Hell's Rebels Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master TreasureFox

Aster happens to be a blabbermouth about all her abilities it seems so yes, she could have easily mentioned it when saying she's been living as a human for as long as she remembered, disguising herself if things were discovered.

Hmm... besides the holy symbol of Milan, which hopefully they wouldn't find unless they pat her down, Aster has the newly purchased potions, which we don't really want to lose.

Losing them will put a damper on the upcoming mission.

Hello all, I'm sorry to have disappeared so suddenly. I've been struggling with my mental health for about a month and things got so overwhelming for me to handle everything. Thank you very much for your patience, I'm still a little tender, but I want to come back and keep playing.

Glad to see you back. Hope things are going better.

TREASURE!!! You had mentioned a retreat with no internet, so I figured it was just that. Glad you are feeling better!

Hey good to hear from you and I hope you continue to feel all right.

Good to have you back Fox!

Thanks guys. Today I haven't been feeling quite as good as yesterday, but I'm still trying! All of my games have welcomed me back with open arms, and it means so much to me.

Okay so to recap:
1. We're going to wrap up the chase scene with Ederion and the Hellknights
2. We'll travel to the bottom level of the Lucky Bones dungeon to deal with the Skum and find the Clockwork pump
3. Once that's cleared out, we're on our way to save the mermaids (though we'll likely rest first)

Is this correct? Any side stops anyone would like to make?

Sounds correct. To me at least.

I'm back from the woods, thank you Fox for not killing Aster!

You gotta love pauses in the game to talk fashion.

My tabletop game spent 2 sessions without combat negotiating out of fights and picking out elaborate masquerade costumes to wear to a thieves guild, run by a vampire's Masquerade. My bard went as a peacock.

Hey sorry for the pause, but it wasn't too long this time!

I'm doing alright mood wise, just very stressed and overwhelmed. I don't forget about you guys, just tend to put it off while I run around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off.

Elaborate masquerade costumes to wear to a thieves' guild. Interesting premise! I expect nothing less from a bard.

Real life is unfortunately important :)

When we have a big win, our little rebellion can throw a party, a fancy dress one!

I'd be happy to facilitate that!
We could even add morale bonuses

At a retreat this week so posting will be a little slow. Bot me as needed.

Hope it is nice and relaxing, sir! Bazzle will have saved not one, but TEN mermaids in your absence. Though all of them will fall for the elf :(

:)

It was great. It was the Pastors and Dragons retreat. So a little spiritual retreat with lots of games of D&D.

I've never heard of this kind of retreat. Oh have we ever come a long way since the days of devil-worshipping d&d cults. Glad you had fun ^^

It sounds pretty awesome really. Glad you enjoyed.

It was a blast.

I posted a funny meme when I got back inverting the satanic panic. "Satanist parents outraged to learn Dungeons and Dragons is just improv and math."

Hey Bazzle, was there a specific type of illegal activity that you specialised in as a rogue? Here are some examples

Con Artistry
Counterfeiting
Assassination
Smuggling
Intimidation
Fencing
Interrogation
Trapfinding
Lockpicking
Kidnapping
Theft
Forgery
Reconnaissance
Pocket Picking
Burglary
Stalking
Espionage

I'm currently working on a way to really get in touch with crime in the game.

His work was closely tied with stage engineering for the opera. So his ties would run close to smuggling specifically chemicals, espionage, he has lots of ties with the street performers so he has a handle on con artistry, pocket picking and locks/traps.

Bazzle, you gonna try to disable that?

There's a little part of me thinking that he previewed the roll and was like "Nope! I don't want to blow us up! Someone else can figure out a way to deal with it."

----------------------

Okay there's a lot to work with there. Basically I'm working on giving you the ability to seek out jobs - be they for yourself during downtime , or with the whole party as a mini adventure - so you can get some cash and rub shoulders with unlikely allies. This will rely heavily on your Thieves' Cant ability, which you will use to speak with various criminals looking for work. I will guide you through it, so just let me know if you're looking for extra work.

It's a freaking high DC, that's for sure :D

But I did build Ederion purposefully without DD, so that me and Bazzle did not overlap too much - guess I can start dropping some points in it for Aid etc.

I was surprised how high it was.

Just a thought: What if you triggered it, but then didn't go in?

I will be honest. I haven't even tried to figure out if its even possible for me to hit the DC. I paused to let it sink in that the trap suggests people have entered since we left.

Is it something that if I took a 20 would even be possible.

I like the suggestion Treasure. Trigger the trap and wait to see if anyone comes running. Since we know it is just an alarm trap, not a explode the entire block trap.

What I don't understand is - why not try to disarm it?

What is the difference between failing the disarm, and simply tripping the alarm?

You can't take 20 to disarm a trap, since taking 20 assumes that you fail over and over until you get it right.

So you guys have identified that it's an alarm spell. You'll know that alarm spells last for hours depending on how powerful the person was who cast it. You also know that it will send a mental alarm, rather than an audible alarm. I think it's fair to assume that the spell is directly connected to the trap door. I'm not gonna worry about that 20ft aura.

You don't know how powerful the person is who cast it, nor do you know when they cast it.

You do know that there's another entrance into the Lucky Bones from the sea, which is how the Skum and your mermaid friend got there. You've also read that two of the Guild-mistresses escaped from that back way. You don't know where that entrance is, though.

Pastors and Dragons. What happens if you play a character that sins? Is there a focused redemption arc, punishments, or would it have no difference to a game between people of varied faiths? It's an interesting concept since the culture among those playing would be more akin to one another. What is Pastors and Dragons like?

Basically, it was just plain ole D&D. Stories are full of flawed people. The campaign assumed heroic players. I think that if you happened upon a gaming session you likely not notice much difference. There were Biblical stories. Nothing completely allegorical but we were part of a group of refugees searching for a new homeland which evokes similar structure to the stories of Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land but nothing was on the nose.

Our first adventure involved finding a ship wreck so that we could afford a magic artifact for our ship. The captain was unwilling to alter the ship in memory of the last captain. One of the players RPed this incredible confrontation with the captain explaining the need to adapt but respecting tradition. Once we were done I laughed about the fact that the adventure was basically the old folks at the church doesn't want to try new things. But it wasn't something everyone caught.

For the most part, though it was just a fun time we woke had prayer together. Then had a nice breakfast. We would talk about character choices or how as DMs we structured stories and if or how that was influenced by matters of faith. Then we would play D&D till lunch time. We had some free time to enjoy the woods or putz around. Then we would have a session about reflecting on ministry (in many cases these guys host board game nights or RPG sessions for teens or people in their congregation). Then after dinner we would play more D&D.

That sounds awesome! What a cool concept. Roughly how many people were at this event? What was the most common system used for the games?

There were probably20 or so guys.

It was 5e. A homebrew world.

I think it's really cool. It makes me wonder if there are ways I can combine my interests into a D&D game. Like faith

So I'm waiting for someone with darkvision to begin scouting, or have someone turn on one of the sunrods. I think Ederion is smart for thinking that using light could negate stealthiness, but without light, scouting is going to be hard since only Rexandi and Aster have darkvision.

There is still that scent that Aster could potentially track, or you could scout out the halls that you haven't looked in, looking for that clockwork pump.

Oh that's me sorry.

You have darkvision! I probably knew that at one point but old age has degraded that part.

I can't blame old age =P
But I totally forgot Bazzle had darkvision. That's great.

Now I am worried - special descriptions means an attachment :D

Well I had a few thoughts going on. Namely, I didn't feel like I gave an appropriate description of each foe that would give you an idea of what you're up against. I also really wanted to push the idea that each Skum is very unique, due to the mutations and torture that Aboleths inflict upon their slaves. The last thing that I want to keep pushing is that you're not fighting individuals. You're fighting a hive mind. They are organized puppets of a methodical tyrant, capable of near-instant communication.

Most of this is homebrewed. I found that the Skum were a great idea, but I wanted to take it one step further.

I happened to notice that we've officially reached the 100 page mark in the gameplay tab! :)

So in case you're wondering how much loot was "stolen" from you, I was
looking in the book two days ago to make a list. I won't be sharing that list, only my reaction.

"Holy shit..."

I do plan to bump up some loot drops in the future, but you're going to be under for a while. I think it will be important for you all to decide what to do with Mialari Docur and her school. This could be a negotiation, a heist, storming the school, leaving her alone, befriending her, etc.

If there are items you would really like to have in the future, now would be a good time to suggest them. No guarantees, but it may happen.

I happened to notice that we've officially reached the 100 page mark in the gameplay tab! :)

I meant to comment on this before, but last week at work was a shitlload.. My hat is off to everyone in the game - Fox is one of the best GMs I have come across in the forums (yes, I am saying it again), and this group is solid and good players all. Above everything else, this is one of the first games I check every day, and I guess that says it all. Thank you guys.

As for the loot, I have three things to say:
- I guess the gloves are off and Mialari can go sit on a spike :P
- I intend to rob her of every single possession;
- Kinda feels unfair she had such an easy time with it all, after we almos died in there more than once. Leaves me with a metallic aftertaste...

Thank you, Ederion. I always consider this to be high praise, and I really appreciate it.

I'll make sure to make a map of the school ;)

You're right about it feeling unfair, and that's the intention. You guys have risked life and limb to secure this place, which is filled with setback after setback. This woman perks up her ears when she hears that it's been mostly cleared out, and sneaks in to steal just about everything that isn't nailed to the floor.
The book portrays Mialari as a possible ally or possible enemy, depending on how the group interacts with her. Most of her part in the story was cut out of the book due to length restrictions, but I've decided to take their idea and run with it. I think it can be really bland when everyone is clearly either a friend or a foe.
She and her team were prepared for what lay ahead. They had near-perfect information to set up. I made sure Mialari was capable of getting through everything, with enough time. She took 20 several times to get through that clockwork door.

Bah! You like your NPCs better than us! :D

Says the guy who was saved from death by the weirdest DM intervention ever =P

Fear not, we will find all new ways to screw up!

DM, is busking illegal now?

What on earth is busking?

Oh also, THIS GAME IS GREAT!!!!!!!!! sorry I didn't comment on the 100 pages as well. Thank you for letting me join Treasure!

Says the guy who was saved from death by the weirdest DM intervention ever =P

Hmmmm, after being killed by the GM, obviously :P

Busking is street performance. Basically, can Rexandi legally stand on a street corner and play the clavichord for tips? Probably not. Even if it's legal, being a tiefling will subject her to some level of racist harassment. Authoritarian regimes tend to make busking illegal because buskers have few material ties which makes it an excellent cover for revolutionaries and disaffected sorts. Also because authoritarian regimes tend to crack down cruelly on the poor, and busking is a kind of carnival trade that is usually very low income.