Action 1
Finding the brown keycharm, she said, "I guess this will unlock the last few mysteries. I think maybe I'll make some jewelry with all these when we get out of here."
Action 2
Vi was relieved to find all the potions. "These might not work here, but at least I'll be okay if we ever get out of this cursed land." The changeling wasn't used to being so hurt for so long.
Action 3
The room of corpses was incredibly creepy. Once again, Vi wondered what had happened here. What terrible magic could kill a whole country, but keep the corpses fresh and regenerating? She gave it up as a lost cause - the best minds in the land had been trying to figure it out for four years - there was no chance she was going to figure it out today?
Vi laughed at Squeak's excitement. Trust the 'forged to find something to be happy about in this place. "That will be very useful for our restaurant, Squeak," she said, grinning.
Vi was a bit horrified with the strategizing going on. "I like the Vi picks the lock option. There is no need to fight the fires, we only need to get the schema. In fact, can't we just grab the chest and get it out of there, and deal with what's in it later? Surely you two guys can carry a crystal chest out of there?"
Action 2:
Bronwyn pouted as she took in the lavish bed chambers. "Weapons, weapons, and more weapons. At least it'll be worth selling these in the end. It's not like we'll be able to use them all ourselves." Turning to the others she added, "Although you definitely have an extensive choice, so choose wisely."
Action 0:
Squeak vanished back into the pantry, and returned loaded down with provisions. "For dinner tonight I shall prepare Duck le Kitchen Sink. For desert, maple-walnut ice cream with a chocolate sauce. It'll take about thirty minutes, if I get help in the preparation and Bronwyn can kindle the oven. An hour otherwise. Vi, could you find us a nice merlot? Palisade, could you clear off the table and stack the corpses in the corner?" Squeak remembered the delicate sensibilities of his companions "And put a sheet over them? Maybe some flower petals from the pantry?"
While his companions ate, Squeak boiled up noxious components in a pair of beautiful brass kettles.
"Coffee?" he offered at the conclusion of the meal, then paused and returned with the other kettle. "Coffee?" he offered again.
Action 1:
"You both have good points." Squeak conceded sheepishly. "When we observe the room, we need to check out the chest carefully. Also, let's see if they attack in the same way - perhaps they have a standard pattern? In fact, I wonder if we could use it as a distraction when we do attack? How realistic are the images? If realistic enough they may waste time with the images, or assume those physically there are images as well."
Producing some well worn clockmaker's tools Squeak nodded to Vi "While I doubt I'm your equal, I've a knowledge of such devices. I might be able to assist with the opening, and if it is trapped I'm a damned sight easier to repair."
Squeak took down the beautiful chain shirt and shield. "Right Palisade. Help me into these. Perhaps they'll take me as Cannith. If I can't find a Lucerne Hammer anyway... Vi, could you pick out a sword for me? Something long that doesn't conduct heat well would be good."
Vi ate Squeak's meal with gusto. "Seriously, this place is so messed up. How can it have living spells and fresh dead guys and all that horrible stuff, but have fresh food and an amazing kitchen, and be capable of this? I mean, Squeak, this is amazing. We seriously have to figure out this restaurant gig."
Action1
"I'm not convinced that the fires were actually interacting with the illusion room. We really have no idea how it works. I don't know that going back there will give us anything helpful." Vi thought a moment, then said, "On the other hand, I'm not keen to go back there, so illusion room it is!"
Action 2
Vi stroked the darkweave cloak lovingly. "It's so pretty!" Looking at the other vials, she said, "Probably better for you guys to take these; I already have a magic weapon." She stroked the dagger's handle lovingly again.
Bronwyn ate along with Vi, her bites more dainty than those of the changeling's. "You've nearly outdone yourself this time Squeak. Good ingredients and excellent equipment augment your abilities to the nth degree."
The wizard reiterated, "I'm more concerned with getting a better look at the chest. Is it locked, is it bolted down? I'm not sure one interacts with the illusion room but rather just observes. If it can help us plan, even better."
"Really?" Squeak's eyes beamed with pride at the ladies compliments "All these spices... I was spoiled for choice. I was a bit worried the garlic might clash with the cumin? Did you notice it?"
"Do you think" continued the warforged contemplatively "We could set up the resteraunt here? It'd make keeping ingredients fresh no trouble at all."
Action 2: "Good idea Vi. That cloak would look great on you." in truth Squeak had no understanding whatsoever of fleshling fashions, but long experience with Bronwyn had taught him to be effusive in his praise for new clothes, lest shopping trips become full expeditions. Desperately he cast about for more praise, and stumbled on one often used by others when talking of Bronwyn's outfits. Quickly he modified it to fit and added "It really brings out the black in your eyes."
”Palisade, could you clear off the table and stack the corpses in the corner?" Squeak remembered the delicate sensibilities of his companions "And put a sheet over them? Maybe some flower petals from the pantry?"
”Complying,” Palisade replied as it took the nearest body by a leg and began to unceremoniously drag the dead like some much driftwood into a remote corner of the room, there to carefully stack them two by two into a pile. Once satisfied with the stability of the pile, the ‘forged carefully covered the bodies with a spare tablecloth then carefully ripped a dozen flowers into petals and began laying them down in the image of a Warhammer. Bastion, having climbed from his nest some time ago, had managed to pilfer a piece of dried fruit from under Squeak’s vigilant eyes and was now sitting on the backrest of a chair, nibbling at the treat and supervising Palisade’s efforts.
Once the job had been completed to Bastion’s satisfaction Palisade wandered over where Squeak was preparing his latest masterpiece. The tall ‘forged stared at the various pots and pans in mystified fascination, recognizing serious alchemy when it saw laid an eye on it. Sensing something interesting afoot, Palisade’s big brother abandoned his futile efforts to digest the preserved fruit and climbed up to Palisade’s shoulder to peer down at Squeak’s work, sniffing the air experimentally.
”Query. Unit Squeak, would you welcome the Creator-Goddess’ blessing to aid your efforts?” the priest asked, feeling it ought to contribute to the effort on some level.
"Right Palisade. Help me into these. Perhaps they'll take me as Cannith. If I can't find a Lucerne Hammer anyway... Vi, could you pick out a sword for me? Something long that doesn't conduct heat well would be good."
Palisade cocked its head to a side, wondering how effective the alchemist would find a shield in battle without the proper training to do more than hunker behind one in a pothole. Although that was likely not to matter if the objective was merely to use the crest of the House of Making prominently displayed. In any case, Palisade did its best to adjust the shield in Squeak’s hand, showing the alchemist the proper way to brace it against an attack and to hold it steady in his grip.
Quickly he modified it to fit and added "It really brings out the black in your eyes."
Palisade looked up at these alarming words and took a quick step towards Lady d’Deneith. It peered at her face, tilting its head this way and that before stepping away, casting a look of doubt in Squeak’s direction. ”Professional opinion. This one notices no bruising around Lady d’Deneith’s eyes. Nor does it recall her being the target of strikes directed at her face. This one believes you are in error in your diagnosis, unit Squeak.”
"I would be honoured if you blessed me, Palisade. Perhaps I could ask you to say some words of thanks to the creator goddess at the start of the meal?"
Squeak pointed at Vi, "No, I meant the black in her eyes. Those little black things in the middle, like someone dripped pure black ink into azure pools."
OK, I'm back home but playing catch up at work and traveling again for work for a couple of days later this week.
I probably won't have things back on our regular schedule until the weekend but I'll try to move things along.
I intend to recap later today.
Game on!
"Alright. if we're going to do this, let's do it. Let's try disguise, first, just in case. Boss, you want to fireproof Vi?" Squeak asked, as fear warred with despondency as he stared into the unseeing eyes of the brass and iron hydra.
Action 1
It took Vi a moment to understand what Squeak meant by his "compliment". Finally, she began to laugh. And laugh. She fought for breath, lest it turn into full-blown hysteria. As she got herself under control, she said, "Fellas, before you compliment a lady, take a good look at her first." She stared straight at the 'forged, showing off her featureless white eyes. In her natural form, her eyes and hair had no pigment of their own, and her skin was a sickly grey colour. It unsettled most people, and it was rare for a "normal" to look a changeling in the eye; yet another reason why she never wore her own skin.
"To be fair, I have had blue eyes most of the time I've known you, well, at least some of the time." With a little bit of focus, she changed her eye colour and shape to Arleth's brown, then to Val's bright blue. Then, for fun, she did one of each. "There you go, dark pits in a pool of azure. And I thank you for the compliment, sir."
Donning the cloak, she swept one side back and bowed dramatically to Squeak.
Action 2
The strange hydra made Vi's skin crawl. "What about we don't fight at all? Why don't we just hit you two boys with the invisibility stick, you sneak in, grab the chest, and run for it? I mean, I'll take the fire protection, and we'll totally be there to back you up, but seriously, that thing scares me."
"Thou art welcome." Squeak answered "Though... most compliments the Boss gets seem to be about her appearance. Do changelings like people to compliment their appearance, if you can just change it?"
Squeak paused "Sounds like a good plan. If we can't move the chest, we'll stay invisible, right?"
"What about we don't fight at all? Why don't we just hit you two boys with the invisibility stick, you sneak in, grab the chest, and run for it? I mean, I'll take the fire protection, and we'll totally be there to back you up, but seriously, that thing scares me."
Bronwyn voiced her disagreement with a snort. "There's no way to sneak in when we have to open a door to get inside. The moment that door is opened, even if invisibility is used, the guardians inside that room will know something is up. It's possible that that hydra thingy is mindless but if those are fire elementals, they have intelligence and won't be easily fooled. Doors don't just open on their own."
The wizard pondered their resources. "We have only one resist energy scroll and we have three House Cannith signet rings. I say that whoever doesn't get the benefits of fire resistance, wears one of the rings. Maybe they'll be friendlier towards House Cannith members. Neither Squeak nor Palisade are fast enough to do a smash and grab with the chest so I can help Vi get to the chest while the 'forged run interference. Vi, I know you're uneasy going close to that thing but I'll use the scroll to give you fire resistance and we all will protect your back. We get in and we get out with the schema."
Bronwyn mused, "I wish I'd been able to learn how to speak with elementals. If that's what they are, they may still be able to speak our language but it would have been more respectful to be able to speak theirs. Maybe we'll be surprised and they're actually friendly. Rorsa was friendly after all."
Bronwyn gave Squeak a puzzled look. "Why are you calling me 'boss' all of a sudden? Have I been giving a bunch of unreasonable orders that I'm unaware of? Just when I think that you, Palisade, and I have made some headway in the paradigm of being family or friends then you both revert back to treating me like a superior...calling me Lady d'Deneith or Boss," she sighs, "instead of using my name."
"Hmmm, that's a good question," Vi pondered Squeak's question. "Actually, I think a complement means more to us, because we actually work at our appearance. Complimenting me on a Face is like complimenting an artist on a painting. Bronwyn didn't have to DO anything to be pretty, she's just lucky. Generally, though, I'd rather you, and people in general, just be honest. Don't feel you have to compliment me on my clothes or something, just to feel like you're being "human"."
Vi disagreed with Bronwyn. "They may not be fooled into thinking nothing has happened, and yes they'll see the door open. But unless elementals can see invisibility, they won't know where exactly to hit. I think it's worth trying. And Squeak, even if you do manage to pick up the chest, I think you'll stay invisible. I think you only become visible if you fight. Usually picking something up makes it invisible too. So yes, they'll know something is up, but we still might be able to just run away. In fact, why don't we just make all of us invisible? That way, if the chest won't move, I can still get to it and start to pick it before I become visible again. Ugh, I hate this. I know this room is gonna kill one of us."
Bronwyn gave Squeak a puzzled look. "Why are you calling me 'boss' all of a sudden? Have I been giving a bunch of unreasonable orders that I'm unaware of? Just when I think that you, Palisade, and I have made some headway in the paradigm of being family or friends then you both revert back to treating me like a superior...calling me Lady d'Deneith or Boss," she sighs, "instead of using my name."
Vi grinned. "Aw, come on, give him a break. I think it's cute. It's like an affectionate nickname."
"It's the cover" said squeak defensively "You're the mercenary boss, and we're your forged. I don't want to slip up, so I'm calling you..." Squeak drops his transparent attempt at a lie "Alright. You've never let us call you 'commander', and you don't have a military rank. I thought I was getting away with Boss." Desperately he added "It suits you. Doesn't it, Palisade?"
Squeak pointed at Vi, “No, I meant the black in her eyes. Those little black things in the middle, like someone dripped pure black ink into azure pools.”
Palisade turned to subject Bronwyn to another long, close-up look as it considered this new revelation. It had never bothered to pay much attention to human eyes at that level of detail – Palisade had been trained in battlefield medicine, and thus all it had generally done where eyes and damage thereof were concerned had been to slap a bandage on it or gouge it out with as little collateral damage to surrounding tissue as possible.
”Confirmed,” Palisade replied, then turned back to Squeak. ”Perplexed query. Why do you believe the cloak should bring out those black bits? This one believes they are serving their intended purpose right where they are at the moment,” the ‘forged asked, as always not really at home with figures of speech. ”Do you believe them to be detachable?” Palisade itself doubted that; from what it had gathered, interchangeability was not a thing with human organs and body parts.
Desperately he added "It suits you. Doesn't it, Palisade?"
”Informal but acceptable,” Palisade said in its toneless voice. ”If Lady d’Deneith prefers it, this one can use that designation.”
"In fact, why don't we just make all of us invisible? That way, if the chest won't move, I can still get to it and start to pick it before I become visible again. Ugh, I hate this. I know this room is gonna kill one of us."
"Reasonable tactic," Palisade said, nodding in approval. "If no enemies are detected despite the door opening, the elementals may not react. Suggestion. If invisibbility is proken or purged by some effect inside the chamber, this one suggests we follow Lady d'Deneith's and unit Squeak's suggestion as a fallback and each have something marked with the d'Cannith crest ready to be presented in case the elementals have standing orders to let people thus identified as friendly to enter freely."
"In case battle is joined, this one and unit Squeak should delay the elementals. It is possible they are under strict orders not to leave their chamber even in pursuit of intruders. Companion Vi. You mentioned that attacks break the invisibility enchantment. Would merely body-blocking the elementals and preventing them from closing in to attack you and Lady d'Deneith be considered an attack?"
Is there a plan of actions in these posts?
If not, I'm going with 'something'.
I'll get to Hell's Rebels first and then come to this later...
Game on!
"Alright. I'll take one of those rings, stow the shield for now, and use the last of my easily replaceable consumables." Squeak agreed.
Squeak's concoctions did their job. Joints lubricated to within an inch of their life moved silently, the heat causing the thick fluid to run like water down the Forged's limbs, evaporating into a fortunately invisible smoke. Carefully he tiptoed through the room on silent feet.
The hydra is a broken machine and sits in the middle of the room next to the bubbling crucible of molten glass.
The chest sits just south of the 'hydra'.
Action 1:
Understanding showed on Bronwyn's face, "Oh, I guess that makes sense. It's just that usually people don't want to be around their boss. I thought that was your way of telling me that you didn't want me around anymore. Since most of my mercenary uniform was burned off awhile back, I forgot about our ruse."
Action 2:
"Alright everyone, time to prep for FROD." Bronwyn pulls out the Cannith signet rings that they had found and passes them out to everyone but Vi. She then takes out the resist energy scroll and used it on Vi so that she could resist fire. ""We didn't find the orange key with any particular body but it may be wise if you take the face of the clerk we found earlier, just in case you become visible." Lastly, everyone gets treated with the wand of invisibility before opening the door.
Action 3:
Bronwyn had spent a lot of time around fire. This room was the closest experience she had to becoming fire herself. As much as she was fascinated by her surroundings, her lungs had their own idea of what was pleasant. They definitely wouldn't be able to withstand this intense heat for long, even with what resistances they had.
Action2
Vi complied, taking on the Face she'd recently shed.
Action 3
The heat of the room hit Vi like a blow, she struggled to keep her gasping silent, so as not to give their positions away. As the 'forged moved into the room, she tried to decide what to do. Move in, so as to flank the elementals if necessary, or stay out, so as not to be trapped inside.
Covering for her team won out, so she moved about ten feet straight north, hugging the wall, her dagger in hand, ready to strike if necessary.
Well aware that the invisibility spell would do nothing to lighten its steps, Palisade was resigned to becoming the one the elementals would home on were they to find any of them. Thus, its shield raised and angled between it and the closer elemental, Palisade sidestepped around the summoned guardians deeper into the room.
Turn 161 – Stealthy Warforged?
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, miss
, miss
Squeak followed orders. He was good at following orders. He'd usually try to put in his opinion, but as soon as the order was given, he followed it. He had vivid memories of an early battle, where the Forged has been decimated because two human commanders had argued about the best course of action, and given conflicting orders, when either course would have been better than none.
Ignoring the elemental - he reasoned he could take a single hit without melting - Squeak grabbed the chest with muscles powered by an alchemical extract it'd taken the engineer years to develop.
All but crushed under the weight of the chest, and now subject to attacks, Squeak bolted for the exit. 'Bolted' that is, at the speed of a heavy siege Forge encumbered by a chest that weighed near as much as he did.
Palisade saw the chest twitch and knew unit Squeak had managed to reach it, although not without being detected as one of the two elementals was swinging at a patch of empty air that did not contain Palisade. Knowing well enough that it could never lose the elementals now what they knew to listen to its movements, Palisade resolved to making what use of the enemies' inability to see through its defences it could.
Hunkering behind its shield, Palisade kept glancing between the moving chest and the elemental guardians, doing its level best to keep open the route for unit Squeak to make his getaway with the price while using its own body to prevent the elementals from giving effective chase. Perhaps the elementals could not leave the chamber, or perhaps they could close and lock the door to keep them trapped within. Or, failing that, thay could at least take the battle to the corridor where Palisade might block the path while its companions used magic or ranged weapons to deal with the threat.
Vi was torn - she wanted to help the 'forged, but she was really hoping not to have to fight these guys at all. The heat in here was overwhelming, and all she wanted to do was run away and slam the door. But she had a feeling that these guys were going to follow. On the other hand, Palisade wasn't attacking either. So maybe he thought they would be able to get away without fighting.
Fist tight around her dagger, she waited, sweating, hoping, ready to attack, ready to run.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, miss
, hit
, miss
, miss
, miss
, miss
"I cannot believe that worked!" exclaimed a surprised Squeak, as the elementals let them flee. "They sound... sad?" Turning to Bronwyn he asked "So, what now, Bossssssssssronwyn?"
Turning to Palisade he asked "What do you think this is for?"
"I cannot believe that worked!" exclaimed a surprised Squeak, as the elementals let them flee. "They sound... sad?" Turning to Bronwyn he asked "So, what now, Bossssssssssronwyn?"
Turning to Palisade he asked "What do you think this is for?"
----------
Yeah, it worked. I mean I could have extended this encounter for a couple of rounds longer but it wouldn't have made much difference.The original encounter called for two medium fire elementals but my gut told me that it would be too easy. I seriously considered making one of those elementals a large fire elemental but chickened out because I thought that one of you might get killed.
And then you guys came up with a 'decent' plan, which made the encounter a piece of cake. I'm Ok with that; I always like to reward player creativity.
However, I'm getting a little 'fed up' with Pathfinder and the way it's supposed to play out. I'm seriously considering limiting the supply of magic items, especially 'mundane things' like wand of cure light wounds and stuff like that. I mean where's the challenge if everyone runs around fully stocked? :)
One thing to learn from this: trust your gut. :)
Game on!
Bronwyn held up both her hands, one for each of the 'forged for a high five. "Go team 'forged! That was stupendous!"
"So, what now, Bossssssssssronwyn?"
The wizard gave Squeak a smile. "Now that I know you aren't calling me Boss as some sort of insult, feel free to keep using it. It seems less complicated that way."
She paused and looked back at the door that blocked the elementals. "They did seem sort of sad, didn't they. Maybe they're prisoners too. Would you be willing to indulge me and go back to the illusion room? I just want to see what they're doing now. I can go by myself even if you guys want to start gathering stuff - like Squeak's cooking equipment. And then there's Rorsa and her pack. They need to leave too."
Action 1
Vi stared at the door for a few moments, waiting for the elementals to open it, or melt it, or something. When it became clear that they weren't going to, she shook her head in wonder. "Bloody terrible guards, they are."
Action 2
Vi grunted as she lifted the socket. "Guess we better bring this back to her ladyship as well. But I ain't carrying it. Ooh, potions!" She caressed the cure potion. "Just gotta get me over the border, then I am downing you, my lovely."
"I guess we'd better go fetch the puppies, our kitchen gear, and any other valuables that we can fit in the cart, and then make sure our ride is still out there. Hopefully the evil Warforged haven't..." she stopped herself mid-sentence and spread her fingers in a warding sign. "Never mind, I'm sure everything is fine. Don't wanna go giving the powers that be any ideas," she muttered.
Yeah, it worked. I mean I could have extended this encounter for a couple of rounds longer but it wouldn't have made much difference.
Hey - don't take Squeak's surprise for my disappointment. I've had GMs who always find a way to spoil any plan, and it isn't a lot of fun. Turns into a dungeon hack. We planned well, took a risk, and it paid off - great news!
However, I'm getting a little 'fed up' with Pathfinder and the way it's supposed to play out. I'm seriously considering limiting the supply of magic items, especially 'mundane things' like wand of cure light wounds and stuff like that. I mean where's the challenge if everyone runs around fully stocked? :)
I know you are a fan of Cypher. I think it also has a consumables problem. I'm a fan of FATE. I'm assuming, though, that you're interested in a way to remove them from Pathfinder.
One issue is that consumables are a way of letting non-spellcaster classes have access to the daily use powers of the caster classes.Possibly you might look to working out a 1/day item for potions and wands, then let people have those. This'd represent a wand that works 1/day, or a "potion allowance".
You could simply pull the rules from the Automatic Bonus Progression (even possibly at the no items = ABP +2).
That said, the advantage of things like the cure wand is that a group doesn't become paranoid about resting between encounters.
"I guess we'd better go fetch the puppies, our kitchen gear, and any other valuables that we can fit in the cart, and then make sure our ride is still out there. Hopefully the evil Warforged haven't..."
”Declaration. We did make a contract to lead them out in exchange for their help. We should honor the terms of the agreement. Thoughtful pause. What happens to the wolves once led outside the Mournland was not defined. Suggestion. We should be prepared for the possibility of betrayal at that point.”
Palisade examined the fabled schema they had been sent out to locate with mild interest. ”Our mission parameters did not mention that a dublicate of the schema existed,” it mused. ”Suggestion. The true justification of our current employer are still suspect in this one’s mind. We should avoid mentioning the existence of this duplicate in case her reasons for collecting the schema prove out to be unsanctioned.”
More OOC:
I'm OK with consumables because they are gone after they are used. I'm not Ok with wands (technically consumables) which take a long time to use up.
The challenge should be that without a healer-type PC then you just have to be careful regarding the risks you take. To some extent you've had to do that in this place.
It's a very fine line that we GMs have to walk in that, it's good to give PCs options but we have to constantly adjust encounters to make sure they are at least 'challenging'. It's no fun when it's a cake walk. :)
Sometimes, I think there's too much magic in Pathfinder. I mean you all just turned invisible at level 3. I like my fantasy games to be a little more gritty. Look at any good fantasy book/movie and you'll see that magic is not nearly as plentiful as it is in Pathfinder. How many magic weapons in Lord of the Rings? Pretty soon you'll have to start discarding magic weapons. :(
The issue is that you can't take the magic items out because then the encounters become too tough. The automatic bonus progression is one way of doing that but then you have to adjust all the treasure. As you've noticed, my time is limited and I rather concentrate on story rather than mechanics.
I guess that's why I'm partial to settings that have limited magic (Midnight, Dark Sun, Gamma World, Numenera). I know Eberron is NOT low magic but it's got other very good aspects that make it worth running.
I'm curious to see how this new Starfinder will play out.
Thoughts?
Enough ranting, I'm going to recap...
Game on!