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

Game Master SnowHeart

Very busy next couple of days - please bot as needed.

Hey all. Got some not so great health news which knocked the wind out of my sails. Aiming to have an update up tomorrow morning.

No worries, take your time. Life comes first.
You okay? Feel free not to answer if its private

Yeah, it's fine. First thought my in-laws had Covid; they're in their 80s and my MIL took a friend of hers to the hospital for a bad headache. Neither of them wore a mask while in the car. Friend gets diagnosed with Covid. Panic ensued, but they got tested yesterday and found out they're negative. So, that's resolved. Other thing happened earlier this week I had my first physical since turning 40 and found a few hidden surprises that, despite his best efforts to hide it, clearly surprised/panicked the doctor a bit, which in turn panicked me. Looks like it'll all be very manageable but one of those middle-aged health scares that has you looking at your kids and thinking, "I gotta live a healthier life to be around here for them."

Anyway, back to the mayhem.

Glad to hear that your in-laws are clear, GM, and I'm glad that your health concerns are manageable. I hear you on kids and healthy life. I look at my daughter and have this thought all the time. And then I eat some ice cream, b/c lockdown is stressful and ice cream makes me happy :/

Sorry to hear about that. We had 3 of our kids come back from cross-country camp with Covid, so it's been doing the rounds at our house.

And I can relate to the 40+ health issues. :/

I have not been as diligent updating the Handouts page as I should be so I'm worried I'm losing track of what's happening at the two different tables. Can you please take a look at the below, let me know if anything is wrong or missing?

* Louslik killed
* Three deputies killed; 3 released
* Caggan jailed (some talk about releasing him but doesn't look like that was decided)
* Explored hill where Riley said he saw the angel knight

All that sounds right to me.

We left Caggan in Cimri's hands, so we'll see how that works out.

That looks right to me as well.

OK, Brogol has a few options as I can figure them. I'd like to get your opinions on what to do next.

He's hoping to get an idea of the layout of the church in case we need to come back in the future, and will of course pocket anything of informational or monetary value the he comes across. Of course, he's likely not going to get farther than the next room. He could:

1. Try to open the door silently and get a peak at what lies beyond
2. Continue with is sick ruse and try to get the inhabitant of the next room to leave and look for the brothers, which would by a minute or two to scout and lay hands on anything appropriate, and then turn and run
3. Turn and leave

Thoughts? I'm open to other suggestions as well.

3 deputies killed **in self defense** tyvm :-p

Brogol, I agree you're not likely to get very far going into that room. Plus, we're about to get kicked out, leaving you alone in the wrong place.

I'd suggest #1 (which could become #2 if you're caught) or #3.

^ OK! Going with #1 then #2. Thanks, Eris!

FYI, I'm going to be traveling next week so mostly limited to my phone. As such, I'll probably try to keep us clear of combat or anything that requires heavy-duty rolling/formatting or updating of maps, but I will aim to stay current on the posts.

Hey all,

I just wanted to make sure Eris is staying on track for everyone. I've never played a mad or insane character before.

I really like her and am having a lot of fun, but I also don't want anyone to feel like I'm derailing conversations, situations, etc. I'm hoping to have some serious elements to her personality, too, such as finding out who killed her dad. Or in her efforts to be 'normal,' perhaps she will have some shining moments when she nails the 'correct' response. She knows her dad was also very pro-Chelliax, so that should keep her as a good team player.

Anyway, if anyone feels I'm derailing things or wants me to pull back a bit, please don't hesitate to say so. I don't want my character to reduce anyone's enjoyment of the campaign (which is awesome, Snowheart!).

I'm loving Eris and please don't take the brothers' refusal to engage for a lack of amusement on my part or unwillingness to roll with it. Given the situation, I think they just saw it as an act designed to provoke them and they weren't going to bite (yet).

Ditto :-)

Raziya has ideas of professionalism that Eris doesn't exactly embody, but that's very separate from my own enjoyment!

I'm loving Eris' weirdness, though I agree that it can sometimes add a distraction to a scene and not push the scene forwards.

I'm getting a feeling that we've been chasing red herrings the last couple of real life weeks worth of this game. We haven't really learned anything substantial. Its a little frustrating.

I second the red herring sensation. It kinda feels like we’ve stalled.

I second the red herring sensation. It kinda feels like we’ve stalled.

Yeah, I've wanted to queue up a couple of things but things haven't lined up. That said, I'd think about it more as you've spent some time exploring your environment and, kind of like in a CRPG, you've stumbled across a cave-in at the end of the tunnel and your character thinks, "I should come back here later." You guys are kind of trying to charge towards the end-of-book content and right now would get squashed. So, I tried to give you some hints of things to come at the glade with the statues, and I'm just trying to play the Allamars as somewhat smart; they know what you're about, they're diametrically opposed to you in alignment, so they're hostile and very suspicious. It would have taken some stellar rolls to change that. But Brogol did find the mother, so you could have tried to talk to her that way if you wanted.

GM Snowheart, thanks for clarifying the adventure structure. I think that you're doing a good job of providing us room and space to explore the environment, and thinking in terms of dropping hints.

Allowing for sandboxy-style investigation in PBP is really hard to do. Things move slowly so something that could be resolved at a table in 1/2 an hour take days (or weeks!) to accomplish in PBP. Knowing how things are structured is helpful and helps me with expectation management.

Regarding Eris, I have no issues with how she's being played. Brogol views her with both pity and trepidation, but he's becoming accustomed to her as well. He's very used to passing unnoticed, and while there's a time for "flashiness" for lack of a better word, he feels it is best to pick those spots. Please don't take his coolness to her public spectacle to his player's coolness :)

Thanks for the feedback about Eris. I'll try to make sure her loony toons stay within the lines.

I'll be the rabid dog the group can unloose when needed, but hopefully stay on track.

I like Erie. She adds a lot of character to the group. Too many people doing that is jarring. One or two is fun. So I have no problem.

I’ve fallen a bit behind in gameplay. Will be catching up!

Work is being mean at the moment. Be back ASAP.

Hi all. We just went into a combat in the other table I'm running and it reminded me of something I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page with. I think this is "Rules as Intended" but I'm open to discussing.

Except under circumstances such as surprise rounds, I'm going to generally have everyone flat-footed and roll initiative when combat starts. There won't be any "I'm in total defense" or "readied action as soon as x happens". My reasoning for this is largely based on this post in the forms (link) but the short version is this:

Unless an enemy is surprised, they could have a readied action, too. Or they could decide they're always in total defense. And then the flat-footed condition and surprise round rules are largely set aside. For example, if an enemy hears you on one side of the door and readies actions, and you're on the other side and ready actions, it's still going to come down to initiative -- you both heard one another, or were at least prepared for the idea that there could be a fight.

And, in the category of what's "good for the goose is good for the gander," I think this also inures to your own benefit as enemies won't be going first every time you come into a room.

And, it puts more of an emphasis on trying to setup surprise rounds and using stealth.

Totally open to discussion on this and revisiting it if you like.

Sounds good, GM!

Works for me!

Literally LOLing at Eris's last gameplay post.

Hehe. I'm honestly having the best time playing this character. You're doing great work here! :)

Yep Snow, thats sounds right to me. Readying actions out of combat is a bucket of worms you don't want anyone to be throwing around.

I just want to say ooc I have no issue with the Doctor's comments and don't mean any offence. Just not an observation Vaelor or Karik would appreciate :P

Gotcha. Don't hesitate to let me know if you'd like me to tone it down in the future.

Should we investigate Brakenbool, or is this a task for a deputy? We can send one with a note to turn over the tax information on Rohalendi.

Downside is that if Brakenbool is an agent, then we're not there to read the room.

We could also break into Brakenbool's at some point and look through the records ourselves.

I think just putting in the request should be fine if the guy works for the Archbaron. Its not like we need to go to "encourage" anyone to do anything.

BTW: I'm not quite sure what to do with Rohalendi. Maybe I'm just not very creative, but it feels like trying to strong arm her using the leverage of her debt is only going to turn her against us / the Archbaron. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm inclined to maybe just keep it as a back pocket leverage option.

Could go and show understanding. Tell her that we can’t waive her debts, but we can give credit for information. Any info that leads us to dangerous insurgents equals X gold off of her debts. With some good Diplomacy checks we could come across as really trying to help her.

Yeah, I was thinking we take the “here to help you” route, see if we can leverage our “help” now or later.

Yeah, that sounds like a good strategy. Do you guys want to lead the way to her now?

I'm good for that - with as many do-gooders as there are in this town we need assets more than we need people in our cells.

Sounds good to me!

So, just to be clear, we're getting tax information first, and then paying a visit to the hospice, if it seems that the debit is legit?

Sounds right.

I very much admire Mr. Brakenbol.

My mother is visiting so my posting the next few days is going to be a little unpredictable but I will try to keep up.

Hope the visit is going well, SnowHeart!

So, I think we're about wrapped up with the taxman then? Seems the hospice debt is legit and real. What next?

Brogol would like to see the debt absolved, as he sees no benefit in destroying a hospice over some coin, but I imagine the Archbaron feels differently :)

Yup! Sorry, I think I was mentally waiting on... something? Yeah, I can have you head over to the hospice next.

We got this information from the dockmaster, and the Archbaron hasn't chimed in. So, we're not under any obligation to collect these taxes, right?

Correct.

All, I am fine and it is very mild, but I do officially have Covid-19; just got my results this afternoon. I mention it only because my predominant symptoms have been fatigue and aches, particularly starting in the afternoon. So, if I’m a little slow, that’s why.

All, I am fine and it is very mild, but I do officially have Covid-19; just got my results this afternoon. I mention it only because my predominant symptoms have been fatigue and aches, particularly starting in the afternoon. So, if I’m a little slow, that’s why.

Glad to hear that your symptoms are mild. Hope the rest of your family is OK with isolating from you for a while (and haven't picked it up in the mean time). Hope your recovery is swift and not too uncomfortable from here.

Take it easy! Wish you a speedy recovery