ZEITGEIST (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

The Chess with a pigeon reference was perfect!!

And lets hope the 20's don't run out next time we're in combat.

Never heard that saying before myself; had to look it up!

Y'know, one time in my entire life, I've rolled a triple-20. When I was 19 years old and first started gaming in 3.0, I was playing an Elf Druid. Party was level 6 or 7. GM had a houserule that if you ever scored a triple-20 against an enemy, they died spectacularly to divine intervention. I did it against a balor that was meant to make us flee in terror.

And I think we've found our Shadow Man.

It certainly looks that way!

*steeples fingers mysteriously*

... anyway, I believe you've learned pretty much everything you can from your respective venues. As it's early evening now (around 6-7pm), I'd suggest you reconvene, compare notes, and formulate a plan moving forward. Also, at least one of the threads you've found will likely require the entire party....

Leads:
- Nevard Sechim -> Gale
- Cippiano
- The barge
- Doctor Wolfgang
- (Fake?) Inspector Porter

Am I missing any? I suggest we drop by Sechim to try schedule a meeting with Gale, then move in forces towards the doctor.
Otherwise, we hit the doctor now, right before dinner.

The invisibility potion was made by a alchemist with a magician husband.

And at some point I'll need to analyze that freaky shadow energy.

Meeting Gail may not be something to push for - she's not likely to be friendly and I'm pretty sure we're obligated to arrest her - but I do want to hear the full prophecy Nevard gave.

I'm in agreement there. Even with the reputation as a terrorist, I have a niggling feeling that, at least as far as this investigation goes, Gale is more of a red herring. I do think we should pay a visit to Nevard, though.

I was thinking that arresting her, red herring or not, might give us a workplace bonus at least, perhaps even Prestige. But to focus on the case, tracking the doctor could be our best avenue.

I was more concerned about the political problems of showing up under a flag of truce and then grabbing her - she's a hero to a lot of people even if she is a criminal. We'd be making her a martyr; they'd burn Parity Lake to the ground in response. That said, since this does have the potential to become a major diplomatic incident (remember the missing papers the Consulate didn't want us knowing were missing) Gale's testimony might wind up being necessary.

@YBD - I'll say this in character if I have the chance, but I'd like to have some policemen stop by Sechim's Alkahest and check in with him about the men threatening violence; maybe step up patrols in that neighborhood.

Also, at some point Ellena needs to ask Miselle (or maybe Az, depending on the check) what you use Alkahest for and why people would want to acquire it covertly.

Gale could also be more than we can actually handle right now.

I'm not sure if it would be common knowledge in the world that we're in, but mythologically speaking, alkahest is just a universal solvent.

Yeah, I looked it up (and did the 'Unhappy Chemist' dance while I got over the whole 'Universal Solvent' bit) but that doesn't really explain why you'd need to threaten factory owners rather than just buy it. It'd make a royal mess of things (or people), but there are more efficient ways to get there.

Potential Leads
- Nevard Sechim -> Gale
- Cippiano
- The Barge
- Doctor Wolfgang
- (Fake?) Inspector Porter
- Invisibility Potion Maker

I thought I'd discuss/answer a couple things. First off, great discussion so far. Your investigation's proceeding nicely. XD

1) As this is a PbP (and therefore much slower than a live game), I'll reveal that Corynne has learned all she can about the shadow energy stuff for the time being. Until you gain new information, further study is a waste of time.

2) You've uncovered quite a few potential leads. To help you decide on a course of action, I can tell you that at least one has content designed for the entire party. At least one is/are actually from Books Four-Five of the AP, so there's no need to pursue it/them right now. At least one is/are extremely time-sensitive. At least two will lead to the same endpoint. All (except for the one previously mentioned) are viable threads to follow.

3) To recap the info about Sechim's Alkahest, his factory is by far the largest manufacturer of it. Currently, he has a contract to use it to make decorative etchings in the Coaltongue and other ships. Since this is government work, all transactions need to be documented. The suspicious individuals approached Sechim about a very large order that only he could fulfill quickly. They want it done "off the books," though, which is why he initially declined.

@Ellena: you can definitely do that. It's the whole reason for the Prestige system. XD

Overwhelming challenges yay!
Anyway, I think we should head for the doctor right now. I'll be busy for a couple of days, so bot me if needed.

I need to read back over some stuff before I raise my own opinion (though I do think we should be together when we visit the skyseer - title of the book and all) but I, too, will be busy through at least tomorrow. If we start rolling before then, assume Ellena follows along.

Yeah, my vote would be for the doc. We may find some clues there as to what they were doing targeting the Consulate, Nilasa, or any number of other things.

I agree let's go cast some light on the shadowman

Are you checking up on the doctor tonight, tomorrow morning, or a different time. Also, where are you going?

-Posted with Wayfinder

I vote for heading out to his room and either stake him out or try to track.

I vote we go and examine things as soon as possible.

Yeah we should go back and see if we can pick him up. I'm changing back into uniform first, and staying outside. So as not to in any way implicate or endanger my contact.

I'm going to be out camping Friday-Sunday; please bot me as necessary.

I missed the exact day, but it's a year since we started! Thank you, YBD, for the excellent GMing of this wonderful campaign, and thank you all for playing!

Yay! And thanks to all of you for being excellent players. The vast majority of PbPs fall apart very quickly, so it's quite the achievement that we've gotten this far with only one lost PC. I'm very excited to see where the campaign leads; it's been a lot of fun.

Whoo! I knew I had cake for a reason.

Whooo hoo!

Huzzahs and hip-hip-hoorays for all!

By the way Alice, loving the character theme music.

This seems very Corynne

Thank you! I spent a long time looking for them!

YBD, I have a couple of questions about the world:
1) Are high elves and eladrin the same? Or are there different elf subraces?
2) Does Risuri's semi-druidic religion have a name?
3) Do our characters know all that's written in the Player's Guide, or should we do Knowledge checks? Especially about foreign countries?

Good questions, Alice. :-)

1) Elves and Eladrin have some similarities but are different races. Almost all Eladrin are male, as the vast majority of Eladrin women died when their goddess was slain. They have strong ties with the Dreaming and possess minor teleportation abilities. Elves are identical mechanically to the CRB race but have several different subraces including High Elf and Wood Elf.

2) I believe you're referring to the Skyseers. It's less of an organized religion and more of generalized nature worship. The Golarion equivalent would be the Green Faith.

3) Most of the information in the Player's Guide is considered common knowledge. It's even stated as such in a few points. For instance, "every school child" knows the names of the five Fey Titans. XD Since none of you dumped INT, I'm fine with you knowing everything in there. It's deliberately been written with no campaign spoilers.

Ah, yes, I meant High Elves as the handmaiden of the Duchess and Asrabey. So, no need for cold iron against them.

As for the religion, I mean more of

Risur’s main religion is a mix of old human pantheism, elven druidic rites, and reverence for local fey titans who slumber in the earth.

Just in case we need to differentiate them from the Crisillyiri Clergy.

Correct. Regular weapons work normally on Asrabey. XD

Thanks for the clarification on the religion question. There's no formal name for Risuri's primary religion. It's more of a general spirituality regarding the interconnections of everything. There's a bit of Great Spirit from Pocahontas, a bit of ritualistic appeasement offerings, a bit of informal heartfelt prayers, etc. Pretty individualized. The Crisillyiri Clergy is much more formalized. They have official priests, rites, and texts. The key to the Clergy's religion, though, is that man (rather than nature) is supreme, and that there's a bit of divinity in each of us.

We ready to move to morning? I plan on trying to meet with Nevard, to get the whole of that prophecy, and I'd appreciate some company. I'm assuming the others will want to track down the good doctor's character references as well as the constable.

I have the feeling that we shouldn't split when pursuing the doctor, perhaps we can visit Nevard before or after, but together. Should we set up an appointment?

I am all for not splitting the party.

Yeah I get the feeling when $#!+ goes down, it might require everything we've got.

That feeling is hereby fourthed!

Welp, I'm pretty well outvoted - just don't want the old Skyseer to die before we have a chance to talk to him.

Also, Spheres of Might is out! T-Two Weeks until it hits the wiki.

I'm actually in the middle of my initial SoM readthrough. As I mentioned back while the Kickstarter was in progress, I'll be allowing retraining - but not until after I've digested the content. That should be around the time it hits the wiki, so probably Oct 26 or so.

I have the PDF, it's mostly unchanged from the playtest, save for a few new archetypes, items, and anything I might have missed.

And it's beautiful.

*Has not seen this yet.*

Well, if you'll all excuse me for the evening...

After my initial, quick, read-through, I can say that the book is quite nice. Interesting classes, fun talents, and pretty balanced. My biggest complaint, at the moment, is that I caught several typos. XD

In regards to Zeitgeist, it appears that you plan on continuing pursuing the doctor. How will you be doing that?

The obvious choice is to check in with the people on his contact form.

And yes, I'm strongly considering rebuilding Miselle as a Technician. After I've thrown out a couch in preparation of a new couch (A really new couch, instead of a second hand one - I am adulting at pro levels now!) I can sit and read it more in depth.

Yes, we should be able to track the persons of interest swiftly through Pardwight (if needed, I have a contact).

Technician is weird at the first levels, but starts becoming amazing around 5-6. I think I'll go for the Conscript and build Alice around Athletics, Fencing and Warleader.

The Armiger's pretty cool as well - especially if you go sword-and-pistol.

-Posted with Wayfinder

It surely is, if only for sheer versatility. Choices, choices...

Assuming little's changed from the playtest, Ellena will just be spending feats to pick up some of the Duelist talents. Swordmaster doesn't leave much room for the more action-dependent spheres.