And so begins a Discussion, out-of-character / out-of-game, on different plans, gambits and conspiracies to get various individuals, small groups, and eventually large numbers of peoples to support Cheliax -- for all six of your targets.
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Feel free to discuss ideas in any order, as they come to you from the Muse, for
Diobel,
Rahadoum,
Mediogalti,
Sargava,
Nidal,
Isger
Isger has a lot of stability issues, and seems like a place where we could openly just fix problems in the name of Asmodeus. We could fix a few major problems involving caravan guarding or whatnot for the people in charge, and that should probably get us a foothold.
Exactly
Easy foot in the door
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Dot.
@ Lady Narkissa (& everyone),
Knowledge Local is sufficient for info on PC Class and Race. So as Lady Narkissa observes the other PCs, that check is for discerning information about Humans, Drow, Dhampir, etc., and for Sorcerer Bloodlines, multi-class Inquisitors & HellKnights, Archetypes, Prestige Classes, Alternate Racial Traits, etc.
So for now there are two early votes, one for Isger and one for Diobel.
Let me know which you'd prefer to visit first, and feel free to discuss why.
I will cast a vote only in cases of a tie.
(In this case, if two of you vote Isger and two for Diobel, I'll probably vote Diobel since I'm vaguely more hungry to do something there. But your various ideas could certainly sway me.)
Hey, in case it makes a difference, while in the vast throne room waiting your turn to speak with the Queen, you had opportunity to speak with Lady Kaltessa Iyis of Mammon, probably the most powerful figure in Isger. She is accompanied in the Throne Room by a Barbazu, Imp and Chain Devil.
....After your meeting with Thrune you could find Lady Iyis again and speak with her, if you so choose.
Thanks GM.
Narkisssa will vote for Isger when asked.
She also rolled to see of she recognized anyone and/or know anything about thire reputation, history, actions etc.
That definitely makes a difference, in that Meliora would have tried to get acquainted and make a good impression.
And having allies when going to a new area is useful af.
Feel free to post in Gameplay something like this:
While waiting in the guest manse before we are summoned to the Throne Room, I would have said " _ _ _ _ " to introduce myself to the other PCs.
In the Throne Room, while waiting to meet with the Queen, I'd be interested to talk to Lord Battori and the vampire, Kholas....
Upon hearing Gorthoklek's advice after we were tasked with the mission, I ask Gorthoklek, ....
That kind of stuff.
Or you can just talk through stuff in Discussion.
NOTE: In the Throne Room, while mingling, you have not yet learned WHY you were summoned to see Her Infernal Majestrix.
Oh, I was working under the assumption that our current conversations were just after all of the mingling. I'll go back and put in the actual mingling and what she would have said ahead of time in the next post. Sorry.
I wasn't expecting mingling -- you don't have to. I just figured I'd give the opportunity, just in case. I don't know that anything will come from the dialog that moves the game forward, but you never know.
Ahh, it’s so good to have Gameplay up-and-running!
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On Monday I’ll post the intro into Isger.
Unless you guys take Gameplay to a meeting with, for example, Lady Kaltessa Iyis of Mammon, The Widow Queen of Isger – or roleplay your way into getting a teleportation to a specific location, I’ll segue the journey through Cheliax to Isger and describe the first community you encounter in The Thrall of Cheliax.
With the community’s description you can decide how specifically you want to begin the methodology of your grand conspiracy.
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Meliora Castafiore, our ruthless serpentine sorcerer, mentioned she would be “damned if she (would disagree) out loud to people she just met.” I think that was handled very well. Three votes for a, um, ‘more loud’ approach, and hers for wanting to maintain a low profile. Trinam went with the group in a display of team-work that we, especially in an Evil campaign, need. ….(I don’t know how a Sense Motive DC:35 was determined by a PC, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t much like PCs using Diplomacy or Bluff or Intimidate or such On Other PCs. I almost mentioned it when Lady Eyota did Knowledge Local on the party.) But thanks Trinam. Well roleplayed!
….Also, kudos to Aurilous for handling the ’A PC just walked out of my personal space – not nice!’ moment early on. More good teamwork.
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Regarding Lady Eyota’s grammar—If anyone missed it, Johnny Panic has been open about his dyslexia. It takes a moment or two to figure out what the bejonkers he’s saying sometimes (I can’t lie, his “exchequer” made me LOL for a moment!) But when you start getting past the spelling and such, the content of what he’s saying is good, a solid contribution to the campaign. Of course, I hope not all of Lady Eyota’s posts are as long as the Inner Sea Guide’s four pages on Isger, but…. ;)
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I want to point out that Lady Eyota would very likely have given the addendum to her account on Isger (including the map that she “somehow,” “miraculously,” “inappropriately” has) that the information is not guaranteed. Sure, maybe there is truth to the legend of a Dragon and truth to the second-hand stories of a burned Chitterwood, etc. – BUT Y’ALL DON’T KNOW SQUAT without the Knowledge: Society (Geography/History) roll. Of course, it’s all good. Lady Eyota IS an 8th Level Investigator so she’ll make the rolls! AND I need, desperately, a group of PCs who will take initiative and have knowledge. …..My concern, and the reason I’m mentioning this, is that I need some freedom of movement in campaign design. In this case I don’t have anything on the Dragons or the Chitterwood so it’s all good. But that won’t be the case when we get to Nisroch, Diobel, Ilizmagorti – which I have used quite a bit in my Homebrew over the years, and Rahadoum which I’ve already started work on for this campaign.
…. I’ll give you an example: In my Homegame the PCs have spent time in Ilsurian in Varisia. There, the PCs have taken an interest in local politics and the town of Ilsurian has voted to increase the town council from six members to eight members. ….Were Ilsurian on our list of targets, Lady Eyota may have described it as a democratic meritocracy with a six-member council. But it’s actually a democratic meritocracy with an eight-member council.
….So Lady Eyota would have probably said something like, “as far as I know, Isger is a blah-blah-blah – subject to be *slightly* different.
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It’s funny (odd -- not “haha”), Aurilous looked at the old lady Dhampir and questioned her usefulness in the mission. My reaction was the opposite—the group needs an INV-like PC more than a HellKnight-like PC.
….But ultimately, we need a mix.
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Thanks GM, I think its shaping up to great game.
Really having to think about things.
And Yep sorry about the bad spelling and Grammar, and trust me, she dose more than look harmless and know things.
She has a bluff skill of +25, so she has a bad habit of just coasting along and takes 10 when being insincere or holding back (which is how I got the 35). She's probably gonna continue doing that until someone in the group calls her on it either tacitly or out loud, (which would most likely be Narkissa if anyone)--but my intention using bluff like that for her has to do with how she's is literally a two-faced brat who rarely says what she really means, so it always winds up as things like:
That way the players can clearly know when she's being insincere or lying her ass off, to help with OOC flow. I hope not to disrupt things since she wouldn't hold back any important information she has (because she's a team player even if she is a selfish brat, it takes more than one person to get a wagon of halflings across a border), but I probably should have asked first.
Should I continue dealing with her two-faceyness like that? If not, I'm sure I can think of some other way to get across the same basic idea.
I see what your saying,
I kind of always try and keep well away from PvP like things.
I did boob with Kn Local, but was looking for names and ranks etc.
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Lady Narkisssa Kekaku Eyota and Sense Motive
This is where it gets all PvP and why I would not use it.
Sense Motive(Int)____+19{+8rank,+7Int +3class+1Item *+2Race*}<^ [Roll Twice on d20 and d8 and take highest from each]
O you big fibber you!!!
Honestly with the way her usual result is gonna be ~38 (very rough probability curve done here assuming ~13 average on the d20 and ~ a 6 average on the d8) it's very safe to assume she's on to Mel's insincerity at least 80% of the time. The others just wouldn't be astute enough to pick up on it in the first place. I could probably just change the spoiler name from here forward and have a tacit understanding that Narkisssa can generally just see right through whatever bullhonkey Mel's putting out today.
Even if Lady Eyota knows what your PC is doing she will keep that to herself and file it away. She is like that
@ Zartana,
Still considering how the Captain of the Watch Guard, shortly before nightfall, would respond to a Drow walking up with "Greetings."
And now I'm busy at work....
But I am not forgetting about you!
....each of us getting an NPC or two to talk to seems fair.
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Well, it's a Sandbox so I've thrown out several possible encounters, from the rancher to the guard, from the barkeep to the cobler & farrier, a couple of hookers, a cooper and even a battered wife who's pregnant.
....And as far as the "jumbled mess" -- well, it wasn't my idea to split the party up. ;P
Emlio Estiban, yeah I'd forgotten about it. You're good.
I like the idea of Spoilers.
Two thoughts....
It may be helpful, if when I *think* a conversation might be becoming important, to include in the Spoiler a [ Quote ] Copy/Paste of the hard dialog preceding the new post. That way one can see a whole conversation and not have to search up the Thread for a post, unsure how many exist that are relevant. ....But as that formatting is a bit of tedium, I'll do that when I think, Hey, this could be getting interesting or important.
Second, I think there will be times where none of us are sure where dialog or info-gathering is going, whether it's actually moving forward the campaign. ....Here, I've got two things, um "brewing"(?), and of course, I'm looking for you guys to come up with plans on your own once a bit of detail is revealed. ....The point being, after a bit more dialog I'm just going to move on so as to keep things at a certain pace -- see my abrupt closure of Aurilous' conversation with Vogram. But I want to make sure yo guys know you can still ask questions of the NPCs if I go too fast. Finally, this Discussion Thread is a good place for Metagame communication such as, "Hey DM, my purpose talking to so-and-so is to get such-and-such."
Why is it that Zartana gives me all the hard ones?!
I had no idea how Isgeri backwater-folk would react, regarding libido, to a Drow.
Let's see if she gets that DC -5 Sense Motive check to see Captain Goffrey's pants-seam rise and catch the glint in his eye.
Meliora's totally trying to get information about the Count, since if they want to seize power for Cheliax they'll have to talk to him (or deal with him) at some point.
Gm what info comes form the ladys of the night, if any
Win the people over and you win the government. No harm in getting an officer in your good books =^^=
Start at the foundation
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I think this may be a good spot to segue until you meet back together. There are a number of NPCs with whom you can start manipulating and corrupting. But discussing with each other as a group what directions you want to go, I think, will better serve the campaign than continuing introductions with local NPCs.
Let me know if you want to continue, though, there are still plenty of avenues to go down with talking to NPCs.
But if you guys get together now, consider a purpose in your next foray into the populous, and then split up again to rework your NPC contacts -- it ought to move quickly.
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For example, You can discuss what you want Zatana to get from Cpt Goffrey when they meet at the Sunrise House Inn. ....You can discuss a gambit for Lady Eyota to use when she convinces Francine to introduce her to the Count. ....You could see if there's anybody Meliora Castafiore wants to see inside the walls. ....You can think of a manipulative course for Aurilous to take with the guard's family. Or whatever.
going for the count seems like a good idea, she needs an introduction.
So could get one V her new chum.
Bigger game, really need to know what the Goblins are upto,
also if there are any counter groups working here.
So,....
Any plans on meeting the Count and what to say to him after Francine the whore introduces you?
Anyone want to try to figure out what the 'Quiet Warriors' might be?
Anyone have some ideas on how to manipulate the Captain and what to do once you own him?
How about any of the other 'regular Isgeri folk' -- ideas for a grassroots build up?
Meliora planned to mention the quiet warriors to the others so that Eyota would get to figure things out on them. Outside of that all I've got is 'figure out propaganda campaign' but before that we need a problem to solve.
Should also see how the leaders feel about being annexed, since they may be loyal but they may still want their independence.
Maybe convincing the captain that the goblins aren't a problem anymore and to just avoid dealing with them 'til they've built up enough to cause a problem, then solve that problem and prove Cheliax is a far better protector than Iseger. We'd have to set the wheels spinning on that one before we could cash in, meaning we'd be sowing seeds, going elsewhere to get started on sowing seeds, and then eventually coming back. Unless we can just unite all the gobbo tribes ourselves under one war banner so that we can destroy them.
IDK, this is idea spitballing right now.
I think provoking the goblins to attack, then over state it and call in the home army to keep the under raps is a neat idea.
Agreed. I like the idea of riling up the local goblins. Blame it on someone else, then come in as Chelaxian saviors.
Maybe get them to agree to have a perma Chelaxian garrison? Even with their independence, that'd go a long ways in increasing Chelaxian influence.
Anyone want to roleplay the conversation you guys have about the horny captain, the chummy prostitutes who know the Chelaxian Count, the pig rancher who mentioned 'Quiet Warriors' or anything else?
I'm starting to work on some Goblinoid menaces you can go find and rile up -- only to kill them later. Give me until Monday or so before getting into the guts of this plan of yours.
In addition to roleplaying talking among yourselves about your Isger plans, feel free to shoot out ideas on where you want to go next and what you want to do, Diobel, Nisroch, Ilizmagorti, etc.
I would be down for playing the conversation, yeah. Gotta give Eyota an excuse to use that super special awesome int bonus to give us the details, after all.
Hey folks. Just saying work is putting me under a lot of stress. Will be back to posting by the weekend
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I'm not a big fan of throwing out options the way I just did, but I'm concerned the campaign is faltering and want to try to put the juice back into the game. Hopefully this will get the ideas coming.
I really want this campaign to move forward.
I am at a loss as to what to do here.
We seem to all gone of in out own directions and it's become a game of 4 stand alone games.
Really have no idea how to move this on.
Nightmare week at work coming up -- will get back here asap.
Taking Lady Eyota's advice I'll set a scene where you're all together and alone -- and you can move forward as a group.
My concern is that the Players got bored. Or that I moved away from dialog roleplay too soon.
Whatever it takes to get us going again (once I put this fire out at work).
....Or we could jump to Diobel or Sargava or someplace and come back here later.
Again, this will not be a week wherein I can get to The Bards often. Feel free to talk, in character or in metagame, about possible plans.
And if Isgeri seems a bit too vanilla right now, feel free to suggest a vote to move somewhere else.
Also, there are plenty of other NPCs you could have an introduction with; feel free to go back through Gameplay and latch on to the description of another NPC to get more info.
And if anyone is able to roll a Knowledge; Society check for the Quiet Warriors -- who speak with a rural, country accent of Chelaxian,.... It's DC 20. (Remember this Skill combines History, Geography, Nobility and bits of Local.)
So why don't we go over possible plans out-of-character.
Anyway, do you guys want to set up a base of operations at one of the NPC's homes? ....Which one -- then we can roleplay the encounter?
Do you want to make an alliance with Count Innavhar and Lord Jancid?
Or make a false alliance with the Cpt Blake Godfrey and Lord Dreyfas?
Do want to attempt to begin some horrible calamity and then solve it in the name of Cheliax? Or something?
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What can I do to help get you guys started?
Where did I lose your interest and can it be fixed?
I think things are fine. We have a lot of options. So a lot of doors. Us discussing it IC i think will help us pick one. =^^=
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I posted her plan, its kind of on a grand scale, a set of steps that lead to an army of assistance/occupation with a local who is linked to us.
I will be away for the next 5 days on a family Trip, I will try and post when I can, V hotel wifi, but if its critical Bot my PC please GM.
@ Zartana, feel free to voice your choice of Lady Eyota's plans or offer a suggestion.
It may just be you two right now. We'll see if Aurilous or Meliora come back.
Sorry. Read but didnt reply. Will do today
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For what it's worth I am here. I think we need a leader. Someone in charge of the operation who can make the final call, for the sake of moving things along.
well it took you long enoug
She would think,
And as you insist, Narkisssa will be more than happy to lead you.
If you want the role, Aurilous will be more than happy to follow. Hell, in a different campaign I have a character being led by a horse hating goblin. Compared to that, I can't see any of you being bad choices!
One 'leader' or shot-caller is fine but I think even better is anyone calling a shot when he or she sees one. But I'll play it however you guys play it.
So if and when you have an idea, go with it and we'll give it a good day or so to give everyone a chance to see it and respond.
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Will do, she side tend to over think, but that's what are gets paid for.
Changing gears to work on some goblin stuff in the Chitterwod.
When I post again it'll be the beginnings of a description inside the Chitterwood. Probably Monday.