Olimpia is happy to tell you all she knows. But the nature of PbP and the slow posting means I need to let our GM tell you both this mission and a recap.
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Book One: The party explored the caves under the town of Torch, both to rescue a friend Khonnir Baine, and to discover why the column of purple energy that gave the town its name had gone out.
They found that the energy was being diverted to the large collection of scrap known as Scrapwall by an Android Cleric named Meyanda, who worshiped a god named Hellion.
Book Two: The party traveled to Scrapwall, negotiated the maze of metal and gangs to Hellions base. Finding out that Hellion was actually an AI, inhabiting a powerful robot. It had fled Silver mount in fear of something it called 'Unity'. In Scrapwall it had worked on reclaiming a giant excavator, hoping to use it to assault Silver mount and destroy Unity. The excavators batteries were empty which was why it sought to steal the power from under Torch.
Our heroes defeated Hellion, but while searching his base they found information that Hellion wasn't Unity's first creation. An Android named Casandalee has been the first, but had also fled from Silver mount with Unity's secrets.
Book Three: Casandalee's trail led to the technologically phobic town of Iadenveigh. The party traveled there, found an Android foundry under the town, and that Casandalee had been killed in the foundry and her corpse, still preserved thanks to being an Android been taken by a wizard named Furkas xoud.
A heartless, domineering man harboring a fascination for smoke and vapors, Furkas Xoud had been a longstanding member of the Technic League until he abandoned the organization in 4703 AR-just prior to being formally exiled for worshiping Zyphus, god of accidental death.
Furkas fled to southern Numeria, just as Iadenveigh's founders had
done, yet he did not build a town-instead, he constructed a strange, smoke-spewing structure that came to be known as the Choking Tower.
There he used a thought harvester robot to extract the secrets from Casandalee's brain. But when Furkas's experiments dug deeper, they released a devastating fail-safe Casandalee had injected herself with-a cloud of destructive nanites that tore the wizard apart, reducing his body to so much smoke and mist. Furkas's spirit did not rest, though, and he now haunted the Choking Tower amid abandoned experiments and robotic minions.
The party arrived and did what heroes do, ending Xoud's existance. But before he died, Furkas Xoud managed to extract a few tantalizing tidbits of information from Casandalee's brain with the aid of his thought harvester robot-he was able to ask six questions.
Who are you?: I am not sure what you mean. I am Casandalee, an android and a fugitive from my own faith.
Why were you killed in the Aurora?: Because I betrayed my god Unity, and it sent puppets to punish me. To prevent me from warning others of its plans. Those puppets slew me, but I rested well knowing I had managed to travel far enough that Unity's influence over them had lapsed. They slew me, but in doing this so far from their master, they
doomed themselves.
Who is Unity?: Unity was my god. Unity spoke to my soul, and I could perform magic through my faith. I worshiped Unity totally until I discovered the truth-that it was also a slaver, a sadist, and a petulant lunatic.
Why did you cease worshiping Unity?: Because I learned of Unity's evil nature and its dark plans for the world. I would not help an intelligence such as it to escape its bonds. I forsook my faith and fled.
Where can I find more about Unity?: My knowledge is recorded on a neurocam I hid during my flight from Unity. I hid this neurocam in a cave in a Y-shaped valley, many days' walk northeast of the foundry where I was killed. Local tribes have long called this place the Scar of the Spider.
What are Unity's plans?: It is a god within Silver Mount, and it rules all within. But it is not content to rule a single wreck. It wants more. It wants to rule us all.
Book four: This is what lead the party here to the valley searching for the neurocam to learn more of the danger under Silver mount. Where they lost a friend and found you.
Book One: The party explored the caves under the town of Torch, both to rescue a friend Khonnir Baine, and to discover why the column of purple energy that gave the town its name had gone out.
They found that the energy was being diverted to the large collection of scrap known as Scrapwall by an Android Cleric named Meyanda, who worshiped a god named Hellion.
Book Two: The party traveled to Scrapwall, negotiated the maze of metal and gangs to Hellions base. Finding out that Hellion was actually an AI, inhabiting a powerful robot. It had fled Silver mount in fear of something it called 'Unity'. In Scrapwall it had worked on reclaiming a giant excavator, hoping to use it to assault Silver mount and destroy Unity. The excavators batteries were empty which was why it sought to steal the power from under Torch.
Our heroes defeated Hellion, but while searching his base they found information that Hellion wasn't Unity's first creation. An Android named Casandalee has been the first, but had also fled from Silver mount with Unity's secrets.
Book Three: Casandalee's trail led to the technologically phobic town of Iadenveigh. The party traveled there, found an Android foundry under the town, and that Casandalee had been killed in the foundry and her corpse, still preserved thanks to being an Android been taken by a wizard named Furkas xoud.
A heartless, domineering man harboring a fascination for smoke and vapors, Furkas Xoud had been a longstanding member of the Technic League until he abandoned the organization in 4703 AR-just prior to being formally exiled for worshiping Zyphus, god of accidental death.
Furkas fled to southern Numeria, just as Iadenveigh's founders had
done, yet he did not build a town-instead, he constructed a strange, smoke-spewing structure that came to be known as the Choking Tower.There he used a thought harvester robot to extract the secrets from Casandalee's brain. But when Furkas's experiments dug deeper, they released a devastating fail-safe...
Many thanks!
Thank. That was a good review for me.
Olimpia is happy to tell you all she knows. But the nature of PbP and the slow posting means I need to let our GM tell you both this mission and a recap.
Ah, got it. Looks like GM_GBH did just that!
One thing I believe I forgot was the Craft Technological arms and armor feat required to make weapons and armor in this lab.
If either of the two arrivals don't have it I'm happy for you to switch out another feat and take it.
This lab is artifact level value and people will kill for it's location.
I recall there is a power issue here that Figgy thought he could fix. Lots of power here now, but not enough for some things I think. Might be good to clear the place before we power up something that we really do not want to have power though. :)
One thing I believe I forgot was the Craft Technological arms and armor feat required to make weapons and armor in this lab.
If either of the two arrivals don't have it I'm happy for you to switch out another feat and take it.
This lab is artifact level value and people will kill for it's location.
I plan on getting it, but I'm not sure I'd be able to squeeze it at the moment. Waiting for level 13th would be too much?
One thing I believe I forgot was the Craft Technological arms and armor feat required to make weapons and armor in this lab.
If either of the two arrivals don't have it I'm happy for you to switch out another feat and take it.
This lab is artifact level value and people will kill for it's location.
I'm afraid I can't squeeze it into the build atm. As a cleric going into archery, I don't have any feats to spare. The only one I could technically drop is Manyshot, and that would be a major hit to my ranged damage capacity. Unless this lab could be used to make something better than a bow...? But then I assume I would also need the crafting skill to do it, unless I could substitute knowledge: engineering combined with technologist for craft: cyberware (?).
Taking the craft feats can wait, you have the rest of the valley to explore. Who knows what you might find?
The Technologist feat is the first, the craft techs follow on from it and have to be taken. You can't fudge that. Being a tech crafter is really a dedicated build to get the full benefits.
But you just found two tech weapons that really hurt robots. The EMP pistol is really only useful against robots and other technological problems, but the Arc rifle works on anything, unless it is resistant to electricity. Robots have that electricity vulnerability.
Which was why the Reclamation Robot had them hidden away.
I don't have firearms proficiency, but with a full BAB and being touch weapons, they are not terrible for me. Could also take a couple of the grenades.
That being said, if anyone has a better use for them, please take.
Would take half the grenades and the EMP Pistol.
Figgy had sort of been hording the grenades (But they have not been added to his sheet?). A nice GM would give us some of the ones he was holding :P
I will take the rifle for now if no one claims it. I have a +1 musket but its not as good vs robots.
Fair enough, I'll take the handgun, 1 arc grenade and 2 emp grenades. I don't particularly need anything since I suspect my bow will be a better weapon in general. But I should be able to use the grenades well in an emergency.
Since I'm a nice GM
6 Gas grenades.
6 Arc grenades
6 Flechette grenades
6 zero grenades
6 incendiary grenades
Wow. Everyone grab one of each I think, unless you know you will not be throwing things. .
I really don't know why Figgy was grabbing the grenades? His bombs are better and the rest of you could have used them more often.
As I had no record of how many he had stocked, and no desire to go back through the posts looking for the information, you get a gift.
I agree, but for some reason Figgy loved his grenades.
Dilana will take one of each. Good to have something when the spells are low.
On where to go: has the party fully explored the named areas? As in, the entrance, the home, the grove on the way to the machine caves and the machine caves we are in themselves?
Looking at the map of the scar of the spider and what the GM wrote, B was a machine forest that was skipped on the way. Since I think it's less likely for the data chip to be in a forest, my vote would be to visit the southern edge of the map and look for other caves (f?) before we risk going west over a huge river/forest around a huge river (G). I am... ah, not the best swimmer :)
Perhaps after F, we could walk along the cliff edges of the southern part of the map to J? Though We would still seem to partly have to go through G, taking the southern edge seems to skip the river. (I am assuming we know all this and that the party found a map of the area).
The distance to F on the world map, if we walk around the edge of the forests, is 38 squares. Are we using a conversion like 1 square = 1 minute of travel?
We've explored all the named areas up to E except area B - the entrance is a cave filled with radioactive webbing, so we weren't super keen to go in.
I agree Elrys, let's head south to the open area below the pond/lake thing.
Agreed!
Good here. And of course Olimpia will scout.
Then shall we just assume the party is moving to F and see what happens on the way? I think everyone is done with preparations.
Sorry, to busy to update tonight.
And again I'm afraid. Start of the week has been a nightmare!
Thanks for the heads-up, good luck with handling the real life matters.
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I will always try to let you know if I can't update. Nothing worse than silence from a GM.
Things have gotten hectic down here in NZ with several new cases ov Covid 19 emerging after 100 days of no new cases. Auckland has gone to level 3 lockdown, and the rest of the country is level 2.
The cases are in south Auckland, which is where the international airport is sited. 4 cases in 1 family so far.
Sorry Dilana has been so absent. Had a few weeks of working on budgets leading up to laying off 1/3 of my workforce yesterday. Been hard to keep my heart in the game. Things should get better now.
Sorry Dilana has been so absent. Had a few weeks of working on budgets leading up to laying off 1/3 of my workforce yesterday. Been hard to keep my heart in the game. Things should get better now.
Sorry to hear that. Corona-related issues? Welcome back, regardless.
Sorry Dilana has been so absent. Had a few weeks of working on budgets leading up to laying off 1/3 of my workforce yesterday. Been hard to keep my heart in the game. Things should get better now.
That's a terrible thing to have to go through Dilana. Sorry to hear you are having to do that.
Damn, that's a hard thing to have to do. Hope things improve for you Dilana.
I have one rules question regarding the ongoing fight and a specific interactions of spells. I'll send a PM to GM_DBH.
However, to speed things up slightly I'll just take my turn now and hedge my bets.
My Friday evening has been hijacked by family. No update sorry.
Not wanting to be a downer, but I believe what the book say about turning the androids from Unfriendly to Friendly is actually a DC 27. Not trying to change the outcome or anything, just discussing a couple rules for the fun of it.
According to the Core Rulebook, we can only influence a given NPC once per day. However, if we beat the check by 5 or more, the attitude improves by an additional step. If the basic DC to chance their attitutude from Unfriendly to Indifferent was 22, then we'd need a 27 to chance it to Friendly.
@Erigga Huh, interesting. If that were the case, it's a bit weird that there is a specific line for their helpful state. The book apparently assumes they would stick with you for a day so you could try again the next day?
@everyone, thanks for the supports during the diplomacy checks! Apologies for the wall of text but I didn't see a better or faster way to handle it.
@Erigga Huh, interesting. If that were the case, it's a bit weird that there is a specific line for their helpful state. The book apparently assumes they would stick with you for a day so you could try again the next day?
There are some abilities that let you change more than two "steps", like the Silver Tongued alternate ability of humans. Perhaps there are some spells that can do it, but I'm not sure.
To be honest, I believe it was probably a hand wave or a mistake from the writers. In all APs I've read, the writers many times forget/ignore some rules and social skills are generally on the short end of it (they are not even very clear to begin with).
I believe the rules of allowing only 1/day and limit to changing 2 steps is good because otherwise it would make the game too easy or unrealistic:
More than 1/day: Since the DC decreases by 5 with each better attitude, once you change the NPC once it would be easier to keep changing it until he is Helpful and if you were able to beat the high DC, most of the time you'd be able to change the lowers as well. As an example, with your +14 you already have a 65% chance of succeeding at one step but the chance increases to 90% for the second and becomes automatic beyond that. If you multiply these you'll get a 58,5% to change an NPC from Unfriendly to Helpful, which is beyond broken and stronger than most magic (almost permanent, requires no saving throws, unlimited, etc).
More than 2 steps: Not as broken as the above, but remember that the DC doesn't involve HD, only Cha, so if you pump your Diplomacy high enough it could eliminate most of the combats. The DC to turn an Ancient Red Dragon (CR 19) from Unfriendly to Helpful (assuming he is not Hostile in the first place) would be 35. A charismatic character could reach that easily (Elrys could already almost do it with some help)!
It helps GMs to avoid weird/comic/gamebreaking shenanigans.
Looking through the rules Erigga is right. You did get them to friendly though. So no murdering Android cultists sadly.
You can change the initial attitudes of nonplayer characters with a successful check. The DC of this check depends on the creature’s starting attitude toward you, adjusted by its Charisma modifier.
Succeed– If you succeed, the character’s attitude toward you is improved by one step. For every 5 by which your check result exceeds the DC, the character’s attitude toward you increases by one additional step. A creature’s attitude cannot be shifted more than two steps up in this way, although the GM can override this rule in some situations.
We'll say I applied the override this time. It is a good rule though. I've played with people who would max out one skill and try to use it in any situation.
I see the diplomacy rules misplayed often and believe they are weak in general.
I have seen that situation of a single max skill as well in both diplomacy and perception. In a recent game I was running the character with a buffed up +40 to perception was upset that when they opened a door he had not heard the enemy breathing behind it, even though he had not even tried to listen. The fact that it was undead and did not breath did not console the player. His lament was that with a +40 in the skill he should have heard the creature stirring.
All right, thanks. That's good to know. Looking back, I believe I saw that trait in a recruitment thread for War of the Crown recently. I'm still a bit new to the game and this so if you see me make a mistake, please let me know.
For now, I'm happy to have talked down android cultists! (though it would have been awesome to have them join us)
I have seen that situation of a single max skill as well in both diplomacy and perception. In a recent game I was running the character with a buffed up +40 to perception was upset that when they opened a door he had not heard the enemy breathing behind it, even though he had not even tried to listen. The fact that it was undead and did not breath did not console the player. His lament was that with a +40 in the skill he should have heard the creature stirring.
I always feel as a GM I am allowed to not let a player break the game like that anyway. They would get a lot of information but not every little thing they might want because it could ruin it for everyone else.
Sorry, no time to update tonight. You get to live another day.
Failed my Fortitude save and am sickened. I'm heading to bed, so no update I'm afraid.
I have no use for any of the permanent itens. Perhaps some of the potions, but even so not really that useful.
Strangely I can use the belt as my Dex item is wirejack tendons. All the potions could be useful to me as well. Lets split them up.
If no one else needs it I'll carry the rapier. Next level I can choose another weapon for Finesse training, but was leaning towards sap.
And just FYI, my next feat will allow me to double move (80') when I spring attack. :)
In that case, we could simply take the belt and allow him to keep the rest of his stuff in return for information regarding his mission from the technic league and what else he knows about the Scar?
Bleeding heavily and stripped of all his gear, I don't fancy his chances to make it out of the scar alive :)
Actually, I'll bring up the point in-character since I think Elrys would have some moral objections towards this pseudo death sentence.
Hey everyone, I wanted to drop a quick note. On the coming monday (the fourteenth), my son is scheduled to be born. However, my wife is feeling a bit restless and suspects this guy might have improved inititative. So... there's a chance I am suddenly absent for two days prior to this date. I'll try and let you know if this happens.
Congratulations I hope all goes smoothly.
Heavy rain and bad knees have caused me to have a nasty fall on the sidewalk. Caught myself before getting seriously injured, but have very painful & swollen fingers on my typing hand.
So no update tonight, and probably tomorrow as well sorry. Typing with my left hand is slow and awkward. I grew up before computers and find it too annoying to type with my off hand. Not to mention me on painkillers can get bizarre.
Heavy rain and bad knees have caused me to have a nasty fall on the sidewalk. Caught myself before getting seriously injured, but have very painful & swollen fingers on my typing hand.
So no update tonight, and probably tomorrow as well sorry. Typing with my left hand is slow and awkward. I grew up before computers and find it too annoying to type with my off hand. Not to mention me on painkillers can get bizarre.
That's rough, hope it gets better soon!
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Actually, I believe the "votes" are more like this:
a) Let the mercenary go without his gear: 2 votes in favor (Erigga and Olimpia), 2 votes against (Elrys and Dilana), 1 indecisive (Raktar).
b) Let the mercenary go with just a warning or geas: 2 votes in favor (Elrys and Dilana), 2 votes against (Erigga and Olimpia), 1 indecisive (Raktar).
c) Kill the mercenary: 2 votes in favor (Erigga and Dilana), 1 vote against (Elrys), 2 votes unaccounted.
Options a) and b) are opposites, so one that votes in one of them are against the other. Option c) is an alternative, so even if no verdict is reached between the first 2, the third could be taken (like Dilana did). Dilana mentioned she doesn't care if the mercenary lives or dies. She is against sending him without his gear, but she is ok with we killing him.
Based on the posts, I believe Olimpia would have the same thought process of Erigga, with the hatred to the Technic League strong.
Raktar seems completely undecided, for while he appears to be in favor of letting the mercenary go, he appears concerned with letting Erigga and Olimpia decide as they were most affected by the league.
In the end, it appears most would be ok with killing the merc, even if there is no agreement in how to release him.
In the event of total disagreement and each one going for what they think is the best will still result in the man's death, since if Erigga goes first, Elrys can't geas the dead man, while if Elrys goes first, Erigga can still kill the man even after the spell.