Of Kings and Commoners - Kingmaker AP

Game Master RPGGGM

What the hell keeps happening to the site? every month or two it goes down for a day or so.

"The internet just ran out of memory. I was supposed to go down to Best Buy, and pick more up on Friday, but my car was in the shop." ~Owen, the Anti-unOwen

What the hell keeps happening to the site? every month or two it goes down for a day or so.

Not that I think anyone was all fired up about posting something new. ;)

I'll let it steep for a bit, and move us along tomorrow.

Note that Scarlet has no idea what your plan is. She's focused on the boy, maybe getting him out of there. She will come to blows with the Stag Lord, and she doesn't want this kid to get in the way.

IC, there is no plan, but we were encouraged to discuss a bit OOC...because I think it's reasonable we have a grasp of "what-if"-reactions IC that we do not OOC.
I'm just saying it's one possible option. Personally, I have no preference on how we handle this encounter. Also, Scarlet and Alia have no other motivation than a moral one to deal with the Bandits in these lands, so learning more about Staggie would probably be more interesting to those hired by Brevoy...IC...OC I assume he's an important nemesis in the plot and we will face him, sooner or later. *shrug*

I posted a response in the thread which leaves our options open. We can still work in the Aspis gambit if you guys want.

Scarlet: the "boy" is not the kid we are looking for... no reason not to want to look out for him, but:

Most of them are about 10 to 20 years too old, and the kid (who looks about the right age) is of average height, with paler skin, and darker hair than you would expect from a member of the Benzen clan.

Oh, thanks Numalar. I misread that description entirely.

In that case, Scarlet just wants to know what they are up to. Sounds like they are tight lipped. I guess we should ask enough to learn where they recruit.

I'll give other people a chance before Scarlet botches her Bluff check and gets ambushed.

Right now I'm not sure where we go from here.

It seems clear that these guys have ill intent and we've seen the work of the Stag Lord before.

But they haven't openly harmed us, nor can we accuse them of any specific wrongdoing. So I'm not really comfortable just attacking them.

I don't want to proceed with a ruse of actually "joining" the group as I can see so many ways that could go disastrously wrong. Especially if the "reveal" is not well timed, and we don't have enough info to really know when to do that.

We could do the "actually we're from Brevoy and you're under arrest" thing but obviously that will turn into a fight also.

For now I will keep asking questions to get as much info as possible, but that will dry up sooner or later.

So what do you guys think?

Scarlet's glad to get her weapon back, but otherwise she's done here. She plans to walk away, since they haven't attacked her yet but she doesn't like them.

They didn't give up much info.

When we need to disengage, you should mention maybe the Aspis Consortium will be more cooperative. Keep the name of "the competition" vague, and flex that Bluff check. Either they will try to interrogate us (justifying guilt free combat) or they'll start looking into the Consortiium and start a civil war.

Better mention this now because I'll forget, I'm going to Contingency in the next few weeks back here in the UK so I won't be available for a week commencing 22nd.

They didn't give up much info.

Not a lot, but they did tell us that they plan to rob Oleg and have their way with Svetlana after taking over the trading post. I doubt Oleg is intended to survive the experience. Not too keen on letting them go unsupervised at this point.

But Dovan is becoming impatient. So whatever we want to do we will have to do it soon.

Yeah, Dovan's lost patience. Either we keep the charade up or disengage.

or engage.. we know they are bandits, just cos we talked to them doesn't make them any less criminal.

or engage.. we know they are bandits, just cos we talked to them doesn't make them any less criminal.

If we were to say "You are all under arrest" then that would probably start a fight. I don't mind fighting them but I don't want to fire the first shot as it were.

You did say it yourself, though. I doubt they plan to purchase the Trading Post.
Nor do I think any "Fillies" are looking for their company.
And the guard captain stationed there is also unlikely to stand by and watch.
Unless you mean to break off exploration and return to Olegs expecting them to move soon, rather than after recruiting is done and a army raised, it seems we have little choice in the matter, do we?

You could, of course, ask them incriminating questions...such as if it's more fun if the Filly resists...or wether Oleg's head will be preserved as a trophy mounted over the gate.
If Mr. Jeb flat out states that he intends to rape Svetlana, I'll make the decision easy for you by charge-stabbing him. *shrug* Robbery is one thing - those can be redeemed, and they may well do more good than they did evil, over the rest of their life.
Cold-Blooded murder or Rape is beyond Alia's comfort zone...and knowing that even "regular" robbers get hanged in these lands, she won't hesitate to apply a final punishment in prevention of such capital crimes.

Give him a signal and Zokon will put a couple arrows into em.. but he needs a signal as a rash action could leave those on the ground flat

You could, of course, ask them incriminating questions...

I'll see what I can do.

They have pretty much confessed already though.

It's up to you, Numalar. Scarlet can't bluff her way out of this.

You did say it yourself, though. I doubt they plan to purchase the Trading Post.

Nor do I think any "Fillies" are looking for their company.
And the guard captain stationed there is also unlikely to stand by and watch.
Unless you mean to break off exploration and return to Olegs expecting them to move soon, rather than after recruiting is done and a army raised, it seems we have little choice in the matter, do we?

You could, of course, ask them incriminating questions...such as if it's more fun if the Filly resists...or wether Oleg's head will be preserved as a trophy mounted over the gate.
If Mr. Jeb flat out states that he intends to rape Svetlana, I'll make the decision easy for you by charge-stabbing him. *shrug* Robbery is one thing - those can be redeemed, and they may well do more good than they did evil, over the rest of their life.
Cold-Blooded murder or Rape is beyond Alia's comfort zone...and knowing that even "regular" robbers get hanged in these lands, she won't hesitate to apply a final punishment in prevention of such capital crimes.

Maybe it's just... "locker room talk."

Either they will see through Scarlet's ruse and attack, or she's kept things up for a bit longer. Either way, I'm big.

Sooooo...I should hurry and let fly? ^_^
I wonder what my interpretation of your second failed pass-secret-message could turn out to be.

I will be away for a few days... will have internet access in the evenings but not sure how reliable it will be... just a forewarning that I might be unable to post... if that happens, feel free to bot me as needed.

No I wanted Alia to go come forth so she'd be ready to do her stabby thing when I shot him...

Yeah, I know. But coming to you with weapons drawn would still have needed me to climb up and approach :) If you meant to approach to the others...I would have misunderstood even without the rolls ^_^

Alas, all moot, but if I had known Dovan was about to stab you, I would have shot him instead :P
Things happened so fast.

Now it's time for guilt-free combat! Scarlet's protecting Oleg's Post from bandits!

If I knew he was going to stab me I would have shot him myself...

There is no need for a human-bane arrow.
Just need to find a way to research Named Bullet as a Magus-Spell, which auto-crit-threats on a regular hit.
Fired invisibly from within 30 feet, that is flat-footed touch-AC, so should hopefully still hit with the -10 from calling a shot to the heart, and thus inflict Consitution Drain(even if he saves, just less). The great thing is that the combo works on anybody opposing me.
But of course, a human-bane arrow would possibly turn the crit into a debilitating blow, instantly killing. Tempting.

I meant to say, I never intended to hit Zokon in the first place!

There is no need for a human-bane arrow.

Just need to find a way to research Named Bullet as a Magus-Spell, which auto-crit-threats on a regular hit....

Combine that with bless weapon. No confirmation needed!

Of course, a scroll of named bullet costs 525 (for the ranger version), and a human bane arrow costs 166. Clearly there is a reason for that.

Good idea, but Bless Weapon only auto-confirms against evil opponents. I'm not sure you and Zokon qualify ^_^

Good point with the costs, but as said, research will take care of that. At worst, I will need to take a spellcaster cohort with Vega as familiar, rather than directly picking up Vega as cohort.

Alternatively, I could simply get a magic quiver fixed that can produce a named arrow once per day by whispering a name to it with a command word.
Then get this little Scarab, and all I need is a "regular" hit against flat-footed touch-AC with -10 modifier.
Good thing a minor rod of silence is not that expensive and True Strike is on the Magus spell list.
It takes some setup, but the result would be rather devastating and work against almost any creature. ^_^

Good idea, but Bless Weapon only auto-confirms against evil opponents. I'm not sure you and Zokon qualify ^_^

True, 'slayer' has about as good a connotation as 'vampire', or 'asparagus', or 'vampire asparagus'. Rangers now, that's a class. Everyone wants to see the park ranger, except for Yogi of course.

Don't make me go all angsty scooby gang on y'all... and Slayer is two classes in one, which means it's twice as good as all the others.

And here I thought this was a gestalt game.

Gestalt alright. I'm Elf and Magus.
Which means I'm top of the evolutionary food chain with skills blending physical and mental disciplines into an art form. Might and Magic, M-F!

That, and GM did not want any of that fancy stuff beyond core races and basic + core classes.

Slayers, Bloodragers, all that new age stuff for angsty vegepygmy emos. *waves*
Of course, since RPGGGM just turned this into Gestalt, I'll add in a proper Vigilante side. Magical girl style.

Going to convention on Wednesday. Won't be back till about the 30th.

Roger that and have fun!

Been back for a bit, but got ill too. Sorry I've not posted been very tired and ill after getting back and then remembering all the stuff I have to pay for, etc, etc.

No worries, Posh, we stayed back in Camp, pretty much nothing happened there, you can scan over most of the posts.

A couple people fled, they all got killed or captured before reaching the main camp area of the "army", and we took their Boss prisoner for interrogation regarding Staggy.
Thats about what happened since you last posted.

So, you came just in time to rejoin us for the torture and execution of prisoners. #great-timing #justicewillbeserved #lawandorder #tortureworks #makebrevoygreatagain

We just call you Alia t. huh? You gonna make all the monneez and then buy your way into rulership?

Make money then buy the crown: 99% of all politicians M.O.

But yeah, here comes the interrogation, I guess?

Guys, I am wondering what we want to do.

Obviously step 1 is interrogating our prisoners. But then the question is, what next?

Do we want to halt our current plans and go after the Stag Lord? Or do we want to continue on our scheduled route?

If we go after the Stag Lord our actions will probably depend on a combination of Bluff and Stealth. Some people could use bluff to get in and then open some way to let the rest of the people in by stealth (like opening a gate or throwing a rope over a wall).

The party has:

Alia: Bluff +2, Stealth +3
Celyne: Bluff +5, Stealth +1
Numalar: Bluff +14, Stealth +6
Luna: Stealth +7
Posh: Bluff +11, Stealth +7
Scarlet: Bluff +3, Stealth +3
Sir Didymus: Stealth +2
Zokon: Bluff +4, Stealth +10

Aside from Zokon our stealth ratings don't seem too good.

We do have a scroll of invisibility that someone could use to beef up their stealth. Posh can cast vanish which might cover a sprint up to the wall. Alia, do you have vanish in your book?

If we waited for a rainy night then the stealth thing would be less of a problem.

As a side note, beyond Bluff, I would not discount Diplomacy (getting people to like you), Intimidate (forcing people to do things for you), and Disguise (allowing you to act a part). Performance (act) is more about performing for an audience in an entertaining/artistic way rather than actually trying to fool them with a white coat, glasses, a clipboard, and an aloof attitude.

Likewise in the physical realm, Acrobatics, and Climb similarly useful for getting in and out.

A valid point...

Celyne is the best at Diplomacy with a +15. Posh is next with +10.

Scarlet has the best Intimidate at +8. Posh can use versatile performance for +11, but will have a -4 for his size when dealing with humans or other medium humanoids.

I don't think anyone has put ranks in disguise.

Honestly, I am moderately worried about getting in.
The thing that does REALLY worry me is getting out again - if we don't manage to pull up a surprise-round alpha-strike eliminating the stag lord and everybody present with him, then I fear we will get swamped with mooks.
And fighting our way out surrounded by about 100 henchman would still be a deadly prospect at Level 3.
That said, I do have Vanish, yes. I also have Blend, the Elf-exclusive Sneaky-spell.
So personally, I do have an exit strategy, expeditious retreat and vanish + run/withdraw actions could get me out of danger. How does everybody else manage to survive once the alarm is raised?

Scarlet has speed and Acrobatics. She would probably head straight to the forest so they can't chase her on horseback.

Is our mission to find and eliminate the Stag Lord? Or are we trying to figure out what the Stag Lord's aim is? The latter would be much easier to pull off and will still be very valuable. Brevory officials would be quite excited about it.

Thats the other thing, Scarlet...no, only our OOC mission is to eliminate him...I believe Book 1 would end with his downfall?

In character, our mission is to explore these lands and strive against banditry where that's reasonably possible. As Numalar pointed out back when I tried to get an Elven group moving into the area, in-character we have no idea that we get to do anything with these lands...all we know is that we should explore them.
And the two of us are not even part of the charter.

Basically we'd be risking our lives because it's the right thing to do to go up against Staggie.
I am not opposed to a plan with risk, but I do want a reasonable exit strategy...and speed + acrobatics may not help you if you are swamped with mooks on round 2...the difficultry of the acrobatics check rises the more people threaten. If I get to refresh one spell with the Pearl, I could vanish you, too.

Then I would have Blend to get in, one combat-spell to try and shut him down quickly, expeditious retreat+vanish to get away, and another vanish to help one other person hopefully put some distance between themselves and any reinforcements.

That said, maybe we should instead opt to set an ambush at the river ford? Or hit&run attacks on their camps and patrols to diminish their numbers? I don't know. Just don't feel very confident about our options going in right now. But since I don't really have a more useful idea/counterproposal, we can try whatever. If it turns into a suicide mission, lets make sure we get Staggie, at least, so our replacement characters don't face the same problem :)
Alia's brother is a spear-dancing Staff Magus and would avenge her. On the bad side, he was the radical influence on her that got her working with the winter court in the first place.

I believe Book 1 would end with his downfall?

GGGM has added a lot of stuff so there's no guarantees that would be the case, but this is my understanding of the original material.

There's a ton of stuff we haven't done yet, so as a player I'd prefer not to end book 1 so fast. In the area north of the fort there are something like 35 hexes and we have explored 10.

As for getting out of Fort Stag, if Numalar has Sir Didymus then he can move pretty fast. On the other hand, if our enemies have horses and give chase, that won't be fast enough. Numalar also has windy escape draconic defense just in case, but he can't spam that forever.

I'd kind of like to go in with some get-out-of jail scrolls just in case. Invisibility, disguise self, expeditious retreat, etc.

For non-casters disguise self and expeditious retreat can't be used, but reduce person doesn't slow you down and gives a +5 to stealth.

Having Posh grease the drawbridge would be great.

Entangle would be a good 'cover the escape' spell but I'd have to make a UMD check and I think so would everyone else.

So, plan? Or at least a direction (as most plans as written don't survive first contact with the enemy)?

While I would love to find out more, we know where their camp is. I'm up for retreating before they realize strangers killed a group of them.

At worst this will devolve into Guerilla Tactics, where our numbers will be less of a problem.

I agree lets go and get some other stuff accomplished.