PbP Gameday IV - GM Silbeg's 6-11 Slave Master's Mirror (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

So here I am, scrolling through my games, bummed that there were no new posts on the slave masters mirror game.

I decide to click the gameplay thread anyways, just to see exactly where we left off.

Lo and behold, several new posts! and combat!

Excitement that it has started! Fear that I have no gear!

Frustration that the stupid %&%*& forum didn't show me that there were new posts!!

What the crap? Why does it do that? It is not the first time... So annoying.

Anyways. Come get me big doggie. I'll show you my bite.

That happened to me for your confirmation recently. Really f*cking weird. Then again, we've all known for ages that Paizo's forums are buggy, right?

Move Action: move to southern door *token not yet moved*

Didn't we switch to Slides so we didn't need to lockwood you constantly? :P

I'm not sure, did we? Was it just for me?!

Either way, that app is too large to download until I'm on wifi at my house. So I will remain unmoved until I get back to my place after work :)

By the way, sorry for all this delaying stuff. I know it 'ungroups' the initiative, but Haafiz's best tactical advantage is to act immediately after the gate is raised. Mobility is his thing, so he needs that range of area to act in, making it hard for his opponents to gang up on him and so on.

In return, I will try to check this game more frequently than usual this evening so that I'm not holding things up at any point (though I do tend to go to bed a touch early these days, about 9pm central). I will check this game first thing when I wake up at 5am-ish.

Considering it is only luck of the dice that "grouped" the initiative, I am not worried. :D

This battle often brings death to PCs

This bothers me as a player. Not Silbeg's fault, but once again I feel like this is a flaw in the writing.

Don't take my $*&%& gear away and then put me in a fight that has a much higher statistic likelyhood of killing my character. Not cool. Pathfinder is a system that has equipment and gear almost on the same level as the class/archetype/feats I take. It is a huge part of character customization.

Just bothers me. Couldn't hold it in anymore.

Ok, back to role playing. Thanks for clearing that stuff up GM Silbeg!

GM Silbeg wrote:

This battle often brings death to PCs

This bothers me as a player. Not Silbeg's fault, but once again I feel like this is a flaw in the writing.

Don't take my $*&%& gear away and then put me in a fight that has a much higher statistic likelyhood of killing my character. Not cool. Pathfinder is a system that has equipment and gear almost on the same level as the class/archetype/feats I take. It is a huge part of character customization.

Just bothers me. Couldn't hold it in anymore.

Ok, back to role playing. Thanks for clearing that stuff up GM Silbeg!

+1

not to mention 6 evil NPCs, no equipment, and one survived a pretty high damage crit.

As a terrible GM we had may well have said:

"Suck it up, princesses!"

I'm actually enjoying this, despite the nerf and the confusion! So glad Amaranti is on our side!

Let me clarify... This brings death if players don't pay attention to their condition. It is an appropriate challenge for the tier. Being smart, grabbing gear to help, and helping each other is important. I've seen 2 deaths in four runs prior to this, so not horrid. One was just a lot of bad luck, the other was getting himself surrounded by moving too far away from his friends. It is well written, and a challenge to players. Personally, I loved it... Was playing Dierdre, and it forced me to finally use her wild shape. I was playing up for this one,mane almost got myself killed because I fot a little zealous with my attacking.

Also, you should be thanking Finarin as well.... He's really come into his own at level,7... Can he keep it up?

So I might be a little whiney and butt hurt, but ill survive. If it wasn't you guys I was playing along side I might be downright pouty.

Granted... The key portion of my character's class and abilities and feats is locked in a cage. Not only is all my gear locked up, so is half my character class... Oi....

-Posted with Wayfinder

Also, you should be thanking Finarin as well.... He's really come into his own at level,7... Can he keep it up?

I assumed Damien meant me ;). I have only expended 1 level 1 and 2 level 2. Have 6/7 Pool Points, and my pearl. Hopefully I will have enough left in the tank. Just wish I had my boots so I could flit around with Haafiz.

To get this out of the way, please post the following:

Name:
Character name:
PFS#:
Chron #:
Starting PP/Fame:
Starting XP:
Starting gold:
Day Job Roll:

Thank you.

Also:

Boon Rolls:
GM Silbeg: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Amaranti: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Finarin: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Haafiz: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Ibid: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Miro: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Pookah: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Boon of players choice on a natural roll of 1 or 20

**Re-Rolls not allowed on boons**

Sorry, no boons this table

Crazy d20 rolls, man! Glad that was for boons and not attacks.

Name: Damien
Character name: Haafiz
PFS#: 135100-7
Chron #: 13
Starting PP/Fame: 17 PP, 29 Fame
Starting XP: 18
Starting gold: 10,538
Day Job Roll: N/A

I'd say thanks for running... but it seems we've got a way to go yet (unless we don't!)

As such, I do enjoy the challenge of getting thrown into the battle without all the precious gear. But Pathfinder doesn't treat all characters equally in such situation. A sorcerer or monk wouldn't be too badly effected, but Pooka being left without his weapon, armor and mount was really in bad situation. Ironically, now with lvl4 summons, Amaranti is almost more effective this way than his normal mounted lance style :)

Name: Jyri
Character name: Amaranti
PFS#: 96960-4
Chron #: 20
Starting PP/Fame: 28/38
Starting XP: 19
Starting gold: 7782
Day Job Roll: -

Name: Steve H.
Character name: Pooka
PFS#: 133958-1
Chron #: 12
Starting PP/Fame: (Can't remember right now, have to look it up later. I can just fill this in if you leave it blank)
Starting XP: 11
Starting gold: (Please leave this blank also)
Day Job Roll: Handle Animal via Farmstead vanity: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36

Name: Christopher Lockwood
Character name: Ibid. Oxley Abel
PFS#: 141231-2
Last Chronicle #: 20
This Chronicle will be #: 21
Starting PP/Fame: 19/40
Starting XP: 20
Starting gold: 5700.3gp
Day Job Roll: knowledge(local): 1d20 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 15 + (3) = 24

As such, I do enjoy the challenge of getting thrown into the battle without all the precious gear. But Pathfinder doesn't treat all characters equally in such situation. A sorcerer or monk wouldn't be too badly effected, but Pooka being left without his weapon, armor and mount was really in bad situation. Ironically, now with lvl4 summons, Amaranti is almost more effective this way than his normal mounted lance style :)

At the risk of still sounding like a whiney whiner - this is a much more succinct way of making the point I was trying to make. Often times it is the gear that helps even out (as much as they can be evened out) the effectiveness of different classes. A Wizard might have had his spell component pouch shrunk, and not have noticed a difference. A monk doesn't need weapons or armor, and would have not noticed much of a difference either. However, even as a short halfling, I might as well be the broad side of a barn, particularly in a tier 6-7 scenario with my unarmored AC of 12. I have 4 feats essentially, and everyone one is tied to mounted combat. I specifically created a halfling cavalier because of his far increased ability to remain mounted in nearly every PFS situation. (couldn't very well bring a horse into the majority of PFS encounters) That is a huge part of this character class, and to have it taken away just really rubs me the wrong way.

An encounter like this really highlights (IMO) the way the Pathfinder system relies on proper gear for higher level characters. The reason they call them "The Big Six" is because there is a base assumption in higher level encounters that the characters either have those requisite bonuses, or have accounted for not having them in some way (as in chosen to maximize one area at the expense of another)

Ok, end Whine session. And no, I don't want cheese with that.

Name: John
Character name: Lord Finarin Moonstep
PFS#: 75655-1
Chron #: 21
Starting PP/Fame: 19 PP,39
Starting XP: 20
Starting gold: 2428.65 gp
Day Job Roll: Treasure Map

As always - thanks for running

So... I don't think this is meta, since the Djinni doesn't seem to mind us discussing in front of him (and we could go somewhere private anyway).

What do we think? Clues:

• Declaration of being devoted to a cause. -- 'Aspis Consortium' is the first thing that springs to mind here.
  
• 'That' important to the Pasha. -- Perhaps the hatred of Lady Darchana.
  
• Sounds like a mortal's name. -- I sincerely doubt that 'Aspis Consortium' sounds like a mortal's name. The mortals that we know are associated with it are the Desimire brothers. 'Aglorn Desimire' has to be the signature on the paper we found (but Tancred could be on there also for all we know).
  
• What could the Society done to have done to provoke such wrath? -- The only thing we know that the Pathfinder Society vs Muhlia is that something went down in Taldor 3 years ago. Society agents did also kill the Desimire brothers at the Worldwound, and she's friendly enough with them to have their portrait hanging here.

So... I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's either "Darchana" (would be great if we knew her first name) or "Aglorn Desimire". What do you guys reckon?

So here is my musings - devotion to a cause - she seems to be devoted to bringing down the pathfinder society, or perhaps one person associated with the society in particular.

Perhaps the password has to do with her devotion to bring down a specific person...

Now on to the threads to dig into who that could be. Figured I would leave my thoughts here for others to see while I work on that...

Pooka, did I Cyrus you?

Wow... I have no idea how I didn't see that when I posted....

Great minds friend... great minds...

Edit: I would agree with Haafiz here - My strong feelings is that it is Darchana...

I suspect it may be something like "death to Lady Darchana"

Did he say it was just one word? Crap, now I gotta go back to the thread and look again...

I'm enjoying this riddle/puzzle, but I can't help but fearing that I'm going to overthink it. I posted some notes in Ibid's journal in the gameplay thread to help keep track of possible clues as well, also just to do a bit in character.

I think you two are headed in the right direction, or at least, are headed in the same direction my mind went. The password, so far as I can tell, is a phrase. But it also appears to deal with a person's name, or at least sound like person's name, and it appears that the name is of someone Pasha Muhlia al'Jakri was fond of in the past.

Do we know if any of the three names we have was someone Pasha Muhlia al'Jakri was fond of previously? Or, if Pasha Muhlia al'Jakri was fond of Lady Darchana in the past?

Ok, just to tie some loose ends. Pooka did ask why Pasha Muhlia left the society in the beginning of the game, but that question got overlooked. I am assuming it has something to do with these two people being killed by society agents.

This is all (obviously) the motivation for her current plan.

I am more convinced it has to do with Lady Darchanna, who we know is the second spell lord of absalom.

That is everything I can find that we know.... I could be missing something.

My mind is stuck on "Ruin Darchanna" or "Darchanna's Fall" or something similar. I don't know how much leniency there is in the scenario for something that is close.

Could there possibly be a written clue somewhere else in the compound? I don't imagine the gnolls would know the password, or have it written down.

At this point, I think I am stumped... we get two tries, so maybe he can tell us how close we were on the first try...

Well one would assume that the writer has to take into account what the pc should know, so my bet would be a name we have heard already, or something from the first go around.

Lot of meta in that I know. I suck as puzzles (tore off stickers on my rubics cube and popped it with a screwdriver as a kid.}

Subtle hint. You have everything you need here. Finarin is right, no player knowledge is needed.

Avenge Desimire (edit: Or "I will avenge desimire" etc... variation of)

The devotion to a cause is avenging his death

The person it sounds like that she was fond of in the past is the one she wants to avenge

she is trying to gain her vengence by striking out/spying on the society

To further make my case (or make the clues fit what I have convinced myself of)

"Well, what is a password? More than a simple physical key, it’s a spoken declaration of belonging or devotion to a cause. What could be that important to Pasha Muhlia al’Jakri?

"Like many mortals, she is consumed by a mad quest, her every spare thought given to plotting the downfall of a group called the Pathfinder Society. I honestly find her a bit of a bore, but I do wonder how that group wronged her to provoke such wrath.

He gave us the clue of the cause to be devoted to by musing about what the society could have done to provoke her wrath. The society killed Aglorn Desimire.

"My master has few friends these days, but I suspect that was not always the case. Her password sounds like a mortal’s name, someone she was fond of in the past, I would guess."

This fits much more nicely with the pictures of the Desimire brothers we found... obviously fond of them. (And Haafiz was hinting at this in his last big post)

Ok, that is the last I am posting tonight. Someone go for it if we all agree. Lets get past this nice Djinni and then set him free later.

Just quickly before I head to bed, he hinted that it sounds like the name of a person so I don't think we're looking for a phrase. Can someone please ask him if it is a single word? If it is, Darchanna or Desimire. If it is someone she was fond of (as Ibid thinks, I couldn't find that clue), then Desimire - she has got their portrait in there and the fact that they are Aspis hints at her cause... as well as what the Society "could have done to provoke such wrath". Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think it'll be one or both of the brothers Desimire.

So, no more time to post but if the djinni will tell us single word or not, I think we can make the guess at Agorn Desimire (either his first or last name, or his full name).

"password" not "passphrase"

;)

(a little bird told you!)

So I suppose it's one of the Desimire brothers, since society killed them both. Aglorn's name was in the same pile of papers as Jacquo Dalsine's, of whom al'Jakri wasn't exactly very fond of. So I don't know if those papers were some spy reports, and al'Jakri was spying on Aglorn Desimire already.

That would speak for Tancred as her heart's chosen.

On the other hand, with some meta and player knowledge: If Tancred was still alive in Blackros Matrimony, that's much later than when uh... Qadira faction got a new leader. Would a good knowledge history roll tell us if Aglorn was killed around the same time as Qadira faction changed leadership?

Yeah, I've played the scenario where related things happened.

Well, she's got a portrait of them both. Since it's a single word, how about we try "Desimire" and if that doesn't work we try to figure out which of of the brothers it is?

READ THE GAMEPLAY THREAD FIRST!!!!

** spoiler omitted **

Gaahh!! My eyes!

Seriously though...

So I set up a marching order - feel free to change it if you don't agree.

I selfishly put myself in front so I can try to take advantage of whatever charge lane there might be - and I figured Haafiz can move 11dy billion feet a round, so he would be ok in the middle.

As for marching order, I've moved Haafiz to front row. I didn't spend every ounce of character options I possibly could on getting extra movement just so I could get safely bumped back to the second row! ;-)

I'm really enjoying both the mechanics and the concept of this character over PbP, by the way. I've never really 'clicked' with Liberty's Edge before, and this scenario with Haafiz in particular... well, it is really coming together for me. I'm also enjoying playing a character with both knowledge (well, a little knowledge) and social skills! Usually, it's neither.

Not to mention... man, these character mechanics are awesome. Desna suits my concept down to a tee, and her travel domain powers make the build frigging awesome. Spring attack with +10ft movement and ignoring difficult terrain as a free action... mmm hmmm.

Also, when I played Haafiz in the only other non-credit baby scenario he's been in, the GM said I couldn't judge and enter rage in the same round (he said both were swift actions). Turns out he was wrong. Judgments are swift. Rage is free. Loving my barbarian level all the more now!

Oh, and Haafiz was a barbarian when he was a slave. By the time I finally played him, he had become an 'unchained barbarian'. So cool.

FYI - there was a possibility of an INT check to guess the password... but only if you've already failed, and not making any progress.

Character name: Miro Ammars
PFS#: 73432-2
Chron #: 17
Starting PP/Fame: 26 PP, 32 Fame
Starting XP: 16
Starting gold: 6,599
Day Job Roll: Perform (Sing): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

Can't post right now... Pooka, I'm going to try to get out of your way. GM, can I move through the curtain diagonally? I'm assuming it's not a "hard corner" per se.

I got my charge in Haafiz - might be a moot point. There is a decent chance we can finish these two off before pooka even goes again...

Haafiz, you could move through the curtain, but as it is a heavy curtain, it would not be a 5' step.

'Scool. I wanted to get into flank anyway... so rolled acrobatics.

Ummm.... I think my build for Haafiz might be a bit too min-max-esque. Raging with all his judgements and banes up, spring attacking at a range of 60ft... he's fūcking unstoppable. As a level 7 melee character who is a secondary caster to boot... I'm blowing myself away. Not to mention (it hasn't come into it yet) he can resto himself after a rage to clear his own fatigued condition. When I pick up the 6 extra rage rounds (feat), well, I wouldn't want to GM for this silly little credit-baby.

I'm just happy I found his RP voice.

Of course, the dice gods frigging love me this scenario.

As do the coincidence gods. Jack tells me that my see invisibility is the only reason that caster didn't escape... and my last crit just one-hitted him! Ha! That part of my build, Jack, you have Faustus to thank for.

Of course, the dice gods frigging love me this scenario.

That is because the dice gods forever hate me. You are the dice ying to my dice yang (or vise versa if ying sucks)

Haafiz never apologize for an optimized build. Congrats on the great crunch!

So we killed them all? Ok - cool beans.

game is reported -- I will have the chrons set up by Monday night. Might be a little busy this weekend :D

Table 149 is in the books.

Lady Darchana pauses for emphasis. “Your goals are to capture the veiled spymaster and to bring the scrying mirror I observed back to

Absalom for further study. If the spymaster dies before she is brought here, that would be regrettable but also understandable.”