[4e] Adventures in the Planes - OOC

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm worried that Aramil just made it harder to stop the ritual. We might have been able to send Thrumbolg, with khopesh and priestess, to another plane with sequester. Now that they're separated, I'm not sure getting rid of one but not the other will stop the ritual.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm worried that Aramil just made it harder to stop the ritual. We might have been able to send Thrumbolg, with khopesh and priestess, to another plane with sequester. Now that they're separated, I'm not sure getting rid of one but not the other will stop the ritual.

Thrum thinks he needs to keep the blade in for it to work. Aramil probably just pissed him off. Or stopped the ritual from progressing any further.

[DSCrankshaw]

Maybe. But I think that the only way to be certain is to banish Thrumbolg and kill the priestess. I have no idea what that will do to the ritual, however.

[Nai_Calus]

OK. I need to step away. At this point I'm too upset to post anything civil.

I've asked nicely that we try to come up with something that doesn't involve going off the moral deep end. It's also kind of completely rude to decide it's OK to kill someone's character after we just had a huge IC scene to stop exactly what Crankshaw and Orsik have suddenly decided is the only way.

I'm depressed again. I've been off my meds for nearly a month now. I'm suicidal on and off and I cannot deal with this anymore and having to argue every other second to beg that we don't resort to things I've said a dozen times I don't find workable either in or out of character.

I cannot do this anymore. I do not have the strength. Yes, it's a game, but it's one I care a lot about, one I'm frustrated I can't do anything to influence, and it's too damned much for me right now to have to constantly argue the same exact thing over and over again. It kills Zyrr, it alienates Eltain from the party, it screws up what he's aiming for, I just can't keep arguing this. I can't do it right now.

Jon, please NPC Eltain for the rest of the fight. I cannot do this. I can't.

[DSCrankshaw]

I've decided to turn my interest thread into a 13th Age one-shot, if anybody's interested. I don't think I could run a campaign, but I think I could do a short adventure.

The information is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15615422) if anybody's interested.

[Hzurr]

Anyone have suggestions for Eltain / Zyrr's actions? My plan was to just have them go up and start beating on the guy, unless there are other ideas

[DSCrankshaw]

Can they disable that last ward? It should only take two more minors.

[Orsik Vondal]

If it only takes two minors, Eltain to down the ward, And Zyrr to attack the drow to end the ritual prematurely just to make sure it won't spread farther or preempt Thrum from completing it by reinserting the Khopesh.

[DSCrankshaw]

I'm reluctant to suggest that Zyrr do that, since killing the drow would release the ritual and might hit Zyrr as well. I'm not sure we should vote that a player character being NPCed sacrifice himself (though clearly Toric was thinking of doing that already, he did back out). I have one or two things I can try next turn to perhaps help Zyrr against the effects, if it's unleashed anyway.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm reluctant to suggest that Zyrr do that, since killing the drow would release the ritual and might hit Zyrr as well. I'm not sure we should vote that a player character being NPCed sacrifice himself (though clearly Toric was thinking of doing that already, he did back out). I have one or two things I can try next turn to perhaps help Zyrr against the effects, if it's unleashed anyway.

Oops!:smalleek: I forgot about that. Don't do that, Hzurr! Wail on Thrum. Next Turn Pav can Sequester Zyrr. If he saves, Lucan bolsters his defenses vs. the ritual when he reappears. So Pav > > Zyrr>>Lucan. The rest of us will keep Thrum occupied. How does that sound?

[DSCrankshaw]

I'd rather sequester the khopesh (including Thrumbolg) and wail on the drow priestess. I'll buff saves, in case that releases the extinction spell anyway.

Hzurr, can I get a ruling on whether Savior's Song can, or can be altered, to help Zyrr save against the extinction ritual, if it releases? It's supposed to let people re-roll one save at the end of their turn. It's not clear that the save would happen at the end of Zyrr's turn (unless he's the one who kills her?), or if the ritual just naturally kills at the end of the turn. But maybe Lucan can alter it in some way, with his unimpressive Arcana skill.

Heck, might as well roll:

[roll0]

Well, not with that roll.

[Mando Knight]

It's too bad Pavick already used his polymorph spell... using the Khopesh to make all nearby mundane toads die would have practically no effect in the Feywild! :smalltongue:

[Orsik Vondal]

Insight check on whether or not/how much Thrum is getting nervous about this fight and his survivability.

[roll0]

[Nai_Calus]

It's too bad Pavick already used his polymorph spell... using the Khopesh to make all nearby mundane toads die would have practically no effect in the Feywild! :smalltongue:

"The Feywild used to a beautiful place, but then some crazy adventurers killed all the toads around Senaliesse and the fey mosquitoes took over around there and spread out throughout the Feywild. Some people just have no respect for the delicate balance of nature."

[Hzurr]

It's too bad Pavick already used his polymorph spell... using the Khopesh to make all nearby mundane toads die would have practically no effect in the Feywild! :smalltongue:

Not going to lie, this really made me laugh, and had you pulled it off I would have stood up and applauded.


Insight check on whether or not/how much Thrum is getting nervous about this fight and his survivability.

[roll0]

Er...I'd thought this was obvious, but yes, he's getting very nervous. Mainly pissed & angry, but also nervous.



Hzurr, can I get a ruling on whether Savior's Song can, or can be altered, to help Zyrr save against the extinction ritual, if it releases? It's supposed to let people re-roll one save at the end of their turn. It's not clear that the save would happen at the end of Zyrr's turn (unless he's the one who kills her?), or if the ritual just naturally kills at the end of the turn. But maybe Lucan can alter it in some way, with his unimpressive Arcana skill.

Heck, might as well roll:

[roll0]

Well, not with that roll.

Nope, you don't think you could use it in that way.


I'm reluctant to suggest that Zyrr do that, since killing the drow would release the ritual and might hit Zyrr as well. I'm not sure we should vote that a player character being NPCed sacrifice himself (though clearly Toric was thinking of doing that already, he did back out). I have one or two things I can try next turn to perhaps help Zyrr against the effects, if it's unleashed anyway.


Yep, let me send a message to Toric to verify if he's ok with doing that, since it *might* kill his character.

[Orsik Vondal]

If we go with the plan of sequestering Zyrr, then buffing his saves if he gets out, we will be giving him the most protection we can under the circumstances and still striking the drow downstairs.

[DSCrankshaw]

There's still a risk that we won't manage to stop the ritual, and it will go off as initially intended. I'd rather not give Thrum what he originally wanted. That makes it safer to sequester him rather than Zyrr.

[Orsik Vondal]

There's still a risk that we won't manage to stop the ritual, and it will go off as initially intended. I'd rather not give Thrum what he originally wanted. That makes it safer to sequester him rather than Zyrr.

According to Aramil's last post, the priestess should be separate from Thrum now. He hit her AC of 36 with a roll of 38 and then teleported her 4 squares away. If we Sequester Thrum this next round he will not be able to reinsert the blade before the ritual "completes". But the ritual might still have an effect, though possibly less devastating than the original.

On the other hand, Aramil removing the drow from the blade may have stopped the ritual's progression, and reinserting it might not help that fact. We don't know whether the ritual will go off at the beginning of the enemy turn or at the end. I would assume, possibly in error, that it would release at the start of their turn, because the ritual was started on Thrum's actions.

Can someone Arcana the priestess to see if the ritual is still working or if it needs the blade to maintain its drive? If the ritual has stopped and is no longer viable, I say Sequester Thrum. If it is still going just not 100% and cannot progress, do Zyrr to try and save him. If it is still going, but CAN progress by sticking the blade back in, do Thrum. So if we can't figure anything more specific out about the ritual, chances are better to do Thrum.

[Hzurr]

According to Aramil's last post, the priestess should be separate from Thrum now. He hit her AC of 36 with a roll of 38 and then teleported her 4 squares away. If we Sequester Thrum this next round he will not be able to reinsert the blade before the ritual "completes". But the ritual might still have an effect, though possibly less devastating than the original.

On the other hand, Aramil removing the drow from the blade may have stopped the ritual's progression, and reinserting it might not help that fact. We don't know whether the ritual will go off at the beginning of the enemy turn or at the end. I would assume, possibly in error, that it would release at the start of their turn, because the ritual was started on Thrum's actions.

Can someone Arcana the priestess to see if the ritual is still working or if it needs the blade to maintain its drive? If the ritual has stopped and is no longer viable, I say Sequester Thrum. If it is still going just not 100% and cannot progress, do Zyrr to try and save him. If it is still going, but CAN progress by sticking the blade back in, do Thrum. So if we can't figure anything more specific out about the ritual, chances are better to do Thrum.

Didn't I state fairly clearly that the unconscious priestess counted as an attended object? She & Thrum will teleport together. She has an AC only as far as if you're trying to kill her. Same as if you sequester him, he'll bring the priestess with her.

[DSCrankshaw]

I thought Aramil teleported her away from Thrum. That's what he tried to do in his last post, at least.

[Hzurr]

I thought Aramil teleported her away from Thrum. That's what he tried to do in his last post, at least.

I know what he tried to do, but I also thought I'd already made it clear that it wouldn't work. I assumed Mando simply hadn't been paying attention. Was the "treat the priestess like an attended object" bit not clear?

this isn't shark, I'm genuinely asking: was it unclear?

[Mando Knight]

It was a little. I assumed that it didn't quite work both ways: that if you tried to move Thrum away from the priestess, he'd drag her along, but if you tried to move the priestess away from Thrum it would have a chance.

I thought I had a clever solution to the problem, but apparently not... :smallsigh:

[DSCrankshaw]

I think part of the problem is that you've indicated that we can target the priestess, but it's not really clear what we can do with her if we hit.

And if we do something that's supposed to move her or teleport her, does she simply not move, or do she and Thrum both move?

[Orsik Vondal]

I think the only thing we can do, now that moving her is out of the question, is kill her outright. So if we Sequester Thrum on our next turn, the ritual will only affect that one drow, granted the demiplane insulates the rest of the drow, which I'm not sure we have definitively established...:smallannoyed:

[Hzurr]

Ok, yep, I haven't been clear.

So, mentally, here is how things are in my mind:

Thrum is currently holding both the Priestess, and the khopesh. They're all considered one unit and can't be separated (just like you couldn't target his arm with an attack and teleport away his shield). Now, if for some reason the priestess was conscious, then the normal rules for grappling would apply, but she's currently unconscious for some unknown reason.

Thrum is currently holding the khopesh into the priestess, and it's pouring it's energy into her. As was stated earlier, if the priestess is killed now, it would release the energy currently stored up, and would kill the drow in the immediate area (which is why she has an AC) The longer y'all delay, the more drow it may kill.

Currently, the round is waiting for me to NPC Zyrr/Eltain. The current suggestion by the party was for Zyrr to kill the priestess and prematurely end the ritual. Since this would most likely kill Zyrr in the process, I've messaged Toric and was waiting on him to get back to me before I NPC'd him in a way that would kill him.

Does that clarify things?

[DSCrankshaw]

Having Zyrr attack the priestess is an idea we batted around, but I don't think any of us are too thrilled with it, given the consequences to Zyrr. If you don't hear back from Toric soon, you should have him attack Thrum instead.

[Hzurr]

Bantered about some ideas with Nai, he decided to go with a drain/disperse the khopesh's energy idea.

Re-rolling, since I'm occasionally dumb and forget how to use the forum roller. Eltain loses: [roll0] Healing Surges

--

Edit: Really glad that didn't come up as 7 or 8. Would have been awkward explaining how I managed to kill Eltain in one post.

[Nai_Calus]

Don't worry, you'll manage it next round.

[Hzurr]

Haha, holy crap. So the combination of Asheroth & Zyrr's attacks bloodied him by 2 HP. That, combined with y'all having sealed up the wound from Tiandra earlier, and the Khopesh getting drained by Aramil last round and Eltain this round, means that things suddenly took a very, very different turn.

Need to step into a meeting right now for work, so the major IC update will come in an hour or so.

[Orsik Vondal]

Will the floor crumbling affect Tiandra too, or is her area of the ground safe?

[Hzurr]

Will the floor crumbling affect Tiandra too, or is her area of the ground safe?

Would you like to spend your action making a dungeoneering check to verify?

(kidding. Yep, the whole floor is going. That includes the floor under Tiandra, the throne, etc)

[Orsik Vondal]

If Ash can hover, does he need to take a move action to do so? Or can he just do it once the floor is gone?

[Nai_Calus]

Jon, we need to talk about your obsession with making my Paladin fall.

[Hzurr]

If Ash can hover, does he need to take a move action to do so? Or can he just do it once the floor is gone?

I thought you didn't have hover, just a clumsy fly speed?

I'll assume that you can, since you know what your PC can do better than I do. If you're standing on the ground, you'll fall if you don't take an action to fly, but even if you fall it won't be too difficult to catch yourself.


Jon, we need to talk about your obsession with making my Paladin fall.

Stop traveling to places that make it tempting to drop the PCs!

And if I recall, the first time you fell was because Pavick blew up your ride.

[DSCrankshaw]

Does Yuri get a standard action as well?

[Orsik Vondal]

Does Eltain still have a teleport? He can hop back on Frank no problem. :smallwink:

[Nai_Calus]

Yes but you're the one who ruled the failure blew up the spider. Hence it is your fault.

Also by the mount rules Frank and I have separate actions.

This place has walls, yes?

[Nai_Calus]

Does Eltain still have a teleport? He can hop back on Frank no problem. :smallwink:

Eltain always has a teleport, Ethereal Stride is at-will.

[DSCrankshaw]

What sort of action is it for Pavick to open his escape portal?

[Hzurr]

Does Yuri get a standard action as well?

As a communist, I'm fairly certain he'll have to share an action with you.

Honestly, I don't remember the rules offhand for the fey beast tamer thing, so we'll assume it follows the same rules as a mount, and has it's own action.



This place has walls, yes?

Walls, yes. Ceiling, no.

[DSCrankshaw]

Crazy plan time. With the floor gone, Pavick should have LoE to open up his portal directly beneath Tiandra. We all grab on to the Tiandra-ice-statue and ride it through to Arvandor.

[Hzurr]

Crazy plan time. With the floor gone, Pavick should have LoE to open up his portal directly beneath Tiandra. We all grab on to the Tiandra-ice-statue and ride it through to Arvandor.

So basically this:
http://spacedoutclass.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pickens_bomb_rider1.jpg

Just with a frozen archfey?


I have no problems with this.

[Orsik Vondal]

Not to throw a wrench into the system, but what about the Khopesh? We probably don't want that thing in the hands of just anybody, even though, it has no power left. I can send Keezul after it. He might be able to retrieve it once Thrum smacks the ground and probably falls unconscious. (I know he won't die, but a fall like that has got to do something more than tickle. :smalltongue:)

Wait...Is Thrum thrusting the spear into the floor with both hands? You did say "Drawing out the magical spear, he drives his entire weight behind it and plunges it into the transparent floor." If he has let go of the Khopesh, Ash is going after it.

[Hzurr]

Not to throw a wrench into the system, but what about the Khopesh? We probably don't want that thing in the hands of just anybody, even though, it has no power left. I can send Keezul after it. He might be able to retrieve it once Thrum smacks the ground and probably falls unconscious. (I know he won't die, but a fall like that has got to do something more than tickle. :smalltongue:)

Wait...Is Thrum thrusting the spear into the floor with both hands? You did say "Drawing out the magical spear, he drives his entire weight behind it and plunges it into the transparent floor." If he has let go of the Khopesh, Ash is going after it.

Hmm...technically he only needs one hand to wield the spear. But he also doesn't care about the Khopesh that much any more. So yeah, Ash can go for it, but he'll draw an OA if he does.

[Orsik Vondal]

Hmm...technically he only needs one hand to wield the spear. But he also doesn't care about the Khopesh that much any more. So yeah, Ash can go for it, but he'll draw an OA if he does.

He's gonna do that!

[DSCrankshaw]

We still don't know if that khopesh is going to go off. I'm not sure it's a good idea to bring it to Arvandor until we're sure.

[Mando Knight]

So, how many more times can Hzurr get us to fall off a tree before we all get some way to fly?

[DSCrankshaw]

Heh. I think after the next level-advance, throwing us off a tree will just be an excuse to use our "once a day when we die" abilities.

[Nai_Calus]

I'm thinking Eltain and Frank are going to get near Tiandra and then Frank is going to fly under her and carry her while Eltain tries to secure her. Assistance from someone who isn't incapable of tying knots would be helpful, as would be someone healing Frank.

I don't suppose a frozen archfey counts as a rider, to kick in the DR from Frank's armor? Even if not, with Eltain using the daily on his cloak to give Frank extra cold resist it's only ongoing 5 he'd take. Jerk has more cold resist with that than Eltain does. Which is ridiculously un-epic and derp that the one PC who makes sense to be able to tell ongoing cold to **** off still takes a huge amount of damage. :/

[DSCrankshaw]

I like the idea of opening the portal right beneath her better. I'm not so sure you can carry her, and this way you can focus on rescuing falling PCs.

[Orsik Vondal]

How long will the portal stay open, Dar?

::edit:: FYI, when Thrum takes his opportunity attack, Ash will use Reflexive Judgment and knock him straight down. Just to put an exclamation point on things.:smallbiggrin:

[Nai_Calus]

The portal is a range 5 standard action that takes 3 surges to open and lasts until end of next turn and is sustain standard at the cost of a surge a round.

It's right there on his character sheet. ;p

The kink here with opening it beneath her is that Pavick is more than 5 squares from Tiandra and we have only a single standard action.

Hence the suggestion to get her to stable ground on Frank while Thrumbolg goes splat and regroup to get out of dodge.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm driving back from Big Bend National Park right, so connectivity on my phone is spotty. Thanks for the info, Nai. Could an action point be used to do more?

[dariathalon]

Nai has it right.

The distance thing is our biggest hurdle at this point. Orsik's question about being allowed to spend an action point is a big one now. Pavick should still have his, and can teleport a pretty good distance when he spends it, so should be able to get there if that's possible. Otherwise, I don't know how we'll get it done.

Yet another "victory" that leaves us scrambling to save our own skins instead of having something to celebrate. :smallannoyed:

[Orsik Vondal]

Pav can jump on Ash's shoulders or Ash can snatch Pav out of the air after he gets the Khopesh.

[DSCrankshaw]

It seems like spending your action point should work. With the extra move action, you should be able both to get within range and to hop on Tiandra.

But this is really a DM call. What about it Hzurr? Can Pav spend an action point to deal with the range issue?

[Hzurr]

The distance thing is our biggest hurdle at this point. Orsik's question about being allowed to spend an action point is a big one now. Pavick should still have his, and can teleport a pretty good distance when he spends it, so should be able to get there if that's possible. Otherwise, I don't know how we'll get it done.
I didn't realize you still had yours. Yeah, you can totally use it!



Yet another "victory" that leaves us scrambling to save our own skins instead of having something to celebrate. :smallannoyed:

...?

Really? Assuming you're able to teleport Tiandra out of here, this means that you'll have
1) Saved the Drow from wiping out the Eladrin, since the second spider wasn't able to get to the top, allowing the Formorians to slaughter the drow that did survive
2) Stopped the Formorians from wiping out the drow (and although there are differing opinions on this one, stopping mass murder is usually considered a plus)
3) Completely kicked the &*@# out of the Formorian King that was rumored to be invincible
4) Rescued Tiandra from Senaliesse (which is why you came here in the first place)

So...you're doing exactly what you came here for, and stopped hundreds of thousands of deaths in the process.

I think you're confusing "saving our own skins" with "appropriately dramatic exit (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0119.html)." When you get back to Arvandor, it's not going to be a "Oh. So the Court of Stars got smashed up a bit? What a bunch of losers" it's an "OH MY GODS! You did exactly what you were meant to do in spite of overwhelming odds, saved an entire race (or two), laid the smack down on the super evil Formorian King, and the 8 most powerful high-priestesses of Lolth have been killed? YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!" :smallwink:

[dariathalon]

I didn't realize you still had yours. Yeah, you can totally use it!

Yeah, I think I had originally forgotten to write it down when you said we'd hit a milestone before this fight. I knew I had it because every round that went by I considered using it. You said we'd gotten one before this fight, I haven't spent one during this fight, therefore I should still have it.


Really? Assuming you're able to teleport Tiandra out of here, this means that you'll have
1) Saved the Drow from wiping out the Eladrin, since the second spider wasn't able to get to the top, allowing the Formorians to slaughter the drow that did survive
2) Stopped the Formorians from wiping out the drow (and although there are differing opinions on this one, stopping mass murder is usually considered a plus)
3) Completely kicked the &*@# out of the Formorian King that was rumored to be invincible
4) Rescued Tiandra from Senaliesse (which is why you came here in the first place)

So...you're doing exactly what you came here for, and stopped hundreds of thousands of deaths in the process.

I think you're confusing "saving our own skins" with "appropriately dramatic exit (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0119.html)." When you get back to Arvandor, it's not going to be a "Oh. So the Court of Stars got smashed up a bit? What a bunch of losers" it's an "OH MY GODS! You did exactly what you were meant to do in spite of overwhelming odds, saved an entire race (or two), laid the smack down on the super evil Formorian King, and the 8 most powerful high-priestesses of Lolth have been killed? YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!" :smallwink:

Yeah, I know we've done a lot of good stuff while here, but I don't know it just feels like a long time since we've had a real definite victory. I suppose if you look at it as a dramatic exit, it feels a little better, but from my perspective it feels like having to pull every trick out of our collective bags to have even a chance to come out alive. Maybe I'm just pessimistic like that.

By the way, I'll be out of town for the next few days at a funeral. I'll probably still have internet access, but in case I disappear, that's why. I should be back by the middle of next week (at the latest).

[Orsik Vondal]

Run to portal
If he reaches it before it goes through, he grabs on and holds for dear life.



What is it? The statue? Or Yuri? The statue is gonna hurt. Yuri won't. I think...

[DSCrankshaw]

The statue. Mainly so I can make the DM's vision of it come true.

[Orsik Vondal]

The statue. Mainly so I can make the DM's vision of it come true.

Will Lucan be able to have kids after this escape!?:smalleek:

[Nai_Calus]

Do we really want Lucan having kids? That's kind of even more terrifying than the idea of Eltain breeding.

Also, Eltain is in teleport range of the portal, so there's a pegamule going spare within range of anyone who needs it. I can send him to you and you can use your action to get on a nice convenient flying mount.

[Orsik Vondal]

Zyrr has his flying carpet

Ha ha ha...I forgot Zyrr had that carpet. :smallsigh: Keezul should be helping Lucan first, I guess.

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan hadn't used his action point yet. He should have plenty of time to reach the portal.

[Orsik Vondal]

Lucan hadn't used his action point yet. He should have plenty of time for each tr portal.

Soooooooo... ( Keezul is looking around, twiddling his thumbs and whistling.) :smallsigh: We are epic tier, aren't we?

[Hzurr]

So with the exception of Lucan, the entire party can either fly or teleport ridiculous distances. And Lucan has a traveling menagerie.

You people are ridiculous.

As soon as Aramil jumps through, I'll post for Zyrr & brainstorm how the people of Arvandor will react to a giant frozen archfey and a bunch of crazy epic PCs come tumbling into their midst via a sudden portal.

[dariathalon]

Pavick can only teleport very far with an action point. Normally his teleports are restricted to 4, which I suppose at-will still isn't too shabby.

[DSCrankshaw]

What does Pavick get an at-will teleport from?

[dariathalon]

The Fey Shift feat gives him teleport 2, and he's got boots that add another two on to that.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain's is bigger. :smallcool: (Ethereal Sidestep is a 1-square at-will teleport power, which I've got a ring that adds 2 to my teleports and a dagger that adds 4 for a total of 7 at-will.)

[Hzurr]

Eltain's is bigger. :smallcool: (Ethereal Sidestep is a 1-square at-will teleport power, which I've got a ring that adds 2 to my teleports and a dagger that adds 4 for a total of 7 at-will.)

Are those both item bonuses?

[Orsik Vondal]

Are those both item bonuses?

Oh snap, dawg! But probably not. Most teleportation bonuses are untyped. It usually says something like, "Increase the distance of your teleport by X."

[Mando Knight]

Yeah, speed and teleport distance bonuses are rarely typed... they apparently didn't think people would try to stack them, or didn't think they'd be worth limiting.

[dariathalon]

Eltain's is bigger. :smallcool: (Ethereal Sidestep is a 1-square at-will teleport power, which I've got a ring that adds 2 to my teleports and a dagger that adds 4 for a total of 7 at-will.)

Pavick is a gnome; of course Eltain's is bigger. But Pavick has learned that size isn't everything.

[Orsik Vondal]

Pavick is a gnome; of course Eltain's is bigger. But Pavick has learned that size isn't everything.

Yeah! It's all in how you handle it (http://cli.ps/PWVBE)!

[Nai_Calus]

Are we seriously suddenly nitpicking things after like three months and like three fights. :smallannoyed:

No. Neither is a typed bonus. I'm not actually aware off the top of my head of any teleport distance increasing items that are. The phrasing on the ring and dagger are, respectively:

When you teleport, increase the distance of your teleport by 2.

When you use a teleportation power, the distance you can teleport increases by 4 squares.

The only effect here being that if I had a teleport speed I'd only get +2 to it because teleport speeds are not teleportation powers.

This is arguably ridiculous, yes, but it is rules legal and has been for years and is a fairly common optimization.

Plus, if we're going to have fights with creatures with teleport speeds over twice my over-optimized nonsense, I refuse to feel any remorse about my nonsense. :smalltongue:

[Orsik Vondal]

No one begrudges you your ridiculousness.

I just can't believe you totally skipped over the awesome Spaceballs reference I made! :smalltongue:

And I think we're still waiting on Aramil to get the Hells out of Dodge. :smallwink:

[Hzurr]

I think you took that much more seriously & accusatory than I meant it. It was just random curiosity while I was on my phone browser & unable to check the character sheet to see for myself.

Its an awesome combo.:smallcool:

[Hzurr]

Fair warning, just moved into my new apartment today, but won't have internet here for a couple of weeks, so my posting may be limited to during the week when I'm at work (unless I can get my phone to tether)

[Nai_Calus]

(which amused Aramil... a pair of divinely-blessed half-breeds each more capable than their parents could ever aspire to themselves)

Of course Frank is more capable than his parents. His mother spent all her time horsing around and his dad was kind of an ass. :smalltongue:

[Hzurr]

Quick question:

Mentally, I had thought this part would continue until after y'all confronted the Prince of Frost. Are y'all ok with that, or are people in a rush to level up?

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm okay with continuing on to the Prince.

[Mando Knight]

Hzurr, Frank may be half ass, but he's not half-assed. :smalltongue:

[Hzurr]

ok, if no one has strong opinions on pausing here, then feel free to go ahead & post your reactions to the odd celebration IC.

[Orsik Vondal]

I know. I know. It's a huge wall of text! :smallannoyed::smallsigh: I spoilered what happens in Ash's room to make it easier on the eyes. You can read it if you want. But you don't have to. Ash has changed a lot since we left Nath Seldarie. And this is first time he's been able to deal with it. Sorry for the info dump!

[Mando Knight]

I think certain extremely powerful creatures would have placed powerful safeguards against the summoning of fiends into Arvandor...

[Orsik Vondal]

I think certain extremely powerful creatures would have placed powerful safeguards against the summoning of fiends into Arvandor...

Don't worry. Ash had it covered. Besides that possible hiccup, did you enjoy it? That's what I care about most. Adding a rich bit of story.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain is not joyous about anything at the moment and I prefer as little writing of what other people's chars are doing as possible. :smalltongue:

[Hzurr]

Eltain is not joyous about anything at the moment and I prefer as little writing of what other people's chars are doing as possible. :smalltongue:

um...ok? Not certain how to respond to this, so I'm going to ignore everything outside of smiley faces.

Yay smiley faces!

:smallsmile::smallsmile::smallsmile::smallsmile:

[Nai_Calus]

Sorry, unclear, I was commenting on Orsik writing him as crying joyous tears at a party.

[Hzurr]

Well, statistically speaking, Eltain was going to cry at some point during the evening. That boy is a walking Johnny Cash song... :smalltongue:

Teasing aside, you do raise a valuable point:

Orsik, I have no problem with you taking a bit of literary freedom with the various NPCs (I actually encourage it), but in the future try to refrain from describing what other PCs are doing or how they're reacting to things if they haven't specifically said that's what they're doing. It's not a novel. They control their characters, you control yours, and the two areas don't overlap. :smallsmile:

[Orsik Vondal]

Alright. I was trying to be theatrical by describing what Ash was seeing. I wasn't meaning to usurp narrative control. I just wanted to include you guys in my post. That failed.

[Hzurr]

Guys, I've got a real computer with real internet again. Its glorious. Rejoice in my acquisition of the wifis.

Will give Nai a bit more time to post, else IC post will go up tomorrow morning my time (so ridiculously late tonight, y'all's time)

[Mando Knight]

y'all's time
You can take the man out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the man. :smalltongue:

(Though seriously, I find y'all to be an amusing reappearance of a plural "you," which is a very handy part of speech that English lost a long time ago...)

[Nai_Calus]

It's a pity he doesn't have an accent at all or he could confuse the Scots with his accent as much as they confuse him with theirs.

And yeah, I've been using y'all since... Pretty much forever, and I'm from California.

[DSCrankshaw]

Sorry, I couldn't resist. At first I was going to do Lucan, but . . .

[Orsik Vondal]

I think it works. Yuri is a unicorn and not a bicorn. :smallwink:

[Mando Knight]

Eltain, the 26 Cha heartbreaker. If this (http://axecop.com/comic/episode-171/) happens to him in Arvandor, be prepared for this (http://axecop.com/comic/episode-172/) to not work. (Warning: written by a now-9-year-old, with some editing by his 32 year old brother.)

[Nai_Calus]

That is seriously gross. :smalleek: Yuck.

I can see Eltain hitting on Lucan or Lena, but Yuri would be beastiality which is just squick. Although I guess sentient talking animals can give consent, which just ruined Narnia for everyone and explains centuars, mermaids, fauns and satyrs.

[DSCrankshaw]

Well, you did say "hitting on nearly everything that moves," and Yuri does move. You didn't say you were limiting it to bipeds.

But, if you want to write it off as a simple misunderstanding, I'm sure Yuri would be just as happy to forget it ever happened.

[Nai_Calus]

Yuri had his head down and a pretty elf girl was standing with her back to him and from behind with his vision a little blurred... :smalltongue:

[DSCrankshaw]

I notice that the letter doesn't say that our safety is guaranteed at the conference. And Ash's name isn't listed.

[Orsik Vondal]

I notice that the letter doesn't say that our safety is guaranteed at the conference.

I was thinking that same thing! Tricksey feyses! :smallamused:


And Ash's name isn't listed.

How rude! :smallmad::smallsigh:

[Nai_Calus]

Yeah, that's rather an interesting omission.

Also, technically, Tiandra is perfectly safe. :smallwink:

Well, Asheroth hasn't pissed him off yet like we have. Aramil, Lucan, Pavick and Zyrr all testified against him last year, Eltain didn't get a chance to testify but did call for his punishment, Eltain's also been running a rebellion right there in the winter lands for the last year...

I'll throw some thought at it because I have to go to work, but I think unless someone objects Eltain will counter-offer to have a meeting somewhere else more neutral.

[Orsik Vondal]

I'll throw some thought at it because I have to go to work, but I think unless someone objects Eltain will counter-offer to have a meeting somewhere else more neutral.

I agree. Unless this was an oversight by Hzurr, we need to have a promise that we will be granted safe conduct while we are at this meeting.

[Hzurr]

I notice that the letter doesn't say that our safety is guaranteed at the conference.

Typically, this sort of thing is assumed. However, fey promises are a bit fuzzy on literal vs. implied



Well, Asheroth hasn't pissed him off yet like we have. Aramil, Lucan, Pavick and Zyrr all testified against him last year, Eltain didn't get a chance to testify but did call for his punishment, Eltain's also been running a rebellion right there in the winter lands for the last year...

Yep, the PoF has no real reason to think Asheroth is relevant, since Asheroth joined the party fairly recently (and after the initial clash between the party & the PoF). He probably knows that Asheroth exists and was somewhat involved in the Feywild rescue, but that's the extend of it.


Unless this was an oversight by Hzurr

You would not believe how many times an oversight or miscommunication on my part has significantly changed the course of this campaign.
PCs: "Oh, the NPC said A instead of B. That must mean..."
DM: "er...yes. That's exactly what it meant. It was all part of my plan. Of course."

[Orsik Vondal]

Not to unnecessarily split the party and make Hzurr's DM life crazier, but if Ash was not specifically invited, might the PoF use his appearance as a reason to void his promise of safe passage? "I see you brought another warrior with you. Were you expecting me to attack you!? That is an affront to my character! And an affront on my character is tantamount to an attack on me! Guards seize them!" It's possible. Ash would be fine with staying or going, whatever works for you guys. He also does not want to be the cause for another fight. This one on the PoF's home turf. If he stays, he might be able to uncover more information about this "Vault of Slain Angels".

I leave the choice to you guys. If you want Ash to come, he will be waiting for an ambush. If you want him to stay behind, he will continue to look for the "Vault of Slain Angels".

[Hzurr]

I'd prefer not splitting the party, and y'all are in a position where you can do some negotiation (and it seems like that's where people are already considering, seeing as how there are worries about the wording of the offer)

[Nai_Calus]

The best way to check any legal document for loopholes is to change the names involved to that of the PCs and one of their enemies and present it to a D&D group. That thing will be picked clean of every possible loophole, unclear wording or possible alternate interpretation within 15 minutes, possibly faster.

But yes, since it was either intended to be suspicious or you've decided it now is suspicious, it's time to engage full PC paranoia mode. Break out the 12 foot poles, boys.

[Orsik Vondal]

Well, Ash needs his name on it for one. :smallannoyed:

The Prince's scribe should be fired/killed for misspelling "Seelie". :smallconfused:

Our discretion is appreciated, but not required. <-- We should keep this part. :smallbiggrin:

We need, in no uncertain terms, to be accorded safe passage to and from the conference AND while we are at the conference.

And a specified neutral site would be good. :smallwink:

Those are my suggestions.

[dariathalon]

Well, Ash needs his name on it for one. :smallannoyed:

The Prince's scribe should be fired/killed for misspelling "Seelie". :smallconfused:

Our discretion is appreciated, but not required. <-- We should keep this part. :smallbiggrin:

We need, in no uncertain terms, to be accorded safe passage to and from the conference AND while we are at the conference.

And a specified neutral site would be good. :smallwink:

Those are my suggestions.

These all sound good. However, I might suggest a site on our turf and negotiate down to a neutral site if we have to. Maybe start with a suggestion of the Inn of the Lady's Favor for a start to get us completely out of the Feywild for this.

[Hzurr]

The Prince's scribe should be fired/killed for misspelling "Seelie". :smallconfused:


So many 'e's!

Oops.

---

So who is going to be the one to actually suggest these changes to Certhiel?

[DSCrankshaw]

Well, who has the best Diplomacy? I know someone has a higher modifier than Lucan, though he does have Words of Friendship and a re-roll when talking to Fey.

[Hzurr]

Well, who has the best Diplomacy? I know someone has a higher modifier than Lucan, though he does have Words of Friendship and a re-roll when talking to Fey.

Y'all are a walking diplomacy machine. Lucan, Eltain, Asheroth, & Pavick all speaking reel good.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain will do it. He doesn't have the highest modifier, but he's a winter fey and Certhiel is his mother.

[Orsik Vondal]

Eltain will do it. He doesn't have the highest modifier, but he's a winter fey and Certhiel is his mother.

Ash can aid him. He'll speak after Eltain.

[Nai_Calus]

All that wall of text and I forgot to roll.

[roll0]

One short of hard DC, but aid another is so easy Asheroth doesn't even have to roll.

[DSCrankshaw]

And of course the roll doesn't work. Let's try that again.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Orsik Vondal]

Well, I'm glad that 1 was for an aid roll! :smalleek: I don't remember the last time Ash rolled a nat 1. Hopefully, this does not begin a string of horrible rolls for him.

[DSCrankshaw]

Are we seriously planning to ask The Lady of Pain for a favor? I'm not sure she even speaks. I don't remember any stories of her treating with anybody. This is the woman who keeps the gods out of Sigil, and who will quickly banish anyone who tries to worship her, unless she just kills them with her shadow.

[Orsik Vondal]

[roll0]
and
[roll1]
to determine whether the rumor about the Lady of Pain killing people who ask her for favors is true and any examples of people that have been killed for asking or were not killed even though they asked.

[dariathalon]

Are we seriously planning to ask The Lady of Pain for a favor? I'm not sure she even speaks. I don't remember any stories of her treating with anybody. This is the woman who keeps the gods out of Sigil, and who will quickly banish anyone who tries to worship her, unless she just kills them with her shadow.

Eh... Why not? Just because she can doesn't mean she will.

[Hzurr]

[roll0]
and
[roll1]
to determine whether the rumor about the Lady of Pain killing people who ask her for favors is true and any examples of people that have been killed for asking or were not killed even though they asked.

Kill? Not typically, no.

Banish to a maze demiplane where 99% of those trapped there wander their entire lives until they die of old age, never learning how to trigger the exit portal? Quite Likely.

The Lady of Pain does not suffer fools gladly. And by fools, she means just about anyone who bothers her (assuming you could find her at all).

Actually, at this point it's questionable if any of you would be allowed back into Sigil at all. Very powerful creatures that can upset the balance in Sigil she tends to refuse entry to. You'd attempt to walk through a portal, and it simply wouldn't work.


----
edit: Sorry, that made things sound like it was impossible. It isn't impossible, just very very difficult. A truly legendary feat that would go down in history. Sounds a bit right for epic level characters...


Are we seriously planning to ask The Lady of Pain for a favor? I'm not sure she even speaks. I don't remember any stories of her treating with anybody. This is the woman who keeps the gods out of Sigil, and who will quickly banish anyone who tries to worship her, unless she just kills them with her shadow.

She's on record as having spoken once.

[Orsik Vondal]

Actually, at this point it's questionable if any of you would be allowed back into Sigil at all. Very powerful creatures that can upset the balance in Sigil she tends to refuse entry to. You'd attempt to walk through a portal, and it simply wouldn't work.

Blast! :smallmad: And Woohoo! :smallbiggrin: Ash has always wanted to be barred from somewhere because he was too powerful. :smallwink:

We could try someplace in Arvandor like Eltain suggested, but the PoF will probably still want the armies to withdraw.


edit: Sorry, that made things sound like it was impossible. It isn't impossible, just very very difficult. A truly legendary feat that would go down in history. Sounds a bit right for epic level characters...

Then I say, LET'S DO IT!

[Hzurr]

As a GM, this basically sums up my entire reaction to this plan:

http://i.imgur.com/6bhRJXQ.gif

It's so ridiculous that I almost want it to happen now.

[dariathalon]

Hey, WOTC has given us some indication skill challenges may work with the Lady of Pain, though it'll be difficult. I didn't know this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8aqEEmjSrc) existed until just now.

[DSCrankshaw]

Finding her isn't hard. Just declare yourself God-Emperor of Sigil, and she'll show up real quick. Surviving that encounter is another matter.

[Nai_Calus]

This is the worst idea of all time. Of all time. I'm not even gonna let you finish. Oh gods this is a horrible idea. *weeps into Planescape boxed sets*

[Hzurr]

I'm away from my PC right now, but late tonight I can do a Lady of Pain / Sigil infodump to provide a bit more context of y'all decide to press ahead with it.

[DSCrankshaw]

Y'know, there are other astral dominions that can serve as neutral ground, and other deities, most of whom are more approachable than the Lady of Pain. Vecna, for instance. Or the Raven Queen.

[Hzurr]

This is the worst idea of all time. Of all time. I'm not even gonna let you finish. Oh gods this is a horrible idea. *weeps into Planescape boxed sets*

You Coward!!

[Orsik Vondal]

Y'know, there are other astral dominions that can serve as neutral ground, and other deities, most of whom are more approachable than the Lady of Pain. Vecna, for instance. Or the Raven Queen.

Ash would go for the Raven Queen. It just so happens that talking with her lines up with one of his other goals as well. And it's probably cold there, so the PoF would like it. :smallbiggrin:

Though asking the Lady of Pain out on a date would be nice too. :smallsigh:

[dariathalon]

I doubt that other neutral ground would be acceptable to the prince, even though I'd be fine with it. The only reason Certhiel agreed to a meet in Sigil is because she didn't think it would happen.

I'll admit I'm not too savvy on Planescape, but think of the look on the PoF's face when we tell him we've secured passage to Sigil for him. This seriously sounds like an epic level adventure.

[Orsik Vondal]

I doubt that other neutral ground would be acceptable to the prince, even though I'd be fine with it. The only reason Certhiel agreed to a meet in Sigil is because she didn't think it would happen.

I'll admit I'm not too savvy on Planescape, but think of the look on the PoF's face when we tell him we've secured passage to Sigil for him. This seriously sounds like an epic level adventure.

We are EPIC level. Let's do something EPIC!

My wife likes baseball. She always says it's better to strike out swinging! :smallwink:

[Nai_Calus]

There's a difference between 'epic' and 'suicide mission'. This is rather the sort of thing that gets you flayed rather than mazed. Mazed we might get out of, flayed not so much.

[Orsik Vondal]

Don't be so proud of this technological terror you have constructed in your mind. The ability to destroy an adventuring group is insignificant next to the power of that group's ambition! :smallwink::smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

Y'all need to thank your lucky stars there has been no flaying. My kill record with Mind Flayers is ridiculous. Illithids have killed more of my PCs than dragons, kobolds, Orcs, goblins, and evil wizards combined.

[Mando Knight]

There's a difference between 'epic' and 'suicide mission'. This is rather the sort of thing that gets you flayed rather than mazed. Mazed we might get out of, flayed not so much.

She's not called the Lady of Pain for nothing.

[Orsik Vondal]

Y'all need to thank your lucky stars there has been no flaying. My kill record with Mind Flayers is ridiculous. Illithids have killed more of my PCs than dragons, kobolds, Orcs, goblins, and evil wizards combined.

But how many stubborn dwarfs have you killed? I seem to remember one stalwart dwarf that took on a mind flayer alone and lived to watch him run away...:smallwink:

[Orsik Vondal]

Then Hzurr says,

http://i.imgur.com/x8UktFB.jpg?1

[Nai_Calus]

The problem here is that some of you seem to not have ever been exposed to Planescape and the Lady Of Pain.

One does not simply rattle their bone-box at the Lady Of Pain. Any berk leather-headed enough to try that is gonna get put in the dead-book. Her Serenity shows up, you suddenly remember that pressing business you had in Curst and get out. She doesn't talk to anyone. Anyone foolish enough to try anything with her is going to wish they hadn't. She keeps the sodding Powers out, no addle-coved Primes are going to give her the laugh.

It's utter insanity. Nobody does anything with her and gets away with it. She's basically the living incarnation of DM smackdowns. It Does Not Happen. Might as well try to cast magic at the base of the Spire. Eating Razorvine is probably a better idea. Exploring the lowest layer of Acheron. Swimming in the River Styx. Spending a few minutes in the Negative Energy Plane. Visiting Carceri without a way out. Squishing a spider in front of Lolth in the Demonweb pits. Climbing the Spire. Counting the layers of the Abyss. Counting the number of tan'ari in the abyss. Walking up to Demogorgon and telling him he's stupid and the baatezu are totally going to win the Blood War. Paying a friendly visit to Ilsensine. Making a deal with a dragon. Wait, that one's Shadowrun. You get my point.

Of all the horrible ideas the group has considered, this may well be the worst. I say that with full sincerity. It's well established in canon that the Lady is untouchable. We've got a better chance of going to the Fortress of Frozen Tears and having Eltain successfully seduce the Prince of Frost.

Fine, let's go full madness. Eltain's gonna seduce the Lady Of Pain and live through the experience. He will seductively draw rebuses at her.

[Mando Knight]

Making a deal with a dragon. Wait, that one's Shadowrun.

In D&D, dragons can be quite equitable. And are probably the majority shareholders in most equal housing lenders.

[Orsik Vondal]

Canon shmanon. This is Hzurr's conception of the D&D world. There have been plenty of times he has thrown the PHB, DMG and MM out the window for the sake of the story. I wouldn't get so hung up on the "rules" that the story becomes un-exciting. Be daring. Yeah, it's dangerous for our characters, but it's exciting to try!

[Hzurr]

Drat, my books are still buried in a box that I haven't unpacked yet, so most of this is on memory.

So, basically, here's the LoP rundown: She doesn't speak, she doesn't really interact with people. Occasionally she moves through Sigil, and people get the #%@ out of her way, because those who bother her are typically sent off to wander a maze for eternity. Also, her shadow flays the flesh. She rarely gets involved in any of the day-to-day activities unless something starts threatening the stability or structure of Sigil, or those people who try and worship her as a god. So if you start the Church of the Lady of Pain, or gain too much power and start overthrowing guilds and carving out bits of Sigil for yourself, one day you'll turn a corner and find that the hallway in your house doesn't go where it used to. You'll turn back the way you just came from and find it leads somewhere different. And like that, you're in a maze. There's always an exit, but it follows the same rules as Portals in Sigil, so there's a chance that you could walk right by the exit every day for 100 years and never find it.

Sigil used to be run by various factions that wielded power throughout the city. Bleakers, Godsmen, Dustmen, Mercykillers, etc. They would battle and grow in power and influence, etc. Eventually things got so out of hand that the Lady of Pain came to a meeting of the leaders and said basically "Your warring factions will no longer be tolerated." and left. So things got fixed, very quickly.

Most of the day-to-day stuff in Sigil is taken care of by dabus, and odds are if you wanted to communicate or get a message to the LoP, it'd be through one of them.

The biggest concern to the LoP is the balance and security of Sigil. If there's something that threatens that, the party may be able to use it as leverage.

---------------------------

Mando, did Aramil make that statement about pulling troops back to the party, or to Certhiel?

[Nai_Calus]

Exactly. It's a horrible idea. And no, not canon schmanon. It's that way for a reason. It's a terrible idea period. The DM has said it's a horrible idea.

Also, dude, Planescape is my favorite setting, so yeah, I care a lot about the canon, screwed up as 4E made it what with not having the proper planes and going post-Faction War and all. I've got absolutely no interest in giving the laugh to the Lady Of Pain. You might as well go paint Asmodeus pink and glue purple sparkles to him if we're going to go about being all 'lawl we're just going to go have a social visit with the Lady Of Pain'.

Seriously, it's an awful, ludicrous, horrible idea.

[Hzurr]

And no, not canon schmanon. It's that way for a reason. Eh, there is a bit of cannon-schmanon. We've re-written cannon enough this game that I'm not tied to anything. But most of the LoP stuff is the same.


The DM has said it's a horrible idea. Not horrible, just dangerous and difficult. It's a legitimate plan, you just have to be prepared for the consequences if it doesn't go correctly.


You might as well go paint Asmodeus pink and glue purple sparkles to him

This also falls into the "epic level quest that is dangerous and will likely have dire consequences, but is technically do-able and would make you legends." category. :smallwink:

-----

From a DMs standpoint, I can roll with anything. If this is something y'all really want to go with (and from Aramil's most recent dialogue, it sounds like it's not the most likely option), I'd recommend against sending the entire party, just to avoid a defacto tpk if things go poorly. If one or two people are willing to risk their PCs on this, you're welcome to try (as long as you're prepared that you may lose your character in the process. Risk vs. Reward and all that).

[Orsik Vondal]

edit: Sorry, that made things sound like it was impossible. It isn't impossible, just very very difficult. A truly legendary feat that would go down in history. Sounds a bit right for epic level characters...



As a GM, this basically sums up my entire reaction to this plan:

http://i.imgur.com/6bhRJXQ.gif

It's so ridiculous that I almost want it to happen now.

Hzurr said it was ridiculous, not horrible. Also, I point to the first quote: Sounds a bit right for epic level characters...

I'm not saying we'll get out unscathed. But if we secure a meeting site in Sigil. We will have proved ourselves once again. And the PoF will be shaking in his boots. Like Dar suggested Certhiel/PoF probably suggested Sigil because she/he doesn't think we can do it. Hzurr has offered us a way to deal with the LoP. "The biggest concern to the LoP is the balance and security of Sigil. If there's something that threatens that, the party may be able to use it as leverage."

I can think of one fact that might sway her: Alluvius Ruskin is working with Asmodeus. Lu has extensive knowledge of Sigil's portals and portal transportation in general. Her in the employ of a god, who is currently on the warpath, might be a situation the LoP would want to protect herself against. Asmodeus is probably planning on rewarding Lu for her service in the Blood War. Sigil could be promised as a kingdom for her, which is one of her hidden desires. And what better way to take over sigil than with an army of devils.

I think we should try. We're freaking epic level. I wanna do something EPIC!

[Nai_Calus]

Then go with Jon's suggestion and send Asheroth to try. I'm not willing to risk Eltain's existence on something as relatively useless as have a neutral meeting ground when there are other means to the same. Risk vs Reward is not high enough on the reward side here for me. I'm extremely attached to Eltain and I'm not going to risk him being permanently taken out with no way of getting raised to do something I think is a horrible idea in the first place.

Sorry, I'm not losing my favorite character on something relatively unimportant we know in advance is a horrible idea with very low chance of success. Not happening.

[Orsik Vondal]

Then go with Jon's suggestion and send Asheroth to try. I'm not willing to risk Eltain's existence on something as relatively useless as have a neutral meeting ground when there are other means to the same. Risk vs Reward is not high enough on the reward side here for me. I'm extremely attached to Eltain and I'm not going to risk him being permanently taken out with no way of getting raised to do something I think is a horrible idea in the first place.

Sorry, I'm not losing my favorite character on something relatively unimportant we know in advance is a horrible idea with very low chance of success. Not happening.

Hzurr knows my love for Ash as a character. How I've been wanting to play him for over two years. I'm up for sending Ash to talk to the LoP.

[Hzurr]

Hzurr knows my love for Ash as a character. How I've been wanting to play him for over two years. I'm up for sending Ash to talk to the LoP.

Feel free to express your desire IC to see how the rest of the party reacts to this decision.

[Mando Knight]

---------------------------

Mando, did Aramil make that statement about pulling troops back to the party, or to Certhiel?

To the party.

[DSCrankshaw]

I've got to say that this has not become a better idea in the meanwhile. But I feel I should correct a few misconceptions:

Each maze is unique. There's not just one; it's different for every person.

And it's not as if no one has ever escaped from her mazes before. It's rare, but not unheard of.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash is all for putting on his big tiefling pants and braving the maze, should he be banished there.

[Mando Knight]

And it's not as if no one has ever escaped from her mazes before. It's rare, but not unheard of.

Doing it before you might as well have died anyway, though, that's another story.

"Dear Prince of Frost,

We apologize for leaving you without an answer for five months as we found our way out of the Lady's maze. If you or our mutual foes from the Feydark have not yet taken advantage of our leave of absence and broken the relatively leaderless siege, and if the devil fleet has not yet taken over the Astral Sea, we have now secured permission for you to enter Sigil and Lucan's tavern on the third day after the next Winter Solstice for the conference, lasting no longer than one month."

[Orsik Vondal]

Again, it doesn't have to be all of us. Ash will go alone.

[Mando Knight]

And what would the point of that be? What would we gain by letting one go alone and possibly disappear for months, years, or even centuries without contact, if he lives at all?

We're in Arvandor, the Prince is loathe to leave his Fortress with the siege in place (what difference does it make for him whether he's leaving for Arvandor or Sigil? He's not keen on leaving, and Certhiel hasn't stated that gaining the Prince passage to Sigil will cause him to relax that requirement), and I imagine the Lady is rather unwilling to relax one of Her Rules for a rather tangential crisis (yes, having a master of portals trapped in servitude to archdevils is a bad thing. What does that have to do with letting an Archfey in for peace talks in a completely different war?).

There's little to gain, and much to lose.

[Orsik Vondal]

Lu ain't trapped in servitude. It was implied that she joined their cause of her own volition.

The point is to try. If the majority of the group is opposed to Ash going, Ash won't go.

[Hzurr]

The point is to try. If the majority of the group is opposed to Ash going, Ash won't go.

I think at this point it's safe to say that most people are opposed to it. Not because it wouldn't be fun to try, but because the risk-reward scale doesn't balance out. Not worth risking a PC for what might possibly be a better location for negotiation. If it was something more substantial (like if the LoP had a way to actually free Tiandra, or stop the devils or something), it'd probably be worth it. But for just a small shift in the scales, it's not valuable enough to risk permanently losing a PC (and escaping the maze would literally be "roll 1d100 every 5 years. On a 99 you escape. On a failure, we'll begin the rolls to see if you survive long enough to attempt another escape roll")

[dariathalon]

Yeah, Hzurr's pretty much nailed my opinion on it. I'd love to try it, but really can't justify the risk at this point. We have so much more important things to accomplish right now. While doing so might help us accomplish those other things, the bonus is negligible enough that we really shouldn't risk it. Perhaps the opportunity will pop up again later at a time when it wouldn't be so dumb to try.

[Mando Knight]

Yeah, Hzurr's pretty much nailed my opinion on it. I'd love to try it, but really can't justify the risk at this point. We have so much more important things to accomplish right now. While doing so might help us accomplish those other things, the bonus is negligible enough that we really shouldn't risk it. Perhaps the opportunity will pop up again later at a time when it wouldn't be so dumb to try.

If it was our only shot at success, I'd try it, but the mechanics for its failure are such that having a couple of us dying outright instead is preferable. The Lady uses the Maze for a very good reason: the kind that are a real trouble to her are generally also the ones for which dying isn't much of a problem.

[Nai_Calus]

Can I maybe roll History/Streetwise/Other to try to figure out WTF, given the complete lack of sense that post made? Although I guess we don't have any options now anyway so it's moot but, uh... Huh?

[Hzurr]

Can I maybe roll History/Streetwise/Other to try to figure out WTF, given the complete lack of sense that post made? Although I guess we don't have any options now anyway so it's moot but, uh... Huh?

Insight & History, if you please

[Nai_Calus]

History: [roll0]
Insight: [roll1]

Well Eltain has no idea about anything, as usual, not sure why I bothered rolling but. Next.

[Hzurr]

You hit a moderate DC, so it isn't as worthless as you thought.

Insight - You strongly suspect Certhiel just had rank pulled on her, and she is pissed about it.

History - Hamadryads are often used as envoys and servants by the Bramble Queen.

If anyone else wants to try, feel free.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash'll give it a whirl!

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Hzurr]

If you had to guess, you'd suspect that the Bramble Queen (possibly among others) is attempting to prevent this meeting from being held outside the feywild.

[Hzurr]

So. How we feeling? We doing well? Deeply disturbed by the news?

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash likes this new development. It suggests that the Prince and Bramble Queen are not on the same page. Possibly more than that. He sees this as a chance for us to drive a wedge between them by playing them against each other. We agree to the meeting in the Prince's palace, but also set up a secret meeting with just the Prince somewhere else. Preferably outside the Feywild if we can. Perhaps the Prince is moving in a different direction than the Queen. If so, we should capitalize on that.

[Nai_Calus]

Not too keen on it; don't know what to do with it, not sure what we *can* do with it; sent you more detail via PM.

I'll try to post tonight if I can think of anything at work.

[Hzurr]

One quick note after seeing Nai's messages. I thought it was obvious but on rereading I see that it wasn't at all. It does strike you as a little strange that this messenger would arrive so soon after you'd finally settled on a decision.

[DSCrankshaw]

So it sounds like someone may be either scrying or spying on us.

[Orsik Vondal]

So it sounds like someone may be either scrying or spying on us.

dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUN! :smalleek:

[Nai_Calus]

So when was the last time anyone saw Selene?

[dariathalon]

So it sounds like someone may be either scrying or spying on us.

If this is the case (which I'd agree with), then Ash's proposal of a hush-hush meeting with the PoF seems likely to be a little less hush-hush.

[Orsik Vondal]

If this is the case (which I'd agree with), then Ash's proposal of a hush-hush meeting with the PoF seems likely to be a little less hush-hush.

That depends on whether they are scrying on us specifically or on Certhiel. If on us, then I agree. If on Certhiel, we might be able to get a private message to the PoF through another medium.

My question is:I'm just wondering how someone less powerful than a god can scry on a god's domain? is Arvandor not warded against scrying?

[Hzurr]

So when was the last time anyone saw Selene?

It's been a while since anyone has seen her. Since before y'all came to Arvandor, at the least. Also, since I'm guessing where this line of questioning is leading, yes I'm assuming that Lena is with Lucan at all times unless you specifically mention otherwise.

Also, since now you're stopping to consider the idea of Scrying, Pavick (and probably Aramil & maybe Eltain/Asheroth) would know that if there was a generic scrying sensor in the room you probably would have detected it. For something subtle enough to scry on you without you knowing it, it would require either a personal object owned by the scryer that you've got in your possession, or a personal object of yours that the scryer had access to.



My question is:I'm just wondering how someone less powerful than a god can scry on a god's domain? is Arvandor not warded against scrying?

It has basic defenses against scrying, yes. It'd most likely be more difficult if Corellon or Sehanine were physically here, but regardless it'd take a creature of significant power to be able to scry here.

[Orsik Vondal]

DM Post

OOC: Asheroth knows nothing

I didn't think Ash would be able to detect it. Worth a try though!:smallbiggrin:

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain will Jazz hands the joint to see if he can find anything:

Arcana: [roll0]

Not capable of rolling a high enough Perception so I won't bother.

A seven, really. I hate you, forum roller.

[Hzurr]

What/where is Eltain focusing on specifically?

[Nai_Calus]

Party members, especially pets. Well, Lena particularly since metagaming, but all of us.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ummmm... Dumb question, but...who is Selene?

[Hzurr]

Ummmm... Dumb question, but...who is Selene?

Not a dumb question. She was before your time. A servant who worked for Aramil's family that has helped the party from time to time. Lucan's familiar has an uncanny resemblance to her.

[Nai_Calus]

Must resist urge to tell them we know they're watching and then squish Lena/stuff her in a bag of holding that someone here is inevitably carrying. Or deliver snappy lines about knowing and if they want to meet with us they can do it on our terms, otherwise they know damn well what we can do and we'll be winning this war, thanks, they can deliver their surrender to us.

Fortunately nobody has yet mentioned anything vital other than that we're confident enough to not need the siege because we've got a trump card, which for all they know is thawing Tiandra.

[Hzurr]

Must resist urge to tell them we know they're watching and then squish Lena/stuff her in a bag of holding that someone here is inevitably carrying. Or deliver snappy lines about knowing and if they want to meet with us they can do it on our terms, otherwise they know damn well what we can do and we'll be winning this war, thanks, they can deliver their surrender to us.

Fortunately nobody has yet mentioned anything vital other than that we're confident enough to not need the siege because we've got a trump card, which for all they know is thawing Tiandra.

Yep, the fun bit is going to be watching y'all deal with this without letting on that you know. Unless you want them to know that you know. And if you know that they know that you know, you know how to use that to your advantage.

[DSCrankshaw]

This seems like a prime opportunity to feed the enemy false information. Although that would probably mean feeding Lucan false information as well.

[Mando Knight]

But what exactly do we know that they know that we know?

[Hzurr]

But what exactly do we know that they know that we know?

I don't know.

[Nai_Calus]

I will drown you all in your own blood.

And yeah, unless we're going to press this spying to gain an advantage in negotiating, we probably should keep Lucan out of the loop and feed him false info. For the record, I'd vote for keeping Eltain in the dark if it were Frank.

[dariathalon]

Yeah, but if you make them bleed enough for that, they'll probably go unconscious. Which means that they won't know that you're drowning them. But you'll know that they are being drowned. But the sounds of your maniacal laughter will probably carry over into their unconscious dreams, so they'll know that you know that you're doing something bad and loving it. :smallbiggrin:

The problem with keeping Lucan in the dark is he already knows big parts of our plan, such as the "thawing" of Tiandra. Who knows how long Lena has been used to scry on us.

[Hzurr]

Quick note: There's no psychic link between Lucan and Lena. If you can slip a message to Lucan that she can't hear or see (a sending spell, or a note or something), Lena wouldn't know something just because Lucan knows it

[Nai_Calus]

Yeah, we need to find out how long ago Selene was kidnapped/how long she's been a filthy traitor to know how much they know.

Well, that kind of puts a damper on everything putting it that way. I figured it was recent, but apparently not.

So, assume they know everything, I guess, which puts us in a bad place. Plus we can't hide anything without them knowing we're hiding things and we can't just get rid of Lena because she's Lucan's familiar.
Joy. I like this even less now. I'm back to having no idea how to proceed. Hells, IC we can't even discuss how to proceed because there's no way for Eltain to tell the others that isn't obvious.

[Hzurr]

To communicate a hidden message in the presence of other parties without them realizing it is a bluff check, I believe. DC 27

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain needs a 9 or higher for that and screwing up would be even worse than it already is.

...You know the forum roller hates you when you consider a 55% chance of success too risky to try.

[Orsik Vondal]

Ash doesn't need to roll. His modifier is more than 27. I may need help on how to phrase it, though. Any suggestions?

[dariathalon]

The problem with that is so far, Ash doesn't know what's going on. If I've tracked things correctly, Eltain is the only one who has noticed anything off and he's trying to get the message across to the rest of us (Lucan included).

Pavick actually has very good odds of noticing the thing (+32 arcana) and transferring on the message (+24 bluff) if he notices it. So far I haven't had him check though because it seems sort of cheesy to me to make the attempt just because I OOC know that someone else has found something. Unless Hzurr rules it is something that Pavick might just notice with his extreme skill and okays a passive sort of roll.

[Orsik Vondal]

Well, Ash did ask Pav specifically if the Bramble Queen could be scrying on us. Is that enough reason?

[dariathalon]

Oh, yeah. I guess I missed that line. :smallredface: With that request, of course Pavick would check.

I'll go post IC now.

Edit: With that roll, I should get at least as much as Eltain. Though I will wait for confirmation in case there's something else to know with the higher roll or anything.

[Hzurr]

Cool, and with Pav's bluff modifier, it shouldn't be difficult for him to relay this same information.

[dariathalon]

Well, it was a successful roll, but only barely.

Oh, for Orsik's benefit since he wasn't around when the game started... Berrian was a very jumpy wizard the party met during their first adventure back in Fallcrest. So saying we're as clean of scrying as Berrian is calm, is saying yes we are being scry'd upon. I'm assuming here that at some point along the way, we've probably shared with Ash some of our previous adventures. Given that many of the PCs do have at least some bard in them, I'd imagine that there's a lot of off-screen story-telling going on in the party.

The rest of his message was supposed to relay that the scrying is being accomplished through a CONNECTION to LUCAN'S FAMILIAR that has only been created RECENTLY, in case that part wasn't as obvious as it was in my head :smallwink:. My bluff skill to get secret messages across isn't nearly as high as Pavick's.

[Nai_Calus]

Heh, yeah, I'm not sure I'd get that one if I didn't know what was going on already.

[Orsik Vondal]

Oh, for Orsik's benefit since he wasn't around when the game started...

It's funny that you would used Berrian, the jumpy Rex House Wizard, to convey your secret message, because I was there when he was created. It was, I believe, the second 4E game I played. Hzurr was DMing.

In the previous game one of our characters was named Murderous Rex, and he had a rich background story that involved being estranged from his wealthy merchant family back in Fallcrest, the Rexes. It started because we all wanted to know why his name was Murderous.

From there we all began adding to his story. When our campaign ended, we wanted to continue with the Rex story we had established in that game, so some of us created new Rexes or affiliates of the Rexes. Berrian was one of those creations. I had the opportunity to play Tyrannous Rex, Torturous Rex and the Rex house artificer, a dwarf named Orsik Vondal.

You probably met Furious Rex the barbarian. He, Tyrannous and Murderous pretty much made Berrian into the basket case he is today, because they fought with each other all the time, and usually looked to their weapons to solve any problem.

Good times.

So, Dar, it's funny you would use Berrian to make your point. I, as a player, know exactly what Pav is talking about! :smallwink: Small world, huh?:smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

DAMNIT ORSIK, YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO REVEAL THAT I RE-USED PLOTS IN MY VARIOUS 4E GAMES!

Geez, now everyone is going to learn how unoriginal/lazy I am.

(to be fair, the games took very different directions, but yes Berrian (and the Rex family) were based loosely off of events in a previous 4e game. To be fair, that game started in 2008, and this one didn't start til 2010)

[Orsik Vondal]

Geez, now everyone is going to learn how unoriginal/lazy I am.


I thought that was common knowledge...:smalltongue::smallwink::smallbiggrin:

[Hzurr]

I thought that was common knowledge...:smalltongue::smallwink::smallbiggrin:

Is that so?

Hate to break it to everyone, but the campaign is over. I've gotten a cake to celebrate.

http://i.imgur.com/WIkm6HZ.jpg

[DSCrankshaw]

Fortunately, Lucan's got a pretty good sense motive:

[roll0]

Edit: Unfortunately, the forum roller seems to think that it would be out-of-character for Lucan to be too wise about what's going on. Give me a bit while I think about how to play this.

[Orsik Vondal]

Fortunately, Lucan's got a pretty good sense motive:

[roll0]

You fumble your Sense Motive check. Lucan thinks this is a very common birthday greeting in some Eastern European countries.

[DSCrankshaw]

Actually, I was planning to use the roll to determine how Lucan would react to Pavick's secret message. It succeeded, so I don't want to negate that, but clearly Lucan has different ideas about what it means.

[Hzurr]

As frustrating as nat 1s are for the players, it's much more entertaining for me.

[Nai_Calus]

You don't have to make rolls for understanding the party. In this case, this is important enough I'd really rather we all accept the correct conclusion.

[DSCrankshaw]

Where's the fun in that?

Really, since it affects Lucan's familiar and his relationship with her, I want to handle it carefully. And in this case, I think the most likely way for it to play out is for Lucan to understand Pavick's not so subtle message, but to not believe it. Which seems a likely way for things to play out, whatever the die says.

[Hzurr]

Where's the fun in that?

Really, since it affects Lucan's familiar and his relationship with her, I want to handle it carefully. And in this case, I think the most likely way for it to play out is for Lucan to understand Pavick's not so subtle message, but to not believe it. Which seems a likely way for things to play out, whatever the die says.

I leave the choice entirely in your hands, however you want to go with it.

[dariathalon]

Where's the fun in that?

Really, since it affects Lucan's familiar and his relationship with her, I want to handle it carefully. And in this case, I think the most likely way for it to play out is for Lucan to understand Pavick's not so subtle message, but to not believe it. Which seems a likely way for things to play out, whatever the die says.

If Lucan catches Pavick's message, but does not believe it, the natural first reaction for most people would probably be to check it out for proof. Lucan is trained in arcana, so he should at least have a chance of spotting it for himself.

[Nai_Calus]

Unfortunately he can only hit Hard DC on an 18 or higher. If everyone in the party trained in Arcana aids, we can get that down to a 10, but that would also be so obvious as to do exactly what I don't want to see, which is the attempt to not give away the realization immediately and undo Pavick's bluff check.

So, we're going to have to figure out how to get Lucan to believe us without having him remove the point. Which will involve somehow getting Lena to buzz off temporarily, because it's now a massive liability we have no good way of dealing with and can't get rid of without giving away that we know. Pretty much, we're completely paralyzed here. We can't discuss or plan anything because we can't get rid of Lena.

[Hzurr]

Unfortunately he can only hit Hard DC on an 18 or higher. If everyone in the party trained in Arcana aids, we can get that down to a 10, but that would also be so obvious as to do exactly what I don't want to see, which is the attempt to not give away the realization immediately and undo Pavick's bluff check.

So, we're going to have to figure out how to get Lucan to believe us without having him remove the point. Which will involve somehow getting Lena to buzz off temporarily, because it's now a massive liability we have no good way of dealing with and can't get rid of without giving away that we know. Pretty much, we're completely paralyzed here. We can't discuss or plan anything because we can't get rid of Lena.

This is like the 40th time you've declared things pointless and impossible in the last month.:smalltongue:


I suggest people stop debating OOC and start taking some actions IC!

[Nai_Calus]

It's not impossible, just unbelievably annoying to have to talk in bluff checks.

As for doing things IC, nobody wants that right now. Eltain's urge is to grab Lena out of the air and storm out there with her to confront this latest messenger and tell her the bad faith is unappreciated. ;)

[DSCrankshaw]

This is like the 40th time you've declared things pointless and impossible in the last month.:smalltongue:


I suggest people stop debating OOC and start taking some actions IC!

That's going to have to wait until I get home from work. So it'll still be a few hours before I can get an IC post up. Which shouldn't stop others from posting.

But just on an off chance, let's try an Arcana check:

[roll0]

[DSCrankshaw]

It's not impossible, just unbelievably annoying to have to talk in bluff checks.

As for doing things IC, nobody wants that right now. Eltain's urge is to grab Lena out of the air and storm out there with her to confront this latest messenger and tell her the bad faith is unappreciated. ;)

If Eltain touches Lucan's familiar, there will be words.

Besides, best I can figure out, it's not Lena's fault.

[Hzurr]

If you suspect Selena is spying on y'all via Lena, you could always use the giant scrying lake to find her.

(or other, less lake-scaled options)

[Orsik Vondal]

Insight check if Ash needs it.

[roll0]

He didn't find anything with his arcana, but he suspected the scrying before. Even if he doesn't know the story of Berrian, he would probably get the gist of the subtle emphasis.

[Nai_Calus]

Don't talk smack about Eltain's mother behind his back. :smalltongue:

Also, Eltain is going to be extremely confused when he gets back.

[Hzurr]

So, how are people leaning? Trying to sneak a message to the PoF, tracing down what's going on with Selene, some other completely crazy idea that no logical person would come up with but that somehow works?

[Nai_Calus]

I'm leaning towards 'We have close to zero information, haven't had enough time to do research, haven't been able to discuss much yet, and do not know enough to make any kind of decision'. This is what you get for negating our previous decision, having to wait while we try to figure out a new one from scratch. :smalltongue:

[Hzurr]

I'm leaning towards 'We have close to zero information, haven't had enough time to do research, haven't been able to discuss much yet, and do not know enough to make any kind of decision'. This is what you get for negating our previous decision, having to wait while we try to figure out a new one from scratch. :smalltongue:

It's less "negating your previous decision" and more "what would the enemies be doing while y'all sat around discussing this" and "let's finally take a handful of these problems the party brought upon themselves and have the consequences finally show up." What's happening now is actually the ramification of 3 or 4 different decisions the party has made over the last few years. Also, there's a very specific purpose why I'm doing this that will eventually become clear.

:smallwink:

[Orsik Vondal]

I'm leaning toward trying to get a secret message to the PoF, possibly using a Sending. We could tell him the BQ is trying foul up the negotiations by inserting herself in them. Which she probably is.

There should be a way to send a message to the Prince without the BQ finding out.

[Nai_Calus]

It's less "negating your previous decision" and more "what would the enemies be doing while y'all sat around discussing this" and "let's finally take a handful of these problems the party brought upon themselves and have the consequences finally show up." What's happening now is actually the ramification of 3 or 4 different decisions the party has made over the last few years. Also, there's a very specific purpose why I'm doing this that will eventually become clear.

:smallwink:

Fair enough. The timing is just awkward. ;) And yeah, there's nothing that really seems to come from anywhere so it just feels random and huh. Hopefully it'll become clear WTF is going on and why, since I'm about as confused as Eltain still. Even if it's the ramifications of things, that's not clear so it's awkward.


I'm leaning toward trying to get a secret message to the PoF, possibly using a Sending. We could tell him the BQ is trying foul up the negotiations by inserting herself in them. Which she probably is.

There should be a way to send a message to the Prince without the BQ finding out.

I'm not sure we can trust him enough for that. Then again we apparently can't trust our own companions, so right now we can't make an informed call on anything.

We also have zero proof of who is behind this. We vaguely suspect it's the BQ, but for all we know Shep's goats have formed a coalition of evil and are after us. We need more research and Pavick to do rituals for us.

[Nai_Calus]

Don't everyone post at once. :smalltongue:

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan's off doing non-spying things, so he won't be making any decisions right now.

[DSCrankshaw]

I just spent way too much time re-reading the first Adventures in Fallcrest IC thread. Aside from remembering how much I missed Shep, I found this:


UPDATE: Aww, now that the first post's been deleted, my joke doesn't make any sense. Although Lucan does look kind of psychic, doesn't he? It comes from having he virtue of prescience, you know. He responds to things before they happen, talks to the earth instead of the horse, that kind of thing. Most prophets are a little bit crazy.

And he's only gotten crazier since.

[DSCrankshaw]

Looking back at the start of this game really gave me a chance to remember what made it take off. The Shepherd was certainly a part of it. He was consistently funny, tickling us all with line after line. Lucan often ended up playing the straight man to his words of wisdom.

But the biggest reason for it was that every player in the game (DM included) was dedicated. Everyone would post nearly every day, often multiple times. And they weren't half-hearted posts either. Every post was lively, well thought-out, rich in description and dialogue.

Having played in a few PbP games, I can appreciate how rare it is to have all of your players truly dedicated to the game. And I just want to say that it's an honor to play with all of you.

[Hzurr]

Looking back at the start of this game really gave me a chance to remember what made it take off. The Shepherd was certainly a part of it. He was consistently funny, tickling us all with line after line. Lucan often ended up playing the straight man to his words of wisdom.


Wait til you get to Adv. in Fallcrest part 2, and you start seeing the new dynamic that Zyrr introduces. Some truly laugh-out-loud moments.

(I went back and re-read some of it not to long ago as well.



Having played in a few PbP games, I can appreciate how rare it is to have all of your players truly dedicated to the game. And I just want to say that it's an honor to play with all of you.

It's been an honor! *salute*

:smallsmile:

In all seriousness, you're absolutely correct. This was one of those rare circumstances where everyone has been onboard since the very beginning (except for that one random druid who was in the first meeting than disappeared.), and really gung-ho about it, even when I made some...rather questionable DMing or story decisions. We really did get an awesome batch of players, the likes of which I've never seen in any other PbP game. Thanks all for sticking with it, and putting up with me through both my successes & failures as a DM.

[DSCrankshaw]

It's amazing how often we almost TPKed in those early days. The fight in the cave against the necromancer and Rammel was particularly brutal.

And we came pretty close to losing Eltain to that river.

But you're right. Zyrr definitely added to the craziness of the Shep/Lucan show.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain was never in danger, those Fort saves were nothing to him. He just couldn't swim for ****.

I don't go back and read old threads unless I have to because I am a god-awful writer and reading anything Eltain ever said/did is painful because it's all so bad.

Hopefully Toric will resurface from post-wedding hell soon. We need our snarky drow.

[DSCrankshaw]

So I still haven't read everything, and I skimmed a lot of it. But I have noticed a lot of threads we dropped along the way:


Lucan's prophecy and the harp
Finding someone to free Tiandra--to be fair we tried, but then Zyrr got killed and we turned back.
That Gorgazon guy. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12607656&postcount=487)


That last link, in particular, shows a lot of plot threads that we're probably going to have to deal with.

Also, have we ever gotten around to fighting a dragon? I can't remember. We're epic. It seems like we should have fought a dragon at some point.

EDIT: Ah, right, the one in the arena, in the battle royale with him and the fiends. Fersavictorix. I can't believe I forgot that. Of course, we kind of cheated with that one, so we still haven't killed a dragon, I think.

[Hzurr]

So I still haven't read everything, and I skimmed a lot of it. But I have noticed a lot of threads we dropped along the way:


Lucan's prophecy and the harp
Finding someone to free Tiandra
That Gorgazon guy. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12607656&postcount=487)



*whistles nonchalantly*

[dariathalon]

It must be tough to whistle with how tight-lipped you're being when those loose threads are brought up. :smallwink:

[Hzurr]

It must be tough to whistle with how tight-lipped you're being when those loose threads are brought up. :smallwink:

Well excuse me for expecting PCs to put together
1) A creature scrying on them through a familiar
2) The "template" for that familiar suddenly missing an eye
3) A powerful lich with ties to a PC back story, connections to the PoF, previous conflict with the party, and a track record of removing and replacing eyes.

C'mon guys! :smalltongue:

[DSCrankshaw]

To be fair, I didn't remember that Gorgazon guy at all until I did the re-read, and I'm not sure how much of that information our characters actually know.

[Hzurr]

To be fair, I didn't remember that Gorgazon guy at all until I did the re-read, and I'm not sure how much of that information our characters actually know.

Pavick would know him from the brief magic-y voodoo he did with the beholder eye. And Aramil should know him from his backstory.

Though stopping to think, both of those events were several years ago (both in game and out of game), so maybe it wasn't quite as obvious as I thought it was...

[DSCrankshaw]

So, are either Pavick or Aramil feeling an epiphany coming on? 'Cause Lucan hasn't heard about Selene's eye, and even if he had, he's still obsessed with Flutterbum.

Also, now might be a good time for Lucan to do something so inane that it will drive the Lich batty to watch. I haven't figured out what it is yet.

[dariathalon]

I've been out of town most of the day today. I'll try to go back and look for the "magic-y voodoo" Pavick did sometime tomorrow. I vaguely remember it (I more remember Glydax), and think I should probably find that again before posting about it.

[Nai_Calus]

Well excuse me for expecting PCs to put together
1) A creature scrying on them through a familiar
2) The "template" for that familiar suddenly missing an eye
3) A powerful lich with ties to a PC back story, connections to the PoF, previous conflict with the party, and a track record of removing and replacing eyes.

C'mon guys! :smalltongue:

...No, seriously, when has this guy ever been mentioned? Because I have absolutely no idea who the hells that is.

[Hzurr]

...No, seriously, when has this guy ever been mentioned? Because I have absolutely no idea who the hells that is.

When Pavick took the eye out of the Beholder, there were a few scenes involving a lich who had put it there (and used it to scry on y'all a little bit) then. It's also in Aramil's backstory (both on his sheet, and it also came up in the nightmare-world flashbacks y'all just went through), and had a brief mention at the end of Adv in Sigil part 2.

[Nai_Calus]

Ah. Don't remember the first part at all, it didn't get much detail in the flashback and Eltain hasn't read Aramil's sheet (For that matter I didn't know he had it on his sheet), and I've blocked out the end of Sigil part 2 and refuse to go back and read it pretty much ever. Either way, not something that would have been obvious IC or OOC for me. ;p

...Or apparently anyone else so I don't feel bad.

[Nai_Calus]

Also, if there's any beatings/smackings/humiliations/etc anyone wants delivered to Hzurr, give them to me and I shall deliver them at Gen Con.

[DSCrankshaw]

I find it reassuring that Pavick writes about himself in the third person in his journal.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain's alternates between first-person accounts, explorations of his personal feelings, religious treatises, and poetry.

[dariathalon]

I find it reassuring that Pavick writes about himself in the third person in his journal.

Heh. That's mostly just a result of me being too lazy to do more than copy/paste that part of the original IC thread. I had thought about just copy/pasting it at the end, to refresh people's memory ooc, but I thought it might be more interesting to do it IC too.


Also, if there's any beatings/smackings/humiliations/etc anyone wants delivered to Hzurr, give them to me and I shall deliver them at Gen Con.

Yes. All of the above. Then he can return the favor to you. One of the annoying parts about my job is that I doubt I'll ever be able to attend (at least until after I retire). So, you all who get to go should rain destruction down upon each other to assuage my jealousy.

[Hzurr]

Hey all, sorry for my lack of posting. I've been prepping and traviling & GenCon-Ing, and am dangerously low on creative juices. Give me a couple of days, and I should be able to do proper posts.

[Hzurr]

Hi all,

Working on an IC update, but one other quick note I wanted to post was that I found out yesterday that my DDI article in Dragon magazine will be coming out next month in issue 427. The article is "Channel Divinity: Nerull" so those of you who still subscribe to DDI can check it out (and those of you who don't but still really want to read it, let me know).

I haven't seen the article since I turned it in back in Oct/Nov of last year, but at the time that I turned it in there was at least one reference in the article to a certain "Grandmaster Pavick Roslow." So, assuming that part remains unchanged, Pavick will become part of 4e core. :smallcool:

Also, if the article sucks, I blame whatever the editors did, because obviously anything I wrote was completely brilliant and perfect in every facet.

[dariathalon]

Very cool. :smallcool: In some ways, I guess this puts him up with the likes of Melf and Mordenkainen.