[PFS PbP] GM Debug's The Paths We Choose (5-99) (Inactive)

Game Master DebugAMP

Spellcraft +15 as listed.

Peran smiles, glad to get Guaril more on his side...

Perhaps tomorrow we will get to enjoy the party.

After the fighting dies down, Diri will pepper Peran with a handful of questions about the capacitance and voltage necessary to make electricity arc at a perfect 90-degree angle, up to and including an offer to stand in a lab and cast crooked lightning bolts continuously for a "research project" or three.

"Besides being mutually beneficialy for all of humanoidkind you would also be spared the boredom of another day worth of parties!" she offers excitedly.

Regardless, she'll sketch a few notes and wildly inaccurate theories about how bent lightning works.

Items in your haul from the assassination attempt:
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds x3
+1 Mithral Chain Shirt
Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Cloak of Resistance +1
Headband of Vast Intelligence +2
Elixir of Swimming x2
Oil of Light x2
Oil of Magic Weapon x4
+1 Studded Leather Armor x2
Boots of the Cat x2
Smokestick x2
250 gp of Diamond Dust
Mwk Kukri x4

The third day of the event has no major festivities planned. The High Council spends much of this day in deliberation to determine which candidate should succeed Grayrain. Midday, Ollysta Zadrian tracks down Conlaoch, informing him to rally the party for a meeting. Once everyone is assembled, she begins.

“While I am happy to see you here, I have come because I need someone I can trust to help me right a grievous injustice. When Queen Galfrey called for troops during the Fifth Mendevian Crusade, many who answered her call were criminals in their homelands who joined our cause in efforts to seek redemption. For their valor and sacrifice, Queen Galfrey granted them a warrior’s pardon. Despite this official declaration, a number of bounty hunters followed these criminals north. Either ignorant of the declaration or in defiance of it, they have begun capturing several of these felons-turned-war-heroes and turning them in for profit. More troubling, when they cannot claim their bounties, these hunters simply sell our heroes off as slaves. I have learned that three of these champions are to be auctioned in the slave pits of Absalom today. What’s more, I am familiar with the particular villain who is hoping to buy all three—an unfitting end for these redeemed souls. Such auctions are generally closed to the public, and those bidding are required to purchase special coins in advance. Fortunately, the Society owes us many favors for our valor over the past year, and they were willing to provide me both seats at the auction and auction coins. However, I’m too well known in Absalom, and my appearance at the auction would jeopardize the mission. Please, attend the auction, buy the freedom of these crusaders, and bring them to the Grand Lodge to give them a true fresh start.”

I'll be taking that diamond dust, and preparing (my first ever) stoneskin today!

The caster had stoneskin on him. Too bad it didn't help against lightning bolts and a coup de grace.

"When and where is this auction to be, exactly?" And what lighting conditions can we expect?

Phew, I'm back and catching up. Thank you for boting Shambala. And... Nice job, Peran! :D

Olystra places a coinpurse on the table, opens it up, and empties it's contents on the table. There are a total of 30 bronze each containing the words "Stig's Twenty Five." "Head to Misery Row. The auction will be held in one hour. The auction is being held by a Varisian man known as Bounder Stig as a closed buy-in auction. Only those who have paid to sign up for the auction ahead of time are allowed in. Obtaining these special bidding coins indicate that you have paid in, and also make it easier to bid without carrying large sums of money."

Peran tries to explain the bending lightning bolts to Diri but he has trouble translating some of the words out of his native Vudrani and is not particularly eloquent to begin with.

Peran will turn down the lab offer however, as he is eager to get back to the party and all the food that it entails.

---

Peran ignores Ollysta's personal space and steps right up ans sniffs her thoroughly before turning to Conlaoch.

"Yes, of course we help, don't even bother asking stupid questions."

"What if someone outbids what we have?"

"Head to Misery Row. The auction will be held in one hour...."

What does that mean for lighting conditions? What time will it be? Indoors or outdoors, and what level of artificial lighting if any?

Bulgo steps sadly away from the unfortuantely meagre food supplies.

"I guess this means dressing down. Again. "

Still, one might note that under his finery is a fine shirt of mithril, so smooth that even his fancy clothes don't look rumpled.

Bulgo will grab the +1 mithril shirt! I'll also take a potion of CMW, oil of light and cat boots of nobody else wants any of them. Surely someone could use that amulet of natural armor. Bulgo is not above helping himself to it if nobody else wants it, but I've already grabbed a lot

Grab away

Conlaoch would be happy to use the amulet since he is sort of a glass cannon and always in the fray. If no one else wants them, he will also happily wear the cloak, the other pair of boots, and take a potion of CMW.

He will also carry whatever goes unclaimed in a large sack.

I'll take the third potion.

Shambala isn't interested in anything really.

What does that mean for lighting conditions? What time will it be? Indoors or outdoors, and what level of artificial lighting if any?

You probably have never been to a slave auction in Misery Row, however it's likely indoors and probably well lit. Hard for races without low-light vision to inspect their purchases otherwise.

"What if someone outbids what we have?"

"I do not approve of slavery, but this is not the time to overthrow the entire institution and risk the slaves' lives. Perhaps in the future the circumstances will be different. For now, we play their game and do a little good where we can. Failing that, perhaps you can negotiate a private sale after the auction. Either way, do what you can to do a little good and be smart with your coin. These three have troubled pasts, yes, but they have taken important steps in seeking and earning redemption for their crimes. I have no reason to doubt Queen Galfrey's proclamation that they are heroes, and as heroes they should be spared the indignity of slavery."

It's about a 20 minute walk to get to the slave pits, and you can expect to spend a bit more time to get situated, so if you have any preparations you'd like to make you only have about 10 minutes or so with which to make them.

~~Some short time later~~

Arriving at Misery Row, you find a large Varisian man standing at the entrance to one of the slave pits. "Get lost, I've got business starting here soon. Private sale."

It's about a 20 minute walk to get to the slave pits, and you can expect to spend a bit more time to get situated, so if you have any preparations you'd like to make you only have about 10 minutes or so with which to make them.

I use that time to cast false life: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17 and disguise self, which will last up to 70 minutes.

By the time the party arrives, Sihir no longer appears to be with them - in his place is a beefy, sour-faced, somewhat pointy-headed Duergar woman in what might be an overly gaudy suit of Hellknight plate, carrying a cruel poison-tipped goad in one hand (which itself has a golden prosthetic in place of its long-lost middle finger), and a large garishly-colored lollipop in the other: The veritable spitting image of a slaver.

It should be needless to say that you all know its me. You've been instructed to refer to me as "Madam Al't Bolotnyy" (or just "Ms. Blot").

In the end Bulgo doesn't change, figuring that noble wear might be appropriate

"That is why we are here my good man. It's not as if we would come for recreation. Now, please show us to the auction."

As he speaks he takes out the admittance coin and shows it quietly to the man.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Peran will use his wand of mage armor, in the event that there are trouble at the slave pits.

"Ah, not on the list, but your coin is good." He waves you in and after crossing a few more names off of his list, he quickly walks over to a podium in front of the slave pit.

"Alright, enough of the chitchat! Anyone up fer bidding find a spot around the pits. Anyone else... shove off! Today, I’m holding a quick sale auction! That means I’m doing this quick. Any of ya with complaints can stick around to thank the pesky Andorens that keep showing up and getting’ in me business."

"Each auction is one bid per slave, got it? No haggling today, and no complaints! Look at yer bid coins an you’ll know I already got yer money. I ain’t havin’ no arguments today neither, so don’t nobody spill blood on my block unless you paid for it."

He pulls out a stack of small sheets of paper and charcoal, and hands them to an associate to distribute.

"So here’s how it works. I put a slave up for auction and anyone interested writes down a bid. I check the offers and the slave goes off to the highest unique bid. If yer bid’s the same
as anyone else’s, ya both lose. I ain’t got time to sort out no arguments. Remember, I keep all bids, so even if ya don’t win, I’m still taking yer coins, so if you can’t afford to lose ‘em, don’t place a bloody bid!"

With a bit of an annoyed look he continues. “Lastly, the bids for all auctions start at 8 coins. I ain’t repeating that and if there’s anyone dumb enough to offer me less than 200 gold, don’t expect me to take any more offers from ya, period. All clear?”

It appears his last question of 'all clear?' was rhetorical and he starts bringing the slaves forward to the auction block. The rest of the bidders seem to grumble a bit, but nobody contests these rules and they all appear to be deciding how to divy up their coins.

A human male is pushed forward in chains to be displayed. "Now accepting bids for Talmar. Former bandit from Isger and soldier. Write down your bids, and hand them along with yer coins to one of my associates and we'll get this auction over before anyone tries to protest."

How do you want to divy up your bids? You have 30 coins, each worth 25 gp. Minimum bid is 200 gp (8 coins) for each slave. There are 4 other bidding parties here.

Bulgo looks around the room.

How many slaves in total are up for bids? What order are the slaves we are interested in appearing in the list?

Also if any look a little.. inattentive, or rich, or ideally both... Bulgo is not above trying to pocket some of their coins.

sleight: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

Maybe aided by
perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
sense motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The first guy up is one we are interested in, Bulgo will loudly talk him down to his companions.

"A warrior? A broken wreck more likely. Surely you are not going to waste your coins on him. Look at those teeth, or maybe I'm being too generous, tooth is more like it."

bluff to make others bids lower: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Alternatively any that we are not interested in, Bulgo will sing their praises, hoping the other bidders spend their coins on them.
"Best bid high! Look at those muscles. You wouldn't need a draft horse to pull a plough if you had him."
bluff to make others bids higher: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Well, I've rolled better in my life. In theory this should be a great area for Bulgo to shine in. In theory.

Diri holds up a small piece of paper with '30 divided by 3 equals 10' written on it to the group.

"I worked the calculus on this problem," she offers.

Are there more slaves than the ones we're interested in?

There is one additional slave on the block other than the 3 you are interested in.

Did Bulgo manage to steal any of the bid coins? There is a double advanctage to this in that we get to spend them, and they don't

Also is Talmar one of the ones we are after? Can we do a SM to guess at how much the others are going to bid for him?

Talmar is one of the slaves you are interested in.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Bulgo, you manage to palm a coin from one of the bidders, however these appear to be serious and attentive businessmen, with armed guards, weapons, and keen eyes themselves. You frankly feel lucky that you got away with one rather than getting caught and thrown out (or worse).

You have no real way to gauge how the others will bid, however after the first round of bidding is complete, you might be able to gauge their reactions.

Bulgo passes the coin across to Diri. He conceals his hand and holds up two fingers to make an eleven.

Bluffing isn't something Conlaoch would be much help with - he would likely give away the ruse at -1. But when the bidding starts, he will stand behind our bidder and look intimidating at anyone who might appear to be bidding against them.

"Who is bidding for us?"

Shambala can bluff and intimidate. I'll try that.

Shambala designates with an ample move the first warrior and sighs heavily.

"See this one? I can sense he's disturbed in his mind. War. War kills men but mostly kills minds. He's worth nothing."

Bluff to make the bidders bid lower: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Peran sniffs around and follows Diri's math.

"We might want to consider just bidding on 2, a guaranteed 2 is better than losing all 3."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 12 + 2 = 28

The man that Bulgo pickpocketed earlier pipes up. "Shut yer traps over there! This ain't my first auction. If I hear another peep from you guys I'll have my bodyguards escort you out of here!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

The auctioneer, a bit annoyed yells "Less talking, more bidding! Pass your bids up here!"

Conlaoch, you get the distinct feeling that if more than one of the bidding parties wanted to throw you guys out of here, it wouldn't be too hard for them. The man who yelled first seems to have a formidable set of bodyguards, and while you could probably take them on as a party, doing so on the floor of the auction house with the auctioneer present is probably suicide. Bulgo and Shambala get a sinking feeling in their guts when the man's bodyguards begin glaring your way, and you get the distinct feeling that holding your tongue might be the best option for now. Bulgo and Shambala are demoralized at for the remainder of this bidding round.

I'll give you a bit more time to come to a bidding strategy consensus, then I'll run the first bid late this afternoon. Currently I have the following suggestions:
Diri: Even split
Bulgo: 11 on the first
Peren: Bid high on 2 and low on 1.
If the rest want to weigh in on a bidding strategy or support someone else's let me know, and I'll do my best to divine a consensus out of the posts.

If I understand correctly, adding Bulgo's edge to the first bid will give us an advantage, at least of an informational nature, as to figuring out how the rest of the bids will play out.

Indeed, I'd follow Bulgo's idea on this one.

11 coins it is.

The auctioneer opens the 3 envelopes that were passed to the front. "Lemme see, we've got a bid for 9 coins, a bid for 10 coins, and a winning bid for 11 coins from Conlaoch and associates."

Next in line seems to be an unknown slave to you. Not one of the crusaders.

"Madam Blot" turns to Bulgo.

"Oi. Slip. You need a moment's word with me, and I won't be havin' the gentle folk disturbed anymore." The "Duergar" says in a brusk (but not too disruptive for the social setting) voice to Bulgo as "she" jerks "her" thumb in the direction of the door.

Also, remember that Appraise is usable untrained if anyone wishes to attempt the check for the spoiler a few posts back.

Oh, well. I forgot that one.

Appraise DC 20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 Nope

Sense Motive DC 20: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 Nopy nope

Shambala can't tell if the party did a good deal or not. At least, they have one crusader.

Take 10 appraise: 10 + 11 = 21

Opps, I read the spoiler earlier but forgot to actually post my appraise check.

Peran will share the pricing information.

appraise: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
sense motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Bulgo keeps more or less quiet during the second auction, not liking the look of those bodyguards one bit.

He does however pay careful attention to the other bidders, trying to work out any strategy they may have used.

"The Qadiran wants all of them. Be interesting to see how he bids against the others for this slave."

perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Partially Ninja'd
I'll post a long block of spoilers with DCs in a moment. Some will be for Bulgo, some will be for everyone. If Bulgo makes the DC for any of the spoilers, everyone can go ahead and read them.

The auctioneer reviews the 2nd set of bids. Only 2 people have bid on them. The Qadiran and one of the others. "Two bids for this tiefling. A bid of 9 coins, and a bid of 10 coins. The slave goes to Midley Blackburn for 10 coins!" The dopey looking tiefling is moved from the block and the Qadiran has a satisfied smile.

After a minute to bring the next slave forward, another of the crusaders is brought to the auction block. "Holianda Wist. A swindler from the River Kingdoms. Now accepting bids!"

Can Bulgo take ten on the stealth check for 25? If so, he will, otherwise...
stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24
Of course if he was taking ten on stealth, he should probably also do so on the SM and fail that. Others can have a shot if the take-ten is allowed though.

Bulgo sneaks around, trying to get a good look at the slaves, and overhearing as much as he can from the others in the room. Every now and then his eyes dart sideways, trying to see the ledger contents.

"I wonder why he wants so many of the slaves... and all ex-warriors too.." muses Bulgo quietly.

He wanders over to their own newly acquired slave murmuring
"Don't worry, your service in the Crusades has been noted and your freedom purchased. Hopefully we can get your ex-crusader colleagues as well."

Not much help here, I fear...

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Yeah, you can take 10. People can also aid on the sense motive.

Two aids on the sence motive will get Bulgo up there... if we took Conlaoch as an aid, we just need one more...

Peran sniffs around in a helpful way

Sense Motive Assist: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (7) + 0 = 7

Peran sniffs around in an unhelpful way

Haha Peran :) I love your character!

Sense Motive (aid Bulgo): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Shambala sits next to Bulgo and whispers some helpful advice in his right ear.

I posted a summary of what you've gathered in the Discussion thread.

One of the Auctioneer's staff is beginning to walk around the room to collect bids for Holianda.

Currently I'm seeing the following suggestions for bidding:
Bulgo - Either bid 8, and 12 on the next 2 slaves (in either order) or 13 and no-bid.
Peran - Bid high on 2, low on 1. Not sure how that plays in with the first bid.
Conlaoch - Expect a high bid from Midley this bout. I'll interpret that to mean either bid very low or 13 and guarantee it. Similar as Bulgo.
Sihir - Try to take some time to set up a trick for the last round of bidding. As a note, with the previous shennanigans, you have a fair bit of scrutiny on you, and leaving the premise doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to get back in before the last bids are cast.
Shambala - Seems to be on the same page as Sihir.
Diri - ???
I'll close the bid late this afternoon again. If you have a full bidding strategy I'll close both of the final bids.

Bulgo writes 13 on the card and hands it over.

And if I can get made invisible, I'll try and secure another coin via stealth, so we can put in an 8 coin bid on the last slave. If not, Bulgo will approach one of the other bidders who has already bid and lost and offer 25 gold for one of their left over coins.

If appropriate
sleight of hand: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18
and GM reroll at +2
sleight of hand again: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 2 = 28 and bonus from invisible?

Somewhere off in the distance you hear the GM scratch his head, re-read the log a bunch of times, and then roll a truckload of dice.

The other bidders appear to be in a rather unhelpful mood and make a few rude comments about the 'new troublemakers' at this auction.

The auctioneer opens the pouches and begins to read aloud again. "Bid of 10 coins... bid of 12 coins... and oh my, a bid of 13 coins from Conlaoch and company."

As Bulgo and Sihir made their way towards the door, Midley, who now appears damned near furious motions and one of his thugs follow them out the back door. The guard at the door lets you out, but the thug follows. By the time Bulgo and Sihir are able to get out of sight of the thug, enough time has passed that the final auction is likely over.

Meanwhile in the auction room. The auctioneer pipes up. "Last slave is Elwyhir Eshikonas, mystic exiled from the land of the Linnorm Kings. Lets get this over with quickly and you can go about your business."

"Only 2 bids on this one. 9 coins here and... 11 coins to Midley!"

The slaves are all escorted to their new respective owners. Two to Midley, and two to you. The rest of the bidders quickly leave, looking rather dejected. Midley quickly takes his 2 slaves, leaves their chains on, and escorts them at a forced march out of the auction hall. Talmar and Elwyhir both are looking rather exhausted but thankful. None of them have anything other than the clothes on their backs, and they are both chained, however the keys are given to you by the auction staff. Talmar looks over at Elwyhir and the rest of you. "These folk say they come from the silver crusade. I guess the queen's pardon was real. Midley looked awful angry... I don't have any of my gear, but if you can loan me a blade or bow, I'd be happy to serve as your bodyguard."

Elwhyir's eyes open wide. "Truely you came to free us? And here I was worried that my faith in Iomedae has been in vain. Loan me a blade and I'll certainly do what I can to help."

Once you've decided what you want to do with Talmar and Elwyhir, you can go ahead and attempt to track down Midley if you wish to attempt to purchase the last slave from him.