Lady Gabrielle, do you introduce yourself as well?
Jelani, sounds like I could potentialy get a couple bonuses then. What's reasonable? Two?
I'd say a cold iron symbol would give you, "+1 bonus on your caster level check to overcome the target's Spell Resistance (if any), and the saving throw DC increases by 2." Something specific to the demon you're dealing with, or some rare anti-demon artifact or something would give, "2 bonus on the caster level check against Spell Resistance and increasing the save DC by 4". Other than that, I won't be giving any further bonuses.
I imagine she will eventually. She hasn't really been asked for her name yet.
Not at all, people of Absalom care more about someone's abilities, not who their family is. They have no nobility class in the city. All those princes, dukes, lords, ladies, princesses, duchess, baroness, and so forth are from other lands. The current ruler of the city is just some guy that made his way to the top after all. That's their mindset, so I phrased it as such. Now if we were in Taldor, Cael would be an exceptional unbearded and worthy of a influential patron. So long as he remembered his place and served well that is. ;P
Hmm... Absalom does have lords and ladies, and it does have a whole bunch of Houses which are organized like clans and are each governed by a Scion. So, while Absalom doesn't have royalty like Taldor, it's a far cry from Andoran.
I think what this means is that Cael can probably do just fine without membership in one of Absalom's noble houses, while Lady Gabrielle can make her way through Absalom's social circles by thinking of the city as if it were very similar to Taldor.
Well in Absalom being a lord or lady does not count for much, even a scion does not count for much. It's the House that counts concerning the title not the other way around. Then again the House is not always made up of blood ties like aristocrats normally are. Which is what I meant, sorry if it was not clear enough.
Don't get me started on Andoran, not a fan of their system ether. All well and good on the surface and theory but they need to overhaul it's many flaws. xD
Btw Cael's spellcraft mod is +28 so if you want me to roll on anything specific concerning your magic items. It has to at least be above 14th CL. This will make sense once I finish my post for the gameplay thread.
I gotcha. I'm assuming he can watch her for awhile and pick out the different auras of her worn items.
Enjoying the roleplay so far!
I kinda feel a little jerkish, but I mean well. xP
Oh, you've given Lady Gabrielle the opportunity to turn this into something pretty funny. Stay tuned...
Oh yeah, you're roleplaying Cael as a condescending jerk. ;-)
It's a tight line to walk, but I think it paints a vivid portrait of him. I'll let you know if it crosses a line into not fun for me personally, but so far it's all good...and I suspect it'll lessen naturally as he gets to know us.
And of course I (knowingly) painted a big target on Iko's chest when I wrote Rathel into his backstory. It actually started as me wanting a more interesting meddling outsider to have fought than just having been in the Worldwound...but I like how it's grown. (I mentioned to Jelani offthread that perhaps I should take the Nemesis story feat, or have her otherwise come into the game herself in some way, down the road.)
It's going to be a late night at work, so I'm going to hang out in the Roll20 room for awhile, if any of you guys want to chat.
If the DM has something in store for everyone at the college, I could set it up so he got his stuff done early and went there.
OOC letting you know Cael is going to pick up a spell or two, sense some have been suggested and we already started play so can't just add them with poof power. Also the reason he wants everyone to meet him at his tower is so he can share his daily casting of Getaway.
Lady G, given what our sponsor just said, do you still want to investigate here? Seems likely they have already done a competent job here and exhausted all leads.
I've selected my daily spells, in profile and am ready to go.
I've been thinking about this for awhile. It's worth noting that our group is likely higher-level and more capable than the Decemvirate themselves, and we're definitely higher-level and more capable than the agents they used to conduct their investigation. We aren't first-level rookies who look up to the NPCs and rely on them for all our knowledge; we With Great Power are the people the NPCs look up to.
So, here's what I'd like to do:
-Visit the College of Mysteries to examine Brythen Blood's office and living quarters for notes on what he was working on before his disappearance.
-Talk with his students and colleagues about the same things.
-Spend an afternoon/evening chatting with Brythen Blood's other friends about the woman he was seen with, to answer questions like "When did they first meet?", "Which topics were they heard discussing?", "What does she look like?", "What's her name?", "Who else has she had contact with?", "Does she have any associates?", etc. We know they were seen together in public, which means that somebody has to know something about these topics.
-If this mysterious woman (and her associates?) are operating in Absalom, then asking around about Blood and about her specifically could very well draw her/them out, where we can confront Blood's kidnappers on our home turf. If we can "pick up a tail" while in Absalom, we can really turn the tables on them.
-And if we don't, that tells us: either they've moved on from Absalom and there's no one else worth capturing (not even a Decemvirate member...), or they know we're coming, or both.
Anyways, the GM will make this part as simple or as elaborate as he'd like.
-Matt
That being said, I'll be traveling abroad next week, so if the GM wants to split Lady Gabrielle away from the party for a little while, that's totally cool.
-Matt
I would like to point out a few things.
First, Cael's divinations got nothing. So if all his magic was blocked or useless then we are left with physical means only. Which would explain why our masked friend got so much info we could not ourselves, what with having an organization to do the legwork.
Concerning Brythen and the college. They are a secretive school of magic. They are not going to let anyone snoop around, ironically the one with the power to let us is the target of our investigations. Also I don't think Blood was a share personal things with people at work type so questioning them could be a waste of time. Or draw bad attention.
But just my take on it. If it is feasible then Cael may have some pull sense he is an enigma of the college. But the DM will determine how much pull that has.
I've been thinking about this for awhile. It's worth noting that our group is likely higher-level and more capable than the Decemvirate themselves, and we're definitely higher-level and more capable than the agents they used to conduct their investigation. We aren't first-level rookies who look up to the NPCs and rely on them for all our knowledge; we With Great Power are the people the NPCs look up to.
So, here's what I'd like to do:
-Visit the College of Mysteries to examine Brythen Blood's office and living quarters for notes on what he was working on before his disappearance.
-Talk with his students and colleagues about the same things.
-Spend an afternoon/evening chatting with Brythen Blood's other friends about the woman he was seen with, to answer questions like "When did they first meet?", "Which topics were they heard discussing?", "What does she look like?", "What's her name?", "Who else has she had contact with?", "Does she have any associates?", etc. We know they were seen together in public, which means that somebody has to know something about these topics.
-If this mysterious woman (and her associates?) are operating in Absalom, then asking around about Blood and about her specifically could very well draw her/them out, where we can confront Blood's kidnappers on our home turf. If we can "pick up a tail" while in Absalom, we can really turn the tables on them.
-And if we don't, that tells us: either they've moved on from Absalom and there's no one else worth capturing (not even a Decemvirate member...), or they know we're coming, or both.Anyways, the GM will make this part as simple or as elaborate as he'd like.
-Matt
I don't want to waste time on useless stuff so I'm going to handle this OOC. Gabrielle goes and does this, this is what she learns:
-No idea, Blood was a private man, and our boss.
-No idea.
-Who? Blood went to Skelt a few days ago and never came back.
-N/A
-N/A
I would like to point out a few things.
First, Cael's divinations got nothing. So if all his magic was blocked or useless then we are left with physical means only. Which would explain why our masked friend got so much info we could not ourselves, what with having an organization to do the legwork.
Concerning Brythen and the college. They are a secretive school of magic. They are not going to let anyone snoop around, ironically the one with the power to let us is the target of our investigations. Also I don't think Blood was a share personal things with people at work type so questioning them could be a waste of time. Or draw bad attention.
But just my take on it. If it is feasible then Cael may have some pull sense he is an enigma of the college. But the DM will determine how much pull that has.
What divinations? The Decemvirate person said that some of the information they had came from divinations, so clearly divinations are not blocked. At least not completely.
"Our divinations have located several of those who vanished on the moon. Long have reports spoken of a demon-tainted jungle...."
I don't recall you casting any divinations yet in any case. My pre-game info given to you assumed you had essentially just become aware of Blood's disappearance, and hadn't done any major investigating yet. If you want to cast some divinations, please do so in game.
I don't want to waste time on useless stuff so I'm going to handle this OOC. Gabrielle goes and does this, this is what she learns:-No idea, Blood was a private man, and our boss.
-No idea.
-Who? Blood went to Skelt a few days ago and never came back.
-N/A
-N/A
Hmm... so where did the stories of the mysterious woman come from?
Also, why are you calling the investigation useless, if I may ask?
Also also, I'm having another late night at work, so I'll be chilling in the Roll20 room if anyone wants to chit-chat, collaborate on party buffs, and maybe plan some pre-expedition purchases. Will we see Lady Gabrielle in a silver space suit?
-Matt
Opps sorry I mentioned divinations in the last part of my background. Guess it did not count, he would have gone through a few spells before considering him missing/disappeared.
Anyways thanks to Cael's class feature he can lose any spells to cast divination spells. So going to make a retcon post before the meeting time outside his tower with the others. ;)
Also, while we're here, what sorts of buff spells can we expect? I know that Lady Gabrielle makes really good use of mage armor, greater magic weapon, heroism, air walk, barkskin, stoneskin, and mind blank.
Also also, could Iko spare a divine favor to load into her cracked purple prism? That one can be arranged before the meeting at Cael's place.
Feel free to look through Cael's spellbook. I think I may add magic aura and some divinations before the meeting. He is not big on buffs but has a few.
Ooh, a question for the group... are we going to have endure elements covered? It seems like the moon will get really hot and/or really cold.
-Matt
I don't want to waste time on useless stuff so I'm going to handle this OOC. Gabrielle goes and does this, this is what she learns:-No idea, Blood was a private man, and our boss.
-No idea.
-Who? Blood went to Skelt a few days ago and never came back.
-N/A
-N/AHmm... so where did the stories of the mysterious woman come from?
Also, why are you calling the investigation useless, if I may ask?
Also also, I'm having another late night at work, so I'll be chilling in the Roll20 room if anyone wants to chit-chat, collaborate on party buffs, and maybe plan some pre-expedition purchases. Will we see Lady Gabrielle in a silver space suit?
-Matt
Well the module says the lady thing is "all the PCs are able to find out" without explaining how or why. I assume all you guys did was perhaps some Diplomacy (Gather Information) checks of his associates. And/or some minor divinations.
I am calling investigation useless because it will use up time, but not push the plot forward. It would also require me to make up NPCs and describe locations I'm unfamiliar with, making more work for me. I'm a somewhat railroady DM, especially in PBP. I will often handwave some RP to push the game forward. I prefer to only RP if it's interparty, during downtime, or going to push the plot forward.
That being said, I'm assuming Gabrielle goes and talks to the people you mentioned in the 36 hour window. Then she learns what I put above.
Ooh, a question for the group... are we going to have endure elements covered? It seems like the moon will get really hot and/or really cold.
-Matt
Not sure if it'll be important or not -- who knows how the Moonscar works, though as a reported 'jungle' it could be quite hot -- but I have it memorized (once) and have enough 1st level pearls to cast it 3 more times if needed.
Cael knows that it will be severe heat from his knowledge check (and whoever else made a mid twenties or higher DC about the moonscar).
In severe heat (above 110° F), a character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the Survival skill in Using Skills). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per each 10-minute period).
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.
Ahhh, that's great to know. Then a wand of endure elements will be totally worthwhile. If folks chip in for it, it'a 187.5 GP each. I'm adding it to my inventory now (and subtracting 750 GP) but let me know if you want to chip in 187.5 GP to cover yourself.
Cael shared all his knowledge with everyone from his rolls. Also he has a item that grants him a constant endure elements effect so he is good.
I have Life Bubble; we can just split that four ways.
Lady Gabrielle already has a wand of endure elements, but thanks for the thought, Iko. She would still be glad to accept the buff from Apex, though, since it's such a low-level slot.
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Basically with Cael's item and his racial feat, he is under the effects of a life bubble all the time. Old Pathfinders are tricky like that. xD
Heh, I turned down a similar supercool ability. Master Spy9 gets permanent mind blank. If only the rest of the PrC wasn't terrible...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Around on Roll20 if anyone's here
Moving to discussion thread since it might be faster to plan.
I'm fine with Apex negotiating on our behalf and will cede to your judgment with the following notes:
We don't know what they know about this gate. I suggest we don't bring up the moon, but I'm fine with saying we believe it goes to a demon infested jungle, and that we're on a rescue mission.
It's possible they've on a rescue mission as well?
Advocates of negotiation, what are you thinking we might offer:
-a chance to run away alive?
-a joint expedition with a split of the loot?
-is there something we want from them?
Apex, anything specific you want to ask us before we go in?
I'd say the best thing that can happen is the stealth route. It gets us to the moon while leaving the fire giants there to encounter the demons and their next victim when they arrive. Or, if they follow us into the jungle, they'll draw attention away from us due to their size and numbers.
If Apex discovers that stealth won't work, we can present ourselves as a group of Pathfinders who are willing to engage in a joint expedition to what lies beyond. We can offer to help with activating the portal that (we can assume) has stumped them. That way, there's really no room for them to betray us before we have a chance to slip through the portal and leave them to encounter the demons or draw attention away from us.
-Matt
As Cael pointed out, they are likely to attack you unless they think you are stronger than them. Without some massive display of force, this is unlikely to be the case, as you come up to their shins.
Anyone with a decent knowledge (local) (20+ on "take 10") knows that fire giants are attracted to volcanic activity. Combine that with the recentness of the gash opening. Make what you will of those facts.
What are everyone's stealth options?
Hmm... Here's my idea.
I polymorph into a Fire Giant and approach them. Hopefully, that will buy some credit with them. You all go hide somewhere. I'll try to learn what they know about the gate and then tell them the truth; the gate goes to a demon infested jungle, and it would probably be in their best interests to retreat.
If things go sour and they get hostile, the rest of the group attacks. Don't worry too much about Apex. He can teleport 160 feet with a thought. I can just ready an action to get out of the way if things go south.
For the most part I made my case IC.
Concerning the stealth option, nothing I have will keep me undetected long enough to properly study the portal. Not to mention once it's open, their is nothing to stop them from coming after us. Which if I was in their position I would hold the portal not go off exploring, regardless of what end I was on. Which brings up another point, why wouldn't the demons have guards on their end of the portal, we may very well end up with enemies on both sides. Which may turn into a nightmare sandwich.
Polymorphing into a fire giant, that's not much better then just showing up as a group. Fire giants are the race of giants that build kingdoms and cities. Do you know the local fire giant community? Do you have a rank? Who do you serve? It's going to be hard to fool them when you know nothing about the fire giants in the area. Even if you claim to be a wanderer or something they will most likely close ranks and treat you as a nosy outsider that should move on. Some random fire giant showing up in their turf is not going to go well I think. They are known to work together, that does not mean they are social or friendly even to their own.
Well, I'm going to go with Apex's plan soonish. If he fails at diplomacy, he can teleport out and go invisible. Then you still have the stealth option.
There are no arcane casters among their number (unless they are trained to cast in heavy armor - unlikely). Apex also didn't see any holy symbols or divine looking thingies on any of them. Therefore observation and inference dictates simple invisibility has a good chance of making you all nearly undetectable to them.
Apex has a +18 Diplomacy and a +28 Bluff right now. I'm sure that he can make something work.
Apex's plan works for me
Are we ready for Apex's diplomatic mission? Jelani, anything else you need from us?
I'll be somewhat irregular in my posting until the start of the new year, but I'm excited to keep things moving here too.
Cheers,
Yeah, sorry. I've been hella busy this week. I'm planning on getting all my games caught up by the end of the week though.
Don't worry about it; many people are busy this week.
Yes, not complaining...just really wanted to make sure you weren't waiting for something from us.
-Posted with Wayfinder
So Apex will learn as much as he can as a Fire Giant and then see if he can get them to leave the area. If anything goes sour, he flees; that shouldn't be a problem with his Dimension Shift ability and Ring of Invisibility. We then regroup and use stealth to get the drop on them.
I'd like to RP it out, but I won't have time for a proper post until Friday prolly.