Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

so you don't set up nimpy? Seriously xen is going to stop rollin nat 20's if you don't consider his plans ever, especially since xen trashed his place

Just keep in mind that Dren was with you during the search of the room.

With the judge and Xenfal, First, we could also play a different hand with the Innkeeper and make him our pawn. We don't want him trying to figure out who has the information, why not make it seem like someone else has it so he knows and doesn't start digging. A new criminal in town let's say. We basically have him meet this new criminal, who intimidates him badly, and he becomes ours, serving the dark lord unknowingly.
Second, as far as setting up something between the two captains we should make sure it leads to violence. This means summoning Captain Mott to the inn and the room where his wife and Eddarly are having their affair. Actually catching them in the act may hopefully be enough to start combat and hopefully finish one of them off. We should be there to kill the other and then set it up like Mott won, killed his wife in rage, then took his own life.
We rid ourselves of two captains and close the loop on the whole affair while weakening the tower quite a bit.

Dren licks his lips and eyes his dagger, I will truly enjoy being part of manipulating the end of this tower.

Agreed, perfect way to get two of the officers! We need to find out when the wife is using the inn again, and how to draw out the other officer.

Just send an urgent message/note to the tower summoning the Captain to the inn, a note that says an urgent matter regarding his wife with no specific details other than it is urgent and to come to X room.
We wait in our having one person hidden. Once he arrives someone goes invisible and watches the combat, when it is over we rush in and finish them.

If we bring the parties together and have a neutral observer set up to witness what may unfold we could stay out of it. Maybe the innkeep comes clean with what he knows an tells the husband? Then set it so a maid is near by when combat begins?
Later we burn the innkeep and his brother, letting the tower's justice take care of them.

The next night, Edmin has another round brought to the dwarves and makes his approach.

Diplomacy:1d20+6

If you can make a successful Fortitude save, you will move the dwarves to Friendly! If not, you will end up face down under the table in a puddle of vomit -- possibly your own, possibly not.

You can also stop after four beers, go back to your room, and brood. That's always an option.

Woo! Blackmail! Also, Jax will go and check out the players.

He'll pretend to be a former stagehand and be asking about work, what the play is about and (most especially) information on the main actors. Bluff: 1d20+13 and..I guess diplomacy will be needed some urgh..Be lucky! 1d20

Huh. Apparently one of your former aliases spent some time around the theater, back in the capital. The stagehands are busy and distracted, but you manage to get on Friendly terms with them anyway. Pretty good for a guy with no Cha bonus!

The play is a pretty standard rom-com, albeit with a tragic background. It's really a vehicle for the leading man, who is also co-owner and director. The stagehands doubt they'll be able to turn a profit on this trip, but are philosophical about that -- what the hey, it's a chance to travel.

Yes, very interesting. We should keep those bottles. Or make sure that nobody knows that they came from the Landlord. The last thing we want is to give away that there is a back door into the fort.

Apparently Wis 7 Squirrel Warrior has already decided to sell them, or all but two.

We go in through the secret door tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night (night 7) is the night before the performance. Night 8 is the night of the performance.

Note that if Edmin is trying to get friendly with the dwarves, he is going to be drunk all of Day 7. (And possibly hung over for much of Day 8.)

Xen, Morsum and Dren should make the first incursion. Although he will be weak, Morsum can stay in touch with me up to a great distance. If it appears that the entrance is safe, then we can all follow, or we can return the next night.

Okay, you wouldn't be sending Edmin in anyway... all right. You know I'm always good with splitting the party! Night 7 it is. Let's do this.

As far as the good Captain and his trollop wife, well, nothing would be better than some bad blood amongst the commanders. Perhaps, we can send a nice letter and a bottle of wine to Captain Mott explaining that Captain Eddarly has been instructing Captain Mott's good wife on grappling and other wrestling maneuvers. Perhaps the wine is unnecessary, but hey, someone will investigate the fort stores and discover that the wine is missing, but it will simply increase the fort's sense of unease.

It's entirely up to you guys how to handle this, and when. You tell me.

Right now I'm assuming that on Day 7, Xen will try to sell the wine; Edmin drinks with the dwarves; Jax is chatting up the stagehands; and the rest of you have your heads together, discussing what to do with this new information and plotting a first exploration by Xen, Dren, and Morsum into the tunnel. Check?

correct but judge was not supposed to know that Xen sold the wine. so judge you dont know that en sold the wine.

One glass cannon, one slightly loose cannon. Check.

Fort save:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

DM let me know how many bottles get sold. I assume that there were 4 Everyone will get a cut of whatever it is, though Xen just wont be telling you what it is from. On that note, he does not tell you that he has wine either. He only delivered the papers to judge, though he does tell Zimu about the wine since...you know. though he doesnt say where he got it

Fort save:1d20+9

Woo!

"You... yer one of the good ones." Glug, glug, glug. "You... you gotta axe. You're not... talking alla time. You, you almost. You almost understand."

Xen, gonna need an Appraise roll.

Goblin eat drunk dwarves! much Fun!

thats funny as hell there DM

oo appraise-here

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

correct but judge was not supposed to know that Xen sold the wine. so judge you dont know that en sold the wine.

That is assuming that Dren doesn't mention that there were 4 bottles to begin with...

[ooc] well since you have not done so...he doesnt know[/ooc

You can sell them here for 100 each, or wait until you reach a bigger city and get up to 150.

Nah Xen sells them. In the event that it comes out they are missing he will enjoy seeing that soldier get into trouble. In this case possibility of revenge outweighs profit

Tomorrow night (night 7) is the night before the performance. Night 8 is the night of the performance.

Guys we need to FOCUS for a minute, its Night 6 now, we need to plan, we are losing days fast and we seem to be missing something with regards to the performance, I think there may be more to this than just a chance performance here by a well known Bard. Let's actually plan our next set of responsibilities.

You know, kind of like a team of sorts.

I want input from everyone please. Hi Jax, Judge are you around?

Right now I'm assuming that on Day 7, Xen will try to sell the wine; Edmin drinks with the dwarves; Jax is chatting up the stagehands; and the rest of you have your heads together, discussing what to do with this new information and plotting a first exploration by Xen, Dren, and Morsum into the tunnel. Check?

Xen can do more than sell on day 7 for sure, in fact he could sell the wine TO THE BARD and his actors, not only to get more money but to get friendly with them and perhaps find information. Xen would you consider that?

Xen then consider finding out about when the patrol leaves and who leads the patrol.

Edmin finally got to the dwarves! Great!

Jax, maybe team up with Xen to get more information?

That leaves Cуровую, the Judge and Dren to do things and be productive as well. Let's not 'advance the day' yet and get to work please.

correct but judge was not supposed to know that Xen sold the wine. so judge you dont know that en sold the wine.

Xen please read my suggestion regarding the wine, we sell the wine TO THE BARD and his actors, not only to get more money but to get friendly with them and perhaps find information. Xen would you consider that? But keep two I have plans for those.

Woo!

"You... yer one of the good ones." Glug, glug, glug. "You... you gotta axe. You're not... talking alla time. You, you almost. You almost understand."

Success, great job Edmin! Don't forget we need information from them.

Cуровую зиму wrote:

Night 6

Gathering further information on the magister and the patrol leaving in a few days.

Cуровую, in her devout and pious persona, will continue to chat up the one of the officers or sergeants that Xen's drinking buddies normally join up with. She will buy a drink for the man who clearly has such harsh conditions thrust upon him in the wild North. She may smile at the drinking buddies but focus on the officer.

What's your name sir?

Such a brave man of such talents, how could you be single? Why don't you come with me to the play when the bard is in town? You must be so very busy being an officer, here let me get you a drink. Please relax, brave soldier. Your not leaving for a patrol soon are you? The weather seems atrocious.

Cуровую will be coy and inquire if he knows more about the magister, asking because she was once a minor apprentice. Does he have a any known habits or interests? What kind of women does he like?

Diplomacy to get further information on the magister 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Bluff to keep the officer from knowing the intent of my questions 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

This all seems a little heavy-handed for the "devout and pious" persona.

True enough, but Old Mrs. Puffykittens was the wrong persona and I did not know I was going to roll high, perhaps it was her milkmaid persona. And there was a Bluff to go along with it. Can we call it, pious ready for marriage and is looking for the devout 'right man' because time to make pious toddlers.

Anything for Diplomacy 26 and Bluff 30 DM? It seems we are losing days fast.

sorry zimu. Revenge trumps money and your smart plan. But I did save you one as you asked. The other idea is good. I wonder if they need someone who can dance...

If Edmin can get info from the Dwarves, that is great. Learning what part of the castle is being worked on would be great as it may well provide information on weaknesses that can be exploited.

Morsum can go into the dwarf tunnel by himself. He has darkvision, so he can search. If he should be seen or get caught, I can always dismiss him.

As far as the bard goes, we can watch the show. We should be able to see some of the commanders and leaders of the fort which will let us get a basic read on them. Also, we will need to keep eyes out for our little friend Nimby. He may be long since gone, but I doubt it.

Finally, I think that we need to get more information on how frequently the wife and the captain are meeting. In the detailed notes kept by the Landlord, was there a pattern? Or any indication of when/how they communicated?

Day 7
Since the team doesn't seem to need Jax for investigating the undergrounds..

He makes his way back to the actors and tries to get an introduction to the lead actor. He wants to know why this guy is bringing the act so far from their normal area, it seems odd and not likely to bring them profit (as they said already).

[ooc]

sorry zimu. Revenge trumps money and your smart plan. But I did save you one as you asked. The other idea is good.

I was thinking that selling a fine bottle or two would get you a meeting with the lead actor.

I don't disagree it is a good idea. We can use one of them for that. Xen is going to drink one for sure, but a gift to meet might be good. Prob send the pretty girl instead though

Well I wanted to use the other two you have for two other situations.

Did we find out when the patrol is scheduled to leave and who is actually going with the patrol?

well you only get one to play with

Trust me Xen will want to save the two bottles.

well you better convince him cause he is gonna drink one

Anything for Diplomacy 26 and Bluff 30 DM? It seems we are losing days fast.

Already done. You just can't get that much from J. Random Soldier, no matter how high you roll.

If Edmin can get info from the Dwarves, that is great. Learning what part of the castle is being worked on would be great as it may well provide information on weaknesses that can be exploited.

Actually having a conversation with the dwarves will have to wait until tomorrow, when everyone has sobered up.

Finally, I think that we need to get more information on how frequently the wife and the captain are meeting. In the detailed notes kept by the Landlord, was there a pattern? Or any indication of when/how they communicated?

Once or twice a week, but he doesn't know how they arrange it.

ok I have no idea what I should be doing currently

ok I have no idea what I should be doing currently

Day 7, you burgled the landlord in the morning, sold the wine in the evening, and are probably curled up with a bottle right now.

Sounds, good. Xenfal dances a bit, then invites Zimu to share some wine with him. If she does not, then he enjoys the bottle himself.

I'm going to assume that on the evening of Day 7, three of you (Dren, Jax and Morsum) are going to attempt the exploration of the passage as described above. Edmin is blind drunk; Xen is curled up with a bottle of fine wine; the Judge is standing by so that Morsum doesn't get too far away; Grumblejack is asleep at the other inn. (Ogres, like cats, can sleep sixteen hours a day if they have nothing better to do. Also like cats, they can spend hours torturing some small helpless creature, take a short break and then come back for more.)

Zimu, come with the explorers or do something else? Note that evenings in this town are not a time of intense social activity -- it's kind of a "roll up the sidewalks at 8" kind of place. (Except there aren't actually sidewalks.) There are some people around gawking at the players pitching their tents, but otherwise not much is going on.

Day 7 before the night scouting

Jax, Xen can you find out more about the play before the day is over? Who is expected to attend from the fort? Will there be a reception after?

Could we masquerade as some of the actors or stage hands?

Xen, the Judge and Dren could find out all they can about the patrol.

Can we find out if their route, who will be on the patrol and if they are mounted.

Decide between either 1: Blackmailing Eddarly with information for something. I think blackmail may help more.

If we had more time, and say more 'control' of the situation this may prove useful. I would like to try this in other circumstances. Isn't turning a good guy into a pawn one of the team evil's big cliché's?

But we may have not time for this, and Eddarly may just go to the Commander and beg forgiveness.

My proposal - we plant clear information both factual and others that we create, plant these so that anyone who takes 10 finds them, make it look the Captain Mott found out.

We steal something of Mott's, preferably a weapon.

WE Disguise ourselves as Mott and KILL Eddarly. With any luck the Clerics will cast Speak with Dead and find out 'Mott' had his revenge.

We eliminate two captains and no alarms are raised.

With luck Xen can comfort the grieving wife, unless she happens get killed by 'Mott' as well.

I think trying to draw the cleric out with information on Edmin is exposing our hand and too complex. They may send out a patrol about it, but then the tower is also going to be on alert. Who sent the message? How did he escape and why is he so far north? What are his plans? Where are his collaborators, etc.

It need NOT be complex, and like I said it will be made to look like that Edmin wants to make peace with the Cleric.

A day or two before the bugbear attack we send a message saying Edmin wants to reconcile. He awaits in the nearby town. Will the Cleric perform a wedding in secret to his new love?

Nothing about collaborators, nothing to alert the fort. It is an old friend wanting to make peace.

DM has given some clues into the Cleric's personality, if we role play and write this out I believe we have a winner here. Edmin DOES NOT have to be in the next town. We simply want to draw a high level Cleric out of his sanctuary before the bugbear attack.

If the Cleric comes hunting for Edmin with have the troops so much the better! That's just a bonus.

Ambushing Cleric and the patrol: Agreed, when we know the date of these events, lets get to it and murder them. Less people yay!

Striking the patrol may alert the fort unless we are clever about it.

My proposal, if there is another patrol due to leave closer to the bugbear attack we strike that patrol. If this is the only one we have chance to take on, then we strike them.

But make it appear that the attack was bandits they found, or some criminals who were in the area.

Make it look like the patrol found some one (or something) and were destroyed. And the attackers are long gone from the area, and NOT like the opening moves against the fort, rather a very unlucky break for the patrol.

Poisoning Mama Kola's stew - we obviously need to do this. We should use it to make Mama kola look evil. Perhaps hiding a symbol of Asmodeus in her room/home.

Or how about something that won't raise suspicions.

A letter and say a bag of gold coins planted in Mama Kolo's home from Captain Mott, offering her pay to kill the other captain by poisoning the food. Mama Kolo just got over eager.

As a player harming an older woman is a little off putting but in character, I think as soon as Mama Kolo delivers the stew, she may have to 'disappear.'

If she is questioned under magical spells they will realize she knew nothing of it. If we make her look guilty and she 'leaves' all of a sudden and in the middle of the night then the blame is clearly on her. And distraught captain Mott.

Day 7 before the night scouting

Jax, Xen can you find out more about the play before the day is over? Who is expected to attend from the fort? Will there be a reception after?

Could we masquerade as some of the actors or stage hands?

Xen, the Judge and Dren could find out all they can about the patrol.

Can we find out if their route, who will be on the patrol and if they are mounted.

The "clock" on this episode means that you guys will always want to do more in any given day -- especially if you get into the back half of the clock. But there's only so much you can do in each day.

Jax has already done his preliminary investigation and has ingratiated himself with the troupe. There's certainly more to be done, but he can come back tomorrow. You don't walk into a bunch of strangers, make friends in ten minutes, get to talk to the boss, get answers to all your questions, and walk out again, all between tea and supper. (Well... there are optimized "face" characters who could do that; ask me about my rakshasa bloodline sorceress sometime. But as a general rule, these things take time.)

Xen is smirking his way through a bottle of wine. Possibly he's alone in his room; possibly he's looking for some particularly careless local girl upon which to exercise "what he calls his charm". Either way, he's off the board for a bit. That may be suboptimal, but I'd say it's consistent with his character.

The Judge and Dren are still available to act during Day 7. I assumed they spent most of the day plotting, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Day 7 before the night scouting

Cуровую will aid either the group looking into the patrol or the group questioning the actors needs help and aid where she can.

As the afternoon draws to an end she will quietly ask Jax and Xen to come to her rooms for assistance in creating a document, one that links her to a high placed member of the court, a letter of credential saying she is of a noble family (Lord Stanely because he is wealthy and eccentric or perhaps a Richter because they have produced wizards of note), and her interests lay here in the North, in particular the Triple Empire.

An accompanying letter of introduction from Chancellor Morton as well.

Perhaps even linking her as an agent of the Inquisition and in high favor with the Church of Mitra.

Xen will Inspire Competence, Cуровую will search the cardinal's tome. Then Jax and her will go to work.

Knowledge to find a suitable candidate for Cуровую impersonate with little difficulty 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 33

She will check on Edmin.

After checking on the recovering Edmin, and getting a four hours of early evening sleep Cуровую will prepare spells and plan to join Jax, Xen, Dren and Morsum, casting Message on the group.

edit - Xen Cуровую brought sexy back!

During the day, the Judge will attempt to investigate how many of the guards/locals are expected to be at the performance.

He will also look into any information on the size of patrols and how long they are usually out on patrol. He is particularly interested in any information on the cleric that rides the local village circuit.

Diplomacy(performance info): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25
Diplomacy(guard/patrol stuff): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Man, there's nothing like the prospect of Someone Else's Spellbook.

My precious.

If the magister had stiletto heels, Cуровую would have bee lined for him even sooner.

Day 7

Inquiring and gathering details on information to aid the Judge with Knowledge local 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Okay... you spend some time with Jax comparing notes and it turns out you have a mutual acquaintance. Lieutenant Ivan St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham is the heir of the Viscount, and a noted wastrel. You ran into him a couple of years back, so you can mimic him effectively. Jax provides the information that Biggleswade-Brixham is a royal courier; he's an empty-headed dolt, but he does excel at horsemanship and he has a certain cavalier flair that impresses the peasants when he comes galloping through. He's been given the job to keep him out of the capital and out of trouble. It would make perfect sense for him to show up, hand over a document, and then ride off. Furthermore, he wouldn't stop long to chat with anyone he'd consider his social inferior (which is almost everyone, though a sufficiently aristocratic officer might compel his attention).

Note that rolling at nat 20 on "who to impersonate" does not mean the impersonation automatically succeeds (though it will probably give you a circumstance bonus).