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

Game Master Balacertar

I guess now is a bad time to mention that I'm a kiwi :-)

Nah, clearly the best team in the RWC.

Were you using Arabic for Abyssal? Sorry I couldn't remember. If it wasn't then I guess JJs accent is a little different from Marigolds! I'll have to work on that.

It's Gujarati, but no worries! I've got a list of real world languages that I use for Golarion languages unless someone prefers something else :)

Hmm that could be useful, always looking for something that 'looks'right when trying to put a language on the screen for flavor. If you don't mind my stealing your hard work i'd love a copy of that list

Not at all! I can't take credit for the idea since I picked it up from PbP and some of these were suggestions adopted from other players, but here's what I've got so far:

Some of them I tried to use what the closest real world equivalent would probably be, like Romanian for Varisian. Others, I just went by what looked appropriate to my eyes or seemed appropriate in general, like Klingon for Orc (yes, there are Klingon language translators out there). I don't mind using whatever languages other people want to use though, like Maxim's Dutch for Gnomish :)

And all apologies to anyone that's a native speaker of any of those languages; Google Translate works for PbP but I know it butchers the sentence structure in spectacular fashion at times!

I'm not locked into Dutch as Gnomish - figured it fit the whimsical nature of Gnomes?

+1 on the Google Translate butchery, but it works, like you said for pbp.

Right off to the game thread - you lot have been busy!

I'm going to be away at camp over the weekend again, so no posts from me after about midday tomorrow.

I have had not the opportunity to fully read your discussion until now. The return trip became more incidental than expected and had to steal some wi-fi here and there, but luckily I am back home and will probably come to normal life in short.

I wonder, how are you dealing with this so far? Do you find it confusing to understand what is going on? Any doubt, just let me know!

GM, what is the stance in Cauldron legally on fighting in the street, especially if one of these thugs dies?

You will be requested to stop the fight, and if the event proofs to be specially disturbing place into arrest for some days. If someone dies though, you might be in trouble to proof it was a legitimate defense. Local authorities decisions tend to become arbitrary on those cases, partially because it rarely has happened.

Everything perfectly understandable and enjoyable so far.

Based on what you say about fighting in the street I think I'll pick up a sap when I get the chance.

Guys, is anyone tracking loot?

I will give others the opportunity to react too, but if nothing new in some hours comes up I will move the action to the temple.

I'm game to track loot - have drafted up a fun journal where Maxim will document our acquisitions (will invest in-game in a journal :0 - however our family owned MacBook (which I have a long running hate/hate relationship with) is not playing ball with my Google Drive account.

May have to wait for work and transfer onto a word doc for easier upload/access.

But if anyone else has a burning desire to be the book-keeper then feel free :)

If you want to share with me, I can add the link my listing and I can help with the book keeping. Doing so in a couple other games already.

ranger_475@yahoo.com

Will do. Once I fix my document woes I'll share with you and the post the link here.

Thanks Maxim & Ryan for volunteering! Depending on how many people you're comfortable with having access to the loot tracker, I'd be willing to help too if need be.

figured Ryan's training would have covered the history of the church and Cauldron as well. so used the information on page 21 for previous post, was typing it as GM typed Alecks response sorry for any appearance of a contradiction. Ryan's studies are more recent than Sir Tercival :)

Perhaps not intended knowledge, but it is ok, nothing breaking ;)

Ok, so that's basically all the info the temple have to give you. Once you decide where to go let me know and I will move the action wherever needed.

I have decided to post splitting the action in three places.

Feel free to move dynamically from one part to another if you feel you prefer to participate there.

There are no spoilers, because I think you will share the information afterwards, and it makes easier for you to make sense what is happening in the adventure.

If you ever feel you are done with the Orphanage, just let me know what place would you like to visit next! :)

Since Maxim & Ryan are keeping track of loot and such, I thought I'd start a document listing all of the different NPCs and such that we come across during our game - mainly because I know I'm gonna forget names and who is who as the game progresses if I don't!

Here's the link, if anyone is curious. Feel free to let me know if there's anything that needs to be added/updated that I might've missed!

That is fantastically useful, thank you Mari :)

Late to the table to thank you all for the tracking of essentials!!

Good idea Marigold.

It seems the idea of visiting Guelve's Locks is winning for now. You probably know or can get easily directions to there.

In case you try to find out more about the Last Laugh involvement though, I need you to tell me where/whom you want to check out.

Or perhaps you want to checkout some other place before looking for side information about other disappearances or some of your characters background relatives/informants.

It should be around 23:00 right now.

Thank you Marigold, was just thinkin yesterday about seeing if the GM had a link to important people, but this works beautifully.

No problem guys! If anyone else wants edit privileges for the document, just post here or PM me :)

If it is 11pm it probably isn't worth visiting Ghelve until the morning.

Do we know taverns that the LL frequent?

Guys my home interwebs in the wilds o' Scotland has been knocked out and I'm slammed at work at the moment.

Will try and post when I get the chance today - you chatty, chatty lot you! :)

Got it! Hope you can somehow follow the conversation, it is getting interesting ^_^

Fortunately you are a lot so if not one is another who moves the thing. I am just concerned if you are able to follow and keep updated with the events as they unfold so you do not get too lost when you come back to the campaign.

Honestly I am getting a little overwhelmed but that is my issue and I will be sure to catch up tonight.

Marigold's list of NPCs is really useful.

Yeah the current passage is a little overwhelming but to be honest its in keeping with a new group still sorting out the dynamics.

Once we establish whose the defacto party faces, who takes the lead in certain circumstances etc, it'll likey flow better.

Plus we're still all finding our voices so-to-speak, so any opportunity to roleplay and run with the narrative most of us will take it :)

Early Heads Up: I'll be heading off to Dubai next week for a 6 day (Wed-Tues) trip to see friends and family. No idea how much time I'll get to post, but if I can I will.

See below for link to my first pass at the Loot Sheet.

Rather than plumping for the good old table, I've done it as more a (wry) journal narrative... an inventory ledger so to speak (fitted more with our flavour and Maxim's character).

Everyone can view at the moment - with editorial rights sitting with myself and Ryan. Anyone who wants to edit/update can (just fire me your email) or we can divvy up here in the OOC and one of the quartermasters will update and allocate :)

Each entry has a "claims" sub header - where we can record whose got what (be in a permanent claim or temp carry etc). I for one don't care who gets what as long as its not just a few PCs who are tooled to the max at the detriment of the others. That being said if items shift certain PCs way, then the balance can be awarded in coin and spendables?

Again something we can discuss here and nail down before GM-R festoons us with coin and ancient items of power :)

Shackled City Loot Sheet

If overwhelming feeling is for less organic and more structured/tablelike, then happy to revisit. I've found loot sheets can be a royal pain in the past and wanted to try something more fun.

Man, I can bang away at that loot sheet without persimmons, Maxim- you sure only you and Ryan are the only ones with rights? hehehe

Mmm not so sure now lol. Did mess around with it and the permissions links... hell if everyone has access to edit so much the better :)

In the exchange I said that Ruben took the silver crowns from the Last Laugh patsies but that was just roleplaying, happy for it to go to the group

Yikes, 19 new posts in Gameplay since I made my last one! Then again I did spend half the day in bed feeling puny or I would've caught up a bit sooner.

*cracks knuckles and gets to work*

Oh, nice job on the loot ledger Maxim! Looks like I have edit access too, hehe.

Thanks a lot Maxim and Marigold for your extra work and dedication :)

Some clarifications about the combat. The skulks were at the balcony over the stairs and jumped over Maxim and Ryan as they stepped in.

I missed the sneak attack damage and in a first version of the first round post Maxim was still on foot. Then I edited after JJ posted fixing it to reflect the sneak attack which unfortunately made him fell unconscious.

The light is 'dim' in the backstore, only entering below the courtains and a little bit more from the dark street through the window courtains.

The courtain breaks line of sight and line of effect, and for easiness what do you think if we assume it takes only a swift action to move it open instead of the move action required for a door for example.

I have been noted I rolled a critical thread with an 18 in a shortsword. Sorry about it!

Fortunately it did not affect the result.

No worries - all should have access :)

Man 23 posts and knee deep in combat since I last had a chance to post... least Maxim was down and merely a trip hazard for most of it.

Will get something up in the game thread pronto!

I have added some links to the campaign description so you can reach the Jzadirune map, the loot and the diary more easily.

You have now the opportunity to rest if you wish so, then continue fully refreshed the next day.

Please, let me know where do you rest, and if you wish to visit any other areas before coming back to Ghelve's locks.

The way I would like to manage this is to provide you the opportunity to split so everybody can roleplay a bit with the city focusing in their own stories. In order not to bore those not interested and not to freeze the main plot you enjoy together, I suggest to invest only 1 day (today's Friday) and manage all the stories at the same time.

I will set within spoilers the actions addressed at each of you but I will add an asterisk * next to your name. These will mean even if the text contained addresses to one (or more) character in particular, you are free to read it if you are interested in the others story. The spoilers with the * are in this case just to keep group split ordered and focused but you can open them.

I have never done this before, thus it would be specially great to have feedback on how it works for you. In this case we will keep it short because you are still time pressured and there is probably little thing you wish to do, but between chapters you will have much longer downtimes and we will need to figure out if this way to handle it works for us.

So, feel free to let me know where do you go to sleep, if you pay anyone a visit, go to buy/sell stuff, visit a tavern and or dedicate time to study or crafting.

Of course, you can go together in small groups or couples if that fits for you. Just let me know with the actions in your next post what do you want to do or with a short sentence here if you have no time to write on gameplay.

For example I know JJ wants to go home (where do you live? see Cauldron's map up), pick up his shield and perhaps other things, then come back to sleep here with Keygan.

Depending on what we decide to do with the skulks, Marigold will likely go home afterwards to grab the rest of her gear and get some sleep. The next day, she'll hustle off to Bluecrater Academy to see if one of her coworkers/boss will give her some leave from work for a few days before meeting back up with everyone at Ghelve's.

Contingencies (since I'm about to try and get a little sleep for a few hours):

(1) If we decide to take the skulks to the guard or to St. Cuthbert's, she'll heal them up once they're safely secured so they'll be conscious for questioning.

(2) If we decide to just kill them, she'll probably just be secretly relieved!

(3) Though she'd prefer to sleep in her own bed in her own home (probably some low-rent place close to the lake), she'll come back and crash at Ghelve's with JJ if need be.

@Ryan - Bless might be a good prepared spell if you don't have it already? I probably should have just taken it as a spell for Marigold since it's a pretty useful low-level buff, but I'd decided to try for something a little different. She's got Protection from Evil covered, though.

This is a very quick post from my phone to say I am stuck in work and will be for hours most likely and then am going immediately away for the weekend.

I will try to post tonight or tomorrow morning.

Just back from work myself - long day from being in the gym @ 06:00 to supervising an emergency load out of oilfield kit @ 18:00.

Am bushed and need some time to try and get the measure of the posts, like Ruben touched on its very easy at the moment to loose track and miss some great RP opportunities, but that's RL ;)

When I get galvanised I'll update our swag. If we're going our separate ways for an eve, then we probably need to discuss trading of loot, and divvying of coin, should anyone want to make a purchase or investment.

If its the latter - may I suggest either learning a new spell from Ghelve or perhaps in a bottle of Garthûn Imports finest? (I can possibly swing a slight discount) ;)

Ooopse I should have read this before my post. I did a bit of a cut scene in the Gamepost thread, but happy to play that out.

Depending on the loot feedback, Maxim will most likely spend the night at the locksmith's studying a spell.

From there he will sally forth and either assist in the selling/trading of our swag or meet with his Uncle to discuss the events thus-far.

Will post later crappy internet, 5th attempt

Even though Ryan gave Marigold the two Thunderstones, she's happy to share if someone else needs/wants one. Just let me/her know.

@Ruben - Alrighty, have a good weekend!

It's definitely taking some getting used to the speed of the game, hehe. Since the GM and a couple of you are in Europe or Australia, I tend to wake up to a large amount of posts in the morning here (GMT -6). And on that note, I might miss something addressed to Mari from time to time if there are a lot of posts to read through so if I do, feel free to poke me and I'll respond :)

New Zealand! We're not Aussies.

Think the ebb and flow of the game will settle come time.

In the meantime it'll be more of a headache for GM Rutseg as they'll be a plethora of retro posts and then "current time" posts.

Think if there is crucial plot points in the AP/game that it might be worth allowing time for us all to post sequentially... not advocating holding the game up for individuals, but I'd be concerned if plot developments rapidly move forward with just a few of the group driving them (btw - not saying this has happened - just worried that when we get to the sharp end of plot points it would be better to get a majority input :)

Things always end up on their place.

So let's hope that is a good place :)

This is a very quick post from my phone to say I am stuck in work and will be for hours most likely and then am going immediately away for the weekend.

I will try to post tonight or tomorrow morning.

It should be ok Ruben, you will have other opportunities for exploring Ruben's connections and background. Most you will lose during the weekend is I guess the descend to Jzadirune.

Maxim's planned activities:

Study own spell-book - 1 hour
Grab some shut eye - 8 hours
Up and out with swag for trade - just weapons and armour gathered; so if anyone wants any claim 'em! :)
Try and meet up with his Uncle and give him the skinny on the story so far.
Rendezvous with the rest of the group at Ghelve's.

Before we head into the deep we should each definitely spend some coin if necessary?

Maxim will likely take the opportunity to try and copy a spell or two from Keygan's book - most likely Detect Secret Doors and Reduce Person.

Musings on Loot

If we accept Keygan's offered coin thats 170 (+50 already gained from the Church coffers) = 220GP that we have in the collective pot. I've re-read over some earlier stuff and missed Reuben grabbing the silver in the alley scrap (which I have no issue with)

So reckon we should all take 31GP for starters and that'll leave us 3GP to be added to whatever we get for the weapons and armour in trade?

If anyone is claiming/is best deserving of the holy water and potions lets also nail that down if we can. Likewise getting the cash divvied up now means we can all do some shopping (or retro shopping) as we allow our wee story sojourns to play out?

What you reckon folks/GMR?