Way of the Wicked Group 2

Game Master Diamondust

Just me being sick recently.

Hope you feel better Cardinal!

Agreed, get well soon!

Just an fyi, I'm stuck with a Covid infection at the moment. I'm recovering quite well but I'm not quite there yet.

I'll back into the game asap, but that might not be quite yet.

No problem. Get better Hilda.

Hope you're up and about soon, Hilda!

Run straight north and ignore them? If we run after one of them, they'll have to die.

I don't think fighting the archers chasing after us is even an option haha

Do we have any idea of what direction we should go?

Araton speaking with Tiadora knows that you need to cross the moors and find the Old Moor Road to get to the manor of the benefactor she spoke of that wants to meet you.

In the warden's office you also found a map of the moors and the Old Moor Road.

Sorry folks! My week went absolutely ballistic for no reason and had one emergency after another. I'm here now and everything is settled, thankfully.

Getting walloped at work. Hope to be dug out tomorrow.

That is some deliciously big damage there Hilda. I love it.

That was more than its max hp.

It is nice yeah. Makes me rethink my initial idea for further mechanical character development, especially since Ceres also covers the grappling and unarmed.

Still want to get myself a Split-blade Sword. Just like the idea of a Worm that walks with an angelic blade. (Didn't put it in the armory of the prison since I figured it's too exotic and expensive)

Hell yeah guys, we made it out of the prison with no casualties of our own. Super good job everyone!

So you guys are the first group to make it out. No extra rewards for that except that you can level up to level 3 now. You lose the reroll now if you hadn't used it and the temporary hp if you took no damage since gaining it but keep the villain point (did anybody use theirs already?).

With 5 of you still posting currently I would say that we have a good sized group to continue playing even if Grengar isn't able to return.

With level 3, your templates should gain an ability or two so check the link in the campaign tab for that if you aren't sure. Eg. Broken Soul gains DR 1/- and Diehard feat.

I believe I have Araton all leveled up appropriately. Nothing too fancy feat-wise; the intimidation build takes a few feats to really get off of the ground.

We are the first?! Hot damn, I'm not going to lie: I thought we were going to be way slower than the others. That just goes to show how much PbP can skew your sense of time and progress :o

I really do hope Grengar's player returns. I've seen some others drop and never return during these corona times, which honestly gives me really bad vibes.

Go us! We tried to be diplomatic, but I think we're better at killing.

I'm out of the house for the next couple hours, but I'll make a post by 2pm EST. Spoiler/Surprise: Tawg is unsure about random people touching him.

Nice! Congrats, villians, and thanks for running an entertaining first scene, GM.

Pbp does skew time, doesn't it?

I'm with you on that Gildevar, I thought we would be the last group out honestly. We all did super good, tried a series of tactics that befit a group of evil-doers, and kind of made out of there fairly decently loot-wise.

That was super fun to play through GM, thank you for a very fun escape. I do hope Grengar returns to the table soon and their health is okay, always worrisome in these kinds of days for sure.

As a small reminder, don't forget that we're doing automatic bonus progression (unless you wished to change that, Mr. GM) and that means we all get +1 resistance to our saves.

I think lastly, I would like to pool what kind of loot we have from the prison that we took with us. I know Araton was carrying...

- what remained of the veil of many items (need to double check it)
- 6 robes of exquisite quality (worth 250gp each (1250gp total)
- a scroll of magic missile, sleep, hideous laughter, and invisibility
- a potion of heighten awareness
- gold medallion (125gp)
- various coinage (45gp)

I am thinking we keep the potion, scrolls, and veil as needed? When/if we can sell the rest, we'll figure out shares then?

Not quite done levelling up Hilda yet.

Not sure which feat to pick and also not 100% on whether I want to stick with Fighter. Looking at dipping Brawler (mostly for Brawler's Cunning) or possibly going Sword-Devil Ranger. The latter would be even better if it'd be possible to eventually retrain my Fighter levels into that.

Yes if you can believe it, we started gameplay on the 2nd of January. That's about 5 months to get here.

Yes, all the same leveling rules are still in play. Automatic Bonus Progression gives you a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws at this level.

Play by post is a slow medium for certain and we have a lot of game to potentially get through. I'm all for it though as long as everyone is still super excited to play it.

Still trying to figure out a feat for Ceres, but otherwise she's leveled up.

She had with her in her sack: some food, the coin from Blackerly (1500gp) the Warden's spellbook, and the paperwork from Blackerly.

Tawg doesn't have much:

• Wizard’s college class ring (gold with diamonds, 250 gp)
• Dog treats
• Cookies
• Masterwork lute

Working on getting Tawg leveled up. Been out of the house most of the weekend and just fought off a headache. The temptation of doing a "gestalt dip" for two more classes worth of abilities is there, but 3rd-level Martial Artist gets me more Fast Movement, a +1 to confirm a crit, and a +1 to my Flurry of Blows, and that just works too well with Tawg.

Are Hilda and Gildevar going to make a gameplay post on arrival at the manor?

Yes, sorry. I had a long and exhausting weekend. I will post Gildevar's level-up overview tomorrow.

On the topic of leveling-up: are there any glaring holes in our party's repertoire? Skills, 'abilities', and 'things' that I could possibly dip into with a feat? I haven't neatly plotted out my advancement so there's plenty of room for improvisation.

If anything, Gildevar will be more capable of chipping in when combat breaks out thanks to finesse training and an additional dice of channel energy and sneak attack.

On the topic of leveling-up: are there any glaring holes in our party's repertoire? Skills, 'abilities', and 'things' that I could possibly dip into with a feat? I haven't neatly plotted out my advancement so there's plenty of room for improvisation.

Hopefully Grengar is back, but if not, these are the skills that Grengar lead the party in:

Intimidate 12 (Grengar)
Knowledge (dungeon) 5 (Grengar)
Knowledge (nature) 5 (Grengar)
Survival 8 (Grengar)
Swim 11 (Grengar)

For leveling up and skills, Tawg's highest skills (unarmored) are:

Acrobatics 8
Climb 8
Intimidate 6
Stealth 8

For my feat, I chose Improved Initiative, which puts him at a +6. I realized if I keep the armor on, not only do I lose my Monk armor bonus, I also lose my Monk Fast Movement and Flurry of Blows (which I definitely used during the escape, my bad). So Tawg will lose the armor, and when we fight, he will rage (which puts him at 12 AC), charge in (up to 80ft.), and rely on DR, massive hp, and damage to take out the good guys.

Do let me know if I missed anything!

For my feat, I chose Improved Initiative, which puts him at a +6. I realized if I keep the armor on, not only do I lose my Monk armor bonus, I also lose my Monk Fast Movement and Flurry of Blows (which I definitely used during the escape, my bad). So Tawg will lose the armor, and when we fight, he will rage (which puts him at 12 AC), charge in (up to 80ft.), and rely on DR, massive hp, and damage to take out the good guys.

Hmmm, I have problems with armor and AC myself. Currently, Ceres is wearing a chain shirt for an AC of 16, but with an ASF 20% rider that isn't ideal. She's got Mage Armor, but only 3 first level spells at the moment, so...

Maybe we should go in on a wand of mage armor when the chance presents itself?

----

In looking at Grengar's skills a bit more, Ceres has a sage familiar, so at some point those will be OK. Swim and intimidate probably will be covered by the party competently. I am a little worried about survival. Does anyone have the room to put a few points in that skill?

**Acrobatics +7 (3 ranks, 3 class, 1 dex)
**Climb +9 (2 ranks, 3 class, 4 str)
Intimidate +7 (3 ranks, 3 class, -2 cha, 1 trait, 2 template)
*Knowledge (history) +10 (3 ranks, 3 class, 4 int)
Knowledge (local) +10 (3 ranks, 3 class, 4 int)
Spellcraft +10 (3 ranks, 3 class, 4 int)
**Stealth +7 (3 ranks, 3 class, 1 dex)
**Swim +9 (2 ranks, 3 class, 4 str)

I put 2 points in local to start b/c I couldn't see Ceres, being a former housewife, having ranks in the more esoteric knowledges, but that could change now that she's back with her familiar and out of prison. Since Gildevar has a good local, I could move my level-up point to nature and start leveling up that knowledge.

I'd take survival but it actually is not a class skill of mine at all. Araton, with the Ancestor mystery, gets access to all knowledges. I plan on taking a point in every single one of them. He won't be as good as a specialist but he'll definitely have some knowledge for everything in time.

It is a class skill for me, but I'm not sure what to replace nor do I think it would fit Hilda who never left her hometown until she was arrested.
Maybe later when I free up skill points via advanced weapon training.

As for skill progression:
+1 Acrobatics
+1 Diplomacy
+1 Intimidate
+1 Perception
+1 Use Magic Device

In the end decided to grab at least 1 more level of Fighter. Feat I'm still not sure on.
How are options for downtime/crafting?

As for gear, I really need to get myself some heavier armor. Preferably a breastplate atm as medium armor doesn't slow me down.

Neither rogue nor cleric gets survival as a class skill, sadly.

I could spare a point into Survival by swapping my FCB from HP to skill point. I have a -1 Wisdom normally, so my Survival would only be at a 3, but it's something lol

Seeing as how important HP is to Tawg, you really only should sacrifice that 1 HP if you think the rank in survival will come in clutch. Having weaknesses in our party isn't a bad thing perse :) it also enables roleplaying and for us to find smart alternatives when we can't overcome an otherwise straightforward challenge.

I agree with Gildevar in that your HP are very valuable resources, Tawg.

Writing a report for a grant we just finished and it is taking a bit longer than anticipated. I may be absent a couple of days as the deadline approaches.

I will hp it up and forgo the Survival!

GM, let me know if you need anything else. I know I still have to update my summary, but I have my full sheet updated.

I messaged Grengar a bit ago and unfortunately have not got a reply yet. So it looks like you are just 5 now.

That's really unfortunate news. He seems like such a great player and I enjoyed his character *sad noises* :(

Hilda herself has no idea about her patron's place in Hell's Hierarchy, or even that he is an Infernal Duke. She knows him as a single black cricket that speaks with an aristocrat's voice and has a shadow belonging to something far larger, for that is how he appeared in several dreams.

We have three days to prepare for our next test by getting new equipment and better gear. Are we able to, with the help of the slaves, sell our ill-gotten goods that we plundered from the prison?

If we are, we should figure out how much we have and split it amongst ourselves. I know Araton was carrying the expensive robes, a few scrolls, and a few potions I believe.

Ceres has: 1500gp, the Warden's spellbook, and Blackerly's paperwork, as well as a chain shirt she took from a guard. She'd like to keep the spellbook, at least for the night - she plans on seeing if there's anything there she can add to her familiar. She'd like to keep the chain shirt. She's happy to split the rest with everyone and sell the spellbook once she's done with it as well.

Tawg has the wizard's ring, dog treats, cookies, and a masterwork lute. He will reluctantly give up the lute and the ring, but he will eat the cookies and treats.

He is also wearing a chain shirt, handwraps, and has a longbow. He will keep those. Pretty sure Tawg didn't pick up and coins.

GM: Since a 2nd level character is supposed to start with 1000gp of equipment, and I only gave Tawg handwraps (worth 1sp) in the armory, could I now choose something else? Understood if not.

As for the three days, Tawg will be interested in the other residents, but will probably stay in his room or with the party-mates unless anyone else goes with him.

Hilda grabbed a single robe, a longsword, a longbow, a greatsword and a chainshirt. Don't think she has anything else except her spiked gauntlet but she'll only depart with that one for an upgrade (almost makes me want to grab Masterwork Transformation as a 2nd level spell next level).

As for what she'd want: Medium Armor, preferably a Breastplate. And that masterwork spiked gauntlet, or a casting of masterwork transformation on her current gauntlet, but that might be a bit too expensive right now.

I think Grengar had some valuable stuff in his bag... but my Google-fu is failing me today and I can't locate any posts that indicate this is the case.

EDIT: Are we giving Grumblejack and Grengar a cut of the 1500 gp?

So the magical treasure we escaped with was a potion of heightened awareness and four scrolls containing sleep, magic missile, hideous laughter, and invisibility. The potion goes for 50gp and each scroll is 25gp. I think we could sell [i]hideous laughter and magic missile and keep invisibility and sleep. The potion is pretty good too so we might want to save that too.

With the silk robes, Blackerly's money, the wizard's ring, the ioun torch, the masterwork lute, the gold inside Lashtongue, the medallion inside Lashtongue, 100gp from the Veil, and selling the two scrolls, that leaves us with 2,695gp total.

If we divide it just between the five of us, it comes to a very clean 539gp. If we divide it between the 6 player characters, we get 449gp, 1sp, and 6cp.

The lawful evil part of me wants to say he isn't part of the contract but he was crucial to us getting out. Grumblejack was set free and that was his payment. We could've left him behind.

EDIT: I am pretty certain that it is hard for us to sell the gear we took from the guards themselves since it probably bears the marks of Talingarde or Brandenscar itself. We are also given 100gp from the good Cardinal himself to help finance us.

Grumblejack won't get any loot as he is an NPC. Unless you want to outfit him.

Regarding Grumblejack, he is not your friend, though escaping with him does help. Some diplomacy/intimidation/influencing will still be needed for him to 'join' you if you want him. He is also not part of the contract with Thorn.

You don't know why Grengar didn't come to the meeting to sign the contract and from this point on he isn't part of the story. You don't need to split any of the loot with him.

You can't sell any of the armour or weapons of the guards as they are marked.

If you agree to sell(give to the servants as payment) all the things that Araton mentioned then that 2,695 is 539+100 gold each.

Grumblejack might be too much of a loose cannon and Gildevar is anything but positive about the notion of bringing him into the fold. Still, if the general consensus is that it is worth a shot, don't let my view on it hold you back!

And hm, are there any specific items any of us *need*? Say, heavy armor that's more than the current cut, or something else. Gildevar probably has more than he needs right now and while a greedy bugger, I'm more than willing to 'lend it out' so that the frontliner(s) are geared for the occasion.