I'd probably feel safer with Ethaniel on the ground floor, but if Grumblejack and Kaynen can come support us after they play pyro that works fine as well.
Drisella: I had assumed that Grumblejack and Kaynen would support the group on the first floor.
Ethaniel: I will place you with Kergh, Barnabas and Mikhail going through the window patch on the 2nd floor via the east wall. Also I did not miss your intent to go after the guard that fled the prison, however the act is not that simple. Both the gatehouse and the guardhouse stand between the Forsaken and freedom. The guardsman who fled to warn Varyston would have had easy passage through these two structures... AND he left on Blackerlys orders before Blackerly took half the remaining guards to confront the forsaken at the Wardens Tower. So if you want to chase after him you will need to get past the Gatehouse.
Yikes. That was dark.
Too much? I thought about just fadeing to black at: "The leader had told him to kill them first and burn the bodies, but Kergh knew that the Dark Prince preferred his sacrifices to be alive while given to the flames… and there was two barrels of oil remaining." but I decided to do the "Later..." part.
Super dark, but then again that's what we wanted to get done.
I appreciate that trip into the DMs mind via the door that is Kergh. Probably wouldn't have wrote that myself but it definitely fits well. Good stuff.
Kergh will cast shield of faith and use two charges of the wand all on Grumblejack. Before the battle starts. Then he legs it upstairs to go through the window.
I'll have to give the thought of another campaign some serious thought since I am in several games. But Throne of Night looks great.
Cheers
@Everyone: FYI the patch successfully works and a makeshift enterance is formed on the other side of the wall. The enterance itself is two feet wide by four feet tall. Big enough for a medium size creature to squeeze through, but it would have been comically tight for Grumblejack!
Everyone: Just want to let everyone know that I am going to visit my wife’s in-laws in Houston for the next ten days. Because of this I expect that my posting will be restricted by I will do my best to check in every few days from my phone or tablet. I appreciate all of your understanding and assistance while I am away from my home computer.
Drisella: The exterior of the Gatehouse will be easier for Walker in Darkness to than the Wardens Tower. The exterior of the Gatehouse is made of stone blocks that have been fitted together (DC25 *Brick Wall*) it is currently raining, but the way the wind is blowing as well as the structural lee thanks to the Wall and the Gatehouse meeting means that it is not slick (+0 DC) and the seawater has begin to erode the mortar leaving several solid hand and foot holds (-5DC) for a total Climb DC of 20
Driss, that is actually a hit. The guards have the high AC due cover. It's +8 AC but only vs ranged attacks. Vs melee deduct 8 from the ac
Edited the post to reflect that. I am way less terrified by the guards' AC now.
I should have some time tomorrow or the next day to do a recap as well as the guards actions and Grumblejack. Just waiting on Ethaniel and Kergh. Hopefully we can have this combat resolved and begin the storyline towards act 2 (as well as level 2) in the next 10-20 days. I'm really looking foward to you meeting your mysterious benefactor.
Kergh, due to them being blinded and stunned you would hit, Blinded reduces their AC by -2 and removes their Dex bonus to AC. Stunned also results in a -2 AC and they drop anything they were holding. I'll add the damage in when I do my recap post.
Actually, I believe he attacked the one guard who managed to save against the color spray.
Since he went after the others, can Mikhail attack that one instead of one of the unconscious guards?
I'm fine with that Mikhail. It would make sense for your characters to work together. If one was obviously unaffected by the spell the I can see the Forsaken concentrating attacks on him. I'll see about getting access to a computer today and do a recap for round 1.
Evening All!
I just wanted to let you know that I am alive and well. I had lunch with Mikhail today and I'm looking foward to this short break away from my computer being over so we can get back into the swing of things. In the mean time if you guys are bored and have free time on your hands, I want to let you know ahead of time that I *have* decided to start a second campaign. I'll be posting a recruitment thread this upcoming Tuesday or Wensday. I have pre-made and alias with the information that will be on the recruitment thread, you can view it:
I have decided to run a modified version of Carrion Crown, set within the demiplane of dread. All of the information is contained on my alias but it is a 10 point fixed buy using a stat array and you will start as a NPC class. I will be using the retraining rules from Ultimate Campaign so the NPC levels will eventually go away, but Heroes within a mists are rare. Also while it is an Adventure Path, I'm going to do my best to limit how railroad-ish it is. There will be a multitude of options for the players and there will be some deviations from the AP to capture the feel of Gothic Horror. Also, it's going to be open recruitment, but I'll favor players I know have good RP ability and can make detailed posts. Let me know of you have any questions.
AoM
As discussed earlier, I am in. I am still mulling my options, but leaning towards an amnesiac aasimar who is unaware of his heritage.
My surgery went well. I am home recovering now. It was definitely thyroid cancer (papillary carcinoma, to be precise). I am on the way to a total cure. The tumor was reportedly the size of a softball. I thought itwas the size of a golf ball, based on the uultrasound, but it turned out much bigger.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery mate!
Woah, glad to know things worked out. That must have been an unbelievable ordeal. Glad to know you're okay!
Morning Guys,
I'm back from vacation. I want to ask you guys. With the guards stunned do you want to finish this combat or shall I hand wave it with a nice montage post? I'm up for either but I know that being gone for almost two weeks slowed down our progress. Let me know how you feel, and I'll post either way after I get a good long bit of sleep.
In other news my second campaign recruitment thread is up, and its a bit of a 180.
Zeitgeist The Gears of Revolution Take a look. Its going to be a roleplay / steampunk / investigation and spy style AP.
Mitra
Let's kill 'em all. We've earned the gratuitous violence.
Ok guys we are almost to level two. Lets kill these guys and get you out of prison!
Okay this whole "hurl them to their death, then stab" plan is working way better than I hoped :>
Haha, yea it is. Its very cinematic as well so bonus points there. Well one more guard left for a Coup de Grace then we can move along. The dog is behind the door on the 1st floor so you could avoid him. Or not. =p You also know from your conversations with captured guards that the nightly game that Blackerly ran was held in an annex room in room 3c. Let me know if you want to search the room or ignore it in an attempt to catch up with the runner.
Mikhail would definitely go straight to the horses and get to chasing the messenger.
I think that you'd be pretty justified in a DMPC (Ethaniel?) of the coup de grace so that we can get moving.
Sounds good, I'll work on a post and put it up in the morning. My wife is going to be home shortly.
Once dead Kergh will start to loot bodies like he has been shown, unless he is asked to do something else.
Clockwork Shadow - I've checked out the recruitment thread and players guide a couple of times but no joy. Its not my thang. More meat and potatoes pseudo-medieval fantasy than this foreign techno fun. Its a shame because I was all over the Ravenloft and had started to work on a few ideas. Not that any of this really matters you have plenty of players applying so good luck with the game.
Cheers
Will be working on a post with all due haste. I got a bit preoccupied with the application thing for Zeitgeist. :-P
@Kergh: Totally understandable. I still plan to run Ravenloft eventually, but after reading through the AP and seeing the way the author designed the encounters to be cinematic with a *really* good blend of NPC interaction and use of skills, I was hooked. Zeitgeist is honestly one of the best written AP's I have ever read. (Aside from Way of the Wicked). The level 1 adventure "Island at the Axis of the World" is amazing and unlike any other 1st level adventure I have ever seen. It was because of this that I decided to put Ravenloft on hold. Don't worry through, the "loft" will be back eventually.
@F. Castor: Sounds good. I am also going to send you a PM.
@Everyone: That finished up combat. I'll be working on a post this morning to recap and move us along. Also, has anyone been keeping track of what you have obtained and will be bringing with you? You will be getting an opportunity to use some of that gold shortly and a accurate count will help.
@Everyone: Assuming that you want to go after Bertram we will be using the chase rules from the gamemastery guide to represent his nightmare flight from Branderscar to Varyston. Currently there are two horse at the stable that can be used to chase after Bertram. Arianna is currently planning to take one unless she can be convinced not to. (though that may lead to its own complications) If so then two "people" can chase after Bertram, if not then only one. .
Bertram currently has a Head Start: He begins three cards ahead of the rest of the participants.
There are a total of 10 "chase cards" Each card rather then being considered a round would consist of 10 mins worth of travel.
The base speed of the chase is 50ft (a horses standard speed)
Some skills for this chase will include Perception (with a bonus for darkvision), Ride, Knowledge (geography), Will Saves, Reflex Saves, Fortitude Saves, Handle Animal, Stealth, Survival and Acrobatics.
Any questions?
@Everyone: If on the other hand you want to split up and some of you go after Bertram and the others cross the moors to the Manor House this is also possible. Thanks to the map you recovered in the Wardens Tower you estimate that you will be able to use the make to make the moors a "shortcut" if you will to the manor house. It will take about a hour to travel the moors and then another hour of following the old moor road to the Manor House.
Perception +1
Ride +1
Knowledge (Geography) +1
Will +2
Reflex +1
Fortitude +2
Handle Animal +3
Stealth -1
Survival +1
Acrobatics -1
Gonna be a fun ride for Mikhail. Couldn't have any skill checks with Bluff, Disguise, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Knowledge (Nobility)? Anyone else with some more appropriate skills want to take the other horse to double our chances of catching the messenger?
Drisella is largely useless for this, and while Walker in Darkness would be useful he cannot be more than 100 feet from her. Even the unfetter spell won't be of use given the travel time at this level.
Drisella will be sticking with Barnabus as he gave her the knife, so that is her current tether of trust.
After I posted the list of skills that would likely be used for the horse chase I went back and reviewed each of your skills. I was surprised to note that none of you had taken ride as a skill.
Ride's not super useful most of the time and skill points are too precious to spend on situational skills.
That being said, I'm not overly concerned with whether the guard gets away or not.
Weird I could've sworn I took Ride with Drisella, given that her father bred horses and I have plans for her to ride Walker later on... huh.
Well the nature of chases is that each "chase card" provided the players for choosing between two different skills. One of the two skills will have a higher DC,
Example #1: Ahead in the distance you are able to see the flickering light of travelers along the weather beaten path. One carrys a latern and the others are bundled up tightly.
Example #2: As you round a corner, ahead of you is a long strait path. Despite the darkness and rain the option is here for a dead sprint in order to catch up to the fleeing guard.
This is just a rough example, but if you do decide to chase him that is basically how it will be.
That's a very clever way of handling chases. I like it.
It works too. I used it recently in a con and one failed skill check cost a lion companion its life while the rest of the party just escaped with their lives.
The great thing is how easy it is to pick up for players.
Definitely should send someone with Mikhail even if their Ride skill is average. What about Ethaniel, his Dex may help?
Cheers
Barnabas probably has the best skills for the chase, but he would need some convincing to join in.
I'm going to throw something out there for you to play off of. I agree that mechanically Barnabas would be a good choice, but he clearly seems to feel that the fleeing guard is of no concern.
I dug through AoMs posts and pulled out the treasure we've found so far:
loose coin:
2pp, 1931gp, 72sp, 165cp
6 books worth 1025gp
fine bottle of scotch(50gp)
monocle and chain set in silver (100gp)
University of Ghastr ring (250gp)
platinum disc (140gp)
gold ring (15gp)
silver bowl (150gp)
masterwork lute (100gp)
A partially used healer's kit (6 uses remaining)
Scroll of protection vs chaos
Ioun Torch
Richter’s spellbook
alchemy set (200gp)
flask of acid x1
flask of alchemists fire x1
Scroll of hideous laughter. (At a caster level of 4th)
Scroll of sleep (At a caster level of 4th)
Scroll of hypnotic pattern. (At a caster level of 4th)
veil (not sure what patches are left)
I didn't include miscellaneous cheap things or the guard equipment e.g. the dozens of swords, chain shirts, steel shields, etc.
I'm sure the scrolls and spellbook would be useful to Oswald and Ethaniel as we aren't limited by number of spells known.
Most of that was found prior to Drisella joining the group, so I will only have assumed to claim whatever is offered to her (like the dagger Barnabas gave her.)