Hey there, as mentioned we need to discuss the party's 'Dark Secret'. The PCs were involved in either a conspiracy, murder, theft, or failed coup attempt (we must choose 1). Once that is chosen we can either roll or hand craft the details.
'Every member of the party is entangled in this dark secret, regardless of how new they are to the city or how incorruptible their morals. Maybe they’re merely witnesses, maybe they’re covering for a friend’s crimes, or maybe they’re deep in denial. Regardless, in the eyes of the law, they’re guilty.'
Thoughts? And welcome.
That's a toughie... conspiracy can cover a multitude of sins so to speak. Otherwise failed coup attempt with Evendur refusing to pass on words of a dying man to authorities, words that may have prevented the coup attempt from getting bloody...
Thanks for letting me dust off this favourite of mine I'd forgotten about.
Cool. Thanks for the opportunity. I'll get the avatar updated ASAP. I'm kind of leaning towards a theft of some sort, but would be able to work with the majority. Maybe we could rank them in order of preference and lowest score wins?
1 - Theft
2 - conspiricy
3 - Failed Coup
4 - Murder
I like the ranking idea.
Well... Mal is a rumor monger, Neutral Evil Rogue due to his raised environment in Baldur's Gate. So, he is ready for all types of nasty and can be the center pin for the Dark Secret if necessary.
Think we need to decide what is the lowest common denominator bad thing for our team. Meaning, who is the most good, and what would we be the worst thing that they would be willing to get their character entangled up into? FWIW, Mal would be down for almost anything. If we go ranked choice:
1 - Theft
2 - Murder
3 - Failed Coup
4 - Conspiracy (mostly because, it's not clear what this would be. It's hard to prove and barely a crime)
Once we have an act, I think it would be great if we could get a menu of targets from the GM. Meaning, if it's a theft or a failed coup, who would be the common enemy?
Just my two coppers
For conspiracy, some examples are provided just to give you an idea:
1 Working amid the High Hall’s records, you came to realize just how little separated commoners from patriars. Slowly you worked to upend the old families’ control over the city — but then someone noticed.
2 You knew something powerful lurked within Mandorcai’s Mansion. You and others sought the tools and rites to prod the power within, to draw it out and make it yours. But what lies within the mansion refuses to ever serve again.
3 Too long has the Guild monopolized control over criminal operations in Baldur’s Gate. You sought to add a little competition and break the Guild’s monopoly. It was going well after your last heist, too — until the Guild came for its cut.
4 You and the other revolutionaries of Whitkeep Hostel sought nothing less than a new, egalitarian future for Baldur’s Gate — a future that neither the dukes nor the patriars can envision. Someone clearly had enough of your art and shouted slogans, though.
I might as well post the ideas for the others as well. These are just suggestions, we can do whatever of course.
1 You did it for the prestige as much as the money. It took months to plan and even longer to get everyone into place. The High Hall is locked down tight every evening. Its crypts less so. Now a priceless treasure of the city, the spyglass of Balduran himself, is yours.
2 With the help of an inside man, you purloined money from the Counting House, the most secure bank in Baldur’s Gate. With the bank’s reputation at stake, you know the Honorable Order of Moneylenders won’t rest until the money is returned to its rightful owners and the thieves are brought to justice.
3 Dangerous goods mean hazard pay. You stole four kegs of smokepowder from Felogyr’s Fireworks and sold them to a gang of revolutionaries. Your pay is already spent, but the fireworks have yet to begin.
4 Stealing a night’s worth of earnings from the Low Lantern, a ship-turned-tavern and gambling den, proved to be quite a feat. You didn’t think you left any loose ends, but now a gang of kenku killers haunts your trail and your nightmares.
5 It seemed like buried treasure — a collection of strange, topaz-eyed statues hidden deep in the Riverveins. You absconded with them, but now the smugglers who stole them first want their booty back. They don’t know who took them, but they know you’re involved from a clue you inadvertently left behind.
6 Both the Guild and Little Calimshan’s Right Pashas wanted it — such a little thing, a vial that could hold no more than a few perfume drops. It spoke to you, though. You could hear it in your mind. You knew it needed to be free. But now that it is, you can’t bring yourself to open it.
1 Your patriar parents seemed like relics. Their days of leading the family and its business holdings were long past. With the help of their partners, you sought to seize your family’s holdings, but you underestimated the cunning that comes with age.
2 A patriar promised you riches or something else of value if you helped remove Duke Dillard Portyr from power, creating a vacancy on the Council of Four. Your plot to blackmail the duke into retirement backfired when a rival of the treacherous patriar learned of the plot. Will the patriar give you up to save themselves?
3 Nine-Fingers Keene thinks she has the Guild under her thumb, but various kingpins are plotting against her. The Guild will descend into violence unless it has a strong leader. You knew that Nine-Fingers wasn’t going to step down willingly. Scaring her into retirement seemed like the only humane thing to do, but she refused to take the hint. Now she and the kingpins have it out for you.
4 The Flaming Fist is corrupt. You turned against your commanding officer, seeking to take the Fist in a new direction. Now you’re branded a traitor.
1 She knew, which meant tomorrow every pastry-loving patriar in Baldur’s Gate would too. The Upper City’s most notorious gossip, Ellyn Harbreeze of Harbreeze Bakery, had to be dealt with. Who knew a bakery could be so dangerous?
2 Revenge will come for the sadistic Nysene Eomane eventually. You thought you’d have a hand in it — you exacted your plan perfectly. But your snare caught another. Now Dolandre Eomane lies dead, while the intended target yet lives.
3 Doctor Holk Thinster jeopardized lives every night he worked at Cliffgate Hospital. Who knows how many were crippled on Thinster’s table or died under his inexpert knife. For them, you put an end to Thinster’s practice for good.
4 The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem. The second is seeing your abusive dealer bleeding out on the floor. Jopalin, of the teahouse of the same name, had it coming, and you haven’t felt the moonflower itch since.
5 You were only protecting your own — in a way. Olten Grinn of Cliffside Cemetery’s Gravemakers was going to put a mace through your grandpappy’s skull. You put one through his first. It was the right thing to do. After all, grandpappy never asked to be a ghoul.
6 They should call it justice. Jedren Hiller, Bailiff of the Wide, had preyed on desperate business owners for years, growing fatter and richer every day. Fate gave you the opportunity. You’re a hero, but no one cheered.
My favorites:
4 The Flaming Fist is corrupt. You turned against your commanding officer, seeking to take the Fist in a new direction. Now you’re branded a traitor.
4 You and the other revolutionaries of Whitkeep Hostel sought nothing less than a new, egalitarian future for Baldur’s Gate — a future that neither the dukes nor the patriars can envision. Someone clearly had enough of your art and shouted slogans, though.
3 Doctor Holk Thinster jeopardized lives every night he worked at Cliffgate Hospital. Who knows how many were crippled on Thinster’s table or died under his inexpert knife. For them, you put an end to Thinster’s practice for good.6 They should call it justice. Jedren Hiller, Bailiff of the Wide, had preyed on desperate business owners for years, growing fatter and richer every day. Fate gave you the opportunity. You’re a hero, but no one cheered.
These seem to fit Donal's methods, with a little tweaking, of course.
1 - Conspiracy
Working amid the High Hall’s records, you came to realize just how little separated commoners from patriars. Slowly you worked to upend the old families’ control over the city — but then someone noticed.
2 - Failed Coup
The Flaming Fist is corrupt. I heard the death bed confession of one who turned against their commanding officer, seeking to take the Fist in a new direction. Now you’re branded a traitor for not reporting the details of what was confessed.
3 - Theft
It seemed like buried treasure — a collection of strange, topaz-eyed statues hidden deep in the Riverveins. You absconded with them, but now the smugglers who stole them first want their booty back. They don’t know who took them, but they know you’re involved from a clue you inadvertently left behind.
4 - Murder
Doctor Holk Thinster jeopardized lives every night he worked at Cliffgate Hospital. Who knows how many were crippled on Thinster’s table or died under his inexpert knife. For them, you put an end to Thinster’s practice for good.
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Excellent!
My faves and why:
1)
1 She knew, which meant tomorrow every pastry-loving patriar in Baldur’s Gate would too. The Upper City’s most notorious gossip, Ellyn Harbreeze of Harbreeze Bakery, had to be dealt with. Who knew a bakery could be so dangerous?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That SO plays to both my character's motivations.
"She says that her apple tarts are better than mine. MINE! I'll show her. I will CRUSH her SKULL to a bloody paste and THEN we shall see who's tarts are the best! Oh yes we shall...."hee.
2) For number two I'm going to agree with the always witty and talented Aeshuura on this one. My IRL hobby is the Revolutionary War so a part of me is always looking for some way to take down the Monarchy and get some good ol' chaotic Democracy up in dis hizzy.
3)
5 It seemed like buried treasure — a collection of strange, topaz-eyed statues hidden deep in the Riverveins. You absconded with them, but now the smugglers who stole them first want their booty back. They don’t know who took them, but they know you’re involved from a clue you inadvertently left behind.
This is giving me a very nice A Simple Plan kinda vibe. Also, it seems relatively mild as far as generating city-wide heat. Like, it's a war of the underworld, so it won't turn the whole frickin' city against us like the choice 2 down would.
4)
4 The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem. The second is seeing your abusive dealer bleeding out on the floor. Jopalin, of the teahouse of the same name, had it coming, and you haven’t felt the moonflower itch since.
Ha, actually, any of the MURDER! category seem perfectly fine. It would be even way whole bunch more funerer if we did number 5. Like, one of us is complaining to all his friends about how someone is gonna kill his pappy and we're all "Nuh-uh! We'll stop him!" And only after the group is walking away from a bloody copse does the first guy say the last line of that scenario. ^_^
Most dislike)
Anything that involves us going to war against the Flaming Fist. That just seems really...inconvenient. They're a para-military organization with structure and resources. We'd be running/fighting for our lives all the time with the heat always upon us. As cool as that sounds for a certain type of campaign, I don't think that would work well, especially in PbP.
IMHO. YMMV.
@Mylivanni and Malaric have the same Background, so they should be well-connected informed folk.
Thought we had a criminal, but I only found two other Acolytes and a Chef. Are we missing someone?
cheers
Looks like:
theft 1 1 3 4 3 = 12
murder 2 4 4 3 1 = 14
failed coup 3 3 2 1 2 = 11
conspiracy 4 2 1 2 4 = 13
With rorek55 not checked in. I'll send a PM.
Conspiracy-
2 You knew something powerful lurked within Mandorcai’s Mansion. You and others sought the tools and rites to prod the power within, to draw it out and make it yours. But what lies within the mansion refuses to ever serve again.
coup-
2 A patriar promised you riches or something else of value if you helped remove Duke Dillard Portyr from power, creating a vacancy on the Council of Four. Your plot to blackmail the duke into retirement backfired when a rival of the treacherous patriar learned of the plot. Will the patriar give you up to save themselves?
Theft-
1 You did it for the prestige as much as the money. It took months to plan and even longer to get everyone into place. The High Hall is locked down tight every evening. Its crypts less so. Now a priceless treasure of the city, the spyglass of Balduran himself, is yours.
theft 1 1 3 4 3 = 12 + 3 = 15
murder 2 4 4 3 1 = 14 + 4 = 18
failed coup 3 3 2 1 2 = 11 + 2 = 13
conspiracy 4 2 1 2 4 = 13 + 3 = 16
Failed coup it is. Within that category, the 'Flaming Fist is corrupt...' option has a few votes. We can go with that if everyone is good with it.
Again this is just something to link up your characters and inspire some RP in game.
You can now choose a role, ie the part you played in this failed coup attempt. The suggested options are below, but of course you can make something of your own up as well.
1 Facilitator. You wouldn’t benefit directly from the new power structure, but you’d benefit enough.
2 Beneficiary. This was your chance for glory. Your chance to rise above them all.
3 Voyeur. You should have prevented the power grab from happening. Your inaction makes you culpable.
4 Opportunist. You saw the opening and shared it with those who’d help you take advantage of the situation.
5 Patsy. You might have been tricked into helping, but you helped all the same.
6 Traitor. You’d been looking for chance to lay your ally or superior low. You thought this was it.
Let's try to get some party connections established, even if its just a recognizable face or rumor about a certain someone etc.
I feel like Donal would be a facilitator...
Since Myli already is a member of the Flaming fist, I'm thinking Patsy might be a good roll for her.
I went through the character sheets to put my little tracker together. I only noticed a few things, but again its been a while since I've played so there are probably other things I missed. :)
Gorn: missing human variant skill, and 1 language choice
Myl: 14/14 hp on status, 12/12 hp on sheet
Character wise, it would make more sense for 2.(patriach) for Tibs, but either way, either
Beneficiary, or Opportunist. leaning towards the former.
Mal would definitely be the Opportunist.
Voyeur. You should have prevented the power grab from happening. Your inaction makes you culpable.
Alright, I probably have enough to get a first post up today then. Coffee + writing time.
Gameplay live, here we go!
Mixing this party backstory with the main plot was sort of challenging, but I think it will work out. Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm pretty eager to see these characters and the city come alive. :D
Will be on a plane most of today. Feel free to bot me, if necessary. Otherwise, I will post as soon as possible. We started right before my vacation!
Woops, will do Aesh, thanks. Wait, aren't you Hawaiian? You are leaving Hawaii to vacation? XD
Woops, will do Aesh, thanks. Wait, aren't you Hawaiian? You are leaving Hawaii to vacation? XD
Haha, yeah, visiting family in Portland. Thankfully, the heatwave has subsided a bit...
Sorry, I meant to post this, This past week, and the one coming up will be busy for me. I will try to get posts in when I can, but feel free to bot me when needed.
No worries Tib, I'm still sort of getting back into the swing of things myself so the slower pace is helpful.
GM, it seems I need permission for the link?
Sorry, try again. I sort of forgot how to do that, but should be good now.
@Mylivanni
Oh captain, my captain !! Waiting for a reply from you.
cheers
back, and catching up.
Hey guys, my internet was out yesterday but seems fine now. They've been putting in some fiber optics in my neighborhood. Getting post up now.
...oof, spoke too soon. Still going in and out. Let me try that again...
Alrighty, repairman just came and I'm told things are back to normal. :) Sorry.
And welcome back Tiberius. We can assume you've been there with everyone the entire time, probably easiest.
So, Grim critted with his second attack. How are we running crits in this game?
Well, I dunno, I was just going to do the standard thing. Is that what I used to do? 20 auto-hits and roll dice twice then add mod.
Want something else? Open to ideas. :)
Personally I used to love the Gamemastery Crit/Fumble Deck because it was so zany and opened up some hilarity in RP. They had each had 4 different things per card, per damage type (piercing, blunt, slash) then one for magic. Example card. I still have a pdf of the cards somewhere...would be a d52 then lookup result. I totally understand that's not everyone's cup of tea though.
I don't know if the Crit Fumble deck really fits the tone of this game, though... it is up to everyone else.
I have done a couple of ways. Deadly crits (max dmg + die roll) is nice, but with the increased regularity of crits (versus PF-style), that can really hurt us.
What I do is that I add a little flavor to the crit, maybe it temporarily blinds an opponent in one eye, or maybe it temporarily cripples a character, slowing their movement speed, until they receive medical care, or finish a long rest, or maybe just a short rest.
I just like to have some flavor, but less random. I tend to run cinematic combats, so I can see what might be most appropriate, but it might be harder for other DMs.
I am cool with what you want to do DM...
I've always enjoyed the deadly crits methods. It represents a truely devastating hit. A, critical, hit that can single-handedly turn the tide of battle.
That said, I also played in a group where Saves of a nat 1 counted as receiving a "critical" hit, and nat 20s counted as a "nat 1". example-
wizard cast fireball, minion A Rolls a 1, minion A takes damage as if the fireball had gotten a crit (16d6), minion B rolled a 20, minion B takes no damage from the fireball.
Though, this only applied to players, and "Big boss" type enemies. Random mook wizard throwing fireballs did not receive crits lol.
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I’ll go along with group choice… but can’t say I’m a fan of house or alternative rules in Pbp. Hard to remember things.
I’ll go along with group choice… but can’t say I’m a fan of house or alternative rules in Pbp. Hard to remember things.
+1
I'm okay with keeping by the book. I just like adding flavor... ^_^
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What I do is that I add a little flavor to the crit, maybe it temporarily blinds an opponent in one eye, or maybe it temporarily cripples a character, slowing their movement speed, until they receive medical care, or finish a long rest, or maybe just a short rest.
I like that, and is pretty similar to the Crit Deck. We could make a little crit effects table in my tracker spreadsheet everyone can see. When a crit occurs, roll on the table.
There's a 5e version of the deck from Nord Games (for 5 dollars), I'll check it out later. They made 2 separate decks for DM/players. Maybe we could pick like 20 of the toned down ones and make it into a table.
You definitely need something, as Champion. :)
Getting gameplay posts together.
How far is Mal from that gnome?
I'm thinking the evil halfling might gank that blabber mouth.
cheers
Fair enough. :) 20ft away.
I put just the blunt weapon effects from the 5e crit deck into the 'Crit' sheet of my tracker. They are organized by level; setback cards are for 1-4, then you add in the dangerous cards at 5 and so on. So if we did this, the table would grow as level increased. The upgraded cards are basically the same effects with more damage and increased DC. At 5th, you'd have like a 50/50 chance to pull an upgraded card. At 1-4, you'd have a 1 in 5 to pull just the standard phb crit.
In play it would be like
then you'd click my tracker which would be a new tab in your browser, find number 29, and could copy paste:
Bruised Joints. Max Damage + DC 14 con vs disadvantage on next melee attack
Thoughts? Again there's also slashing, piercing, and magic effects with different arrays of conditions.
I'm totally sympathetic to the lack of house rules on pbp, they are a huge pita. Not trying to force this on anyone, just putting it out there.
I would be happy if it were optional. People could opt into it. Up to everyone, though.