I just wanted to say what a great time I had running this portion of the encounter. The players had a great time roleplaying with the movers and shakers of Cauldron. One of my players was a PolySci major in College so it was a great oppurtunity for him to shine.
The party convinced the rest of the attendees to vote in a democratic way. Each party present would have one vote, except the party, which would have two. The party paladin quickly nominated Jenya for election after Aslaxin's suggestion. Flustered, the nobles quickly nominated eachother. The striders nominated the party rouge (who they have taken a shining to) and Maavu stood with him as well (the PC's father is in the Chisel...*cough*Freemasons*cough*)The party paladin (who had maxed out diplomacy) went around and first convinced the rouge to concede, then went through the merchants and religious figures. In the end, it was a landslide decision for Jenya. While this was happening, the party and the council discussed moving to a system by which there would be three branches of government...etc...etc.
A really fun encounter and the players had a blast. Of course, they were rewarded with that big chunk of XP. Anyone else want to share?
I have yet to run this chapter, but am wondering how the encounter with the Derro Savant went? I am really looking forward to running him.
I too was looking forward to the encounter with the Derro, but unfortunately, it wasn't as deadly as an encounter as I had hoped. The Derro and his barbarians teleported in, invisible. The barbarians, noticing the heroes immediatly went after them and quickly lost their invisibilty. The sorcerer attempted to disintegrate the party wizard and failed. The party wizard then moved under the flying sorcerer and cast a maximized lightning bolt. The ranger then turned the derro into a pincushion, killing him. After the sorcerer went down, it was only a matter of time before the barbarians were dispatched by the rest of the party.
I would recomend having the barbarians start by attacking the nobles (Taskerhill) or Jenya. This will give the PC's a sense of urgency. Also remember that they are hasted, invisible (sneak attack!), and if memory serves, have poisoned weapons and are flying.
The Derro sorcerer has so many cool options available to him, so I would say maybe give him another buff spell (like windwall or mirror image) to make the combat last longer. Also, that insanity scroll that he has is just too good of a flavorful oppurtunity to pass up. (this was my plan for the next round; unfortunately, I never got there.) I believe its a fortitude save so have him cast it on a spellcaster.
One thing that was really fun about this encounter was roleplaying a totally insane little sorcerer. I was skittering around the table, shouting periodically, giggling, etc. It definelty put my players on edge. But they had to take that away from me! >:(
Seriously though, it was a fun encounter but definetly one of those situations where it shouldn't be too much of a challenge for a fully rested 15th level party to defeat (especially with help from the striders, maavu getting the nobles, etc.)
Let's see if I can remember this correctly.
The party rogue spent a lot of time and money investing in different merchants, to a great success. She had her own business on the waterfront, which she also used as a headquarters for a smuggling guild. (She used her cohort as the front man of the guild, so nobody would link her to her illegal activities.) She told me early on (around 5th level) that she wanted to work her way into the political arena, with sights on being the next Mayor.
So, by the time the meeting of the minds came around, she had the backing of most of the merchants, and some of the nobles. Those that she didn't already have in her pocket were won over by her incredible skill checks. She won by a landslide.
But she didn't want to rule alone, so she created a governing council that would include:
1 person from the merchants guild (Maavu)
1 person from the clergy (Jenya)
1 noble (Aslaxin)
1 wizard (someone from the MTA)
The Captain of the Town Guard (Krewis)
1 person voted by the public (one of the PCs, he had the Vow of Poverty feat)
The council would decide certain matters with a vote for simple majority, and ties would be decided by the Mayor.
Selection of the council took a lot of game time, as I brought up objections from the different groups as names were brought up. Should the wizard be from the MTA (and possibly strengthen the side of the Town Guard) or one of the alchemists (who would likely side with the merchants)?
I think that they set it up that the future replacements for each member would be selected by their respective groups (the nobles choose a noble, the clerics choose a cleric, etc.), but a permanent position was made for the Captain of the Town Guard.
I just finished running this encounter. The meeting went OK, although the discussion ended up wandering in circles. Although, the party "leader" nominated himself as an interim government until the "will of the people" could be heard.
The derro was a disappointing battle for me. The barbarians did their job and did damage, but the sorcerer got grappled. Once that happened, it was all over. I suppose it was justified since I nearly wiped them out with Vhalantru the session before...heh.