Sorry guys-There's a squad of five men that have run to the church. Three are standing in the doorway into the church. Two are standing next to the wall that Ventus climbed, and are cutting his rope into two pieces at the bottom. The only other nearby guards are on the city walls, and are just pointing at the illusion and yelling.
Well crap. Ventus, do you have Alter Self? Can you make yourself look like a kid or something?
Beorn could jump a couple guards, but 5 with and a few more on the wall this becomes a problem. He can't easily take them all out before they call for back-up, and might not be able to even take them out at all if he is trying to subdue them (he is not gonna murder them). And even if he could subdue all of them, it sort of defeats the purpose of pretending we all escaped. Ideas?
I'm guessing Ventus has to keep focusing on his illusion atm so he can't do anything yet.
Nope, Silent Image is my only illusion. I do have ghost sound, maybe I could confuse them, but my Charisma is pretty low--can't really bluff them without magical aid. Also, I need to complete the illusion of our escape, and I don't have any free standard actions while I'm maintaining it.
How close are the guards grouped together? And how far are they from me? Maybe a blast of Color Spray could do the trick ;-)
Only if they come up after you. The are on the ground I believe, blocking your only way down. I would guess you are 40-60 feet above them, maybe higher.
Remember guys, Harhzen took one of these guys out with a single punch. They're not elite devil-blooded soldiers, or Cheliax's finest assassins. They're tired guys who want to go home without pissing off their superiors.
Ventus-
The doorway guys are shoulder-to-shoulder, 60 feet down.
The guys who are cutting your rope are about a foot apart from each other, 60 feet down.
wait what!? Harzhen is one of the guards?
Guys-we're going to have to retcon a little bit. We'll say Harhzen wasn't around when you made your plan-he was spying on guards or something else if you like. Sound okay?
I'm getting more and more confused by the moment.
So, the guards spotted Ventus and are moving into the church. Harzen is with them?
Can you give us a full breakdown of what we know?
Sorry. The guards have seen the illusion and most of them are freaking out about that. However, a small group of five have seen Ventus and decided to focus on him-their thought process is "Hey, there's a guy on top of the church waving his arms and talking to himself, maybe we should check that out." So they broke his rope and are waiting for him to come down. Of the five guards that saw him, three are in the doorway to the church, two are just standing outside the church. Harhzen just came up behind the guards in the doorway, said his piece, and disappeared.
And Beorn, who followed the wizard at a safe distance saw the 5 go by with the shears and the weight and is trying to see what will happen next. He is currently out of sight of the ground level of the church and is trying to keep an eye on the wizard to see what he will do. He really does not want to take these guys out, even if he can - as pointed out, they are not really the enemy.
Uh, everybody there? It's been almost a week since any activity....
I am. I think most of us are waiting to see what happens with Mr. Wizard.
I for one really don't want to get into a brawl int he middle of the street right now. That would pretty much undo the entire point of what we're trying to accomplish here.
Yeah, I definitely understand that. Hopefully this isn't too tough on you guys.
I am here, and agree - I fight is the last thing we want.
That said, lets try to step up to a post a day if we can. Didn't we all agree to try to do at least that? I will do my best here.
That was the goal, yes. I'll PM Ventus.
Sounds good.
Can we get a sound off of who's still with us?
I posted this afternoon :)
checking in here.
I am still here, hiding in the shadows...
Same. Hopefully Mr. Cloudstrider will be able to get out of this without our help. Very nerve wracking.
I am headed to a con this weekend where I am in charge of the PFS gaming. Leaving noon central time tomorrow and will be mostly off line for most of the weekend, but will try to check things during any down time.
Alright :) Have a great time!
Shall we skip to the warehouse?
Sounds good to me.
I am back. Lets roll some dices :)
Alright, assuming nobody has anything else they need to do in the basement-what's next?
Get the hell out of here and head to a different safe house to discuss the next course of action.
Which is to become costumed vigilantes. :)
lets do it
That is gonna be so cool.
Okay, we're done here?
Looks like it to me.
I think we've lost most of the group.
Here, and waiting.
Well, that only leaves Geoffrey and Ventus, who both posted on Thursday, which is relatively recent.
Yeah. The four of us are a fine group. We just need to write the others out somehow.
Yeah, you guys are badass. Well, Harhzen turned out to be a double agent, and you said that you gave Grafelda a mission outside of town-and I already have some plans for your meeting her again.
Exactly why we need to not come back here again.
So how do you want to set up the next scene? Want me to just cut to a new safe house?
This is really dragging. I do not know how to help but it needs some help. DM, you need some type of script and the ability to move us along as you desire. Cillian is running the game more than you are. I do not mean to be mean at all, but I want to be clear on what I perceive is happening.
My advise - I am really trying to help.
1) Have an overarching story
2) In story provide some options for us
3) Let us use our skills to try to pick the better options. Some might get us killed or captured again. Some might have us leaving the city to avoid the above. Some might lead to treasure or information about who is running things in the city and what, within our power can be done about it.
4)Give us an chance to plan and execute a plan in regard to one of those choices.
I feel kind of responsible for delaying/derailing the story. The times when jdkle has provided descriptions have been very well done. (the scene with the hellknights dragging the other teifling through the street, and the scene at the church spring to mind as great examples)
I think there's definitely story elements already planted. The big issue is that we've lost half the group we originally started with and we've spent a lot of time waiting on others to post.
I think all this game really needs is some consistent posting to pick up momentum again.
GM, I think more gameplay posts from you would help. See if you can beat us in posting rate. Really push things. My bet is that if you do that for two or three weeks, the issues will fix themselves.
I concur - there have been some great posts from our DM, showing his talent and what he is capable of. I can post 3-5 times a day if given something to react to. Beorn is not from this town, does not know his way around, and if not for a currently small amount of gratitude to the party he would be very happy to just skip town. He is not (yet) of good alignment and feels little alliance to the town. I am playing this such that if you really want the barbarians help you need to win him over. And, frankly, the mage treating him rudely moves him away, and not towards staying and helping.
I definitely get it-I'm sorry, guys. I think that when I started this one of my goals was to have the campaign open-ended and player-driven. However, I haven't really provided enough structure, I don't think. Rest assured, I have a bit of a planned story, so I'll work to make sure that a. you guys can have options and make plans and b. that I kick posting up a notch and advance the plot.
Found a great Map of Westcrown.
Wow! Great find!
Glad you guys like the post.
Most of that is just my spin on the official source material for Westcrown. Its a fantastic setting.
When I first read about the city I realized it was basically Golarion's Gotham. That's where the idea for Cillain came from. I've been wanting to play this character in this setting for about two years now.
So this game better not die! :)
Hey, despite the good background we need some more players if we are gonna continue, don't we? Cillian and I can only carry the story so far. I think we need to rethink where we are, and if we have a good enough plan recruit to fill in at least a couple more spots to carry forward.
Are we really down to just the two of us?
We could easily work a few people in as "old friends of Cillian or Beorn who are recruited into this crazy plan"
I know a few reliable posters on the boards I could ask. Do you know anyone?
Well, yeah. I think you two are all that's left. I don't specifically know anybody, but I could open another recruitment thread. Anyone on your (Cillian's) recommendation I'm fine with.
I'll put the word out. If I can't get a couple people we can recruit.
Sounds like a deal. Beorn, you alright with that?