Darkest Corners volume 2

Game Master Harakani

Oof, I haven't been around to do much of anything in the past week and a half at least... I don't know if I'm going to be able to commit to this game. I'm sorry, I'm bowing out.

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything works out!

-Posted with Wayfinder

Aww. You will be missed Shang : )

But that also means any overlap between investigator Ophelia and Shang won't matter. I'll make sure to include in the fluff add-on that Shang showed her a few tricks !

Also:

@Laznist (or GM, how do you want me to address you ?) - is the preview version of Studied Strike & Combat (from the blog) okay to use ? I'll dig up a link for you when I find more time : )

Edit:

Linky

Also based on this and that, would 1000 gp be fair for an at-will Prestidigitation item?

I have a work function this evening so I may not be able to do any more with this until tomorrow but I will make the necessary adjustments to Tieszla very soon. Until then, here are the traits that she was assigned by Spooky for the back story:

Haunting Images +2 vs. fatigue, exhaustion and magical sleep
Survivor +1 initiative when surprised, +1 vs. ref

What do you people think? Should I go wizard 4, wizard 3/rogue 1 or wizard 3/fighter 1?

I'm not sure. Let me see what the others are and I will get back to you.

Of my 1st and 2nd level spells, what would everyone like to see? for 1st, I am taking the human favored ability that grants another 1st level spell which gives her 5 total known. 2nd level has 2 known. Ideas? I am going to peruse the options and see what would be good choices.

I'm not sure. Let me see what the others are and I will get back to you.

GM expressed his wish for Castor not to multiclass till 3rd level spells are available, so it is not open to debate in the foreseeable future ;-)

@Shang: Sorry to hear that, was a blast playing with you.

@Ophelia: don't mind what you call me. Didn't want anyone getting confused over whether Laznist was an NPC (he's not). I do reserve the right to use existing aliases as NPCs though - I already have a bajillion of them!

@Ophelia: yeah - the previews are fine. Do you want to go straight investigator and start with them? I'm okay with that, even if it is a bit of a rebuild, especially given Shang is leaving us.

@Ophelia: yeah 1000gp is fair. Might want to just pay the extra 100 and get the gloves though.

@Castor: Is that a problem?

I was thinking of full Investigator yes, especially since we will have another bard : ) I'll probably miss the spells a bit, but I will live!

The gloves cost 2200 gp to purchase (1100gp to craft). They are a bit expensive compared to the cloak, which is why I offered both for comparison : )

Ah - missed that somehow, sorry.
What do you want this item to actually do?

@GM: I do not know, what you mean, when you ask about a problem. I am not aware of one. If you mean my answer to Laurestine, it was just a reaction to what she wrote. I am perfectly ok with Wiz 4

@all: regarding our Guard Station, here is my suggestion for room composition (as per downtime rules):

Alchemy Lab 390
Common Room 300
Cell 180
Cell 180
Storefront 190
Storage 120
Infirmary 370
Kitchen 160
Lavatory 120
Lodging 430
Office 120
Office 120
Office 120
Sewer Access 110

That is total of 2910 gp

Also I recommend a team of Guards (100 gp) (also as per downtime rules). They will "hold the fort" while we are on assignments. These are five 1st level warriors. I will happily invest those 10 gp over the limit.

We could have some upgrades - extra rooms, fortification upgrades etc.

I am looking forward to your feedback.

Cast Prestidigitation at will =)

Since Ophelia can't do that herself anymore, and I see it as part of her flavour : )

Or she could retain 1 level or Archivist... The weapon proficiencies were painful to lose. And Silent Image is nice : )

Edit: That guard-station looks nice =)

@GM: I more or less finished the crunch
- I am not sure if I keep the feat Spell Focus (evocation) - I am thinking about Craft Wondrous Item or Toughness as well
- the gear is not finalised

I have several questions:
Will there be downtime to create magical gear?
Do you want me to have number of spells in the spellbook strictly "by the book"? Or might I have scribed some by other means than level up.
May I have scrolls created by me?
Do you have any suggestion for the Nex citizen I met in River Kingdoms?

@Ophelia.
Sure - in that case I suggest a broken piece of Soulbound Doll. Pick a slot.

@Castor
Guard station looks good - people might want bedrooms eventually though; the cells are actually roomier!

I'll roughly use the downtime system from the book, so there will be time to make gear; not every day, but some.
By the core book - which includes the option of paying half the scribing cost to access another wizard's spells.
If you can scribe a scroll by taking 10 you can have it for creation cost at the start.
RE citizen: either someone in the Guards, or one of the Arclords of Nex (which, despite the name, do not rule Nex and were in fact in exile for some time, but have recently started regaining power in Quantium). Which do you prefer?

Recruitment is now closed.

How much time do people think they need to get characters up and ready?

I'm thinking of starting a quick set of encounters (I hesitate to call it an adventure) to settle the group down.

Probably the Arclord - it makes more sense for him to impress Castor and talk about the universities

Depending how "ready" you want them to be. With the exception of that one feat I have the crunch finished - I can always buy equipment later.
But I would prefer to start during working day, not weekend.

@everybody: any suggestion for the Guard Station - I am thinking I might invest upto 1000 gp into it...

Fair.
In which case I'm going to be AFK monday and tuesday, and have time off on wednesday.
Let's try to have things done by wednesday if we can, and we can put finishing touches on and start then.

I'll get the details finalized and ready for play by Wednesday. Still running through equipment and all, but shouldn't be an issue for me to be done by then.

I'm going to go away over the weekend (and probably monday too), so start on wednesday seems perfect : )

And I'm probably going to end up Bard(Archivist) 1/Investigator 3, just because I love cantrips, Silent Image and bard weapons so much!

I'm going to go away over the weekend (and probably monday too), so start on wednesday seems perfect : )

And I'm probably going to end up Bard(Archivist) 1/Investigator 3, just because I love cantrips, Silent Image and bard weapons so much!

Keep in mind that the mending spell doesn't work on constructs. Just thought I would point that out. Although, mending still has many uses.

I will also be ready to go for Wednesday. I've made a few adjustments but nothing major at all, mostly changes to skills and equipment. I'll fix up my back story and then that should be that.

How's this;

Arclord Agrella Kisk, great-grandchild (and namesake) of Agrellus Kisk. Agrellus has been leader of the Arclords for hundreds of years, and is one of the three most powerful counsellors in Quantium.

Agrella is 45 years old. She's had the finest of magical educations and has led expeditions throughout Golarion to gather (and copy) knowledge. Possibly her descriptions of Quantium were flavoured by her privelleged upbringing.

She's an Arclord, and in good enough standing to get you an invite if you want one (once you qualify).

While she has not discovered the secretes of immortality her grandfather has she does make use of spells to stay looking - and acting - younger.

I'm going to be WOI (With Out Internet) for two days - sorry guys.

@GM: perfect, thank you

@everybody: no suggestions regarding the guard station?

Weekend was quite busy for me. I will take a look and see if any improvements or changes come to mind.

(not only) With the changes in party composition several changes come to mind:
- swap Alchemy Lab for Clockwork Shop
- cancel 1 or 2 offices
- add Book Repository
- add Magic Repository (this one is primarily for me)
- add Sanctum
- add Vault

Back!

@Laurestine - I know =) The one I was going to miss was mainly Prestidigitation.

@Castor - Your initial suggestion still looks good to me! Note that Ophelia has (had? @GM - do we want to cut down on clutter and remove personal homes?) access to a clockwork shot. No need to toss out the Alchemy Lab just for her : )

Well, who needs the alchemy lab now? We lost the alchemist, so it is really up to you if you want to use it.
Also, I guess I will have a base of operation at the station. With the school and work schedule it makes more sense for Castor to stay at the station full time. That way he can also invest money into the rooms.
I wonder if Laurestine and Tieszla are interested in any kind of special rooms.

Sorry I didn't respond yesterday. I got caught up in some other things. I am going to examine the room allocation for the guard station and finalize my gear. I'll post in a few hours when I have more.

Ophelia's crunch is all done and ready to go!

Her backstory is still lacking the re-localization and additional notes about the other adventures. Not 100% necessary to play, but I'll try and get it up anyhow : )

I could use either the alchemy lab or clockwork workplace, I just thought more people would like to play with alchemy. Perhaps not : )

Crunchwise Castor is ready. Only issue is how much of his remaining money he will invest in the guard station

Backstory still has to be tweeked, but the groundwork is there, so it should not present a problem at the moment.

@Ophelia: Initially I thought the exact same thing about alchemy lab. Now it looks it is solely for you.

@everybody: I would like to finish the station, and I only heard from Ophelia, nobody else has any suggestions/wishes?

@Ophelia: Localization-wise happy to support whatever is needed.
This is helped by the fact Spooky didn't use a lot of cannon.
At the moment:
Korvosa -> Quantium
Shingles -> Shingles (I'm transplanting them to your ward of Quantium)
The Guard -> The Guard
Our recruiters -> working with Lt Spooky of the Guard. Brought a group on as a bit of a recruitment test, had them deal (under supervision) with a pair of issues. When one of the members was targeted and assassinated, another vanished and poor Laznist and Shang died heroically helping to end a rogue cult the survivors were fully recruited.
Imp Gang -> Imp Gang. One of the only Imp Gangs, these imps are generally ex-familiars and escapees from summoning. Despite their own megalomania they have formed their own tiny infernal hierarchy. None are citizens, and despite their predilections have managed to avoid bringing the full force of the law down on them.

@Castor: You'll need two traits as well. I didn't see them. After you pick I'll assign a pair of campaign traits.

Would people be okay to start now? I start my new job in a few days and I was really hoping to get us underway while I was still on holidays.

Yeah, I'm happy to go !

I looked up some street names and such. The name of a trade quarter would be useful, as well as one of the universities. Korvosa had two, I assume Quantium had more. In Korvosa, she was aligned with the Theumanexus Collage - which was the smaller but 'nicer' school.

Also, a quick brief of what happened to the other PCs might be handy. Did we find Dara (and in what state?). Why did Laznist leave? Did Walter retire to a more 'desktop' job or just disappear, is Shang back at this shop working?

Little things like that might help me get the current situation straigh, and then I can fix Ophelia firmly into Nex and the 'now'. : )

Yeah, the sooner we start, the better.

About the traits - I thought you will give Castor those. I might have misunderstood. So you want me to pick two traits?

I made a "beta" guard station as a sheet - you will find the link in Castor's description line (or how is that called...)

@Castor: yeah, you pick two, then I give you two more. Spooky was very generous... but we still nearly died so many times.

@Ophelia: Okay. I'm making stuff up here, and I don't want to commandeer other PCs, or GMPC Laznist.
The Cult was led by a single high level cleric. That cleric was summoning Vulnadaemons through ritual sacrifice and sending them out into the city with orders to secretly murder people.
Dara was one of the sacrifices.
The murdered man was also one of them. He fled while Dara was being sacrificed and the Cleric - not thinking properly - ordered the daemon to kill him, which it did brutally and openly.
Dara's body is found. Seems like she and Anstasia had been working on their own and ran into some clues. Once they tracked them down they never came back.
The group managed to find a number of sacrifices and start to free them.
The Cleric found them and made very effective use of compulsions, which turned the final fight into a terrible confusion from which the group had to restreat - and was seperated by a deathtrap.
Ophelia was not targeted (clockwork) and Tieszla's faith protected her from the worst of compulsions, and they were on the exit side of the trap with the surviving sacrifices.
Walther was captured, to be turned into the next Vulnadaemon - the group being a bit vague on whether they calling ritual just used the target as a sacrifice or actually turned them into the daemon.
Shang and Laznist told the others to go and sacrificed themselves (all their magic and alchemy being used as a makeshift bomb) to collapse the entire complex.
The cleric and Walther are presumed dead. The Guard became preoccupied with hunting Vulnadaemons and the survivors were thanked and made full members of a special tasks guard squad. The area that collapsed has been 'sterilized' by some very powerful evocation magic, then paved over and is currently being reconstructed into a new building.
That was two weeks ago.

Sound okay?

I have updated my alias with the crunch. I haven't spent all her money but that is good I think. I am looking over the Ultimate Campaign for the guard station and seeing if I have any improvements for it. Sorry I didn't get to it last night Castor, I was extra tired and went to bed early.

GM, are we playing as if already members of the guard? Or did you want to RP that?

And your story so far sounds great! You can make up anything you want as long as long as you keep putting this kind of quality effort into it.

Great, I will take these traits:
Seeker (social) - +1 Perception and is class skill
Outcast's Intuition (magic) - +1 Sense Motive and is class skill, caster level treated as +1 for attempts to dispell

Both are from Ultimate Campaign

I am looking forward to those Campaign traits

@Laurestine: What kind of familiar do you have?

Thrush. Oh yeah! I totally need to make an alias for Myla. I will do so immediately.

Sounds good, if a bit harsh. Everybody is dead - or ominously gone, but it works : )

Here is Myla. Since she can speak I made this alias for her. If anyone speaks draconic they will understand her when she talks.

Of note, if anyone wants to dot any gameplay thread, make a post and then delete it. That way it keeps the thread clean while allowing you to add the campaign to your lists. :)

At the moment everyone gets to start as a guard.

Guards are members of the military force, tasked with emergency services, keeping the peace, and guarding the city walls and gates.

Mostly guards patrol in teams of two.

A squad is three teams. In most situations these teams will work in 9 hour shifts (a half hour overlap on either end of an 8 hour shift).

A platoon generally consists of four nearby squads. In the event of trouble a platoon will generally be enough to handle a problem.

A company consists of five platoons; generally four normal platoons and a "special" platoon. It also has a degree of support staff. Companies are tasked with particular jobs like "patrol this area of the city" but also "defend the gates" or "maintain air defences". The "special" platoons usually consists of four squads that do specialized work.

"Central" is actually a series of companies that work together to provide specialized resources that individual companies will not often need. This includes payroll. Central's companies are generally just an easy way of clumping people together administratively for specialized tasks.

I'm figuring every guard is a "Guard". While technically accurate it tends to be used as a signifier of the lowest rank.

A Guard Sergeant leads a squad.

A Guard Lieutenant leads a platoon.

A Guard Captain leads a company.

One who is employed primarily for their magical ability will be awarded the title "Guard Sorcerer". This is a historical oddity that is applied to all magic users regardless of class or background. Those with a high enough knowledge:history can know the obscure millenia old reasons for this, but most people just accept it.

Each of the various ranks has three sub-ranks, being Junior, Senior and BLANK; so one might be a Senior Guard Sergeant, a Junior Guard Sergeant or just a Guard Sergeant. Officially this designation is informal and has no bearing on who has more status than who, but getting a designation wrong can be a serious CLM (Career Limiting Move).

One only has to accept orders from one's superiors, which means that a Junior Guard can totally ignore an order from a Senior Guard Captain from another company. This is likely to be a CLM.

There are about 3000 Guards in Quantium, and 26 captains. 7 of these are senior Captains. This is enforced by the Council because the idea of putting one Captain in charge pretty much sounds like a recipe for that person to try to seize power.

This results in every Guard Captain politically fighting for their particular company to receive the best treatment, ESPECIALLY among the Senior Guard Captains who basically have nowhere to go from here.

TLDR

You lot are part of a "special squad". You don't have scheduled duty, but you are on call 24/7.
You also go out together because when you face something it is likely to be scary.
This makes you different from the vast majority of Guards.
One of you will be a Junior Guard Sergeant, the rest will be Guards or Junior Guard Sorcerers. You'll be able to boss around most normal Guards, but will have to worry about your own officers.
Your immediate boss is Senior Guard Lieutenant Spooky. He leads four special squads in your area nicknamed; Undercover, Redcoats (the medics - so named because their coats are said to be red to cover up blood), Spooky (you) and Worms (the poor bastards with sewer patrol).
Your Company is responsible for the bodies and souls (where applicable) of your area of Quantium (called a Ward). Spooky's boss is Junior Guard Captain Kisk (who reputedly got the position through family connections - connections that were then used in turn to get Castor a job).
When something unusual is found they call in you.
If you can't handle it you can escalate up to one of the more prestigious groups. Better have a good reason.

how the hell do we fight this?"
If you escalate; this is who you might call in.
Heavy Cavalry: a set of very dangerous humanoid constructs designed to 'pacify' (kill) everything in the area, and not too concerned about property damage.
University Auxiliaries: a number of quite powerful wizards who are on call for problems like magical plagues, demiplane breakdowns, etc. These wizards are members of the University, and you will be pulling them away from their research.
God Squad: the premium squad used primarily to keep order on the Street of the Gods. CR 13-18 adventurers who earn your yearly salary in about an hour. Or less. Frankly if you call in these guys and you aren't dead by the time they arrive you probably will wish you were.

You can also call in the redcoats if you've got a lot of injured or a suspected plague. Most of the redcoats are clerics or white witches.

I like that you have both chosen Thrushes :)

@Castor: Guardhouse is likely to be multistory; if flat layout like this, what level do you want (1 to 6, 1 is ground)

GM, I have decided to take the Attached drawback. I think it fits her background quite nicely. The drawback states that you get to select the person or object the attachment applies to, so I await your decision.

And I did not realize that Castor chose a thrush. Fun times abound! Seeing Squeeky makes me want to change Myla's language to Common, but the flavor of Laurestine's background makes Draconic a better fit.

I'm still looking over the guard station layout. More to come on this.

*Scraps plan to pick up Trush familiar via eldritch heritage*

:P

"God Squad..." - I will have to refresh those Haven stories... :-)

Guardhouse - do you mean we would be part of larger guardhouse or part of a building with different purpose stories? Also I will gladly change it to more stories - and I am still waiting for input from the others

Hmm I would like some intell on the universities/magical establishments in Quantium - anyone knows atleast a name or two, or should I just make some up and repost ^^?

@all: regarding our Guard Station, here is my suggestion for room composition (as per downtime rules):

Alchemy Lab 390
Common Room 300
Cell 180
Cell 180
Storefront 190
Storage 120
Infirmary 370
Kitchen 160
Lavatory 120
Lodging 430
Office 120
Office 120
Office 120
Sewer Access 110

That is total of 2910 gp

Also I recommend a team of Guards (100 gp) (also as per downtime rules). They will "hold the fort" while we are on assignments. These are five 1st level warriors. I will happily invest those 10 gp over the limit.

We could have some upgrades - extra rooms, fortification upgrades etc.

Castor, which building did you use as a base to draw from? I am looking at the list of buildings in the Ultimate Campaign.

Was more that the city is pretty densely populated. Most buildings are multi-story. A single story building is a display of wealth.

I don't mind if you have a narrow six story tower all to yourselves, or you are just 'renting' a floor of a larger building.

Ophelia: I'll start looking through Inner Sea Magic, see what is in canon.