Imper1um
|
After last session, I just wanted to report back on what happened. It was the most fun I had in a while. Our group is well into Book two. Everyone is generally 5-6, and we're currently sitting on:
Human Paladin of Erastil
Saurian Cleric of Abadar
Halfling Rogue
Half-Orc Barbarian
A few quirks you might want to know about the setup:
- The Paladin is somewhat of a new player to the LG Alignment, but he's doing incredibly well!
- The Cleric is fully into the Lawful side.
- The Rogue is quite silent, but he's now liking his rogue, and he's getting into the TN/CN alignment, and being "rogueish"
- The Barbarian is quite funny, actually, he's a literate Barbarian that actually is the most calm person half the time. He roleplays it very well!
We have a fifth member, but he was not present at the last session. As I tell my players, I generally do not start misleading them in anything they ask. I either say, "You don't know" or "Here's the information". It makes it easier for people to get used to their characters. However, I also give them the warning that, eventually, I will start misleading you when you fail checks, as per the book.
>>> WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW <<<
So, rules and group aside, the game started out with the players adventuring in the hex with the Mad Hermit. He is a rogue with a pet Puma. The Paladin figured it out easily (Sense Motive) that there wasn't something right and it led to a fight. The end result is that everyone charged the Hermit and outright killed him, which left the Puma.
The fight ended with the Rogue being left with a turn right after a killing blow. The Puma actually hit him once or twice. The rogue saw that it was his turn next, so he asked if he could take a claw. I was going to end initiative, but I decided to go with it. I allowed him to take a claw, forcing the Puma to take some damage from the cut. The Paladin and Cleric (of course) started arguing (well, I should say intelligently loudly discussing, wasn't much arguing) on how it was an evil act. However, I deemed it was a chaotic act, and as a rogue, and as someone that also just had been hit by it, that he was in his rights to do it. The Paladin deemed it as an evil act in his character and warned the rogue about how he wouldn't stand for it; basically the whole, if you do it again, I'm going to kill you.
[Now, getting everyone up to speed on their kingdom. Currently, they have completed Major Event 1, and they have connected Oleg's Trading Post to The Stag Lord's Fort and used the special on SLF to create a Castle.]
By this time, the group was on the way back to their hexes (it was decided last session they would do so). The Cleric, however, wanted to head back to the Dead Unicorn and ask some questions (speak with dead). They split ways, and I had Jhod (their Cleric High Priest) meet the three on the edge of their territory at their castle. He noted that Grigori had pranced into town and was gaining a following and giving the PC's Kingdom Unrest. Obviously, this sprouted them instantly into action. They set out for Oleg's Trading Post (where the event began), and the Cleric got to the Unicorn, asked the questions he needed and started heading back. Pretty much, I had the Cleric stop 2 hexes away from the town (due to his speed), so it was just the Barbarian, Cleric and Paladin at this point in time dealing with the bard.
Now, originally, I was going to run this as it was, they would talk to him, and they would RP how they would drive him out, or arrest him for speaking out against the kingdom, etc, however, I saw an interesting opportunity, due to circumstances, for the players for an RP session.
First, they wanted to follow Grigori. They found out he was using a spell to enthrall a group of people to incite issues, but the Rogue wanted to go one step further. He handed me a note that said he wanted to cut out his tongue at night. Of course, this is truly an evil act, so I handed it back to him, without a word or a nod. That night, when Grigori slept, someone cut out his tongue and jumped off the inn roof with medium sized wooden shoes, got onto a horse and trodded off.
Immediately, the Paladin asked me for a Sense Motive check on everyone he saw (including the party members). I rolled in secret. The Cleric and Barbarian got even, detecting nothing, but the Paladin, I implied a -8 check on his Sense Motive due to the previous issue, and I also rolled a 2. Due to this extreme nature of the roll, and the previous issue, I wrote on a piece of paper and passed it to the Paladin: "He's f'ing lying (the rogue)."
This prompted the Paladin to try to figure out how to pin it on the party's rogue. He didn't openly accuse it, but he went into Ultimate CSI mode, asking about the shoes, following the horse prints, etc. The rogue stayed silent.
{Event Background} What I ruled happened is, in a coincidence, "The Tongue Killer" rode into town last week. He kills his victims by cutting out their tongues and letting them bleed to death. Being as most people do not: 1. Have access to immediate healing and 2. Have access to regeneration magic, he has claimed the life of 9 different people already. He was a decent level rogue and detected the enthrall check he missed after it wore off, so he was pissed off at the Bard for doing that. He plotted to cut out his tongue. It was mere coincidence that the Tongue Killer chose the same night that the rogue wanted to cut out the tongue of the bard. The Tongue Killer uses large padded wooden shoes to appear as a medium humanoid until he gets to the horse. He got on the horse, but was unable to get out of town without being spotted, so he smacked the horse and let it ride out of town on it's own, and he jumped onto a rooftop. The unfortunate thing is that he forgot his wooden shoes on the horse.
What ended up happening is, the next morning, Grigori drank his potion of cure light (to stop the bleeding), then used his money to get a casting of Regeneration for his tongue, which Grigori immediately started blaming the PCs for this treachery, which led to the CSI. The PCs found the horse, found the shoes, and then the Paladin questioned me why I handed him the note, and I just smiled.
Now, at this point, they did not have a suspect at all, and were lost, so the Paladin started praying in the temple for a way forward. Now, generally when players Pray, I roll a d20. On a 1, it means someone is listening. I rolled a 1. The good thing is that I also rolled a 98 on the mood (high == good). The one time I roll a one, it helps me as a GM. I deemed that Erastil would grant him one free use of a powerful, deity-centric cast by Erastil and fulfilled by Erastil that the Paladin could use to ask one question to Erastil about only this situation. This, obviously, prompted them to discuss amongst themselves about what they wanted to do next. Of course, I start listening in and prepare for what they were going to ask: "What do we do next to solve this crime?"
{A little FYI, I am aware of the limitations of Divination, however, as a story element, I modified the rules.} After the paladin asked the question (they were discussing what they would ask outside), I revealed what floated down from above: a piece of parchment. On it, was a crudely drawn map of the surrounding town. It had their current location pointed out with two lines leading through the streets to two different points. At the end of both of these points were two different words. The first word was the name of a drunken man that saw the Tongue Killer, in his drunken stupor, hide something underneath a dumpster: the murder weapon, a hooked dagger with initials. The initials were the creator of the weapon, which was the clue to the second word. They went there and discovered the purchaser's name, a gnome rogue. From there, they just asked around about his whereabouts and ownerships, and found the abandoned shack where he was hiding out (he was waiting for nightfall to escape).
Inside, the rogue hid, until the Barbarian and Cleric barged in and started attacking, and ended up knocking him out. There was a side secret exit under a floorboard that had to be lifted up in order to exit. From the outside, it was supposed to be a DC 14 Strength check, but from the inside, it just required someone to move the thing over the hole to pull out the loose floorboard. The rogue tried entering from that hole, but was rolling 2, 3, 5 on his turns to try to open it, and the paladin just watched and snickered. Fortunately, the Barbarian and Cleric were easily able to knock out the Tongue Killer.
From here, they arrested the Tongue Killer, found him to be insane and just killed him. As for the bard, the bard took the evidence, but was more pressured to continue (due to payment), but the Paladin and Barbarian was more than convincing enough to strike a deal and take a portion of the payment and exile him in exchange for not hanging him.
It was certainly a fun night. I love it. It was a great opportunity to make a small, not very interesting event into a character building, RP night.