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<blockquote data-quote="thekwp" data-source="post: 6908322" data-attributes="member: 56444"><p><strong>Session 02 - Sept 7, 2016</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Event Summary sent to Players:</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Act One The Meeting & Ambush (aftermath)</strong></p><p></p><p>The discussion with the lieutenant of the Black Horse mercenaries continues. He offers terms for granting his men quarter, as the party has shown themselves honorable enough opponents; the party make take their weapons and money, even armor if they wish to take the time, but leave them alive for him to tend. The party hesitates, unsure of the situation, with someone feeling that the Ragesian "collectors" deserve far worse. When the party asks Torrent, she demands the offer their parole, that the fallen men in turn will oppose the party again for the duration of the coming conflict. The heavily armored Black Horse assess the party, and tells them that he thinks it likely they could as a group defeat him, but not without a heavy cost, one they cannot likely bare tonight. An agreement is reached, and the party quickly takes the weapons of the fallen Black Horse mercenaries, tossing most of them into the fire, but keeping some.</p><p></p><p>With Torrent's urging, the party hurries on through the burning city to try to keep the rendezvous with Rivereye Badgerface.</p><p></p><p><em>Intermissions: City on Fire</em></p><p></p><p><em>Aiding the Wounded</em></p><p></p><p>As the party traveled through the streets with growing crowds, they come across a man burnt and barely standing, holding a severely burned and unconscious woman. Three small children crowd around him, two crying silently. He calls out for help, seemingly overwhelmed with concern for the woman in his arms, but unable to do more. Gath seemed frustrated at pausing to help while the party had a mission, responding to Torrent statement that "There's always time to do the right thing" with a short but heartfelt "Not always," but did not interfere when Dom took a focus to help them immediately. Learning that the woman was named Risha, he examined her, made sure was stable and did some healing to make sure she would be OK. The party discussed what to do next with them. When torrent offered the chapel of Shelyn dedicated to the Order of the Aquiline Cross, only a couple of blocks from the depository, they party decided it was not too much out of their way, and had them come with them. Dom even offered to carry Risha for the man, but he insisted on carrying her himself.</p><p></p><p><em>Leathery wings overhead</em></p><p></p><p>As they moved across the city, Ceilthanus attempted to watch the status of the "Dire Bats" overhead. His perception was good enough to spot the creature flying overhead more clearly this time; enough to identify their reptilian form and confirm his supposition that they were some kind of dragon! Bromsby listened to his description of the creatures, and determined for himself that they were more likely a wyvern which is technically a form of dragon, but decided not to contradict Ceilthanus.</p><p></p><p><em>Burning Building</em></p><p></p><p>Before getting to the gates, the party came across a cluster of four-story buildings that had caught fire, with a group of residents scattered around trying to figure out if they could put it out by any means. When the window on the top floor smashed outward and a woman cried out for help, Bromsby suggested that get a blanket for her to jump into. Torrent offered her cloak, and the rest of the party joined up along with some of the residents to help out with Gath leading the effort. The cloak did not hold, and the woman ripped through it hurting herself, but survived. After making sure she was not too seriously injured the party quickly moved on.</p><p></p><p><em>Terror in the Skies</em></p><p></p><p>The party approached the gate and found it open. Large number of people crowded the streets, and made it slow going for the guards trying to move through the gate. Suddenly, cries of terror filled the streets and the crowds began to panic. The cold dread blew through the party members, panicking everyone in the party. Looking up, many people in the party spotted the crimson, bat-winged shape the size of a house flying a hundred feet overhead. "Now that," Bromsby said, "is a red dragon." And then promptly began running.</p><p></p><p>Bromsby and Ceilthanus fled in same direction, with Bromsby desperately attempting to hold onto Ceilthanus' belt to keep up. Dom and Bosma also fled in together, also by chance. Gath, Krombholz, and Torrent all went in different directions. Bosma knew the local area, and helped Dom and him cut through a back alley and then over a roof bridge to get back to the gate while the crowds continued to move away from the area. Bromsby and Ceilthanus had to work against the full force of the crowd, as did Krombholz and Torrent. Gath made slightly better progress by occasionally ordering the crowd out of his way.</p><p></p><p>Being some of the first to return, Bosma and Dom were able to recover their dropped longspears. They also found Risha on the ground, dropped by her husband and then injured further by the panicked crowds, and Dom resumed giving her medical attention. The party was able to gather again, and two of the children returned as well, but not the father or the middle child.</p><p></p><p><em>Visiting the Safe House</em></p><p></p><p>Arriving at the Order of the Aquiline Cross chapel dedicated to Shelyn, the part met with Buron Watcher, who took the woman to one of the cots he had already gotten ready for the injured. Dom made sure to tell Buron that the woman's name was Risha, and then took a moment to talk to both of the children, that they were going to have to be brave and help Buron with their mother for a while, as it would take a long time for her to get better. With a word of encouragement from Buron, and a reminder that they could back themselves if they needed shelter, the party left for the Depository tower.</p><p></p><p><strong>Act Two: Retrieving the Case</strong></p><p></p><p><em>Spy versus Spy</em></p><p></p><p>The party finally made it to the eighty foot high stone tower. Torrent's identification was recognized by the four guards, and while they were skeptical about the number of extras she brought with her but permitted her and the entire party to enter. She and the party got as far as one of two fountains -- the one with the dragon, worm, kraken, and eagle spirits on it -- before she remembered to ask the guards for tonight's passphrase: "Avilona barflew."</p><p></p><p>Entering the large building, the party spread out to start searching the aisles of lockers. As they spread out across the ground floor of the tower, a coughing and wheezing gnome descended with a shuffling gait down from the second flood. Complaining that he caught a cold on the trip her from the Ragesian capital, he waved at the group. Bromsby replied to this with "Hello, Rivereye." The gnome nodded in reply, calling out a greeting "Peppin." Bromsby replied with "Bromsby." Rivereye seem to ignore that, and drew them to the second floor to "get this done." Torrent dropped back as they went up the stairs so she could whisper to Bosma and Dom as they passed by "I don't know what's going on here." Bosma and Dom tried to be subtle in taking flanking positions around 'Rivereye' as he brought them to a locker, then said "Well, go on. Use the password and let's get this open." Torrent and Gath hung back by the stairs, while Krombholz went half way up the stairs to the third floor to take an over watch position.</p><p></p><p>As the situation escalated in tension, Rivereye turned to Bromsby saying "Come on Peppin." When he was told "No, Peppin's dead," Rivereye made a bolt for it, calling out "Help" while scrambling up the aisle of lockers. Bosma attempted to trip him as he climbed, but failed. Krombholz, however, successfully took a shot at the strangely distended gnome. A chase broke out, with the party desperately attempting to keep 'Rivereye' from fleeing, but not sure of who he was or what was going on.</p><p> </p><p>A glowing fairy-like tiny woman with gossamer butterfly wings flew down from the third floor past Krombholz. Bromsby identified the creature as a Lyrakien Azata. Krombholz stayed focused on the fleeing figure and fired again. Dom used Cramp on him, but he resisted. Ceilthanus moved in to strike at figure but missed, who turned to him asking "Why are you helping *them*?" before turning away. Ceilthanus attempted to strike him, but a blazing flash of light and sparkles from the fey-like Azata dazed him. However, 'Rivereye''s movement also provoked from Bosma, who this time struck a critical hit that seriously injured 'Riverye,' drawing blood from the grievous wound, before the man continued to flee. As he headed toward the balcony door, it opened for him. Bosma went out the side door, and spotted 'Rivereye' climbing straight up the walls like a spider.</p><p></p><p>Dom sprinted for the stairs, and he and Krombholz went out the third floor balcony. The door that 'Rivereye' fled through closed on its own, before Ceilthanus came out of his daze. It was up on the third story, when Riverye came over the balcony's edge, that Dom struck the final blow, and the unconscious figure fell from the third floor to the ground. The guards called out and began to rush to the building, the Lyrakien fled into the night, while those on the balcony had a stunning view of the city as it burned. The western gate, about a mile and a half away lit up the sky with the fires burning around it. Trebuchets hurled flaming balls of pitch over the walls and into city as well. From Bosma's position, some of the Gate Pass griffon riders swooped past over the rooftops, battle horns blaring as they joined the battle. </p><p></p><p>Hearing the guards call out, Ceilthanus turned back to the locker that had been shown. Using his knowledge of magic, he attempted to trick whatever spell or arcane protection was in place to open for him, but failed to get any response.</p><p></p><p>After the guards brought back in the dead figure, things slowly got straightened out. The ones who brought 'Rivereye' back in noted the his appearance and what they had held did not match. Soon, he was revealed not as a gnome but as an elf under a Disguise Self spell. When the building searched found the dead guard, the bound guards, and a very much alive Rivereye on the fourth floor, things finally began to click into place.</p><p></p><p>The real Rivereye explained, in his abrupt and somewhat chaotic manner, that he had been captured while waiting for rendezvous with Peppin. He was saddened to learn of Peppin's death, but not surprised. He explained that after they got the case from him, he convinced them that it needed a password to be opened safely. They had talked amongst themselves, and the female elf who seemed the leader took the case. He heard the Lyrakien promise to meet her "back at Gabal's school, in your quarters" but had not understood anything the elves had said. He note that while he never got a look at her face, she had long and lean legs, with high boots and metal gloves that gleamed silver. The one here, that the Azata had called "Larion" had stayed behind to try and bluff the contacts into revealing the password after attempts at physical coercion had failed to get the information from Rivereye. Larion had thus used the ruse of a storage locker to try and get the nonexistent password. The real case, he explained, was about a foot long and a foot wide, almost half a foot deep, made from a black metal, most likely adamantine, with a lock on it, and lined with lead to prevent magical detections.</p><p></p><p>When asked to reveal the contents, Riverye explained that he couldn't, but that it was vital it got to Lyceum. No, not would not, but could not. The geas he operated under would not let him tell anyone what he learned by serving in the Ragesian palace. It was why he operated under a cover name, after all. The party as a whole did not agree with Rivereye that "Rivereye Badgerface" was a dashing and cool code name. After a quick discussion revealed no one in the group could break the spell, the party considered if they knew of anyone who could. "Depends on how powerful the caster who placed it on him is. Rivereye, who did cast that on you?" "Supreme Inquisitor Leska." "OK, so that option is out. After the case it is."</p><p></p><p>After examining Larion's body a bit more closely, the party gathered up to head toward Gabal's school, to chase their one lead on the case.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"><span style="color: #222222">End of Player Summary</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"><span style="color: #222222">[HR][/HR]</span></span><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Story Deviation & Extra Details</strong></p><p></p><p>I allowed the party to drop off the wounded woman at the Safe House without having the Fallen Devil encounter. I was saving that for after the Depository tower; now that they appear to be headed for the Elvish Spymaster at Gabal's school, I may include it before they arrive there. Likewise, I skipped the encounter with Mulysa Bahri, the malign bard for now. When they return to the Safe House at the end of the evening, I will include her.</p><p></p><p>As should be obvious from the player summary, I replaced the Lantern Archon with a Lyrakien Azata. I liked the idea of a good-aligned outsider working in conjunction with the Shahalesti spies, but I felt that the a Lawful Good outsider working with Chaotic Neutral individuals for a country with more than its fair share of Chaotic Neutral to Evil historical actions did not work. On the other hand, I personally find it believable that a Chaotic Good patriotic cleric in Shahalesti would make an agreeable arrangement. More on the implications of this in Mechanics below. In addition, I liked the fey-like style of the of the Lyrakien.</p><p></p><p>I made Rivereye Badgerface a "code name," as my group generally shies away from that style of name for their characters. They have been discussing amongst themselves what kind of name that was, and when it was revealed that Rivereye chose it for himself as his alias, it added to the party's impression as to who Rivereye is. I need to take a look to see how he might show up again later in the campaign.</p><p></p><p>I added a small detail, that the case with the documents was also lead lined, preventing many forms of divination and scrying on the contents. As a result, the party is already speculating if the contents are magical in any way, or if there are any magical traps on the inside.</p><p></p><p><strong>General Game Play & Notable player reactions:</strong></p><p></p><p>I tried to keep the pace of things fluid and fast moving during this game. I did not want the players to get bogged down and slow the start of the campaign, but wanted to provide the overwhelming feeling of the start of a massive fantasy war, while keeping them focused on their own smaller story and goal in the midst of the chaos of the larger events. I think I succeeded, but at the cost of missing a few of the possible points to do the various subplots. I think I have them queued up for the next session appropriately, with Fallen Devil happening soon, and handling the bard motivated angry mob at the Safe house at the end of the evening.</p><p></p><p>I carefully read the section for Larion, and noted that his languages do not include Gnome. I decided that he interpreted Bromsby's one word reply to his greeting as a gnomish word, and not a name. With that he continued his bluff, attempting to get his password. The confusion about what was going on with Rivereye, Peppin, and the "spy drop" was really funny, as the party did not know what to do, and wasn't really sure they had done the right thing in stopping Larion. Some of the players picked up immediately that something was wrong based on the "Peppin" response, but others had not paid close enough attention to details and just got more confused the longer the encounter went on. This could be seen in Alex attempting to figure out if Ceilthanus could apply his Use Magic Device skill to fool an Arcane Lock that was not there on the locker that Larion brought them too. They were all greatly relieved, however, when Rivereye was found on the fourth floor by the guards, thus establishing they had been "heroes" for stopping the "thief."</p><p></p><p>The use of spider climb to get over the shelves and move away from them completely surprised the party, and raised the question of "Who has a spider climb ready like that?" I thought that was entertaining because in context it is both very reasonable with Larion's overall plan but not this specific use, and a good way to set expectation for how magic is used in the setting.</p><p></p><p>Using preprinted maps continued to be helpful. This session, it made the chase sequence up the depository much smoother in play, as no delays happened to draw a new map level. Not only I noted this, but several players commented on it as well.</p><p></p><p>The party recognized the pass phrase for an Arcane Lock, and was suitably impressed. Various members noted the closing and opening door, but failed to ask about it or investigate it. I think that was a very clever use of the Unseen Servant spell, and wish they had paid more attention to it.</p><p></p><p>I very much enjoyed playing the real Rivereye with the party, and commiserating with the Bromsby, the gnome in the party, about having to deal with this gorup "other folk". He focused his descriptions on the legs and footwear of everyone he dealt, noting that was generally what was eye level for him, and besides which, a servant in Ragesia should not get in the habit of looking up at others or making too much eye contact.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tactical notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>I should have had Larion use a locker closer to the balcony. I really did expect him to get away, and if not for a critical hit with a x3 weapon, he likely would have. I played him overconfident, and did not have him tumble directly away when he should have.</p><p></p><p>The party did a good job of playing to their own strengths, such as Krombholz taking an elevated position, or Gath being ready to block any one coming up after them at the top of the stairs.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mechanics issues:</strong></p><p></p><p>For Burning Building interlude between Act One and Act Two, the jump from the window included nothing about what the implications were for failing. The party failed, but only by 3, and I decided to house rule that they broke some of her fall but not all. She destroyed Torrent's cloak, but only took 1d6 of damage, surviving.</p><p></p><p>There are not good mechanics implications for handling mass panic in the streets. I made each character roll a d8 to determine which direction they ran, and those that rain the same direction could work together after their panic fled. The implications of dropping what you were holding though was strong, as the two long spears were dropped in the street as was the injured woman Risha being carried by her husband. I felt like there should have been more risk for being overrun and trampled by the crowd, and having the party scatter should have more implications as well. In retrospect, I wish I had added a mild Knowledge (Local) check or something else to force the players to navigate back; even having the pair that got back faster did not have real meaning. They could have lost gear of course, and Risha could have been injured even more severely, but the mechanical results felt minor. I even went through Ultimate Intrigue on handling a large crowed, which gave guidelines for wading through one, hiding in one, and using skills to deal with them but nothing about what happens when a crowd panics, possibly trampling people.</p><p></p><p>I had looked at adapting the Animal Crossing encounter. For Pathfinder, a Giant Weasel (a medium animal) is much closer to the original challenge scenario and size than a Dire Weasel (a large animal). I had the stats ready for it, but decided to skip that encounter for game flow.</p><p></p><p>Still getting used to the new rules myself, I forgot to apply Larion's Armor as Damage Reduction, letting him drop a trifle faster than he should have; the over all difference was not much, though, with the critical hit doing the greatest amount of damage on him, and the falling clearly finishing him. </p><p></p><p>The Azata Lyrakien having unlimited Daze proved to be a good play out in this role. Blocking actions was frustrating to the party without being damaging to them, and I think may have been as effective as continual aid in keeping Larion up. The party avoided attacking the good "Tinker Bell" so she will appear again.</p><p></p><p><strong>Props, Music, Images, Supporting handouts, etc</strong></p><p></p><p>Music for this session was included music from</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Brom Stoker's Dracula by Wojciech Kilar </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gladiator by Hans Zimmer </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">National Treasure by Trevor Rabin </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Skyfall by Thomas Newman </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Terminator II by Brad Fiedel </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Witcher III by Mikolai Stroinski </li> </ul><p></p><p>As I had with the Poison Apple Pub, I extracted the map for the Depository Tower, then resized it setting DPI so that the print out would have the squares at 1" in the print out. It being able to just lay out the map for the next level as they got to it kept the pace in the game moving fast. Even if one does not do a print out for the situation, I do recommend pre-drawing the maps.</p><p></p><p>I extracted and use the image for Rivereye Badgerface. I found an image that I liked for using with Larion and posted that after his disguise self spell ended.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="thekwp, post: 6908322, member: 56444"] [b]Session 02 - Sept 7, 2016[/b] [B]Event Summary sent to Players:[/B] [B]Act One The Meeting & Ambush (aftermath)[/B] The discussion with the lieutenant of the Black Horse mercenaries continues. He offers terms for granting his men quarter, as the party has shown themselves honorable enough opponents; the party make take their weapons and money, even armor if they wish to take the time, but leave them alive for him to tend. The party hesitates, unsure of the situation, with someone feeling that the Ragesian "collectors" deserve far worse. When the party asks Torrent, she demands the offer their parole, that the fallen men in turn will oppose the party again for the duration of the coming conflict. The heavily armored Black Horse assess the party, and tells them that he thinks it likely they could as a group defeat him, but not without a heavy cost, one they cannot likely bare tonight. An agreement is reached, and the party quickly takes the weapons of the fallen Black Horse mercenaries, tossing most of them into the fire, but keeping some. With Torrent's urging, the party hurries on through the burning city to try to keep the rendezvous with Rivereye Badgerface. [I]Intermissions: City on Fire[/I] [I]Aiding the Wounded[/I] As the party traveled through the streets with growing crowds, they come across a man burnt and barely standing, holding a severely burned and unconscious woman. Three small children crowd around him, two crying silently. He calls out for help, seemingly overwhelmed with concern for the woman in his arms, but unable to do more. Gath seemed frustrated at pausing to help while the party had a mission, responding to Torrent statement that "There's always time to do the right thing" with a short but heartfelt "Not always," but did not interfere when Dom took a focus to help them immediately. Learning that the woman was named Risha, he examined her, made sure was stable and did some healing to make sure she would be OK. The party discussed what to do next with them. When torrent offered the chapel of Shelyn dedicated to the Order of the Aquiline Cross, only a couple of blocks from the depository, they party decided it was not too much out of their way, and had them come with them. Dom even offered to carry Risha for the man, but he insisted on carrying her himself. [I]Leathery wings overhead[/I] As they moved across the city, Ceilthanus attempted to watch the status of the "Dire Bats" overhead. His perception was good enough to spot the creature flying overhead more clearly this time; enough to identify their reptilian form and confirm his supposition that they were some kind of dragon! Bromsby listened to his description of the creatures, and determined for himself that they were more likely a wyvern which is technically a form of dragon, but decided not to contradict Ceilthanus. [I]Burning Building[/I] Before getting to the gates, the party came across a cluster of four-story buildings that had caught fire, with a group of residents scattered around trying to figure out if they could put it out by any means. When the window on the top floor smashed outward and a woman cried out for help, Bromsby suggested that get a blanket for her to jump into. Torrent offered her cloak, and the rest of the party joined up along with some of the residents to help out with Gath leading the effort. The cloak did not hold, and the woman ripped through it hurting herself, but survived. After making sure she was not too seriously injured the party quickly moved on. [I]Terror in the Skies[/I] The party approached the gate and found it open. Large number of people crowded the streets, and made it slow going for the guards trying to move through the gate. Suddenly, cries of terror filled the streets and the crowds began to panic. The cold dread blew through the party members, panicking everyone in the party. Looking up, many people in the party spotted the crimson, bat-winged shape the size of a house flying a hundred feet overhead. "Now that," Bromsby said, "is a red dragon." And then promptly began running. Bromsby and Ceilthanus fled in same direction, with Bromsby desperately attempting to hold onto Ceilthanus' belt to keep up. Dom and Bosma also fled in together, also by chance. Gath, Krombholz, and Torrent all went in different directions. Bosma knew the local area, and helped Dom and him cut through a back alley and then over a roof bridge to get back to the gate while the crowds continued to move away from the area. Bromsby and Ceilthanus had to work against the full force of the crowd, as did Krombholz and Torrent. Gath made slightly better progress by occasionally ordering the crowd out of his way. Being some of the first to return, Bosma and Dom were able to recover their dropped longspears. They also found Risha on the ground, dropped by her husband and then injured further by the panicked crowds, and Dom resumed giving her medical attention. The party was able to gather again, and two of the children returned as well, but not the father or the middle child. [I]Visiting the Safe House[/I] Arriving at the Order of the Aquiline Cross chapel dedicated to Shelyn, the part met with Buron Watcher, who took the woman to one of the cots he had already gotten ready for the injured. Dom made sure to tell Buron that the woman's name was Risha, and then took a moment to talk to both of the children, that they were going to have to be brave and help Buron with their mother for a while, as it would take a long time for her to get better. With a word of encouragement from Buron, and a reminder that they could back themselves if they needed shelter, the party left for the Depository tower. [B]Act Two: Retrieving the Case[/B] [I]Spy versus Spy[/I] The party finally made it to the eighty foot high stone tower. Torrent's identification was recognized by the four guards, and while they were skeptical about the number of extras she brought with her but permitted her and the entire party to enter. She and the party got as far as one of two fountains -- the one with the dragon, worm, kraken, and eagle spirits on it -- before she remembered to ask the guards for tonight's passphrase: "Avilona barflew." Entering the large building, the party spread out to start searching the aisles of lockers. As they spread out across the ground floor of the tower, a coughing and wheezing gnome descended with a shuffling gait down from the second flood. Complaining that he caught a cold on the trip her from the Ragesian capital, he waved at the group. Bromsby replied to this with "Hello, Rivereye." The gnome nodded in reply, calling out a greeting "Peppin." Bromsby replied with "Bromsby." Rivereye seem to ignore that, and drew them to the second floor to "get this done." Torrent dropped back as they went up the stairs so she could whisper to Bosma and Dom as they passed by "I don't know what's going on here." Bosma and Dom tried to be subtle in taking flanking positions around 'Rivereye' as he brought them to a locker, then said "Well, go on. Use the password and let's get this open." Torrent and Gath hung back by the stairs, while Krombholz went half way up the stairs to the third floor to take an over watch position. As the situation escalated in tension, Rivereye turned to Bromsby saying "Come on Peppin." When he was told "No, Peppin's dead," Rivereye made a bolt for it, calling out "Help" while scrambling up the aisle of lockers. Bosma attempted to trip him as he climbed, but failed. Krombholz, however, successfully took a shot at the strangely distended gnome. A chase broke out, with the party desperately attempting to keep 'Rivereye' from fleeing, but not sure of who he was or what was going on. A glowing fairy-like tiny woman with gossamer butterfly wings flew down from the third floor past Krombholz. Bromsby identified the creature as a Lyrakien Azata. Krombholz stayed focused on the fleeing figure and fired again. Dom used Cramp on him, but he resisted. Ceilthanus moved in to strike at figure but missed, who turned to him asking "Why are you helping *them*?" before turning away. Ceilthanus attempted to strike him, but a blazing flash of light and sparkles from the fey-like Azata dazed him. However, 'Rivereye''s movement also provoked from Bosma, who this time struck a critical hit that seriously injured 'Riverye,' drawing blood from the grievous wound, before the man continued to flee. As he headed toward the balcony door, it opened for him. Bosma went out the side door, and spotted 'Rivereye' climbing straight up the walls like a spider. Dom sprinted for the stairs, and he and Krombholz went out the third floor balcony. The door that 'Rivereye' fled through closed on its own, before Ceilthanus came out of his daze. It was up on the third story, when Riverye came over the balcony's edge, that Dom struck the final blow, and the unconscious figure fell from the third floor to the ground. The guards called out and began to rush to the building, the Lyrakien fled into the night, while those on the balcony had a stunning view of the city as it burned. The western gate, about a mile and a half away lit up the sky with the fires burning around it. Trebuchets hurled flaming balls of pitch over the walls and into city as well. From Bosma's position, some of the Gate Pass griffon riders swooped past over the rooftops, battle horns blaring as they joined the battle. Hearing the guards call out, Ceilthanus turned back to the locker that had been shown. Using his knowledge of magic, he attempted to trick whatever spell or arcane protection was in place to open for him, but failed to get any response. After the guards brought back in the dead figure, things slowly got straightened out. The ones who brought 'Rivereye' back in noted the his appearance and what they had held did not match. Soon, he was revealed not as a gnome but as an elf under a Disguise Self spell. When the building searched found the dead guard, the bound guards, and a very much alive Rivereye on the fourth floor, things finally began to click into place. The real Rivereye explained, in his abrupt and somewhat chaotic manner, that he had been captured while waiting for rendezvous with Peppin. He was saddened to learn of Peppin's death, but not surprised. He explained that after they got the case from him, he convinced them that it needed a password to be opened safely. They had talked amongst themselves, and the female elf who seemed the leader took the case. He heard the Lyrakien promise to meet her "back at Gabal's school, in your quarters" but had not understood anything the elves had said. He note that while he never got a look at her face, she had long and lean legs, with high boots and metal gloves that gleamed silver. The one here, that the Azata had called "Larion" had stayed behind to try and bluff the contacts into revealing the password after attempts at physical coercion had failed to get the information from Rivereye. Larion had thus used the ruse of a storage locker to try and get the nonexistent password. The real case, he explained, was about a foot long and a foot wide, almost half a foot deep, made from a black metal, most likely adamantine, with a lock on it, and lined with lead to prevent magical detections. When asked to reveal the contents, Riverye explained that he couldn't, but that it was vital it got to Lyceum. No, not would not, but could not. The geas he operated under would not let him tell anyone what he learned by serving in the Ragesian palace. It was why he operated under a cover name, after all. The party as a whole did not agree with Rivereye that "Rivereye Badgerface" was a dashing and cool code name. After a quick discussion revealed no one in the group could break the spell, the party considered if they knew of anyone who could. "Depends on how powerful the caster who placed it on him is. Rivereye, who did cast that on you?" "Supreme Inquisitor Leska." "OK, so that option is out. After the case it is." After examining Larion's body a bit more closely, the party gathered up to head toward Gabal's school, to chase their one lead on the case. [FONT=arial][COLOR=#222222]End of Player Summary [HR][/HR][/COLOR][/FONT][B] Story Deviation & Extra Details[/B] I allowed the party to drop off the wounded woman at the Safe House without having the Fallen Devil encounter. I was saving that for after the Depository tower; now that they appear to be headed for the Elvish Spymaster at Gabal's school, I may include it before they arrive there. Likewise, I skipped the encounter with Mulysa Bahri, the malign bard for now. When they return to the Safe House at the end of the evening, I will include her. As should be obvious from the player summary, I replaced the Lantern Archon with a Lyrakien Azata. I liked the idea of a good-aligned outsider working in conjunction with the Shahalesti spies, but I felt that the a Lawful Good outsider working with Chaotic Neutral individuals for a country with more than its fair share of Chaotic Neutral to Evil historical actions did not work. On the other hand, I personally find it believable that a Chaotic Good patriotic cleric in Shahalesti would make an agreeable arrangement. More on the implications of this in Mechanics below. In addition, I liked the fey-like style of the of the Lyrakien. I made Rivereye Badgerface a "code name," as my group generally shies away from that style of name for their characters. They have been discussing amongst themselves what kind of name that was, and when it was revealed that Rivereye chose it for himself as his alias, it added to the party's impression as to who Rivereye is. I need to take a look to see how he might show up again later in the campaign. I added a small detail, that the case with the documents was also lead lined, preventing many forms of divination and scrying on the contents. As a result, the party is already speculating if the contents are magical in any way, or if there are any magical traps on the inside. [B]General Game Play & Notable player reactions:[/B] I tried to keep the pace of things fluid and fast moving during this game. I did not want the players to get bogged down and slow the start of the campaign, but wanted to provide the overwhelming feeling of the start of a massive fantasy war, while keeping them focused on their own smaller story and goal in the midst of the chaos of the larger events. I think I succeeded, but at the cost of missing a few of the possible points to do the various subplots. I think I have them queued up for the next session appropriately, with Fallen Devil happening soon, and handling the bard motivated angry mob at the Safe house at the end of the evening. I carefully read the section for Larion, and noted that his languages do not include Gnome. I decided that he interpreted Bromsby's one word reply to his greeting as a gnomish word, and not a name. With that he continued his bluff, attempting to get his password. The confusion about what was going on with Rivereye, Peppin, and the "spy drop" was really funny, as the party did not know what to do, and wasn't really sure they had done the right thing in stopping Larion. Some of the players picked up immediately that something was wrong based on the "Peppin" response, but others had not paid close enough attention to details and just got more confused the longer the encounter went on. This could be seen in Alex attempting to figure out if Ceilthanus could apply his Use Magic Device skill to fool an Arcane Lock that was not there on the locker that Larion brought them too. They were all greatly relieved, however, when Rivereye was found on the fourth floor by the guards, thus establishing they had been "heroes" for stopping the "thief." The use of spider climb to get over the shelves and move away from them completely surprised the party, and raised the question of "Who has a spider climb ready like that?" I thought that was entertaining because in context it is both very reasonable with Larion's overall plan but not this specific use, and a good way to set expectation for how magic is used in the setting. Using preprinted maps continued to be helpful. This session, it made the chase sequence up the depository much smoother in play, as no delays happened to draw a new map level. Not only I noted this, but several players commented on it as well. The party recognized the pass phrase for an Arcane Lock, and was suitably impressed. Various members noted the closing and opening door, but failed to ask about it or investigate it. I think that was a very clever use of the Unseen Servant spell, and wish they had paid more attention to it. I very much enjoyed playing the real Rivereye with the party, and commiserating with the Bromsby, the gnome in the party, about having to deal with this gorup "other folk". He focused his descriptions on the legs and footwear of everyone he dealt, noting that was generally what was eye level for him, and besides which, a servant in Ragesia should not get in the habit of looking up at others or making too much eye contact. [B]Tactical notes:[/B] I should have had Larion use a locker closer to the balcony. I really did expect him to get away, and if not for a critical hit with a x3 weapon, he likely would have. I played him overconfident, and did not have him tumble directly away when he should have. The party did a good job of playing to their own strengths, such as Krombholz taking an elevated position, or Gath being ready to block any one coming up after them at the top of the stairs. [B]Mechanics issues:[/B] For Burning Building interlude between Act One and Act Two, the jump from the window included nothing about what the implications were for failing. The party failed, but only by 3, and I decided to house rule that they broke some of her fall but not all. She destroyed Torrent's cloak, but only took 1d6 of damage, surviving. There are not good mechanics implications for handling mass panic in the streets. I made each character roll a d8 to determine which direction they ran, and those that rain the same direction could work together after their panic fled. The implications of dropping what you were holding though was strong, as the two long spears were dropped in the street as was the injured woman Risha being carried by her husband. I felt like there should have been more risk for being overrun and trampled by the crowd, and having the party scatter should have more implications as well. In retrospect, I wish I had added a mild Knowledge (Local) check or something else to force the players to navigate back; even having the pair that got back faster did not have real meaning. They could have lost gear of course, and Risha could have been injured even more severely, but the mechanical results felt minor. I even went through Ultimate Intrigue on handling a large crowed, which gave guidelines for wading through one, hiding in one, and using skills to deal with them but nothing about what happens when a crowd panics, possibly trampling people. I had looked at adapting the Animal Crossing encounter. For Pathfinder, a Giant Weasel (a medium animal) is much closer to the original challenge scenario and size than a Dire Weasel (a large animal). I had the stats ready for it, but decided to skip that encounter for game flow. Still getting used to the new rules myself, I forgot to apply Larion's Armor as Damage Reduction, letting him drop a trifle faster than he should have; the over all difference was not much, though, with the critical hit doing the greatest amount of damage on him, and the falling clearly finishing him. The Azata Lyrakien having unlimited Daze proved to be a good play out in this role. Blocking actions was frustrating to the party without being damaging to them, and I think may have been as effective as continual aid in keeping Larion up. The party avoided attacking the good "Tinker Bell" so she will appear again. [B]Props, Music, Images, Supporting handouts, etc[/B] Music for this session was included music from [LIST] [*]Brom Stoker's Dracula by Wojciech Kilar [*]Gladiator by Hans Zimmer [*]National Treasure by Trevor Rabin [*]Skyfall by Thomas Newman [*]Terminator II by Brad Fiedel [*]Witcher III by Mikolai Stroinski [/LIST] As I had with the Poison Apple Pub, I extracted the map for the Depository Tower, then resized it setting DPI so that the print out would have the squares at 1" in the print out. It being able to just lay out the map for the next level as they got to it kept the pace in the game moving fast. Even if one does not do a print out for the situation, I do recommend pre-drawing the maps. I extracted and use the image for Rivereye Badgerface. I found an image that I liked for using with Larion and posted that after his disguise self spell ended. [/QUOTE]
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