Hmmm...I like that post, Abella. Some great dialogue. Just might have to give your 18 an increased crit range...
Let me think about that.
Danke! I figured with a roll that good, I should have her actually try to be convincing instead of just make side commentary lol
Pip would prioritize weapon blanches now
cold iron, silver and ghost salt after the last incident, especially the first two.
People may know Ileosa is next in line for the crown if the king dies due to her marriage, but on the face of it, no one really expected it.
I would get into why I don't think the mere existence of sun orchid elixir and divine magic should in any way eliminate the possibility of dying of old age, or illness, or suddenly and permanently by violence, even for relatively rich and powerful people in a magic universe, but in the end it is up to each GM to decide so many specifics of how magic and religion work in their world that there's no point.
* Which forms of inheritance never existed anywhere in medieval/feudal Europe, of course. Adoptive children could not inherit titles and kings certainly could not just name someone to be heir. The widow of a king would be a dowager queen, not a queen regnant, and they'd go up the king's bloodline looking for the former king's closest living (almost always male) blood relative to be the actual next king. But it's hardly the weirdest thing about a fantasy universe if rulership of a city-state can be inherited like it's a modern-day house, so whatever.
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I believe a similar concept existed in Roman society where once adopted, the child was considered an equal member of the family and again, thanks to our forebears discrimination against those who are female, only males could inherit. So again another culture less about bloodline and more about gender.
Korvosa's royalty's inheritance laws are not described, but if one reads all the history, it becomes clear bloodline appears to have been given the most weight for succession, but with no other conditionals. We also have a powerful Seneschal and the Peerage Review (heads of the ruling noble houses in Korvosa). For me this opens the door to the ruling monarch naming or adopting an heir because, well, nothing says it's disallowed. If a spouse can inherit the throne (canonically true in Pathfinder's Korvosa), why can't an adopted child? In the brief window in which Domina had not yet arrived to claim her throne, Korvosa was initially faced with a lack of an Arabasti heir, and the throne would have moved to another of the ruling houses, presumably at the dictate of the Seneschal and whatever jockeying of power occurring within the Peerage Review. I imagine this as an extremely loose interpretation of Britain's constitutional monarchy: royals, Prime Minister (House of Commons), & House of Lords.
It's indicated that when the royalty of Korvosa was established, the Arabastis were given their title at the pleasure of the Seneschal who was the only person with the actual power to strip them of the title. Yes, Domina did some backdoor legislation to get this power removed, but all in all, the monarch still relies on the support of the Seneschal (who controls the Sable Company) and presumably to some degree the Peerage Review who can countermand orders given to the Korvosan Guard (who also serve the Church of Abadar).
Again, what's this long-winded talk have to do with anything, Spirit of Pinvendor? Simple. Think of the Korvosa riots akin to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Some citizens want to keep Ileosa from taking the throne for [insert crazy/radical/revolutionary/imagined/maybe justified] reason here. They are making their voices heard to the people who could prevent it based on legal challenges. Is it a good way to do it? No, just like the real world actions I referenced.
@Shrike: The actions of some Korvosa's citizens do not speak to all, nor does this mean anyone is "surprised." They just don't like it. If my descriptions have somehow given you the impression a well-organized full scale rebellion pitting the entire civilian population of Korvosa against the current entrenched regime and their enforcers, I'm sorry. While I have GM'd a portion of Hell's Rebels, that is not intended to be this game.
In this case, would it be fair to say that the general desire on the part of many citizens is for Ileosa to abdicate or be forced out, and for the Seneschal and Peerage Review to select a new monarch?
That's what Shrike wants to know — what the general tenor of the demands are. Are the angriest discontents calling for a new king/queen, and if so is there someone specific whose name they are chanting? Do they want there to not be a king/queen, and for power to officially rest with the Seneschal/Peerage Review or someone else even if they are not that organized and don't know how exactly it would happen? Etc.
We may have already had some foreshadowing of that, with the woman in the mob threatening the nobleman, who was talking about how her brother's hand was crushed long ago and never healed. Or I could be reading too much into it.
Since it's free-style territory here, why don't we all work together to create this? All of your characters have been touched by the systemic problems with Korvosa's system of law enforcement in one way or the other hence the vigilante foray to find and defeat Gaedran Lamm. Perhaps you do, in fact already suspect the possible culprits behind the riots, both those with righteous intent and those who would just be using it as a political move or a front for nefarious activity. Maybe you are indeed familiar with the champions of change who desire to see someone not as frivolous and vain as Ileosa become ruler.
This doesn't have to become Game of Thrones, and all of these details can be purely background which we can then reference in dialogue or other bits of storytelling. Obviously as the game progresses, we can assign as much value to these things as we'd like to being just rumors v. overtly affecting places and people you all encounter.
As much a legend and rumor as a known man, the black-clad Blackjack has remained a fixture of Korvosan lore for more than two centuries. The figure known as Blackjack serves the poor and downtrodden of the city, fighting against the injustices of cold-hearted nobles and dark-souled merchants. Although he has not appeared in more than a decade, people have no doubt he still lives somewhere in the city, waiting for the next great travesty of justice for a chance to come forward and render aid. Because he has existed for more than 200 years, nobody in the city believes him to be a single person. The most popular rumor surrounding Blackjack places him as a series of human men, with one training the next down through history. Another popular rumor claims he is an elf, ghaele eladrin, or some other member of a long-lived or immortal race who exists in secret among the short-lived humans of the city.
Alright, I've made a decision about light blindness and penumbra.
To alleviate the bookkeeping without removing the penalty offset by the racial benefits, I've decided to house rule how light blindness works. My proposition is this:
Light blindness: When subjected to any effect, spell, supernatural ability, or spell-like ability which would require a save to prevent the dazzled or blinded condition, a creature with light blindness takes a -2 on the related save and that effect ignores spell resistance.
My reasoning is this: Everyone's eyes adjust to the current level of light. I figure we can assume individuals with extreme sensitivity are really only affected when the light conditions change so rapidly, their eyes don't have time to adjust. A change in lighting would affect anyone, of course, but be much worse for someone whose eyes were meant to see at certain depths of darkness and currently be "set" for such blackness.
Before this becomes law, does anyone have any opinions/questions on the wording? There may be some conflict I've not thought, and I'd appreciate feedback.
Naturally, this penalty can still be avoided by using penumbra, but it would be much less required as a constant cast required situation just to walk around in daylight or brightly lit temples, etc.
@Lina: If we move forward with this change, I would offer you the opportunity to forget and replace penumbra immediately, if you would prefer to have another cantrip at the moment.
Pip would bet the country gentry he was a part of are like suburban elites, oblivious to the struggles of the common man. On the other hand Pip is familiar with oppression of halflings by Cheliax and the powerful.
He would be sure the decay of the city and the movement of some of the rich to nearby local estates would be a contributing factor to the riots and civil unrest.
I would liken this to the post revolution France when the popular uprising turned brutal, especially to former nobility. I can see the current queen uttering "Let them eat cake if they have no bread to eat"
Curiously, the Scarlet Pimpernel (Worlds first superhero) became a fictional vigilante rescuing nobles from unfair executions in that time.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having opened in Nottingham in 1903.
The novel is set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The title is the nom de guerre of its hero and protagonist, a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life: apparently nothing more than a wealthy fop, but in reality a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking master of disguise and escape artist. The band of gentlemen who assist him are the only ones who know of his secret identity. He is known by his symbol, a simple flower, the scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis).
Opening at the New Theatre in London's West End on 5 January 1905, the play became a favourite of British audiences, eventually playing more than 2,000 performances and becoming one of the most popular shows staged in London. Published after the success of the play, the novel was an immediate success, gaining Orczy a following of readers in Britain and the rest of the world. The stage play and subsequent novel, with their hero and villain, were so popular that they inspired a revival of classic villainy at the time.[2]
Orczy's premise of a daring hero who cultivates a secret identity disguised by a meek or ineffectual manner proved enduring. Zorro, Doctor Syn, the Shadow, the Spider, the Phantom, Superman and Batman followed within a few decades, and the trope remains a popular one in serial fiction today. Read by Stan Lee as a boy, the Marvel co-creator called The Scarlet Pimpernel "the first character who could be called a superhero."
I appreciate the contribution, Pippip. At the moment, I'm not sure if I'm ready to turn this into a revolution over remaining just some rioting. The citizens taking action are mostly just concerned with one person rather than the current systemic oppression of everyone of a lower class. Plus:
Golarion already has its own French Revolution-esque setting in the country of Galt, so that would be a different atmosphere altogether to bring to the city of Korvosa.
Think of it this way, while there may be a riot going on currently, it's just to trigger a change of something specific, Ileosa becoming queen, not a condemnation for the entire system. Most people are fine with status quo, or even if not fine, willing to accept it if the inconveniences are outweighed by their own comfort or security. Some citizens see Ileosa taking the throne could mean the introduction of someone who can threaten the status quo and thus their comforts and securities.
This is not a fight for change, but rather a fight for no change. The rioters would most likely just rather anyone else who is actually Korvosan become the monarch. Pick your favorite noble house contender at this point.
However, this does not mean that deeper resentments and calls for reform can't/don't exist. Just don't expect widespread revolution to overtake the city unless we all agree to take this game completely off the rails and realize it may not resemble CoCT at all once we're hip deep.
Shrike: Your family fortune was lost due to a speculation scheme and the indifference of the current patriarch. Could one of the existing noble families been involved? Would support against Ileosa damage or benefit them? Does the treatment of Lania's father make her more or less likely to have met or kept company with more revolutionary idealists?
Oh, I was thinking her now-deceased grandfather was the last patriarch of House Fordyce, at least in Korvosa. Now, though they might have distant relatives in Cheliax, the Fordyces in Korvosa are just her mother, Lania, and her brother. House Fordyce used to be one of Korvosa's Great Houses, but that was largely based on a single event in the 4500s, and it had slipped out of Great House status by the mid-4600s, I think (replaced by House Zenderholm.) I invented that its decline had continued for many years even before Lania's birth. The speculation scheme was just the final nail in the coffin turning them into Impoverished Patricians. While her mother would technically be the titleholder of the family, and titles themselves can't typically be bought or sold, if there are no great estates or wealth or family businesses left, what does a noble title even mean? Or they could have even lost the title itself by some quirk of the law or whim of the king; I don't care either way.
The speculation scheme could have been a knowing con by unscrupulous rivals looking to take the last of the family's fortune. (Agents of) House Arkona or House Ornelos would be clear choices. Lania wouldn't know any of that for sure; at most she might suspect it. The noble houses could well be in contention with Queen Ileosa for power, and right now, some of them could even be fomenting this unrest on the sly to weaken the Queen's position with a show of popular displeasure, perhaps even pushing the Seneschal to appoint a 'native Korvosan' noble in her place. So supporting the Queen would be preventing one of them from consolidating power and putting one of their own on the throne. Lania would approve of that, but she otherwise doesn't have strong feelings (yet) about who holds the throne. She also is no revolutionary wanting to do away with monarchy entirely, though she may have been exposed to such lines of thought through her artist and performer friends — young, bohemian people with a keen sense of the injustices of their society.
She cares more about preventing the kind of instability and street violence they have seen recently, and about the low-level injustices she has seen as Merula, especially those that are illegal but go unpunished by the Guard (as I described in my PM to you, and as we also know about from Lamm's decades-long abuses and the successful career of the Key-Lock Killer); or that are fully legal, as when a rich merchant uses underhanded methods to ruin a smaller rival, a noble pressures a servant to take the blame for a crime, or a cruel landlord turns a family out on the street. I haven't had her realize in-character how much what she wants to do resembles the stories about Blackjack she was told as a child, but that will come next time she speaks to her brother.
To be honest, this is one of those things that I've never give much thought to. I think she'd be aware of the concerns around King Eodred II's and Queen Ileosa's spending habits and probably some of the issues going on besides the ones she has personal experience with (not enough care for orphans, gang violence, pickpockets, theft, burglary, etc.)
I play a lot like I write. I'm a pantser (discovery Writer if you want to sound suitably snooty ;) No judgements here) by nature and a lot of times I discover things about a character as I write them, sometimes after it would have made sense to introduce it.
For example, Audria's terrified of Lamm. My excuse as to why she didn't show that during the raid on his hideout is that she was already bottling up the emotions from killing Giggles and her anger at Lamm and herself after a lot of the children fled into the streets combined with that stress to strangle her fear when it finally had an outlet. The truth is, at the time I hadn't realized it. When I was doing the back alley scene with Lania/Shrike/Merula, I realized that she towers over Audria. Audria got shaken up by her response and the aggression on display, and that's when I realized that while Giggles haunts her nightmares, Lamm is the stuff of her fears.
All of that to say, I don't know what Audria would have overheard, but I think I have a little bit more about her background fleshed out. She mostly kept to the safer places in Korvosa and the Sanctuary because she always had that fear of running into Lamm in the back of her mind. She would have had to work up a lot of courage to go to the Dockside Doxies, even with Eliana's own distress at what happened to galvanize her.
But getting back to what she may have overheard. I'll have to stew on it a bit. I have some inklings, but to be honest, I'm too tired to turn them into more than that at the moment.
Alright, I've made a decision about light blindness and penumbra.
To alleviate the bookkeeping without removing the penalty offset by the racial benefits, I've decided to house rule how light blindness works. My proposition is this:
Light blindness: When subjected to any effect, spell, supernatural ability, or spell-like ability which would require a save to prevent the dazzled or blinded condition, a creature with light blindness takes a -2 on the related save and that effect ignores spell resistance.
My reasoning is this: Everyone's eyes adjust to the current level of light. I figure we can assume individuals with extreme sensitivity are really only affected when the light conditions change so rapidly, their eyes don't have time to adjust. A change in lighting would affect anyone, of course, but be much worse for someone whose eyes were meant to see at certain depths of darkness and currently be "set" for such blackness.
Before this becomes law, does anyone have any opinions/questions on the wording? There may be some conflict I've not thought, and I'd appreciate feedback.
Naturally, this penalty can still be avoided by using penumbra, but it would be much less required as a constant cast required situation just to walk around in daylight or brightly lit temples, etc.
@Lina: If we move forward with this change, I would offer you the opportunity to forget and replace penumbra immediately, if you would prefer to have another cantrip at the moment.
I'm fine with the proposed changes. I'll stick with penumbra for now. If I need to change it later, I'll do through the even level spell exchanges that start at 4th level.
Pip saw the coffer, and presumably the shiver doses within, on the previous day. However, Shrike wouldn't just hand them over unless he has a specific idea of what to do with them.
Since he probably doesn't know specifically what they were, we can assume he doesn't know he is not yet in the circle of trust.
Straight Talk:
OK, everyone, I'll admit it, I find this section of Curse of Crimson Throne to be rather difficult to run as a GM. It's basically open world (city) for you to explore and technically everyone has ties like family and friends, possibly a job, familiar haunts, etc. The prior GM had you all create a bunch of NPCs, I've come to find out, and I am certain there's reasons she had for that in some grand plan to bring the city to life.
I'm all for this kind of thinking, but I'll be honest, being the sole major force of creation in a campaign with this level of depth (an entire city + plus the defining NPCs you've generated) is going to burn me out.
While it's a little unfair to compare any PbP players with the group I grew up playing with in-person, I'd like to share how that group has come define me as a roleplayer and thus a GM. Our gamemaster gave XP for players providing detailed roleplay and also would occasionally assign us the chance to roleplay NPCs especially in scenes of which our PCs weren't a part. As such I came to really think of roleplaying as a very collaborative effort, and I find myself innately hoping and expecting new groups with which I become involved to want this same relationship. But that could be a failing on my part. I may have done a poor job at communicating this initially, but I'm afraid without your involvement, I may not have enough force of will to keep this up.
In PbP, a railroad campaign is typically the easiest to run because there's really very little input required from the players as long as they continue to succeed in battle, make their skill checks, possibly come up with clever ways around a problem. This means getting regular posts and involvement is much easier in my opinion.
In this type of open world situation, the players have to be the ones to drive the narrative to the point that you may even have to take over the description occasionally. I asked what you want to do next with several questions focusing on things you've mentioned in the past plus some which just feel obvious given this city is your characters' home. If someone wanted to take the initiative and introduce some of their NPCs and places, I'd be OK with that. I'm freely allowing you to create and populate Korvosa. It's much too big a place for me to do it by myself, and if you are all willing to provide me a little break occasionally from having to "own" the scene, I'll hover and be happy to just be a rules adjudicator while I get the next plot points ready to go.
I'd love to see more actual RP between the characters to help keep the game alive. And it doesn't need to be the super heavy emotional stuff we've been seeing naturally. :P
Most of Part 2 of Edge of Anarchy is a series of events taking place over time. They become a little more structured once you've had a chance to visit Castle Korvosa, but they still play out over days if not weeks. So please, feel free to describe things in extended time. Right now I'm struggling a little merely because I'm having to create every step you take at the moment without really very much assistance from the written material. My trigger for burnout is mostly when I lack engagement or a creative seed from my players. I need you to create to keep my imagination churning and I can riff off of what you do.
Hopefully this makes sense. Because right now, my instincts are to just fast forward time and just place you into a more railroad-y version of this section, and also make Part 3 and the future books a tad more railroad-y as well if you're all just looking more for a PbP that moves forward rather than roleplays. Otherwise I'd like to see a lot more interaction between the players. You guys talking among yourselves is going to help keep the game alive just as much as the next post from me. :)
Okay, I think I understand what you're saying. I definitely understand where you're coming from.
So, here's what's currently going on at the moment.
Garrett, Shrike, and Audria are planning on visiting Garrett's family shop so he can check in and Shrike and Audria will be there as back up.
Not sure what Pip, Abella, and Lina will do.
I know that I'd like to have a conversation between Audria and Lina at some point.
I also know that we've talked a bit about some of the NPCs I've come up with and where they'll come in. I won't say more than that to avoid spoilers.
The issue I tend to have is that I don't know where the line is between what a GM is responsible for and what a player is responsible for once we start talking about players also giving voices to NPCs. I can do it. I can do it quite easily, but I am worried about getting ahead of myself and stepping on toes. I wouldn't be giving someone powerful weapons or potions they couldn't afford, but I am worried that I would infringe on something that you have an idea about already.
If you could give some guidelines, I think I'd feel a lot more comfortable about donning my GM hat and having some fun on that side of things. I've done it before and I think we all had fun when I ran a section of an adventure that went through Sandpoint in a Shattered Star game I was in. The GM didn't know much about the town, but I and another player did, and given that his character was tied to the events in Rise of the Runelords, I decided to step up.
If you want, I'd be okay with taking some of the burden off your shoulders and helping to run things whenever the party is spilt up. Shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to talk things over there.
I’m in the same boat as Audria in that I’m used to not having that much discretion to just, as the saying goes, make up s!#! about people and places in the city, especially as I don’t know a ton about this AP and don’t want to step on the toes of the AP. Some guidance as to what the limits are—if any—would be sincerely appreciated.
I intentionally made Abella be a bit of a follower both because it made sense to me with the dynamic with her sister, I want to make sure I’m roleplaying her low charisma, and also because I think it helps to mitigate the more antisocial aspects of playing a particularly amoral character in a party that’s mostly good. She got the thing she wanted at the moment—getting the brooch checked out—so as I posted, she’s ready to follow someone else’s lead, likely Audria’s I was assuming as she has the most driven goal at the moment. We are all still new to the group and our characters and still feeling them out, so I would caution patience. Just because at a particular moment players are feeling uninspired and undirected doesn’t mean that we will always be that way.
That leads to my last point: this is far from my only game, and sometimes one game needs more creative energy than another. I spent the weekend coming with an entire Cirque du Soleil-style circus narrative that uses everyone’s abilities and ties into the overall Extinction Curse narrative. Another game we have been preparing for the inevitable book 6 dungeon with our last shopping trip. Another we had to plan a complicated castle infiltration without a full caster, and few others were stepping up. And that’s not even all my games or getting into real life! Things are smoothing out for me now, but that’s also just how it goes, and it will probably happen again.
I certainly seem to be adept at giving the wrong impression it seems.
This is in no way a condemnation of how you guys are playing. Just more that I’ve been trying to GM this in a way to allow full player choice to try and do whatever you can think to do. But that requires decisive action. That’s really what’s missing here, and I think that the problem occurring is that as players, you’re not talking to each other so the party can decide together. No one’s committing to anything very strongly, because not everyone is weighing in on the decision making process.
As far as guidelines, the easiest way to avoid conflict is not to try to include named NPCs and places from the AP itself. If you want to describe Abella as knowing a little cafe near City Hall which caters to Nidalese expatriates, go for it. Creating a location that just behaves exactly as that location would be expected, serving tea & coffee and light snacks, is exactly what I’d love to see without any expectation of me having a problem with it. The only things requiring permission is if you’re wanting your NPC(s) or places to be able to provide adventure details or situational advantages (cheap potions, etc.). Otherwise, people just being people and places being places is all fair game.
And you’re welcome to create situations that I have to take over. One of your NPCs rubs Shrike the wrong way and it gets heated enough for bar brawl or other silliness, I can load it up. Does that help?
Another point I should probably bring up is that I know that I can be overbearing at times, especially when I have something that I want to do in the game. The way I've gotten around that is to force myself to step back and let someone else take charge. Sometimes this leads to situations where it doesn't make sense for me to push because we're in the middle of something or because we are not at a place where it makes sense for me to do so.
I also think part of the current lull is players waiting on other players to give their assent to a course of action. Lina and Pip haven't really voiced what they plan to do.
As I said before, I'm familiar with the city and at least the original version of the AP (I haven't really sat down to read through the Anniversary Edition like I have with the other AP) If you don't mind, I'd be happy to act as a vice-GM or something like that to help with the burden on your shoulders and to get us through this part.
I’m not threatening to quit or that I need a break, but more that I may have to change the tenor of my GM method if the open world sandbox doesn’t resonate with this group. If you all need this game to progress from point to point and just table all the unnecessary extra fluff, I can do that.
I want to make sure I’m reading the room correctly though. Otherwise please feel free to provide any criticism you have on how I’ve been approaching things if it’s something I can change.
I mean, we can, but part of the fun is the unexpected threads that wind up getting woven into the story. I didn't think you'd shelve the game. I was offering to help mainly because I figured that would help make things a little easier on you if you didn't have to run everything if we wound up going a dozen directions at once.
All of that said, my offer stands and is open if you ever need help pushing through or a break. I don't think I can manage an AP, but a short adventure is something that I can handle.
So please, feel free to describe things in extended time. Right now I'm struggling a little merely because I'm having to create every step you take at the moment without really very much assistance from the written material.
I totally get the difficulty with this. I'm happy to try describing more things in extended time if we have permission for that. Generally speaking, right now all five of the PCs are essentially still strangers or acquaintances, bound together only by this strange experience with Zellara, Lamm and now the brooch. And only a couple of them are particularly chatty (Abella and Pippip, sometimes Audria.) I will always try to at least give a vote on a proposed group action within a day, but I am also happy for Rule of Two or Rule of Three to take us to places if other people are okay with that.
As a player, the sandbox is particularly difficult for us to invent much within right now because the city is in a state of turmoil and we need a lot of GM guidance about what that looks like in practice. However, if we have specific permissions or prompts from you, I think we would rise to the challenge the way we did for the Harrow dreams. Like, if we end up going to Garrett's parents' shop, it might be totally fair to ask him,
There isn't a lot of reason right now for us to just do our 'normal life' activities like going to a Nidalese coffee shop or going to work, but that doesn't mean we lack for things to do. The goals and threads we have to pull on as individuals and as a group could be done in any order, and they are mostly related in some way to the adventure but are not strictly 'adventuring.' Right now, off the top of my head, we have at least:
- Disposing of the shiver. (See the question in gameplay)
- Garrett checking on his family.
- Burying Zellara's remains with her son's in the Gray.
- Finding out more about what people are saying about the death of King Eodred II, as Zellara asked.
- Decoding the coded Varisian ledger. Possibly has to do with Garrett's backstory quest to clear his father's name.
- Selling off and dividing the money from remaining loot. I will take on the bookkeeping for this if no one else wants to do it, and am happy to describe how it goes in extended time in much more detail than "she spends an afternoon in Gold Market/Eodred's Walk selling X and buying Y." But after not being able to buy a 1 gp weapon 'off screen,' as it were, I don't know if this is something we as players are supposed to be able to do. If we have to roleplay out every merchant encounter, I can't do this bookkeeping yet, and would rather continue on with other narrative events.
- Related: Shrike needs to buy a specific type of weapon to start using with her Elven Weapon Command class feature from level 2.
- Figuring out what to do about the rescued Lambs. Hopefully some can be returned to their families; we might need to make long-term arrangements for the permanent care of the others. I can make up some Lamb identities and families to return them to without a problem, but for the rest, this is another area where we would really need at least some GM input, and it would best be done as a group. Korvosa has orphanages, but do we think they're safe or would be good for these children? Maybe Audria could handle Brother Theolan's input on what to do with the others?
- Finding the other Lambs who ran away into the city. Here's another good opportunity for players to make up where they go looking and who they go asking.
- Audria wants to find Eliana.
- If this goes on for multiple days more, Merula will need to at least find out if she is expected at her jobs to teach/rehearse/perform. I can handle describing most of this on my own if you give me a yes/no about whether it is likely that her clients/employers think she is 'missing' work, based on the state of the city.
- Eventually, returning the brooch.
And of course Abella has the very long-term goal of resurrecting her sister.
If I had a suggestion, it would be that we need group challenges to engage with — it doesn't have to be combat. Like, what about a house fire, or helping some random citizens being chased by Hellknights hide and escape a beating, or finding some Acadamae students who got trapped in their favorite drinking-house by the riots and just want to get home but are too scared to venture onto the streets alone? Or: some citizens are mad at a vendor who bought up all the [bread/firewood/fish/candles/lamp oil/toilet paper/medicine] and was trying to price-gouge them during this emergency; they have surrounded the shop and demand the vendor give their money back. The burglary-in-progress was interesting. Test our mettle as do-gooders!
As always, if I can do anything in specific to make the game run more smoothly or be more fun, including for you, please let me know here or in PM.
Open world is pretty hard in a pbp. Don't be afraid to push the needed events in to keep the ball rolling.
I really don't have much to add, other than to say it takes a conscious effort to include each other as players. When you don't care about each other's ideas or suggestions, then it becomes difficult to force positive interaction. When you expect everyone else to follow your lead, listen to your orders, or just fall in line, it makes for a very lonely experience when they don't.
I've been where you are, and it's tough to keep putting forth effort when it's not reciprocated. Spending significant time to write quality posts and all you get in response is one-sentence responses, it's tough. Real life is absolutely a factor, and everyone is different with regard to style and expectations, but it's all part of the PbP with people you're not accustomed to.
I think the encounters you've narrated have been spectacular. Some of us have no significant ties to the people of the city, and certainly not to each other yet, but hopefully that will improve over time.
I'm fine with rail-roading or open world, but for open world to work well, everyone has to be working towards the same goal, or at least moving in the same direction, at least in my personal experience, and we are not, at least not yet.
As a player, the sandbox is particularly difficult for us to invent much within right now because the city is in a state of turmoil and we need a lot of GM guidance about what that looks like in practice. However, if we have specific permissions or prompts from you, I think we would rise to the challenge the way we did for the Harrow dreams.
Hmm...I think I can get you some more specific details actually. The GM's section of the AP provides the city stat blocks (you may or may not be aware the module includes city stat blocks to help GMs about crime levels, organization presence, etc) during different states the city goes through. I will need to tailor the details, but I think I can give you a write up which will provide the guidelines for what's possible to generate and even provide you with a baseline roll for locating specific services, kind of like I did for Lina earlier.
Once a player has announced their intention and made their chance roll, I can then proceed to describe exactly how the service or goods are found (assuming success) or to what degree or quality is available (degrees of success). With your collective approval, we can also institute a degree of failure threshold which could trigger random encounters with the rioters and such.
Let me get the Korvosa (anarchy) statblock reviewed and translated for player consumption.
Hellknights represent Lawful at its most intolerant: Very totalitarian and treading very much on the toes of personal liberty if such would be a detriment to the greater scheme of society's lawfulness. If anyone is familiar with the comic hero Judge Dredd or movie hero Robocop, they are great examples of "Law first" mindsets.
I very much wanted to mention this to prevent any misconception they represented Evil specifically. I suspect there will be interactions with them in the future and realizing what their organization stands for will be paramount to navigating these encounters.
Thanks for the reminder, however, I think their actions would be enough to have Audria looking down on them. Enforcing the law is one thing, to be cruel while doing so, even if it's the cruelty of indifference, is another matter entirely.
The Hellknights may not be all evil, but that's like saying the police force isn't all evil. Honestly they don't even have to be evil to be colored the way they are. Their affiliations with devils, their fearsome looking armor, even their order names would give the average person some concern.
What they need is a publicity program designed to improve their image and reputation!
For Lina, it's much less about them being Evil than it is about them being Lawful, what with her being Chaotic and all. Lina's lived in the city long enough to see what a law-first approach does to the ordinary people.
For the record, I love Hellknights.
I echo the others in that I do understand what the Hellknights are written to be quite perfectly, and while I understand the game wants to me consider them a fundamentally neutral organization, I can’t help but see a group that aligns itself with state violence, colonialism, empire, and the law over people as anything but evil by my own ethics.
Abella is not an ethical person so has little care for all that, of course, so they are mostly a rigid annoyance to her, one she would rather not deal with if possible, but that she has no deep ideological objection to.
But just as police states in our wonderful world are frightening and (to me) undesirable, Hellknights will have a similar presence and impact on the average citizen. So by no means am I trying to water down how people or your characters should feel. I just wanted to make sure the vibe is less a response to assumed Evil like a witch or necromancer may face, and more like the assumed oppression members of a ghetto may feel when they see the police, deserved or not.
I think Abella has the notice about the brooch, the brooch, and the IOU from the guard for the Shiver bounty. I hope she really likes us cause that's an awful lot of gold right there.
(I'm mostly joking. Mostly.)
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Abella is used to not only sharing money, but having to be the responsible one with it, so not only will she not do something stupid and shortsighted, but she will be thoughtful and careful with how it is disposed of. If it weren’t for her, Cainabeth would have bought every trinket or piece of silk that caught her eye.
Good to know! Every adventuring party needs a good accountant and it looks like Abella volunteers. :D
Does the sheet have the total amount each of us have received so far? Or should I be pouring through the boards to see notes when money is distributed?
As far as I'm aware, we've not received any monetary rewards and we just got around to selling some of the stuff at Von Heller's and the Eye of the Peacock, so it should be about 1,000 GP total, I'm guessing.
The cash we've received as a group so far (counting the small amounts that were on Hookshanks and Giggles, but not this new promissory note) totals 1455 gp. It's all listed in the loot sheet as "gold coins" or "gold coins or other currency." Since technically, 1,376 gp in actual gold pieces would weigh 27 pounds.
Nothing is stopping us from splitting that out now if people want to and figuring it happened with each sale. I'd make an entry for each person's share of the total split and label it with their name so it shows up in their tab in the sheet, and mark the original coin entries as "Split." The only issue would be how much to give Pippip. I'm one vote for just granting him a full share; he wasn't part of the Fishery expedition where we got all this loot, but we were also 6 PCs then, and it's worth it to make him feel like a true part of the party now. Destiny, and all that. I think it would be a small (<200 gp) difference for each other PC when it all shakes out.
Assuming we can eventually get the standard 50% rate for the weapons and a few other things we probably want to sell (e.g. that oil of keen edge is priced at 750 gp by itself, so worth 375 to us), we have roughly another 2,000 gp cash coming in items not yet sold. Not counting the brooch, of course, or this bank note.
Keeping the brooch and the magic items seems the rest can be sold for 2375gp - 750gp for a CLW wand is 1625gp. Pip is a late comer, so I would think you guys can divide it up and leave him out for now. Pip or the paladin can use the wand unless we want to buy two for some redundancy and double healing in combat emergencies.
Oh, I see now that Pippip said this a while back. Do you still feel this way, Pip? It's just I think it might be a fair while until we get more loot to divide up.
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Sorry I have been MIA. I’ll try to get caught up and get some things posted soon.
I'm all for Pip having a full share if everyone else is okay.
As for CLW wands, I think Audria can use them now, but she'll definitely be able to use them when she gets spell casting.
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Pip should get a full share. I like for the people standing in front of me to be as equipped as possible. If they fall down too soon, then I have to run away and that is really inconsiderate.
I have no objections to a cure light wounds wand.
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Pip already traded an item for a CLW wand earlier. Now that the money is really rolling in he would love to be added. He would understand if he wasn't.
From the gameplay
The next morning he burst in excitedly: ”We can part with some loot to get a healing wand.”
Pip takes the masterwork dagger with amazing ornamentation and comes back with a healing wand. ”With the magic dagger that bauble wasn’t to be near as useful as this!!”
Pip proceeds to make 50 paper pictures of a bandage on small pieces of paper and runs a leather thong through all of them and knots it into a loop. He then puts one end of the loop around the wand and through the loop leaving it attached to the wand without effecting the integrity of the wand.
”Each time this is used rip off a tab. That way we don’t need magic to see how much juice is left.”
When no one responded I added it to my inventory. If someone else that also can use it wants to carry it, they can. Pip just doesn't have any healing spells he will memorize, so the wand is it for him.
Yes, I remember we did already do the direct trade of a dagger for a CLW wand. The wand has been listed in the loot sheet too, since it was a shared purchase, although Pippip is carrying it. It's a good in-character idea to track the charges with tabs.
Hope everyone had a good weekend. Should I split out the group's current cash officially in the loot sheet?
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I did! I'm on vacation this week so took a much needed rest.
As for the cash, go for it!
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I vote yes!
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Sorry, between work and finalizing my move (it's been a long process and should be over this week), my time's been super limited. This weekend really slipped away from me, and I went to bed early a lot.
I know momentum keeps a game going, and I've been bad about that recently. Don't give up on this game! I promise it's not a lack of interest on my part, and my life will calm down shortly. Not dealing with any kind of personal burnout or anything, just a combination of work being heavy plus a lot to do after working hours to get my former residence ready for final departure.
I promise it will get better!
No worries, GM! I am certainly still excited about the game and glad to hear all is basically well for you. Thank you again for running it, it is super appreciated. I hope finalizing the move and your final departure go as smoothly as they can for you.
Re: gold, all done. Each PC can add 242.5 gp to their character sheet, and it is also listed in people's separate tabs in the loot sheet. The former entries for party cash have now been marked Split and are not carried by anyone. :)
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Thanks Lania. I had a good weekend, even through I spent a lot of time just sleeping.
OK, after an unfortunate delay, I have conjured a moment to try to recapture your attention and interest. Hopefully everyone's still with us!