GM Quirk's Threefold Conspiracy

Game Master Quirk, Private Eye

It wasn't me, but is that the Firefly-esque one? At least that's what it sounded like from the description.

Yes, that is the one.

And since I might not be remembering things correctly, I'll fill in a few more details with what is going on. No need to be cryptic! :)

It so happens I am involved in not one, but TWO Fly Free or Die games. The first is with local friends (including our very own Dr. Flint-Bridge). That game is winding down, as we are on the final book.

The SECOND is another PBP game that takes place on a Discord channel. We are just beginning the second book of the AP. It's an amazing little group with a great GM.

The only problem with the second group is that we haven't much luck with our fourth player. We have had two leave us. Myself and the two other players are very much dedicated to the game.

We are looking for one more player to create a third level character and jump in!

T'sorkel, I will give you dibs--just let me know if this is for you. I'd be happy to give you more details if you would like to consider this.

Anyone else may register their interest, and I will put you in line behind T'sorkel.

By the way, playing PBP on Discord is very similar to how we are doing things here. There are some differences in how you format your posts, but nothing that can't be learned fairly quickly. On the whole, the pace of Discord PBP is somewhat faster than the Paizo boards.

Pencil me in after T'sorkel, please.

There may have been several of us in the same boat, but Fly Free or Die is at top of my To Play list (closely followed by Horizons of the Vast).

What may be tickling your memory is that I think I (and maybe others) included it on my wish list when discussing options after finishing the initial Absalom adventure in the current Akiton game.

That's right--I remember how it went down now.

Let's see how this shakes out. I'll need to put whoever ends up joining in touch with the GM.

I know the group will benefit from anyone from this group who joins, as you are all great posters. I think we are looking for someone who can come in and re-invigorate things by contributing immediately with some RP and creative problem solving.

Go for it Rar'gul. While I love the idea, I'm both swamped with my current gameload as well as I'm not overly keen on Discord as a PbP medium.

Rar'gul, I will follow up with you via PM tomorrow. I'll let the GM know that you're going to consider this--no pressure if you decide it's not for you.

I do think you'll enjoy it though.

Thanks, T'sorkel. I appreciate it. I've not played via Discord before.

No problem, GMQ. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Dr. Flint-Bridge: could you give me some context with regards to Yariel's comment about not being among friends? I want to make sure I respond appropriately.

I'll be moving on with this tomorrow. At this point things move deliberately. Remember the beginning of the mystery aboard the Chimera? I had to be careful as a GM then. I do now as well.

Done — PM’d you. :)

Really good job on these responses. I still owe a response to Dr. Flint-Bridge's recent post.

You may all feel free to begin to role play amongst yourselves, discussing the more terse tone Dr. Noden's has taken in the interviews.

As noted, there will be one more response from me to tie together the things Dr. Flint-Bridge posted.

I anticipate moving toward day three early this week. I'll be interested in all of your character's outlooks and plans...

Sorry everyone. The time just hasn't been there for me this week. I'll try to bounce back tomorrow.

No problem. I've been trying to post Rar'gul's follow up but just haven't been able to get the time yet. Will try to asap.

I thought I would wax poetically about this adventure for a few minutes tonight.

First, I would like everyone to know that despite the fact that I have slowed down a bit with posting as of late, I am still having a blast with this adventure. Much of it has to do with the dedication of all of you as players. Sure, we have lost a couple of players, but the core has remained. Right now we are running with five, and I really don't think there is a reason to try to find a sixth again.

One concern with this adventure is the rhythm of downbeats and upbeats.

Let me explain:

One of my favorite podcasters and writers is Mike Shea, author of Return of the Lazy Dungeonmaster. He often talks about THE "BEATS" of your game. There needs to be a balance between upbeats and downbeats.

So far, the first three books of this AP have largely been downbeats. It's been wall-to-wall stress, with nary a break between trap-filled exploration or major combats. Sure, I think the first day or so aboard the Steward's ship wasn't too bad, and some of the NPC's aboard the Chimera were interesting and memorable, but for the most part, there has not been an extended period where there were opportunities for rest, purchasing level-appropriate gear, and for humorous encounters that are far less deadly than usual.

I think I missed an opportunity for this when you all decided to spacewalk over to the gray saucer. I should have made that a little more wacky.

With that in mind, I am hoping to find an opportunity for this sort of game early on in the next book, even if I have to shoe-horn it in.

So anyway, there's a hint of what you can expect in the near future.

Tomorrow (Sunday) you may expect some new information from Breez that may spur you into action. We'll see.

Crazy week at work or I would have replied sooner. I still love this game. Doc F-B mk2 entered the game seamlessly as a central part of the group. Beau is still a mystery solving genius. T'sorkel keeps coming up with cool angles on how his magic works. Rar'gul is a consistently solid comforting presence.

And GMQ is running a great game.

The past two weeks have been very hectic - my apologies for slow posting.

I will hopefully get the opportunity to make a decent post shortly.

In the meantime, I'll raise ooc that Rar'gul has a theme ability, Flash of Prescience, that allows him 1/day use of Augury that can see 1 minute into the future. I've been thinking that it could prove useful in the event we decided to upset the status quo.

I'm not sure if this ties in with or against what Beau might be planning, but wanted to voice it here as fodder for our planning.

T'sorkel also can cast Augury, but as a normal spell. I think R'argul should try out his new ability!

Peer into the Future isn't quite as cool as it sounds. It's just a floating +4 bonus that you can apply to any initiative, save or skill check. Useful, but could be cooler.

Since the Akashic Record is supposed to be a place of past memories, I didn't want it to be explicitly exploring the future. So T'sorkel is just getting the ability to speed-read as much of the Archive as his biochemical brain can handle in 10 minutes each morning and something will be useful enough for that +4 bonus.

GM, as we think about trying to sneak into a restricted area, I'll remind you that T'sorkel now has Trap Spotter. He gets an automatic secret Perception check (+13) whenever he's within 10 feet of a trap of any kind, which includes security devices. I guess he reviews Lara Croft's memories every morning.

Hey, can somebody double check me on my disguise modifier? PC gen calculates 17, but I think it might be doing it wrong, or I'm missing something in my hand calculations.

6 skill points by level.
+2 Operatives edge
+3 Ch score
+3 Skill focus (from Spy specialization)

That gets me to 14, not 17.

Oh, class skill +3

Nevermind.

...

GM, as we think about trying to sneak into a restricted area, I'll remind you that T'sorkel now has Trap Spotter. He gets an automatic secret Perception check (+13) whenever he's within 10 feet of a trap of any kind, which includes security devices. I guess he reviews Lara Croft's memories every morning.

John's a trap spotter also.

Some points of order:

Pike's office is actually in the UNRESTRICED area. You can walk by his door as much as you want without anyone becoming suspicious. Entering may be a little hard, as the door to the office (A6 on the map) is off of A10, which is the check point. There is always a single guard posted there, and a second in A11 with a window view into A10. I am assuming that John's disguise will get him past the suspicion of the guards.

JOHN: I would like to do a secret roll for you disguise check. Looks like you have a total of +17.

Rar'gul and T'sorkel: let me know when you use your abilities mentioned. I think it's a great time to pull these out.

EVERYONE: there will be further exposition from Breez soon. You may also ask her any questions you might think of.

Howdy gang!

I'm headed to GenCon this week. I'm presenting to librarians and educators at Trade Day on Wednesday, and just seeing the exhibit hall on Thursday.

I'm putting things on pause until I return on the weekend.

Awesome! Have a great time!

I'd love to hear how it all goes.

I will be there too!

I will be there too!

You going to be around Thursday? Do you have time to meet up?

Have a great time at gencon, guys!

GMQ, secret roll is fine with me.

You going to be around Thursday? Do you have time to meet up?

Definitely. I'll PM you.

Slide 4 features a selfie of your GM and one of your fellow players. Enjoy.

It was great to see you in real life!

Hey, that's great! Nice to put faces to names.

GMQ - I have an interest in RPGs in education and would love to hear more about your presentation, if you'd care to share.

Hey, that's great! Nice to put faces to names.

GMQ - I have an interest in RPGs in education and would love to hear more about your presentation, if you'd care to share.

I will PM you a link to our slides over on discord. Since I have gotten so good at google slides, that is what we used for our presentation.

I'm always a little sheepish about this, as I am by no means an educator (or even a proper librarian, though I work at a library). I work in television. My expertise comes from the fact that I have been playing games since 198coughcough. That, and I have the patience and sense of humor to be pretty good with kids.

Luckily, my co-presenter is both my coworker at the library, AND she teaches in the local public school system at a very challenging inner-city school.

Hell, here's the link to the slides. You may all feel free to take a look if you have interest. I'd be happy to answer questions.

GEN CON PRESENTATION SLIDES

Thanks for sharing the slides! It was sweet to see the work you have been doing with the group in a little more detail.

Having attempted to get some RPG games up and running at various times over the years, I understand the limitations/challenges you mentioned all too well.

In the event my effort to make an ingame post is thwarted, my intentions are ro have Rar'gul hang out near the gym (this is also where he has been sleeping) to keep an eye out on the corridor. If he sees Pike leave the galley before John is clear, he will run interference. I imagine he fills a sizeable portion of the corridor, making it hard to get/see around him, and he should be able to converse long enough to allow John to escape and slip through the gym to avoid Pike himself.

Just waiting for John to make the all important move past the guards, then we will move forward.

Was giving people a chance to chime in first. And then forgot we were waiting on me.

Added a new slide of the whole shootin' match. A1 is the hangar. Just south of that is the unsecure area you have spent most of your time in. Just east of the unsecure area is the medbay and Dr. Noden's exam room.

You are also aware of this Terrapin Station (which I -think- was an album by the Grateful Dead).

I'm not sure about that, but the first thing that came to my mind on reading the name of the station was (and I'll be showing my age, here) Attack of the Space Terrapin - the first episode of Battle of the Planets.

Terrapin Station was indeed a Dead album. I was going to adk if you slipped that on or if that was written in the module.

Written in the AP book. I suspect the author may be a Dead fan.

I saw the Dead back in 93 or 94. Jerry Garcia wasn't around much longer, sadly. Glad I got to see them.

GM Q: which areas of the station would we be familiar with from our escorted visits to Dr Nodens? From memory, we were taken into the "secured area" ie where we normallt weren't allowed to venture?

GM Q: which areas of the station would we be familiar with from our escorted visits to Dr Nodens? From memory, we were taken into the "secured area" ie where we normallt weren't allowed to venture?

You have been in A12 and A13, along with the east-west hallway just outside.

No farther than this.

Travelling for a few days. Bot as needed. Will post MOnday night.

Nice photo, GMQ and ET.

Okay, let's break things down here. We've moved things forward quite a bit, and I want everyone to understand what you have observed, and what Kaniko Breez is suggesting.

1. These "debriefings" have been going on for three days. The questions are bizarre, and Dr. Nodens seems to have a sadistic streak. She has likely used magic on a couple of you to get into your heads.

2. You are locked in a relatively small area on this base. You can't leave, other than to go to the medical area for your meetings with Nodens.

3. Other than the guards at A10/A11 and a couple of medics in A12, you really haven't seen any of the other Stewards since your arrival.

4. Orvir Pike has been acting very odd. He apparently has the run of the secure area, as he spends much of his days in that area.

5. Breez, and I think at least one of you, have overheard guards, medics, or Dr. Nodens make utterances in a language that is of yet unknown to any of you.

6. Bottomline: they're not letting you leave. It's disconcerting.

Next post will go over how Breez has proposed you proceed.

Forgot to thank you for the bottlecap. So, thanks, GMQ.

Do we get any kind of key for that map? A1 looks like the docking bay. Where's the control room? Where was Pike's office?

I don't know that escape the entire base would be my first option. Would we want to try and gain access to the bridge or capture someone?

Or maybe fleeing would be our instinct, given the past events. We are certainly outnumbered.

Grab the ship and go is my inclination. Not sure if there's any legit Stewards left nearby.

Not sure I trust the Perytons. I'd rather leave them here, except we don't have a pilot if Yariel stays here.

Capturing bad guys won't work. They'll just be brainbombed.

I will try to get a key to the map up tomorrow, that should help you see what you are up against.

Here is what Breez suggested to you:

1. The Perytons would break into the docking bay, board their ship and cause problems. This should get the attention of several of the Steward guards.

2. In order to get out, the docking bay doors need to be opened. That can only be done from the command center (A21). You will need to get there at some point.

3. Breez suggested making a stop at the reactor room (A15) on the way. It may allow for some misdirection.

4. Once the docking bay doors are open, make your way to the Peryton ship (called, of all things, "The Peryton"), and make your escape with the mercenaries!

My vote's to get out of here. Not sure we can trust anyone here. Except maybe the Perytons (sans Pike).

More than happy to dig up what we can along the way, but not to the extent of searching every nook amd cranny.

What's the chances of repeating out previous escape and blowing the place to Kingdom Come as we leave?

My character still firmly believes we are in a simulation and is 'reluctant' to play along with this breaking out thing as it was suggested by someone else, likely part of the simulation. He really wants to figure out if they actually are in a simulation or not.

Lilly doesn't really know which way is up at this point.

Breez seems to be trustworthy based on recent experience. And Yariel seems to trust her, which is high praise in her eyes.

Dr. Nodens does not seem trustworthy to her, especially after the whole "mind invasion" thing.

She's generally reasons that almost any direction action is better than going through the motions because she's about hit her limit of waiting.

She's half-tempted to start drugging people to see what they would tell her or who might complain. And Dr. Nodens is high on her list.

Why don't you all give me a general time of day you would like these shenanigans to start. Yet this evening? Middle of the night? First thing in the morning?