Oops, forgot the +2 from my level for the Stealth roll, not that it mattered...
Shane's trying to play the good cop. Anyone want to be the bad cop?
Not saying that you are getting it wrong Shane (in fact, it looks like you may well be getting it right), but I am always amused/frustrated that people so often get that trope backwards. The "good cop" is NOT the friendly one. The "good cop" is the one who despises criminals, wants to follow the rules, and book the bad guy on the charges, ruin their life, and etc. The "bad cop" is the one who wants to "make an exception," or "bend the rules - just this once," or somehow circumvent the system "for our buddy here," and might just be able to convince their partner to do it... if only the bad guy will "just give us something," that will allow them to be lenient. It's been done incorrectly enough in movies and TV that now it's accepted as the way it is, but the grumpy old man in me, (the same grumpy old man that grumbles about text speak) always feels the need to point out "the original and correct way" things were in the old days...[/rant] :-)
Jae will stick her head in.
Back in the good old days, when you had to walk to school in the snow barefoot, uphill both ways, and there were only THREE TV channels... :)
Exactly!
And the "remote control" was when Dad would smack a kid on the head, point, and say "go change the channel!" ;-)
I always assumed the terms good and bad were from the perspective of the criminal. From a criminal's perspective, the bad cop is the one that is ready to pistol whip him, throw the book at him, etc. Then the "good cop" steps in and tries to convince him that he will protect the criminal from the abusive "bad cop," if only he will give them some information or do something they need him to do.
I know at least one TV example where a couple of cops were going to question a suspect and one cop begged to be the Good Cop and his partner reluctantly agreed. So the partner (bad cop) starts yelling and threatening to throw the book at the suspect, then the other cop (good cop) intervened and tried to convince the suspect he could protect him from all this if the suspect would just give them a name of another person involved in the crime. The suspect refused to help and insulted the good cop and the good cop then lost his temper and reverted to the bad cop and yelled at the suspect just like his partner had done, hence blowing the ploy.
So I know that sometimes the good/bad cops are designated the way I was thinking. At least that was influential in my interpretation of the routine. I know some cops who now teach criminal justice in college. I'll be curious to know their take on it.
I always thought the Bad Cop was bad because he was threatening the criminal physically, which I don't think cops are within their rights to do, and the Good Cop was good because he was "the friendly neighborhood cop." In other words, I agree with Shane - I think it's mainly seen from the criminal's perspective. I've never heard Jae's interpretation anywhere else.
I can see how from the cop's perspective, the terms could be reversed, with good and bad referring to the sense of how professional each is being. But that would not be obvious to someone without a professional police prospective, so I can see how its use in fiction could cause a reversal of the roles in the public's eye. Interesting.
According to almost any source you find on the interwebs these days, the Bad Cop is bad because he/she's antagonistic to the suspect (whether physically or not).
I was taught differently as a kid. A kid who grew up with friends and family members who were cops, so it's possible that my instructors were coming from a slightly skewed perspective.
Ah, well. It's interesting, either way.
Folks, my most sincere apologies for having gone *poof* for so long. I was over the hump and almost caught up on my games... and then a new hump came along. That one took all my time for a couple of weeks.
I started playing catch-up last weekend but there's a lot to get caught up on (all of life, not just gaming). I'm slowly resyncing and, although I'm still on O/T for two more weeks, gaming should go smoothly from here on out.
On the assumption you lot are willing to let me stay involved (I'd certainly understand if you weren't), I'll have a catch-up post up in just a few minutes.
We ain't exactly moving at warp speed, here, so I think you're probably OK. Also, it'd be kinda silly to boot our only healer. ;-)
Not exactly warp speed, indeed. I'm glad to hear things are working out for you, Ralf, and am glad to have you back.
Is Tony still with us? The Players page says he hasn't posted for 2 months...?
Out of curiosity, did the plans and whatnot that we went over with the other team cover this eventuality? Specifically, answerig Tarvak's question about whether we have to split the group or not?
I somehow got the impression that we'd be guarding the levers or whatever that open and close the gates, and that Team 6 would have been in the same general area as we would, but it's been a while, and this week has been nuts, so my brain is very possibly feeding me disinformation.
The plans did not go into that sort of detail. Presumably Team 6 planned on being around to say 'wait here, guard these' at some point. Best laid plans, right?
That's just stupid (on the planners' part). Even as a private in the army, I would get better contingency info than that.
Do we at least know where the gate controls are, and how to get there?
From page 11 of gameplay, for us to review over the weekend, while Karl is out...
"Source indicate a sea cave with a submerged tunnel leading into the bottom of one of the mines." Letmas's golden arrow points to a dark spot on the map and traces a faint, glowing golden line to a spot in the middle of the northern ridge.
"The Impossible will sail us in at low tide two nights from tonight. Using a water breathing spell, Unit 6 will proceed through the cave and submerged tunnel into the mine. The tunnel is approximately 200 feet long; we will take 500 feet of guide rope with us to lead you through. Once the location is secure we will signal you, back on the ship, to follow. Using the guide rope, Unit 11 will enter the mine."
"Both teams will proceed up through the mine. Once out of the mine, we will traverse the north shore of the island and come at the fortress from the rear."
"Using Passwall spells, we will enter the fort. Unit 6 will seize the seagate machinery to allow the military to land inside the fort. Once we have the seagate open, we signal the fleet with a pyrotechnics display. Prior to our signaling the fleet, Unit 11 will secure the area around the seagate machinery and prepare to repel attackers. The fleet will be waiting for our signal but we anticipate a minimum of ten minutes before the marines can arrive."
"Needless to say," and yet she said it anyway, "if Unit 6 cannot fulfill the mission, it will be up to your team to get those gates open."
"The machinery to open the gates is in a tower on the seawall. It gives us a natural chokepoint to limit the number of soldiers who can come at us."
"Our best bet is to get in quietly, open the sea gate before anybody knows we're there, and have the marines landing before anybody figures out what's going on. If we rouse the garrison it will be..." Everett shook her head again. "It will be tough either way. If the garrison figures out we're there it will be tougher."
"The island sometimes warps magical effects. I'd been told you'd been briefed on that." Everett shook her head. "It seems to be random and it's nothing we can plan for, so we just have to deal with it if it comes up."
I couldn't remember the details either (hence the above), but it sounds like we (Unit 11) were meant to defend the tower that the seagate machinery is in, while Unit 6 was inside, operating it. So at least we don't have to split up to two different parts of the fort...
Some questions (probably for Karl) :
-Did Unit 11 have the Passwall spell?
-Ditto for Pyrotechnics. Do any of us happen to have Pyrotechnics (as a castable spell)?
-Were we told *which* tower the passwall machinery is in?
I couldn't remember the details either (hence the above), but it sounds like we (Unit 11) were meant to defend the tower that the seagate machinery is in, while Unit 6 was inside, operating it. So at least we don't have to split up to two different parts of the fort...
Some questions (probably for Karl) :
-Did Unit 11 have the Passwall spell?
-Ditto for Pyrotechnics. Do any of us happen to have Pyrotechnics (as a castable spell)?
-Were we told *which* tower the passwall machinery is in?
This one I know. We were given (a, or several?) scroll(s) that anyone can use, that had Passwall and Pyrotechnics on it(them?). So that's covered, as long as whoever has the scrolls stays with us.
Thanks for digging up that post, Tarvak.
Well, though we don't have Unit 6 with us any more, the 3 elementals should help with defending, at least. And Tony (if he's still with us) has his gizmo, as well. The key will be getting to the tower, sneaking into the fort (preferably as close to our objective as possible), and getting the sea wall open before anyone notices. Hopefully, we'll also have time to "secure the area around the seagate machinery and prepare to repel attackers," by locking massive tower doors, and improvising a few traps/defenses of some kind. Because I kind of doubt that the giant sea gates opening will go unnoticed and even if it didn't, the flares are kinda omnidirectional, I'm guessing.
Should be fun! :-)
That's right, I had had a question for Karl about those scrolls, way back when :
"Each PC gets 2 sunrods, 1 potion of waterbreathing, and 2 potions of Aid. The group as a whole also gets 8[corrected value] scrolls that can be used by any PC with no caster level check: 4 Pyrotechnics, 2 Silence, 2 Passwall."
At least we still have the Passwall, that will make life a *whole* lot easier.
The only question now for Karl is (and I really hate to ask leading questions, but better to ask now than be surprised later), does "group as a whole" mean Unit 11, or Units 6 AND 11, in which case we probably only have half the listed scrolls above?
And to correct a mis-typed question from before :
-Were we told *which* tower the seagate machinery is in?
Unit 11 has the listed scrolls.
You were not told which tower the machinery is in.
Just a head's up, I'll be away from my usual computers and routines from Friday to Sunday. My father-in-law died and so I'll be out of town for the funeral. I may have access to wifi and some time to kill, so I'll try to check in but don't expect any posts until Sunday night or Monday.
Karl - thanks for the purple skies reminder, it's hard to remember such single details in a PbP game...
Sorry, guys, my laptop died. I'm getting a new one tomorrow; should be able to post then.
Ouch!
I'm going to be away from the Internet for a few days. Shane is prepared to drink his Elixir of Hiding (+10 on stealth checks for 1 hour) and try to climb up to get a better look at the thing. I won't do that until the others post their actions in response to this situation. If others want him to do that, make whatever rolls he's entitled to on his behalf.
I will be able to get caught up on Saturday night (East Coast of U.S. time).
It's been a while since I had to deal with PF's lighting system (making a Will save to hold back a rant on it...), but I imagine we're in "Dim" light (stars, moon), and if I recall correctly Tarvak's innate Darkness ability would still turn that into "Dark"?
P.S. added later - still good to know in advance, even if Shane does the recon...
I'm going to be AFK tomorrow as well. Aziel is on board with Shane/Tarvak's plans... but if something comes charging at them, she's going to shoot it.
I would like to know the current ambient light level as well. Since Shane does not have any enhancements to his vision, he might not be the one to do the scouting, if the light level is worse than dim. He's happy to donate his Elixir of Hiding to Aziel or Tarvak if they are willing to do the scouting.
Also, do we have any options to try to go around the creature making the footstomps?
It's the middle of the night but I hate the light level rules so I'm going to say the moon is bright enough that humans can see 30 feet without a torch and those with low-light vision can see 60 feet. Seriously, I hate the light level rules.
Seriously, I hate the light level rules.
Ditto.
Hey guys, how are you all doing? Want to apologize for my disappearing. It was a bit outside my control. The basics are that I lost my apartment, my job, and nearly all of my possessions in one fell swoop. And not with anything as simple as a fire. I got fired and suddenly the debt piled on like...
Well it was bad. Still sort of is. I'm barely hanging in right now and I don't think I'll be lasting much longer. I've got no cash, don't know a single honest employer in the area I can trust not to screw me over, and my mental issues are such that it's sometimes hard to even leave me current apartment. (Found one, eventually, but paying for rent has been hell).
Very sorry to hear about your difficult situation. It sounds very rough. Hang in there. I hope you find some resources to help with everything.
Here's wishing you all possible good fortune in getting through this.
Karl - I *really* detest the light rules, too!
Tony - hang in there, I hope things turn around for the better soon.
Tony: I wish you good luck in dealing with your... well, bad luck. I hope things turn around soon.
Best of luck, Tony.
If it helps, PM me. I'm a business and success coach, and I've lived in my office before, because I had no where else to go, and no money to go there. And it wasn't really "my" office. I was borrowing the space from one of those partners/employers that I wasn't sure I could trust not to screw me over...
Anyway, it'll get better - one way or another.
I hope things turn around for you soon, Tony. If you want to keep playing, you're welcome. If you want to step away until things turn around, I'll keep a place open for you.
I thought we all got water breathing potions in addition to the spell of water breathing that was cast on us before? At least, I have one on my sheet...
You all got water breathing potions. The Unit 6 wizard cast a spell on you so you didn't end up using them, but you do have them.
The sea gate opened to the north, its control mechanism in the basement of a nearby lighthouse. Currently only a handful of ships sat in the harbor.
My bad, I thought we used the breathing potions the first time we went underwater...
And now that I look at it again, I probably mis-read the map, too - I saw "1." in the water, looked at the legend that said "sea gate", and thought "sea gate machinery" - ie, the lighthouse.
I told the groups I'm GM'ing in, but didn't tell this group because I *thought* I didn't need to, but now it looks like I do - my health has taken a dip and it's been very hard to focus mentally. Apologies for the brain farts!
Here's a picture of the harbor. That should clear things up.
So it looks like we need to make for the tower marked on the east side of the harbor, right next to the gate. It looks as if there may be a stairway on the inside of the wall leading to the top of the wall and perhaps there is another way into the lighthouse from ground level.
Can we see any watchmen on the walls? Looks like we go into stealth mode and try to make our way through the city, probably following the wall more or less counter-clockwise.
Shane, with his elixir of hiding, may be the best at stealth. With the moon giving dim illumination, he could take point and scout for a clear path to the lighthouse, with aid from his air elemental friend. If Shane sees anyone, he can direct the elemental to create some noise to the side as a diversion.
I wonder if there's a way you can just send the air elemental on a scouting/survey mission. But you can't communicate with him at that level, can you.
(Where's WindDancer when you need her...)
If we need a sneaky scout, the Shadow speaks Common, is incorporeal, and (I think) has a pretty hefty Stealth bonus...
I just don't know how smart it is.
But the main question is (forgive me if it was previously posted in their descriptions), how far away can you communicate with them? You said it speaks Common, so there's no longer-range mental link?
And if the air elemental is constantly "whooshing", is there any way to turn these things off? :)
Assuming this is a standard medium air elemental, it has a stealth of +10, so I don't think it whooshes as it moves.
A standard shadow has a stealth of +8 but it speaks common. All things considered, probably best to let Shane take the lead with the shadow and air elemental keeping pace to help creating distractions or watching for trouble. Both elemental and shadow are supposed to have dark vision.
I don't know how much of this any of us knows, of course, nor do we know if Karl is running standard versions. So I think we can't know a strategy very well in advance and should probably just get moving and see what develops.
He's not a front-liner but Ralf will be stepping through right after, or alongside, whoever goes first. If we immediately walk into danger, he wants to get in place for you what buffs he can.
Good man.