Coulda had you a TPK after all...
Quick aside, how do we want to handle the loot list for items that are on characters that are no longer active?
I was considering cleaning it up a bit.
What was a harmless puppy going to do to us?
Good question on the loot list.
Some of that stuff is long gone with various former party members.
Tough to say. Some of it might be helpful, but... *shrug.* Technically, everyone should still be in the chapel, but would they want to give up their loot?
Yeah, no former PC is gone-gone. At worst they're hanging out in the Chapel with Winter and the Refugees.
Up to you guys- I didn't DM for most of the former PCs, just Xander and Mary. I'll let the 4 of you decide.
I'm ok if we don't get anything back from them. I think we have most of the more valuable items.
I don't know that I even remember how many pcs have been in this game and I was here at the start.
I was planning on just removing items from the list that are on other characters. The only things I was considering perhaps moving to us were any healing items given our circumstances.
Even in game I figure that while someone might want to hold onto a magic amulet or ring, they would be more willing to offer up a healing potion.
However, that all depends on what we are going to do. Going all the way back to the chapel might be tricky under the circumstances.
Also was there a locked box that we couldn't open from somewhere? We might want to see if we can find someone that can open it for us.
There is a locked box that John couldn't open.
It's from the same area where we found the shortsword.
Healing is one thing - Elbourne can probably do that. The question is whether we feel up to taking on Zandalous and/or his guardians (and am I the only one who feels like the Tatterman is going to have to be dealt with "for real" at some point?) with the resources we have.
John and Shadow just need HP to be fully effective, right? And Reine is still a solid damage dealer so long as no one actually hits her. :-)
So, we're not without means, but Broom has no spells left, right? And Des is down to just acid/shadow splashes as well, I think.
A night resting at the chapel would be potentially quite helpful, though John would be facing his Ghoul Fever, and we might be leading an army of yellow-robes to the chapel that way. And like John said, what if Zandalous realizes his guards have been taken out?
On the other hand, healing up (if we can get Elbourne to provide that) means going into what is probably at least one "boss fight" leaning very heavily on John and Shadow (and to a lesser extent, Reine) to do all the heavy lifting, while Des and Broom are, potentially, targets.
Just laying out all the considerations. I'm cool with either course of action, though Reine probably leans a bit more towards the Elbourne route, since she's not really doing the resource management thinking. :)
Broom has 3 acid rays (1d6+2) and then its all about the acid splash (1d3+1) or sickle (1d6).
We can go back to the chapel.
They'll probably be ready for us when we return, but hopefully there aren't any more murderous grandmothers.
I don't think any of the other group goes up here. They were cut off by the mist, ghouls and broken stairs. I'm not sure how this all works. I seem to recall that Zandalus hasn't been seen in a little while?
Yeah, I've been puzzled about how this works as well. How do they get food, for example? I can't imagine anyone from the camp willingly runs plates of potatoes through the gauntlet of ghouls 3 times a day, ya know?
Maybe there's a back hallway that connects via those stairs in the camp area or something. Maybe Elbourne was just hoping we'd become ghoul food. Dunno.
Should be interesting to find out.
Well, if everyone else has a necklace slot filled, Reine could take the new one. When you're a melee fighter and have the fewest hp of the group, a high AC is kinda nice to have...
Sounds like a great idea.
Groovy.
It's a shame about the talismans though. Especially the Beneficial Winds one... :-)
Waiting for the "Wait, where is all of my...? WHY is my underwear all folded up, Kon-Mari style in the corner?"
Huh, who knew that you could become famous for teaching people how to clean their house?
I wasn't 100% certain about the guard's fates as well. I kind of just assume we did our best and left them there. They seemed safe enough up top and we don't want the people down below to ask questions. It also seemed that they had food stockpiled up top.
I'd have thought that (in a world where they both existed) Broom would be one of Marie Kondo's biggest fans. :-)
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I may have had to google Marie Kondo, but Broom would definitely be a fan. And in this campaign it wouldn't even be out of place if Broom started talking to the things she was about to clean up either
I can totally see MK's mind being one of the ones Broom consults with semi-regularly. :D
So... do we want to sleep outside of the chapel? I feel like there's a risk involved in doing that - didn't Elbourne say something about people staying awake to avoid getting killed or something?
*Checks the archives*
Yeah. Apparently everyone tries to avoid sleeping, because the Tatterman hunts people in their sleep - possibly as Zandalus' assassin. I'm guessing that if Z found his main enforcer dead, he'd be actively sending the Tatterman out to look for her killers. If that's a thing he can do, and not just a rumor. Either way, I'm guessing that sleeping out here means we have a chance of running into the Tatterman again, and not getting any benefits of rest (possibly getting dead, instead).
So. Do we:
1) Rest here anyway and risk it
2) Try to get back to the chapel and sleep there
3) Suck it up and go after Zandalus as we are (assuming that he was up there behind the Bag Lady's bedroll somewhere)
Thoughts?
Well, it does look like way back on page 4 we did rest outside of the chapel (before we even got to the chapel) and there were some potentially uncomfortable side effects. Coupled with the information we got here it looks like it might not be ideal.
However, considering how beat up we got with the bag lady when we did have spells and such, I don't think its a good idea to press forward without a rest. In order of preference 1) chapel, 2) here 3) press on.
Although if the doctor agrees to teach Broom about healing magic then resting here is the only option.
My preferences match Broom's.
John is good with retracing to the chapel.
Great. So the next question is: How do we get to the chapel without leaving a trail for Yellow Jerks to follow/without being noticed?
We could ask Elbourne, I suppose, but he didn't think it was possible to get beyond the Dark Room in the first place, and I don't think we want to be telling even him that the chapel is safe (or even exists).
Do we just try to slip out when most folks are (not?) sleeping?
We can backtrack towards the chapel quietly, and then stop and wait to see if we're followed.
If any of the disciples follow us, then we can beat them up and make certain we aren't followed all the way back.
I don't get the impression they are interested in following us anywhere. The congregation seems to be largely interested in waiting for Zandalus to return and the guards are all about making sure the congregation stays in line. I think if the Dr. tells us "go find more supplies", we would be OK going out and coming back later.
I feel like the Apostles we've found on the other side previously were scouts, and if Zandalus and/or his apostles find out that there's a clear path to food and supplies (let alone a safe place to sleep), they'll rush the place - and (aside from a half-dozen NPC former PCs and Winter) the chapel's defenders are a little weak against a determined assault.
But that might just be my tactical and paranoid mind talking.
I like John's plan.
It sounds like we have a plan, we just need one of the more responsible members of the team to suggest it in gameplay.
...uh... we have responsible team members? ;-)
I am just waiting for Nipper to recreate the dog kennel scene from John Carpenter's "The Thing".
There's a good chance the doctor rats us out if someone leans on him.
We probably need to either rush back to the chapel and hope they don't find us, or wait a couple hours to ambush anyone who follows us.
Probably the second one. Preferably after we lock the door There are a couple of places we could do that, if I remember right.
A couple of choke points would be good.
Were we going back to the chapel to rest?
Staying in the office was just to make sure we weren't being followed, right?
Yes. The plan is to hang out in the office for an hour or two, I think, and then go back to the chapel to rest for the night.
yes, we were concerned about leading Zandulus's followers back to the chapel.
I know Karl is busy, so we may have some time for this discussion. Based on the map, if we wait in the hallway, the only way to attack any potential bad guys is from the front, through that door (or having them come to us). While that does give us the ability to retreat back towards the chapel if needed, it also limits us a bit, tactically speaking.
Also, it leaves us with our backs to the library and the office (C6 and C12, respectively) where we ran into the rat-people. I don't remember how many of them might be still alive, and/or friendly or unfriendly. Would John be comfortable with that?
Alternatives I see include either hiding on the second floor of the administrator's office (there's a stairwell on the map), where we could shoot from above, or possibly hiding in C17/18, and hitting anyone who goes into the Administrator's office from behind (though that leaves us without an escape route, potentially).
So, do we want an escape route (that exposes us to rat-people), or the ability to hit from above/behind?
I think Genny was the only rat person left when we went through, and despite what happened to her companions, she seemed fairly agreeable. Though this might just be because she feared for her life at that time.
We did meet one of the yellow acolytes in C16, he was preaching to some dolls.
If the door opens into the office, there is a lot of furniture there that we could stack up in front of it. Even if they do try to push their way through it would give us plenty of warning that something was up.
I think there are also those cells down in the D2/3 area that had windows on one side that lead to that hallway in behind giving access to C1.
We could also try something sneaky and make up some kind of cryptic sign that says "Zandalus forbids passage beyond this point". Maybe use some of the imagery from his paintings or drawings to add a little authenticity.
If they are zealous enough, they might not question it.
We could also try something sneaky and make up some kind of cryptic sign that says "Zandalus forbids passage beyond this point". Maybe use some of the imagery from his paintings or drawings to add a little authenticity.
If they are zealous enough, they might not question it.
I like this one. Especially for the second route (I had been pretty sure there was a second path).
OK, I think there's paper in here. Let's have someone (probably not Reine) write out a "Zandalus Forbids" note - maybe 2? - and we can put one of them on the door to D2c or D3, whichever one had the broken window we went through. Then we can set up either an ambush and/or multiple blocked doors in and beyond the office.
Oh, I like that! Misinformation would probably keep the chapel safe longer than an ambush.
If Broom is busy tidying, Des can write the notes - otherwise you can ignore my post. ^_^
If it does come to an ambush, I think we'd be better off with an escape route than a superior attack position, simply because we've used a lot of resources already, and if they mean to attack the chapel, they'd probably be a fairly large group.
I had been thinking that they'd send out scouts first (or curious, enterprising types would follow us on their own), and we could take them out, which would, perhaps discourage reconnaissance in force.
But yeah, if I were wrong, being trapped would be no bueno.
Now, we just have to hope that the zealots can/will read... :-)
As a follow up to the GM's question, we did not try to put any physical barriers in front of the double door, right? We are relying on trickery and subterfuge to turn them away, and ambush if they persist?
That was my understanding, yes.
Correct (based on my understanding).
So you guys are going to hole up in the office. What if they don't go toward the office?
We're going to wait at the office for a while to see if they follow.
We will eventually return to the chapel to rest up.
I'm just gonna put in a plug for myself here. I'm running an Eberron-ified version of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist here on the boards and we're down to 3 PCs- a shifter legendary shifter, a half-elf Phiarlan fighter, and a ratfolk witch. If anybody's interested in joining, please let me know.
Random trivia I just found out, orpiment is a yellow crystal made of arsenic sulphide that was ground down in ancient times and used as either a yellow pigment or as poison for various purposes.