Hearts of Darkness: Way of the Wicked

Game Master Celeador

I do have a mild suggestion that would help dispel any confusion here and make it clear who's up, especially since you spend so much time crafting the detailed posts.

Thats' a great suggestion Kaynen, I'll see about working something into my posts. I usually do a short summary of who is up at the bottom of them but if everyone wants that, I can make it happen.

Evening Guys, I know its the weekend so I don't expect alot of posting, but I don't want to hold up the combat too much. If Oswald dosen't post in the next twenty four hours I'll have a DMPC post up for him as well as the Wardens actions so you can each take your turn.

Its midday here and I am working until 11pm. So I doubt I'll get much posted until tomorrow.

If things pick up pace then Kherg will probably cast his copy cat ability and move up next to the warden's images.

Cheers

Sorry everyone. I've been recovering from a nasty cold the last few days without much motivation to move beyond my bed or couch unless required. Post coming up soon.

@Mikhail: I would cast cause fear if I had it memorized today but I only have chill touch and obscuring mist up for now.

Whoops. Did not realize until now that I didn't post my advice in the OOC thread.

Also, good job, Oswald! Lay the smackdown!

Nice exposition AoM. A tip of the hat to you sir.

*snap-snap* Oh no he didn't! Nobody talks bout Oswald's family like that!

As lucky as the wizard's first round rolls were, both Oswald and Mikhail hitting him through the mirror image is pretty (1 in 36) unfortunate. I don't think he is remarkably long for this world unless he figures out a way to get out of the grapple.

Vampire combat FTW! Looking forward to getting Improved Grapple next turn.

@Mikhail: You are correct in your asumptions, the warden has a terrible CBM/CMD and it's his biggest weakness. I was expecting the five mirror images to be *far* more useful then they were. You got really luck, he was going to use the scroll of sleep against you, but after Oswalds lucky hit he realized how dangerous you all were.

@Barnabas: Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you guys are having such a great time.

@Everyone: I was doing some thinking about your grapple Mikhail. Because he is locked onto the warden, it makes sense that the others would know that the real Warden Richter is the one that Mikhail grappeling. Because of this, I don't think anyone else will need roll against the mirror images. Hrm, this was supposed to be a pretty epic fight but look what happens with a few lucky rolls.. oh well mabey next time!

Oh and on a side node, another interesting thing I learned about mirror image, is that if the attacker is blind, the spell has no effect (although the normal miss chances still apply). So you could just close your eyes and try to attack.

@Oswald:I forgot to mention it in the game thread but the here are the stats for the Belladonna bush you found. There were enough clippings remaining for you to have gathered 3 doses.

Vampire combat FTW indeed! Geez, not only is grappling very useful indeed, but combine it with a bite attack and a good enough Strength score and it is something to consider when thinking of combat styles.

@Lucent: In your Reign of Winter you offset your words sometimes or center the text. How do you format your pbp posts like that?

The board accepts the character for blank carriage return. So (on a Windows machine) if you type alt+0160 you create a blank character. If you use one on a blank line the boards will allow you to use additional spacing. You can also put multiples in a row (up to a maximum of... I forget, 10 maybe?) to create intentations.

Examples:

Hey
alt+0160
alt+0160
alt+0160
alt+0160
This is spaces!

Becomes:

Hey
 
 
 
 
This is spaces!

Alternately:

Hey alt+0160 alt+0160 alt+0160 look!

Hey   look!

@Lucent: Thanks!

Glad to be of help, it took me a long time to figure out how to do some rudimentary formatting like that on these boards!

The Air Elemental and the flaming sphere will remain in effect as will the Wardens currently active spells.

I suppose now is a good time to tell you about a house rule I have always used. For summoned creatures, if their master is dying or dead they become confused as per the spell, this represents the magic from their summoning being interrupted. This does not apply to eidolons, creatures under a planar binding or brought into the world via a Gate.

Spells who's duration are longer then concentration will remain in effect, but in the case of the flaming sphere since it requires a MA to direct, will remain in its current location for the remainder of the combat. There is still a chance however that it could start a fire with all of the books near it, so I'll be rolling my 1d100 for fire each round.

Questions?

@Everyone: I was going back and reading thought the campaign this evening and two thoughts occurred to me. First off you were never able to identify the magical properties of the veil, though Drisella can attempt it after she reaches you if the party is willing to let her see it. Regardless you still have four patches remaining. The window, the rope and bricks and the vial.

The other thought deals with Barnabas. After going back and rereading everything, Barnabas never told the others where the they were supposed to meet up with their mysterious benefactor. Barnabas, was that intended as a way to keep yourself "irreplaceable" to the group or an oversight on your part? Just curious...

Small Air Elemental SA: Attack Kaynen AC14 *HIT* 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Kaynen is AC16 (4 from the chain shirt, 2 from Dexterity).

His little summary line on his posts should show that.

Shall I assume that last hit didn't actually happen? I'm good with the dramatic prose still occurring, though. :)

@Kaynen Ugh, don't know how I missed that. Yea no hit your still at 4/9

Edit: Oh I see now, I was still using your flat footed AC from the surprise round. Bleh... I'll remember next time.

You got it chief. Totally intentional.

What can I say, Barnabas has trust issues.

Ha! I love it.

Mikhail is totally lost in bloodlust and will kill Warden Richter by draining him.

@Castor: Sorry Castor, but the Air Elemental is using spring attack to move, attack and then move back up to the ceiling. Because of this you would have to be directly below it (where Kaynen) is at, make a ranged attack or have reach. You still have time if you want to change your action.

If its meleeing Kaynen, couldn't he stand in a square adjacent to Kaynen and melee it at a diagonal with a readied action?

[___] [_E_] [___]

[Eth] [Kay] [___]

For example, if this was looking at the map sideways?

Hmm... Could he have thrown the dagger then? It would mean -1 to his attack for a total of 17, still hitting the elemental and not really having to change anything in the post.

If, however, I should roll again, I will. Just let me know.

@Kaynen: Sure, Ethaniel could have attacked the Air Elemental with with a readied melee action, but he would have had to declare that as his round 1 action since he goes after the Air Elemental. Instead he choose to attack the Warden.

@Castor: A ranged attack is fine. And you would hit. I'll adjust the text slightly when I post my recap for round 2 actions.

@Drisella: The warden is no threat at this point. He is at -3 and will likely be dead at the end of this round if Mikhail continues to drain him of lifeblood. Your coming into the end of combat with the only remaining threat being the fire.

@Everyone: Like Kaynen said, I assumed you wanted to look at your records before you lit as much of Branderscar on fire as you could. We are still in initiative because the fire can spread unless action is taken quickly. Once I see two touch attacks in round 3 that hit an AC10 you can assume you have managed to put out the fire. If the fire is still in play in round 4 I will roll to see if it spreads. Remember you also need to make a reflex save vs DC10 or take 1d6 points of fire damage as you try to put it out.

I'm waiting for someone to confuse Drisella with the daughter that Oswald keeps yelling is trapped in the tower. It shall be delicious confusion.

Hahaha, I was wondering if anyone else was going to pick up on that. Oswald has been rambling on and on about his daughter who is trapped in the tower. And there *is* a young woman who was trapped in the tower. I can't wait to see how this is going to play out with Oswald unconscious!

I was thinking the exact same thing.

For Kherg, saving books and the possibility of 1d6 damage is a little too scary at this stage.

Drisella as the daughter never crossed my mind. I had it in my head we were saving a little girl, say about 8 years old. We could end up with Kherg behaving like a summoned monster who has lost his summoner. Very confused.

Just a quick heads up DM that I have a busy week coming up with my birthday (Star Wars Day!) on the same day as I run Pathfinder at a local wargames convention and instead of going home, my family and I are off camping for the bank holiday weekend.

Cheers

Barnabas is unconscious and wont be regaining his senses in time to do anything about the fire. He would appreciate it if you didn't let him burn to death.

@Kaynen: Yep, just one. Blame Blackerly for selling off the entire surplus. Oswald is under the effects of an infernal healing however that will grant him a total of 10hp over 10 rounds.

@Kergh: Got it, I'll DMPC you if necessary.

@Barnabas and Oswald: I'll be bringing you guys back in shortly.

@Everyone: My next post is likely going to be a *very* long one due to descriptions and spoilers. What actions are you guys planning to take? It looks like Mikhail isn’t going to stop on the warden, and there is still the 3rd floor remaining. Also there are the three spoilers you never got to try due to the fight and I figure each of you is going to want to attempt to locate their prison records?

Kergh doesn't care about the records. He can leave this to others. But he will head upstairs to look for Oswald's daughter. The idea of someone abusing a child strikes a nerve with my poor unfortunate dwarf and his childhood.

Thanks DM for next week.

Drisella is a bit... uh... damaged, at the moment, so she isn't going to be looking into her prison records, though I imagine some enterprising villain may well look her up which gets to the meat of it in a round-about fashion.

Drisella just doesn't want to be left alone at this point, and is planning to simply run away (with no plan in mind). Presumably there'll be some more discussion about this, but even with Walker, she won't leave Brandescar by herself.

@Everyone: I like where this is going. Keep up the interparty roleplay. I might chime in with Grumblejack tomorrow. Once the introductions are worked out I'll move onto a description of the next area. Kergh, I know you want to check the next floor but seeing as how Drisella is being pushed towards you by Walker, I'm interested to see how this develops.

@Everyone: Ugh, that took *forever* to write. I know there’s a lot of details and information that I just introduced but do me a favor and play this part up. You found Ethaniel’s sword and Oswalds poppet, the records and letters have information that apply to each of your characters. This is a really good chance to give a nice long post. Have fun with it and if you have any questions or I missed something I’ll try to fill it in for you on the discussion page.

@Kaynen: Can you update your character sheet with what crime trait you picked? I’m not sure if you went with sedition or treason.

@Barnabas: I know there’s not a lot in this last set of posts for you. Don’t worry I’m looking forward to that conversation you’re going to have with Blackerly.

Great question, as it seems to be missing from my character sheet (I blame HeroLab).

I believe I went with High Treason, even, and will add that now.

No worries AoM. Here's hoping Mikhail doesn't eat him before Barnabas gets to sit him down for a chat.

How long until the 28th? What do we know of Harkon? Is he a very accomplished man (i.e. very high level?)

@Kaynen: You were Incarcerated on the 25 Calistril 2413, at three days away that would place his arrival on the day of your execution, 28 Calistril. (The last day of winter)

A 20 on Knowledge (nobility) would tell you that Matthais Harkon is one of the most decorated of Inquisitors within the nation of Talingarde. He was personally commended by the crown for overthrowing the plague cult of Urgathoa located in the sewers below Ghastenhall in the spring of 4709AR and killing the so called Beast-King of Yutak during their incursion past the watch wall in 4703AR. The real bread and butter of the topic would be found however via a Knowledge (religion) check.

Knowledge (religion) of 20 would tell you that all members of the Inquisition are members of the Church of Mitra. They must be, because only the High Cardinal can recommend them to the crown and he only recommends members of the Church in good standing. They then put aside their other church duties, swear oaths of absolute loyalty and secrecy and join a special group of high priests tasked to hunt down those who violate the Victor’s sacred laws.

The royal warrant that these Inquisitors receives is incredibly broad. It empowers the inquisitors to go anywhere, question anyone and deliver Mitra’s justice. All inquisitors must be able to cast divine spells of Mitra (thus they are either clerics, inquisitors, oracles or paladins of Mitra). Therefore, it is presumed, as long as they still have Mitra’s blessing and can still cast spells they are clearly doing the god’s will and need no oversight.

Note: 100% OOC and none of your characters would know this (likely a DC30 Knowledge (relgion)), but it is interesting to note is that Mitra is a three-fold god. The god worshiped by Inquisitors is "The Fire Undying". This is the inquisitor's god – the god of the pyre and the witch hunter. The Fire Undying seeks out evil and burns it from this world. The Fire cares nothing for civilization or serenity unless they aid in this unyielding cause. The fire of war has been lit. It was not Mitra who started it. This war for the souls of all mortals was started in the pits of hell. But now the war cannot be ignored and it is a struggle that the Fire must win. When you extend mercy to evil, you are only allowing it fester. The Fire will burn the rot out and from the ashes, we will at last have peace.

Also intriguing is that the "The Fire Undying" aspect of Mitra is a LN aspect. Therefore Inquisitors could be of an Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil and Neutral alignment. Because of this, it allows for both "puritans" inquisitors and "radical" inquisitors.

Radical Inquisitors follow the Mitran doctrines in spirit, believing that the ends justify the means, and find little value in adhering to convention too closely. They often try to fight fire with fire, using questionable magic and mercenaries, employing daemons, or committing other acts that would be deemed heretical by their more conservative brethren. Their experimentation with these forces often leads to them being branded heretics, or succumbing to the very power they sought to control. Because of this, the existence and history of such Inquisitors is held as one of the churches deepest and most shameful secrets.

Puritan Inquisitors follow the Mitran doctrines to the letter. It is of the utmost importance that church doctrine be upheld. They are in favor of the status quo and believe any evil, be it heresy, demonic magic or foreign influence should be shunned in all its forms.
________________________________________
Long story short inquisitors are not to be messed with. They have almost unlimited authority to seek out any stain, heresy or Asmodean influence. They have been personally blessed with the divine power of Mitra and within the nation of Talingarde they are an authority unto themselves.

Thanks for all the insight.

Kaynen has no Knowledge (religion), but he does have the same bonus (+7) on Nobility as the Local that I rolled, although while that's flavorful, I'm guessing the indication is we don't want to face this guy just yet, so sticking to Branderscar and pretending to receive him would be bad news.

I'm getting that vibe too Kaynen. "Not to be messed with," is fairly conclusive.

Put him in our back pocket in the book of grudges for later, say 2015 at this rate.

Cheers

I'm getting that vibe too Kaynen. "Not to be messed with," is fairly conclusive.

Put him in our back pocket in the book of grudges for later, say 2015 at this rate.

Cheers

Who knows Kergh... you might not have to go hunting for him. He might come hunting for you.

@Oswald and Ethaniel: I will be making a post later today describing what happens to each of you when you recover your "iconic" items. It will be via spoiler, but this is a special event and I want there to be a little something extra. I know the sword and doll are both central to your characters and I want to play this up a little.

@Barnabas: So I can start working on some details ahead of time, assuming you capture Blackerly, what questions are you planning to ask? Also there are several extremely valuable books within the library that will take a high appraise to locate, your likely the only one that will know what's valuable and what's junk.

@Everyone: There have been a lot of valuable items handed out. Most of them are material goods that you will hopefully be able to resell later. It would be a good idea if someone in the group was to start compiling a list to track it. I want to make sure that you guys are getting as close to the recommended wealth per character level as possible. Also, what are your guys plans concerning Ariana? It seems like you're going to take Grumblejack on as your henchmen but what did you have in mind for Ariana? I personally have several thoughts based on your actions, but I want to know what you're thinking.

On another note, this is the first PBP game I have ever run. Are you guys enjoying it? Is there anything I can do to improve the experience for you? I welcome feedback.

Edit: Oh and check out this hex map for the upcoming "Throne of Night" AP by Fire Mountain Games, the same people that did Way of the Wicked. It looks amazing!LINK!

I'm in a unique place with Drisella, where she is more reactionary than proactive and also not very "trained" on the whole adventuring/villain thing, so as of right now she's going to be somewhat passive and hanging back, at least until the group gets settled somewhere and she has a few days to reconsider what has happened.

Mikhail plans on killing Ariana to prevent her from being caught and interrogated. As this may not go over remarkably well with the less ruthless members of the group, he will probably try to finagle a way to kill her without most of them finding out about it. He has identified Kergh and Barnabas as the ones most likely to help him with this.

The three laws of Kergh (so far)

1) Follow the orders of his faith
2) Do what Mikhail wants, unless it conflicts with the first law.
3) Do what Ethaniel wants, unless it conflicts with either of the first two laws.

This is an evil campaign so suppose NPCs better look after themselves. Especially ones who know anything about us. I personally have no feelings either way for Ariana. If she can find a way to help us then Kergh wouldn't take much convincing to let her live.

As for the campaign, you are doing just fine. You are putting bundles of effort in and it shows. My only concern would be the lack of any sort of map when we hit fifth level or higher. Then the spells area of effects may become an issue.

The only other thing I have noticed is the lack of much banter between us. I hope that grows once we are free from the prison. There are some fantastic posters in this game and it would be good if we could start bonding in some ways. Though how we bond with that fruitcake Oswald I have no idea.

Cheers

Ethaniel, being not quite evil really, would not be particularly aboard with disposing of Ariana. Of course, Ariana is not exactly an innocent and the magus is a practical man. Plus, he would like to remain free now that he seems to have regained that freedom. In effect, he could perhaps be persuaded of the merits of Mikhail's intentions, especially now that he is reunited with his sword and the weapon will start to influence him little by little. Still, cold-blooded murder is probably a bit further down the road for him; self-defense, if it could come to that, however...

On another note, I second French Wolf's opinion. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and you are doing a fantastic job!

As for the banter, they are relative strangers still. What is more, unlike a meeting of good guys, these are unpleasant individuals trying to escape a prison and a death sentence. There is bound to be a bit less camaraderie and a bit more awkwardness and distrust, at least at the beginning.

Heh... Fruitcake... Also, loved Kergh's reaction to Oswald's reunion with his "daughter".

Also, I do find it a bit interesting that Ethaniel is included in Kergh's three laws. :-)

Seemingly satisfied with the contents of her record she closes it and looks up at the new arrival, her gaze flickering at Mikhail’s introduction and invitation and the young woman’s seeming agreement. Recalling her on decision to abandon the group Ariana shutters ever so slightly. She would have to be wary… the others might find her replaceable.

That make me crack a smile.