GM Doug's The Perennial Crown Parts 1 & 2 (Inactive)

Game Master Doug Hahn

Have a hero point for catching a slip-up quicker than the GM could edit being a good sport, Gurmire!

The token is added back on the character reference slide.

OK welcome to the jungle is deserving of a hero point too.

Yay! When the crocodiles showed up, I just couldn't resist...

I am off to bed, people.

Will be back online in about 12 hours or so.

Please bot Keats as necessary, so I don't slow things down.

Will do!

There's a bunch of roleplay and social stuff on the horizon. I know this has been a very long encounter but the scenario isn't just a slog of fighting.

My reading is that on a miss only the target takes splash damage.

Splash Trait, pg 544 wrote:

If an attack with a splash weapon fails, succeeds, or critically succeeds, all creatures within 5 feet of the target (including the target) take the listed splash damage. On a failure (but not a critical failure), the target of the attack still takes the splash damage.

Thanks for the clarification on Splash Damage, Gurmire! I actually read that differently, based on the first sentence that specifies splash to all creatures within 5 feet on a failed attack. I don't actually understand the purpose of the second sentence; it seems redundant to me… so maybe I am missing something.

Keats still killed the other one anyway, so it doesn't make a difference for now.

Now that you mention it, it could be read either way. Reading further, the example makes me think on a miss only the target takes damage.

There is nothing in the Errata on this.

I don’t know why they have fails in that first sentence if they meant for only the target to take the splash damage on a failure. It just confuses the issue with the following sentence.

Since it is unclear, I’m happy with however you want to play it.

Definitely worth following up on with some more research. I'll poke around on the forums or maybe post to see what other GMs think.



"My Dear Chap, I refuse to let a trivial thing like combat interfere with my roleplay." ;)

Don't forget my inspire courage!

I've posted on the 2e rules forums to no avail… just a split on GM interpretations. Surprise surprise.

We'll continue saying misses splash all targets (I think that's better for you anyway, Gurmire).

Sorry about that! I don't know why I thought I was up.

We're in the meat and potatoes off this scenario — social encounters and RP! All Bhopanese royalty in the city of Hoba Dukuza speak common and mwangi. As you will be meeting the king and other nobility, making an impression when you can (using Diplomacy) will be a good idea if your character is inclined but not required.

Aren’t the responses supposed to be the opposite season?

You keep doing Winter and Spring. I am expecting Winter and Summer.

You keep doing Winter and Spring. I am expecting Winter and Summer.

Yes that is an error from the scenario's dialogue as written (not me doing it). It's the main one that caused confusion in the first place. Unfortunately it keeps breaking our narrative flow and immersion.

Thanks for catching that again :) Fixed. I think from here on out the seasons in the scenario dialogue are correct.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees the king’s name as Webkinz.

Nope, you're not the only one.

Have a hero point for the Callback, Packet!

Almost like a tired GM … accidentally wrote "five" instead of "six" where the box text said "one room for each PC"

@Boss, I suspected that was the case, and decided to have some fun with it to make it seem like you set it up that way for some intra-party roleplay ;)

Can I haz a No-Prize?

It's kind of funny to me how much I use Bailiff. I bought this riding dog as a pack animal so that Pip would not be instantly encumbered by her law books and bed roll. But really, even though he does nothing in combat and just carries Pip's stuff, he's taken part in every one of Pip's adventures.

I checked this thread several times today. How are there 16 new posts?! :P

Fun game, I reckon ;)

And Pip, I put it down to human beings liking pets, which encourages human RPGers to add pets to their games – which is pretty great!

I felt honored to meet CariMac’s dog Tootsie on my last visit to the Pac-NW :)

So I am still stumped on what to wear as a Gurmire to the actual event. If needs to be something he can move in.

Since he isn’t that talented at Diplomacy, he wants to avoid the season motif.

I was thinking something with a fire motif with glittering streamers for flames, maybe a fire elemental? No real link to his life though nor does it do anything to represent where he is from.

I had considered a caribou with bell to represent one of his missions. I could see some of the guards really liking that he was belled. This would be mostly so he could talk about the giant cows with horns they have in the north.

I rejected the idea of a monument, seems like a bad costume.

I considered a tumble weed since that is at least a plant that moves around. Don’t think there are a lot of those in the Magnimar region though.

Still not happy with any of my ideas so I’m asking if someone else has a good idea.

Cross-posted, but I don't think my check affected anything!

Going to pause here and make sure everyone is caught up on posts. We will then move on to a scene with Lelzeshin after the party, where you gather together in the suite to discuss the evening and what you learned.

Edit: looks like Z posted; I'll update this on my lunch break.

To be clear, there is no as-written requirement to flavor your own masquerade costumes; (they're just "provided.") I'm thoroughly enjoying everyone's creativity (and when I played this I dreamed up a crazy costume for myself, too!), but I want to be clear that as a PFS game if you're not feeling it then there's no mechanical benefit to having an awesome costume. You're just given something cool.

So, please do what is the most fun for you from a pure RP standpoint!

EDIT: Spoilering costume discussion because the GM answered my question.

Pip is pretty impressed by the Bhopanese perception of who the Pathfinder Society is, by the way. And I have noticed there is still NO mention of exactly what other than Ganjay was stolen.

And I have noticed there is still NO mention of exactly what other than Ganjay was stolen.

Perceptive. Since you've been told that Selmius was executed after breaking into the vault, you might suspect that there was an attempted theft and subsequent escape by Adolphus.

So, please do what is the most fun for you from a pure RP standpoint!

Solid copy ;)

Great! Also, small note that proabbly goes without saying: let's make sure any costumes you have the Bhopanese craft are fitting with the theme and tone of a nature-centric fey masquerade full of nobility; that is the kind of costume the Bhopanese lightweavers would appreciate making! We want this to be a fun RP exercise but also in keeping with the tone and setting of the scenario.

So it is really feeling like we are fighting against scenario expectations here.

Maybe I don’t want to know yet because it would be a spoiler, but I also don’t want to be “that player” who prevents the group from enjoying an adventure.

We get a lecture at the beginning of the scenario about being careful and basically not to burn any bridges. In a different scenario we have learned

It feels like after giving a lecture about being careful and hearing how hated Pathfinders are here in Bhopan because of a past robbery, the scenario then expected that we would break into the vault,

Given other things in society play, this really seems odd.

Ghenett Manor Gauntlet
Debt to the Quah based on description (haven’t played)
Scions of the Sky Key series based on other people’s comments to me (haven’t played but would really like to)

I’m sure there are other scenarios where either the team is sent in to make up for a different team badly messing up or otherwise instructed not to just loot and kill everything in sight,

It really feels like a mixed message here given other things in society play.

Yeah I don’t get it either, unless triggering this debate is what it’s all about. But Doug, Kate, and Dennis have all either GMed or played it before.

I didn’t really want to put Kate or Dennis on the spot given how difficult it can be playing something you have already GMed.

I'm not sure I agree there are mixed signals. You were sent here with very little to go on and are discovering a dead-end.

A theme of this scenario is courtly intrigue. It's not going to spoon-feed you the solution on a railroad like some other scenarios, and with this group, my expectations are high that you can cope with this.

Perhaps Pip is right and not everything is what it seems, or you are being manipulated.

Right now you've been backed into a corner and have had seemingly all options taken away. You've made the decision to risk mission failure rather than do something you consider unethical. I think that's fantastic, the group is doing great, and I'm excited to see what happens next!

A theme of this scenario is courtly intrigue. It's not going to spoon-feed you the solution on a railroad like some other scenarios, and with this group, my expectations are high that you can cope with this.

This is what I needed to hear. It isn’t that the scenario writer had expectations that we would follow a certain path, it is that the first path we saw fits a particular NPCs agenda.

That I can deal with.

Thanks!

This is going to sound weird, but I am proposing two entertainments.

The first is an archery contest for Zarindlara and Varrett, since the two have had archery contests before. The second would be a much abridged version of King Zusgut's play, cut down to four actors plus a dog. It's a play that Packet, Gurmire and Pip have done before, and that Keats could join in on.

No we don't need to do the whole play line-by-line in our posts. But we could each recite a line or two in our posts, and Keats could totally overact the role of Lord Ulthun. Why a call back to that play? Because Pip realized it was about two groups, one with a history of distrust for the other, extending trust and finding heroism.

Let's tilt the narrative here.

Actually, we can have roles for all six again because I think adding a narrator and a ghost will work.

★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★

Like probably everyone, I am gaming ConCurrent this weekend, but at some odd hours for me ('cos Australia).

I will make an effort to post during breaks, but if Keats is holding things up, please bot him!

I'm not doing Concurrent, but I'm happy for the game to pause this weekend for the con.

Let's not pause during the weekend, especially now that we're adding a side-scene. Sorry for my own delay yesterday, something came up last night!

If Gurmire had specific questions I can summarize what the king would have said. I didn't mean to blow you off, I got distracted by this performance idea and the fact Gurmire didn't seem to have any specific questions yet.

If you wanted to ask the king about the vault or for permission to enter it, please read the spoiler below:

Also, I don't want you to get hung up on the nobles tittering at your inelegant bow. It was a low roll on that Society check coupled with Gurmire forgetting the prepositions in the King's title; you as players should know the results of your rolls and of your roleplay decisions. However, this time it will have no mechanical effect as you have already passed the required as-written checks for impressing the king.

Just a quick note that I have seen your posts, GM.

Finished my last game (Eadie waves fossilblight at the Masked GM in Red) but need some zzzz

Will post inside the next 12 hours.

I had two points for Gurmire, but we can go forward as it was.

The first was to point out the safety concern in the garden the past night. It is fine with how that went, him reporting it to Lelzeshin. Gurmire will just have an attitude of the big boss doesn't want to hear about trivial stuff.

The second was going to be something like Pip suggested only more of a demonstration. However with the skill challenges coming up and the play I no longer think that I as a player want something like that.

Gurmire (when I remember it) has always been dropping unnecessary words. The cutting of words from the king's title was him trying to only use the important words. Someone important wouldn't want to waste time with unneeded words, right?

In summary, just keep going forward as is. This will work as well.

(Eadie waves fossilblight at the Masked GM in Red)

Gunner raises a stein toward Eadie, in remembrance of all the drinking they did in Magnimar.

Heh. So Society is the new Kn (nobility)?

>loling at self< I thought it meant Knowledge (Pathfinder Society) !

So I had thought that the Burning Sun orcs of Belkzen used a different moniker for Sarenrae. I thought it was The Burning Lady and this came in late in PF1.

Now I am trying to find the source for that and can’t. I had thought it might be Tome of Righteous Repose or Solstice Scar.

Does any this ring a bell with any of you? I could easily have it mixed up with something else.

——

Frankly, given her nature as a redeemer and other things I don’t think any clergy of Sarenrae would have a problem with a goblin calling her The Burning Lady or anything else when it means that goblin is not only trying to follow her religion but actually working to channel his interest in fire constructively.

Well, I suppose the Cult of the Dawnflower might, but they are sort of an exception among worshippers.

Your disguise is to come as me? Keats, you are so weird!

Oh, I am aware! ;)

I haven't come across 'burning lady' as a name for Sarenrae before, Gurmire. But that means nothing.

It was really just a throwaway line ;)

Yeah and Imam is an Islamic leadership position. They often lead worship services.

So I had thought that the Burning Sun orcs of Belkzen used a different moniker for Sarenrae. I thought it was The Burning Lady and this came in late in PF1.

Now I am trying to find the source for that and can’t. I had thought it might be Tome of Righteous Repose or Solstice Scar.

Does any this ring a bell with any of you? I could easily have it mixed up with something else.

——

Frankly, given her nature as a redeemer and other things I don’t think any clergy of Sarenrae would have a problem with a goblin calling her The Burning Lady or anything else when it means that goblin is not only trying to follow her religion but actually working to channel his interest in fire constructively.

Well, I suppose the Cult of the Dawnflower might, but they are sort of an exception among worshippers.

The Burning Sun orcs are also in 10-04 Reaver's Roar and 10-98 Siege of Gallowspire, though I didn't notice them using any other names for Sarenrae in either at a quick glance.