GMF's Zeitgeist Campaign

Game Master Fanguar

Any suggestions for actions/requests for help? I think our barricades are good enough that we can divert resources to other things?

Messer's Diplomacy probably isn't good enough this round to do anything. Problem is, I suspect the DC is going up, given they're getting desperate, so adding +2 might not do much. Still, if you have nothing better to do...

It would appear that no one has rope, unless I missed it on character sheets.

With no way into the lighthouse, as it is now barricaded (and rightly so!) two options remain. Climb up and into the lighthouse (+0 or +4 if counted as docks) or take cover within the water and head into the harbour out of range of baddies.

Is it easy to get down to the shore, I recall on the map there is a boat there and all. Alex was a sailor?

Bryn can spend the round assisting the climb if you would like...

Based on what's been in the news lately, I feel like questioning of the Russian soldiers is a good template... short of having them call their mother. Or is that in poor taste?

Probably. Best to avoid real-world events. Although treating prisoners well for intelligence purposes has been a thing for a while.

My whole family, including me, is down with covid at the moment. Hope to be back soon.

Lordy. I hope you are all well soon. Take care

That's bad news :( I hope you and your family get better soon. Take it seriously - it seems to affect almost everywhere in the body, so it's best to avoid long term side effects as well.

We've got relatively mild cases, according to our doc, and it has totally wiped me out for days. Our daughter, under five and therefore unvaxxed, brought it home from school. We knew we were in trouble when she'd just look at us cough everywhere. <cry/laugh emoji here>

At any rate, feeling better today and getting back to things.

Glad to hear that everyone is doing well.

Wrapping up the semester, should be able to catch up tomorrow. Please bot if needed.

Now I've got a bit of cold (darn contagious kids!). Hope to get caught up on things this weekend.

Kids do love to share the love, right? Mine even shared a couple of COVID infections. Fun times.

Yeah totally. Ours brought home Covid in March. This is thankfully just a nasty cold.

Hopefully all families have recovered or on the road to recovery...

Game-wise, I doubt the lot of us can keep up with Messer's stealth. Do we have a better trick to conceal our approach or do we want to scout ahead?

I think a simple statement is that we are moving quietly, and we make stealth checks when the GM wants us to. There is little else we can do, except perhaps deception and that would very hard to do as any defenders would be very alert

Weren't we specifically requested, by the ambassador, to get her brother back?

What is in the Player's killed a fey titan and founded Risur. Risur pays tribute to the Unssen Court for some deal that King Kelland made with them at Risur's founding.

Someone with Knowledge (History) might get more.

Alex's reasoning though, she is respecting the Fey, really if this guy is as bad ass as portrayed, do we really have a choice in what does or does not do? He kills the duchess and we slay/wound I think we loose more there than he would. Not to mention she is NG... so wanting to know the real facts... She could have information, yet used it the wrong way.

As for Nathan... we have been asked to bring him back as well... of course by Danor (the Minster that is). Not to mention he appears to know only what he has seen in the last little bit and not a part of the bigger picture... but that is just a guess at present.

I am game to ask for him as well.

In the end... a much bigger picture appears to happening that we do not know... and I want to know... :)

What is in the Player's killed a fey titan and founded Risur. Risur pays tribute to the Unssen Court for some deal that King Kelland made with them at Risur's founding.

Someone with Knowledge (History) might get more.

Bryn will take a crack at it in case there's something more to add; responding and rolling here since I'm not sure if I can reply and jump threads without doing a manual quoting...

knowledge history: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Well... I guess it doesn't matter.

RE: the tiefling, have we id'd him yet?

The name Nathan was mentioned by the duchess and I remember that being the name of the Danoran who briefed us. Lyra?

First, I just want to say, that there is no one way that this encounter has to play out, so don't stress too much about the approach you take.

There's a lot of moving parts in the campaign's meta-plot, so players (and their characters) should be a little confused as to what is going on.

In terms of the current situation, Asrabey seems to be playing straight with you, but by his own admission, he is simply an agent of the Court, it's not like he's actually speaking with any authority. Recall that Ethelyn (I keep typing Evelyn, but it's Ethelyn) had an Archfey accomplice in her attempted assassination of her brother, so it makes sense for the Unseen Court to want to distance themselves from that event. Sending an assassin feels a little extreme, but no one pretends to understand fey thinking.

As for the tiefling, I'll just that yes it is Nathan Jierre, (in game, he matches the description you were given by his cousin and you've heard him referred to as Nathan). As for his role in all this is, you don't actually know what that is. The party does know that he's the only Danoran you've come across in the keep and all the other non-combatant Danorans were locked up. Minister Jierre also asked you to keep an eye out for him because she was worried that the Duchess' forces would harm him because he's a tiefling LINKY, but that obviously isn't what happened.

Thanks for the background info Fanguar. I figured that Asrabey was playing it straight, I don't know if Fae in this world are bound to tell the truth (or at least keep to the letter of any agreement) but that's a common trope in fantasy.

Personally I like there being machinations we're just a tiny part of, it feels appropriate for level 1 constables. Hopefully over time we'll discover what's really going on.

So far this is really good.

All, I'm having trouble keeping up with this game, so I'm regretfully going to have to drop out. It is a really good game, and I feel I'm doing a disservice to y'all by not being able to keep up. Work has gotten pretty bananas and I'm having trouble finding the time.

Good gaming, y'all, and GM Fanguar, thanks for running this. You're a fantastic GM.

As I have done this for a few of my other games of late, thought I would add this for folks to take a quick look at some of the skills we have available.

Party Skills

You all should be able to edit the document as well, if you want to update, or change any errors that there may be.

nice

@Juliet that's a shame, thanks for letting us all know though. Happy gaming on your other tables.

@Alexandra Neat. We have some gaps for sure here. Diplomacy is a big one,
as is Kn: Dungeoneering and none of us are all that good at Sense Motive or Survival.

We also don't have Appraise or Heal, although I'm not sure how often those will crop up.

Yeah, I'm still planning to pop into rogue next level to enhance some of those weaknesses.

And sorry to hear that Juliet, have fun though.

Assuming this ends and we are not dead... and perhaps level up... and GM Fanguar is agreeable... I have two options to help with some holes:

Option 1: I rework/tweak Alex likely picking up [urhttps://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/orator/]Orator feat[/url]

Option 2: I have a new character join the group (a Bard/Docker which can fill the face role) and Alex departs. The character would be big on support with skills/knowledge/buffs that an Investigator cannot really provide and some more magics. I have played more bards than investigators. If Messer is going rogue, disable device can be picked up as well.

Thoughts?

All, I'm having trouble keeping up with this game, so I'm regretfully going to have to drop out. It is a really good game, and I feel I'm doing a disservice to y'all by not being able to keep up. Work has gotten pretty bananas and I'm having trouble finding the time.

Good gaming, y'all, and GM Fanguar, thanks for running this. You're a fantastic GM.

I'm sorry to hear. These are stressful times and the world is nuts right now. Take care of priorities and stay safe.

As a reminder, Bryn will be able to use Knowledge Nobility for Diplomacy at level 2:

Consul (Ex)

Though not all war masters move in highly-placed circles, they all learn the ins-and-outs of political maneuvers as part of their training in the art of war. At 2nd level a war master learns to use his understanding of the rules of the courts and places of political power to assist him in any social interaction, even with individuals of low social standing. The war master may use his Knowledge (nobility) bonus in place of his Diplomacy bonus whenever making a Diplomacy check.

All, I'm having trouble keeping up with this game, so I'm regretfully going to have to drop out. It is a really good game, and I feel I'm doing a disservice to y'all by not being able to keep up. Work has gotten pretty bananas and I'm having trouble finding the time.

Good gaming, y'all, and GM Fanguar, thanks for running this. You're a fantastic GM.

That's a bummer, but understandable. The nature of the campaign makes it pretty easy for a PC to pop in and out, so if you just want to take a hiatus until you've got more time, that would be fine with me. Just let me know.

@All: This is the last part of the first adventure, and you will be leveling up once its been resolved, so do start thinking about that.

Re: Alex swapping out for a new PC: its fine with me, but only do it if you're not enjoying your current character. I wouldn't stress too much about making sure you've a perfectly balanced party, there's never going to be a skill that is needed to progress. But yes, if you want to convince people to do things, you'll want to pump diplomacy/intimidate.

Bye Juliet, may all your rolls be crits

So have we leveled, or not yet?

Do we have any way to reliably secure the two? I'd hate for them to disappear in transit...

I have a set of manacles. The Duchess is a capital crime prisoner.

So yeah we probably do need to use them because if she tried to escape... On the other hand I wonder if shacking her will be politically awkward?

Perhaps the thing to do is get her a blanket or something concealing so she'd not on display.

Been a while since I thought about leveling up, I think my plan was to take levels in gun chemist.

I think the consensus was we are low on healing? Preach can learn the cure light wounds recipe and with the infusion discovery he can pass that around.

Fanguar, a question
Alsah is a witch with the moon patron. At the 2nd level, she gains the spell darkness. Unlike other patron spells gained there which are 1st level, it is listed as 2nd level (although not on the witch list on which it isn't listed).
Can I treat it as a first-level spell, or second. I'm OKay either way

I was afraid of that for Nathan. I would suggest if he wants the Risuri help that he request asylum. Which brings its own can of worms.

An FYI... I am going to go with my bard, with a new character. Millicent Hargrave (with a likely dip in swashbuckler next level, but we will see. I considered that for 2nd level, but Versatile Performance kicks in for diplomacy and sense motive. And Eldritch Heritage for a familiar) While Alex was okay and all as a concept mechanically it is very different then what I am used to. Bard do have cure light wounds as well. So the wand we have can still be used by several people.

Alexandra can be used with the campaign as GMFangur wishes (suggestion might be liaison with the Unseen Court... or transferred away which ever works away.)

@GM Fanguar how do you want us to handle HP?

I've provisionally given him half HP, will adjust as needed.

As a hybrid support class, Bryn receives a War Master Talent at level 2 that covers a diverse set of abilities. Folks can take a look and see which makes the most sense/preference; I'm currently leaning towards:

Shout of Warning (Ex): As a move action a war master can shout a warning of impending danger to his allies. All allies able to hear him cease to be flat-footed, even if they are surprised.

But I'd rather take something the party has vested interested in capitalizing on.

Alsah to level 2 witch
+4 HP
+1 will save

hex FLight

skills
Diplomacy +2
Intimidate +1
Perception +1
spellcraft +1
use magic device +1
sense motive +1
know nobility +1 (b)
know history +1 (b)

spells lv 1 whispering lore, darkness

Perhaps I should have asked before posting,do we have the authority to grant political asylum? Or at least bring Nathan back to Risur to have that petition heard?

As the King's soon-to-be-wed has asked for him by name, I think he has no chance of it.

Sorry for the delay folks, was at a cabin during the week and was having issues accessing my paizo account on my phone. Anywho, onward we go.

@Alex: Yup that's fine. At early levels it's pretty easy to swap PCs in and out, since you all are just RNC grunts at the moment.

@Adam/All: 1/2+1 for HP.

@Alsah: My understanding of how the patron spells work is that each bonus spell corresponds to a spell slot. So with the moon patron you get darkness as a 1st level spell.

Cool

As a hybrid support class, Bryn receives a War Master Talent at level 2 that covers a diverse set of abilities. Folks can take a look and see which makes the most sense/preference; I'm currently leaning towards:

Shout of Warning (Ex): As a move action a war master can shout a warning of impending danger to his allies. All allies able to hear him cease to be flat-footed, even if they are surprised.

But I'd rather take something the party has vested interested in capitalizing on.

Did anyone get the chance to look at the options here?

That looks pretty good