GM Xavier Kahlvet's Hell's Rebels 2e

Game Master KingTreyIII

I'll chip in a hero point to reroll the teacup. The favors seem valuable to have.

"All's well that ends well. Have a good night, Captain. And I'll hold you to those favors. We'll need them."

Vitalis returns to the inn with the party. "So Marquel was the Poison Pen. Interesting... I wonder if he'll keep writing if Captain Sargaeta keeps him safe or if he'll decide it's not worth the risk."

"Before we were distracted, we were going to investigate the Lucky Bones. I suppose we should refocus on that unless something else comes up."

Do we do the reroll or do you do it? If it's us: 1d10 ⇒ 9

"I agree. At least this latest misadventure of ours has garnered us a useful ally. As for the 'Poison Pen,'" she adds, making a face, "I hate being wrong."

Do we do the reroll or do you do it? If it's us: 1d10

"I agree. At least this latest misadventure of ours has garnered us a useful ally. As for the 'Poison Pen,'" she adds, making a face, "I hate being wrong."

I'll allow you to keep the roll. And I presume that means that Jisara's chipping in her Hero Point for that reroll?

Seems like a fair trade to me!

Fireday 13 Neth, 4715

*

This next part is mostly driven by y’all and what y’all want to do next. Do you guys want to go straight to the Lucky Bones? Do you want to get some downtime in to do some stuff? Do you want to do something else? Basically, tell me what y’all want to do and I’ll accommodate for it.

Well then, sounds like we’re going to the Lucky Bones.

Edrakk, don’t forget to update the hotbar above your posts to 5th level.

*

Chapter 3: The Lucky Bones

*

What remains of the Lucky Bones, at least on the surface, is very…pathetic. The ruins themselves have been picked over—very little remains but rubble, a tangle of timbers, and three partially collapsed brick fireplaces. On first glance there doesn’t seem to have been anyone here for years—though to those looking hard enough, they do find several tracks that indicate the area has recently been trodden—most likely by the changeling cultists that the PCs managed to figure out.

Thanks to Octavio’s intel, the PCs know that there is a trapdoor in the southernmost and largest fireplace. Sure enough, Octavio is correct—the trapdoor is indeed there, and is opened on well-oiled hinges to reveal a staircase descending downward.

Down the trapdoor

Below the trap door, a flight of stairs descends into a partially collapsed basement. The air is thick with the cloying reek of garbage and decay, and clouds of fat flies buzz about, making it doubly unpleasant to breathe within the dank chamber. A wooden door, reinforced with rusting iron strips, sits in the eastern wall. Map Updated

Technically, there’s a bit of dubiousness over if this would reach the people in the back, but it’s literally a terrible smell, so I’m going to say it goes around corners rather than strictly adhering to line of effect.

Everyone succeeded at 2 saves and failed 1 (it was DC 18, BTW), meaning that everyone is sickened 1. Notably, Chance crit failed, meaning that he’s also slowed 1 for as long as he’s sickened. And that sickened penalty applies to initiative, which is right now.

Vitalis gets the sense that there’s certainly something in here—call it a gut feeling, but loose garbage doesn’t usually smell this bad (though to be fair, most of the time he’s had people to deal with the refuse for him). Haven’t marked where on the map the enemies are because technically no one knows yet.

Taking Out the Trash
Round 1
==============
Vitalis {sickened 1}
???
Chance {sickened 1 & slowed 1}
Jisara {sickened 1}
Edrakk {sickened 1}
==============

Erring on the side of caution, Vitalis opts not to rush into the room. He picks up a loose piece of debris and throws it hard against the far wall trying to make a loud noise and draw out any monster that might be lurking in the muck.

◆: Interact (Pick up debris)
◆: Strike (Throw debris) (I'm not rolling an attack because I don't care where it hits. Just make noise.)
◆: Interact (Reposition two hands back on glaive)

Vitalis chucks a rock that impacts with the far wall.

Suddenly, three mounds of filth rise up and start noisily screeching! The mounds of filth run straight at Vitalis, and the filth covering them slumps off to reveal a trio of strange (yet oddly cute) creatures—three-legged beasts with three tentacles protruding from its body, one of which has an eye on it. As the creatures approach, the horrid stench in the room becomes stronger as it’s clear that these are its source.

The first one to approach Green lashes out at the paladin with its tentacles.

Green tentacle vs Vitalis w/sickened 1: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Since Vitalis’s bludgeoning resistance is FINALLY coming into effect, I’ll state now that for PCs the initiative card should already take into account resistances being applied; the “-X” next to a PC’s name is what’s deducted from their actual HP. However, I’m human and I make mistakes, so if I forget to apply it every so often then please forgive me and correct me.

The creature then wraps its tentacle around Vitalis. ◆ Grab

The remaining two creatures then advance forward and bite and slam at the grabbed paladin!

Blue jaws vs Vitalis FF w/sickened 1: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 4 = 8

At the last second, Vitalis sees the creature’s garbage-coated teeth that quickly sink into his side. Not entirely sure how thematically the stench imposes a -2 circumstance penalty to saves against diseases, but that’s what’s written, so we’ll go with it.

Vitalis Fort; sickened 1, stench: 1d20 + 11 - 1 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 1 - 2 = 19 Success

Blue tentacle vs Vitalis FF w/sickened 1; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 12 - 4 = 25
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Red jaws vs Vitalis FF w/sickened 1 and cover: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 5) + 4 = 10

Red tentacle vs Vitalis FF w/sickened 1 and cover; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 12 - 4 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Reminder: you can take an action to try and reduce your sickened value. Some people forget that.

Taking Out the Trash
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Vitalis (-17) {sickened 1; grabbed}
Red
Green
Blue
Chance {sickened 1 & slowed 1}
Jisara {sickened 1}
Edrakk {sickened 1}
==============

Fortitude: 1d20 + 11 - 1 ⇒ (7) + 11 - 1 = 17
Fortitude: 1d20 + 11 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 11 - 1 = 26

Jisara gags at the overpowering stench of the horrible creatures, but manages to keep her breakfast down, and cast a healing spell on Vitalis to boot. No easy feat.

◆: Retch! ◆: Retch again! ◆: Cast life boost on Vitalis for fast healing 6.

"HURK!"

Chance's ruddy complexion is tinged with green as he doubles over, leans against the wall, and tries to lose his breakfast.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 10 - 1 = 19

I don't know if that's enough to pass, so I'll assume for the moment that it isn't.

The gnome wipes his mouth and looks woozily at their attackers. Who or what are they?!?

◆: Retch!
◆: Recall Knowledge about the creatures attacking the party
◇: Cast a Focus Spell, loremaster's etude

↻: Unexpected Shift (if triggered)

Retch: 1d20 + 11 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 11 - 1 = 19

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (2, 6) + 4 = 12

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (6, 7) + 6 = 19

Vitalis retches and while the stench remains, his stomach somewhat settles. Then he slashes at the creature grabbing him, hoping to either kill it or get it to release him.

◆: Retch
◆: Strike (green)
◆: Strike (green)

Edrakk recoils from the creatures as they approach. Well, I've finally found something that smells worse than a laboratory waste bin or rotting fish, so that's something.

Wanting to get a bit of breathing room from the foul-smelling creatures, he ducks around the one in front of him to the other side of the room.

Thinking about it, this probably works better strategically, too. Maybe I could draw one away, give us a bit of space?

He draws a set of kitchen knives, all connected like a fan, and mocks a few slices through the air. "Hey, over here, you--" His sentence is cut off by his morning coffee rising to his throat again.

◆ Stride
◆ Draw +1 Tengu gale blade
◆ Retch!
Fortitude: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 10 - 1 = 20

For the record, I did state that the DC of the sickened was 18.

Jisara retches and casts a spell on Vitalis.

Chance retches and tries to figure something out about these creatures.

Vitalis retches and slices twice at the creature that has him grabbed, but it continues to remain standing.

A few notes to Edrakk: moving forward, I think it’s fair to assume that you would have your weapons drawn—especially knowing that you’re going into the domain of a cult of a Queen of the Night. Secondly, there is a wall in the way of the path that you took, but since you’re trained in Acrobatics, I’m going to replace that Stride with a Tumble Through (after you succeed at the retching).

Edrakk Acrobatics vs Blue Reflex DC: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28 Yeah, that’s more than enough.

Edrakk retches, draws his weapon, and leapfrogs over Blue.

Unfortunately, y’all aren’t temporarily immune to the stench until you SUCCEED at the save against the stench. And since y’all failed at least once, y’all need to make another save.

Alright, no more worrying about the stench (except when it comes to the penalty to saves against diseases, which happens regardless of the saving throw).

Green ◆ maintains its grab on Vitalis, then its tentacles tighten around the paladin! ◆ Constrict

Bludgeoning Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Vitalis basic Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29 Success

This also segues into the fact that for non-Strikes I generally label the type of damage regardless, but for Strikes I usually just say “Damage” when it’s bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing. It’ll make it a bit harder to keep track of the damage being resisted, but I’m lazy and most of the time it’s intuitive anyways.

Green then proceeds to bite at the grabbed paladin.

Green jaws vs Vitalis FF: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 3) + 4 = 13

Blue bites and slams at Vitalis.

Blue jaws vs Vitalis FF: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 5) + 4 = 11

Blue tentacle vs Vitalis FF; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 12 - 4 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Blue then likewise wraps its tentacles around Vitalis. ◆ Grab

Red sees Edrakk and ◆ Steps over and swings its tentacle at the tengu.

Red tentacle vs Edrakk: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Damage (doubled from crit): 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Vitalis swiftly interjects the attack to protect Edrakk. ↻ Retributive Strike (Vitalis can roll the Strike part of that) to reduce the damage by 7. But the creature nevertheless wraps its tentacles around Edrakk. ◆ Grab

Taking Out the Trash
Round 2 —> 3
==============
Vitalis (-11) {Fast Healing 6: Round 1 of 4; grabbed}
Red
Green (-31)
Blue
Chance
Jisara
Edrakk (-3) {grabbed}
==============

Jisara ventures forward just enough to get a clearer look at just what the hell has Vitalis so wrapped up, and nearly stumbles backwards into Chance at the sight. She begins weaving together a new spell, one to take advantage of the two monsters' close proximity to one another.

Electric Arc, DC 21 basic Reflex: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3, 3) + 4 = 14 I get a lot of mileage out of this gif

◆: Stride. ◆◆: Cast electric arc on Blue and Green.

I don't suppose any of them are wearing a plethora of hats?

"They're otyughs - sewer-dwelling garbage eaters! Be glad these are just the kids! But even so, watch out for those tentacles, they can constrict you if they grab you!" Chance looks up at Vitalis and Edrakk, each writhing in the grip of an aberration. "Oh, right."

Voice raw from retching, Chance begins to sing.

"We did not come down here to suffer
We did not come down here to gag
We came to clear out all the monsters
And put all of their loot in a bag!
Now now now
Let my people GO GO GO!
You gotta let my people GO!
C'mon guys, let's GO GO GO!"

◆: Cast a spell, liberating command, targeting Edrakk
◆: Cast a spell, liberating command, targeting Vitalis
◆: Cast a spell,inspire courage

Yes, it's one song verse for three spells - I've had a long day.

Now, if I make the retributive strike, I can't make the check from liberating command since I've already used my reaction for the round, right?

Retributive Strike (Red): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3) + 4 = 11
Crit Damage: 1d8 + 22 ⇒ (5) + 22 = 27

Would my crit. ability to move the enemy break the grab on Edrakk? Either way, if I can, I'll move it to the square NW of where it is. Marked on may.

Escape (Athletics): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16 In case I can.

Round 3

Glaive (Green): 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 14 + 1 = 33 Since my 23 hit last round, I assume 33 would be a crit.
Damage: 2d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2, 7) + 4 + 1 = 14
Crit Damage: 1d8 + 28 ⇒ (2) + 28 = 30
If it is still alive, I'll push is SW if I can.

Glaive (Green or Blue): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 1 = 24
Damage: 2d8 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 2) + 6 + 1 = 13

Glaive (Green or Blue): 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 1 = 23
Damage: 2d8 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (7, 2) + 8 + 1 = 18

If Green dies after any of these attacks, I'll switch my attacks to Blue next.

Chance really inspires Vitalis and he channels his inner woodsman to chop and chop. He slashes left and he slashes right and he chops down the middle, cutting the otyughs into gory stinky bits.

◆: Strike x3 (Green then Blue)

Liberating Command (if I need it), Acrobatics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Assuming he gets out
Edrakk scrambles out of the Otyugh's grasp. After taking a second to catch his breath, he takes a step forward and slashes at the Otyugh who attacked him with his fan blade. "So, you live in sewage, let's hope that hasn't heightened your immune system too much." He draws a rectangular vial of sickly green liquid.

If he didn't break out, replace the first action with another Escape attempt.
◆ Step
◆ +1 Tengu Gale Blade: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 1 = 17, 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6
◆ Draw a blight bomb

Vitalis slashes his glaive into Red and moves it over. I’m…unsure how to rule this, so I’m going to default to Red attempting an Athletics check as a reaction to try to pull Edrakk along with it.

Red Athletics vs Edrakk Fort DC: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16 Yeah, no, the Grab is broken.

Jisara moves forward and launches electricity.

Since Vitalis already used his reaction and the Grab on Edrakk was broken (as well as the fact that there’s a wall between Chance and Edrakk), I’m just going to replace Chance’s liberating commands with a telekinetic projectile at Blue.

Chance vs Blue w/cover; inspire courage: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 1 = 32
Damage; inspire courage (doubled from crit): 3d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2, 3) + 4 + 1 = 13

Vitalis swings his glaive at Green and slices it in half. He then turns his attention to Blue, and after two hits likewise slices it in twain.

Edrakk steps forward and attacks the remaining otyugh and misses.

The remaining otyugh looks over at the bodies of its fallen allies and its singular eye begins tearing up. It starts bawling and runs over to the nearest pile of refuse and cowers within it. I’m going to assume that y’all don’t attack the crying, juvenile otyugh like monsters. What y’all do with it is largely unimportant right now, because at the moment it’s too scared of y’all to attack anymore.

Hero Point to Vitalis for easily handling the otyughs.

In a niche in the corner of the room are several items that the otyughs seem to have horded because they’re sparkly: a silver comb (worth 10 gp), an iron chalice inlaid with pearls (worth 35 gp), a set of infiltrator thieves’ tools because I just noticed that no one in this party has thieves’ tools, and an item that Edrakk is unable to identify while the others are Refocusing, so he hands it to Jisara, who identifies it as an iron cube. Which’ll be another 10 minutes in here. Inventory Updated

Vitalis goes to open the door in this room, he notices that it’s locked. With his newly-acquired set of tools, Edrakk goes to work trying to open the lock, only to suddenly find himself on the receiving end of a spring-loaded spine that extends out from the lock!

Spine vs Edrakk FF: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (12) + 20 = 32

Edrakk takes 2 piercing damage, but that’s not what’s important. Edrakk looks down at the wound on his hand and realizes that it’s done something to him that he’s done to himself accidentally before: he’s been poisoned.

After all of that, Edrakk is down 33 HP and one vial of reagents. I’m actually going to give Edrakk a Hero Point for tanking the poison’s effects like a champ (even if it was mostly botted by me).

Vitalis casts lay on hands and Jisara casts life boost on Edrakk, then both Refocus.

The door opens to reveal a set of stairs descending downward.

Down the stairs

Twin rows of stone pillars support a shallow vaulted ceiling ten feet above the floor of this wide room. A number of wooden doors hang half open on rusty hinges to the north and south, and fragments of tables and chairs lie in various states of ruin throughout the room. To the west, a stone stage stands empty, while empty torch sconces line the walls between the doors. Images of a one-eyed insectile face, smeared on the walls in what appears to be blood, decorate the spaces between sconces. The image is shown on the map. Map Updated

Before they have a chance to fully process what they’re seeing, the PCs see a group of human women with clawed hands and mismatched eyes—changelings. The changelings see the group that they do not recognize and shout in anger!

Wait, they’re first? What?

Green Steps down and pulls out a small package that she then chucks at Vitalis! As it flies through the air, the package opens to reveal a net!

Green net vs Vitalis: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Yellow does the same, moving over and throwing a net at Vitalis.

Yellow net vs Vitalis w/cover: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Orange moves over, and, once again, throws a net at Vitalis.

Orange net vs Vitalis w/lesser cover: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Blue takes a different approach as she moves over and pulls out a cord with several weights on it—a bola.

Red likewise moves out and pulls out a bola, she then throws the bola right at Vitalis!

Red vs Vitalis; 2nd range increment: 1d20 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 2 = 12
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

And no, I’m not forgetting about Purple; you just can’t see what she’s doing.

Maidens of the Mismatched Eyes
Round 1
==============
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Edrakk
Jisara
Chance/Vitalis
==============

Jisara cackles malevolently when every single attempt to tangle up Vitalis meets with utter failure.

"Is that the best you can do?" she taunts, reaching out a hand. "Let me try."

Demoralize vs Green: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Electric Arc vs Green and Orange, DC 21 basic Reflex: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 3, 3) + 4 = 13

◆: Demoralize. ◆◆: Cast electric arc.

Once Edrakk is done coughing up the poison, he shakily stands up and thinks for a minute. "It's a good start, I liked how to the point it was, clearly very professional. Unfortunately, it felt like a lot of show, and there wasn't much substance. I'd give it a solid 7 out of 10."

-----------------------------------

Ok, this shouldn't be too bad. They're all fairly close together, and I don't see any reason why a blight bomb wouldn't--

Wait, uhh... are they really attacking us?
I mean, they threw the bolas and stuff, sure, but that's not really that violent? I'd feel weird about responding with that much more force than they did.

Ok, hold on...

Edrakk reaches into his bag and pulls out a vial of yellow powder, steps into the room, and tosses it towards two of the changelings. The vial hits the ground and breaks, causing a cloud of yellow gas to surround them.

◆ Draw yellow musk poison
◆ Stride into the room
◆ Yellow Musk Poison, DC 21 Will on red and blue

Vitalis feels a little conflicted when the remaining otyugh runs off in tears but he isn't about to go comfort the tentacle monster either. Also, he thinks to himself, "If these were children, is there a mother somewhere...?"

Images of a one-eyed insectile face, smeared on the walls in what appears to be blood

Is this a religious symbol? Religion +7

When the changelings attack, Vitalis looks at the tangle of nets at his feet and gives them a quizzical look. "Listen, I'm going to offer you the chance to surrender but I doubt that you will accept it. But feel free to let me know if you change your mind."

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (1, 5) + 4 = 10

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 6 = 13

Vitalis steps into the room and chooses one changeling to be an example. Start with attacking orange.

◆: Stride
◆: Strike (orange) x2

At some point during the interval between the otyughs and the changelings, Chance casts false life, giving him 10 temporary hit points for the next 8 hours.

"Hang on a moment!" As the Silver Ravens make their way deeper underground, Chance begins to stop occasionally - particularly at intersections and doorways - and casts sigil to create a mark on the wall (invisible to anyone else) in the shape of a stylized raven. "There! Better than breadcrumbs, anyway."

Once the changelings attack:

"Hey, what's going on?" Chance squeezes past Jisara on the stairs, then stops. "Whoa, what're they doing? We aren't going to stand still for that, are we?"

"Flugantaj rokoj por ĵokeoj!" A broken table leg floats up from the floor and flies at the green changeling.

◆: Stride
◆◆: Cast a Spell
Telekinetic projectile: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 263d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 3, 1) + 4 = 13

GM Xavier wrote:

Images of a one-eyed insectile face, smeared on the walls in what appears to be blood

Is this a religious symbol? Religion +7

Poor communication on my part: combat broke out almost immediately after you opened the door, so y’all haven’t had a proper chance to analyze the symbol. You CAN choose to do so in the middle of combat, but that’ll be an action to Recall Knowledge.

Jisara scares one of the changelings and arcs electricity between two of them.

Vitalis moves into the room, but as he does so an unseen changeling Purple throws a bola right at him! ↻ Readied Action

Purple ranged Trip vs Vitalis: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 6 - 2 = 15

Vitalis then swings once at Orange and easily knocks her to the ground crit, then swings again at Blue.

Chance moves down the stairs you didn’t actually move your token, so I moved it to Vitalis’s previous space then throws a table leg that sends Green flying!

Edrakk moves in and releases a vial of inhaled poison.

For the record, the fascinated condition isn’t as debilitating as it was in 1e; it mostly just prevents taking concentrate actions and provides a penalty to skills and Perception. That said, It does still have its uses.

Like her sisters, Purple takes out a net and tries to throw it onto Vitalis.

Purple net vs Vitalis: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Purple then takes out a bola.

Blue just stands around staring at Edrakk’s broken vial.

Red is clearly distracted by the cloud, but she nevertheless takes out a bola and throws it at the cloud’s originator: Edrakk.

Red bola vs Edrakk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Yellow also takes out another bola and throws it at Edrakk.

Yellow bola vs Edrakk: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 FOR THE LOVE OF—!!!
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

She likewise retreats.

Maidens of the Mismatched Eyes
Round 2
==============
Red {Yellow Musk Poison: Stage 2}
Yellow
Blue (-13) {Yellow Musk Poison: Stage 2}
Purple
Jisara
Vitalis
Chance
Edrakk
==============

For the record, the fascinated condition isn’t as debilitating as it was in 1e; it mostly just prevents taking concentrate actions and provides a penalty to skills and Perception. That said, It does still have its uses.

Facination also ends if a creature uses hostile actions against you or any of your allies. So not very useful in combat. Any one of us attacking one of them on our turn would have ended the effect. Sorry, I forgot to consider that last turn.

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 5) + 4 = 12

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (5, 2) + 6 = 13

Vitalis is startled by the attack from the woman hiding the the bedroom but since he is unharmed, he shrugs it off and maintains his focus on the others. He moves further into the room after the retreating changelings and attacks the wounded one again. "It's not too late to change your mind. Prison may be more favorable than death but if you choose death, Shelyn will provide it to you swifty."

◆: Stride
◆: Strike x2 (Blue then Yellow if Blue dies)

Green went down in one shot? Whoa!

"Don't quite know what we are searching for
Teenage otyughs running wild, a million stinky sewers and
Every time we thought we'd found the end
We found the air was not so sweet
Then we looked and found a stairway
Though we didn't have a hint
Of what we would find down at the bottom
We're much too fast to wait and check

"Ch- ch- ch- changelings!
Stand and face them down
Ch- ch- ch- changelings!
Don't want to be captured by them!
Ch- ch- ch- changelings!
Stand and face them down
Ch- ch- ch- changelings!
We're gonna have to fight until the end
Nets might catch us
But we won't back down."

◆: Cast a Spell, inspire courage

The red-garbed changeling being just out of reach of his telekinesis, Chance sends a blast of mental energy at her instead.

◆◆: Cast a Spell, daze
Mental damage, nonlethal (DC 21 basic Will save): 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
If the changeling critically fails her save, she will also be stunned 1.

Jisara steps forward for a better view of the melee, and her eyes settle on one of the fallen bolas. She considers it for a moment, before sending it hurtling at one of the confused cultists (Red).

Telekinetic projectile: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 11 + 1 = 27
Bludgeoning: 3d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3, 5) + 4 + 1 = 19

◆: Stride. ◆◆: Cast telekinetic projectile.

[dice=Yellow bola vs Edrakk 1d20+7 FOR THE LOVE OF—!!!

I'm very glad I put that extra point into dex last level.

Edrakk steps forward a bit and draws one of his vials of reddish gas. "I'm guessing a peaceful solution is out of the picture at this point." He then hurls it into the room to the side, aiming for the changeling. The vial explodes, causing the gas inside to condense into pointy crystals.

◆ Step
◆ Draw crystal shards
◆ Crystal Shards at Purple: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26, 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 1) + 4 = 7

Vitalis strikes down Blue and then slashes at Yellow.

Chance mentally blasts Red.

Red Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Which knocks Red out.

Jisara moves forward and launches a bola at Purple, likewise knocking her out.

Edrakk throws a crystal shard bomb at the remaining cultist and knocks her out. This’ll technically deal some splash damage to Vitalis, but with the amount of healing in this party it’s very negligible.

I’ll update more later when I’m in a better headspace to do so.

Vitalis casts lay on hands on himself then Refocuses.

The PCs figure out that the strange symbols are stylized renditions of the holy symbol of Mahathallah, the Queen of the Night of death, vanity, and fate. The Dowager of Illusions is a nihilistic deity that teaches to seek the truths that underlie every falsehood.

Since you guys actually managed to knock out (rather than kill) one of the cultists, I’m guessing that you’ll try to interrogate her: The changeling is brought back to consciousness and does nothing but spit vile curses and constantly attempt to escape.

Vitalis Intimidation: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Through blatant threats, Vitalis manages to get the cultist to speak. ”Mahathallah’s chosen will spill the blood of those twins on the altar, and the Queen of the Night herself will descend upon you!”

Suddenly, a pair of terrified cries echo throughout the corridors:

”HELP!!!”

The changeling looks up at Vitalis and gives the widest sh*t-eating grin. ”Better hurry.”

Vitalis, bound by his tenets to not let innocents come to harm to inaction, knocks out the cultist with the butt of his glaive and runs toward the source of the screaming. He eventually comes to a hallway where to the right it continues toward a pit just, ignore the dotted lines, please; the interactive map PDF didn’t want to take those away for the “Player View.” However, the source of the screaming comes from the open door to his left.

Through the door to the left

Floor-to-ceiling shelving lines the walls of this storage space, although little beyond cobwebs and dust-covered fragments remain on the shelves. A large nest of filthy rags, soiled clothing, and moldy pillows lies in a heap to the west. Map Updated

In this room are a pair of humans—male identical twins who look no younger than 16 years old—who have been manacled to the leg of one of the shelves that has been bolted to the floor. As the PCs enter, their faces light up. ”Oh thank the gods!” The move up into an awkward squat due to their wrists being shackled near the ground. ”Please, get us out of these!”

Edrakk moves forward with his newly-acquired thieves’ tools and tries to release them.

Chance and Vitalis are well aware that they are probably not the only ones who heard the twins’ cries, and are at the ready for anything and everything that might come at them.

???
Round 1
==============
Chance
Vitalis
???
Jisara
Edrakk
==============

Vitalis keeps an eye out for danger. At the same time, he doesn't fully trust these humans who were found. He watches their mannerisms to see if they are truly who they appear to me.

◆: Sense Motive (Secret) - Perception +7
◆◆: Ready Action to attack if an enemy comes within reach

Chance draws his +1 silver dagger and looks around suspiciously while Edrakk gets to work on the lock.

"My screaming boys bring all the monsters to the yard..." he mutters. "You'd better work fast, Edrakk!"

◆: Interact to draw weapon
◆◆: Ready an action to Point Out whatever Chance sees coming

The twins look at one another and quickly use their free hands to push down on a hidden latch on the manacles. ◆ Interact to free themselves from the false manacles

Then, suddenly, the twins’ forms melt away, their skin writhing and twisting into a claylike substance as they grow claws and their face melts away! ◇ Revert Form; Red and Blue get a +2 to basically everything except AC until the start of their next turn. And that’s sufficient to trigger Vitalis’s Readied action.

↻ Vitalis vs Blue: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
Damage (doubled from crit): 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 3) + 4 = 13
Deadly: 1d8 ⇒ 7

Red then claws at the agape Edrakk!

Red vs Edrakk; Reverted Form: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 12 + 2 = 31
Damage; Reverted Form: 2d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 5) + 6 + 2 = 16

The faceless creature then digs its nails into the tengu. ◆ Grab

Blue then Steps over to get away from Vitalis, and likewise swings a claw at the grabbed Edrakk.

Blue vs Edrakk FF; Reverted Form: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 2 = 27
Damage; Sneak Attack, Reverted Form: 2d6 + 6 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1) + 6 + (5) + 2 = 19

Evil Twins
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Chance
Vitalis
Red
Blue (-33)
Jisara
Edrakk (-35) {grabbed}
==============

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (1, 7) + 4 = 12

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4) + 6 = 14

Not sure if those would be crits or not, so here's two rolls for deadly in case.
Deadly: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Vitalis steps closer and attacks the wounded enemy (blue).

"I knew something felt fishy here. I'm sorry for not speaking up, Edrakk."

◆: Step
◆: Strike x2 (blue)

Jisara blinks in surprise as the twins melt into vaguely humanoid blob monsters, but taps into her patron's well of knowledge with a snap of her fingers. With her other hand, she sends a bolt of electricity that leaps from one to the other.

◆: Cast discern secrets to recall knowledge about these guys with my fancy +1 status bonus. ◆◆: Cast electric arc, DC 21 basic Reflex.

Electric Arc: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 1, 2) + 4 = 8

"No... worries... Vitalis..." Edrakk says through gasps, as he tries to wriggle his way out of the clay thing's grasp.

◆ Escape - Acrobatics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
If that wasn't enough, replace the next actions with Escapes

He then moves back behind Vitalis and draws one of his prepared elixirs.

◆ Stride
◆ Draw elixir of life, moderate

Vitalis moves forward and slices twice at Blue.

Jisara uses her magic to arc between the two creatures.

The electrical discharge causes Blue to completely explode, while Red takes a lot of damage from it.

Edrakk tries to escape, and fails, so he does so again.

Edrakk Escape; 2nd: 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (20) + 10 - 5 = 25

He escapes the creature’s grasp and moves away from it.

Botting Chance: Chance sees Edrakk move over and so uses the activation on his healer’s gloves on the tengu.

Healing to Edrakk: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (5, 2) + 7 = 14

The gnome then casts inspire courage and Steps over to allow Vitalis to get the music’s benefits.

More than a little disoriented, Red moves over and sweeps Vitalis’s legs!

Red Trip vs Vitalis Reflex DC: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

The creature then brings a claw down on the paladin!

Red claw vs Vitalis FF; 2nd, agile: 1d20 + 12 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 12 - 4 = 18
Damage; Sneak Attack: 2d6 + 6 + 1d6 ⇒ (3, 5) + 6 + (3) = 17

Evil Twins
Round 2 —> 3
==============
Chance
Vitalis {prone}
Red (-16)
Jisara
Edrakk (-20)
==============

Thanks for botting me, GM - I was waiting for Edrakk to see if he could escape on his own. Perfect use of the healer's gloves.

Chance continues his inspiring song, then flicks a finger to cause one of the false manacles to launch itself at the remaining shapeshifter.

"Flugantaj rokoj por ĵokeoj!"

◆: Cast a Spell, inspire courage
◆◆: Cast a Spell
Telekinetic projectile + inspire courage: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 1 = 143d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3, 5) + 4 + 1 = 14
↻: Unexpected Shift (if triggered)

Demoralize Red: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

"Hey! Leave the bird alone, you ugly sack of s$%@!" Jisara roars, flinging the other shackle at the remaining doppelganger.

Telekinetic projectile: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 1 = 32
Bludgeoning: 3d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (5, 2, 6) + 4 + 1 = 18

◆: Demoralize Red. ◆◆: Cast telekinetic projectile.

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 14 + 1 = 29
Damage: 2d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 4 + 1 = 15

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 1 = 15
Damage: 2d8 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 6 + 1 = 17

Vitalis stands up and hits the creature again. "Really? Do you know how hard it is to stand back up in plate armor? Such a pain."

◆: Stand
◆: Strike x2

Blah blah blah, Red’s now dead.

An examination of the nest reveals that much of the clothing is in relatively good shape, barring its filthy condition. Among them is a fully-functional (if grime-encrusted) clandestine cloak. Inventory Updated

To the east

A ten-foot-wide pit yawns in the center of this room, leaving a five-foot-wide walkway surrounding it. No railing guards the edges of the pit, which are decorated with shards of jagged glass and metal.

As Vitalis walks adjacent to the pit in one of the squares marked by dotted lines (ignore the oblique dotted lines at the top-right of the pit), he hears a faint click, and suddenly the floor beneath him slants downward on a hinge toward the pit! He feels his feet give way as he starts to fall toward the pit!

Vitalis Reflex to Grab an Edge; DC 20: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 And this is what I mean with the house rule: if going by pure RAW, this wouldn’t have been enough, because Vitalis (I’m assuming) would have been properly wielding his glaive two-handed, so because he didn’t have a free hand he would have continued falling as if he had failed. I’m all for difficult checks, but not ones that require a nat 20 for no good reason (this hazard should be considered “trivial” for y’all’s level).

As Vitalis falls toward the pit, one hand lets go of his glaive and grabs at the southern edge of the pit, the hinged floors returning to their original, hidden position.

Also, for the record, by RAW Vitalis couldn’t pull himself up at this moment, as to Climb he needs both hands free, and one is holding his glaive (though, to be fair, he could take an action to fling his glaive up over the edge to free that hand, but still). This is why I’m not 100% rules lawyer and sticking to pure RAW, because sometimes it’s super dumb.

Vitalis Athletics to Climb; DC 20: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Vitalis pulls himself up, and the other PCs avoid the hinged floor by jumping over it. Y’all can easily avoid it by Leaping.

To the South

An antique wooden desk sits in the southwestern corner of this room, attended by a high-backed chair with tufts of stuffing protruding here and there from its rotting cushions. Partially broken shelves sit against the north and east walls, and strange symbols of a one-eyed insectile face—the symbol of Mahathallah—have been painted on the walls along with curving lines of strange, sinister script written in Infernal, conveying prayers to the Queen of the Night. Map Updated

In the corner of the room, standing behind the desk, is a tall, horned fiend with a long glaive, red skin, and a “beard” of wriggling tendrils.

The fiend looks up at the PCs as they enter the room, and raises a single eyebrow. ”Huh.” He then shrugs. ”Hey. Question for you: Does a soul reach maturity?“

”Someone’s—? Hello! Please help us!”

Muffled cries come from the closed doorway on the other side of the room, but the fiend doesn’t seem to notice it—or if he does, he makes no acknowledgement of it.

What do you do?

Surprised by the question as much as the fiend asking it, Chance begins to answer seriously, reverting to his past days as a young academician. “Well, I’d think that a soul born into a new life should mature as the person themself does, to the extent that the verb ‘to mature’ is often used interchangeably with the verb ‘to age.’ If you intend the more nuanced meaning of the word, and are asking whether a soul evolves, changes over time through the experiences of the individual, I would have to ... oh, bother! Why are you asking? Bearded devils are supposed to be the footsoldiers of Hell, not philosophers; masters of combat, weapons, and stubbornly bleeding wounds, not metaphysicians! Why are you here? Who’s that yelling in the other room?”

Glaive: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Damage: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2) + 4 = 12

Glaive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Damage: 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (7, 3) + 6 = 16

Vitalis gives the devil a moment to respond to Chance. But afterwards, he has little interest in debate with an evil outsider so he moves in to attack. "You can find out what happens to souls yourself when I send you back to Hell."

DANG IT! I forgot to mention that you guys got the false manacles that the shapeshifters were using. Inventory Updated

”You see, I just said—“ The devil stops as Vitalis yells righteous indignation at the fiend. He simply rolls his eyes and says ”Paladins.”

So, for the sake of consistency, I’m just going to say that those attacks were Vitalis’s actions on his first turn, because it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to let obviously hostile actions be taken outside of encounter mode.

The Hateful
Round 1
==============
Vitalis
Edrakk
Jisara
Devil (-28)
Chance
==============

Jisara follows quickly in Vitalis's wake, a point of freezing energy collecting in her outstretched hand as she steps through the doorway. Another moment later, she fires it over the paladin's shoulder and at the devil.

Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Cold: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1, 2) + 4 = 10

◆: Stride. ◆◆: Cast ray of frost.

Edrakk follows into the room as well, keeping to the walls to stay away from the fiend. He reaches into his bag and pulls out another vial of reddish gas, and tosses it at the fiend.

◆ Stride
◆ Draw crystal shards
◆ Crystal Shards: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21 I've got 2 hero points and only 1 of these left, and it probably has some kind of cover, so I think I'm gonna reroll. Crystal Shards, Hero Point: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16 ...I shouldn't have done that. 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 4) + 4 = 12 Piercing, red squares treated as caltrops

Vitalis moves forward and slices twice into the devil.

Jisara advances and launches a cold ray that hits the devil.

Edrakk moves forward and throws a bomb at the devil, missing him and causing the area to fill with glass shards. Unfortunately, all of the shards bounce off of the devil’s hide. The devil has physical resistance that completely negated the splash damage he would have taken.

The fiend glances at the gash on his chest from Vitalis’s glaive. ”Silver. Someone came prepared.” With his own glaive, the bearded devil swipes at Vitalis!

Devil glaive vs Vitalis: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37
Damage (doubled from crit): 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11 Evil Damage (doubled from crit): 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9 plus 1d6 persistent bleed (doubled to 2d6 from crit)
Deadly d8: 1d8 ⇒ 6

The devil chops directly into Vitalis’s side and pulls sharply, bringing the paladin closer to the fiend, and straight into the caltrops! ◇ Reposition; the devil moves Vitalis 5 feet within reach of his glaive.

Vitalis Acrobatics; DC 14: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Piercing Damage to Vitalis: 1d4 ⇒ 4 I’m not going to bother keeping track of the Speed penalty because of how small this room is.

Vitalis suddenly finds himself face-to-face with the bearded devil, who gives a toothy smile. ”Hello, sweetheart. What was that you were saying before?” The fiend’s beard then elongates and its individual tendrils lash out to jab at the paladin! ◆ Wriggling Beard; the devil makes a beard Strike that is unaffected by, and doesn’t contribute towards, his multiple attack penalty (yes, bearded devils are ridiculously powerful).

Devil beard vs Vitalis: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

But Vitalis manages to swat the devil’s beard away. The devil then looks over at the group of backliners and smiles. He immediately disengages with Vitalis and moves right next to Jisara.

Devil Acrobatics; DC 14: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

The Hateful
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Vitalis (-50) {2d6 persistent infernal bleed}
Edrakk
Jisara
Devil (-38)
Chance
==============

"You've got something on your face, cousin," Jisara taunts, stepping back through the door she'd just entered. She presses herself as flat as she can against the wall on the far side, only exposing enough to send a bit of healing magic Vitalis's way.

◆: Step. ◆: Take cover (AC25). ◆: Cast life boost on Vitalis, fast healing 6.

Jisara steps over and takes cover, casting a spell in an attempt to heal Vitalis. Unfortunately, the devil sees what she is doing and immediately swings his glaive at the hiding witch!

↻ Devil AoO vs Jisara w/greater cover: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (9) + 17 = 26
Damage: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13 plus 1d6 persistent bleed

Jisara Counteract: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

As her hex reaches Vitalis, it fails to take hold, the diabolic wound continuing to bleed profusely. Life boost fails to take effect. And to add insult to injury, she herself is suffering from such a wound!

”Gonna need something more powerful than that. Infernal wounds are notoriously difficult to staunch!”

Jisara Bleed: 1d6 ⇒ 3
DC 20 flat: 1d20 ⇒ 1 Yes, THIS persistent damage starts at DC 20

The Hateful
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Vitalis (-50) {2d6 persistent infernal bleed}
Edrakk
Jisara (-16) {1d6 persistent infernal bleed}
Devil (-38)
Chance
==============

Oh, that's not good! Can't see, I'm gonna have go in there, it's dangerous ... just roll the dice already!

Barely realizing that the witch has been hit, Chance darts past Jisara and under the devil's glaive, hoping that the fiend won't be able to react that quickly again right away. He skids to halt in front of the door in the southeast corner and sings his healing song to Vitalis.

◆: Stride
◆◆: Cast a spell, Soothe (heightened to level 3)
Soothe, level 3: 3d10 + 12 ⇒ (10, 7, 9) + 12 = 38

Reaction (whichever is triggered first, if either):
↻: Shadow Projectile (Trigger an ally wihin 20 feet of you makes a ranged attack roll)

↻: Unexpected Shift (if triggered)

A few drops of Jisara's blood splash onto the devil's own wounds, and Jisara offers him a pained smile.

"All according to plan," she tells him. "Now bleed."

↻: Cast blood vendetta, DC 21 Will save against 2d6 persistent bleed damage.

Welcome to Hell’s Rebels, an Adventure Path centered around sticking it to “the man” and fighting for the rights of the people!

This is actually my second time running this AP, the first time being for my offline home group. Honestly, this quickly became one of my favorite Aps from Paizo and probably the only one that I would willingly run again (hence why I’m here).

Admittedly, the most prominent complaint about this AP that I’ve seen is that the players aren’t really telling their story, but rather the story that the AP wants them to tell—the PCs are more like cogs in a bigger machine rather than making their own proper mark on the world, if that makes any sense. I can see this being a turn-off for some people, but I’m personally okay with it, and having gone through this once already I know that even though the AP is telling Kintargo’s story (rather than the PCs’), the PCs still play a major part and still carry an air of importance in what they do.

With that out of the way, let me get to the official stuff:

First off, *Inhales!* For some of the NPCs there is sometimes no image given so I have to improvise using Google and my own lackluster editing skills. If there is a discrepancy between the image and what I write as a description then that is why. All credit to the original artists, etc. etc. etc.

I expect posts as frequently as possible, with a bare minimum of once per day (with some leeway on weekends; I personally do not look at my PbPs on Sundays).

I frequently use spoilers to keep things organized and not too crowded, so for future reference, any spoilers in any of my posts contain public information that can be viewed by everyone with three significant exceptions: Any spoiler labeled with a specific check along with the DC (i.e. "Perception 30"), any spoiler specifically directed toward a particular player, or any spoiler labeled "GM Screen." Additionally, I sometimes put spoilers inside of spoilers, but I have to get creative with the labels for spoilers inside of spoilers (you can't label it normally or else the coding breaks), so I put such labels in bold and ooc; if there isn't such a label directly above such a spoiler then don't open it unless prompted to do so. Example using PF1 skills in the example:

I do have a google document of my personal house rules/GM interpretations for certain things in 2e; I keep the link to it in the profile of my GM alias here, but I will also link to it right here. This document is mostly full of minor adjustments to keep the game internally consistent or to bring the RAW in line with the RAI. I periodically update this document when other weird stuff comes to my attention. Most of it has to do with some minor stuff in monster statblocks, but there are some changes to the wording of specific spells that I added in. Most of the document is written to the benefit of the players or to the benefit of internal consistency.

Finally, I believe that Pathfinder is a game of remembering, so if you forget an ability, a bonus, or anything of the like and don't correct yourself of said mistake soon thereafter and I as the GM don't call you out on it, then we continue onward; I'm not going to do a fleshed-out retcon to satisfy a single mistake and if you expect that of me, then I'll shrug and say "Sorry! Remember next time." Likewise, if I make a mistake and am not called out on it in time, then I will say "Welp, the players reap the rewards of my lack of remembering" and move on. There are exceptions to this, such as when a retcon would be simple ("Just heal X damage since you didn't take it because the attack missed.") or if PC death is on the line.

I’ll address campaign-specific stuff in later posts.

I highly recommend reading through the player’s guide for this AP (link to the player’s guide). While it was written with 1e in mind, much of the information in there is still helpful for understanding the story of the AP. The 1e campaign traits won’t be converted into campaign-specific backgrounds, they are mostly just there for how you want to flavor your character; they provide no mechanical bonuses for this conversion.

Additionally, I will either be overhauling or completely scrapping the rules for running the rebellion that is in the player’s guide. Having played with those specific rules, I felt that it was just a bunch of crunch for the sake of crunch. I’ll likely use a variant of the Leadership subsystem that’s in the Gamemastery Guide, but I’m still a bit on the fence about it. Basically, you don’t have to read through the rules for running the rebellion, because I will be seriously simplifying it if I keep it altogether.

Character Creation

PCs start with 15 gp worth of items and equipment. PCs can choose Voluntary Flaws (taking two ability flaws to get a bonus ability boost).

Any common character option is fine by me. For uncommon options that you do not meet the access condition for, I ask that you at least run it by me before settling on it. There are two exceptions to that previous statement: the Kintargo Rebel background isn’t allowed, since you’re all, you know, Kintargan rebels. Second, you may freely choose to take the tiefling heritage despite it being uncommon—however, be aware that tieflings in Cheliax are a marginalized minority.

Each PC must choose one Reason to Protest, located on page 9 of the player’s guide. The bonuses given by the Reasons to Protest are circumstance bonuses.

This campaign goes up to level 17.

Finally, this campaign at points gets surprisingly dark and touches on sensitive themes. As such, if anyone has any serious objections to certain kinds of content beyond the Pathfinder Baseline, I would like to know that now.

Checking in - thanks for the invitation, GM XK!

My current character concepts are all bards or bard-adjacent, but I could switch to another spellcasting class or archetype if that would be better.

Idea #1:

The first idea I have is for a Deception-focused character, a middle-aged con artist or rake who is finding that he isn't having quite as much success charming his way into the homes (and jewelry boxes and vaults) of the local nobility as he once did and is possibly - just possibly - starting to think that maybe he should do something more with his second act. Probably a half-elf, so middle aged would put him at 75-80. He would probably start as chaotic neutral and evolve to chaotic good, follower of Callistria.

This character would be the mirror image of the character I'm playing in a 1E Hell’s Vengeance campaign (with our GM); in that game, I play a grimspawn tiefling eldritch scoundrel rogue (with an 8 Charisma). For this campaign, I have been noodling around since last night with different combinations of bard/rogue. Options include: eldritch trickster rogue (bard dedication at level 1); scoundrel rogue (bard dedication at level 2); maestro bard (rogue dedication at level 2).

Idea #2

Another Deception-focused character, this would be another maestro bard, built to take the swashbuckler dedication at level 2 (or vice versa). This character would be less morally ambiguous - he would be younger, maybe only right out of bard/swashbuckling academy, more concerned about doing the right thing from the outset. Probably a chaotic good follower of Cayden Cailean or Noticula or (if a halfling) Chaldira.

Idea #3

Full occultist-themed bard. I haven't spent much time on this concept yet but I think he would follow the Enigma muse for bardic knowledge and related features, and would focus on spellcasting over weapon combat or performance. He would level up with an eye towards taking the Ritualist dedication starting at level 4. Probably a little creepy, follows either the Black Butterfly (CG or CN) or Nivi Rhombodazzle (if a gnome; NG or CN). This character could be a wizard, sorcerer, or oracle if that would fill a better niche for us, but I've played a lot of wizards and oracles in 1E and I really like the upgrade bards got in the new edition.

My only objection to you making a carbon-copy of Wolfgang is the fact that this particular AP actually runs narratively parallel to Hell's Vengeance, so unless it would be a character by another name, Wolfgang would quite literally be in two places at once.

EDIT: Another thing to note is that Hell's Rebels has an almost hilariously large amount of downtime, so it'll be beneficial to have SOMETHING that you're able to do during downtime, even if it's just Earning Income.

Hi.
Thanks for the invite. Just checking in for now. I haven’t put much thought into a character just yet but I can have something whipped up pretty quickly although the next two days are Christmas Eve and Christmas so likely a full character would be after that.
Maybe I’d consider doing a human Hellknight or a halfling Bellflower Network agent.

How many players are we expecting? I’m not set on anything so I can work with the others to cover all the bases or collaborate on similar backgrounds.

How many players are we expecting? I’m not set on anything so I can work with the others to cover all the bases or collaborate on similar backgrounds.

Four.

I….just realized that there is another sensitive topic that I have to discuss.

Hell’s Rebels as a whole is heavily centered around the abuse of power by government officials, which is a VERY touchy subject given the recent…events occurring in the United States. That said, this AP is also centered around giving said corrupt government officials their eventual just desserts and sticking up for the little guy.

I’m assuming that by still being here you guys are aware of this and are willing to go along with the narrative therein, but if I am wrong then PLEASE speak up!

I have not played through this adventure path but am familiar with what it is about. I’m fine with it. I am not particularly sensitive about any topic.

I….just realized that there is another sensitive topic that I have to discuss.

Hell’s Rebels as a whole is heavily centered around the abuse of power by government officials, which is a VERY touchy subject given the recent…events occurring in the United States. That said, this AP is also centered around giving said corrupt government officials their eventual just desserts and sticking up for the little guy.

I’m assuming that by still being here you guys are aware of this and are willing to go along with the narrative therein, but if I am wrong then PLEASE speak up!

For me, at least, that theme is a significant selling point for the AP.

My only objection to you making a carbon-copy of Wolfgang is the fact that this particular AP actually runs narratively parallel to Hell's Vengeance, so unless it would be a character by another name, Wolfgang would quite literally be in two places at once.

EDIT: Another thing to note is that Hell's Rebels has an almost hilariously large amount of downtime, so it'll be beneficial to have SOMETHING that you're able to do during downtime, even if it's just Earning Income.

No worries - this wouldn’t be the same character, just the flip-side of the concept. Instead of a sweaty, 8 Charisma tiefling sneak thief/wizard wannabe who starts off as a nasty backstabbing coward and makes deliberate choices to go down darker and darker paths, this would be a charming, Charisma-focused half-elf (or maybe an asimar, if that’s an option) aging con artist who finds himself doing good and liking it almost in spite of himself.

I’ll have to remember about downtime activities. Robbing from the rich is always an option, of course, but it might be time to review the magic item crafting rules.

Hello! Tusk said y'all were looking for one or two additional players so I figured I would pop in and test the waters, so to speak.

I've gotten through the first...quarter? I think? Of this AP via PBP before the GMs vanish, which is just a hazard of PBPs but it means I have a smidgeon of foreknowledge. No problems at all separating personal & character knowledge. My wife and I are about to head out of town for a holiday get-together with my sister, so I won't really be checking these boards again until Monday. I understand if that's slowing things down too much.

Well, I wasn't really planning on starting until after Christmas at the earliest anyway, so that's fine.

Also, I think you've actually only gotten through about the first quarter of the first book, so like the first...24th of the AP?

Okay. Here's my first idea. He'd be a LG champion of Shelyn that would eventually take the Hellknight archetype with the Order of the Torrent. I wrote a quick background and can work on stating it out next if it looks okay.

Vitalis Tanessen

Born the 4th son of the Tanessen noble family, Vitalis’ inheritance and influence is negligible, yet is still expected to uphold the family’s honor and adhere to the family’s interests. Once of age, Vitalis began military training and intended to join the Kintargo Dottari. However, upon Barzillai Thrune seizing power over the Silver City as the new lord-mayor, Vitalis couldn’t in good consciousness serve under a man so evil. To make matters worse, his father, Geoff Tanessen threw in his support for the Thrunes, making poor Vitalis a near outcast amongst the family. While still tolerated, Vitalis and Geoff could no longer see eye-to-eye and Vitalis chose to move out of the Tanessen estate and take up residence at a nearby inn until he figured out his new path in life.

Vitalis wishes to continue to pursue a career where he can apply his martial prowess and has always admired the Hellknight Order of the Torrent for their dedication to good and tenet of liberating captives. Despite the Order’s small size, Vitalis believes it would be a good fit for him and intends to apply to become a Hellknight armiger and eventually earn his way up to a full-fledged Hellknight of the Order. He has already sent a letter of interest to Lictor Octavio Sabinus and awaits his reply.

In the meantime, Vitalis recently heard of a protest to be held in Aria Park and plans to attend to protest against the government, specifically against the martial law unjustly being forced upon Kintargo’s citizens.

Vitalis is a serious, no-nonsense young man. Although as a champion dedicated to Shelyn, he still enjoys art and music in his own way. He regularly attends service at the Songbird Hall and maintains a good relationship with the high priest, Zachrin Vhast. Vitalis is torn between his dedication to his family, his dedication to his church, and his dedication to Kintargo. Amongst the three, he is leaning towards devoting himself utmost of the Silver City as he feels that this will also ultimately serve the best interests of his family and church as well.

First off: Merry Christmas!

With that out of the way, a few minor notes to Peachbottom if you do go with Vitalis: if you went the Hellknight route, you would not have access to Hellknight plate until after you complete the Hellknight Test*. This shouldn’t be a huge issue since the Hellknight Armiger feats don’t tie in to Hellknight plate specifically (just heavy armor in general). Second, in order to qualify for Hellknight Dedication (or Hellknight Signifer Dedication), you do have to complete the Hellknight Test, which requires besting a devil in single combat under the supervision of a standing Hellknight; the Hellknight Test can only ever be attempted once, because failure in the test results in the test-taker’s death (but as a paladin, you would have a significant advantage over devils due to being able to do stuff like deal good damage (eventually). Another thing to keep in mind is that this campaign is mostly going to be against LE individuals, so the major anti-chaos feats from the Hellknight stuff would largely go unused, so bear that in mind when choosing your feats. Finally, there would definitely be some in-character philosophical crises going on, since you would be actively opposing a lawfully-appointed lord-mayor (“You must respect the lawful authority of legitimate leadership wherever you go, and follow its laws.”), but even now Barzillai is toing the line of being “legitimate” (especially after the whole mint thing). As GM and knowing what I know, I can tell you out-of-character that that particular tenet will not be an issue unless you do something completely unexpected, because the AP will show over time just how much of a non-issue that particular tenet is. However, during the early parts of this AP, there will most definitely be an in-character philosophical dilemma (at least an internal one) with that particular tenet.

As a side note, if Peachbottom did go with Vitalis, I will say that my life will be much easier if Tusk the Half-Orc went with the bard-going-into-ritualist build. Not saying that you have to, I'm just saying that it'll make my life immensely easier should Vitalis want to attempt the Hellknight Test.

*This is technically going against RAW, since Hellknight plate says that “member[s] of the Hellknights have access,” but armigers aren’t really “Hellknights.” That, and I’m going off of what it says about armigers in Lost Omens Character Guide (pg. 79): “Armigers…have not yet earned their own set of iconic Hellknight armor…”

Merry Christmas!

Peachbottom, I like your character concept and origin.

{snip} As a side note, if Peachbottom did go with Vitalis, I will say that my life will be much easier if Tusk the Half-Orc went with the bard-going-into-ritualist build. Not saying that you have to, I'm just saying that it'll make my life immensely easier should Vitalis want to attempt the Hellknight Test.

Happy to make your life easier, GM - if bard building to ritualist is a better fit in combination with an aspiring Hellknight than a bard/rogue combination, I'm fine going that route. I'll post concepts and backstory ideas later today or tomorrow.

Okay. Here is Vitalis statted out.

To answer some of your comments:

Yes, I am aware of the Hellknight test requirement. But with the Order of the Torrent's presence in the city, it should be manageable. That the Order of the Torrent has no evil members I assume means the majority of them are either LG or LN which works well with Champion. There is also the Order of the Rack in the city but I'd avoid associating with them.

Regarding the Hellknight's anti-chaos abilities, I'll keep that in mind and select other options if available.

Regarding Barzillai Thrune, my character is probably already leaning towards believing him to be illegitimate and I'm sure as the campaign progresses, he'll be given increasing reasons to feel that way. I will do my best to roleplay following the champion's tenets including the deity specific ones.

I have never played a Hellknight before. I think it would be an interesting concept to try out.

Question: Can I select Infernal as a bonus language? Is it considered prevalent enough in Kintargo. I'd assume anywhere in Cheliax, it's not that uncommon.

If everything looks good, let me know, and I'll create an alias for it.

Also, Merry Christmas.

Here is the first draft of Fortunato Pineapple-Umbria Phantasmagorius Ravennablitz, aka "Chance," wellspring gnome (fell gnome) bard (enigma). Some of his recent biography comes out in his Reason for Protest and Campaign Trait, but I'm still working out what he's been up to in Kintargo for the previous 75-odd years (exact length depends on whether we're starting in 4716, based on when the AP was released, or 4720/21, based on when we're starting it). He is still very much a work in progress, but I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Physical description:As a fell gnome born during the ascendancy of House Thrune during the final years of the Chelish Civil war, the infernal influence that swept across the nation affected Chance's appearance. His shaggy hair (including his eyebrows) is a deep crimson; his skin is a lighter red, but of far too strong a hue to be merely pink. His eyes are so black that they look more like the eyes of an elf than those of a gnome. Chance realized young that he would never be inconspicuous so he dresses to emphasize his natural coloring, in dark reds and blacks. Behind his back, his landlady says her diminutive tenant "looks like a Chelish flag."

Reason to Protest (Meeting a Contact) & Campaign Trait (Pattern Seeker): Chance doesn't have a lot of friends. His unusual appearance and forceful but unsettling personality would put people off even in a less oppressive environment; in Cheliax under the devil-backed House Thrune, his acquaintances view him as both off-putting and potentially politically dangerous.

One of the few people in Kintargo willing to socialize with Chance is a halfling swashbuckler named Zamir Montajay (unless there is an NPC in the AP who would fit the part). They would spend long hours in in Chance's rooms or the lounge of Zamir's boardinghouse, or any of a handful of nearby taverns, drinking and arguing about the belfry at the top of the Asmodean Temple. The swashbuckler was convinced there was a pattern to the ringing of the Devil's Bells, even if nobody knew what it was; the bard was not terribly interested in anything having to do with the devil-worshippers, but always argued that the ringing was random just to be contrary.

On several occasions when the diminutive pair were in their cups, Zamir had dropped broad hints about being part of a secret organization opposed to House Thrune, often taking the opportunity to mispronounce Chance's surname as "Raven-ablitz" (the correct pronunciation is "Ravenna-blitz").

Zamir has been missing since the new Lord-Mayor put Kintargo under marital law. Chance checked all of the halfling's usual haunts but found no clues to the whereabouts of his friend. His investigation had reached a dead-end until an unsigned message was slipped under the door of his shabby rented rooms (over an apothecary's shop), inviting him to a meeting at the Aria Park protest with an unnamed man wearing one glove to learn more of the fate of the Silver Ravens. Now Chance is more worried than ever about his absent friend. If Zamir really was a member of the Silver Ravens, could the halfling also have been right about there being a pattern to ringing of the Devil's Bells? If so, then Zamir's disappearance could be the result of either his membership in the rebel group or pursuing his investigation into the Asmodean belfry further than was safe.

I forgot to add, my reason for protest would be to Protest the Government.

Also, do we get a campaign trait? If so, I'd take the Child of Kintargo. How does that convert to a 2E benefit?

I forgot to add, my reason for protest would be to Protest the Government.

Also, do we get a campaign trait? If so, I'd take the Child of Kintargo. How does that convert to a 2E benefit?

I addressed that:

The 1e campaign traits won’t be converted into campaign-specific backgrounds, they are mostly just there for how you want to flavor your character; they provide no mechanical bonuses for this conversion.

Question: Can I select Infernal as a bonus language? Is it considered prevalent enough in Kintargo. I'd assume anywhere in Cheliax, it's not that uncommon.

So...I'm leaning towards no, and here's my rational for that: Infernal isn't necessarily a commonly spoken language in Kintargo (especially since the city is overall CG), it's only really spoken by devils (of which Kintargo doesn't have a large population) and those within the church of Asmodeus, as it's considered something of a holy language (since I imagine their scriptuers are largely written in Infernal). It's kinda like saying anyone that lives in or near Vatican City is well-versed in speaking Latin (not a perfect parallel, but that's where my mind went).

That said, I would allow access to Shadowtongue and Varisian, as those are the ethnic languages of the Nidalese and Varisian ethnicities (respectively), which do have a prominent population in Kintargo.

Here is the first draft of Fortunato Pineapple-Umbria Phantasmagorius Ravennablitz, aka "Chance,"...

Montresor has entered the chat

"Fortunato" gets a comment for a gnome follower of Nivi Rhombodazzle, but nobody mentions that one of his middle names is "Pineapple"? (Not that it’s some great mystery - he likes pineapples.)

I decided that it didn't make sense for Chance to have a 16 Dex and a 12 Int, so I shifted one of the boosts from Fortune-Teller and now he's at 8/14/14/14/10/18, which I think fits him better.

Ah yes, first quarter of the first book. I didn't quite get that thought fully typed out.

My previous two character concepts were Orrias the hedonistic elven Infiltrator investigator (PF1 build) and Jilvinirri the political-activist gnome cleric of Calistria. Leaning towards a re-creation of Orrias since the PF2e Investigator seems like a lot of fun, but I recently fell in love with the Marshal archetype and an weighing a build for that.

I think I'll need to give it a little more thought.

Question: Can I select Infernal as a bonus language? Is it considered prevalent enough in Kintargo. I'd assume anywhere in Cheliax, it's not that uncommon.

GM Xavier Kahlvet wrote:

So...I'm leaning towards no

Okay. I'll take Dwarven instead. With the Tanessen's business interests in armor and weapon crafting, they likely have dealings with dwarves. I haven't really noticed ethnic languages come up much in adventure paths so they are likely not very worth it unless there is a roleplaying reason for it. But I don't picture my character speaking Shadowtongue or Varisian.

One more question, I'd like my character to have a signet ring for his house but I can't find it listed anywhere in any equipment charts? Can I have one and how much would it cost? I don't have a lot of coin left to spend though, but depending on what you say it costs, I might be able to change up some gear to afford it.

One more question, I'd like my character to have a signet ring for his house but I can't find it listed anywhere in any equipment charts? Can I have one and how much would it cost? I don't have a lot of coin left to spend though, but depending on what you say it costs, I might be able to change up some gear to afford it.

Noticed that myself and am slightly frustrated by it as well. I'd say a signet ring costs 2 gp.

Peachbottom wrote:

One more question, I'd like my character to have a signet ring for his house but I can't find it listed anywhere in any equipment charts? Can I have one and how much would it cost? I don't have a lot of coin left to spend though, but depending on what you say it costs, I might be able to change up some gear to afford it.

Noticed that myself and am slightly frustrated by it as well. I'd say a signet ring costs 2 gp.

The lack of a 2E version of Ultimate Equipment has been a PITA. I was about to ask you about setting prices for a Harrow deck and a set of dice, but I did one last search on Archives of Nethys and found out that the prices and descriptions of various Harrow decks were published in one of the articles at the back of part 4 of the Agents of Edgewatch AP (1gp for a simple Harrow deck is all Chance can afford for now). What do you think about a set of gambling dice? The 2E Pathfinder Society Guide has a deck of playing cards for 5sp - would a set of dice run about the same?

CW - If you're going to be a marshal, wouldn't you traditionally start out as a gunslinger? Luis Loza came up with a gunslinger archetype for 2E - Paizo must not be in a hurry to bring guns back into the game, because he published it on his Patreon back in August. I think one of the characters in the podcast campaign he's running on Know Direction is using the archetype.

(I know, I know - not that kind of marshal.)

The 2E Pathfinder Society Guide has a deck of playing cards for 5sp - would a set of dice run about the same?

Honestly? About 1 sp.

I wrote up Chance's backstory yesterday. This is the "short" version; the long version is under a spoiler on Chance's profile page, but it's about twice as long as the abbreviated version spoilered below. Gnomes just live too flipping long.

Okay, here's my slightly revised character. Only changes are the language to Dwarven and a ditched a few pieces of gear to afford the signet ring. It isn't easy being noble. 4 of my 15 gp went to fine clothes and a ring. Now I have 1 sp to my name. =)

Hello all, Tusk told me you were looking for another player and suggested I throw my hat into the ring (after checking with the GM). I'd be excited to play in this AP. I have a couple concepts for you to look at.

1)
Tengu (if that's ok) toxicologist alchemist with the cook background, a student at Alabaster Academy
Reason for protest: To protest the government, specifically, the pest control proclamation, since he's kind of a big raven

2)
Human cosmos oracle of Desna, acrobat background, planning on taking the Vigilante dedication next level, an aspiring acrobat who's secretly trying to use his cosmic powers for good
Reason for protest: Either protest the government, since his religion is outlawed, or meeting a contact

I wrote up Chance's backstory yesterday. This is the "short" version; the long version is under a spoiler on Chance's profile page, but it's about twice as long as the abbreviated version spoilered below. Gnomes just live too flipping long.

** spoiler omitted **...

I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to do more than just skim over your backstory. That said, my only real issue with what you've written is the fact that the Kintargo Opera House isn't a school, it's a venue. People work at the opera house much like, say, individuals work at a specific theatre on Broadway. There might be some extracurricular "here's how the job's really like" kind of stuff, but the opera house itself doesn't teach students or hold classes—it's where the professionals go to do high-class, high-prestige performances. They might do, say, apprenticeships or what have you, but not classes.

Hello all, Tusk told me you were looking for another player and suggested I throw my hat into the ring (after checking with the GM). I'd be excited to play in this AP. I have a couple concepts for you to look at.

1)
Tengu (if that's ok) toxicologist alchemist with the cook background, a student at Alabaster Academy
Reason for protest: To protest the government, specifically, the pest control proclamation, since he's kind of a big raven

2)
Human cosmos oracle of Desna, acrobat background, planning on taking the Vigilante dedication next level, an aspiring acrobat who's secretly trying to use his cosmic powers for good
Reason for protest: Either protest the government, since his religion is outlawed, or meeting a contact

Welcome welcome! For the record, I'd be fine with a tengu.

I just learned that a friend of mine will be running a Hell's Rebels game IRL in a few months once we've all had the opportunity to get vaccinated. In the interest of joining in on that I'm going to withdraw myself from consideration here.

I very much appreciate being invited, however, and I hope you all have an awesome time!

I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to do more than just skim over your backstory. That said, my only real issue with what you've written is the fact that the Kintargo Opera House isn't a school, it's a venue. People work at the opera house much like, say, individuals work at a specific theatre on Broadway. There might be some extracurricular "here's how the job's really like" kind of stuff, but the opera house itself doesn't teach students or hold classes—it's where the professionals go to do high-class, high-prestige performances. They might do, say, apprenticeships or what have you, but not classes.

No worries - it’s written mostly for me to know why Chance is still in town. Looks like I misremembered how Inner Sea Magic described the Kintargo Opera House - it has the same rules as an Academy (tuition, education checks, tasks, prestige, awards, etc. - all irrelevant for PF2), but I forgot that it’s described as a “Guild,” not a formal school. Going back to the Player’s Guide, it looks like the best fit for the school that expelled him would be the Alabaster Academy - occult magic may not be its focus as an institution, but I assume that school referred to as a “famed university” - in decline or not - would have at least a small department of occult studies for Chance to be thrown out of. I’ll rework Chance’s backstory to account for the changes (but again, I don’t actually expect anyone else to read it).

FriendlyNeighborhoodMadScientis wrote:

Hello all, Tusk told me you were looking for another player and suggested I throw my hat into the ring (after checking with the GM). I'd be excited to play in this AP. I have a couple concepts for you to look at.

1)
Tengu (if that's ok) toxicologist alchemist with the cook background, a student at Alabaster Academy
Reason for protest: To protest the government, specifically, the pest control proclamation, since he's kind of a big raven

2)
Human cosmos oracle of Desna, acrobat background, planning on taking the Vigilante dedication next level, an aspiring acrobat who's secretly trying to use his cosmic powers for good
Reason for protest: Either protest the government, since his religion is outlawed, or meeting a contact

Welcome welcome! For the record, I'd be fine with a tengu.

Great! I don't really have a preference between the two, so if it's ok, I'll wait for when we get another player to decide.

...There are two exceptions to that previous statement: the Kintargo Rebel background isn’t allowed, since you’re all, you know, Kintargan rebels.

I'm a fool who only just noticed this: the name of the background to which I was referring was "Chelish Rebel," not "Kintargo Rebel."

Hi everyone! Tusk messaged me to let me know you're short a player. I was also in a 2e conversion of the game with CrusaderWolf, but it petered out around level 2. If y'all would have me, I'd love to give it another shot.

Obviously this needs some additional development, but off the cuff (and glancing at the other characters posted here) I think I'd like to make a tiefling witch, with a Rune patron. Someone in the Devil's Nursery who aspires to be an information broker, and is pretty good at ferreting out annoying little secrets.

What do you think of the Free Archetype rule? It'd be a while until level 2 anyway, so it wouldn't matter right away, but I've been using it in an Age of Ashes game I run and I think everyone really likes it.

What do you think of the Free Archetype rule? It'd be a while until level 2 anyway, so it wouldn't matter right away, but I've been using it in an Age of Ashes game I run and I think everyone really likes it.

I’ve played with it before, and it is definitely an entirely different beast. I’m…hesitant to play with it in this AP, if I’m being honest. The whole “running the rebellion” thing is already something that’s prominent in this AP, and I don’t necessarily want to tack on more than one variant rule at once.

Totally reasonable! It's definitely a bit of a power boost. I don't have any archetype plans in my future, but I saw a couple people talking about dedications upthread so figured it was worth a mention. I'll have an alias and build, if not the first draft of a character concept and backstory, done by tomorrow.

I'm having a lot of trouble picking which one I want to take. One issue that may decide it how I'm going to maintain a secret identity starting at level 2 based on whatever we're doing at level 1. Would it be at level 1, I would basically be Peter Parker with the ski mask and the sweatshirt at the wrestling match and I only get a good costume at level 2, or is there no way to have the secret identity beforehand?

I'm mainly worried about being to well-known as having powers to be able to have a secret identity later.

How I’m probably going to handle that is the following (assuming you take Vigilante Dedication at 2nd level, which it sounds like you are): You get the benefits of Vigilante Dedication at level 1 despite it using up your level 2 feat—you’re essentially taking the dedication one level early with the understanding that it costs you your 2nd level class feat.

I’m not that familiar with vigilante. How does it work? Does the vigilante’s secret identity need to be secret to the players too? Or just other npcs? Like would we be hanging out with Bruce Wayne and then when combat starts he just peace’s out and Batman is conveniently nearby?

Alright, I still haven’t made a decision yet, but I’ve got stat blocks and info for both for everyone to look at if they want to, assuming everything in the background works for the campaign.

The 2e rules for the vigilante suggest that the issue is it being publicly known, so unless the GM objects, I think it's probably fine for the party to know, and I expect it would be revealed pretty early.

It honestly varies from vigilante to vigilante. You could easily be your bog-standard vigilante—hiding your identity from the public, etc.—but even in those classic stories there’s almost always a small group of people that the vigilante willingly allows to know their secret—in the Batman example, you have Alfred, Oracle/Barbara/Batgirl, and all of the Robins. Then there’s also the Tony Stark/Iron Man approach, where the vigilante’s identity is widely known and frankly a part of their character—the main difference with that being that you’d be creating a target on your back since you’d be openly admitting that you fight these evil-doers.

But if the rest of the PCs learn Stargazer's secret identity too early, we will miss the chance to have a conversation like this!

All right, here's the alias and build! Today got away from me so I don't have much more than the broad outlines of her backstory, but it's a starting point. Jisara will be at the protest despite the risk because she is trying to Meet a Contact. Beyond her spellcasting, I think she'll be useful to the party for her underworld connections and talent for forging documents. She's got the skills to be a backup face too, though that might not be necessary if we've also got a bard and an oracle.

My only concern right now is that there isn't a person with Medicine, but when there's lay on hands on the table then it isn't a HUGE deal.

With a Wisdom of 10 I'll never be great at it, but I can switch out Crafting or Intimidation for it. I've got enough starting money left over for a set of healer's tools, too. Might be worth switching a boost from Charisma to Wisdom for a bit of an extra edge.

Yeah, I think it fits with my concept of her as pretty self-sufficient up until this point.