I'll take the action point as I am not going to fight the dance, THIS round. ( I LIKE dramatic, tough choices!)
BUT, Akallabeth is simply too smart for his own good. Even when 'charmed' (or whatever is happening) his brain just will not shut up. Unless he just plain fails a major roll, he won't stay 'charmed' long.
He's just too darned stubborn. He is also a firm believer in "If it's too good to be true,...then IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!!"
Some say 'Optimist', some say 'Pessimist, I prefer to be called a 'Realist' :)
To Logos-
Looking threw the rose coloured glasses, you see yourself and your compatriots sitting chatting amicably with the gnome in the kitchen of the Oaks, You notice a Mistletoe Chain reinforcing the seal holding back the hollow man presumably who is absent.
Does the seal correspond with anything in the Oaks, like the front door? Or is there no counterpart for the seal in Sharn?
Also, is there an analogue for the map in the Oaks?
FYI- The "Rosy Glasses" frames and the other lens are in Akallabeth's pocket. ( I dove after them, remember?) Maddock probably didn't see me actually pick them up, as he was busy healing the Gnome at the time. But someone else may have noticed it.
I will post when I figure out where to go with mr. 'split personality' after these last few posts!
Failed reflex save - so became entangled.
trying to strength break out of it - will try a couple of times if I don't get out the first time.
Ugh. Failing pretty badly.
Will give up trying to get himself free, and will try and cast entangle on the jerk-making sure to aim the spell between him and the door to have the maximum amount of entangled area ahead of where the hollow man wants to go.
Concentration (1d20+1=17)
Yay, succeeded the concentration test.
Wow. +10 reflex save...
Nevermind just being impressed about that. I just looked at Keigi's stats. He's a freaking monster.
Just posted Akallabeth's actions,
Save vs Entangle 15+3=18, Success
Cast Summon Monster 1, takes 1 round to cast, appears on my turn in the next round, and immediately attacks. (YAY for Maddock slowing down his escape) Lasts 1rnd/lvl. I have a feat which grants me +2 lvls when summoning an evil/fiendish creature. The Medium Size Monstrous Centipede is here for 3 rounds. Starting with his first attack. Melee Bite +2, dmg. 1d6-1 Plus Poison.
(This is where I'm getting confused, might have to go to structured rounds soon) It appears on my turn the next round. So if it is my turn again, I cast Lesser Orb of Fire at the Hollow Man, ranged touch att +3
Ranged touch Att 22, dmg 5
That burns up all but 1 of my first lvl spells. (2 X Mage Armor, 1 X Summon, 1 X orb/fire)
For those who speak Infernal,...
"Verstrak'!, Hak!" = 'Attack!, Now!' (Yes, I'm making this up as I go.)
In the "view of D&D" posts,...
I remember, (Still have actually, ...somewhere, in a box) one of many "do it yourself" game books of the 80's fad era. The brand I'm thinking of specifically had an almost complete (lets call it Ver. 1.5) D&D char sheet. You got to roll stats et al. But this book had a list where it compared your character's stats with something you could associate it with for better understanding. For str it was something like, "0=90lb weakling, cant pick up a football" to "16= Conan, 20= Hulk, really mad." Superman was somewhere between a 30 and a 40. Dex was similar. I think a 16 was "Olympic Gymnast", and 20 was Batman or Daredevil. Again I think Spiderman rated between 30-40.
I miss those days.
I don't miss High School though. Not enough to go back and do it again anyway.
;P
ANYway, I'm starting get a little confused, did you say we were going to 'standard' initiative soon? (I HOPE you were joking about TPK in round 1?!?)
With my luck, this is all part of the 'test', and the 'Hollow Man' is really the gnome, and I just blasted our future meal ticket.
(Maybe I'll just shut up now before I give you any more ideas,...)
:)
Sorry, should have said in the story thread, the 'thin, green ray' is the 0 lvl spell 'disrupt undead', very effective for a 0 lvl spell.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
After finding some random place to hide (Presumably a Tavern), I need to know the following
A> Do you stay with the group?
B> What do you do?
C> Where do you do it?
D> And How.I plan on advancing time about a week, so consider this IC relaxation and planing time/ get some cash and find out whats going on time/run away from home and join the circus time?
Any questions for me etc .
A. Oh, yes. Lucienne has been living in Sharn for a while, so she has quarters where she rests for the night, but that wouldn't be condusive to meeting with four dangerous-looking men. So she joins the others in whatever meeting room we decide.
B1. Examine the mundane papers. See what we can corroborate with Romulus' interview. Cross-check with public records at City Hall; she's a common sight there. The question she wants to answer is "What was supposed to happen, who was supposed to hire whom, for what, before everthing went bizarre?"
C1. In the party's common room, and at City Hall.
D1. Surreptitiously. She's fully aware that she stole those papers, that their theft will probably make it hard for Pennywise's heirs to claim the Oaks or sort things out, and that possession of them makes her a damn good suspect for the mass murder.
B2. Transcribe "Pass Without Trace" and "Bless Weapon" into her spell book.
C2. Where Lucienne would normally be working during the day, probably near the Temple area.
B3. See what she can find out about the magic items we've picked up. (She's not pushy here. If someone else wants to examine the scrolls and book first, she happily oblige, but she'll offer assistance as requested.) She's particularly interested in the spectacles.
C3. As needed.
D3. Surreptitiously. See D1.
B4. The Hollow Man was a Nemesis, a personal threat. Logos, correct me if I'm wrong, but the kind of mass butchery we saw isn't the style of a Nemesis. Something else killed all those people -- able-bodied adventurer-type people -- in such a gruesome way, and we should figure out (a) what, and (b) where it is now. It may have been something summoned from a manifest zone, or something that was released when the Hollow Man crushed the jewel over Sharn. Whatever it was, we need to know.
C4. Wherever she does research into these things.
D4. Unobtrusively, but if she needs to consult with a sage or a bard or an eyewitness, she will.
B5. Inventory what we have. Are the jewels back to being jewels now that we're out of the nightmare? Do they radiate magic? What up with that hidden dagger?
C5. In the common room. We may need to find someone who can assess the value of the jewels, and who can buy them.
D5. Be circumspect with regards to anything that can be traced back to Pennywise.
B6. Use several Mending enchantments to restore the crushed jewel as much as possible.
C6. In the common room.
D6. With a vice grip to hold the pieces together.
B7. If the party ends up with any money, and if Lucienne has a couple of days left, she'd like to scribe some spells onto "scrolls".
C7. Where she's normally work; near the Temple area.
D7. She prepares her scrolls on 3" square cloisonne enamels, about the size of a mundane "floppy disk", which she frames in wood and attaches to her belt.
|
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
A. Lucienne, your rent is roughly 2 gold a month, You need to pay monthly upkeep when you get the chance ( Please keep track of this; if you would like to pay ahead of time, by all means.)
Lucienne will be happy to pay two months' worth now. Assuming she's going to live any longer than that would be presumptuous on the mercy of the Host.
B1.
Hiring of Heroes for an external audit of the police in Sharn. The existance of a cult of the dragon below was thought to have integrated itself in the guard and was responsible for several murders and weird rites to bring about the apocalypse or free a rajah or a daelkyr lord or something.Pennywise was supposed to hire a small group of adventurers.
The mundane papers outline a set of disappearances and murders, as well as the lore of the Oaks, which include upwards of 300 suicides.
Lucienne gasps at that. "No wonder there were always vacancies. 'I'm sure a room will open up shortly.' 'AAAAhh!' 'There's an availablility right now.'" 300 suicides, stretching back how far? Years?
The Deed to the Inn, A writ of silence issued by the Sharn Interim Government, and several books worth of hand-scribed notes on how to seal a "interdimensional rift" leading "to dark places".
Ah, Lucienne has a new hobby. Does it require divine or arcane spellcasting, or just knowledge?
Does the handwriting match the "There is no cake" message? Or, perhaps, might it offer an explanation for the "There is no cake" message?
B4.A friend is more than willing to identify the equipment for you, but you will ow him a favor later. [Please name and stat this friend]
The friend is named Elester; we met through work. She's a halfling bard who specializes in being a barrister, the lawyer who questions witnesses and acts in court. We found out that we'd moved into Sharn at about the same time, and we were thinking about sharing an apartment at one point, but that never worked out. We still see each other regularly and meet for dinner once or twice a week. Professionally, she calls on me for divine magic assistance and research, as well as reaching things on high shelves; and I ask her for help with arcane spellcasting. I'll leave the particulars of her statistics for you --Elester may have some surprises for Lucienne-- but I think she could whip Lucienne in any one of a number of ways, if it ever came down to that.
If you ID ...
I do, and I'm not keeping any of this secret.
There are 10 scrolls:
Divine, 1 use, Remove Paralysis (clvl 3)
Divine, 6 uses, Dictum (clvl 13)
Divine, 1 use, Summon Nature's Ally II (clvl 3)
Divine, 2 uses, Fire Trap (clvl 3)
Divine, 3 uses, Gentle Repose (clvl 3)
Divine, 2 uses, Death Ward (clvl 7)
Divine, 1 use, Magic Weapon (clvl 1)Arcane, 6 uses, Mordenkinen's Faithful Hound (clvl 9)
Arcane, 2 uses, Contact Other Plane (clvl 9)
Arcane, 4 uses, Wall of Fire (clvl 7)The Book is a book of prophecy, you don't think it has any use besides being a book of prophecy.
(As if that weren't enough.) And what does a magical book of prophesy do?
As for the scrolls, what do you folks think? Should we hold on to them, or try to exchange them for other items. There's certainly enough there to keep Maddock and myself entertained.
The Glasses are Glasses of Aspiration Seeing, showing you what you need in order to reach your aspirations.
That's not something she keeps secret, either. That sounds to Lucienne like an item that no one person should consider their preivate property.
B6. The Jewels are dust anyway, but where did you get the vice grip? I don't mind convenient explanations but they need drawbacks. If you don't put in suitable drawbacks... I will.
Oh, sorry. I was considering vice grips to be in the same category as screwdrivers, combs, and cutlery; things that most people have access to when they're in town.
If the jewels are all destroyed, don't worry about it. But if it makes sense for Lucienne to buy a (non-masterwork) set of general purpose work tools, then that's what she'll do.
You have a day to fiddle around with, go to market, sell stuff or scribe scrolls Lucienne.
I'm open to suggestions, guys.
Akallabeth will suggest that they can meet, semi-discretely, at his 'office'.
He has a small office with a flat upstairs in the lower end of town (Low-end urban/student housing) That he is running his 'Freelance Inquisitive' business from.
He will suggest that the group sticks (more -or-less) together, at least until they figure out what happened. And what to do about it. (If anybody else happens to be like him, He is the kind of person who figures that if there is something they can do, they should do it.)
HE offers his spells, & skills, to help Lucienne sort thru the ledgers & papers, as well as detect magic, etc. to help with the other items.
He has only low-level contacts. (He does not have a very SUCCESSFUL business. That is why he went to the interview) So they will be no help with the things that LUcienne is working on. But they can get him info 'street info'. like;
1)DId things take a turn for the worst recently? What happened and where?
2)When did things start getting worse if so? (Can we ID it as the same time the seal was broken?)
3)Are there any, new, major 'players' in the city? What are they doing? Who are they taking over to do it? Where are they at? (Where is thier 'base of operations?')
4) Background on the OAKS, (300 suicides?!?! SOMEbody has something to say about that!)
He offers Romulus the couch in the office for a night after they have the original 'brainstorming session' in the coffee shop or wherever. He makes it clear it can't be long term. (HE does have SOME clients after all,) but he understands being down on your luck, and makes a decent, if cryptic & 'mysterious' host.
If Romulus accepts the offer for a couple of nights, and is the sharing type, (Akallabeth is 'sharing', just, mysterious about certain things.) maybe they can compare notes as they level up.
Akallabeth also begins investigating the background of the Oaks from his side. 300 'suicides'?!? Stories about that have GOT to be floating around on the street! (This will be #4 on the street info list above).
I suggest that we keep and divide the scrolls amoung us as fairly as possible. I consider scrolls to be valuable resources, and if we get low on cash we can always sell them later.
Maddock & Llucienne will have a variety of abilities at thier disposal, and I'm sure that Romulus & I can finda good use for the arcane scrolls.
(NOTE- I picked the 'starter scroll bundle' from our starting gear. Can I find out what was on those please? Thanks in advance!)
The only 'real contact' I would like to develop would be an Artificer that I met while working for House Denieth. He is Kendriac, a wizened old gnome who claims to be a low-level Artificer, but I suspect that he is more powerful than he lets on. He is a casual friend, but I wouldn't trust him with my life. I kept in contact with him so I would have help in creating magic items. (In my previous life, I had item creation feats and we worked together for the House making items. Now I need him to make them for me.) But I'm also pretty sure that he is one of the few people who have figured that when 'Ben' dissapeared, he opened up the Inquisitive business as Akallabeth.
That's all i have for now. I will post Akallabeth's update to lvl 2 when I get the time this weekend.
Thanks Akallabeth. Romulus will return the favor when he can.
Maddock will likely lay low for a day after the events of that night, and emerge again once it is dark.
His first priority is getting in touch with any gatekeepers in Sharn at the moment, to let them know about the hollow man's escape. It may have been a cage just for this one creature, or there may be an open gate to some Very Bad Place in Sharn.
If Kegi wants to come, he'd gladly introduce him as a friend to the wild.
A> Do you stay with the group?
Yes, he'll make a point of staying in touch with the group, since we all have a vested interest in putting this guy back in his cage.
B> What do you do?
He also wants to ask the gatekeepers about the locations he remembers on the map, whether they correspond to known sealed gates, or manifest zones, or both, and will ask about any of the symbols he remembers, to see if he can gather some info about them.
C> Where do you do it?
D> And How.
If necessary, he'll even try to get access to Morgrave University's library to crack open books about gate seals, demons, manifest zones, and planes.
He'll spend as little gold as possible on food and lodgings. Shady flophouses are alright for now.
OK, Akallabeth has been updated to lvl 2.
Added skill points and 'Detect Undead' to 0 lvl spells known.
During the week,
Akallabeth will research with Lucienne & Romulus as noted before.
He will also conduct his 'Freelance Inquisitive' business as usual trying to earn a few gold.
He will also work with Romulus on mastering their growing powers. Akallabeth is in an unusual position of having been able to work magic before, but is still feeling his way thru how to manage as a sorcerer.
Does our battle in the 'other world' count as 'real'? (He's still a little vague on how much was 'real' and how much was in his mind.) This is one reason he chose 'Detect Undead' as his new 0 lvl spell.
If it was real, it fulfills his renewable goal of 'destroying evil/undead'.
Will post soon in the IC thread.
Leveled up Maddock.
HD for level 2 (1d8+1=2) pathetic.
Changed generic spell loadout to
Level 0
Detect Magic
Cure Minor Wounds
Flare
Level 1
Entangle
Goodberry
Shillelagh
in order to kick a bit more butt.
added +1 heal, +1 concentration, and +1 Knowledge (the planes) as a cross class skill for the reading he did, since he wants to be a better-informed gatekeeper.
If Kegi agrees, He and Maddock may be found in the same flophouse. They did a bit of traveling and research together in the time between. If he needs his privacy, that's fine, too.
|
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
Logos, just checking: I'd thought that Lucienne was in her building's second story. When she went through the window, you had her 100 feet off the ground. Is that right?
By the way, as you may have already noticed, I have, in the real world, moved from Minnesota to Iowa this past week. My RPG stuff is still in boxes, and so I won't be able to calculate Lucienne's second level until I can unpack them this weekend.