Dispater's Devils by GM SnowHeart (a Hell's Vengeance AP)

Game Master SnowHeart

Dispater's Devils, please check-in here.

Cellion -- Vivia Nens
Cwethan -- Raziya Magaalye
Grumbaki -- Ingrid Foedottir
Fighting Chicken -- Brogol Stockl
Fox-Pantom -- Karik Blood-Drinker
Pathetic Wretch -- Eris Seven-veils

As discussed in the recruitment thread, my overarching assumptions are as follows:

* We will post at least once-per-day on weekdays, and once per weekend
* We are all committing to run through at least the first book of this AP. If I'm up for continuing to run Book 2 and there is a critical mass of interest, or we're able to recruit enough people to fill any gaps left my players departing, we will continue through the Book 2, and so on.
* Everyone's character (and player) is going to be able to work with a group of generally unlikeable souls.

A few notes on my GMing style for PbP:

* When combat starts, I will roll initiative for everyone and then, based on the averages, either the opponents go first or the party goes first. I run them as groups, and for the party it is first post, first action. Having a high initiative helps in terms of getting the average roll up, but I find combat can stall if we're all waiting on initiative turns before posting.
* In most circumstances such as a dungeon, trap, or surprise, I will also roll perception everyone, rather than wait for everyone else to roll.
* In addition to not believing anyone is perfect, I will acknowledge I'm not even close to the nearest thing. I will make some mistakes. My emphasis is going to be on being fair to your reasonable expectations while also keeping the game moving and fun for everyone (myself included). I am always open to taking a closer look at the rules, but I don't want to get bogged for several days for a discussion on them. Generally speaking, once I make a ruling, it's decided for that particular instance. Further conversation about it on the discussion thread is fine to the extent it may impact future scenes.

For now, please do the following:

* Take time to look over the character histories of the rest of the party, then discuss here ways you may know at least one of the other party members and incorporate that into your backstory.
* Put any necessary final touches on your characters.
* Let me know if you have any questions.

I will follow-up tomorrow (Monday) with additional items to get us ready.

Finally... I'm hugely looking forward to playing this AP with all of you! Welcome!

As an additional note regarding updates to character backgrounds, I'm tweaking things just a bit as we start things off.

Whatever your individual reason for being in Longacre, you have collectively been contacted by Cimri for a job. Cimri is a local tough who has alternatively made noises about being loyal to House Thrune and making trouble locally for the veterans and castoffs who chafe under Thrune's yoke. More details on this are to come, but here's what this means for your character:

* You can be a petty criminal and street tough, a mercenary, or you can be someone just starting to find their footing in Chelaxian bureaucracy. You are not known to House Thrune (or, if you are, it's only passingly and to some minor functionaries).
* Whether you personally know Cimri and she contacted you about this, or you're getting the invitation through another member of the party who you know through your mutual backstories... either is fine.

More to come tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime. :)

Checking in! Good to be here

Many familiar faces! Hi all and glad to be playing with all yall once more. Though this is likely to be a very different AP than what we might've played together before. :>

It looks like we have a very divine heavy party here. I suggested to Snow earlier that I'm flexible to switch to a different character if necessary, and it does look like this party would have a lot of redundancy as it currently stands. My alternative that's more or less waiting in the wings is an Arcanist.

Right now we have:

Checking in! Glad to be here, and another group with a Cellion! Thanks for the invite, Snowheart. I look forward to seeing what your frozen block of a heart throws at us this time! ;p

I agree we are pretty heavy divine/front line. I’m definitely planning to stick full divine, and this is a bad touch melee cleric at that. Normally I’d have a load of backup options to switch out, but I spent way too many hours working on this character this week and would like to stick with it. But if anyone else wants to, it could be a better party balance. Looks like a fun group regardless, and I’m sure we will put up quite a fight either way.

Oh man, you're ALSO going into melee? Yep, I'm working on a profile for my arcanist now. :>

It’s all about what you want to play. I’m in (1) an all fighter campaign, lvl5 now and (2) an all Paladin campaign, lvl7. Both are working just fine and started at lvl1. And yes, the fighter campaign had no healer and wasn’t a homebrew campaign.

The point is that being “optimal” doesn’t matter. What matters is playing a character you will enjoy and want to stick with.

For sure—play what you’d like and we can make it work. But if anyone was on the fence about a build, now is a good time to switch it up.

Hi everyone! I'm looking forward to gaming with you.

@Ingrid - I love the dwarf tiefling angle. There would be something particularly horrific to traditionalist dwarves in having a "corrupted" offspring.

@Eris - I really enjoyed your backstory. I love what you're doing with the erratic maelfactor side of your character, and I really enjoy seeing what people do with these types of characters, especially as I'm no good at doing them myself.

@Vivia - regardless of the direction you go in, I hope you keep the single mother angle. It is cool and you don't see many adventuring mothers!

---------------
How do we know each other?
-----------------

Brogol spent a portion of his childhood in Longacre and has been back home for a spell. I don't think anyone else is a local, but if so, they could know each other that way.

He's spending his days refurbishing a broken but ornate carriage parked behind his stepfather's and could have struck up a conversation - and friendship - with anyone passing by who would be interested in such things.

Otherwise, I figure Brogol's spending down his dwindling savings at the Arch and Lark and the Last Stand. Brogol feels more comfortable at the Last Stand, despite the determination to one day be the type that frequents the A&L.

---------------
How Brogol knows Cimri
-----------------

Cimri's a childhood friend, and while she was always a wild child (I assume) and Brogol was a bit more restrained, they hit it off well enough. He's heard through his family that she's now a local tough and intends to reach out to her about some work (or already has, depending on how the game starts).

GM Snowheart, a couple of things related to Brogol:

1. Brogol has a bladed scarf, a relic from his long-dead father. I'd love if possible to upgrade this weapon as time goes on, whether through the master craftsman feat or some other way. Do you foresee crafting being a possibility?

2. Brogol also owns a broken carriage that I got kind of fixated on when designing this character (he'd own an unbroken one and horses if I could have fit the gp expenditure into the build). I have no idea of the path this AP takes, but if we continue on and we'll be traveling around Cheliax, I'd LOVE to upgrade this carriage as time goes on, and give the PCs kind of a moving homebase (complete with, at high levels, extradimensional living space, nightmare or undead horses pulling, it, etc.). I'd happily sink a good amount of Brogol's coin into building such a thing, if it makes sense from the perspective of the AP. It is a long way off, but I thought I'd mention it now.

@Brogol: Thanks for the kind words. Loving your character concept, too! Especially the moving home carriage! Sweet idea!

Also, I think I'll be your best friend in combat. My Sudden Shift ability will give you an easy flanking partner plenty of times.

Sudden Shift (10' teleport if missed; 7/day)

Thanks for being flexible Vivs, though I'll second Ingrid that if you'd rather play divine than that's totally fine too :-)

Haven't been able to get a look through the avatars yet, but I'll probably end up with something in this vein

I'm definitely in the minor Chelish functionary group (what with being a Thrune Informant) - would it be plausible for Cimri to still be my new handler?

As for connections... there's some Urgathoan connections to be had with Vivia, but I don't know how much her background will be shifting as she becomes an arcanist?

Karik Blood-Drinker as a merc/hunter who might come into knowledge seems like the kind of contact that Raziya would try to keep, so I could see them having bumped into each other. He could also have been directed to her for information on tracking some things down.

Depending on how recently Brogol's made it back to town, I could see them having bonded over a mutual loathing of being in the sticks too.

Hey if everyone is good with having a lot of divine casters, I'm good with sticking with Vivia. I can take her on a different angle than pure cleric as well.

I'll be thinking about how Vivia might have interacted with the rest of you tomorrow. In the mean time feel free to read the nonsense in her profile ;>

I'll save the potential arcanist for another time. The character would have been completely different from Vivia in any case - a medical doctor obsessed with racial purity, utilitarianism, and creating the Ubermensch. Very Indiana Jones-ian evil nazi scientist. On the flip side, he would also be a legitimate medical doctor who really does want to heal and protect others - just so long as doing so is in the greater good (as he sees it). And when a patient has an incurable disease or ailment, they become fodder for his experiments.

I’ll try to follow up on questions in the morning (almost 1 here and I’m heading to bed). On party composition, I’m open to reworking your characters a little but also keep in mind...there will be six of you. And one nice things about casters is you can adjust spells for different roles. Of note, while I haven’t had too much experience with the unchained version, Karik is a summoner and eidolons (at least the classic) can fill in for skill monkeys or melee (just not ranged).

The first book of this AP is heavy on social skills; lighter on traps. Stealth is an option but not required. (Take ‘lighter’ for what it’s worth.) ;-)

Oh, something I should ask - how closely are we tracking things like bedrolls/waterskins/lodging etc?

Hi everyone.
Just so everyone who is considering character reworking is aware my Eidolon is not built for skills at all but will fill a melee combat role

<begins serious prep work>
<does full assessment of characters>
<Note: Cleric of Lantern King>
<Note: Two Urgathoan cultists>
<Impression: Oh, my... the chickens from Curse of the Crimson Throne are coming back to roost>

Lol. Okay. In the lot of you, for all the divine focus, only one of you is an actual Asmodean, LE, hell-bound, pact-binding bastard. This should be fun.

After my deep-dive, I have the following questions/suggestions:

Brogol: I may have missed it, but does Brogol's mother have a name? :)

Also, yes to upgrading the scarf. If you don't have the skills yourself, you can pay someone to upgrade it, we'll say at just the cost of the difference between the current and new value, though crafting time will be an issue. (I may also include some loot to "pay" for those upgrades.)

Probably won't need the carriage for the first book, but later books... definitely. Both may be good spots for background skills.

Eris/Ingrid/Karik/Raziya: When you have time, please put together the ol' "ten minute background" (if you already did this, just remind me or link to it):

Eris: Reading over your background again, I'm having trouble finding hooks for NPCs or other connections to the world. The whole dead father/talking skull thing is fantastic flavor, but I want to make sure we can keep some connections between Eris and either the party or Cheliax (or both). Maybe I missed the hooks there from lack of coffee, but if you can flesh that out a little bit, I'd appreciate it. I remember poor Gregor from CotCT and as soon as he found his son he was like, "Well... not sure why I'm still in the campaign," so I want to make sure Eris has some solid connections beyond just "the skull told me to".

Karik: As discussed over PM, you'll be tweaking the backstory/personality a bit to get Karik into more a team-player sort of orientation (or at least slightly less sociopathic). ;)

Vivia: How old are the twins? Can we put them around 18 or older?

Raziya: You won't really need to worry about lodging, unless you're playing a character who doesn't like to rough it. You'll be in civilization most of this first book, so I don't see survival-heavy tracking will be necessary, but buying a bedroll is probably a good idea.

All: Other than Ingrid, we are kind of light on LE, devil-worshippers. I think the basic goal then for most of you over the arc of this campaign will be accumulation of personal power through the bureaucracy of Cheliax and favor of House Thrune. You may not be true believers, but if it gets you money/power... let me know if you feel differently.

Finally...: Let me know if you have any other questions, then chime in to let me know you're ready to go. While there is an intro-post in the gameplay thread, once we get started we'll do a quick "flashback" scene to set the stage for why you're at the edge of this field with Cimri overlooking the tannery.

Also, I think I'll be your best friend in combat. My Sudden Shift ability will give you an easy flanking partner plenty of times.

Sudden Shift (10' teleport if missed; 7/day)

Oooohhh. That's exellent. Rogues are so dependent on the kindness of their teammates.

Depending on how recently Brogol's made it back to town, I could see them having bonded over a mutual loathing of being in the sticks too.

I figure Brogol has been back in Longacre a few weeks, but that time frame is really pretty flexible. Brogol absolutely loathes Longacre, so if they've run into each other and Raziya was vocal about being there, he'd definitely see her as a kindred spirit.

Hi everyone.

Just so everyone who is considering character reworking is aware my Eidolon is not built for skills at all but will fill a melee combat role

From a rogue's perspective, more melee is always welcome!

<Impression: Oh, my... the chickens from Curse of the Crimson Throne are coming back to roost>

Oh my. I must admit I'm very curious!

Brogol: I may have missed it, but does Brogol's mother have a name? :)

Uhhhh, yeah, she's totally got a name. It's [waits a beat to make it look like I'm checking notes]... Jaela Stokl Kaelman. She took her new husband's last name. I'll update my background with an NPCs section shortly.

Also, yes to upgrading the scarf. If you don't have the skills yourself, you can pay someone to upgrade it, we'll say at just the cost of the difference between the current and new value, though crafting time will be an issue. (I may also include some loot to "pay" for those upgrades.)

Sweet! I'll probably forgo the crafting feat then b/c feats are precious and I've already burnt one on backstory skills.

Probably won't need the carriage for the first book, but later books... definitely. Both may be good spots for background skills.

Exxxxxxxccccccellennnnnnnnnnnt...

@Brogol

Glad you liked the concept. I play an Aasimar Dwarven Paladin from the same clan in a different campaign, who struggles under the expectations of his divine heritage. I really look forward to playing the opposite of that. :)

Also, for flanking, I’ll also gladly keep an eye out for that. At lvl3 I get Sneak attack as well, so I’m sure we can work together.

Finally, how do you feel about claws? I have 0 use for my blessing besides for giving allies claws or a bite. So anyone who wants 2x primary attacks or a secondary attack can get one.

And one more post while I have a moment - sorry for bombarding the discussion thread, everyone!

All: Other than Ingrid, we are kind of light on LE, devil-worshippers. I think the basic goal then for most of you over the arc of this campaign will be accumulation of personal power through the bureaucracy of Cheliax and favor of House Thrune. You may not be true believers, but if it gets you money/power... let me know if you feel differently.

Yes, this is pretty much exactly how Brogol is approaching living in Cheliax. He's got nothing against devil worship, but stripped down to its bones, his story is really just the age old mob tale of a nobody who wants to be somebody, and is willing to do what it takes to get there.

Also, for flanking, I’ll also gladly keep an eye out for that. At lvl3 I get Sneak attack as well, so I’m sure we can work together.

Noice! Yes, we'll be good flanking buddies then!

Finally, how do you feel about claws? I have 0 use for my blessing besides for giving allies claws or a bite. So anyone who wants 2x primary attacks or a secondary attack can get one.

I plan on Brogol using his bladed scarf for most combats, but he'd never turn down a secondary bite attack!

-----------

Mechanically, I still need to purchase some thieves tools. Since we're starting en media res, I figure he approached Cimri for some a few days back, and this is how he ended up at the tannery.

I'm also thinking about switching out the cosmopolitan feat (handle animal and ride) for the additional traits feat (regional trait "rancher" or social trait "beast bond" both give handle animal as a class skill, and then I'd need to find another trait that I like)

I'm also thinking of trading out the sanctified rogue archetype for the snoop archetype, which is really tasty for skilled characters. But the archetype loses trapfinding, which means I'd probably want to dip another class to get that class ability back (this would happen at level four). Unless you'd allow me to take the campaign trait (Trap Finder) with the additional traits feat, GM? In that case, my traits would be Thrune Informant (campaign), Varisian Tattoo (Race), Beast Bond (social), and Trap Finder (campaign), which is not allowed RAW.

Eris: Reading over your background again, I'm having trouble finding hooks for NPCs or other connections to the world. The whole dead father/talking skull thing is fantastic flavor, but I want to make sure we can keep some connections between Eris and either the party or Cheliax (or both). Maybe I missed the hooks there from lack of coffee, but if you can flesh that out a little bit, I'd appreciate it. I remember poor Gregor from CotCT and as soon as he found his son he was like, "Well... not sure why I'm still in the campaign," so I want to make sure Eris has some solid connections beyond just "the skull told me to".

If it's alright, I'll respond via PM. I think there are plenty of possibilities to explore, and maybe once I get a little more feedback from you, I can tie in with fellow players, too.

@Snow: I imagined her two sons as being on the cusp of adulthood, and Vivia having the normal kind of "they're not ready yet" kind of apprehensions. Considering that adulthood hits early in olden-day settings, I figured that pegged them around 15 or so. My thought process here is to have supporting them be the initial "call to adventure" for Vivia, but that after the initial paycheck, they'd be off to capably pursue their own goals and Vivia would be able to refocus on her hatred of goody-two-shoes Iomedeans. We can put the twins at around 18 or older, but that makes Vivia's need to support them less obvious.

@Brogol: I think Brogol and Vivia may have met once or twice at the Last Stand. Vivia has plenty of travel stories to share considering her experience when she was younger, and she'd also be interested in hearing about leads on work.

@Raziya: Yeah, as a pair of secret lay Urgathoa worshipers, Vivia and Raziya could have met for some wild parties. Not sure which aspects of Urgathoa Raziya is more focused on, but Vivia would be in for some excessive feasting, and would be less into the whole disease spreading stuff.

I think both Brogol and Raziya seem to have some connection to Cimri, and Vivia getting into this band of evil-doers through either of you (or both of you) recruiting her for Cimri seems like a good tie in. Vivia is a little rusty, but she has a lot of experience fighting and causing trouble, and as an older woman she has what seems like might be a cooler head on her shoulders in case things go south. That might make her an attractive recruit for Cimri's job.

Two Quick Things

First, I run combats on Google Slides. The hyperlink at the top of the page should take you to that slide presentation. To get things up and running, I need to make tokens for all of you, but (as you know) Paizo's avatar system is borked. So, please post a link to an image you'd like me to use as an avatar. Pinterest is a great resource as is DeviantArt.

Second, in the gameplay thread, we're going to do a quick "flashback scene" to give you all a chance to do some initial RP with your characters, get "in character" as it were, and ask Cimri any questions you have. Check-in there once you're relatively settled with your characters.

After some serious time investment and deep-diving into pinterest, I think I've found a character art to use. You'd best believe I waded through literal THOUSANDS of pinup girls to find even a single middle-aged female adventurer. >:( And in my case I also wanted light skin, short black hair, and hopefully a squarer frame. And lo and behold finally, Vivia Nens.

No scythe, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. (Also, the moment you type "scythe" into pinterest you get nothing but ridiculously clad anime girls).

Nice find on the pic. A good visual representation of a female adventure. Something quite rare

After some serious time investment and deep-diving into pinterest, I think I've found a character art to use. You'd best believe I waded through literal THOUSANDS of pinup girls to find even a single middle-aged female adventurer. >:( And in my case I also wanted light skin, short black hair, and hopefully a squarer frame. And lo and behold finally, Vivia Nens.

No scythe, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. (Also, the moment you type "scythe" into pinterest you get nothing but ridiculously clad anime girls).

I hear you. In a Starfinder campaign, I was looking for a male drow who could be a weapons smuggler... they were all either shirtless “Come F*** me” or “I’m hideously scarred”. Heck, I like hyper attractive men, but over-sexualized isn’t exactly what I want to share with my F2F table like, “yeah, I’m a total perv.”

Question for the Urgothans
Karik drinks human blood. Would that be sort the sort of thing that one would approach the Urgothans for?

@ Eris Would your cleric be known to provide clerical services such a spellcasting?

Btw, Vivia also seems like someone who could use a bite attack. If anyone wants one for a minute, feel free to have one of Ingrid’s Blessings. It is literally the only thing I can use them on due to the archetype. So if you want it, have it.

I'll take it! I haven't quite decided how much I'll be leaning into the whole "meat's meat" angle of the Urgathoan faith, but a bite attack is a fine way to flirt with it.

@Karik: Vivia at the very least doesn't carry any human blood. She's a mercenary, not a cultist. At least for now.

Vivia Nens wrote:

After some serious time investment and deep-diving into pinterest, I think I've found a character art to use. You'd best believe I waded through literal THOUSANDS of pinup girls to find even a single middle-aged female adventurer. >:( And in my case I also wanted light skin, short black hair, and hopefully a squarer frame. And lo and behold finally, Vivia Nens.

No scythe, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. (Also, the moment you type "scythe" into pinterest you get nothing but ridiculously clad anime girls).

I hear you. In a Starfinder campaign, I was looking for a male drow who could be a weapons smuggler... they were all either shirtless “Come F*** me” or “I’m hideously scarred”. Heck, I like hyper attractive men, but over-sexualized isn’t exactly what I want to share with my F2F table like, “yeah, I’m a total perv.”

LOL! Now I'm imagining you pulling out the Harlequin Romance novel cover as a "handout" for your F2F session. "Yeah, your drow contact's called uh, Chase Cunningham, and he looks like this"

Karik has a bite attack from his background in orcish pit fights. He also has the Blood-drinker feat so he is keen to get into melee when viable.

Quick thing on sexualizing . Anyone please let me know if the sensuous elements of Vaelor Kyton nature make them uncomfortable. Either with a post, a PM or a ping through the GM if you would rather stay anonymous. The last thing I want to do is detract from anyone's enjoyment in anyway.

@ Eris Would your cleric be known to provide clerical services such a spellcasting?

No, I'm definitely not that kind of character right now. We'll see how things develop, but I'm in the 'recently insane' category.

Nw. As a dhampir the need for negative energy for healing had potential for previous interaction.

Oh, I thought you were referring to making blood. Idk, I just arrive in town in the last week or so, but perhaps we ran into each other. I would be wearing a cloak of Asmodeus, so perhaps you could have asked.

Just since @Vivia is ex-military I just wanted to make sure she got the point that Karik is wearing Chelish military uniform

@Brogol: I think Brogol and Vivia may have met once or twice at the Last Stand. Vivia has plenty of travel stories to share considering her experience when she was younger, and she'd also be interested in hearing about leads on work.

Perfect! Cheers, drinking buddy!

-----------

I went ahead and switched out sanctified rogue for snoop. I've got one trait to update.

Regarding portraits, I'm not sure if this is the portrait I want to use for Brogol and won't know for sure until the site is working again, but in the interim I'm happy for this to be my combat portrait. Like Eris, I like my avatar to match the profile.

@Karik: Raziya does not habitually carry human blood, and tries not to be known as the kind of creepy partially undead lady who might need to do so!

That said, since I'm thinking Karik might have encountered Raziya 'on the job,' then he would likely know that they both share an affinity for the energies of unlife.

Re: Raziya's devotions to Urgathoa: I could definitely see getting into the meat's meat things, but Raziya's much more into the parts of Urgathoa that are about voids (hunger, sybaritism, undeath) than she is concerned with plagues.

I'll swap out my token once I can have a proper avatar, but til then, go ahead and use the picture I posted earlier in the thread.

I wasn't expecting you to carry the stuff :P more just know somewhere to get it

GM Snowheart wrote:

<Impression: Oh, my... the chickens from Curse of the Crimson Throne are coming back to roost>

Oh my. I must admit I'm very curious!

.

Yeah, that CoCT campaign is the stuff of legends. RPGs at their best. :)

^ Aha, I see!

And, just because there's a lot of activity in the gameplay thread and so it doesn't get lost...

I'm aiming to have tokens and a combat map up tonight. In the meantime, feel free to continue to RP.

A large volume of posts at the beginning of the campaign is pretty normal in my experience, particularly when we've got six players, but it can be a little hard to stay on top of. Once we get settled, please holler if the pace is too fast to follow and we can slow things down a bit.

Any reason half the characters don't have avatars? I like to put a name with a face--

Site avatar selection is borked right now. No one can select or change avatars.

Yup. I was lucky in that I could reuse an old profile.