Defense of Brookside

Game Master caster4life

Sorry, I was updating my sheet and realised I'd messed up what spells I'd cast. I'm going back through to see if I have the slots to do Identify.
That's taking a while, but I guess I know he'll have some slots to use, even if it is the new ones. Okay if I go with identify and work it out post-posting?

Yes please go ahead and assume you have an identify then sort it out afterwards.

Oh, we're playing Wordle? In multiple dimensions.

Are those 11 guesses each or across the group?

Do we know the length of the words? Are they all the same length, or different lengths?

Is this like mastermind? Like if we ask "how many As" we get told something like 1, 2, 0, 1?

It is Wordle but each of the 11 guesses applies to all words at the same time. There is a special name for this version of the game though. ;) All of the words are five letters long.

If, for example, the words were Seven, Kings, Fiend, Dodge and you guessed Broad, I would update the board I am posting to something like

Word 1: broad
Word 2: broad
Word 3: _ _ _ _ d broa
Word 4: _ _ _ _ _ but there is a d (not 5th) and an o (not 3rd) bra

I can't format it on here as well as the dedicated website does, of course, but the information is there for you.

I’ve never heard of this game before. Hopefully my guess is within the rules.

It is both a totally legal guess and a fairly strategic guess.

Okay, getting close here. DM says we have four guesses left, but I think his count is off -- we've made the following guesses:

• Sauce
  
• Chunk
  
• Curly
  
• Steal
  
• Child (correct)
  
• Stomp
  
• Fable
  
• Spear (correct)
  

That's 8 guesses out of a possible eleven, meaning we have three left.

We're pretty sure the first word is "Court", but we will have to spend a guess to confirm that. So at best, we have two guesses to figure out the fourth word.

Here are all the letters we've guessed, including how many times we've guessed. The ones in parentheses have not yet been guessed.

• AAAA
  
• B
  
• CCCC
  
• D
  
• EEEE
  
• F
  
• (G)
  
• HH
  
• I
  
• (J)
  
• K
  
• LLLL
  
• M
  
• N
  
• O
  
• PP
  
• (Q)
  
• RR
  
• SSSS
  
• TT
  
• UUU
  
• (V)
  
• (W)
  
• (X)
  
• Y
  
• (Z)
  

We're missing two letters from the fourth word: _ A _ L E. We know it does not contain any of the letters that have already been guessed in either of those two positions, because the GM would have told us so.

Therefore, both the missing letters must be from the seven that have not yet been named: G, J, Q, V, W, X and Z. Here is every possible combination of letters using those, which I have cross-checked against the OED to see which ones are actually words:

G A G L E - variant spelling of "gaggle" (c1399)
G A J L E - not a word
G A Q L E - not a word
G A V L E - variant spelling of "gable" (c1379)
G A W L E - variant spelling of "gall", Old English
G A X L E - not a word
G A Z L E - not a word

J A G L E - not a word
J A J L E - not a word
J A Q L E - not a word
J A V L E - not a word
J A W L E - not a word
J A X L E - not a word
J A Z L E - not a word

Q A G L E - not a word
Q A J L E - not a word
Q A Q L E - not a word
Q A V L E - not a word
Q A W L E - not a word
Q A X L E - not a word
Q A Z L E - not a word

V A G L E - not a word
V A J L E - not a word
V A Q L E - not a word
V A V L E - not a word
V A W L E - not a word
V A X L E - not a word
V A Z L E - not a word

W A G L E - variant spelling of "waggle" (c1594)
W A J L E - not a word
W A Q L E - not a word
W A V L E - to stagger, c1637
W A W L E - Old English spelling of "wall"; to roll one's eyes (c1500); to utter a loud harsh loud cry (c1558)
W A X L E - not a word
W A Z L E - not a word

X A G L E - not a word
X A J L E - not a word
X A Q L E - not a word
X A V L E - not a word
X A W L E - not a word
X A X L E - not a word
X A Z L E - not a word

Z A G L E - not a word
Z A J L E - not a word
Z A Q L E - not a word
Z A V L E - not a word
Z A W L E - not a word
Z A X L E - not a word
Z A Z L E - not a word

GM doesn't strike me as the type to dig deep into the linguistic past, so those are out.

I bet it doubles up on one of the letters already in the word. Let's see. Ah ha! EAGLE. I bet it's EAGLE. Man, words that double up on a single letter are the reason I quit playing Wordle.

Erk - closer than I like! Except I'm pretty sure Steal wasn't a real guess?
Nice analysis, sorry for missing Fable, I really thought that was it.

@Brookside GM: how are double letters handled?

1st word is better 'cos we know there are three letters, and what they are.

C _ u _ _ with an "r" somewhere but not 3rd or 5th. There is no "u" 2nd. "o" somewhere but not 3rd. "t" somewhere but not 2nd. hnksaelyidmpfb

so three letters, three places

out of COURT, CRIOT, and CTURO I'm pretty confident about COURT. maybe do that next and lock it down - going to have to do it sometime, and lets us know for sure how many more guesses we have?

Yeah. Go ahead and lock in court, we have to do it anyway. And you're right, steal didn't actually get used.

I took the last two, so I think I should back off for a bit - though that means the next one may be something else?

Indeed double letters are handled in an annoying way. IF that has come up here, I would have handled it the way Wordle does. Example:

If the word was CREEK and you guessed DEALS, you would be told there is an E somewhere but not 2nd. If you guessed SEVEN, you would be told the E at 4th is correct and receive no hint that there was another E somewhere else.

Go ahead and guess Court, Hal. I don't think anyone will mind -- it can't really be anything else, and then we'll have the evidence we need to take down the Duke.

3. The Duke told Faedi about a shipment of weapons down the western coast of Iustia that was intercepted by "pirates" actually flying a false flag operation for the Concordat, greatly raising Faedi's stock in the Concordat.

... huh?

A) Who owned the shipment of weapons? Iustia? The Concordat? Or does it not matter because the shipment wasn't real?

B) The pirates were not real pirates. Were they Iustians posing as pirates or Concordat sailors posing as pirates? "for the Concordat" could mean "attempting to trick the Concordat" or "a Concordat ship attempting to trick someone else".

C) How did knowing about this boost Faedi's reputation? Was she able to prevent an embarrassing loss somehow? Or just explain something after the fact?

Sorry, but the action in this one is totally unclear.

I see! The shipment of weapons belonged to Iustia and was intercepted by "pirates" that were actually Concordat agents. Beaumont tipped Faedi off to the route and timing of the shipment so she could help organize the top secret operation to grab the weapons, boosting her political stock in the higher, inner circles of the Concordat.

My plan is to immediately burn for Nap Stack and get spell slots cleared - won't actually give time to study, but hopefully the King will keep us waiting longer than this.
Hal's clothes morph, so he can basically change as necessary.
@Brookside GM is this ok?

Uh, what shall we do with Túrion during this scene?

If you want Turion to cast anything to help you be sneaky or prepare, that's fine. Otherwise, he can just stay at the Viscount's I suppose.

How to deal with Kazador’s clothes? I very much doubt that they have anything dwarf sized on them. But Kazador’s arms and armor are all glammered. We run the risk, though, of it being seen through and it seems like a social faux pas to be so armed. If they do have clothes for him, he’d be willing to leave his armor behind.

Also…Kazador not having his hammer and helmet would be like losing a limb for him. I think he’d be willing to leave Turion to guard them though, as it would take someone he trusts with something more important than his life to leave them behind. Though if nobody stopped him he’d at least insist on keeping the helm on him. As the last Rune Warden of Kazad Gravr, if it left his possession that would feel like a dishonor that might break him.

So, Turick said:

magic of any sort in the king's presence will not be allowed..." He gestures to Mel's and Hal's magic items for changing their appearance. "...knowingly" he says meaningfully, gesturing now to the Duke's items and giving a small, half-wink.

Am I correct in thinking that he's implying that we can wear our magic stuff as long as its aura has been suppressed?

That would make our lives simpler. Túrion just happens to know Greater Magic Aura.

Also, a refreshed Tears to Wine spell might be a good idea, Hal. It won't help with charisma stuff, sadly, but at least it can get us some boosts on INT and WIS based skills.

Yes suppressed auras will likely work. The duke regularly wore magic items with magic aura suppressing their auras, after all.

So, looking into the details of Magic Aura and Greater Magic Aura, I think we'll have to be judicious about using that.

Greater Magic Aura (the version that Túrion has) works on objects or people. If you cast it on an object, it suppresses any aura that object has, just like the basic Magic Aura. If you cast it on a person, it can suppress the auras (plural) of any magical effects on that person.

So, per RAW, I think there's a weird edge case where you have to cast it twice in some cases. A sword or something is simple: suppress its aura and it looks like a masterwork sword. But something like a Hat of Disguise is both a magical item in and of itself, and also applies a spell effect to its wearer. So that would take two castings to hide -- one casting on the item to suppress its aura, and another on the wearer to suppress the aura of the effect the item applies to them.

Túrion can prepare Greater Magic Aura, no problem. He picked up an additional 4th level spell preparation slot at level, and it's in his book already. Then he can cast it up to 9 times -- six using 4th level spell slots and three more using 5th level spell slots.

So I think that might mean we need to cast it once on each of us (to suppress the auras of any effects on our persons) and then once on each magic item we want to keep to suppress the auras on the items.

So if we're hitting each of the three of us as people, that means each of us can keep at most two magical items. Unless Hal has Magic Aura also?

That’s awesome. I thank you for figuring it out.

If accurate, Kazador will keep his hammer and helm. While his armor is more important for combat, those are the two items he’d be most upset with parting from.

GM, are weapons allowed in the presence of the King? I can see how they might be chary of letting a bunch of unknown yahoos who successfully abducted a Duke from the middle of his own estate carry weapons into a royal audience.

That is a good point. Maybe the armor and helmet would be a safer choice…

Agreed on your interpretation of Greater Magic Aura, Mel.

Correct, the weapons will be taken from you. Even a staff. This isn't the Golden Hall of Meduseld.

Okay, so Túrion will cast the following spells:

One casting each of Greater Magic Aura on Hal, Kazador and Mel to suppress the auras of any spells that are cast on them personally.

Hal, Kazador and Mel can each pick 2 items for Túrion to hit with Greater Magic Aura so that they can use them in the coming scene. Mel chooses her Hat of Disguise and her Boots of Speed.

That uses up all of his 4th and 5th level spell slots for the day.

He'll also cast Mage Armor on Mel. He can do the same for Hal or Kazador if they wish, though I suspect Hal already has his own casting, and if Kazador is taking his armor the bonus won't stack. Please let me know if you're taking advantage of that so I can mark off a slot.

So going into this, Mel will having the following buffs going:

• Disguise Self (from Hat of Disguise)
  
• Mage Armor
  
• Ant Haul (which will last for several more hours from that potion earlier)
  
• Maybe Tears to Wine if Hal refreshes that for us
  

I've gone through Mel's entire inventory. She has access to the following things in this scene:

• Hat of Disguise (aura hidden)
  
• Boots of Haste (aura hidden)
  
• Encyclopedia of Iustian Law in the hopes of a circumstance bonus.
  
• Her wooden holy symbol of Ostara (tucked into her shirt, so not immediately noticeable)
  
• a Belt Pouch, containing:
  
• 2x Anti-toxin
  
• 2x Anti-plague
  
• 1 candle
  
• flint and steel
  
• 50 feet twine
  
• 3x fish hooks
  
• Pouch of gems worth 100 gp in total
  

Everything else she owns is in her Handy Haversack, with the exception of 4 Scholar's Outfits that wouldn't fit. The haversack and the outfits will be left behind.

I very much wish I had gotten a Pathfinder Pouch earlier. Oh well, too late now.

Mel is not heavily reliant on her spells, but it's worth noting that having to remove her Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2 means that she can no longer cast first-level warpriest spells. I only had one left today (a casting of Cloak of Secrets which just never came up) so it's probably not a big deal. She does still have cantrips (Light, Sotto Voce and Detect Fiendish Presence) and some SLAs (Read Magic, Detect Poison, Dimension Door from her shiny new feat).

Mel's going to accept whatever outfit the Master of Etiquette suggests. I presume it's a Courtier's Outfit and have equipped one. The item description mentions that if you lack jewelry to go with it, the outfit makes you look like an out-of-place commoner. If Mel can borrow some suitable jewelry to go with it that would be nice. Mel is mildly annoyed that she can't wear her lovely (and very expensive) rings because they're magic.

Lastly, regarding Disguise. I just wanted to check the numbers, because they're likely to be relevant.

Mel's base Disguise is now: 10 ranks + 3 class skill + 6 skill focus + 2 Disguise Kit -1 Charisma = +20. I am assuming she gets the +2 from the Disguise Kit by using it during prep time and then leaves it behind.

We previously established that an elf disguising themselves as a human only needs to obscure minor details (+5) but still takes the -2 for imitating a different race. So if Mel takes 10, she gets: 33. Could I ask for an Aid Another check from someone to get the details right? That would bump it to 35.

She customarily completes an entire disguise without any magic, and then adds the Hat of Disguise for a +10 bonus at the end, in the hopes that if the Hat gets dispelled she won't immediately get spotted. With the Hat of Disguise, the total is 43, or 45 if I get that aid another.

I'll write an in character post soon to get all of this down.

Disguise aid checks are fine. Taking 20 is also fine since you have a significant amount of time and assistance around.

Really? Each attempt at a Disguise check takes 1d3 * 10 minutes, so an average of 20 minutes per attempt. Taking 20 means it takes 20 times as long. So taking 20 on a Disguise check would take anywhere from 3 hours and 20 minutes up to ten hours, or six hours and forty minutes on average. If I had the skill unlock for Disguise it might be practical, but I don't.

If that's DM fiat overriding the regular rules let me know and I'll happily take 20.

Kaz will choose his helmet and belt.

This way there is enough gear to “turn in” that it makes sense. Ie: Hammer and armor.

With Turion being mute, Kaz will trust him to guard his equipment.

Hmm... I guess you don't quite have enough help to take 20. I was thinking the Viscount's staff could help with your disguise check but that would require revealing your race to them which would be... a choice!

Crazy crazy last few days today. Today ended up taking some time off work to help my parents go through their expenses and got their overcharges dealt with. Meant to get a post up but got caught up in <generally waves at life> will try to get one up tonight. Sorry for my tardiness on this.

No worries.

Mel has two uses of her Community blessing left for the day. Do you guys want that? When you successfully take the Aid Another action, it lets you give someone a +4 bonus instead +2. It only lasts for one minute, though, so we'd have to do it right before going into the audience and it wouldn't last very long.

I'd...not risk it. When the king is here all eyes will be on us. And anything that has the whiff of magic could get us in trouble.

Sorry, also being tardy. Work was crazy, and I have been wrestling with a dilemma.

Honestly I'm not sure Hal should be there. An insane paranoid known criminal hunted by assassins probably shouldn't turn up at Court. I'm also a tiny bit worried Possession might be an illegal spell, and the Duke knows he used it. It might make more sense for him to go with Turion and prepare a rescue should it become necessary.

I don't want to mess with the scene though. The best reason I can see for him to go is he can use Cunning Caster to cast Teleport without getting caught - assuming there is no teleport trap, which there almost certainly will be. That being the case the best bet is to give pretty much everything to Turion and concentrate on doing that.
I sort of like this idea because it shows Hal has actually sorta reformed... but it does seem very out of character.

The two hours are just enough time for Hal to Nap Stack, but not enough to study. It does mean he gets his 2/day powers back.

If ALL magic is being taken it is problematic as that includes a lot of his clothes, and they also project illusions that true sight sees through, so he'll have to wear something normalish. 2 items (thanks for the greater magic aura casts!) means he can do the Luckstone & headband.

For the record Hal might have a few hours of his own greater magic aura left but it is not helpful and he would not admit it, and has a secret pathfinder pouch he can keep his spellbooks & illegal alchemy in. If he knows there is a small item Mel or Kaz wants he could try to secrete it away for them... but his plan is basically bolt if anything goes wrong.

On the plus side his Planar Fork should have attuned by now.

Hmm. Well, I can't tell you how to play your character. And I've always respected your commitment to RP and playing your character as a living, breathing person, ever since you were Hob Smith and I was Katsanóron Vazrasti in that Tiny Little Frozen Village campaign that fizzled after 271 posts when the GM up and vanished. (Poor Katsa; she's been peering through that cracked door for six and a half years now, and most likely will be for the rest of forever). Anyway, your RP skills are the main reason I suggested you to Brookside GM as a player here when we had an opening. So I encourage you to follow your instincts for how Hal would behave.

That said, I would like to make an argument in favor of his accompanying us.

We started this campaign with NPC class levels, doing a simple defense of a village against orc raiders. In the following years, the campaign has blossomed into a panoramic sweep of high politics and intrigue. But that fundamental core has remained the same. It's about common folk. At heart, Mel's an anthropologist with a literary bent, born to a locksmith and a jeweler. Perrin; a small town doctor. Vors; a tired veteran. Brolin, a sea captain. Of the core characters, only Kazador approaches something like the status of nobility. But even that was due to his combat skills. His training made him an elite warrior -- not a noble who inherited unearned privilege.

At its heart, the core questions of this campaign are:

What happens when simple people, ordinary people, get swept up in events far beyond their usual scope?

How do they handle being forced to make grave, consequential choices that nothing in their background truly prepared them for?

And, in the end -- the rapidly approaching end -- how will these experiences have changed them? How will those choices and deeds shape the people they are becoming?

You describe Hal as "an insane paranoid known criminal hunted by assassins." I would submit: that was Hal, when he joined the campaign. A great deal has happened since then.

We have not destroyed the Reaps utterly. But we have dealt the organization a great blow. It will take them many years to recover. Furthermore, Hal is far, far more dangerous now. An eleventh level wizard is not a target to be trifled with. Do they truly, at this moment, have the resources to pursue Hal with assassins?

As for being a known criminal, perhaps he was, in Helm. Not in Iustia. And even in Helm, he has made good much of his earlier misdeeds. He left the Reaps long ago. That's the whole reason the Reaps stuck him in that mirror hideaway. They did not want him to cooperate with the authorities. Which is exactly what he did, at the first opportunity once he got free. At most, I would argue, Hal is a former criminal.

Paranoia is only a madness when you're wrong about people being out to get you. When you're right, it's just survival instincts.

And as for madness -- that, I would say, is the one challenge Hal still faces. He spent so long in that hellhole, all alone except for himself and himself and himself and himself and himself -- all of his infinite selves fading into minuscule infinity, all sharing silently in his suffering. It's no wonder that his mind was shattered and split.

But he's been out of there for some time now. Out in the world. Enacting vengeance on the bastards who put him in there. And no longer alone, even if he has not sought the arms of his wife and daughter. Is it madness, to protect them by dealing with the Reaps? Is it, really? Is it madness, to seek time and space to deal with his trauma before he dares see Margie and Sheila once more?

Is that how Hal's story will end? How long will he go on hiding from assassins that never come? Is he doomed to spend the rest of his life scrabbling through mirror shards, trying to rebuild the man he once was from fragments of his shattered psyche?

There cannot be much left in this campaign. If there is some other destination you have in mind for Hal, it's likely time for Hal to step off the path he has been on and take a new turning.

How I love these last two posts.All I’ll add in, is that this campaign has been amazing for character development all around.

Screw it Mel, that post sold me.
I'll have Hal going "WTF?" but doing it anyway.

Edit: That post could probably have sold me on anything by the way, it's glorious.

Wonderful summary, Mel. Take a hero point for encapsulating this journey so well.

I will add that, yes, Kazador was the closest thing to an adventurer before the campaign. But he was a very broken man with little to no purpose. So he was close to being a commoner in terms of morale vs. grand challenges, if not in ability.

You did it, guys! Capturing the Duke without a massive fight with his guards was critical and then you said the right things, with the right supporting rolls, to finish the job. Go ahead and RP a little ending for your character. PC-PC interaction is fine too, of course.

That said, I do have a little, narrative-only epilogue in mind. It wraps up a few plot threads, particularly those relating to the very early days of the campaign. There will be a little bit for everyone, at a minimum, but certainly more for Mel since she has been here the whole campaign (or as soon as she replaced her killed PC, that is). So the options here are to narrate a final end for your PC now or to narrate a smaller end and then participate in the epilogue. There will be no rolling or detailed tracking of mechanics in the epilogue. Mostly me just narrating a few scenes and you guys RPing a small, key number of reactions or choices.

Exciting! I’ll need to put some thought into this.

I'm certainly down for this. There are some threads from early in the campaign that I would like to see cleared up -- in particular, what became of Perrin.

We've got a ship -- the Siren. I propose that we collect everyone -- Fyrtor and Túrion included -- then sail to Helm. When we get there we can sell the ship and split the profits amongst us. Fyrtor and Túrion can go their separate ways.

Then we can talk to the Bishop, do what's needed at the summit, and finally narrate the endings of our PCs' adventure.

I've got two background feats that never came up. And I strongly suspect that, at this point, they never will. Ah, well. They made good thematic sense, even though they were exceptionally situational.

Sounds fine to me, if Kaz and Hal are on board (pun intended).

Yeah, I also need to think. I'd sort of like Hal to go on the epilogue & ship, though he is definitely the most newly added party member.

Certainly on board (pun fully intended and accepted)

Great! Update post incoming.

Hal, can we assume you're supplying an Unseen Crew again, the way you did when we first took the Clydesdale to Catlinshead to get her re-christened as the Siren?

Also, I am so excited to not be disguised as Melia Elman any more! In my head, Mel Elden is the iconic character. For now, she's dressing the way she did to be Mel Elden in Brookside, except she's not trying to disguise herself as human. So functionally no scarf.

Yes, it's good to have Mel Elden back!

Caster4life:

You have run an amazing campaign. The world building, the politics, the story…and how well you integrated player backstories and goals into the campaign…I truly am at a loss for words in describing my appreciation and gratitude for running this. I joined this campaign way back in 2018! And that is joining the campaign already ongoing. This coming to such a satisfying end in 2025 is a great achievement.

It is with great pleasure that I add this campaign to my profile under completed campaigns. And you to my personal list of GMs whose games I will be on the lookout for. And my fellow players to my list of people who I will rejoice at seeing in any future campaigns.