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I will not be switching to 2E, but I will not feel slighted if you continue without me.
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"Good fortune, Valerie. Let us talk again before we depart." Emerald moves around the room a bit. She takes a look at Harrim's holy symbol.
Emerald has no interest in talking to Amiri (the savage), Harrim (the lunatic), Jaethal (the obvious psychopath), or Tartuccio (rude and insulting). What a pathetic group... She might look to talk to Maegar Varn, but Ludvine is talking to him at the moment. She might look to talk to Linzi, but Actaeon is talking to her at the moment. Well, making a point to avoid interrupting too much, she will move over to Linzi and Actaeon, sipping her ale. At an appropriate pause in the conversation, she will offer a quick "Emerald Garess, pleased to meet you," before letting the conversation continue.
Emerald takes a look at the obvious psychopath in the room.
Emerald will continue trying to befriend Valarie, seeing the similarities between them. Her own noble-bred diction is flawless. "Indeed, Lady Valerie. While I may take a husband in time, I seek first to make a name for myself through my own accomplishments, bringing order to the Stolen Lands and setting an example of righteousness.
Emerald sees that this Valerie (Valarie? name is different on the slide) seems more composed and civilized compared to the barbarian that Emerald had been sitting next to. She approaches the other warrior woman and begins to swap stories of trying to move up through the ranks.
Well, then. We are to be conquerors of a lawless land. By force, persuasion, or both. She is ready for the challenge. Emerald tries to observe the relationship between the two speakers. The Lord Mayor would seem to have more official power, but does he defer to Lady Jamandi? Are they partners and equals? Rivals to a degree?
"I am Maegar Varn, I assume like me you are a second or third or more child or cousin with no claim to anything of importance beyond your name. That is fine by me a name is nice for some but just by being here I can tell you have what it takes to earn your worth with or without that name." "A cousin, as it happens. My father is somewhat distant in the line to lead the House. Though close enough that should a Vanishing happen to House Garess as it did to House Rogarvia, I would be among the missing." "House Garess has given me more than a name, I must say," she adds, with gratitude evident in her voice. "I had the opportunity to train as both a cavalier and a priestess of Torag, and the status to serve in Brevoy's cavalry as an officer. My horse, my training, my gear?" She thinks about the Kellid next to her. My manners... "I am fortunate for what my family has been able to provide me, and I hope to bring honor to them." Emerald finds it hard to avoid commenting on the savage's rudeness. Torag teaches patience, she thinks, and she waits a few moments to calm down before replying. "I believe, Amiri, that they are providers of an opportunity. Perhaps this is a test of our patience, but we are under no obligation to stay." She leaves it at that and wonders if the savage will get bored and wander off. Maybe she'll leave before I have to witness her table manners up close.
Emerald finds herself seated next to a farmer boy. A Rostlander, by his accent. He's with a girl that looks to be his sister. Then down at the end of the table are another farmboy and a strange-looking man. She gives a nod to the farmboy next to her. "Well met, Actaeon. I am Emerald Garess of House Garess." Across the table from her is Maegar Varn. He seems well-dressed and perhaps is of the nobility, or at least aspires to be. There is some sort of savage next to her , and a creepy elf next to Maegar Varn. She gives a slight smile. It looks like whoever placed us here wanted me to have no competition for Maegar's attention. Her smile fades for a moment. Unless he's one of those Taldans with a fetish for savages. Well, no matter, it is a rare battle that is won without taking the field. Emerald introduces herself to the man across the table, using her most refined diction. "Greetings, sir. My name is Emerald Garess. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
Emerald is thoughtful when the business is done. "He chose to die rather than express remorse. Even after we clearly said that he could live if he repented. I wonder if all of the bandits are such zealots. It isn't what I expected." She does not seem overly troubled. "So it may be." ...Actaeon approaches the group, ”He,” nudging a chin towards the executed bandit, "mentioned that four more are still out there hunting. They could return at any moment. We should prepare to ambush them or prepare to follow them. Ambushing them and taking them out makes the most sense to me to dwindle their numbers. We should be able to track their movements enough back to this Stag Lord and his fort. Should we gather our horses and come up with a plan?” "That is not a bad idea. If they spot us, they might head to the Stag Lord's fort, in which case we could track them. But I don't think we have the strength to assault a fort with 20 warriors at this time. We might want to spend some time exploring this area and finding more allies."
Bargaining and excuses. No repentance. If the bandit has no last words, and no response to Hadin's questions, then Emerald will execute him swiftly and mercifully.
Emerald turns to the others. "I hear no remorse. Just continued defiance. So I say we execute him on the spot for unrepentant banditry. He has confessed his guilt."
"Yes. Let us see if he is being truthful."
"As long as you keep her and that monster away," The man says while gesturing toward Emerald and Ferric. "I will stay in a talking mood. But, if you are gonna start discussing my execution what do I gain from telling you anything? I might as well finish myself off then huh!?" "Maybe you should. You might be too stupid to be a useful member of society if you can't grasp the situation. You know that the penalty for unrepentant banditry is death. That's nothing new. So it is our responsibility to determine if you are repentant or not. Don't take it personally.If you cared to notice, I asked what our obligations to you as our prisoner. Do we have to feed you three meals a day? Keep you safe from predators and vermin? Change your socks if they get wet? How long would you remain bound? I ask this of my comrades because I am not used to taking prisoners. So count yourself lucky. The best thing you can do, as Hadin says, is to convince us you are repentant and will turn away from that life." Emerald is saying this partly for the benefit of her new allies.
Emerald's thoughts from before on bandita:
Emerald looks on as Sirinus proposes tying up the bandit and Actaeon executes the plan. He's so thoroughly beaten and outclassed. Are they scared of him? Or is this just their standard procedure? "I'm fine, Actaeon." She thinks for a moment.
Emerald will heal her horse's wounds.
She pats Ferric "Yeah. He did better than I did, that's for sure." "Anyone hurt?"
Ferric will retaliate against the bandit leader.
I am not sure if I should assume that Ferric stops attacking an opponent who is downed or not... she did hit him pretty hard. Him stomping on her after she goes down is not out of the question. I will let the GM decide.
Emerald directs her horse to move up to the fleeing bandit leader. She readies to strike with her lance if the bandit moves into any of the lance's threatened squares. Then, she will also get an AOO if the bandit leaves such a threatened square. Withdraw only keeps you safe from leaving the first threatened square (which is the one the bandit leader is in now, threatened by the warhorse). Readied Attack:
Whiff... AOO: Whiff again... for crying out loud... but we have Hero Points!
"She's getting away, Hadin! Take the shot!"
Emerald stabs at the bandit leader as she tries to rise. It isn't a very accurate strike, however. Ferric will full attack Kressle.
Emerald will then direct him to 5' step back so she can strike again.
Emerald rides up to the leader and spears her before the other bandit can wake her.
Bad roll, but may hit even so - helpless characters are treated as having a Dex of 0 (-5 AC penalty).
Sure, whatever you think best.
Either way is fine with me as well.
I have never liked fumble rules, so I would say no, but if you really want to use them then I'd like there to be a feat to avoid them (if a feat can give you a +100% chance of critting, a feat should be able to give you a -100% chance of fumbling).
@GM, are you actually using Fumble rules in this game? If there is a feat I can take to remove the chance of Fumbles, I will.
Emerald will remain where she is, protecting Sirinus. Readied Attack:
Emerald maintains her position, guarding Sirinus and preparing to run through anyone who gets too close. Readied Attack: Well, that's no good, but may still get an AOO.
Okay, partial cover is entirely GM discretion, but since you asked: "To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC)." "If a creature has cover, but more than half the creature is visible, its cover bonus is reduced to a +2 to AC and a +1 bonus on Reflex saving throws. This partial cover is subject to the GM’s discretion." I put an image in the slides just after the battle map. The archer is 20' up and 55' away; any line from the most optimal corner of its square (the front top corner) still crosses the fallen tree when trying to get to at least some of the corners of Sirinus's square. Yes, 3-D is tricky, but you can just treat this side-view as if it were a top-down view and everyone was on the ground; cover should work the same way. I would say that probably less than half of Sirinus is visible; he's of a similar height to the log (somewhat taller, I assume, but not 50% taller) and the archer's angle is less than 45 degrees. But again, judgement call by the GM. If he is still hit, I would expect that he could drop prone as a free action to gain total cover against any further arrows. I don't wish to quibble about rules, and I am fine with your rulings, but I do enjoy the aspect of the game where characters try to be clever and use the environment to their advantage.
Emerald moves up next to Sirinus and readies to stab anyone who gets too close to the pale wizard. Hopefully she will also give him cover against arrows. Readied Lance Attack:
"I will go wherever is needed. Guard Sirinus or Ludivine? Pick off isolated bandits?"
"Sirinus, you're not going to be able to catch the archer in the tree stand if you also target some of the ones on the ground. But given the choice, I would hit him with your spell instead of the ones on the ground. He could have cover from his perch, so it might take a lot of arrows to take him down. I'd rather be engaging in melee if I could. My guess is that there are others in tree stands as Actaeon suggests, so going around may not offer a lot of help. At least we know where the sentry is on this side."
Emerald looks around. Does she see any other signs of habitation? Shacks, huts, fences, boats or docks? Any people? They must be here somewhere, enough for Oleg to have a trading post and for the bandits to have prey.
"Strange," mutters Emerald. "They came at dawn, but their camp is several hours away? So either they rode through the night, or they camped near Oleg's. Maybe at the home of someone else they were shaking down."
Emerald will help dig graves and say a few words of prayer. "May Pharasma judge you fairly."
"Your plan sounds good, Actaeon."
"I think Hadin and Ludivine have the right of it.
"What is our plan? The bandits may send some more to investigate when the first four do not return.
@Sirinus, you just cast two 1st-level spells at dawn. Do you want us to wait 8 hours for you to rest and get new spell slots?
"I can use a bow as well. Actaeon should have the composite bow, as he will be using it more often, but I will take a basic one and a quiver of arrows.
While Emerald considers refusing the reward, she thinks that Oleg might take it as an insult, so she responds graciously, "Thank you, Oleg. I will try to recover the rest of your wares and be worthy of this reward. And I thank you for your hospitality. I will be glad to stay in your guest house. But now I must attend to morning prayers." Emerald will prepare the following for the day:
She will offer to cast Mending on any small items in need of repair (although she has a 1-lb limit at her level).
Emerald very much agrees with Actaeon and is willing to execute them as swiftly and mercifully as possible. Torag is not the god of second chances for the guilty. She might be swayed if they seemed genuinely remorseful, but they don't.
Emerald nods to Actaeon as he speaks. To the bandits' outburst, she replies, "You committed banditry and are unrepentant.
As a follower of Torag, she says this last sentence with particular scorn. Emerald will approach with her warhammer drawn - although the bandits are hooded and can't see that. "Cease your struggles. If you keep trying to escape, I will have to break your legs. If you instead accept your fate, your deaths will be quick - a long drop and a short stop - and you can go to your gods with some measure of honor. Show some dignity in your final moments."
It's not uncomfortable in this case, just not interesting or appealing. I have no suggestions as to what to ask. Carry on. I will be here when it is done. Brannart and Rayland was a very different scene. That didn't feel to me like "We beat you up so now you have to do what we say" (as is the usual thing for questioning mooks) but rather "What happened to you?" - where giving the answers was for Rayland's benefit and not ours. I can't really explain it, I just find questioning random minions to be unappealing. I understand that others find it productive and so I'm not trying to stop anyone. I just wanted to chime in that I am still here.
I just dislike prisoner interrogation scenes, so am sitting this one out. Will be here when it is done.
Emerald is content to let others handle the interrogation. Eight more, then. That is a manageable number, if they don't know we are coming.
"Yes, Hadin. That is precisely what the Charter demands of us.
Emerald shrugs.
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