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Player Name: Matt B.
Character Name: Emilia Cosovei
PFS #: 13693-18
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job: N/A
She's so Core, that she is composed mostly of an iron-nickel alloy... Currently Em is involved in another game of The Stolen Heir, but that game should hopefully be completed before our kick off date!
Em is a conjuration specialist with a focus on summoning, but I have a few utility spell to help out (Grease and Protection from Evil).
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Thank you Emilia.
Consortium Compact requires a lot of player input, so I will try not to bot too often in this Scenario, if I can help it, but I'll make sure we move things along at a steady pace as well.
Eveleth has not yet posted, nor have they filled in the information I requested last week, I'll give them 24 hours from this post before I pull in an alternate.
Ok so that's Phil, Zordlon, and Quint for doing the 1st and 2nd missions..and Ny'a firmly against doing the 2nd mission...We'll need Emilia and Lukian to actually state their preference before moving on.....also is Quinn still playing? I've seen nothing of her in the game-play thread..
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GM I was hoping you could clarify the nature of the "rules of the encounter" for the rest of the group in order to speed play/roll-play. Does everyone need to make some sort of statement and some type of social roll(bluff, intimidate, diplomacy) as they enter the bar? Or should they be making perception checks and sense motive checks as they scout and observe? Or is it a combination of any/all these rolls?
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The encounter is set up into phases.
The phases are mostly dependent on me to create based on the plan that you have set. The rolls can be whatever skill the players believe to be helpful given the situation and turn of events, though the DC is static for each phase and a certain number of successes is needed from the party as a whole.
Like I said, this scenario is largely about player agency and gives you more leeway on certain situations, such as this one, and though it's slow going to pbp it makes for a unique set up each time it's played.
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Scipio I am using your first post in the post I'm preparing to organize the events that have been set in place so far. I appreciate the gusto, but please hold further action until you see how things play out. I will have a post up hopefully during my lunch break today, provided others manage to get their rolls in by then.
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So a couple things GM before we proceed. I guess I need to know if I need to stay with the group in order for this to succeed or do you have leeway to rule a success if our objective is met in a non-traditional way? Because if it's just a series of diplomacy rolls and our actions have little impact I'd just as soon do the rolls and move on.
On the other hand; the other agent hasn't come in correct? And he's suppose to meet here with the agent that's already in the room correct? the rest of my party is already in the Bar (or they should be according to the game play thread). Also a whole squad of suspicious soldiers..
Is there any reason Scipio couldn't just wait for the likely agent to approach the bar..say he's been sent to warn him by Paltus, tell him that a whole squad of guards awaits inside to arrest him.. and that he has been double crossed?
If there's no mechanical reason not to do this..this is precisely how Scipio would improvise the situation. However, if we are strictly on the rails..I'll keep a look out for when I need to roll..
As for the rest of the party and the guards they can use diplomacy to calm the situation inside.. My thought is that our primary mission was to stop the meeting and sow discord between the two factions. All else would be secondary.
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It seems I've done as poor job explaining the situation. I have gm'd this for and seem to have taken for granted that my party had largely played it before and knew what to expect.
There are no rails here, at all. The only things set in stone are that the meeting takes place here and that the Pathfinders must disrupt it.
The plan you make is entirely up to you
What rolls you make are entirely up to you
How the situation plays out is entirely up to GM improv. These guards are not a written part of the scenario, there is no real written part of this particular encounter. How you handle them is up entirely to you.
The only thing that is constant is that there are a number of DC's set by the scenario, that the party must beat as a whole, those dc' s remain the same regardless of what skills you decide to employ in disrupting the meeting.
If Scipio decides to circle back around and try to intercept the other agent then I will narrate the success or failure based on a single skill roll that you feel relevant, be it perception/bluff/acrobatics/profession cake maker/Fly. As long as sense can be made of it, I will endeavour to fit it into the success or failure.
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So here's what I propose ( for our group) the players inside all make social skill rolls. Their best social skill rolls or maybe one player can make a perception roll to spot evidence of fake pearl making. The other characters should work up a dialogue how the captain of the guard should take everyone in for questioning thus insuring the meeting never takes place. Intimidate for Palstus and diplomacy and or bluff for the captain of the guard. In the mean time I have 2 rolls a perception to spot the other agent and a bluff to send him away ... sound good everyone?
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A certain number of successes are required to pass each phase, that success has not yet been met, so you are rolling for the sake of succeeding in this event. That roll should be followed with some sort of action by your PC that assists in resolving the situation.
It is not rolling for rollings sake unless you choose not to participate in the event.
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I get the sense that this scenario is trying to encourage creativity by allowing the PCs total control over the skill checks they want to use to accomplish this. I imagine the intent is almost certainly not to just roll for the sake of rolling.
The best approach, following the scenario's intent, would probably have been to incorporate some kind of skill check along with your ghost sound spell (perhaps Intimidate boosted by the sound of the gendarme approaching).
It's unfortunate that in this case a scenario design intended to encourage roleplaying seems to have left you feeling like it only cares about roll-playing. I don't believe that's the case.
Let's all remember the game is for fun; let's not lecture each other or get hurt feelings over a misunderstanding! :)
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I am trying to say that my magic should have been my answer to what he was doing. The description of the spell has nothing about adding anything to skill checks. He is not trying to bluff the real guards. The people either heard the stomping of the people or they did not. The GM did not indicate that the casting of the spell did or did not add anything to my roll so just adjudication on his part would have needed to have been communicated rather than simply saying participate in the event or not.
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Thank you for the suggestions HMM always appreciated.
To explain, I did not require Lukian to roll when the spell was cast in the previous phase because the group had already achieved the number of successes needed to pass into the next phase. And that has caused some confusion about this next phase.
Though I am loathe to reveal mechanics as a GM, as I feel it provides too much meta gaming potential, as the rest of this scenario unfolds I will leave mechanic explanation in spoilers, so those that want to read them can, and those that want the more organic experience can avoid them. I will continue to keep DC and success numerical requirements to myself however.
As far as botting I do have a 24 hour bot policy that will be put into place this evening when I get home.
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With regards to the GM and heartfelt thanks for his efforts I am going to bail out of this scenario. I give my thanks and best wishes to all the remaining players as well. I'm just used to a faster play pace and would really like to concentrate on my other games right now. If the GM would kindly remove me as one of his players I would appreciate. Many thanks for the effort...again GL
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...okay then... Good luck to you, Scipio... So that leaves us with 4 PCs still, right?
*EDIT*
Also, I wanted to apologize for my delay in posting. I had an intern riding patrol with me yesterday so I was not able to get into here to make a post. I had to testify at traffic court this morning for a bench trial and then go right into work tonight. We've been quite busy and I just got a little lull in the action to get a post in!
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5 PC's if Phil is still with us. There was a previously interested party that had contacted me after Zordlon joined, if they return a message to me before we start on Encounter 2 then I will add them if not we will move on and conclude the scenario with our present party.
Sorry again guys, I'm not sure why my handling of this scenario is so much more convoluted than the first time I ran it, but I will make sure the remainder of this scenario runs better.
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I think part of the confusion was Scipio's rapid-fire posts in a skill challenge that requires every party member to make some sort of skill roll. Also, perhaps Lukian's not understanding that this specific challenge requires some sort of skill check from every party member.
As for the next mission, Emilia would prefer to confront this drug dealer and handle the disgusting man as opposed to attempting to infiltrate a ship.
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Hey, it's vacation season! I'm going to do my best to get online for this game. This is a big vacation, not returning until late night on 11 Sept, so I'm going to be putting more effort during this vacation than I may have during others. As usual, please don't let my absence hold up the game, and bot me as needed!
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[dice=Guisarme + Prone]1d20 + 8, [dice=Damage]2d4 + 6
Technically, prone applies a penalty to the defender's AC, not a bonus to attacks.
Prone: The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.
Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.