GM Aku's page

Hey Folks.

I apologize for the long absense.
Things happened, and life didn't get better as I expected it would. I'm not being able to keep the games, and instead of posting reasons after reason, I've decided to inactivate the game.

I apologize for any inconvenicence I might have caused, and wish you guys happy gaming.

It was a pleasure playing with you.

Sorry guys for the hectic posting rate.

I’m working with a project on India, and that has been consuming all my time and energy last couple of weeks. I’ll update the game later today (very late today), when I finally get home from work (I’ll try not get to home straight to bed, haha).

Also, Life is strange is a beautiful game.

yep, I agree.

The woman looks at Arrak but the meaning of his words didn’t register, as they don’t share any common language.

Sorry for the delay guys. Got hooked on a game (Life is Strange) and then, after playing it almost non-stop, feeling devastated by the ending for a couple of days. Never believed in post-game depressions but man, that game is cruel.

The guards look at Samanra, indecision about what she just said: should they allow the man up as well? Fortunately, for them, Ib steps back whispering something to Samanra, which they don’t understand. And so she goes, up and about, to face Orzo, while old and new friends, all prepare to wreak havoc, if needs arise.

”Playn’ dumb? Dinnae hear what he said?” the other guard says putting his hands on the curved sword hilt, when Ib doesn’t show any reaction.

”F**!. Off.”

I know this is a silly request, but I’ll ask you guys to not open a new gameplay post with only an OOC commentary. You can add OOC while posting your normal gameplay, but if you’ll just comment something out of character, please do so in discussion thread.

The dogs, being called so by Samanra, didn’t mind it in the slightest. Some even pretended to bark, laughing out loudly soon after their own practical joke, they also doesn’t seem to care that Khnum Ib, declared himself protector of the courtesan. Ugly, unfocused and hazy eyes just looked, smiled an ugly smile and lead them on towards the high floor, to meet Orzo.

Or so is what they would have thought, but when trying to climb the stairs to the private area of the Laughing Gull, the guards, guarding the stairs, stepped on Khnum’s path, blocking his advance. The guards are big blokes, carrying curved blades openly in their hip, dressed in dirt blood stained cloths and armor. They reek of booze and blood and piss.

”You ain’t the one invited.” one of the guards says in a bored voice. ”Piss off.”

I had some bad times some months ago, in which I was barely being able to post. After that, I’ve never really managed to get the game moving steadily again.
Anyway, I’m not really up for another recruitment and I doubt I’ll have the time necessary to run the game as it deserves. For that, I’m dropping out as well.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

So, no response? :D

1d20 ⇒ 10
Zoé tactics on the other hand doesn’t seems to be working as intended.
The apologize quickly followed by praising words had the contrary effect of what she wanted to accomplish. The knight seems dubious of her reasons, but the motive is entirely misplaced.
Sir Valin see’s her as some upstart court lady, trying to win favors thru his blood connections and name.

Bowing rigidly he is quickly to dismiss her ”I’m sorry my lady. But a stiff soldier like me isn’t fit to dance with such gracious lady.” there’s no warmth in his voice and his compliment seems more like a matter of duty than feeling.
The man quickly motions to one of the many servants and gives his instructions ”By my unfortunate mistake, this Lady’s dress is ruined. Please, take her to one of the guest rooms and see if the dress can be savaged. ” then turning to Zoé he continues ”If it’s ruined, I’ll gladly replace it.” he says bowing.

Cute zombies drinking tea, charming skeletons dancing. Boggard zombies having fun, a big Minotaur sharing his love with everyone. Happiness fills the horn as the most macabre party in the history happens, at least in Lil’s mind.
Argan keeps his distance allowing the gnome to her illusions, but ready to put an end to it, if there is need.

--

Diplomacy(Add connections): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 1 = 20
Surprisingly, the outspoken Merchant Hans is able to secure several contacts amongst the nobles present in the party, while avoiding the female elf. His offers of furs and exotic goods, coupled with the prestige of being the Baron’s friend makes his organization stronger.
Add a +2 to connections, already added to the evil lair file.

Sorry about the delay.

i'll update later today.

So, there are several suggestions for action, but no action was decided. What will you guys do? Talk to someone? Just keep looking?

@Elf with Ebony skin: Well, rare is an understatement. It's your first time actually hearing about one. You had no idea such existed.

Now that your attention was attracted to the elf, you start paying attention to the musicians as well and there another surprise. They all seems to be elf, but somewhat different.

The Baron, who seems to have been talking with Elise just some moments ago, approaches the ninth knot, and welcomes you to his party.
”Welcome.” he says warmly. ”I’m glad you could attend. How is business, Mr Hans.” he says with a hint of smile.
Then he turns to Zoé, taking his hand and kissing it lightly. ”Oh, what an exquisite surprise!” He says after looking at her hair, dress, and body. The compliment however sounds empty.

The music continues and more drinks are served, many more nobles are announced in the party.

”Sir Valin Darian, Kinight of Alerion, commander of the Hamorhall, heir to the Victor and company.” the clear voices announces as a heavily built man walks inside the ballroom. He seems to be in his mid-forties, but it’s clear the man isn’t a puffy noble, but a warrior. The way he walks and how he observes the places is enough to notice his martial background.

@Vlad
Detect Good: As you expected, you find almost no auras of goodness amongst the nobles. A few faint auras here, some lingering auras there.
That’s until you decide to check the ebony elf.
Taken by surprise, you blink, taking your hands to your eyes as if to shield them from the overwhelming aura of good that she emits.

@Kharn: Sorry I messed up with the description. Her skin is not dark as black or darkish gray as a drow. But like Ebony dark skin tone.

Nobility: You see several known houses of Talingard, and other smaller houses. As it seems, the baron has a lot of connections in a lot of places. Maybe you could use this opportunity and your merchant disguise to form some alliances and gather contacts.

Bergill looks at the woman singing with an almost celestial voice alongside the other musicians. He seems to be thinking before answering ”I’ve heard history about her… when I was a kid.” he says seemly lost in thoughts. ”All of hers visits where followed by speculation and awe, such good voice she has. I know not, how the Baron convinced her to sing at his birthday. And I suspect at least wasn’t cheap.”

@Zoé

Leadership is fine. It works differently in the game, since you get and organization instead of followers and a lot of others little rules.
Give me ideas to work on a Cohort, if you are going to pick up the feat.

Also, you need to decide if you are forming a council with Kharn or separate organizations.
I'll post some other details about it later.

The party seems lively as ever.
You weren’t the first to arrive, but not many had arrived before you. Lords and wannabe lords. Everyone that fancy being important around seems to have been invited.

Lord of this, Duke of that, Baron of something else; petty tittles for petty nobles, and so the night goes on.

==//==

” Bergill Mott, wizard by trade, headmaster and educator.” the voices introduces a man in his forties, in his hand a walking stick and he seems to favor one leg, as he walks inside the ball.
Bergil is Kharn cohort, if you guys remember.

==//==

Drinks and food is served in abundance, the music is pleasant and enjoyable. Ahead of the musicians an exquisitely beautiful black skinned elf with long flowing blonde hair.

Deciding it’s time to crash the party, the knot moves from the Inn and heads to the Baron manor. The trip is uneventful, but you attract a lot of stares along the way. The whole city knows about the ball, the whole city wishes they could attend.

Arriving at the place, there’s a certain surprise. The manor, already richly decorated is even more opulent this night. Dozens of servants hurry in their work, serving and tending to the visitors, and you are not even inside the place.

Since the knot provided no introductory card, the manservant guide them to the ball announcing the party as he read from some list he is carrying. As you are about to enter, the clear and loud open way to you "Hans Valens, Merchant and Fur Trader of Repute and company."
It’s clear he is announcing Kharn as the merchant Hans Valens.

Zoe. I don’t think that this group had any extensive contact with Elise. Their interactions were short, from what I gather. In my other game however… Link, if you have time, read the next dialogues and you’ll understand how it is.

It takes only one glance to notice that Elise is doing her best to suppress a laugh. The reason why is not clear however.
She offers a simple compliment though ”I see you put a lot of effort in your attire.”

That’s when Dostan finally moves and extend his hands, to help Elise and guide her outside, where the carriage is waiting to take them to the Baron’s manor.
”See you later.” she says smiling.

Giving clear instructions to their own, the knot gathers their belongings and prepares to travel to Farhold once more. Arriving there, they move in the Inn to change and get into their noble attires, while thinking about that their introductory note should be. At the inn, they meet the Seventh once more. That assuming you purchased some as well, since the invitation requested noble attire. If you already don’t have, you should remove 75g from your money to pay for the noble clothings.

Trick, Track looks exactly the same. Without their gear, it’s almost impossible to tell one from another. Dostan looks uncomfortable in his noble clothes, by the look on his face, he would rather use a Conan style loincloth.

Elise Zadaria is wearing a lovely ankle-length dress of white silk, thickly embroidered along the hem with blue silk and white lace in patterns of ice and snow. The top is form fitting white and blue silk. There is also a long shawl made of intricate, sheer white lace intertwined with blue thread and edged with blue and white silk. Reference: It's not quite right but it comes close enough.

”It’s nice to see you all again.” She says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Hey, hello.

Welcome back! :D
So, just to makes things clear:

Zoé, Kharn and Vlad are attending the baron party?

@Vlad

The Daemons have been somewhat helpful. They don't take orders, but they haven't opposed you guys and they will guard the entrance to the sanctum and the sanctum itself.

Man theres on ething ive learned from being the villian, or attempting it.. It much harder than being the good guy..

There so much going on with the Horn and trying to make it defensible and recruiting henchmen.. Im still not sure how all that works btw..

I guess I had imagined this campaign to be more of the "hunt down and kill the good guys" than all the complexity that it really is.. Seems like it would be much easier to run it as an actual table top game than pbp..

Not that ur not doing a great job GM, its just all a bit overwhelming for the time i have to commit to games anymore..

Does it get better at some point or is it just a bunch of wholing up and waiting for the entire campaign?

In my experience, it feels hard and complicated because you are still looking at this part as a player, waiting the DM tell you what you can, and cannot do.

But if you are not willing to make decisions by yourself, and take the game in your hands, and start thinking as a villain, in a dungeon, trying to keep off the good guys, then yes, this module will be boring.

The others get more common, more of the ‘hunting the good guy thing’, but they are nowhere fun as this one, if you are just willing to invest some time to create a dungeon.

-

Also, my spoken English is somewhat hard to understand because of accent, but if you want, we could chat in skype and I'll try to explain what you are missing in this part, and how to make it better.

One of the Daemons can always be found in the third floor, guarding the sanctum entrance.

Striding confidently thru the almost 300ft of spiral stair, Vladamir finally reaches the sanctum entrance, and there find the two daemons.

He wishes to talk.
Talk he wants.

Can we eat him?
Can we eat him indeed?

His flesh is rotting, his soul is rotting.
Bad meal, bad currency.

The daemons look at each other for some seconds then you hear the voices again.

No, sir. Sorry but we cannot.
Time once given cannot ever be taken back. Sir.

Was time all you required sir?
Was it indeed?

You can use your own time to talk. Sir.
You cannot use our time to talk, sir.

@Lil

With Argan gone, at least for now, and things going slowly as they are, please chime in the gameplay as well.

Don't worry about knowing what will happen. I'll do my best to surprise you. :)

Well, don't forget you need to keep them with enough food to avoid it from roaming about.

Deciding that the vines would work best as security complement with the Oozes, the party move the pretty flowers to the second floor, and place them in the same rooms as the Oozes.

Some more days passes with nothing new, exept you receive a new message from Elise. ”The baron asked it to be delivered. -Z”
With her note, an invitation

Intentions?

The following days passes with no more messagers or attacks at the horn.

Only one interesting thing tho:

A cluster of brilliant vermillion blossoms adorns the entrance to the Maw (C1). The boggards, jaded to the brilliant flora of the Caer, Bryr ignore them but to anyone else they seem obviously eldritch. Even more mysteriously, these delicate flowers seem to flourish despite the deepening darkness of the skies as the ritual progresses.

Intentions? Also, decide your organization actions for Week 6.

Well, time's up.

Let's move the game and see what's happens.

1) Does the iron plates reading “Aticus” and “Andian", have anything to do with the deamons Hextor and Vextor?
Yes.

2) If so are they involved with controlling them?
Yes.

3) Is the boggard priest trustworthy?
Yes.

Looking at the loot list it appears we still have plenty of gold. Is it possible GM to just do everything that's on the fix it list?

Sure.

Kharn makes on more round search, meticulously tapping every corner and every room of the place, trying to find anything they might have left behind, from their first exploration.
He finds nothing new.

Meanwhile, One can hear evil gnome laughs coming from Lil’s Lab, as she works in the golem, and some other can smell the putrid smell coming from Vladamir armor, if one get’s close enough.

Zoé sits down in her room, two iron plates both carved in abyssal that read “Aticus” and “Andian” resting at her feet, while she tries to understand how to use it to bind the daemons. Clearly the plates are connected to the ones the Daemons use around their neck. One just needs to know how to use it.
Intentions?

@Kharn

1) - Yes, the rituals are known.
2) - That will consume your boggard action, setting them to guard the place as an EL 5
3) - Nops
4) - Sure
5) - They aren't hired, they are part of your and Zoe's organization. They are not a fighting force, but just an alarm system. If you wante to set them as combat, you'll need to use organization action to set as EL 5. Other than that, it's fine to have more ppl spread around with warhorns. Just purchased more of them.
6) - That will cost 200gp
7) - You forget that grumblejack can't guard a place 24/7, that's why I removed him from third floor entrance.
8) - I'll check if there's anything you guys missed and tell you about it, but I'm pretty sure I've already posted something in response to an action similar in the past.
9) - I've already posted what's needed to repair the golem, check a couple of pages back in the discussion thread.
10) - I have no idea, and I don't know if this question was directed at me at all. :D

@Zoe
No and No.
But you can do it now if you want.

Sorry it took more time than I wanted.
Here are the modifications:

• Repair Lock on room 1-23 (superior Lock DC 40; 150 gp)
  
• Repair Lock on room 1-26 (superior Lock DC 40; 150 gp)
  
• 12 war horn, serving as alarm. ( 4g each, 48g total)
  
• 12 minions to guard the entrances 24/7, on 12hours shift.
  
• Grumblejack won’t guard level 3.
  

Total gold expend: 348g.
Each of you should remove 70g for your character sheet.

---

I’ll move the game forward later today.
Any later complaints about: “This security sucks”, will be pointedly ignored.

Okay guys.

In order to move things, since no one wants to make a decision, I'll put some traps, create some communication system and spend some gold.

I’ll post the complete list of things later today.

Here is a list of question you guys might want to answer in order to be better prepared for future invasions:

• Last invasions proved that, being each in a different floor cut all your fighting power, because it allows the enemies to hunt you down one at time. What will do to prevent that?
  
• The horn has six entrances: Caves, 1st Floor, 2nd Floor, 3rd Floor, Sanctum, Room(2-12). How are you planning on defending those entrances?
  
• Is there any communication system in place? How do you learn, for example if the caves are being invaded?
  
• Are you setting the boggard to guard? What’s the organizations doing to help in terms of security?
  
• Where, if any, the undeads are being placed?
  
• Was the golem repaired?
  

So, no modifications or security updates?

If everything is fine for you guys, I'll continue counting the weeks.

Here you have the description of all the rooms and other interesting tidbits.
Also, there's a tab: To do List which contains most of what can be done in the place.

Here is a post about undeads.
Here is some attempt to get things moving.
Here is information about traps.
Here is some more discussion about repairs.
Here is some information about a possible protector. (I’m not sure if Lil ever finished repairing the golem)

@Argan, Kharn

Did you guys form a council of villains or different organizations or each?

@All

Anything else to add before I move the game?
You guys have huge secured holes, most of them I warned you about when you found the goldies and silvers. At the time, you decided it was best to equip yourself (except of Kharn) and leave the horn almost unguarded.

Things don't look good, and I'll not hold punches next time.

If you guys want to do something about it, that's your chance.

Dotting for sentimental element

Haha

that gave scared me.

Any news from Lil?

Argan moves and crave his saber in the creature's eyes.
The magic protection it had wasn’t enough to prevent the damage. The celestial being stared at death, until death claimed it.

The other dog is dealt with with Lil’s Zoé and Kharn’s help.
It took some more attacks and bites, but it finally lays dead.
Out of Combat, Intentions?

Since the dog cannot run, it attacks.
Atk: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25
Dmg: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Trip: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

It bite Kharn legs, but is unable to trip the big man.

The other dog, keep staring dumbly at Argan, unaware his life end may be at hand.

You guys again.

@Argan
The assassin continues moving towards his prey, confident he’ll finish it off.

@Kharn
Kharn attacks and attacks and attacks.
Only one of the attacks is a hit, and it barely hurts the monster.
Only the first attack hits, 2 damage.

@Lil
Lil looks annoyed at the other corpse, thinking how much work she would need to fix that.
She is so annoyed, that she even cast a spell without looking at the target, missing it completely.

@Vlad
Dead.
More to ones that another’s.

@Zoé
The challenges the moondog’s spells and where Lil failed, she succeeds.
The fiery cloud ends, as the woman finish to cast her dispel spell.

@Zoé

Sure, go ahead and change feats.

@Vampire, Hit Points, Negative hit points.

So, I was giving it some thoughts about this:
Based on the feats, at the present moment, Vlad is immortal.

A full-fledged vampire has a lot of strong points, but it can be killed. If one knows he is facing a vampire and it isn’t that difficult to know that.

For now, Vlad is an undead with vampire powers, and as undead I want to considerer the following:

• Unlike common undeads, you don’t get destroyed when reaching 0 hit points.
  
• Once you fall into negatives, you don’t suffer damage over the rounds, since you don’t need a CON check to stabilize.
  
• If you reach your CHA in negative hit points, your body is destroyed, preventing you to be restored to un-life.
  
• If your body is destroyed, your ‘soul’ lingers for a number of days equal to your level.
  
• During that same amount of time, if your body is reconstructed, the soul will rejoin and once healed or feed, you can get back into un-life.
  
• Once you turn into a full vampire, you follow the normal dying rule for vampires.
  

So, what are your thoughts on it?

Just a quick question for clarification did Kharn not hurt the dog because he missed or because he hit and his damage didn't seem to effect the dog?

The Dog's AC currently is 28.

@Enemies

One of the enemies is still enthralled by Argan and does nothing this time around, but the incendiary cloud still moves away from its caster, hitting Zoé, buring all the way.

Fire Dmg | Reflex Dc 23: 6d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 1, 6, 2, 3) = 20
Zoé, you need a reflex to take only half of damage. Check the information above about the Divine Protection feat.

The second moondog, after suffering a terrible wound, steps back (5ft), the dog starts to fade, as if it were about to disappear, but then it howls in fury as nothing happens.
Tried to use: Plane Shift, but the ability is blocked by the Silver Seal.
But that doesn't prevent the lingering acid to affect Vladamir and Kharn once more.
Acid: 6d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 4, 4, 6, 4) = 25
Caustic Eruption spell effect lingers for two hounds on a failed reflex save.

HP:
Argan 40/71
Kharn 22/136
Lil 41/53
Vlad -19/102
Zoe ??/52

It’s your turn again. Vlad is currently dead.

@Argan
The assassin moves closer to his enthralled enemy, preparing to finish it off.

@Kharn

The barbarian rage isn't enough. He attacks, but none is able to hurt the dog.

@Lil

The gnome mage wades thru the mist of fire and once free of it, cast a spell to bolster her alive and dead friends.

@Vladamir

Without even trying to get up, the almost true vampire attack, bolstered by Lil’s magic.
I’ve added one more attack, since Lil’s act before Vlad in the initiative order. Also, I’ve when considering the damage, added on more point, since I think Vlad forgot to include his weapon damage in his calculations.
Atk: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
Critical Confirm: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
Dmg: 1d8 + 26 + 1d8 + 26 ⇒ (5) + 26 + (6) + 26 = 63

The sword lashes out and the dog cry in pain, hurt, but not dead.

@Zoé

The cleric moves until she is very near the incendiary cloud. She stops there considering what to do next.
Divine Protection feat got Errata'ed. Check the new description here: link, with that, the actual will save is21, which isn't enough to disbelif the illusion.