“Taldor: the pinnacle of civilization. The mightiest empire, built upon the greatest military and protected by the greatest defenses in our part of the world—the triumph of humankind over the untamed wilderness. A land completely free from monsters, they insist.
“Never believe such poppycock.
“Nowhere in this world is without dangers. When you wipe the land clean of the obvious beasts, you don’t render it a paradise.
You simply open up a new hunting ground for those monsters who can wear a friendly face.
“Hunt, children. Or be hunted.”
~The Baroness Katrina Venemaras, speaking at her daughter’s funeral
Areas to Influence:
A1: Arcade of Triumphs - fully influenced, bonus gained toward Theft mission
A2: Courtyard - fully influenced, PCs may hear a rumor here and learn an NPC interest of their choice
A3: Emperor’s Hall - no thresholds or bonuses
A4: Gallery - first threshold cleared, 7 points remain, gained bonus to social rounds
A5: Imperial Archives - fully influenced, bonus and journal collected by Ismene
A6: Senate Floor - fully influenced, gained ring and additional skill use elsewhere in the Senate
A7: Servant Areas - fully influenced, bonus gained toward Aide mission
List of NPC's to Influence:
Kalbio of Breezy Creek - Fully influenced by sincere interest from Zahur, Friendly
Baron Nicolaus Okerra - Fully influenced by Bluff from Shiyara, Friendly
Countess Abrielle Pace - Weakness discovered by Ismene, Targeted by Ismene’s fraudulent rumor, Influenced by Appraise or Diplomacy, one more check to fully influence.
Duke Leonard Centimus - Influenced by Knowledge, or Bluff check, Fully influenced, Friendly
Lady Gloriana Morilla - Weakness for professionals, influenced by Craft, Profession and Knowledge (Nobility), Fully influenced, Friendly.
High Strategos Maxillar Pythareus - Influenced by Intimidate check, remains uninfluenced
Princess Eutropia Stavian I - Fully influenced by Perform(Oratory) from Arthur, Friendly
Wyssilka the Fantabulous - Fully influenced by Perform(Dance)&(Oratory) from Torin and Arthur, Friendly
Mission Objectives:
Aide - Torin has delivered all 6 messages, mission complete
Discovery - Ismene discovered Abrielle Pace's weakness, Zahur learned how Duke Centimus will vote, mission complete.
Fraud - Ismene acquired writing samples, discovered Abrielle Pace's weakness, forged an embarrassing documents, and started the rumor, mission complete
Politicking - Shiyara has successfully influenced the Baron, mission complete
Sabotage - Zahur has succeeded in sabotaging the wine, mission complete
Spy - Thonis has succeeded 3 of 3 attempts to spy on Pythareus, mission complete
Theft - Arthur has succeeded in stealing 3 artifacts, mission complete
Social Combat
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Social Rounds: The Events in the Senate section details the timeline you should use to run this social-focused portion of the adventure. Each event lists a number of social rounds that follow it. During these social rounds (considered to be roughly 15 minutes each), the PCs can attempt various skill checks to influence NPCs or to generally carouse a specific area of the senate. Descriptions of the areas and the NPCs list a variety of possible skills the PCs may use to influence the guests. A PC can attempt only one major action each round, including influencing an area, influencing a specific NPC, or attempting mission-related skill checks, but they can travel freely around the senate between rounds to investigate or influence new areas or characters.
Influencing an Area: A PC can attempt an appropriate skill check with a set DC for one of the areas of the senate, hobnobbing and impressing the general crowd in that area. Each area has two thresholds, which represent levels of influence over that area. Every point by which the PC’s result on one of these skill checks exceeds the DC is added to a pool of points specific to that area. When the number of points earned by the party as a whole exceeds the threshold of an area, then the GM provides the PCs with the information and story award associated with that area’s threshold value.
Influencing an NPC: A PC can attempt various skill checks to influence the NPCs listed in the Dramatis Personae section. These rules are a simplified version of the rules for influencing an individual presented in Chapter 3 of Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Intrigue. Each social round, a PC can move to any location on the map on page 16 and select a single NPC in that area as her target to influence. She then attempts either a discovery check or an influence check. A discovery check allows a PC to learn either one of the skills she can use to influence the target or a weakness that grants her (and any other characters with whom she shares this information) a +4 bonus on future influence checks. The exact skill and DC required for a discovery check varies; learning an influence skill normally requires a successful Sense Motive or Knowledge (nobility) check with the DC listed in parentheses in the Influence entry of the target NPC’s social stat block. Learning a target’s weakness requires a successful skill check using the skills and DCs listed in parentheses in the target’s Weakness entry; the GM can reveal the skills needed to recognize these weaknesses without need for a separate discovery check. An influence check is an attempt to win the target’s favor. PCs must attempt a skill check using one of the skills listed in the target’s Influence entry, though discovering what these skills are requires a successful discovery check. A successful skill check against the listed DC counts as one success, indicating growing affection or respect for the PC. Each target lists the total number of successes needed to gain their favor. At the GM’s discretion, PCs can attempt to use a skill not listed in an NPC’s stat block, but doing so increases the influence check DC by 5. A PC earns one additional success if her influence check exceeds the listed DC by 5 or more. A failed discovery or influence check can be attempted again in subsequent rounds with no penalty unless otherwise noted.
