agitators (or bards in other words) who took advantage of the fear to redirect at local nobility and businessmen to settle scores

By working with (and then against) and exposing a plague doctor whose wife-assistant was a mad alchemist (type a enemies), a different narrative began appearing. The Sovia Arcana jumped on the gun and issued its Doctor Occult article, where the paper became an instant hit. Now that undead are 'not real undead' and with zombies disproven, it was easier to manage the Lychfield fever outbreak when the nobility and public trusted the intellectuals and doctors to handle the entire issue.

What do you think of this as a backdrop?

That's more or less what I envisioned. Sounds like your average week in Ustalav... :P

Great. Not like this is the focus of the story, but it helps give context to Dusek's accomplishments.

On a side note, the default alias (due to frequent posting) is Perry Arizian. Almost posted with the guy.

Perry popping in the campaign would be sort of like Stan Lee in Marvel. >_<

I don't know, poor Thaddeus could really use some of those biscuits right now.

I suppose Dusek would like them without sugar (you know, blood pressure and all).

The trip will take between 5 to 3 days depending on the weather.
Due to the more personalized nature of solo-player pbp, I'll ask for a notification of readiness to move on from one scene to another.
Ready to fast forward a few days?

Ready to fast forward a few days?

Yes sir. Thaddeus is still very intrigued by the ankh, but I suspect I'll need to find a library or something to get further info.

Of course, it could be just a normal symbol.
It's not like it's some kind of ancient 800+ year old key that was secreted away since the founding of Lapidstadt to guard some ancient evil against discovery--and the presence of which sealed power provided the city's residents with an unknown surge of psychic powers that remain till this day.

1. Year is 4714.
2. 800 years ago is 3914. Lapidstadt was founded just 3898--a difference of 16 years.
3. Sixteen years is the time a human needs to be born and reach adulthood. That means that by 3914, the first generation born in Lapidstadt as a city has grown entirely under its influence.
4. Lapidstadt has a metaphysics department.
5. Metaphysics revolves around psychic and the occult.
6. Many metaphysicians of Lapidstadt joined the Order of the Palantine Eye.
7. Ankh has eye.
8. That means Illuminati.

Not convincing?

Well how about this?! Exactly 501 years ago, an unknown curse created Bastardhall. Also in Vieland!

WAKE UP GOLARION

I can keep this up all day, Thaddeus. How long can you keep up your scoffing?

Mind. Blown.

Seriously though, I don't think Thaddeus is all that interested in the ankh itself. He just needs something to do in order to keep his mind occupied. Focusing in on the details helps him forget about the bigger picture, and all the weird conincidences that he has been experiencing lately. A coping mechanism, if you will.

Yeah. I'm familiar with coping mechanisms.
I play d&d.

Sorry about the delay. Super busy week, new courses and stuff.

I could tell. Unfortunate what happened to the Bloodsworn Vale game.

Yeah, a real shame. We were so close to the end, too. I hope we'll be able to get back to it, eventually.

Indeed.
On a somewhat related note, there would be no fear about me dropping games. You know me and my obsessions.

To be fair, I don't think anyone goes into a game intending to drop it.

To be fair, I don't think anyone goes into a game intending to drop it.

At the beginning, of course.

Sorry about the delay. Again. For some reason, it took me a couple of tries to come up with a post. Really interesting stuff, though.

To put it in context, smoking was not medically associated with lung cancer and general bad health until 1950 in our world.

Until then (from the 18th century) it was the mark of the intellectual, aristocratic, and those madmen who willingly spend 10+ hours cleaning, fixing, wiring, and polishing out the pipe instead of just smoking it.

I'm aware of the historical context. As far as I know, there has been opposition to smoking ever since it got introduced to Europe, both due to its addictive qualities and the perceived health hazard—really, it doesn't take a genius to deduce that breathing in smoke might be bad for you. The only reason it took as long as it did for health officials to condemn smoking is due to agressive lobbying by the tobacco industry.

Honestly, even if he is not aware of any of that, Thaddeus might hate smoking just because he doesn't like the smell of tobacco.

What's up with the salt, though?

@Smoking: Perhaps. Health hazard was mostly an unsubstantiated claim at that stage.

Honestly, even if he is not aware of any of that, Thaddeus might hate smoking just because he doesn't like the smell of tobacco.

Fair 'nough.

Victorian-Gothic and pipe-smoking, though. If that's not Ustalav, I don't know what is. You already have mutton-chops, too! :D

He was always level-headed, stable, and most of all, reliable. Until he was not.

Self-burn. I like it.

What's up with the salt, though?

Chekhov's Salt.

Oh, you mean lore-wise?
Some pipe-users use salt and alcohol with their pipes, and it could be part of the overall presentation to add salt, which, due to its abjuration qualities, is often used around Ustalav as a symbol of life.
On the other hand, salt circles may sound very occultist, but Thaddeus knows that abjurers invoke real arcane power out of it (magic circle). Seems to be another of those instances of truth in television.
And hey, if actual undead are involved, having salt is not unneeded.
Or you can sell it for 5 silver. :P

Choose any point to engage with the couple--before the kids arrive.

Kids!? Oh no... :D

Victorian-Gothic and pipe-smoking, though. If that's not Ustalav, I don't know what is. You already have mutton-chops, too! :D

Oh yeah, absolutely. Can't have gothic horror without corsets and frock coats!

Chekhov's Salt.

Oh, you mean lore-wise?
Some pipe-users use salt and alcohol with their pipes, and it could be part of the overall presentation to add salt, which, due to its abjuration qualities, is often used around Ustalav as a symbol of life.
On the other hand, salt circles may sound very occultist, but Thaddeus knows that abjurers invoke real arcane power out of it (magic circle). Seems to be another of those instances of truth in television.
And hey, if actual undead are involved, having salt is not unneeded.
Or you can sell it for 5 silver. :P

That's what I thought, but I don't know enough about pipe smoking to know if it had a practical application.

GM Rennai is getting Bloodsworn Vale back into swing, in case you missed it.

Yep. Noticed.

Presentation/Direction question: Do you prefer the current unfolding flashback method or would you prefer I give you everything at once?

I chose the former so far since Thaddeus is often absent-minded and may have less-than-stellar memory (as well as the possibility of him subconsciously suppressing his memories), as well as the fact as this allows organic decision-making.

But giving things all at once has its advantages as well.

Thoughts?

Also, this week may have delayed posting.

I chose the former so far since Thaddeus is often absent-minded and may have less-than-stellar memory (as well as the possibility of him subconsciously suppressing his memories), as well as the fact as this allows organic decision-making.

This has been my assumption as well: Thaddeus doesn't really want to remember, and some of the memories are probably traumatic enough to have been involuntarily supressed. Feels quite natural for the character, especially when contrasted with his scientific curiosity and fear of senility. There are some really conflicted feelings at work here.

Overall, I dig it. Very cinematic. I especially enjoy having the opportunity to make decisions during the flashbacks, and seeing how they might affect the present. Really, we could go a step further and play out entire scenes within flashbacks—or even blur the lines between the past and the present as we progress. Again, that could help move this into a more cooperative direction, though I'm still comfortable having most of the backstory be narrated for me. That's a part of the deal, and it helps to keep things flowing. Certainly, our primary focus should still be on the present, and your current method works very well for that.

tl;dr: Yeah, I'm really enjoying this. :)

Hi, sorry for the lag. Super busy with exams and stuff. I'll get to your PM ASAP.

No prob.
How's your RL games going, by the way? Ever ran the Cheliax games?

Sorry! I always manage to find a way to forgo replying you on some channel, it seems. Currently, one of my groups is nearing the end of Rise of the Runelords (after three or so years), and I'm running Dragon's Demand for another until we can get back into Skulls & Shackles (which has been on a year-long hiatus while a friend is studying abroad in Japan). I've really been having fun ramping up some horror-themed elements in the latter. 'Tis a good module. My Roll20-based group is halfway through Kingmaker, I think. Honestly, it's kind of hard to tell, since its so sandboxy. I've yet to run the new Cheliax APs, sadly.

As for the game at hand, Thaddeus' full plan for the day is as follows:

• Eat breakfast somewhere in the general proximity of the Khadrev House, and chat with some locals to find out if they've spotted anything fishy.
• Scout out the estate from the outside to see if anything obviously supernatural is going on.
• Try to gain access to the city archives for any documentation about the location and/or the previous occupants.

I've noticed. XD

I'm mostly rolling 5e nowadays. Everyone is either into it or 4e, and I'd rather go 5th than 4th.
Although 5th edition does have its annoyances...the fact that growth is narrow in scope (no new proficiencies or investing skill ranks into side skills, extra attacks unless your class says so, etc.) is a tad restrictive.

It's either that or Mutants and Masterminds, which I am planning to suggest GMing for the gang. If I can only get a good plot...

I've actually had a few opportunities to try out fourth edition recently. Suprisingly good for what it is, really. That is, a tactical miniatures war game. :P

Fifth edition seems far better, of course, though I'm still waiting until I have a chance to try out a longer game until I pass judgement. My home group is planning to run through Curse of Strahd at some point, though I have no idea when. So far, I would not pick the system over Pathfinder. You pretty much stated all my main issues—the fact that you can't freely pick stuff like skills or languages is incredibly frustrating.

Mutants and Masterminds seems interesting. I don't think I've ever played a superhero RPG before. I'm not much of a comic book geek, really... at least not that kind of comic.

I think the best term to describe Pathfinder's advantage over 5e is divergent customization and liberation from class structure. Although 5e surpasses Pathfinder in many respects, such as supporting multiclassing (all spellcasting contributes to one another, no actual loss of combat to-hit when leveling up), integrated benefits (everyone has dex to-damage/attack and two-weapon fighting), higher mobility (no full-round action for with multi-attacks), more open spellcasting (can spend slots freely as a PF sorcerer or auto-heighten), strong feat design (no requiring 3 feats to tie your shoes), and overall smaller character sheets than Pathfinder, as well as in-built minor class customization (first book has an eldritch knight and nightblade, while Paizo had the EK prestige classes, archetypes, the magus class, and then a little more feats to help). Pathfinder has some problems (primary/secondary natural attacks. And flying rules. And sure, throw in mounted combat for good measure.)

I think, however, that with adjustments, Pathfinder (3.5 generally) is a better base system. You could just do more with it (skill points, languages, everyone gains multi-attacks eventually, more general sophistication, bonuses instead of advantage/disadvantage, overall more moving parts and hence fun interactions, reverse-compatibility, alignments and other sacred cows--).

@Comic: I believe I read up to maybe 6 comics in my entire life, but it's not the number of comics that matter; it's the spirit.
Nobody really dies (or is revived unless dying is part of their character arc); reboots are necessary every 2.5 years; every hero has a mythos that repeats even in different worlds; parallel dimension non-science; radiation giving you superstrength instead of superdead; cheesy villains; larger-than-life heroes, etc.
Wait, what kind of comics are you a geek of, then? Adventures of Tintin? >:P

I think, however, that with adjustments, Pathfinder (3.5 generally) is a better base system.

Yes, definitely. Some of the better things about 5th edition could be (more-or-less) directly implemented to Pathfinder as house rules, even.

Wait, what kind of comics are you a geek of, then? Adventures of Tintin? >:P

Hey, Tintin is rad! Well, at least when it isn't being incredibly racist... :P

Seriously though, I'm more of a Sandman kind of guy.

Sorry for the delay--finals exams are in two weeks and I'm wondering whether to leave my stable well-paying (but boring and effortless) job to one closer to my interests, but not as well-paying but with higher reward later on (but takes more energy).

And yet, still have the time to think about whether anti-magic spells should prevent casting entirely, lower effective caster level, or force a DC to cast...

No worries. The good thing about having just two people playing is that we get to set the pace ourselves. :)

Timeskip to the evening? Is there anything else Thaddeus would like to do?

He still wants to seek access to city archives for any official documentation about the Khadrev House. He has Malakai looking into it too, but it doesn't hurt to explore all avenues of inquiry. His cover would be the fact that he is looking for real estate in order to set up a practise, and can show the proper papers proving that he is a doctor. Being able to namedrop Malakai and Maddox could help as well.

Did the records indicate the current owner? The house was last owned by the person from Brevoy, but does he retain ownership?

According to the records, it fell back to Socva. There are no records about how much the house was sold back for.

As for records about Socva: they have an address, but the information was last updated since the man from Brevoy moved out years ago. Socva himself has never been seen in person.
Ardis is in disrepair--and it's not just the buildings. If Thaddeus asks about the owners of half the remaining homes in Ardis, he might find that many are legitimized squatters.

Gotcha, just making sure. I think Thaddeus is done for now. Hopefully Malakai has access to resources that he doesn't...

Bring on the awkward family reunion!