need suggestions...

[wordelo]

but I'm pretty sure I know where this is going to end up, and I don't like it.

the adventure is prince of the red hand, the section where they enter the church of blessed deliverance...

well the PCs entered in open space without hiding or anything that would be considered a "decent plan" so enter blessed angels. this is basically how it went.

angel: didn't you read the sign? leave now!
PCs: I can't read.
angel: -_- (sense motive)
PCs: I didn't see a sign. (they flipped it over)
angel: -_- you are still not allowed here, leave now!
PCs: why aren't we allowed?
angel: it's not safe, it has been condemned by the ineffable wisdom of Prince Zeech.
PCs: we can handle ourselves.
angel: So can many others in this town, it's still off limits, If you don't leave I'll be forced to arrest you
PCs: you're a devil why are you in this land.
angel: you're not from around here are you? all you need to know is that I'm an enforcer of the law, and right now you're disobeying it.
PC(one): you're hot (flies toward her she keeps distance and plays cat and mouse for a while eventually angel tries to rope her and fails, she then teleports away for backup.

at this point they try to arrest them one PC destroys an angel outright. they try spells, PCs pass all saves. little girl PC transformed into cave troll grapples another angel. the other two try to capture another PC but fails, then they get affected by downdraft and grounded, the PC that killed the first angel deals a lot of damage to another angel, the one that's grappled gets beat up also. the last gets "tripped" and stalls and falls also.

by this point they realize they are up against an elite group and teleport away for more backup.

PCs realize they can summon in an army, one PC dimension doors as far as she can. another artistically cuts himself to make him looked injured (heal skill/cleric guy), the shapeshifter lets go of angel she grapples turns into eagle (or other fast flyer) and flies away.

angels keeping tabs on eagle from high in the air unleashes a fury of arrows which doesn't do much eventually they use hold person and it works eagle falls back to the ground and crashes into a cabbage stand(avatar reference). monk books it using speed.

meanwhile the cleric stumbles out while a band of 5 normal guards approaches the church. the cleric says he was knocked out and dragged to this place. (bluff vs sense motive) either way the guards ask him to file some reports and other lawful society stuff.

we had to end it at this point as things were quickly spiraling out of control. the shapeshifter was targeted as the biggest known threat as it was in the air, the domain of the angels, and it did a lot of damage to one of the angels. the PC who teleported away and actually killed one is lying low in a back alley tavern. speedy monk is currently running we haven't got that far.

so what's next? well the angels have excellent track and hunting skills, the can find the monk easy enough, and the cleric is falling into a clear trap. they can all be used to find the one who actually killed one angel.

this all looks very grim for the PCs.

all arrested for trespassing, for assault or attempted assault on an officer of the law, one of them for murder (can a devil be murdered?), 3 of them for fleeing.

one is already caught but it would be hard to keep this one locked down save an antimagic field. but they got to get her into one I have a feeling simple ropes and two hold persons aren't going to keep her.

the campaign now becomes escape from the law instead of age of worms, basically I believe the party is off for these four (they already procurred invitations)

the only thing I can see happening is if prince zeech personally pardons them just so he can have them at his party. many options available. I want to hear what you think I should do. should I try to still have them at the party? zeech pardon basically. or should I try to chase them catch them throw them in prison for a few years. start a new group while previous group is in prison?

[Touc]

The adventure is clear those who go looking for trouble are going to get it.

If you want a DM device, Zeech might listen to the Ominous Fabler who can forsee the players MUST be at the party (doesn't mean he has to let them live, etc.). Enraged perhaps at the destruction of one of his guards, he listens to the Fool, knowing that greater things lie ahead.

[wordelo]

I don't think the ominous fabler knows the PCs quite yet but you know who would know the PCs? lashonna but she's not there. I'm sure one of her blessed angels could relay some information to her via sending.

the question is would lashonna want them at the party? all they need to do is contact lashonna, the party is just fun that the PCs basically ruined for themselves. I don't have to do the party or try to find a way to still run the party.

you break the law you face the consequences.

[Callum]

I think you're right, wordelo - the PCs must face the consequences of their actions. If they manage to escape Zeech's "justice", and find some way of making contact with Lashonna without getting caught, then they can carry on with the AP - they will just have missed out on gaining authority points and making contacts at the party. If they don't, you'll have to roll up some new characters.

[Sc8rpi8n_mjd]

wordelo, as you pointed out, playing the party is not necessary in the context of the adventure. The important thing is that the PCs talk to Lashonna and get information about Dragotha/Tilagos island/the Order of the Storm. They can still meet with her, but it won't be at the party.

Even if they cannot go to the party, they still can hide in the city. Off the top of my head, I see a few options:

- The church of Kord could give them shelter. The priest opposes Zeech and surely will like people who can stant toe to toe with the blessed angels.

- Miomay at the Miomay's playhouse could also give them a place to rest and hide, again the PCs seem like an option to overthrow Zeech.

- the shanties are another good hiding place (the module says so), since the authorities don't pay too much attention to it.

As far as Lashonna is concerned, she definitely would want to meet with the PCs, knowing they are capable of defending themselves (better chances of getting rid of Dragotha). You don't need to wait until the party. Have her contact them before and set up a meeting in the middle of the night (she can tell them it's for their safety). From this point on, you can continue with Library of the Last Resort. The party has lost a major opportunity to get authority points and enjoy one of the best part of the entire campaign, but these things happen...

There is no need to permanently lose these PCs, at this point in the campaign I don't recommend it.

Finally, I see a problem with this module: The standard blessed angels (CR 12) are no match for PCs at this level (15th). Sure they can use hit and run tactics (greater teleport at will), but I think in the end they will fall. I suggest that if they cross blades with them again, use the statistics for the elite blessed angels in Dawn of a New Age. Since I use Pathfinder, I got rid of those stupid levels in Mortal Hunter PrC and substituted them for ranger levels, with a few changes to the class so the flavor was kept (instead of multiple favored enemies, they only have one: mortals, etc).

[wordelo]

thanks for the feedback. I did beef up the blessed angels a little so they can be more of a match, but when one PC the one that killed an angel can hit AC over 50 consistantly, and deal about 80 damage (half of the angel's HP) only at level 14, it doesn't really matter how powerful I make any enemy.

one player who has DMed this before is going to be really sad that the party is off, but he played his true nuetral character exactly as he would.

they have already developed a relationship with the church of kord who's head priest already warned them about avoiding confrontation with the blessed angels. guess they forgot about that.

[wordelo]

so an update. the angels closed in and wrapped the shapeshifter in rope, monk came in as he was being airlifted away jumped up to grab him like a foot ball turned his hands into daggers (kensai, with morphing special quality) and he cut some rope, meanwhile the shapeshifter broke free of the hold person spells and cut the last of the ropes, they fell.

angels cast wither limb on them, monk rolled nat 1 and lost his legs. shape shifter passed, turned into cave troll picked up legless monk and began to book it. angels then cast charm monster on shapeshifter and she rolled a nat 1 with a few charisma checks later (their +7 V 'her' +1) both the monk and the shapeshifter are behind bars (shapeshifter inside antimagic field)

they did a little interrogating and couldn't find any more info about the whereabouts of the one that got away. she is hiding in the shanties.

the player of the cleric decided to go very far away so it's a little moot to go into details but he was captured, questioned, etc.