Gamemaster Kobolum's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Kobolum

I should also mention it be nice if you put a definite age on your characters, it might be irrelevant but there is a possibility that your characters will shift in age category so it'd be nice for me to know.

Done: 29 years. Added height and weight to and converted to metric (hopefully accurately).

Wasn't sure if you also wanted us to post something about our characters being in the cell, so I literally only posted a roll for Perception. If you don't mind us posting a little something about our character in the cell, happy to do so.

Taldran is about 22-25ish.

Thanks Kobolum, saw that I just made it in at the end there and just wanna say thanks.

Anyways, Aviaun is 140 years old give or take. Given the long lifespan of Dhampires I doubt ageing will be a problem for me.

Lucia is 124 but she is unsure of her age. She thinks she is 122.

Baolo's age is in his profile. Being human, he is likely the younger of the characters here at 22 years old.

Fixed a typo on my stat sheet. One of the language should be infernal instead of abyssal. I thought abyssal is the language of the devils.

Casius is about 21 - I just updated his profile with it.

Given that he started luring marks in his late teenage years, I figure he got caught after only 3 or 4 years, 5 at the most.

Any objections if I/we read one another's backgrounds? I know some GMs prefer we not (as do some players). I'd like to read them and I think it sometimes provides good intra-party RP hooks, but I'll defer to the GM or player preferences.

I posted the gist of mine in recruitment, so I don't really mind. I made Aviaun a while back though and neglected to delete the backstory section of his bio, so I can't speak for its quality.

If you don't mind the length, you can read Casius's. He'll probably reveal the important parts during the course of gameplay, so it's not like it will be super secret.

I'm willing to okay this if you think you can keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate. For example none of you have actually introduced yourselves to each other by name in character.

Baolo and Casius both have - although I usually use a name in descriptive text so it's easier to tell who I'm referencing, regardless of whether or not the person has officially introduced themselves. For speech or thought, I won't mention it until they're introduced. I can change that up, though - it isn't a problem.

Good news guys I finally decide to stop being lazy and get a Google Slides set up for the images for this campaign.

Woot!

Nice! Though if we can't force these shackles and no one has disable device, we may need to get a bit creative in how we get free.

Just submitted my request for access.

It should be public now.

Thanks, GM. I can see it.

We’ve got an image of a fat sergeant, a woman with a veil, and a close up of the veil.

Hey all. Casius's question to Venn (IC) made me think of something I wanted to say OOC just to give you a little OOC insight into Venn and me.

As I mentioned in the recruitment thread, I have or am in the process of GMing this AP twice. Obviously, I'm keeping my OOC knowledge separate from Venn's actions and I'm sure Kobolum is going to shake things up a bit, but I also built and conceived of Venn as more of a follower. So, when he's acting a little cowardly or cowed, it's because I don't want him getting too much in a position of making decisions for the party.

I also picked a class and set of skills so that there aren't any OOC questions of me/Venn just "randomly" or not so randomly deciding to do something that has a significant consequence (e.g., "I'm just going to decide to look for traps here for no particular reason at all... oh, there's a trap.").

That said, I hope he's going to be fun for you to RP off of and he should definitely be of some help in combat.

I'm sure he will be - I'm in the same boat as you with regard to OOC knowledge. Casius is scared and desperate, and doesn't want to die. He won't take the lead, but he will offer his abilities for assistance.

I appreciate the desire to keep out of character knowledge separate guys it really does help me. And as for the not willing to take the lead I understand that as well and I do appreciate the characters, but don't forget you're in a literal life or death situation here. I'm sure your desires to live are more pressing than your anxieties.

Also Lucia are you there? You haven't posted in awhile.

Just when things are starting to get interesting. It's been over a week since her last post. If she is not alive, we may need to find a replacement.

As for leading in all matter aside from battle, Taldran can take the lead. In battle, he will most likely let one of the tankier member take the lead since he is lacking in the offense category.

GM, absolutely. Venn won't be a wallflower or be afraid to act when the time comes; I'm just thinking he'll be following the lead of those more steeped in Asmodean principles than he is.

So... if nothing else of interest happened in Taldran's conjugal visit that could help us, I think we are going to need to come up with one of those traditional escape plans of RPG lore.

1. Fake an illness? (High bluff?)
2. Lure a guard into the part of the cell with Venn and (who is next to him?), attack/distract him, Venn grabs the keys off the floor with his tail?
3. Try to seduce a guard? (Quite the reach here but just brainstorming)
4. Other options?

This is going to be tough without weapons, holy symbols or spell components.

This is also you're hanging order from your left, Venn D'or, to your right, Taldran Gerain.

Venn D'or

Casius Flann

Aviaun Koski

Lucia Dakara

Baolo Tizden

Taldran Gerain

The person next to you would be me. So for luring and distraction, we've got a fairly decent opportunity, since I can do a bit of that. Aviaun's the next one over - I don't suppose he has any abilities that might help with that plan?

Funny, Taldran is about to suggest option 1.

I can make a shadow around myself and give a bonus to acrobatic checks to jump. I doubt that'll be helpful though, if I can get even one hand free I can potentially kill a guard and drag them closer to me with my infusion.

I know. I honestly should have thought more about how you were going to make your escape when I was selecting characters because I honestly don't see how you're going to get out of this. If only you had some miscellaneous object that turned out to be a magic item upon closer inspection.

Eyes Taldran and the handkerchief he was given

Doesn't he needs to be free to inspect and use it? And ya, without a rogue, the only option is to break our chains.

(I just chuckled a little.)

Taldran, probably depends on where you stuck it for your trip back to the cell. :-)

If it's in your hand (and you have been talking since you got back, so probably not in your mouth), you could unfold and look up at it. If you stuck it someplace else... well, I'm not touching it.

*Prays that Taldran to stick it somewhere you don't want to touch.* Just kidding.

I updated the imagery so you'd have a better understanding of the exact situation you're in right now.

What's the STR check to break out of the manacles?

EDIT: Never mind, it's pretty high.

Thanks, GM, that's helpful. Nice zoom in on the veil.

Can anyone give Aviaun a +2 on an escape artist check? If I'm reading the rules right, he could Take 20 and slip the manacles (if it didn't make too much noise that is).

If not, I don't think anyone has disable device so even if we had lockpicks... we may actually need to go with the "Help, he's sick" routine.

Well, I don't think the guards would care is the thing. I mean they did beat one of us pretty badly.

Though maybe you could cut your hand on the manically and use the blood as lube to slip out, that'd probably be worth a circumstance bonus. Though the maniacals look pretty darn tight in the pictures. I think charming may be the only way to go, with intimidate and the gaze that's a -4 so it's likely to land.

All in favor of trying to charm the guard say Aye.

In favor, with the caveat that it depends on how many guards there are. I can only target one guard at a time, so if there's a second one, he may alert the rest of the keep unless I can get him, too. If there's a third guard, well, I only have 2 level 1 spells. That might get tricky.

What would be our best option would be a skeleton key or chime of opening, but I doubt we get one of those.

I'm in favor with Casius's caveat. Might make sense to wait a day in-game and see what the routine is. We've got three days until our heads are lopped off. If we can figure out when it's night time, that would be helpful, too.

Looking at the image of the veil, some of the embroidery I'm seeing are two swords or daggers, a pouch, a rope, lantern, a window (?) and a pile of bricks/coins (?).

If there is more than one guard, we may need a plan to deal with the second. The priority there may be getting one of us freed from the manacles who can deal with the second quickly. I can pick up a dagger on the floor near me with my tail but I'm probably not the best melee fighter. If helpful, I can also drop a darkness (touch range, 1/day) but, if you don't have darkvision, you'll be just as hampered as the guard(s).

I was about to post a fat post to move us forward when the GM moved us forward. I am not sure whether my upcoming post is relevant anymore. I may need to make a few adjustments to it.

So, to summarize and ensure we're all on the same page, I think our plan is as follows:

1. Wait until a guard appears to give us food or otherwise check on us (in other words, do NOT make a lot of noise and demand attention).
2. Once the guard(s) appear, try to get a sense of time of day. Also, make perception checks to look for keys, # of guards, positions, etc.
3. If it's evening and there is only one guard, Casius tries to charm him.
4. If it isn't evening or the odds are bad, we don't do anything, wait until the guards are gone, and discuss any necessary revisions.

Fair?

That is the plan as I see it.

(in other words, do NOT make a lot of noise and demand attention).

Why do I get the feeling that was meant for me? ;)

The plan sounds good, and Baolo shall keep his projectiles to himself...for now.

That's how it played out in my mind.

<_<

Venn would never make a back-handed comment about someone as strong and dangerous as Baolo. Never.

>_>

;-)

Okay so Lucia hasn't been around for a while so I'm just going to bot her for the foreseeable future. I'll think of a way to get rid of her later if she doesn't show up before I find a way to get rid of her in game. This really upsets me because I had another really good submission that I wanted to take and I chose her instead, well I chose all of you but I chose six characters because I knew someone would drop eventually, but I didn't think it would be a week in!

At this point, maybe you can just accept the other submission and retcon that they were there the whole time, out like a light or feigning sleep.

So with a little provoking, we might be able to get the guards close enough for a charm attempt. Don't know how receptive they are gonna be to out information gathering attempts though. With no lockpicker among us, you think we might be able to use the window thing to break out of these chains?

My only thought/caution is we not provoke so much the single guard calls for reinforcements. He needs to think he can handle whatever we're doing on his own.

Edit/PS, Sorry, I realize I'm stating the obvious.

I just need him to be no more than 25 feet away. If he's already there, I can hit him with hypnotic stare and Charm Person.

Okay, so what are we trying to do here? Steal the keys and unlock ourselves while they are charmed?