KC's Age of Worms

Game Master Kobold Catgirl

Zalamandra matches Miomay's melody, if not her particular rhythm, with an ease that belies years of what passes for refined parties in the upper crust of Diamond Lake. "That would be most appreciated, Miomay. We should like to engage his services most promptly. We will be certain to avoid disturbing the weave of his majyyks." She offers her hand, giving a delicate shake. "Incidentally, I do believe Astraden skipped over a proper introduction. Zalamandra."

Sounds good to me. Need to get Astraden's spell selection up tomorrow!

Eben looks extremely interested at the possibilities inherent in this technique. "I might be interested in studying this crafty bit of art myself. Is it difficult to pick up? How much more difficult does it make spellcasting when using?"

It might be hard using invisibility sphere to cover us all, since Zalamandra can't teleport us all in one go yet, if I recall. But Eben and Astraden might be able to supplement that, if she has to teleport back and forth for a second load. So... is this feat eligible for emulation via Action Point spendage? And what's the cost as far as bumping up spell levels?

Yeah, I think the most important question is if we can spend APs to get this feat. But we could all walk to Sinner's Sanctum, avoiding the necessity for teleportation, couldn't we?

Grin can teach you enough of the technique to take the feat, but I'm gonna say it costs double the APs for now, to represent it being an obscure method. It raises the spell level by 1.

Oh, that's a valid point- I was still caught up in the mindset of needing to get past any lookouts the angels had posted.

Double APs is fine by me, as long as I can actually pull off a veil. Or put it on, as the case may be.

I'm not sure veil will operate well here. Any angels on guard will probably still get suspicious over any other creatures coming in and brushing by them, even if we're just looking like flies or something. Also, it's a SLA, not a spell, for you, right? Metamagic shouldn't have any effect. We might be better off just using Grin's invisibility sphere, aided and abetted by a few extra invisibility spells cast by you on anyone who might have trouble staying within 10 feet. I don't think I'm much use here, since my only invis options are vanish (very short duration) and greater invisibility (it's my highest level spell, so I won't be able to metamagic it.) I might be able to provide illusions/distractions if necessary, though.

I can only cast one invisibility, though. It's a domain spell. So it sounds like everthing rests on the sphere.

Consumables, eh? Potions are like 300 gold iirc.

And I can probably brew a few in no time.

Any potions we buy wouldn't have the necessary metamagic feat in them. Carina could brew them up, though, although that would take two hours per potion. We're not terribly rushed on time, just need to do this by the end of the day, so that could work.

Is that two hours including my swift alchemy feature?

Swift alchemy doesn't affect potion creation, so no. But on second viewing, I realized that 2-hour potions are those worth 250 or less- invisibility is, as Cuetzpalli pointed out, 300 each, so it would be an 8-hour brew. Actually, with a +1 metamagic, they'd be 750 each.

Okay, we've been talking in very general terms about strategy, but let's get specific. I'd forgotten what the layout was like, so went back and reread the Sinner's Sanctum 1.0 encounter. So, to properly stealth this, we need to get our invisible selves off the street, into the hut through a closed door, and then activate a secret staircase/hidden door mechanism.
If the hut's still being used as a de facto hospice, we can probably get inside quietly enough through one means or another, but activating the giant noisy staircase might be harder to pull off without making it obvious someone is poking around invisibly. The fact that we'll all (or mostly all) need to be walking in a 10-foot huddle around a hobgoblin NPC makes things slightly trickier.
If the hut is still a hospice and there's no angels up there, we can use an illusion of a sick person to gain access & then maybe Zalamandra can charm the minty lady running things so that she doesn't freak out over mysterious stairwells opening of their own accord. If the angels are upstairs, that becomes a bit harder. Can I major image an illusion of the un-activated staircase (i.e., a blank wall) to cover up the opening stairway?
And if the angels are downstairs, that has its own complications- they'd notice the opening staircase regardless. Frankly, I'm not sure how to get around that one.
I really think we need to scry and see what the current state of things are- especially if the angels have guards in the hut or just in the cellar level. I know Mara is scry-proof, but I'm not sure if we've established that's just her or a feature of these particular erinyes.

Can I replace one of my prepared spells with scrying KC?

Yeah, sure.

Can I replace one of my prepared spells with scrying KC?

Given Eben's point about the staircase, Silence may also be a good option.

This message brought to you by Silence: Not just for offense!

Sure thing. Any other preparations we need?

Do we have access to a teleport or word of recall so we can exit cleanly once we're done down there?

Now that we've got Zalamandra, both . . . though I did write "Sinner's Sanctum" as the center of my word of recall above according to Eben's request. Changing that to "Astraden's room at the Rifter's" if possible.

Before the group heads out, Astraden asks to use the powder room. She pulls out the old Nerullian mirror and focuses on its image, muttering a chant that can clearly be heard from the corridor outside.

Scrying DC 19 on the Blessed Angel that killed the satyrs. SR: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

What's the plan when you get to Sinner's Sanctum?

By the way, here's its map for reference.

Astraden comes out of the bathroom. Before the door swings shut, the party can see she's managed to both get a muddy bootprint on the floor and drop a towel into the washbasin, all without apparently using the toilet. "So, it turns out they are watching the place pretty closely. Every two minutes one of them teleports to that room y'all fought the rope golem in, and I think there is always at least one in the top floor. The good news is they're not hiding the trapdoor any more. So I think we're going to be able to pull this off, if I silence the staircase and if Eben or Grin can make an illusion of it not being opened. Then I guess we just need to time it so we're not there when they're teleporting around a bunchained, to minimize the risk of bumping into them. They seem to check every odd minute."

"We'll need to dismiss the silence as soon as we're inside. They're going to notice something's going on if the shift replacement steps into a very quiet room. Did you see how long the whole exchange takes?"

"I think it's every odd minute, however they manage to track that . But we can just focus the silence effect on something we carry."

Can someone sum up the plan? I can do it tomorrow evening but not before, as it is really annoying typing on a tiny phone and I would want to do it on a computer.

Ok, so next time we complain about this arc taking forever, we can at least accept a little bit of the blame :v

The plan is to walk to Sinner's Sanctum with a globe of invisibility cast well before we get to the same block. We will wait for the Angel to teleport downstairs, then run to said stairs, casting silence (Astraden) and minor image (Eben) on them in the same 6-second round. We then proceed to open them and head downstairs, relying on the illusions to hide us even when the Angel teleports back into the room. (Potentially we will be able to angle Initiative in some way so that we can empty down the staircase as the Angel is teleporting, but I don't know how that would work. I guess we could observe her longer to see if she teleports back to the same spot each time or if we would risk being spliced with her.

I figured this was more of a narrative challenge than an initiative-based one. We could always delay to be in sync with each other before making a break for the trapdoor. Moving in unison under the leash of a globe of invisibility doesn't typically play nice with the initiative system.

We won't enter initiative unless combat starts.

To be clear, the globe of invisibility will be cast by Grin? And you will enter the building while one Angel is gone, then walk downstairs while an illusion (which is covered by the AP metamagic feat) disguises the stairs to hide your opening the door.

I will say that there is a small—around 1%—chance that any other Angels in the upper level notice the silence if they're caught within its radius.

Is all this correct?

Silence is an emanation (it can't turn corners or pass through solid objects) so that actually shouldn't be an issue).

The Sinner's Sanctum is just a room, so if there's anyone else in the room when you walk through, they'll be caught in the emanation.

er... OH yeah, there was another angel on the top level. Then they'd hear us casting. Maybe we need a distraction? Which would raise their suspicion, but . . .

Sorry, guys, been sick all week and unable to post. Better now!
I'd say Glark's plan more or less covers it, with the exception of Eben potentially using major rather than minor image to cover up the stairs, just for a stronger level of veracity.

er... OH yeah, there was another angel on the top level. Then they'd hear us casting. Maybe we need a distraction? Which would raise their suspicion, but . . .

We could scoop up a Lesser Rod of Silent Spell before we head down? It's a decent investment anyway, and they're only like 3k.

If we have the dough, absolutely. Or maybe if we can get a loan from someone . . . our gnome friend?

Bard spells can't be silenced, so that cuts out my potential contribution. But maybe Grin could do the illusion casting as well as the invisibility sphere?

Bard spells can't be silenced, so that cuts out my potential contribution. But maybe Grin could do the illusion casting as well as the invisibility sphere?

The only spell we need to silence is the teleport, I believe. You can pre-cast Major Image, as its a Concentration spell.

Who's teleporting, besides the angel? The order of (planned) events is: cast invisibility sphere and silence outside, enter the building (where there's one or two angels stationed), activate the staircase (which is why we have silence running- it's noisy), and head down, timing it so that we go while one agel is scanning downstairs. I (or Grin) would need to cast major/minor image while in the room, because I can't otherwise create an illusion of an unopened staircase over an opened staircase if I don't have line of sight to it. And since silence would be in effect, that makes casting such... difficult.

Maybe I could use one of these feat-ehnanced illusions to create a distraction? Like, a sick plague victim coming to Sinner's Sanctum for healing that hasn't gotten the message that Sinner's Sanctum is shut down for such?

OK, new train of thought: we don't need no stinkin' custom feat to get by the Angel's true seeing when we have a bard with a high Disguise and Bluff score. So: everyone but Eben and Zalamandra gets comfy in Grin's invisibility sphere (this way it's a less tight squeeze in there too). Eben, disguised as a plaguey sick dude, knocks on the door looking for healing. The Angels undoubtedly turn him away while referencing local penal code aspects. While the Angel or Angels are so distracted, the invisible crew slips by, with a silence coin or whatever, activates the staircase, runs down, and deactivates it behind them. Eben breaks off from the Angel he's distracting, pretending to be scared off, and leaves, meeting up with Zalamandra around the corner or something. The invisible and now downstairs crew wait for the patroling angel to zap in and out, and once the coast is clearlet Zal know via message or sending or whatever. Zal teleports the two of us in, and we all run as quickly as we can into the next room before our two minutes are up.

Does that make sense/cover any potential holes?

That seems like a pretty good plan to me. In case it's not clear I'm just going with the group on this.

Sounds great to me, Eben. Though I think we can be certain that there will be 2 angels to distract. Do you have a plan for if they use detect thoughts on you?

Think really, really hard about where all that pus is coming from, what color it is, and to be more selective of who I hire for adult entertainment in the future. Basically, just making a will save, but unlike my previously badly failed one at the Aerie, casting whatever buffs on it I can beforehand. Any additional suggestions would be helpful?

Also gonna want to boost my Disguise & Bluff checks. I'll buy a potion/scroll of glibness before all this begins, so Bluff should be easy, but is there any kind of equivalent for Disguise? Would this spell kick in?

Well, Zalamandra could join you in the distraction. She has a decent Bluff and Disguise and some slas that could be handy. If you think that would help with the distracting of two Angels, rather than hurt?
Astraden can give Eben owl's wisdom and magic circle against law if we think the Angels wouldn't detect it.

Her Bluff is great, especially with Silver Tongue, but a +12 Disguise check is really asking for trouble against the Angels. I'm not 100% comfortable with my +22 check, after all. I'd say keep the acting/distraction portion focused on one character, that way any relevant buffs can be pigpiled. As far as bumping my Will save, owl's wisdom would definitely be a plus; magic circle against law might be tipping our hand too much, assuming the Angels would sense they're being blocked.

OK, running the math, I think owl's wisdom + good hope + a moment of greatness doubling + spending an AP should guarantee I can pass the Will save vs. detect thoughts, assuming I don't do something stupid like roll a 1. That'll be a +17 save, plus 1d6 from the AP. I think the DC vs. their detect thoughts was 22? Should be fine.

A scroll of glibness definitely gets me past their Sense Motive, since that'll give me a +42 Bluff check.

Disguise might be a bit iffy by itself; standard good hope buffing gives me a +24 check, which is good but not ideal. I think casting vocal alteration (via scroll) will give me a +10 bonus, though, and that should be enough, even with a take 10.

Unless anyone has any other thoughts on the topic, I'll go ahead and say that Eben's part in this scam is set.

The plan as I understand it is:
We go buy some performative enhancements for Eben (potion of glibness, scroll of vocal alteration).
We then walk to Sinner's Sanctum with Grin's globe of invisibility*, Astraden's owl's wisdom and silence*, and Eben's good hope and moment of greatness cast well before we get to the same block. Eben also uses his consumables before we reach the block.
Eben, disguised as a plaguey sick dude, knocks on the door looking for healing.
The Angels undoubtedly turn him away while referencing local penal code aspects.
While the Angels are so distracted, the invisible crew slips by, with a silenced coin, activates the staircase, runs down, and deactivates it behind them.
Eben breaks off from the Angels he's distracting, pretending to be scared off, and leaves, meeting up with Zalamandra around the corner.
The invisible and now downstairs crew wait for the patrolling angel to zap in and out, and once the coast is clear let Zal know via a scroll of sending.
Zal teleports the two of us in, and we all run as quickly as we can into the next room before our two minutes are up.
*Special fancy illusion. Left to interpretation what parts of silence the Angels would normally be immune to.

Zalamandra lags behind the group, intoning a brief incantation.

"Also, we are going back to the Deluxury before we pull off this wild plan, right? No insult to Eben or Astraden, but I am not going back to the clinker without having at least an hour of relaxation first."

"Mainly the fact that my player's been buried in schoolwork? Nothing really."

Anyways, sorry its taken me so long to post.

Carina blinks. "Oh... I guess I'm just worried about those angels."

"I almost died to them..."

The group arrives—after some rest and recuperation—at the site of what was arguably their first actual loss. The Sinner's Sanctum is essentially unchanged, aside from a Blessed Angel stationed outside, leaning against the wall. She wears the standard robes, but her eyes glow with visible energy. She isn't trying to hide. The smell of mint remains as thick as ever.

Write up the prep, and declare your approach.