Concordance of The Abyss (Pathfinder Chronicle) (Inactive)

Game Master Molech

The thugs are not surrounding anyone. They are only aware of Lady Sabella and her Hell Hound. Now, of course, one among them has mentioned K'Tak. .... They are effectively in the same squares as the other PCs, but were looking for tracks or clues left by The Lantern Man -- just like you. They would be quite astonished (read "Flat-Footed") if an Invisible Someone were to blow softly in their ear, or, you know, stab them with a sword.

With the revelation of a previously unknown figure, their training & reflexes made them grip their non-lethal Saps.

. . . .

It was my idea to have these large groups in such a teeny tiny location. Admittedly, it's a gamble -- I'm hoping that if (when) combat erupts, it'll be more interesting and dynamic than the same ol' square fight in a dungeon. (Feedback welcome)

. . . .

'Amusing'?
Well, between the clownish guy downstairs, the 'What-I-Assume-Is-Obvious-By-Now' rooftop-thingy, these thugs & their Mage, and um, er, perhaps something else -- Yeah: "Amusing." Or, at least "dynamic" and somewhat "novel."

. . . .

Par murdering could be bad. These guys have Saps in-hand in addition to their other weapons. It's an Evil city for sure, but cold-blooded murder is still somewhat frowned upon -- you know, IF you get caught (or choose not to heal those who go under Zero HP after the fight).

. . . .

At a Meta level, I was not thinking for an instance that y'all would be Invisible for this encounter. I'm totally flat footed on that account (Rather, I was a couple days ago when you cast Invisibility Sphere.).

Mmm, popcorn. Now I'm hungry.

. . . .

Hamfist is indeed who The Soiled Sow pay protection-racket money to -- but that wasn't why Lady Sabella rolled a Sense Motive.
;)

Hang on a sec. I think there might be some confusion, or some screw up on my part:

The Hell Hound was summoned *outside* the entrannce to the Sow, to prevent anybody from coming inside. This was done before she ever entered the tavern.

Sabella ducked in to tell the others about the incoming group of thugs, but she didn't stay inside. This why she isn't currently invisible.

She then resumed her 'guard' position completely outside the Sow. It was my intention that she was at least five feet in front of the door, preventing anybody from getting inside while the others dealt with the proprietor.

I'm sorry if I screwed this all up. I've had a rough week with both sleep being extra screwy, and my tinnitus acting up a few times. So I probably didn't make things as clear as I should have(and am right now).

The idea was that the thugs would need to fight Sabella and her Hellhound in order to get passed her and into the Sow. Of course, she would also call out for backup, since that's a free action, lol

That's one of the clunky things about PBP: It's so easy to just miss or misunderstsnd one little thing. Yesterday I posted--

Lady Sabella, I assume your Hell Hound did not have a Readied Action to Attack, or an instruction to take AoOs -- considering you continued dialog and began a Diplomacy route. If I'm in error we'll have to back up.

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If there's good news here, it's that the gang members aren't yet breaking out their Initiative rolls. They started looking around and have no idea whatsoever they're surrounded by bad ass Invisible Player-Character-Murder-Hobos. And we still have you and K'Tak who can talk your way around this -- perhaps -- yet I do have a feeling that Par is ready to go all WorldWound on these guys, nice and close up, if it comes to a fight.

Edit:
.... And now I check Gameplay!
Oh, K'Tak, what are we going to do with you?!?
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Okay, taking a Move Action to get around Baku the Mage is either K'Tak's Surprise Round action or not.

My first thought was that if he's on his way to Baku in order to attempt a Grapple then he's Bluffing that he only wants to shake Baku's hand in a gesture of friendship. And if K'Tak succeeds the Bluff, his Surprise Round action would be the CMB to Grapple.

But my second thought is that that's a little squirrely. One of Baku's little thugs said K'Tak was hiding and all the sudden he's jumping into Baku's face. Clown nose and all. Baku is not a Commoner and not a neophyte to thug life in The Styes. And as a squishy caster, he's gonna roll that Initiative with a big Dineh running at him -- especially with the proprietor of The Soiled Sow having just squealed his little b.s..

What remains is whether Lady Sabella decides to pretend shock at K'Tak's emergence, or if she decides to start going beast mode, too.

Either way, let's figure out how this Surprise Round should be fairly adjudicated before posting in Gameplay.

Saturday I'll get back here to see what y'all think. Rest assured -- especially with so much Invisibility -- everyone will get an Action in the Surprise Round! I just want to make sure that it sounds as appropriate to everyone else as it does to me that K'Tak's Surprise Round action is to Move to the square behind Baku (Flanking with the Hell Hound). Then y'all can call out other Surprise Actions before Baku et. al. roll Initiative for Round 1.

The other good news is that I'm at point blank range with their wizard if something kicks off... So he'll probably think twice about starting it.

With my diplomacy attempt, and a solid roll, Sabella is trying to avoid combat. So no, the Hellhound does not have a readied action to attack. Normally, when you summon, the creature attacks right away. However, if you share a language with it you can give it different orders. She told it guard the door, and only attack the cloaked gangsters. Since Baku opened with a dialogue(as opposed to trying to attack or force their way inside) she would have told it to stand down for now. I hope that's okay. And yes, I know it takes a full minute of continuous interaction. In fact, depending on how this scene plays out, she might try to ally with Baku and his gang.

I'm going to assume Baku is at the very least Unfriendly, meaning the DC to improve his attitude is 20+Cha mod. Hopefully, he doesn't have a +6 to Cha, lol. Even better would be if he was Indifferent at first, meaning the DC is 15+Cha mod.

I doubt he was Hostile(since he tried talking in the first place, and seems open to discussion), nor do I think he's Friendly.

At worst(assuming his initial attitude wasn't Hostile), he becomes Indifferent, at best(if he was Indifferent to start) he might become Friendly or even Helpful. Either way, I can make requests of him, as that requires him to be at least Indifferent.

Baku and the others were Indifferent. (Dude sees a rich caster & Hell Hound in The Styes.)

I knew you were going the Diplomacy route and was roleplaying it.

I knew it was tricky with my gangsters searching The Soiled Sow with y'all in there Invisible.

I knew the proprietor and the roof thingy (and one other yet unknown but actually mentioned earlier thingy) would add dynamic to the encounter.

I double mentioned that the gangsters wielded Saps (but do have real weapons too).

We were talking and one of my guys spotted K'Tak -- that was likely going to happen.

I played a little fast-and-loose with the Prestidigitation while Invisible rules to glitterbomb him but it's fun.

K'Tak be like, 'Let's get this party started' and Moves to Grapple the Caster. He also may have given you away by claiming you're together, which sounds plausible to Baku based on your looks and what the proprietor hollered out a second ago.

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But I'm open to how other folks saw this unfolding.

The thugs don't know about anyone but K'Tak and Sabella.

The shouting came from the proprietor downstairs immediately when he heard Hamfist's name being mentioned.

Again, let's make sure we're on the same page here before resuming Gameplay.

If they start stupid s#@@ (as in attack party members), Pär will give them a proper earfull with sound burst, and then intimidatingly introduce himself.

He would just go full Gorrum worshipper and list of his notable kills, most notably are probably beating the Incubus Twins Alfadrius and Omegoron in a "triel" (both at the same time, whoever spots the bad WH40K reference can keep it), and dealing the finishing blow on a Glabrezu, although that was a team effort.

Baku and the others were Indifferent. (Dude sees a rich caster & Hell Hound in The Styes.)

I knew you were going the Diplomacy route and was roleplaying it.

I knew it was tricky with my gangsters searching The Soiled Sow with y'all in there Invisible.

I knew the proprietor and the roof thingy (and one other yet unknown but actually mentioned earlier thingy) would add dynamic to the encounter.

I double mentioned that the gangsters wielded Saps (but do have real weapons too).

We were talking and one of my guys spotted K'Tak -- that was likely going to happen.

I played a little fast-and-loose with the Prestidigitation while Invisible rules to glitterbomb him but it's fun.

K'Tak be like, 'Let's get this party started' and Moves to Grapple the Caster. He also may have given you away by claiming you're together, which sounds plausible to Baku based on your looks and what the proprietor hollered out a second ago.

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But I'm open to how other folks saw this unfolding.

To get us all on the same page, from K'Tak's end:

ps. Did I get anything with that K Nature check a couple of posts back?

Sorry I missed the Knowledge: Nature

You don't have enough to go on to make a specific check. The PC who let you know about your shiny clown nose and glitteryness was an Arcane Caster and so you can assume an Arcane Caster did a little something-something. You've seen in your 8 Levels enough castings of Illusions and Prestidigitations and such to wonder.

You of course know that Fey are mischievous and do things like this. Of course, looking around at this big city, and smelling it, one would not normally guess that there are many cute little Pixies and Sprites and Nymphs here in The Styes. That being said, .... Has anyone seen any Fey here in The Styes already?--

Your very good roll result will absolutely (very likely) come into play later.

Please excuse any inadvertent misrepresentation from me. The thugs went into The Soiled Sow to look for clues regarding The Lantern Man -- not to surround or bully Lady Sabella. Of course they have Saps in hand -- and gripped them tightly at the revelation of K'Tak hiding outside.

Looking at my posts I can see how it could easily have been misinterpreted that my Thugs were surrounding Lady Sabella.

Everyone is around everyone -- y'all be sharing Squares!

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I do want to move Sabella's Icon to a more correct square. She should be switched on the map with Lady Valeria's icon. Thus, Lady Sabella should be adjacent with her Hell Hound. There certainly was no way (it seems to me) that Sabella would have been in the square her icon occupies.

I'll let a little of this Saturday pass before adjusting it, making sure others have an opportunity to post.

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K'Tak,
with my clarifications, does it make more sense now that you would get adjacent to Baku and then Ready a Standard Action to Grapple if Baku (or one of the Thugs) attacks or makes a 'hostile' Action? Bodyguard style?

So from Muziel's end, not really trying to start combat yet, and trying to stay hidden and near everyone else who's hiding!

I hope Pärs names for certain demon lords got some chuckles.

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K'Tak,
with my clarifications, does it make more sense now that you would get adjacent to Baku and then Ready a Standard Action to Grapple if Baku (or one of the Thugs) attacks or makes a 'hostile' Action? Bodyguard style?

That's fine if you want to rule it that; I was thinking overenthusiastic glad-handing used car salesman with an extra squeezy handshake...

So from Muziel's end, not really trying to start combat yet, and trying to stay hidden and near everyone else who's hiding!

Remember you have to stay within 10' of all of them to keep them invisible... Good luck!

I hope Pärs names for certain demon lords got some chuckles.

The Barbie one was my favorite

Please excuse any inadvertent misrepresentation from me. The thugs went into The Soiled Sow to look for clues regarding The Lantern Man -- not to surround or bully Lady Sabella. Of course they have Saps in hand -- and gripped them tightly at the revelation of K'Tak hiding outside.

Looking at my posts I can see how it could easily have been misinterpreted that my Thugs were surrounding Lady Sabella.

Everyone is around everyone -- y'all be sharing Squares!

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I do want to move Sabella's Icon to a more correct square. She should be switched on the map with Lady Valeria's icon. Thus, Lady Sabella should be adjacent with her Hell Hound. There certainly was no way (it seems to me) that Sabella would have been in the square her icon occupies.

I'll let a little of this Saturday pass before adjusting it, making sure others have an opportunity to post.

So you're just going to straight up ignore my post explaining that this entire scene should be taking place outside of the Sow, thus nobody is sharing any spaces, as I would assume the entire world beyond the Sow is bigger than 3x3ft.

If they attempted to push past Sabella guarding the entrance to go inside, she and the Hellhound would have attacked.

Sabella is not inside. She never went inside. If she did, she would be invisible. She is not. You said she wasn't. Meaning, she either ducked just her head inside or shouted her warning while still outside.

There's literally posts from both myself and Ray confirming this:

Drawing upon her fiendish heritage, Sabella summons forth an infernal wolf like creature to do her bidding. Speaking in it's native tongue she orders the Hellhound to stand guard at the entrance to the Sow, and to only attack the Cloaked gangsters.

She then heads inside to inform her companions of the likely trouble

the Hound immediately whips its nose up to the roof (Which is the outside covering a building. The ceiling is the interior).

Just outside with a Conjured Hell Hound, Lady Sabella..

From about 30 feet away

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This seems to be the offending line: He and his men approach and enter The Soiled Sow, clearly looking around the place -- and are cramped with the Invisible Artemisia, Val, Par and Muziel Moreau, sharing spaces.

Why would they push past Sabella, who is demonstratively not inside the Sow, while talking to her outside?

Ray, are you just so hard up for combat that you're going to completely ignore both myself and logic?

If so, just say 'hey, screw you being outside, I want blood!' and I'll just drop out now....

Alrighty, hope everyone had a good weekend, good Fathers' Day for those with families. I got caught up on sleeping after casting Baleful Polymorph on myself to become a vegetable! (I also spent some time getting ready for my new Friday night homegame; session one of a new campaign is Friday.)

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I adjusted the Map on the awesome site that K'Tak provided, edging Lady Sabella out the door with her Hell Hound.

Note that you guys can adjust your PC's location on the map as appropriate, obviously I just threw all the icons in The Soiled Sow, mashed up with the NPCs.

Combat has not yet broken out as Lady Sabella is talking to Baku the Mage while the five gangsters are inside -- oblivious to the other PCs -- unsuccessfully searching for clues to The Lantern Man.

K'Tak is adjacent to Baku the Mage (Flanking with the Hell Hound) on the off chance a combat does break out, but Baku doesn't look particularly stupid.

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And I'm ready to get back into Gameplay!

Par, there are two avenues which I can think of off the top of my head to allow your Oracle Curse (the Erinyes) to telepathically communicate with others.

The first is to re-Flavor the purchase of a Permanency Spell of Telepathic Bond, one character per casting. Re-Flavoring that seems easy, just pretend you're sacrificing that much gold to Eiseth or Asmodeus or Mephistopheles or whomever for the Boon.

The second thing I thought of is much trickier. If you were to take an Improved Familiar and decided to make your Erinyes, like, 'trapped in the Form of' the Familiar -- if you can find a Familiar with Telepathy. I would gladly alter the prereq from Arcane Caster Level 7 to just, Caster Level 7, for something like this. Again, you'd have to want something like that, making your Cursed Voice into also a Familiar, find one with Telepathy, and then re-Flavor that specific Familiar to look like what you want or something. I dunno. Tricky. But worth thinking over a few considerations.

.... Ooh, ooh, I just thought of another. I could look for a place in the campaign where part of the treasure you find could act as receptacle for an Intelligent Item with Telepathy. Like, if Par is thinking of spending his next chunk of money on a Ring of Evasion, so I make it so that he learns of a Ring of Evasion, maybe also with the Deflection AC bonus his current Ring has, that could be an Intelligent Item with the Erinyes inside it. We'd make sure the Intelligent Ring has Telepathy. Then we'd just have to take a hard look at the rules for Oracle's Curse and merge them with the rules for Intelligent Item (or Improved Familiar if we go that route) and make sure everything makes sense.

Permanency is the easiest.

But, um, having just made a short story Long, "No," your Oracle Curse can not telepathically communicate with lady Sabella. (at this time)

All of these sound cool and no telepathy currently is totally fine.

One of the advantadges of play by post is that you can bounce creative concepts to the DM without holding things up after all :).

I am kind of just looking at interesting ways for her to possibly get increased influence over Pär, or perhaps vice versa, representing a bit of a tug of war perhaps.

Ok, nobody's replied to Baku and it's Thursday night. Somebody better do it before we have another lizardfolk diplomacy incident...

Sorry, I've had a really crazy last few days. Very little sleep, and then we had all of our first floor windows replaced today.

I've been both busy at work and also working feverishly on my new homegame -- session one tonight. Sorry, back asap, probably this weekend.

Sounds like our near future is - GM responds to Sabella, and K'tah/Sab respond to GM, then either we end up in combat or we end up bypassing combat and moving to the next scene?

I'll check in on saturday evening. Hope everyone's weekend starts well.

first two days this week have been hard, crazy busy. Please be patient with me.

All good from here.

In a funny question thing, what music video would represent your character, either in terms of things or in terms of how he sounds?

Pär, unsurprisingly, sounds like the Sabaton-bandmembers he is named after.

Resist and Bite

If he ever comes up to actually sing this, ill bowdlerize the lyrics to be medieval/Golarion.

Need to come up with a way for him to get a bite attack though.

Hope everybody had a lovely 3 day holiday weekend, and if you didn't have today off, I hope your Monday didn't suck too badly, lol.

Ray, I am very much looking forward to the continued RP with Baku, and can't wait for a reply to see where this goes from here.

Yes!

Last week was a monster, followed by a long weekend. I've promised myself that regardless of how hard today is (Tuesday) that I will find the energy after work, or a gap in the day at work, to read Gameplay to refresh my memory and then post.

Yeah this was a weekend alright. Back now.

My last weekend was "interesting".

If anyone follows the gold market (and other financial markets), they'll understand my last two weeks.

I swear I'm not ghosting. Just stressed and busy trying to stay above water.

I will be travelling starting today until the 14th; posting may be irregular. Please bot me if necessary.

Just wanted to check in on Ray, and the rest of the group. Hope all is well! I worked a local con this past weekend, and had a heckin blast! Helped out a friend who created this badass wrestling card game, and worked alongside a cosplay wrestling group!

I'm still here...

Am there will smesh

Still ready and able

I'm around but the start of school spinup has begun so I'm distracted. I'll probably post in bursts and things will smooth out by the end of august.

Apologies to all: Business has been really bad; I'm struggling to stay afloat. I'm still 'all in' for this campaign though I do want to hurry along and get the proper meat of the campaign soon. But business is bad and the stress has been wearing me out.

My hope is that early August will see me through the rough patch so I can enjoy some leisure and fun.

Thanks for being patient, those of you still around.

Good to here you are still alive...

Sorry to hear about the business--hope you're able to navigate through it. All for a little fast-forward to get things going when you're ready to do that.

It would appear Lady Sabella now has an older brother....

Hey all, just wanted to check in with everybody, see how things are going. Miss this game lots!

Carrying on, carrying on...

I guess we can call this dead. If you ever do want to restart this, give me a message DM Ray.

I guess we can call this dead. If you ever do want to restart this, give me a message DM Ray.

Yeah, sadly, I think you're right. I messaged Ray a few weeks ago, and haven't gotten a reply. I hope he's okay.