#8-05 UNGROUNDED BUT UNBROKEN - GM Nowruz (Inactive)

Game Master noral

Discussion here! ;-)

I have to do some accounting and figure out what Ilarien can afford to buy.

Can you guys please fill out slides 2-4. Thanks!

Hey guys, I'm going on vacation from Sunday through Thursday next week. I probably won't be checking the boards and almost certainly won't be posting.

Should we get to that point, feel free to Bot Shenendril, as necessary.

Can you guys do me the favor and fill out slides 2-4 in the slides please.

Oh and I am going on vacation from Aug 13 to Aug 28 so I will not be able to make GM posts in that time.

Day Job (Profession-Glass): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Enjoy your vacation!

Day Job(Craft(locks)): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Craft (Alchemy) check for day job: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Phooey. If I have a reroll left over I'll use it to improve this.

Can you guys do me the favor and fill out slides 2-4 in the slides please.

Those that have not done so: could you please fill out slides 2-4. ;-)

I haven't been able to do that from my phone. Will give it another try, and if I can't I'll do it when I get to a real computer.

The GM invited me in. So…I’ve only got three options to fit within the higher tier you nice folks are already in.

Halting Rondelro Duelist Fighter level 5.0

Human Knifemaster Rogue level 4.0

Grippli Pistolero Gunslinger level 4.1

Gilthanis here with my Rondelero Duelist.

Welcome!!

Let me give your character an introduction.

If I'd known what was coming in this scenario, I would have brought a more appropriate character.

Oh and I am going on vacation from Aug 13 to Aug 28 so I will not be able to make GM posts in that time.

Hey guys, I’m off to vacation. I’ll continue posting as GM Aug 29.

GM Nowruz wrote:

Oh and I am going on vacation from Aug 13 to Aug 28 so I will not be able to make GM posts in that time.

Hey guys, I’m off to vacation. I’ll continue posting as GM Aug 29.

Mach Spaß!

Dankeschön!!

Sorry to miss the posts this week. I flew home on Monday night and I'm having crazy jet lag! Haven't slept through the night since last Sunday. Oof!

All good! Great to have you back!!

I'm going to be at a convention (Reapercon) all weekend starting tomorrow and Monday is Labor Day so I probably wouldn't have been posting again until Tuesday.

Have fun! I'll also probably be at a con this weekend (Chicon...not a gaming convention), and slow to post.

Waiting for somoene else to drop their input. If not, I will post in the evening.

Are the captain's private chambers adjacent to her office?

No they are in another building.

Hey guys, I'm going on vacation tomorrow and won't be back until Wednesday. I very likely won't be checking the boards or posting in that time.

Feel free to bot Shenendril and Belthelgior as necessary. The latter will run away if he gets into trouble. He has a 100' perfect fly speed so he should be able to get away pretty easily.

So guys.

Come on!! Breaking and entering old school way. :-D

I stole Zandu's thunder last time. I'll let him do the honors.

Guys, I unfortunately have to cut down some gaming until next week Thursday as the workload in my job has expanded tremendously currently.

I will pick up the game again next Thursday!

Thanks for your understanding!!

Have a great week!

Thanks for the heads-up! I'll also be pretty busy the first part of next week (my first off-site business travel in three years!), so this works out well for me.

I will be swamped all of next week, as I am moving a week from today! Very excited. However, I'll be busy packing and whatnot before the move, and busy unpacking/cleaning/organizing after the move. Should be back to my relatively-infrequent posting by 10/24.

Yeah, I think this one is tha last for me in the rotation. Work is keeping me super busy lately, and I don't really have the time to post as often as I would like. If you don't mind the slow pace, I can continue, but it honestly feels like I am slowing you down.

Let me know. I'll try to catch up on posts now

Good luck with the move! *See* you guys next week.

I am back!

Reading through the posts and posting soon.

Hey all, apologies for my sudden absence. I got a rather sudden case of the man flu, and was spending most of my time sweating it out. Will try to catch up and drop a post later today.

Great that you are back! ;-)

Honestly not sure what to do here except straight up decking her.

We have very little clue about appropriate rules of engagement in the current situation, because neither of the people who should have told us (were this a mission undertaken in good faith) did, and we don't have any knowledge of typical behavior in this place. And having at least two extremely powerful (or at least apparently so, in the case of the shaitan noble) beings in the vicinity increases the potential downside of a wrong move by quite a bit. Apart from the Diplomacy check I haven't seen any indication of appropriate skill checks to make at this point, and since Ilarien can't make a DC 22 check in that particular skill I'm not going to try.

Besides, I'm getting over covid at the moment, and am not firing on all cylinders.

I think that your conclusions are quite correct!

So either make a diplomacy roll or start a fight with the con woman. She is an Oread and not powerful and definitely has bad intentions as your sense motive rolls revealed.

The other woman whose description you were given was a Shaitan and you could also ask around who that person - that fitted Inysha- actually is?

Soo...I think our best option here is to reveal that Othis has ulterior motives (and divided loyalties, she's clearly working for the Aspis Consortium) for rigging our training against us.

Here's the evidence I see -

The poison added to the blades during our mock combat.

The things we took from her office (and I'm glad we did, now) - The letter thanking her for tipping someone off about the caravan and then the ambush. A bronze Aspis Consortium badge and the message from Krayler Cauchemar.

And then the fact that she gave us bint Hanif's description as the criminal we were looking for at the casino.

Did I miss anything?

I'll frame up an argument tomorrow, unless someone else wants to do it.

There's also the morale in the barracks and the beatings for... reasons.

We have hearsay testimony that the obstacle course was rigged, but absent any evidence let's hold that in reserve if the dwarf is asked about the fight with the poisoned weapons.

HERE SOME RULES. PLEASE ALL READ: ;-)

During the hearing, the PCs can present evidence against Captain Othis as they explain their actions. General Hanif wants to hear from all of the PCs, not just the most charismatic.

As such, each of the PCs must speak in their group’s defense. She does not allow a PC to present a second piece of evidence until every PC has attempted to present one piece, and PCs cannot use aid another to assist each other.

This encounter relies on a series of Diplomacy checks, one for each piece
of evidence the PCs present against Othis. If the PC succeeds at a Diplomacy check while presenting a piece of evidence, the general accepts the argument; otherwise, she sides with Captain Othis.

Each piece of evidence grants the PCs a circumstance bonus on their Diplomacy check; the specific bonuses are listed below in parentheses. Whenever a PC successfully presents a piece of evidence, they all gain a cumulative +2 bonus on all future Diplomacy checks to present evidence.

Each piece of evidence grants the PCs a circumstance bonus on their Diplomacy check; the specific bonuses are listed below in parentheses.

Am I missing something? I see nothing listed below in parentheses.

So, if I am understanding this correctly, Shenendril has now presented on the poisoned weapons, so now someone else needs to present on the letter from Cauchemar, then someone else on the note from Slagcrusher, someone else on the giving of bint Hanif's description, someone else on the morale in the barracks and the beatings for... reasons, and someone else on the hearsay testimony that the obstacle course was rigged.

Since each successful diplomacy check provides a cumulative bonus on later diplomacy checks, seems like we should go in decreasing order of diplomacy skill.

From what I can gather looking at character sheets, these are the folks who have yet to speak and their diplomacy bonuses:
Ryskovich (+4)
Camina (+3?)
Ilarien (+1?)
Ash (+0?)
Zandu (-2)

Assuming I got those right, then this should be the order of presentation:
[Shenendril] Poisoned weapons
[Ryskovich] the letter from Cauchemar
[Camina] the note from Slagcrusher
[Ilarien] the giving of bint Hanif's description
[Ash] the morale in the barracks and the beatings for... reasons
[Zandu] the hearsay testimony that the obstacle course was rigged.

Am I missing anything? Does this sound right to other folks?

We probably should have started with the Slagcrusher letter, since that has an immediate and specific impact on the reputation of the Ungrounded. Then the letter from Cauchemar, because that speaks to the Captain's divided loyalties. Everything after that can be justified as misguided training methods. That said, going on to bint Hanif's description at that point is probably the least self-serving move; we tell the General that the Captain didn't tell us who she was, and put us into a position where our actions could have discredited the Ungrounded.

Sorry the bonuses are for the GM. :-/

I'm starting to think that the B&E might not have been a good idea. Maybe Ryskovich should jump to the order so we can get on the General's good side before we admit to stealing from a superior officer.

Fair point - perhaps we save those for last. Having physical evidence I think will give us an extra bonus on those diplomacy checks, and hopefully we'll have a good cumulative bonus from previous successful checks by then. Plus, our two sneaky characters happen to have the lowest diplo bonuses, so we can own up to the thievery while showing the evidence!

From a defense storyline perspective, it makes sense as well - start out with the things that we just happened to notice as being messed up, and build to the steps we took to investigate after that.

So how about this?

[Shenendril] Poisoned weapons Done
[Ryskovich] the giving of bint Hanif's description
[Camina] the hearsay testimony that the obstacle course was rigged.
[Ilarien] the morale in the barracks and the beatings for... reasons
[Ash] the note from Slagcrusher
[Zandu] the letter from Cauchemar

That makes sense to me. Thanks for doing the work on this, Zandu, and Happy New Year to all!

Just a hint that you do not need to worry that much about the B&E. It is more about the evidence you can provide.