No you're not restricted to the Palace although you're going off piste if you wander off.
The AP assumes you'd want to chat and influence the nobles, you don't have to of course. I'll need to make some adjustments if the group wants to learn a bunch of things from the servants and other commoners.
I don't ski, and now I've learned a new word. Cool.
I was thinking of trying to mess with Titus Lotheed to influence, by means of skullduggery, the outcome of the joust. I'll wander in that direction. My original intention was to abscond with Sepsinia, but I think she's in more capable hands.
Triphylla's human Disguise is active for 40 minutes, at which point she has one more extract she could append another 40.
I cannot post through the weekend, please don't wait for Lope. He will give an answer to the ladies when possible. Sorry and thanks!
So who do we have that we have not tried to influence yet?
Current influence checks:
Bartleby 2/10
Dame Crabbe 1/5
Barron Okerra 1/5
Other available NPCs:
HER GRACE BARONESS LEGATE ADELLA VOINUM
HONORARY TRIBUNE ONORA PISCUM
I have most of a post figured out now but one last question. Were we here under our own names or under aliases?
As I understood, being relatively unknown figures, we can use our own names for convenience. Lope and Julia were requested just to use the Betony surname instead of their own. We only were advised on the convenience of a cover identity for when we go out on a mission out of our domains.
Cyrene will answer to pretty much any name but hopes that everyone has enough common sense not to use her real one. :P
Also a question for everyone - I was thinking about taking the Whip use vigilante talent which basically instantly makes whips a viable option for me in combat, it seems quite fitting for Cyrene's personality. Do people think that's fun or a bit... much? :)
I don't have a problem with that, but its a group decision.
Whips for Cyrene? Yes!
Whips it is! :D
I'll have to buy a nice magical one.
...You mean you considered anything else Cyrene? I am almost ashamed of you now...
You mean because it was a weapon historically used by slavers? I do not think there is any slave theme in the AP but I can understand why someone might feel bad about it.
From a mechanical perspective, having someone able to debuff enemies by using combat maneuvers at range, is a good addition to the party repertoire, and well welcomed from my side.
You mean because it was a weapon historically used by slavers? I do not think there is any slave theme in the AP but I can understand why someone might feel bad about it.
Actually mostly because I'm not trying to bring a full on dominatrix into the game. She already dresses and acts the part sometimes so I was worried walking around cracking a whip might have been pushing the whole thing too far. :)
It's just a tool. Depends on what you do with that. If you're concerned you may be taking it too far, you probably are. It hasn't happened yet, in my opinion.
Yeah I think it will be fine.
As an FYI there's a whole bunch of benefits you'll see later if you manage to fully influence these NPCs. Right now you're doing a fine job although the tourney will be starting soon.
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Baron Okerra has been fully influenced and is now friendly. His help will no doubt become invaluable in part 2 of this book later on.
Note he's a stickler for the law and there some things you might do later on that you should keep from him.
Not much time today for posting, but how does more or less the tournament work?
Don't think I am very interested in jousting, but Lope is definitely good at riding a horse. If this can gain a benefit to the party, I will do.
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Sorry folks, couldn't post last night the board had downtime.
#Lope I'll quote you some rules later when my pc is available.
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This competition is always awkward unless someone has gone full on chivalric knight. Cyrene would be decent thanks to her high dex, but the last thing she wants is to wear the armour and carry the shield and she has no ranks in ride, which immediately puts her at a disadvantage.
Something about this AP seems to attract high dex/cha dandies!
Listening to Cyrene, I do not see Lope dressing a heavy armor and charging in a horse with a lance :P
So, if possible, I will pass out this chance and just enjoy the soiree embellishing the conversation with the ladies and dandies.
Heheh. Yeah, I'll move us forwards a little tomorrow.
Having relished victory over the shockingly agile Dame Crabbe , Triphylla returns to find Julia with the Baroness.
Or she has trained Weapon Focus in hammers to win at trucco! :D
Yes that! :D
She takes Trucco way too seriously!
Well that's something of a relief. Between Bartelby's +15 to Intimidate and trucco I thought we might be in way over our heads.
NPCs don't always use feats in the same way a player would... :)
What could be more important than Trucco?!?!
And Skill Focus (Inane Small Talk)!
I admit to doing a little metagaming here. I had a post written and deleted it pending the outcome of other player's actions. This seems like the pivotal moment in the book.
Bummer. I was waiting to see how Julia's action worked out. Too bad for Bartleby.
Didn't expect the guy we are trying to screw over get poked so quickly lol.
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He must owe a lot of people money!
Just waiting to see how Lope reacts!
Done!
You have a few social rounds left to try and influence any of the NPCs, before you retire for the evening. Current state of play:
Bartleby 2/10
Dame Crabbe 2/5
Barron Okerra 5/5
Onora Piscum 4/4
Baroness Voinum 4/7
This night isn't our only opportunity, is it? Did the sherry earn a point with the Baroness?
No there's day two of the jubilee after this. Yes the sherry hit the spot! Looks like I forgot to record the influence check so you're actually 5/7 for the Baroness.
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Sorry no update tonight. Will post tomorrow.
Traveling and on my phone. Posts will be crappy for a few days.
Sorry I was gone for long. Got distracted with a IRL thing that took up a lot of my time. My bad.
Lope can give spider climb to someone, but it is going to be difficult to keep the manticore near the trees for that to be useful... :/
This is one of those fights that we have no business surviving. Pray dicebot is on our side.
Do we intend to fight this or are we trying to grab Moffis and run? I have 2 extracts of Expeditious Retreat ready with the Infusion property so anyone can use them. We can't outrun its tail spike attack though unless the tree canopy gives us cover.
Sorry no update tonight, I've caught a stomach bug and I'm not feeling up to it.
Re encounter difficultly, this is a CR6 encounter so it will be challenging - however there's five of you so it should be possible.
The easy way to defeat this beast is with a glitterdust or some other spell that targets her Will. A chance for Valeria and Julia to be the stars here.
Barring that, we can try to use whatever we have for range combat (a chance for that crossbow artifact to shine). Some lucky alchemist fires here can be helpful if you really have nothing else to attack a flying creature.
A tanglefoot bag could be specially useful here to force her down, but I did not thought to buy one of those for Lope :P
So the Iron Lash just did 20 damage to poor Julia. That's not great, but it's blind and it got lucky with the rolls.
On the other hand for those with sneak attack, blindness mean it's denied dexterity.
I will be gone June 21-25, 2023 for Origins, and Gencon August 3–6, 2023.
So the Iron Lash just did 20 damage to poor Julia. That's not great, but it's blind and it got lucky with the rolls.
On the other hand for those with sneak attack, blindness mean it's denied dexterity.
Oof. Well at least I actually managed to blind it. Figured that would be a long shot.
I wonder if we're doing this all wrong. The manticore isn't moving but is content to kill us with its spikes, and we're playing right into that. Triphylla is still 5 move actions away at current pace. Would we be better off with full defense actions and waiting for the thing to exhaust its tail spike attack and come to us? The way its playing out, whoever gets there first will just be the first to die to claw and bite attacks.
I'll be honest, I think we could very easily justify sacrificing Moffis here - I don't think any of us is lawful good.
You can always take the run full round action if you need to be closer to the manticore for Triphylla to do her thing.
Well it got late, my post for the other game took longer than expected. Will post tomorrow.