[AP] The Shackled City Adventure Path by GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

Guys I am travelling with work and my access is spotty.

Loot sheet updated... We've stuff like Cloak of Protection +1 that should really be snagged right away by someone.

(we are pretty rubbish at this whole "divvying up the treasure" thing lol).

Also we need to offer sacrifice to the dice-bot gods... they have forsaken us at the moment!

From personal experience running the loot list for another game of mine, trying to get people to take stuff/keep their sheets updated is like trying to pull teeth and herd cats at the same time...

So I'll take a peek and see what new goodies we've got that MG can use :)

Okay...most of the actual gear MG doesn't have much use for because she's already got the equivalent or better. She could use one of the small light crossbows we picked up in the Great Hall in Jzadirune though and maybe some bolts to go with it. The cold iron dagger would be useful if we run across fey or something else along those lines but that's not a huge deal; cold iron usually isn't too expensive so she can always pick up a cold iron mace or something when we get back to Cauldron :)

As far as other items go...she'll take a couple of the tindertwigs and sunrods unless we had other plans for those. I'd recommend the healing potions and the potions of Invisibility and Fire Resistance go to people who'll be scouting or otherwise on the front lines more often than not. Same for the Oil of Magic Weapon. The Cloak of Resistance should go to whoever has the 'worst' saves overall but I'm not sure who that would be.

Hey guys, my posting today and tomorrow may be spotty due to work shenanigans; I'll try to check in as I can but if you don't see much from me until Friday that's why.

No problem Marigold, we will be basically ending the exploration and closing the chapter :)

GM-R would it be a massive pain to list the freed prisoners and liberated dwarves in the NPC section of the Campaign info - lost track a little on who was missing, who was found, who we know and who are strangers :)

Cheers ahead o' time :)

You are right, it is confusing also for me.

I have added a spoiler "Prisoners" in the Campaign info tab with some bits of information. Let me know if you find anyone missing. You also have the document maintained by Marigold.

They are a lot of folk and most are very secondary cast, so do not feel the urge to have an intense interaction with all of them.

Sorry guys, I've not had access to my laptop much this week. My husband's computer has been on the fritz and I've been letting him use my laptop out of pity because I'm an awesome and generous wifey. I should get it back by tomorrow so I'll update our campaign journal then. Until then, thanks GM for helping to keep tabs :)

Sorry to throw so much to you in so little time, but I hope this way you can focus on what you prefer to close up. It should be calmer now.

Take your time to come over again about any past thing. Once you are all ready to come back to Cauldron with the recovered citizens and the children, let me know and we will pass to close up that part too.

This chapter was more prone to have cool things for the dwarves of the group, but I hope everybody finds their chapter to shine in the future (I know it will happen... conspirator GM laugh here).

Congrats for the victory :)

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be forced to bow out of this one.

I hate doing this and have only done so once before in pbp games because if I commit to a game I feel like it is also a commitment both the GM and other players.

But I've had a recent change in my work that means I am travelling a lot and my time for games has really been squeezed and unfortunately I think this one has to give.

I haven't been following along as well as I should and definitely not contributing the way this game deserves. So anyway I just wanted to say I really enjoyed playing with you guys and hope to do so again in future but for now Ruben has done enough to ease his conscience, made a quick buck and is going to go back to delighting and subsequently disappointing the ladies of Cauldron.

:)

Man, truly gutted to see you go, but fully appreciate how RL can make it tough.

Have appreciated the characterisation, collaboration and most of all fun mate - let me know when/if you hit Aberdeen again as we need to meet up :)

Hopefully we'll get to roll some virtual dice again down the line.

Fair thee well and safe travels JZ.

Hate to see you go but I definitely understand the work thing! See you around on the forums ;)

Been a pleasure having you in the group Ruben. Of course now JJ doesn't have to worry about you hitting on Marigold!

Good time to bow out at the end of a chapter, and really appreciate you sticking around to the end of it. We'd have been toast without you there to lend a hand.

Well, that's unfortunate, Jamzilla. No (La)chance your traveling will change up in a month or two? I could see you ghost for a bit, then rejoin when you've got your time back. We're a patient lot, from what I've gathered, but then I gather you know best, and GM Rutseg may have different expectations :)

Sorry to see you leave Ruben, have enjoyed the character. Look forward to playing with you again in the future, safe travels with work.

I know how much you have struggled the last weeks to keep playing and I thank you for that compromise. This is a sweet spot to leave the game, but I hope there are new opportunities for Ruben the heartbreaker to come an join us. Do not hesitate to let us know if things change in the future.

Thanks a lot for the good time Ruben, it was a pleasure.

Let me know if you want me to keep you as an active player to peer from time to time or you prefer me to set Ruben as inactive in the campaign so you can better focus.

I'll update the loot sheet with the latest swag this eve.

Hopefully we'll have some decent down time to get stuff sold, backstory RPing done and potentially some crafting/spell research and the like done.

GM-R: Can we safely presume that the loot found in M19 belongs to prisoners and was therefore claimed?

- small studded leather armor
- a bloodstained chain shirt
- blood-encrusted short sword
- 2x longswords
- leather bag of caltrops
- a 30-foot length of hemp rope
- 3x torches
- an empty backpack
- sand watch, 25 gp
- mwk artisan tools, 55 gp
- flute, 5 gp

Don't want to update the loot sheet with swag we can't/won't be selling...

Maxim when you figure up loot plan on picking up another wand of CLW seems we're rough on one as a group.

Yep, those mundane weapons are equipment from the prisoners. They will feel compelled to give you as payment for their rescue.

Think in good faith we should leave them with their possessions?

@Ryan: Yeah loot sheet is updated, I'll work out what's to be traded. In the meantime if anything takes a fancy then let me know as a claim for that character. Defo think a CLW wand is in order. Seeing how bloody handy the Sleep Wand was/is (think 1 charge left lol) - then perhaps a wand or two has potential.

Giving a tithe to the Church would also be a good shout too - fills their coffers and keeps the clergy on our side lol.

^ Sounds good to me. Also I think I've got the bulk of the new names and information added to the campaign document but let me know if I've missed anything!

JJ is all for returning the folks their goods.

If we can give them a little extra from the goblins loot (it doesn't have to be much) it might also help with our general reputation in the city as being Good Guys (tm) and general heroic types.

Of course maybe that is more JJs goal (being so recognised) than others :-)

Yes can you please set it as inactive for me please GM?

Thanks guys and good luck!

Thank you man - been a pleasure.

My mind has not gone mad, this is really part of chapter 1 :p

Ok Ruben, I will do as we close the chapter. Thanks for the good time we have shared!

Gnomes! It has to be gnomes.

What sadistic author would actually put a group of 2nd level characters up against a beholder.

GM it is safe to say we have had a nights rest before attempting the return trip right?

I guess you were very tired and could have decided to do so, yes. But you came up very soon as people was really wanting to come back to their homes and Jzadirune was already cleared.

Got the impression we were hitting the road asap? Am cool with an overnight rest, but thought the prisoners wanted home as a priority?

Regardless this beholder is bad news - especially as JJ is mooting it as a illusion :S - which makes sense... which means were likely to try and lock horns or ignore it...

EDIT: Given that Maxim may think JJ's suggestion its an illusion as plausible, will try and Spellcraft check against this "illusion"...

Well, if it's illusion, Kikinnin's gonna have to interact with it, and hope it's just that...

If it's allusion, then we're all in the shadow of death, and reflecting upon the transient nature of life...

Well, assuming we live I'm fine with taking everyone topside first and then getting some rest :)

Not an illusion! Not even a little! Three ray attacks... We're just supposed to feel violated here... I get it now...

JJ was all for getting folk top side as soon as possible. In terms of transit time, it would only be a few minutes travel, so I'm not sure we would have rested in the dwarf-hold.

Looks like I have catch up to do in the gameplay thread.

Well...this certainly deserves a reaction but as to which one, I need to think on that...

(Sad thing is that I've always wanted to fight one of these as a player but in my mind the experience wasn't quite so one-sided!)

I have fought one in 3.5. High level party being slowly munched up by it. Playing a rogue who tumbled beneath it and attacked from there. Luckily it was already a bit damaged. I think the barbarian finished it off in the end.

Will sell all the non useful mundane stuff, we can pick over the magic items.

Once I have a lump sum will split it throughout the party...

Maxim plans to swap out some of his coin share for gemstones and jewelry - easier to carry and trade with.

Once we've nailed down whose taking what of the more juicy items/treasure we can then organise another bout of trading?

We just need reactions to the temple scene to Jenya but we basically concluded Chapter 1.

I am very happy and pleased on how things resulted. Thanks a lot for this great time! :D

It is a pity that we lost two players though, I recruited 7 people to combat that but we lost them faster than I expected sincerely. So, are you just fine being 5 or would you prefer to recruit a 6th or even 7th companion? We are now at an early stage of the campaign and thus it should be easy to add new people in case you feel that would be good for us as a group.

After some months together I think we already start to have an idea of how things are working here. Thus, I would like to hear your opinion on how the first chapter resulted and how do you feel the group is working both player and character-wise. Also I would like to know what can I do to improve your experience as a GM. All this worries me, because I usually can see and talk with the players, but here I am moving more or less blind, so I need to more clearly express all this kind of things.

Thus, in addition to discussing here anything you would like to rise up, I would appreciate if you can give me anonymous and sincere feedback about your experience. Please, let me know what do you think and/or feel on this small survey. The survey is anonymous and I will keep the results private as long as you do not express you want to share it. Complete it as deeply or as lightly as you wish.

Finally, some of you have already spontaneously done it, but if you want to send me a PM expressing where would you like your PCs evolution/progression to go to, what kind of opportunities would you like for him to appear... just do so! I will do my best to attempt give him those opportunities.

I will later make a recap of the chapter (I also like to discuss with players about what the creators made).

Requests summary:

• Shall we recruit more players?
  
• Anything to discuss?
  
• Share some feedback?
  
• Would you like to send PM with character expectations?
  

Nothing to worry about GM-R :)

Survey completed and issued - happy for mine to be used and cited as/when/if necessary.

On the numbers front we're sitting with the following:

Dwarf Paladin
Halfling Oracle
Human Cleric
Human Ranger (Urban)
Dwarf Wizard (Spellslinger)

Its a pretty balanced group as is... Guess a supplimentary arcane caster/buffer might be a decent fit - Bard perhaps??

Will fire some discussional stuff up later as latest recorded episode of Penny Dreadful is calling to me :)

I think we have steamrolled things a bit early on, which has worked well in PBP.

Between 7 characters and a wand of CLW, we rocked through things in a couple of character days that might take a normal group several trips.

But that felt good and heroic.

I like the current group, and we have gone through the early drop-out phase of the game. I think this generation of AP was designed for four characters anyway, so we have a bit of leeway.

Might be safer to add a 6th, just to keep up the posting pace and interactions, but hte risk with that is it changes the party dynamic that is starting to fall into place.

Agree with JJ - am fine with rolling with the 5 remaining if we think dynamics might be an issue... We've a decent blend and cover a wide base of different abilities and focuses.

There is a very dogged, heroic feel to this group (and the game) - know this may prove our undoing but we've proved highly resourceful thus far.

Less characters may open up encounters more - at the moment we're buzz sawing through single foes and bottle necking against groups - which is fine for the scrappers, but less so for ranged/spell using PCs (ahem)...

Maxim plans to take both Arcane Strike and Arcane Armour Training for his 3rd and 6th Level Character Advancement Feats, so he'll be tastier in both attack and defence.

And when I create Gatling The Gun Golem at Level 15 then we'll be unstoppable lol.

I actually enjoyed the 1st chapter irregardless of the fact the dice roller hates me most days making the melee side of Ryan difficult to balance with his limited spells for a day, especially when we are steam rolling.

I see one of his main rolls as buffing the others, and pretty much after the first fight entering Malachite he was spelless till he rest tonight with the exception of some 1 round individual buff(Inspiring Word)

From the more seasoned arcane/divine casters in the group I am welcome to suggestions concerning spell conservation.

Haven't been home long will post more later tonight.

Currently working ye olde graveyard shift but I'll get up a Gameplay post and address Rutseg's questions when I get home in a few hours :)

And a big thank you to GM Rutseg for keeping up the pace.

APs are long, and it is easy to go off the boil, so to speak.

Really looking forward to Chapter 2!

I haven't played through this before but think we would be ok with 5 as long as you are comfortable going forward with them. Outside of a trip to Peru in July in which I have no idea of internet availability, I plan to be available daily as we continue.

Characterwise I am toying with taking a level of fighter/paladin (leaning towards just fighter) while we are still early in the game, figure this to be a continuation of his work with Kikinnin and Aleck broadening his weapon and armor proficiencies as he finds the mace doesn't solve everything. Thoughts anyone?

*cracks knuckles*

Alrighty, let's see...

The Group
Regarding in-character things, I'm quite happy with the group and I agree with Maxim about the general 'feel' of our group as underdog scrappers - which is quite fun and honestly a little different from most of my games nowadays.

As far as party balance, recruiting new players, etc. I can honestly go either way. I wouldn't mind a 6th just to make us a nice, even number and given our class composition any new person would largely be free to make whatever sort of character they'd like (within the original character creation confines). The other reason I wouldn't mind a 6th is that this romp was originally designed for it rather than the 4 that's the standard now. But if everyone thinks we can handle it with just 5 then it's not a big enough deal to me that I'd push the issue :)

Though I suppose it'll be a little more even now, I did notice before we lost Ruben that 2/3rds of the party is designed to be in melee combat - not a bad thing but it'll probably affect my spell choices somewhat. As far as Marigold's 'build' goes, she's obviously been designated the 'Doc' of the group (thanks Ruben!) but thanks to wands she can use her spells for other stuff. If Ryan wants to lean more towards buffing/utility with his spell choices, I can have Marigold opt for more of a controller role and take spells to harass and generally ruin the enemy's day - thoughts?

Random Discussion
Honestly, I can't think of anything that I think needs to be discussed. I've been happy with the game and happy to play with everyone so far and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon. I will say that I'm thankful that you guys don't seem to mind that (on average) I'm one of the slower posters here; I try very hard to at least keep a 1/day commitment to each of my games but I'll admit that some days it's a little harder now that I'm largely working evening and night shifts.

Feedback Survey
Will do!

Character Expectations
You know, I honestly hadn't given it a lot of thought. Sometimes when I create a character I'll have an idea or two of directions they might take (in a very general sense) depending on how the game progresses and other times I opt to just sit back and see how the natural flow of the story goes and how it ends up shaping my character.

As far as other opportunities for Marigold, I'm guessing you mean things such as relationships, business opportunities, etc? I'll have to give those some thought. You see, Marigold always figured that she'd probably just live a quiet life working at Bluecrater Academy but now? I suppose we'll see :)

Thank you all for the effort on giving feedback!

I see it is being positive and I think it is a success of the group together, so thanks all for making this possible! :)
The comments you have provided, I also think they will be very useful for me to make small adjustments and keep what works going on.

About the 5-6 people group. The anniversary edition is indeed designed by Paizo for 6 people. If we decide to go with 6 people, my idea was to first check with Xunal who designed Juraan to see if he is still interested to play with us.

About the game, you can count on 1 week downtime for now and let's see what happens afterwards :)
Answers to your downtime actions coming soon.

We will hold level up a little bit, but will come soon too.

Juraan would be neat addition and a nice counterpoint to Maxim as an arcane caster.

1 week of downtime is great - looking forward to levelling up (have decided to belay my gunslinger multiclass for a few levels as 2nd spells are just too damned tasty :)

Requests summary:

Shall we recruit more players?

Good either way. Not worried about party balance, more welcoming another player who brings good RP to the table. The five we got, got it.

Anything to discuss?

Nope. This group is good on day-to-day communications on OOC.

Share some feedback?

Survey done. Never done a survey before. We doing more surveys? Was mine the only that asked about food preferences? That was an odd survey.

Would you like to send PM with character expectations?

All character expectations will be expressed one way or another through RP. I'll welcome GM expectations if it becomes fuzzy.