This thread is for out-of-character discussions.
Game Expectations
I ask for a posting rate of a minimum of once per day during the business week, though I realize (and expect) that real life can get in the way of fun at times and that not all players will be able to meet that pace. I do not anticipate, at this time, posting on weekends (although players are welcome to). I expect folks to occasionally be unavailable for a period of time. If I know that I will be unavailable for some reason for more than 24 hours (or 48 over a weekend), I will post such. I request and expect all players to do the same.
I reserve the right to bot players who do not post anything within a 24 hour period and request that each player have botting instructions in place before the end of the first briefing.
Secret Checks
I think secret checks really add to the play experience in Pathfinder 2e, particularly in this scenario. I also realize that they are more difficult to handle in a PbP environment. My plan is to ask PCs to make their own secret checks, but do so in spoilers, so the results are not seen by the player. I think this is the best compromise between keeping momentum and play moving and also keeping results "secret". I suggest using the following format:
Pell the Peerless contemplates what he already knows about the city.
While I can't prevent players from using "preview" or opening spoilers, I trust the players at the table.
Other than a quest, this will be more first time running Pathfinder 2e via PbP, so I may change up this format or use alternatives (such as rolling for the PCs, and then inviting if players to open spoilers if they wish to take the particular action) if I think it will better advance play. Let's learn together!
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That works for me. I believe Sneak here already has botting instructions. Her preferred exploration activity is sneaking, and she does it all. The. Time. She likes to scout ahead while sneaking when it makes sense (though obviously she cannot give the benefit of the scouting activity when she is also sneaking)
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Zaza's default exploration activity is detect magic.
Boons
Faction Vigilant Seal Champion
General [ ] [ ] [ ] 1-06 Lost on the Spirit Road (Traveler of the Spirit Road): Whenever you would critically fail a check to Hide, Sneak, Sense Direction, or Track while in a forested area, you may check a box next to this boon as a free action to treat that check as a failure instead.
School Benefits
Pathfinder training Scrolls 3pts
Minor healing potion
Minor healing potion
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Boons Slotted this Adventure:
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Faction: Vigilant Seal Champion
Advanced:
General: Society Connections (Downtime)
General:
General:
Slotless: Wayfinder + Engraved Wayfinder
3 points in Vigilant Seal (Sneak usually wants to keep the bad guys from getting the shines)
-- minor healing potion (Pathfinder Training)
-- lesser leaper's elixir (Pathfinder Training)
My apologies for not posting over the weekend. My family is still making adjustments to the schedule for the summer. For the foreseeable future, expect more frequent posts during weekdays and few or no posts over the weekend.
Call to Identify Potential Trigger: Fantasy Racism
Like other forms of evil, racist views directed towards fantasy groups exist in Golarion. On occasion, while GMing a scenario, I have had an NPC express such views when I believe there is a useful purpose for doing so, such as confirming a NPC's potentially villainous nature or otherwise providing more information, gravity, or ambiguity to a moral decision set before the PCs. However, I am aware, particularly amidst the wrongful actions brought to light, ongoing protests, and current discussions taking place in America and around the world, that the subject is a sensitive one and a potential trigger for some, even in the context of a fantasy role playing game.
If you believe that having fantasy racist views expressed by a NPC poses a potential trigger, please let me know here or via PM and I will simply remove this possible trigger from the scenario.
Indeed, if anything I post should ever raise a concern over a player's sensitive to a subject, a player's phobia, or some other potentially triggering material, please let me know. My goal is to provide an environment that is positive, fun, and comfortable for all players at the table.
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Hopefully Sneak does not prove to be too much dead weight this scenario. She doesn't have many urban-relevant skills.
I meant to say something about this earlier but got distracted and forgot, sorry. Don't worry too much about not having the appropriate skills. Just chime in when appropriate with something relevant to your character. Even failures can move the story along and often make for the best 'war stories' afterwards.
Exasperated by Themolin's lack of cooperation, Zaza casts Charm DC 17
I have paused the game to allow for a discussion of the above proposed tactic before I resolve it.
@ All - Please read my notes below and let me know how you would like to proceed.
What follows may already be known to everyone, but as Pathfinder 2nd edition is new to all of us, I thought it important to point out.
Please note that, as noted in the Core Rulebook, casting a spell, particularly in such a crowded location, is not likely to go unnoticed:
"You must speak them in a strong voice, so it’s hard to conceal that you’re Casting a Spell." (CRB, Verbal Component pg. 303).[/ooc]
Also, "When you Cast a Spell, your spellcasting creates obvious visual manifestations of the gathering magic, although feats such as Conceal Spell and Melodious Spell can help hide such manifestations or otherwise prevent observers from noticing that you are casting" (CRB, Casting Spells, pg. 302).
Finally, as the mechanics go, the use of the spell takes us out of Exploration Mode and into Encounter Mode.
Story wise, please Keep in mind that the party was urged to keep a low profile in this totalitarian city, which employs draconic means to oppress its populace and imposes restrictions upon outsiders. Also, the party has observed at least one bureaucrat at the Ministry employing a magical spell.
I certainly don't want to hinder player agency or make players feel that they are being prevented from using spells that are part of the PCs repetoire. I am simply urging caution in your decisions and suggest, in the Pathfinders' spirit of cooperation that you confer with the other players before making such a potentially impactful decision. Gaining a consensus beforehand increases the party's likelihood of success, not only in the overall mission, but also with challenging tasks--possibly providing a diversion or otherwise helping to conceal the casting of a particular spell or offering alternative means to resolve the challenge.
In light of the above, I will allow Zaza to rescind the original post and post any new actions, if she so desires. Otherwise, once I am satisfied that the players have had sufficient time to chime in and/or discuss, I will go ahead and resolve the action.
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Given the above, and Katrina's desire to be discrete and not be arrested, and if she knew what Zaza was doing, she's probably stomp down on Zaza's foot - hard.
Either that, or she'd distance herself from the group - maybe try and get a date with the receptionist for the night.
But yeah ... it could be possible that the Charm could be seen as an offensive act, especially if he resists.
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Everyone please read the full description of the charm spell and let me know if you all still feel the same way.
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So the way I see it:
If he critically succeeds, he knows what's up
If he succeeds, he thinks you cast a spell that was harmless, but he may also be able to identify it. Casting a harmless spell may still be a problem under these circumstances
If he falls we're good
I would still prefer to wait longer before casting a spell.
We are in his private office, right? No other "witnesses"?
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I doubt that he has the feat necessary to recognize a spell as a reaction when it is cast. Recognize spell
Perhaps I'm trying to go too fast but I feel that we are not actively pushing the story forward enough. I will forgo casting at this time.
No .. I think we're in a larger place with lots of desks ... sort of like a large office space without all the movable partitions ...
Correct. Themolin's desk is a wide-opened area filled with well-dressed bureaucrats tending to the paperwork piled upon the dozens of desks all neatly arranged around the statue described as sea of bureaucrats tending their paperwork. Themolin is not currently making any efforts to alert the others working at their desks nearby.
My goal is to encourage discussion and planning, not to push a hasty decision.
Apologies for the delays this week. Life and a temporary loss of internet (the internet cable was physically cut by a contractor) has made my posts more limited than I would have liked.
Is anyone planning on using their PC at this table for Gameday? We are approaching the end of the scenario. I can cut back a bit on the roleplaying if we need to complete by September 1st. Otherwise, there is a chance we may go a couple of days past that.
If anyone needs to free up their PC for Gameday, I will do my best to accelerate things towards the conclusion.
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So tomorrow we report the issue with the ledger to the woman that gave us the ledger, she comes down with some other guards to arrest Ellvard and while they take Ellvard away she comes with us.
The problem is I doubt the act itself is a crime. We need to bring it before Belimarius somehow?
Did anyone ask for Garrla?
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"I am Captain Astrid Kallade of the Emerald Guard,""But then, again," she says as she makes eye contact with the half-orc. "Being of high rank does provide one with certain, shall we say, opportunities?"
"So," she continues, as she points to her armored uniform, “If you want to be able to wear this armor for yourself someday--and if you have what it takes--then it can be yours for the taking. Who knows? In time, you may find your place here. Understand?"
So tomorrow we report the issue with the ledger to the woman that gave us the ledger, she comes down with some other guards to arrest Ellvard and while they take Ellvard away she comes with us.
The problem is I doubt the act itself is a crime. We need to bring it before Belimarius somehow?
Did anyone ask for Garrla?
Basically there is no Garrla. Asking for Garrla was a ruse to identify us to the person that wanted passage out, in this case the recruitment officer Captain Astrid Kallade. She either wants out herself or wants us to get someone else out. I think she means herself though because of her emphasis on this that you can see above. She asked us where and when to meet. Hopefully she figured out what I meant and will meet up with us at the end of the day tomorrow at the docks
As for the ledger and the affidavit implicating Ellivard we will not be turning them in to the authorities. I don't know about you but I don't want any extra guards around while we try to sneak refugees past customs and onto our ship. We don't care if a guard has cheated the Runelord out of some gold. The guard however certainly does care to avoid the Runelord's wrath and we can use these two items to blackmail him should our forgeries prove insufficient under scrutiny. If we need more leverage we can bribe the guards as well.
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It looks as though we have five refugees to slip past customs. Flitch, Themolin, Yuleg, Vurna, and Astrid-Garrla. We have 4 sets of forged travel papers that are presumably good enough to pass inspection since Astrid did not mention that they were fake when I showed them to her. We also have a disguise kit and most importantly a potion of invisibility.
I propose we let Flitch use the invisibility potion to slip past the guards and we use the fake papers for the remaining people. If anything goes pear-shaped we have the ledger and the affidavit to blackmail Ellivard.
I have no ideas for the disguise kit at the moment.
@GM Valen
Did we ever identify the scroll that Guntram found inside the textbook at the Arcanum?
I don't believe so. As the party had time and Professor Chaverly had some expertise (and since it is not likely to make a difference now), it is a scroll of remove disease.
Excellent thinking Zaza.
I thought most of our people left with the ship from the cove already? Isn't Astrid the only one left?
Only the Chaverlys and Seddothrum left the ship via the cove. The party still has the following charges in its care:
1. Yuleg Bluingot (dwarven proprietor of Rockfish Inn)
2. Vurna Bluingto (Yuleg's daughter)
3. Flitch (Varisian thief)
4. Theomolin (bureaucrat)
5. Astrid Kallade (member of the Emerald Guard)
My apologies for the delay. With school beginning for 3 kids and all being on-line has limited my time and access to devices. I will get an update up later today.
In the meantime, please make sure that all your PFS information s correct, including number and Earn Income checks. Please indicate any PCs that have field-commissions or special boons impacting Earn Income.
Thanks!