Mad Player Antics.


Savage Tide Adventure Path

Sovereign Court

I know that there is a Glories thread and an Obituaries thread, but this fits in neither.

Players:
The party has 6 regular players and 1 that rarely turns up. Since this was supposed to be a nautical campaign one player went Hadozee from Stormwrack which seemed fair enough. Ok so they can glide but thats 40ft for every 5ft drop.
Another, with major nostalgia, went a Phanaton. He had a really good background as to how he came to be in Sasserine and how he met the Hadozee. So I allowed it. Another glider bu only 30ft for every 5ft drop.

The setup:
The party is at sea near Blood Bay when they spot a deserted ship (ran an side adventure to get them in the right direction) and began to approach it. The two mentioned PC's climb to the top of the rigging to glide over to the ship as it gets close.

The result:
The Hadozee launches herself when the other ship us within 400ft as this will allow her to land on the deck at maximum range. The Phanatom can't make it that far, so rather than have a splash down, the Phanatom has a fear of water, he launches himself at the Hadozee, grapples, and rides along, seperating at about 100ft just like the early Space Shuttles did from a Boeing 747.

I swear that my players never do what I expect them to.

Anyone else got any mad stories?

Tony.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Not sure if this would really be termed "Antics" but it is definitely from the Department of Unexpected Player Actions.

First some quick background for my particular campaign. My players refused to take any of the NPCs from the Wyvern with them, but as luck would have it a random encounter very early on resulted in the party meeting a party of Olman hunters. I turned them into guides/red shirts and off we head.

The Black Pudding killed one of the Olman hunters. Since the Dark Mountain Pass was a burial site for the Olman’s ancestors they interred the body with a short ceremony.

Fast forward a couple of days down the road after the first gargoyle attack. Orlangru had already been messing with them, and he’d been following them since the under mountain pass, so as the party comes around a bend in the cliff road they came upon their buddy’s body which had been dismembered and built into a crude pyramid.

At this point the party was pretty convinced the gargoyles were behind all of this, so in an act of defiance, the party goes back to the site of the battle with the gargoyles and gathered up a couple of corpses. They carried the bodies back to the point where they found the Olman’s body and put together a “scaregoyle” – basically the party’s way of extending a collective middle finger to whomever has been messing with them.

The best part was the party member who thought this up has ranks in Craft (Sculpting) – he made a check and with the aid from another party member they got a 30(!). So, I figure it was a really impressive scaregoyle. Probably the most impressive scaregoyle you've ever seen.

Anyway, I just wanted to share – I never would have thought the party would have gone this route. Just one of the reasons why I love this game.


[threadjack] . . . definitely an antic, though

So, several years ago, the group is going through a dungeon. "Bob" loves the computer game Dungeon Keeper, that's how long ago it is. The rest of this post assumes you're familiar with the game. If not, skip; if so, keep reading, it's worth it. I decide to throw "Bob" (specifically) a little flavor, just for the heck of it.

First, I have the PC's roll Listen checks to hear, "Come with us, join us. We will show you many things" whispered on the wind.

So, obviously, at least "Bob" will know what's going on. Then we come to a square room with a walkway around a pool. Yeah, you guessed it, the Temple.

And what does "Bob's" character do?!? He fracking touches the pool! Even the players who had never even played the game, never even heard of it, didn't touch the pool. It was straight out of 28 Days Later, "And why? Because this is obviously a sh!t idea." But "Bob" played Dungeon Keeper and he touched the pool!!!

I was, in real time, stunned for a few rounds. Then the Evil DM gland kicked in and I had him sucked into the pool. A few rounds later, ala R2D2 in RTotJ, his spat outta pool and an ominous disembodied voice intoned, "The gods are displeased with your sacrifice."

I gave "Bob's" character lycanthropy. It took the players about 4 levels to figure out who was responsible for the random killings . . .wherever the group was . . . ever month . . . during the full moon.

[/threadjack]


FilmGuy and Mykull, those are awesome stories. ^^


Does using tar and illusions to disguise the Sea Wyvern as a ghost ship qualify? :-)


Luna eladrin wrote:
Does using tar and illusions to disguise the Sea Wyvern as a ghost ship qualify? :-)

Yes! Particularly if (as I seem to recall) it meant that the party had no way in heck to repair the ship at the end of SWW/beginning of HTBM.


Yes, that's them!


One of my pcs is a Hadozee too. I was taken aback by it at first but later got used to calling him flying monkey boy.

Anyway, my players came this close <holds fingers 1cm apart> to stealing Lavinia's payment to the harbormaster and stealing the blue nixie itself. Thank god there was one character who was LN and made sure the other characters honored the deal. The campaign almost derailed in the first session! I was itching to tell them about the Sea Wyvern but didn't. In a few adventures (Parrot Island and the thieves guild) they'll be off to discover the Kraken Cove.

My players are all wanting to live abord the Blue Nixie while in Lavinia's employ. How can I get them off the boat, or should I let them take the Blue Nixie to Kraken Cove (but drop them off in the designated place in the adventure)?

Shadow Lodge

In a strange game I participate in on fridays, the Dm decided to throw a Gargantuan black dragon at us. We were only third or fourth level, but the dragon was already in a fight with 10 mercenary bands. When we arrived, the druid/sorceress in the party gives my character(a barbarian druid werewolf) a big ring(collar size) and told him to toss it into the dragons mouth. After succeding on a dex check, the dragon swallowed her ring, which she then caused to grow far to big to fit in the dragons throat, which then ripped open. When the DM determined the ring was stuck, the druid/sorceress cast chill metal on the ring and killed the dragon. This all happened within two or three rounds. Once I realize my character could actually pick up the dragon, we took it back to the castle we had found and fed all the people who had arrived after us. We also had some kick-@ss armor madefrom it's scales.

BTW, black dragon meat tastes like old mutton.


cthulhudarren wrote:
My players are all wanting to live abord the Blue Nixie while in Lavinia's employ. How can I get them off the boat, or should I let them take the Blue Nixie to Kraken Cove (but drop them off in the designated place in the adventure)?

Well, since it is Lavinia's ship, she decides who is on it and who is not.

But if your PCs are so fond of ship-based adventures, they could take the Blue Nixie to Kraken's cove (with Lavinia's permission and enough crew, I think they need 7 people) and later use it to tow the Sea Wyvern to Sasserine. Since they have no map of the cove, they will have to stop at the designated place in the adventure, since otherwise they run the risk of smashing the Blue Nixie on the treacherous reefs. A character with profession (sailor) or another nautical skill will realize this. If they are stubborn and sail into the cove anyway, then let them smash into a reef and add a nice sea encounter (savage sharks or something like that) when the ship is making water and they have to abandon ship. Later let them explain to Lavinia why they crashed her ship.


Luna eladrin wrote:


Well, since it is Lavinia's ship, she decides who is on it and who is not.
But if your PCs are so fond of ship-based adventures, they could take the Blue Nixie to Kraken's cove (with Lavinia's permission and enough crew, I think they need 7 people) and later use it to tow the Sea Wyvern to Sasserine. Since they have no map of the cove, they will have to stop at the designated place in the adventure, since otherwise they run the risk of smashing the Blue Nixie on the treacherous reefs. A character with profession (sailor) or another nautical skill will realize this. If they are stubborn and sail into the cove anyway, then let them smash into a reef and add a nice sea encounter (savage sharks or something like that) when the ship is making water and they have to abandon ship. Later let them explain to Lavinia why they crashed her ship.

I think I'll have Lavinia start hiring some crew, and let them take the ship to Kraken's cove as long as they use her crew. Perhaps Urol would be the navigator and warn the PCs of the dangers of Blood Bay. Plus they'd wait on the ship while the PCs go to Kraken's Cove.


That is really a nice way to foreshadow NPCs from Sea Wyvern's Wake. I hope it works out and that your PCs like it.


My players just started SWW. A few days before the voyage to Farshore was underway, a couple of them got a little two drunk and rowdy, getting into a fist fight.

At least, that's how it started. A couple of rounds in, the Cleric/Sorcerer gets a little carried away and starts tossing around Shocking Grasps. He nearly kills the other brawler (Ranger/Rogue), stabilizing him from negative.

The near death experience during what was supposed to be a friendly fight sends the R/R into plotting against the other PC. I'm inwardly groaning at this point since I'm not entirely fond of inter-party combat, because it never ends well. Nonetheless, I let him use black market contacts in Shadowshore to secure a dosage of particularly nasty poison.

In the end, his vendetta and plots to kill the Cleric turn out to weave beautifully into Rowyn's own designs.

The vengeful PC figured Urol might be able to treat the poison, so he attempted to assassinate him, faily miserably and bluffing his way out of it.

Surprisingly enough, he ended up sabotaging the rope bridge at the dinner party, meaning Rowyn had the luxury of sitting back and simply setting the Mephit loose!

After Lirith openly showed interest in the Cleric, the R/R took her aside and gifted the poison to her, passing it off as an aphrodisiac. He instructed her to have the Cleric ingest it only to find out an hour later that the trsuting girl had guzzled some of it down herself and entered a catatonic state.

Shortly after, he jumped at the chance to make dinner and apply the remainder of the poison. This ended up causing a number of people to get sick.

When the poison was discovered in the food and Urol brought up how interested the R/R was in talking about various poisons with him before he made an attempt on his life, the other PCs put all the threads together.

He didn't quite make his escape in a shoreboat.

What I'm finding downright hysterical about the situation is that the PC has been doing most of Rowyn's dirty work for her, and the only real move she's made (the mephit) has also been associated to him just because of his underhanded behavior.

I can't wait until their reaction when they realize there is a second assassin on board. :)

Shadow Lodge

This sunday, the sorceress in the party did some of the most amazing role-playing I have ever seen.

What happened:
The party had just returned from exploring the valley surrondin their castle, when a girl ran up and told them "Hurry! Their going to kill eachother!" and ran off. Chasing after her, the party found the refugee leader and his son in a sword fight. After keeping the other two members from killing them both outright, the druid seperated them with a wind wall spell. Once his son was taken care of and placed in the infirmary, the party learned why they had been fighting. the refugee leader had forbid his son to "To see anymore of that mongrel... child we had taken in."
After hearing him say Ancora(the child) had destroyed their Savior(a false god), the sorceress went into a rant.
"Do you really think we, the God Chosen, would have let her do that if he really had been there to help us all? We are keeping you safe."
"You? What have you done for these people? I lead them through the wilderness only to have our salvation ripped from our grasp by some mongrel child!"
At this point, the druid chimes in.
"What have we done? Are you forgetting the black dragon we killed, thus keeping you alive? Are you forgetting that the child you speak of is letting you stay here because she is being nice?"
Sorceress:"If you do not like it hear, and want your soul to be kept uneaten and not face death by pinecones, you and any who actually beleive the drivel your spouting can leave the valley! Any who are staying will be pleased to know there will be pie after dinner."

All in all, the groups expression could be summed up as "I love it when she rants."


My players have created a situation on the Sea Wyvern where nobody seems to be who he or she really is:

1) Father Feres is now dead, and a criminal contact of one of the PCs is pretending to be Father Feres.

Spoiler:
And Father Feres was pretending to begin with.

2) One evil PC now has an erinyes cohort, who is pretending to be her (human) maid. The real maid has been killed.

3) One of the crew members is actually the son of a nobleman pretending to be a crew member in order to escape some enemies. The PCs have discovered him and are now trying to manipulate him to work for them. However, this NPC is beginning to have second thoughts, since too many strange things have been going on (such as mysterious deaths) and he begins to fear he is the next victim.

Spoiler:
And there is of course Lirith, who is not really saying who she is either.

4) One of the PCs is travelling under an assumed name and identity.

5) Several PCs ar hiding several nasty deeds in their past. Some of them are on the run from the law. Some have committed murder (sometimes by accident).

6) There is an invisible shadow pixie on the ship. It is indifferent to the PCs at the moment, but this may change suddenly.

This is beginning to look like a burlesque comedy. I often catch myself thinking "who was he/she again?"

Spoiler:
The shipwreck is approaching, so I am curious how many people will be able to hide their identities then. It will also create a lot of suspicion when Olangru finally comes after them. It will take them some time to find out Olangru is really there.

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