Way of the Wicked - the Fall of Andoran (Inactive)

Game Master increddibelly

An open fight? There's something Talon is a little more confident in, count him in

folks - talk to me :)
what are you thinking? What options are you considering? Are you waiting for an event to happen? Do you need anything?
I'm hoping for your discussion :)

Sorry, been occupied with family stuff this weekend. By the way Sindran, yes, T'larryo is available to you should you need him. That damnable bird is too lazy, a little more work won't kill him.

I'll post later this evening IB. I've got to do yard work (yeah... fun) but I'll get on again tonight. I'm going to follow through with the plan for the love triangle, and then onto other mayhem.

Okay, I've posted with respect to the Captain killing plan. With respect to some of the other plots, Cala is happy to help. My plan was to perhaps deal with this beloved Father Donnagin; since Cala is posed as a Priestess of his faith, it might be an easy way to get at this guy and deal with him.

Any ideas by the way? Caladwhen could deal with him in any number of ways.

Oret is mostly going to be trying to sabotage fortress defenses. He doesn't have any social skills to speak of, but he's more than willing to assist with a fight. He will be looking for opportunities to use his position with the dwarves to makes things easier for the advancing army, when they get there.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what sorts of opportunities there might be, or how helpful they will be in the long run.

Sick 1-year old on Friday and still sick today.

I'll have a post up tonight.

Afk for 36h, we're getting a king tomorrow :)

Oh, hope the little one gets well soon...

Getting a king? *wonders if that's a cryptic comment*

Sindran is just pondering on what he can do. He's mostly just gathering information right now until he sees an opportunity. Also thinking that something needs to be done about that wizard. Sindran is interested in what he possibly has, but with his experience with a previous wizard (see: the library, hilarity, and great big balls of fire) he's cautious about approaching it.

Still waiting to get a wand of Cure Light Wounds from Father Donnagin. After that, plan how to get him out of the way. The rookery guy, Talon I think is on that? Someone who can deal with birds is more ideal because Sindran is more likely to make roast raven.

Also pondering on dropping the Timaeus disguise--but Sindran won't do that until he gets back at Captain Barhold in some way. Which reminds me, need to find out more about him and where I can get him. Maybe ask his brother....

Planning on dropping the disguise in time to set the trap for Varning and steal a slot in the play--Timaeus leaves, set a trap for Varning, some new actor guy returns for the troupe.

cryptic? nah.

Okay - let's start with the lovebirds. I love your plan, let's get those captains out of the way :)

Ah hell yeah, Caladwhen just had an "evil gloating" moment. This AP is sooo much fun!

You scare me. It's almost time to level up, but I'm afraid of what you might do :)

J/K, Great stuff Cala!

I'll update how this impacts morale later today. And, Oret, you're right, you could easily deal with each of the soldiers and key players; the problem lies in separating them, because 100 men all at once is quite another task...

Sorry I've been quiet for a bit, things are settling down so I should be back to more regular posting.

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Cala, great job on the Mott/Eddarly situation. Aerent was hoping to keep the girl, but seeing his necromancer friend gloating and enjoying herself was also entertaining. :)

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As soon as its reasonable and/or possible (i.e. not while the guards are going crazy trying to find Mott and Eddarly), Aerent sneaks into Ballantyne using the secret tunnel. He wants to climb into the armory, then make his way up the tower to try and figure out what's in 32, 38, and 42. If these are guarded, he does not try to sneak past the guards.

Also, he would like to listen at the doors for rooms 3, 4, 5, and 6. Arryn heard snoring from 6.

None of this is rushed or intended to be risky, just a short excursion into the tower to try and do some recon.

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Also, is the watchtower open for the general public for the Sunday mass? I assume servants are still welcomed into the tower to clean, serve food, move boxes, etc?

Glad to hear, aerent.
Tomorrow, most of the party will visit mass, together with many of the citizens.
Servants come and go, yes.
I suggest holding off your scouting for now, but the passage is totally forgotten yet easy to find if you know what to look for.
I.e. it's relatively easy to go from inn to tower this way.

You could put this idea on the spreadsheet schedule if you want?

if you've been backing the Pathfinder Online kickstarter, check your downloads page. I've just noticed I've got about a million new pdfs there.

At some point, I suggest that we have Sindran make his way to the food stores and have a little fun there - probably when we signal the army. If there is a siege, it'll break a lot faster if there's no food.

or poison it. dead soldiers give up faster than starving ones

weren't you planning on poisoning Mama G's stew? someone should probably speak to Letho to make sure there's enough arsenic available; IIRC Aerent was rather explicit in not placing any orders just yet.

Oret - I owe you the details about the defensive mechanisms in the fortress, since you have plenty of time and reason to be there, to investigate these defenses during your work with the dwarves in the fortress. Please bear with me for a little longer :)

Also - are you two going back to work on monday?

Schedule updated for Aerent.

@DMIB - Aerent's intent was to have the alchemist order the poison. He wasn't buying any potions for personal use. He wants the arsenic.

Oh, and since I didn't mention it before, when he gets a chance, Aerent lets everyone know that Letho, the town alchemist, needs to disappear soon after we use the arsenic to poison Mama G's stew.

We really need a monster or ally that can consume our enemies. Or a portable hole we can use as a disposal for dead bodies and evidence. Just thinking ahead...

Soon you can summon devils and just forget about your random enemies... Letho, though,

The arsenic will have been ordered, you'll know it when it arrives in town.

DM, I think we're on the same page regarding the arsenic.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Regarding that roll and the spoiler... I know, but he's a convenient scape goat if they start searching for the poisoner. >:)

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Regarding Cala's plan, I think it's a good idea, but it's all you guys. As a general rule, I tend to keep my characters out of things like plays, songs, etc that might require Perform (x) checks. :)

...Sindran can just burn corpses into ash. Eventually.

Neat idea, Cala. Sindran would do better as an actor, I think. It's right along his plan to take a role in the play anyway.

True Sindran, although I think as far as perform checks go... we're all unskilled thespians and therefore somewhat buggered; on the flip side, I can boost Charisma using Eagle's Splendor which will help whoever does go on stage.

Anyway, it doesn't matter really who goes on stage. Cala can show Sindran what Bronwyn looked like by morphing into her using her circlet, and Sindran would simply reproduce that before taking Bronwyn's role if that was the plan.

I'm planning to put some ranks in Perform (Act) actually as well as Bluff. Been meaning to but Skill Ranks are hard to come by.

Might be a bit tricky to pull off getting that particular role, but I'm sure we can work something out.

Well, Sindran *did* do the research by reading the play over and over. In a few days, the actors will arrive, and you can kidnap and replace one of them.
There will be some time wasted on rehearsals, but all for a good cause.

You mean an evil cause, right? Muhahahaha!

good and bad are just labels by naive people for a set of relative points of view :p

Oret - I still owe you some details about the defenses.
From Sakkarot FireAxe's view, the first thing his army would encounter is the eastern gatehouse (19 - 21, 25) and then the bridge (18) / (24).

18a. The Drawbridge
This wooden drawbridge completes the last twenty feet of the bridge between Andoran and Taldor. When raised (in room 25) there is a twenty foot gap between the bridge (18) and the gatehouse entryway (19) as well as a solid wall of timber.

(19) Gatehouse Entryway
This wide-open death trap of a room is devoid of any feature or furniture. Between the wide murder hole in the ceiling and the arrow slits on either side, one would not want to linger here too long.
(19a) Portcullis
This stout latticed grill of iron forbids entry to Balentyne and is never kept open. It is the first line of defense for the gatehouse. The portcullis is spectacularly heavy and effectively unliftable without the aid of the intricate counterweight system housed within the upper levels of the gatehouse. There is a winch on the second level (25) which raises this portcullis.

(20) is a storage room; no one ever comes here. During time of siege, there are provisions and a bunch of crude bunks here for almost a dozen men who could keep watch here day and night.
(21) another storage room, but without the bunks. This is a fairly good area to hide. There are boxes, crates and sacks stacked everywhere that could be used to conceal even a crude base of operations.

(25) The Gatehouse 2nd Level
This level is a defensive keystone of the gatehouse. Archer slits line the walls. Two great cauldrons filled with heated sand are tended day and night. The sand is kept blistering hot and ready to be poured through the murder holes (M) onto anyone caught in the gatehouse entryway (room 19 below).
Note: If the fires are extinguished and the sand allowed to cool for an hour, it takes four hours to relight the fires again heat the sand.
Two stout winches are here.
One raises the porticullis (19a).
The other raises the drawbridge (18a).
It takes a full round action to lower or raise each.

There is a single reinforced door in this room that leads to the so-called “Bridge of Death” (24). This door is supposed to be kept locked and barred but because of the heat from the cauldrons, it is usually propped open since this door provides the room’s only ventila-
tion.

There are four guards posted here at all times. They tend the fires and pace the level. This post is considered one of the worst duties since the heavy stone walls plus the constant fire ensures this level is always stifling hot. The guards call this post “the oven”.

(24). The Bridge of Death
This hundred feet long crenellated bridge overlooks the main bridge (18.) below. If an army were to penetrate the gatehouse, this would be the second line of defense. Archers would fire volleys and drop stones on to the invaders on the bridge below.
This bridge earned its charming name a hundred and twenty years ago. A tribe of ogres attacked Balentyne and managed to break the portcullis. The wily Talirean commander left the drawbridge down and the ogres rushed onto the bridge. He then raised the drawbridge trapping sixteen heavily armored ogres (including the ogre’s high chieftain) on the bridge. The archers punished the brutes with arrows and within a minute no ogre survived. With their chieftain dead, the ogres fled in disarray and the “Bridge of Death” was named.

When Cardinal Thorn commanded for the gates of Balentyne to be open, the portcullis (19a) is half of what he meant. The other half is the drawbridge (18a). During Sakkarot's assault, the portcullis should be raised, and the drawbridge lowered.
Sabotaging the cauldrons in (25) would be very helpful to anyone planning an invasion.

We're so close to level 5 now, you might as well start thinking about it.
If all goes well, we should hit level 5 on Tuesday.

Wow, yes DM, we forgot to loot the captains.

That said, I don't want to metagame too much, so I'm fine just taking my chances without their items in my possession. Aerent didn't really plan this out before he got here, so I'm fine if we left the captain's stuff in our rooms. Just trying to be fair about it.

I'm feeling more than a little guilty for keeping the pace high, and in doing so, robbing you over the chance to loot the captains. And, since they definitely do have some things worth taking, your characters would have noticed. Things like a keyring and a +1 chain shirt, for instance, kinda stand out...

because I'm in a good mood, I'll give you the items - but let's take this as a friendly reminder to us all that not everything comes for free ;)

and indeed, to minimize the metagaming, let's not use any of the above until we've arrived at Monday; i.e. we should complete all of sunday's escapades first, then divide the above loot.

then directs a second attack at the blonde servant.

crap. sorry. I didn't see that bit until just now.

Just checking in... I've been following Arrent and Oret's excursion, but thought I'd post for Cala as things wind down for them in Ballantyne. Seeing that it might not though, I'll post soon. Cala is still at the service, plotting ways to end the Magister.

Going to post later tonight... running perpetually behind today.

Incidentally... is it an Ice Golem IB? Ooo, that'd be cool.

Very cool. Icy.

oooh well done Cala :) You really are as clever as you look ;)

Hmmm... is it possible to control another Wizard's creation I wonder? It is, after all, made from Cala's element of choice.

If you think of a cool way to make it work - sure. But it shouldn't be easy. The laboratorium is on the floor below Aerent and Oret.

Ooh, I'm sure Sindran would love that book. Sindran would also enjoy having the poison, but our new arrival might have more use for it.

Ice golem! You could try reading his spellbook or the research notes in his laboratory. He might have his method of controlling it put down somewhere.

Also, Sindran can try speaking to it. (Yay, Elemental Speech!)

thanks for being honest Talon, and let's get that fixed!

this is the 'current situation' as I know it:

in character, Aerent and Oret are investigating the tower while Talon and Sindran have just left church.

This is quite awkward, because we've already finished the church scene several days ago, while the tower scene is still in progress.
I chose a way to deal with this game, in a way that only works on a tabletop. I know that now - would that I'd known last month :)

I promise, this is the last time I'll split the party. There's a good reason though; between you all, you now have seen just about every bit of information there is.
Once all of your characters are all on the same page again, resolving your mission should go really quickly.

To be honest, it's quite all right to be a little overwhelmed by running an invasion of a fortress, and taking out the officers, mage, raven caretaker, and a hundred soldiers. That's not an easy task!
But it should remain fun, and I intend to get the party together ASAP.

well ya i know where we generally are, i mean the leads you mentioned. like the 'what next'

It's tough splitting the party even on tabletop, let alone PbP. Nevertheless, it's going quite well IB... I'm having a blast.

I'm dying to hit level 5 (lesser animate dead awaits!), and I'm curious about our new player addition. In any event, posting for me should be more normal this week, after work and before bed kinda deal.

Well cala, you're lucky; there's enough XP in the tower exploration / church thing for everyone to hit level 5.

Take a moment to realize how many options your character now has to kill a random commoner (10 on all stats, i.e. 6 hit points) in a single blow. You're that awesome now.
And none of these peasants know...Yet...

this reminds me of my crit specialist magus. since you can crit with spells, i would maximize/empower a shocking grasp and end up doing 180 electrical damage in one hit. Around level 10. yeah, broken.

edit: also another metamagic that allowed the max dice to increase by 5. so i rolled 10d6 (maximixed for 60), empowered for 90, crit x2 for 180. insanity

BURN, BURN, BURN.

Before I forget: Wand of Cure Light Wounds Charges: 10d4 + 10 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4) + 10 = 30

And would you consider that spells gained from the oracle curse/mystery be a divine spell even if they are normally arcane (e.g. burning hands, flame sphere)? That is, the fire Sindran casts are divine (relevant to the Glorious Heat feat, otherwise I'd go with an Extra Revelation).

would you consider that spells gained from the oracle curse/mystery be a divine spell even if they are normally arcane (e.g. burning hands, flame sphere)? That is, the fire Sindran casts are divine (relevant to the Glorious Heat feat, otherwise I'd go with an Extra Revelation).

We'll use the unofficially corrected text; I like the theme of that feat. Go for it, if you want.

updated Talon to level 5. Wowwww do magus's get scary with levels

P.S. Make sure you update the black blade, actually gets quite a few things at level 5. The link to the page should be in Talon's profile

Huzzah! Going for it.