Call of the Copper Gate... I vaguely recall this scenario, I played it to IRL even before the lockdown on covid. I think I liked it... Let's try it then.
Cortina Hagen wrote:
My bad - somehow I forgot to add the current mission to the scenario list in Cortina's profile... *facepalm*
You are right, we (with theexception of Jack and Nal) are at 5 XP. However, Nal Pavleth is 1 XP behind the rest of us as he did join us after our first mission (where the other player dropped out). This would mean that he would not be able to apply the chronicle of copper gate to his character with 5 XP until later when he gets his 6th XP...
Related question: Should we (at some point) go slow on two scenarios so Nal can catch up with us? Choosing a scenario for the group gets more complicated if one character is lower level thanthe others because of only 1 XP difference...
Thank you for your concern! I don't think there's much point in slow progression. Instead, we can agree that the scenario after the Call of the Copper Gate will be 1-5 again, not 3-7. I'll play it as level 2 with 5 xp, level up, and immediately after it, my GM's chronicle will work too.
I think we can start in a week. This weekend I'm running a PFS2e special, without much enthusiasm to be honest, but I'm fulfilling my duties as a local PFS/SFS venture agent. After that, I will return my thoughts to our game and I will be ready to lead you to the Azrinae mansion, if your plans have not changed.
My mom passed away yesterday. It was quite unexpected (initially, despite the many operations, it was more about the quality of life, rather than the struggle for life), but it happened. Anyway, we didn't sit idly by for these two and a half months, I managed to transfer her to a good hospital and arrange care, I was with her almost every day and most importantly, she left easily. I need some more time to adapt and finish all the funeral business. I'm not setting an exact date, but I'll be back here soon.
Hi guys! The start of the game is postponed. Let's try Wednesday, August 14th now. I haven't forgotten about you, but I'm not ready to start GMing yet, the situation is still tense and stressful for me. We are building a new lifestyle step by step, but it is not easy. We are making progress, but... You got it.
Hugging everyone, let's get back to the topic in 9 days.
Friends, about five weeks ago my mother was admitted to the hospital, during this time there have already been three serious operations and I am now very focused on the new reality in which my family finds itself. For example, the search for a permanent nurse, changes in mom's daily life when she is discharged from the hospital due to significant mobility restrictions, and so on. I should have paused the game some time ago, but every time I hoped that the hardest period was over and "tomorrow" I would start GMing the game normally. Alas...
The game will be paused until August 5. I hope that by this time the situation will be normalized in one way or another.
Hello everyone, friends! I have sorted out my affairs, the life situation has more or less settled down and on Tuesday I will return to active participation in all the games. I hope you've been doing well without me.
Hey guys! This week is going to be pretty hard for me.... The posts will not be too regular. But everything will be fine by next Monday .)
Cuthalian, that's a great question. There is a handout in roll20 that contains all this information. But in a year it was forgotten (and that's if I didn't mess up anything with access)... I think I'll move the information somewhere more convenient one of these days.
Fine. You have quite a few places on the map where you can go. Rather, there are a lot of places that are not open yet and a couple of open ones (see the big map; let me remind you that the yellow pin is where you are now). So, where are you going? And by the way, on foot or take the lizards?
Your working day passed without incident, as you understand. Many of you have noticed that your status in the House Vonnarc is gradually increasing, although it has not been long since you have been here. Not so much that you will have any new rights, but enough to be recognized. Drow are very sensitive to new factors that change the balance of power. It's always a chance, right? The main thing is to see it in time to have time to jump on the fleeing lizard.... You are definitely not ordinary drones, and some are already looking at you closely. Someone is envious, someone is thinking about how to use you, and someone is probably wondering if it's time to start fawning? In any case, the question is hanging in the air - will you become the new stars of the house... or will you die earlier? Everything is possible. Chaos is a ladder.
Terzarin understands that Сirok has some kind of mental disorder. Restoration can simplify the task of relieving the disorder, but besides that, he needs rest and communication with someone who will be able to sort out the darkness that all this violence puts in his soul and mind. Imbued with sinister energy, Darkland enhances the effect of impressions of violence (such as the killing of children or the cold-blooded murder of sleepers). You are all walking a couple of steps away from mind-blurring.
Effectively, magic like restoration reduces the DC of the new will save. But it's not so easy to get a new roll. We need someone with high charisma who will try to break through the mask of a "cold Cirok" and find there someone who suffers from what is happening and does not rejoice at cruelty at all. A psychotherapist, yes.
Well... I'll summon you when I need something like that. She makes a gesture to you, letting Cirok know that he is free. When the door opens, to the silent question of the guards, she replies, He has already been punished. And indeed, the guards let you go to your room and do not lead you to a spanking.
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Cuthalian, after returning from the patrol, you notice that someone was rummaging through your things. Someone was here and tried to leave unnoticed... But you do realize that a couple of things are out of place.
You are a very strange drow, Cirok. I've never seen anyone behave like you. To dodge, to lie, to blame others... But not to admit his guilt outright. A very unusual path to power and authority. It may end in a dead end, keep in mind.
She looks at you expectantly for a while, then adds, tapping her finger on the glass.
Rumors about the lightning-fast killing of a four-armed giant in underground battles have even reached here... Your squad definitely has talents. I'll think about how you can be useful to me... But I also want to take a closer look. Do your job, and do it well.
@EVERYONE except Cirok
Please make two checks. First d100 (more is better), then Perception. Please make rolls for Soryan too.
@Terzanin, you can talk to Cirok and if he "complains" about something, do a Sense Motive check. I mean, before checking, I want some kind of roleplay on this topic. Otherwise, there is no reason to check. Outwardly, he looks healthy.
@Cirok, surely enough powerful priestly magic is able to remove mental disorders to the same extent as it heals physical injuries. Perhaps psychic magic can also help.
Terzarin proved himself to be a good guardian, but it seems Soryan could not get close to the riding lizards in any way so as not to run into growling and dangerous behavior.
Oh, how I understand you! I am a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu IRL, and my friends have always wondered why it took me about five to six years of very active play in PF1e to create first character based on the grapple combat maneuver. It was very difficult for me to explain that I come to the gaming table in order to do something else - even if I really love grappling .))
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By the way, I have finished all the calculations and now I will enter all the figures in a timely manner. I don't want to do this a second time .))
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Oh, and Cirok is also leveled up. In case if my phrase about a night's rest and its absence led you to think that you don't have it yet.
Taking Handle Animal amused me (UPD later I saw that you had it before). Yes, these are really the professions that you will master here. Сirok may study cookbooks and gain a rank in the profession (cook). Huh .)
A gloomy and rather puny drow, but still somewhat frightening, looking like a wizard, stares with disgust at what Cirok has brought him as lunch. Give him the lashes. It seems from the look directed from under the hood that he is just waiting for an excuse to incinerate Cirok with some kind of magic instead of leaving retribution/pleasure on other servants.
Cirok is led to the usual place for whipping, but halfway there you and your guards hear Slavemother's shout. Bring him to me. I will personally punish him. You are taken to her chambers, you notice that the guards remain standing at the entrance.
She sits comfortably in an armchair and takes a glass of pleasantly spiced wine. With a nod, she invites you to sit down, but she doesn't offer you any drink.
So tell me, what did you expect when you confessed to killing those troglodytes? You didn't think you could get away with it. I'm a little surprised that you survived. You're tougher than you look.
Friends, the slow pace of the posts was caused by the fact that I need to put in order several tracks by which I track what is happening to you. All your actions (including housework, heh) affect these tracks and affect various events. And each character has their own track, they are not the same for everyone. Most of the counting work has already been done (and of course there would be no work if I recorded everything at once as events occur...), but not all of it yet. Sometimes being a GM is like having a second part-time job .)
As for the level-up, think about your character's weaknesses. Perhaps you can do something with the necessary social skills if you lack them, etc. There is a feat that gives additional skillpoints as far as I remember. Or something else (dip into another class?). Be creative. After all, your level-up may well reflect your real difficult mission, and not an abstract build of 20 levels for an abstract adventure... Life changes us while we are trying to change our lives.
Soryan is sent to the stalls to clean the lizards. Сirok is sent to cook a meal and informed that it is for someone of the nobility (evil smiles show you that it's better not to screw up). Colgrim, Terzarin and Cuthalian were sent by guards to different places, but for some reason Cuthalian was sent to the most boring place, where there is nothing to pay attention to and there is no way to express himself somehow.
You are returning to the Vonnarc Estate. It makes no sense to repeat how full of cruelty and filth was another very long "day" without light in the drow world. There is no light in every sense, and the thought of a very long elven life, surrounded by this darkness every moment, presses on you as you drive through the beautiful and terrible streets of Zirnakaynin.
After washing up (and catching a couple of sidelong glances - for sure there will be conversations in the house ...), you go to bed. The night is hard. Soryan and Cuthalian both dream of the charred remains of a baby. It was a monster. But it was a baby... Probably one way or another it will be etched into the memory forever, especially in the memory of Soryan who committed this.
But a special night awaits Cirok. You wake up screaming twice. The first time, from a dream where you are slowly plunging a knife into sleepers over and over again... But now they are not sleeping derro, but your own comrades. The knife enters their necks with a slow sucking sound, and they look at you with wide eyes full of horror. Yet they are paralyzed, unable to move. And you try to stop, your consciousness like a prisoner in chains trying to give your body a command to stop, but it does not obey. In your sleep, you begin to mutter words, absolute nonsense, from pleading to threats. Even trying to distract yourself with stories, all to no avail. You wake everyone in the room with your muttering, but you continue sleeping. In your dream, after killing the last one, you walk up to the mirror with a cruel, crazy smile and slowly begin cutting your own throat. Here you finally wake up, screaming (seeing the worried faces of your friends who were trying to help you). You can't sleep for hours. Eventually, you manage to fall asleep, but it's only for a short time. In another dream, reality strikes you. You remember all the torture that Faidaeva Vonnarc subjected you to, and it's unbearable. You wake up again, and now you remember everything clearly. You can no longer sleep a wink tonight.
Cirok:
The good side. Your penalty -2 to perception is canceled. The bad side. A new madness has overtaken you. You periodically start having some crazy thoughts in your head. It's like someone turns on a faucet with a stream of almost unrelated words, even though they sound like your voice. It's very similar to how you tried to distract your body in a dream... It really interferes with concentration. Result: –2 penalty on Wisdom– and Intelligence-based checks; cannot take 10 or 20 on any check. It's a permanent penalty. Plus, you're fatigued this day because you couldn't sleep properly.
Morning comes unexpectedly. No one feels refreshed and refreshed. Soryan is slightly shivering, but it seems tolerable (Soryan, 1 STR damage).
It's time for another day full of hard and often unpleasant work...
The servants bring you a black magic wand with demonic symbols, spiders and cobwebs engraved on it. It is blessed by the Priestess of Mazmezz, as far as I know*. Next, they bring you a beautiful elven-made blade... obviously from Kyonin. From the engraving, Cuthalian immediately realizes that it belonged to a noble officer. Trophy. The soldier who sold it was heavily addicted to cheap booze and heavy drugs. He told tall tales about a world without a roof, a blazing burning dick and other such things. He says that he struck down a light-skinned officer in a fair fight, but most likely hit him with a poisoned bolt when he went to take a s**t. Which is generally not bad either.
* every time you use this heroism, you will be seized with anger, a desire to commit cruelty and contemplate suffering... no effect on the mechanics (at least at first), but you can take this into account in your roleplay.
This means two magic items, which can be (in any combination) +2 weapon, +3 armor or wand with 3rd level spell of wizard or cleric spell list with 35 charges. The Xomos collection has a lot of exhibits, so I'll let you figure out for yourself what these items are, adjusted for the fact that it shouldn't be something obviously inappropriate (for example, something clearly from the surface or something related to good gods and so on).
I didn't understand then whether you had come to some kind of consensus on items, and I don't understand now even after rereading the posts .) It was about the wand of heroism and ... ? In general, summarize now what you want to get - let's assume that Xomos has it or he will quickly find it.
Great. We'll check it out.A good roll, with a couple of aides it would have been possible, but so far it is not enough.
Tired and bloodied, you head back... Guys, I need another 12+/- hours. There's a lot to process here. Cirok, may I ask you to make one more will saving throw. It's for the night rest.
Xomos looks at you blankly. Did you bring a head or something? If not, then come back tomorrow for the reward - my guys will check the information.
Argumentation and good rolls of social skills can probably make a difference. But you don't think he's lying, he just really doesn't trust anyone, but drow in particular. You may even understand why.
Continuation (moving into the Vonnarc Estate?) after about 18-20 RL hours.
Dude, I understand you ащк 101%. As a business owner, I have been in terrible crises and I know that there may be no enthusiasm for anything, including games - too much emotional burnout. Although it happens the other way around, when everything is on fire, you may most want to indulge in escapism .) Heh! We are waiting for you.
Guys, I should have written that I flew on a business trip for three days, but I somehow hoped that I would be able to make posts. Alas, the schedule was too tight. But now I'm already here.
Let me remind you what you took out of there: a filthy silver bracelet (worth 250 gold), a masterwork stone flute, plus two magic items for identification (cold iron shortsword and the rough axe of the leader).
Drinking is definitely not a problem here, very, very many residents of this area pour their problems with very cheap wine, and sometimes other drinks, from which you can gradually go blind and deaf.
No one pays attention to your smell and appearance either. Perhaps it would be different in the upper city, but here... It can be worse.
I will ask all the members of the squad for a FORT save. No, not because of the wine .)
Colgrim, I wanted to say that you need to do a check, but then I thought there was no reason why you wouldn't spend enough time and take 20.
After a little fumbling and spitting on his hands, the dwarf short drow grabs the hilt with both hands and pulls out the sword.
Cirok & Cuthalian, I like to read what I read! Nice roleplay .)
Cirok:
Cirok, I think I'll ask you to do a will save. I have no doubt that you have done this, and since you are already chaotically neutral, this will not lead to a shift in alignment yet, but I am not sure that it is psychologically simple and will pass without consequences even for an experienced and life-worn rogue.
In general, now there is really nothing to do here. You killed everything that could be killed... Except for insects, huh, but it's very difficult (and pointless). You can decide where you're going next (see post above, May 23).
After wiping the knife from the blood, Sirok joins his comrades.
Colgrim, little derro are crawling in the mud in a small pen. And here, too, there is an altar to Lamashtu, although it is quite small and very primitive. It stands on rocks and some kind of "tray" made of a shield clearly of dwarven workmanship.
Terzarin, search of the debris throughout the room uncovers a filthy silver bracelet (worth 250 gold), a masterwork stone flute, and, hidden beneath a tattered cloak, the hilt of a magical cold iron shortsword. The sword bears the emblem of a stylized warrior on its pommel and is thrust a foot into the rocky floor, where it is stuck fast. It requires a DC 20 Strength check to yank the weapon free.
By the way, the axe remained unidentified, 21 is not enough.
Entering the cave, you see four derro and bowls full of blue mushrooms. It seems that they took them in such doses that they gorged themselves and fell into a kind of trance. As you get closer, you realize that their sleep is restless and their lips are whispering strange words, which you have no desire to listen to, because they exude absolute uncluttered madness. If you want, you can slaughter them one by one, no checks are needed - with your stealth, you'll just do it.
In painful silence, broken only by the already familiar buzzing, you move past three caves that have not yet been explored.
If you decide to inspect them (see numbers on the map):
1:
You can hear several derro snoring. It's hard to say what's wrong with them without getting closer, but sleep is surprisingly strong for the noise that was during the battle recently.
2:
This is a very dirty cave with a small fence and a bluish glow from a fungus-mold growing on the walls. Some small creatures seem to be moving inside the fence.
3:
The passage to this cave is blocked by a roughly made but reliable lattice door. Scattered skeletons and soiled debris pile along the edges and against the stone central pillar of this cramped cave. Irregular scratches cover the floor and walls in numerous places.
There are a lot of this scratches, and most of them have already been erased, but a couple are still possible to understand:
"Clavonna Misraria Ended Here” (in Drow)
“The snakes in the pit. They must be warned!” (in Undercommon)
“Droskar preserve us!” (in Dwarven).
Perception check if you want to take a better look around here.
Climbing up does not cause difficulties. And here you are again in the back streets of Ghenavoc. Dirty, as if covered in blood, and smelling of blood. Where are you going now?
Cuthalian feels an eerie unnatural tremor when the idol topples over on the floor of the cave. It was as if someone's dark, extremely large and very evil and insane force turned its evil gaze on him for a moment. But then the feeling disappears. You destroy the idol so that no one can use it and is unlikely to be able to restore it (at least without magic). Perhaps you have a thought - the question - has there been less evil in this city?
After two good blows to his face, Colgrim comes to his senses.
A gloomy heavy silence hangs in the air, disturbed only by the buzzing of insects. It seems that no matter how many of them you burn here, new ones will appear quickly.
Terzarin and Soryan freeze in horror at what is happening. Meanwhile, Colgrim continues to go crazy and rampage.
Сolgrim, please make two more turns in confusion and that's where we all leave combat situation. I assumed that the comrades might try to tie you up or run away, but apparently not. At the maximum result on d100, I expect a full attack with PA. Go!
Cuthalian, you're getting closer... The vile altar is badly damaged, but the creepy dog-headed idol of Lamashtu miraculously almost did not suffer... But that's not what your attention is focused on - you see a badly charred little body among the smoking rags. You feel nausea rising in your throat.
Will save please. Nothing that will affect your actions right now (and not magic), so you can do next actions without waiting for the result of the roll. It seems to me that you got there with one move action, so you still have a standard.
