GM Batpony PFS [8-05] Ungrounded but Unbroken. (Inactive)

Game Master Batpony

Just wanted to give a head's up. I've finally made it to the field and set up, but now that I'm here, my internet signal is incredibly weak to non-existent.

This is the first time I've been able to get on, and I will try to be more active now that I'm able to, somewhat, but feel free to bot me as needed. Once I get a change to inform al of my games, I'll start going through and catching up on what's been going on thus far.

Again, apologies for vanishing.

I think it's pretty obvious that we've been set up the whole time. I get the sense that we are supposed to figure out the Captain's motive and why she wants us to fail, but I have no idea how to approach that. Any ideas?

I think maybe we where supposed to break into her quarters or something, but that seems like something none of us would do, well, maybe the Player that controls Helgga. . .

Not only is it sort of immoral, but it also seems to be against the whole idea of the mission, which was to survive and impress the foreign army.

It's also worth noting that this was sort of the big complaint about this scenario, (in addition to the Captain deriding the PCs). I have not read the scenario myself, but I'm pretty confident based on hearsay that this is squarely on the scenario's author and not the DM, being sort of an open sandbox, but without anywhere to really go or anything reasonable to actually try. Because of that, I sort of feel sorry for suggesting this scenario.

The only other possibilities I could really see is asking around the other soldiers, or going to speak to the commander preemptively.

Trying to track down the "merry band of elemental thieves" seems like it might be a good idea too, but I sort of took us rushing back as a sign of "that's outside the scope of this scenario".

The thought of breaking in her office never even crossed my mind. We are here to make a good impression for the Society and that seems counterintuitive, both out of, and in character. Especially for Rogan who considers himself a soldier, that's just not something he would do to a superior.

You hit the hundreds of nails exactly on the head! The scenario does try to veer suspicion to the captain but it is to the PC's conscious what they feel is the best to do.

I don't necessarily believe the Captain is behind it. She could be, but all of the evidence we have is ultimately very circumstantial. Anyone could have put the rocks atop the wall, or hinted at the caravan being particularly vulnerable. For all we know, it was the Commander that is behind it all and was only at the casino to see us go down, (and it just so happened we noticed the disguise because it was a disguise). Which, also means that the real person could have gotten right by us. . .

For me, the biggest issue I'm seeing is just how un-military-like it's presented. Not because of it itself, but rather because it really plays with my expectations. I keep trying to pretend I'm playing this as if my only knowledge of how a military training should be was straight out of Full Metal Jacket, (I'm actively trying to ignore my own experience and get into a mindset I'd expect for the game), and different common movie troupes, but it sort of seems that the scenario doesn't even care about those basic things.

Just out of curiosity, how much of the charges against us relate to the note I slipped into Giacomo's pack at the start? Either way, I think that's pretty awesome, and it was completely spontaneous.

Ahah! Did anyone actually pass the note to the captain? It doesn't seem so. But it implied from the Herald general's note, it's an accumulation of accusations the captain made against you.

No, it was a joke, meant to get him a few extra push-ups. I'd been trying to hand it to Giacomo right when we where getting introduced, pretending (very, very poorly) it was real.

Water Special Forces Agent Casanova,
.
We udder understand you have been given a special mission for the armies of Water guys. We approve of your oddac... audac, of your awesomeness in showing those dirty Earthy's how a real army guy does it. Semper Fi!!!
.
We hope you received the bag of cookies we sent you as well. Make sure no Earthy's get them, so eat them all before going to their Earthy realm, and make sure there is no trace of the cookies for them to enjoy. They can't handle them, anyway. They stupid, so should not be hard.
-
The Water Army Guys.

Haha yes! But I don't think Giacomo reacted much to it if I recall correctly.

And just to be clear, breaking into the captain's office is part of the scenario's scope if you wanted to know.

I tried to post last night, but the site was behaving erratically for me and I barely got my own games updated. Anyways, I agree with Blood Eagles arguments at the top of this page wholeheartedly. I think we all agreed at the time that searching the Captains office would be entirely too big of a breach of conduct for a trainee in a political situation like this, especially on the flimsy premise that "She doesn't like us".

I read the reviews about this scenario and was kind of concerned, but I feel that you have done a good job of keeping us on track and pointing us where you could. If the rolls were too low or we chose (for whatever reason) not to take the bait, it was not due to you at all.

As for the blame.. I feel that the captain makes herself a suspect with the constant derision and poor leadership. Obviously she has a chip on her shoulder, and ultimately as our commanding officer she is responsible for most of the things that have happened. Obstacle course? Not exactly her direct line of control, but she should be able to know that rocks falling on trainees and greased logs wasn't normal. The bad intel at the casino came directly from her, as well as the intel on our last mission. If she's not directly responsible, I believe she knows who is, and is complicit.

I just realised I don't have anybody's information for reporting!

As usual, need the relevant info?

Name:
Character Name:
PFS ID:
Faction:
Day job:

Thank you!

Patrick
Jazmine
95823-4
Grand Lodge
Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

No, thank YOU! lol
Really though.. I enjoyed this run!

GM Turmoil
Rogan Bloodaxe
62803-6
Exchange
none

DM Beckett
Blood Stone <Will appear under Blood Eagle>
53,74 - 14
Liberty's Edge
No Day Job Activity

Thanks again for running. I wasn't sure with all the talk about this one just what the issues where, but I'm glad I have a better idea, and thank you running.

I'll talk to Helgga to get her to post ASAP. I think she decided early on that this scenario was not for her, and felt she couldn't really contribute in any meaningful way, except in that last combat where she was travelling. Mostly an issue with bringing the wrong character to this one, I think.

Player Name: DM Snider
Character Name: Giacomo
ID: 22306-15
Grand Lodge
Day Job:Day perform: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

I've reported the game with exception of Helgga since I haven't got her information. Hopefully this doesn't leave a bad taste for PBP with her! Also have prepped chronicles at the link below! Do let me know if anything looks wrong.

Blood Stone, I think there is a number missing in your PFS ID?

Chronicles here!

Rogan should receive the out of tier gold

Jazmine as well. She us lvl 3.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Sorry about that. I wasn't really used to checking online daily for the game, and I felt I wasn't really able to do much to help out.

Razzle Dazzle (or Heather)
Helgga (Level 2)
62,798-3
Silver Crusade
No Day Job

No worries Helgga, you are reported!

Updated Chronicles!

Got mine.. Everything looks good. Thank you so much for running this, GM! I hope the rest of you had as much fun as I did!