A week later the group gathers again, this time with the wealth necessary to hire the guards. Your group had your own watch party at a seemingly abandoned warehouse. You alternated watches over three days but didn’t see a single soul enter or exit. You stayed out of the warehouse as instructed though, you know all to well the importance of secrecy on missions like these. But no use in complaining over easy work, as you’re now 5000 gold richer.
Of note, you also learned that House Charthagnion is hosting a gathering on the night of the 14th.
you have secured 5000 gold and can pay for the guards as well as buy some better equipment if you so wish. It is now the 13 of Pharast.
Good learning point for PF2: PF2 relies a lot more on “secret” rolls. For a stealth check to sneak, i as the GM make the roll and thentell you a result; you never know what the roll itself was. I couldn’t find a quick reference guide for it in my quick search so I’ll look into making one.
For now I’ll use the critical failure because that’s more fun.
We start of in Varisia. See the below for fill information on chapter one.
This chapter of Doomsday Dawn takes place in the year 4707 ar (11 years prior to Golarion’s present) in the Varisian city of Magnimar, just before the events of Pathfinder Adventure Path #1: Burnt Offerings, the first installment of the Rise of the Runelords
Adventure Path. Knowledge of the ancient empire of Thassilon remains obscure and unknown to the world at large, and with Osirion’s ruins only recently opened to exploration, the Aucturn Enigma itself has not yet been rediscovered.
Since this chapter takes place before the first Pathfinder Adventure Path, there are no implications to the world based on the outcomes of previous campaigns that may have played out at your table.
For the manacles, there doesn’t seem to be clear direction about applying manacles. There’s a note in the rulebook that says you can tie someone up while they are in the pinned condition so i would say apply the same for manacles. That would involve grappling in round 1, maintaining it to round 2 and pinning in round 2, and then applying manacles in round 3. A 2nd person could help he process significantly, like if Azure Avenger did the actual grappling, and Ziera did the manacling it could be done in two rounds.
Alright everyone, let's go home, Gray just won the quest!
Gray:
The room beyond is an ante-chamber, though you can see large double doors opened to ornate bedroom beyond. The room itself is roughly 20 by 20, with lavish furnishings and decorations. Currently, a human lady is yelling at a liveried servant who appears to have broken a piece of the decor.
The specific language is unimportant and it washes over you, but you do note that the servant refers to the other person as Lady Alana.
Dice shrugs. They have seven major fortresses in the city, it could be in any one of those. I would guess the Order of the Gate fortress would contain it, but then somwould anyone with half a brain.
Sydney frowns. No, the memories are short and quick, and then they fade right away. But, this last one could be helpful.
Alana, the elf, and six other agents of Thrune are gathered in the room. The elf is standing in front of the agents, who are cloaked with their hoods up. Sydney knows the identity of just one of the other agents present, and she is sure that is intentional. She gives up studying the heights of the others as Duranu speaks, "Gentlemen and ladies, I'm sure you realized that being here means you have done well in our" the elf gives Alana a quick glance "service. Tonight's work is the most important yet. With their armies on the battlefield, Egorian is ripe for the taking. Tonight, each of you will be discussing contract changes with the presiding devil. Though you have different instructions, you have the same leverage; wehave an army, right here, and they do not. Simple math, and I think the devil's will agree.Now, for your instructions" The elf and Alana start at either end of the line of agents, and through the uses of message spells, give instructions to each agent in turn. Sydney is the first to be given instructions from the elf.
"Sydney, you have several tasks tonight. The first is House Sarini. In the center of their manor house is a statue or a harp, hand lyre, and flute. Play Sarini's Grace on the flute and the harp will rotate to reveal a staircase down. The staircase leads straight to Sarini's contract and the presiding devil will present himself. Tell him you have a waiting army, not a lie, and convince him that he needs to change the contract to your demands. Your demands are that Sarini, and their contract, must be subject to Thrune. House Sarini will become the fools and Jesters of our court. Report back here when you finish up, your next task will depend on the actions of the others."
Sydney finishes telling the memory. “im trying to recall these exactly as i remember them. Im unsure why that memory refers to the elf, who is Duranu, but that is how my thoughts identified him.
Egorian can supply just about any magic item. No need to RP it. You can get 5% off with a 20+ diplomacy check and 10% off with 30+. That applies for any purchases.
Adrien looks between Vince and Ziera. “I liked the plan where Vince just went after Alana on his own. What happened to that plan? ” Vince sneers at him. “If he’s given up on that dream i can be of service. I also have a signet house ring from Thrune, so i might be able to get us inside. ”
Fortunely for the masked avenger, the four hell hounds are easily visible. Unfortunately for everything be, there are 4 hell hounds in the room alongside the now familiar pedestal and scroll.
I have a work lunch today so i can’t post too much at the moment. You can roll initiative if you want. If you beat 11 you can make your first round action.
Gray, i typoed before and it led you to read something wrong. The pedestal has another glass case on top and a scroll inside. I’m guessing you’ll want to go back and redo your post.
Ziera, no AOO on you.
Edmund, I believe you need a standard action to cast the spell, and then another to spit the liquid.
Yes. That puts Vince and Payk in the room, you, Antonio and Edmund on the platform. Probably won’t be able to post Vince and the enemies tonight but those posts will come over the weekend.
Human (Taldan) Fighter 3/Ranger 2 HP (25/49) AC 20| F+7 | R+8 | W+4 | P+6 | Init+4
Vince surges forward, dashing towards the HH directly in front of him and slash at it with his falcata. His aim is true, and his attack is vicious. He lowers his falcata as he gets close and then surges it up through the head of the hellhound, dropping it on the spot.
I’m in a fire drill at work and have other plans tonight so i might not be able to post until tomorrow. Feel free to add other comments or questions to Vince in that time.
And the first battle is complete. It was a little confusing and mismanaged. Some of that was unintentional, but quite a bit of it was playing out the NPCs as they would act. It should have given you a chance to understand how each of the NPCs might function in combat, and what role they can help with. You’ll likely only have one or two of the NPCs with you for future battles, and it will usually be your choice who it is. That is not to say that this battle was set up just so that you could learn about the NPCs.
Special mention to Edmund, this battles MVP.
This battles theme song was “I fell in the Pit” by Andy Dwyer on Parks and Rec.
no need to dismiss. I rule that message spells travel to whoever you are actively indicating. As in, you can point in succession to 3 people and all 3 will be included. Then you can mentally erase that connection and point to new people.
ohhhhhhh, when you said party I thought you meant like the player group party. Ok, here’s what you can find out.
The Leroung Ball is the first of the season. Generally the season lasts 2 months, and generally in order of house power. Leroung though, found it more honorable to start off the season than to wait their turn, and have somewhat upended the season this year. There are spring and fall seasons, with his one being the spring season.
Most of the he talk now is about the Ball continuing even with the explosion. With all o the balls scheduled, Leroung had to choose between hosting this week or not hosting at all. Since they are a major opportunity for the houses to gain power, wealth and influence, Leroung, even though they don’t care for politics quite as much as the other houses, decided to not pass up the opportunity.
Many of the high nobles will be in attendance, although rumblings are that Thrune will not be sending any representatives to any of the Balls this year, which is seen as a brilliant power move by some, and a bratty overconfident play by others.
Carew talks on and on about the Ball. Even though it's Leroung, and they prefer a good book to a good party, it's the first Ball of the season and most of the major houses and minor houses will be present. He was a little worried about it happening at all, after that explosion that happened last night, but the crier today said the Ball was still going to happened as scheduled.
Ziera:
It's a small private residence, with just one room encompassing the entire building. It's not terrible nice, but it's clean and stocked with essentials.
Morgrim Igmar, gnome, unaffiliated: low-level information dealer, specializes in people, relationships, and house politics
Stur, gnome, unaffiliated: low-level information dealer, specializes in trade and economics
Jamie West, human, unaffiliated: attorney, often helps members with contract language for mercenary work or similar
Quoben, human, House Henderthane: Blacksmith and arms dealer, can get us slight discounts or hard to procure weapons
Wither Celtai, halfling, House Jeggare: Helps with banking and money security.
Rantin also notes that these individuals do not know about Tiashan, they provide these services to other entities as well. They can be trusted to an extent, but certainly don't inform them of anything they don't need to know.
Note that I am not doing this, but it popped into my head that it would be hilarious to write "Oh well, good luck to those who were selected" here, imagining all of the people who would go back a page, and then come back to this one, wondering what was going on, and if they missed it.
Now now, this isn't a Way of the Wicked recruitment thread.
I'll probably try to make some more make whole scrolls during down time as the game progresses, simply out of fear of days with a great deal of combat.
[Name Redacted] is a quest set in the heart of Cheliax; Egorian. As the houses wage political battles to overtake House Thrune, and the Hell Knights try to maintain order, a third group is starting to make waves. Taishan, an anti-government organization, has been quietly and deliberately working in the shadows to bring down Thrune and many of the other political houses.
This quest is focused on discovery. Information is at the center of it, and the gathering and distribution of that information. You’ll have to figure out the what, and also the how and why. And then you’ll have to determine how much you want to share with the rest of your group. All of this is made more complicated by a very important wrinkle; you’ll start the quest without any of your recent memories (see background for details). This quest will feature obstacles that have to be completed by the party, but there is also a large part of this that can be done individually, or with just part of the group. I'll note, the key to information gathering is digging deeper. The more you put into this quest, the more you get out of it.
Setting:
This quest is primarily set in Egorian, in Cheliax. I’ve adapted Cheliax slightly for the quest, but for the most part it follows the details in the Wikia. The year is 4707 AR, 67 years after House Thrune has taken over the ruling of Cheliax.
Pathfinder Wikia: Cheliax
Queen Abrogail II and General Gorthoklek are not involved, though the houses detailed in the Wikia play an important part in the quest.
PBP Notes and Expectations:
I saw these guides posted in another recruitment post, and they are awesome.
-I’m in the EST. I work 8-5, but can post before that, at lunch or at night.
-I’ll be posting every day on week days, and I expect you to follow the same pattern.
-I usually bot for trivial RP situations, as well as rolling initiative and saves for players. I’ll be more specific when the game starts.
Characters: For this quest, you can either submit your own 5th level character, or play one of the pre-made characters for this quest. Details for either are spoilered below. I don’t believe I’ll have a strong preference in choosing either way, but I will note that obviously, there can only be one submission picked for any pre-made character.
Basic Character Rules:
Level and wealth: Level 5, standard character wealth (10,500 GP). All magical items are available.
Attributes: Roll 4d6 drop the lowest die (roll 2 sets of 6 and choose) or point buy with 20 + 1d6. You can roll all 3 and then choose. (update: for the sake of others in the thread please spoiler your rolls if possible)
Races: Core races, plus Aasimar (minus the spell like ability), Dhampir and Tiefling (minus fiendish sorcery) (Samsaran and Dragonborn are also available as pre-made characters, see below)
Classes: Any Paizo. No Synthesist. I’m not well versed in the Occult classes, though I am not ruling them out. Firearms are emerging.
Skills: We will be using background skills.. You also get free skill rank at level 1 to put into a profession or craft skill. This profession or craft can be legitimate, but could also just be a cover for your true work in Taishan.
Traits: 2 traits, and a 3rd if you take a drawback
Alignment: Any alignment. This quest can support evil characters, and there should be enough motivation to keep them tied to the party.
HP: 1st Level Max, Half + 1 for all other levels
Progression: Technically I use fast progression, though most of the time I use milestones for level ups.
Party balance: You’ll have quite a few non-player characters in your group with a range of skill sets (see pre-made characters for specifics), so party balance isn’t critically necessary.
Pre-made Character Submissions:
I’ve run this quest several times and refined it with each running. The characters below were all played before, and I liked them enough that I’ve folded them into the story line. You’ll find spoilered background and statblock data below in a second post. You can also see post histories in the Tadloton quests where some of these characters were used.
To submit an application as a pre-made character:
1-Write a scene, monologue, interaction, etc with the character. It doesn’t have to be long; I’m mainly looking for how well you portray the character.
2- Gear up your character! (if you want, you can also wait for selection to finalize gear) I have the Hero Lab portfolios that I can send you. I can also send you the BBcode formatted stat blocks, but not until my desktop computer finishes its endless windows update cycle.
-Some characters have “Specific Included Gear.” This gear is included with your character; it does not count against the wealth assigned to your character. You can include equipment and gear, though for your submission having that included is not necessary. If you are selected, you can fill in your gear ahead of the quest starting.
-Because of the nature of this quest, some of the character information has been redacted. If you are going to apply as a premade character, I will PM you the redacted information.
Player made Character Submissions:
-Submit a stat block for your character. You can include equipment and gear, though for your submission having that included is not necessary. If you are selected, you can fill in your gear ahead of the quest starting.
Important: You will begin this quest as a member of the anti-government agency Taishan. You will also not have any memories from the past two years, this includes your entire time with Taishan. This will also include time spent in the Tadloton Mercenary Guild. Therefore, your backstory will need to have 2 specific elements:
1- Your last action should be heading to Tadloton, a small town on the Andoran/Cheliax border that is starting up a mercenary guild. You would be level 1 at this point.
2- You’ll need to have a reason to want to overthrow the House Thrune. It could be simple (you belong to a rival house and want to take over) or complicated (this guy once told you thing that means this other thing will cause this untold destruction and suffering unless Taishan is overthrown)
For the background itself, I’m not overly concerned with the format; I just want to get a sense of what the character is like, how they act, and what their motivations are. That means short summaries, personality descriptions, or sweeping epics are all fine for submissions. If you submit it I will read it (within reason).
PBP History: Optionally, you can submit up to 3 posts or even former PBP characters as examples of your play style.
Recruitment: Recruitment ends November 1st, at 11:59 PM EST. You must have completed submitted character by that time. Good luck everyone!
I'll probably try running Vorgal Veil again, though I'm not 100% committed to the magus class.
If anyone is on the fence for this; this quest is really engaging. It's intricately detailed, unpredictable, and does quite a bit that I've rarely done in pathfinder quests. Plus max HP!
After hours, days, and maybe even weeks of travel, the weary applicants to the Tadloton Merc Guild stream into the Morning Ale, described by locals as the tavern with the exact middle reputation in the town. The barkeeper Hurin stands tall on his stool behind the bar and by the time you reach the tavern you've been warned several times to not let him trap you. Nobody says with what, they just chuckle when you ask.
The appointed time for applicants to meet Glifdore is still hours away, and Hurin and other town folk seem pretty certain that they have no idea where the dwarf is. And so, with no other knowledge of the town, you decide to relax, and remove the journey's weariness. Glifdore's letters promised shelter so you decide to wait on that, rather than spend even more money for the Tavern's nightly services.
You do not need to post in your alias if you do not wish to, just post and note your character's name at the top. I'll moderate as I have time but for the most part this is about interaction with each other.
The (not really a) lawyer smiles. "What makes you think I'm a lawyer? I'm just here to stall you until the reinforcements arrive. Speak of the devil, " You follow his gaze to the doorway where a bear dressed a as a clown with a suit ides a unicycle into the guild. He completes a very difficult stooping maneuver to get in under the door and then continues on.
"Dah Bear there is our official guild lawyer. I'm just a barber."
A quick turn back shows Dr. Whiteface sitting in a barber's chair wearing a smock while the man formerly thought of as a lawyer is putting lather on the man's perfectly shaved, white face.
"And if you don't mind, I will return my attention to my client." A few papers fly down by the Fool's above seem to have lost interest in the barber and are now sending down drawings of shapes. After a second of shaving, the former false lawyer looks up. "You might consider asking him your questions, though he's not going to answer; he's a bear and bears don't talk." Another reign of feigned interest papers. The consensus is sqaure.
Are you saying you're going to pull a Dice Drem and rob the magic shop?. Of course there is. Is adrien impulsive enough to do it on a whim without thorough studying ?
Haha, if bye well you mean about to find out what happens when a vampire bites a werewolf, or visa versa, yes. I'll drop the action beginning of the quest tonight .
Rincewind is one of the better characyers, but i like the refined watch and industrial revolutuon series. In Rincewind, Pratchett seems to punch you in thr face wuth the humor/parody/silliness/craziness. In the watch and beyond he sneaks up behind you, the your shoes together, drops your pants, and then sneaks away. You take a step, realize your pants are dropped, and have a laugh. Then you take a larger step and fall on your face because your shoes are tied.
