The session ended with us making our way in the palace garden to what looks like an entrance to the servant's quarters. This door was blocked by guards and we decided to end for the evening at that point.
- Aravis
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D&D 4E Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign - Heroic tier (finished)
- Thread starter Sagiro
- Start date
The session ended with us making our way in the palace garden to what looks like an entrance to the servant's quarters. This door was blocked by guards and we decided to end for the evening at that point.
- Aravis
It should be noted that the Ritualist also cast the Magic Map ritual for us to help us find Caducity Skirr. She was the tavern owner who was forced to join the Grey Guard when Cobalt killed a visiting noble in her tavern (part of his back story, although he will vociferously claim he was framed). She went missing after the big battle against the Lizardmen. The Grey Guard wants to know if she is dead or AWOL.
- Aravis
Cerebral Paladin
First Post
Do the PCs have a side in the Empire vs. Iskaine conflict? As Grey Guards, they work for the Empire, right? Except that you could see the local Grey Guards going with the local power structure. So I could see them being squarely on either side, conflicted, internally divided, or just trying to stay out of the whole political side of things.
I'm curious which side if any they've lined up on, and why.
I'm curious which side if any they've lined up on, and why.
Blackjack
First Post
Officially apolitical, but when planning out how to get into the palace we were avoiding anything that might stop the mobs from rushing the Bastille and offing the so-called king.
Why? Reasons vary, but I'll give you mine: the Guard's extralegal status is there by Imperial tradition and Imperial decree. Most of the PCs joined the Guard to take advantage of that status. Remove Imperial authority and you could potentially remove the Guard's extralegal status that is backed by that authority. So far, the "King" has taken no moves to mess with the Guard -- since hey, after all, having folks around who want to clear about your monsters is still a beneficial thing -- but if trouble came after us, and had enough pull with the "Kingdom"'s authorities, the King might decide to no longer recognize the Guard's extralegal standing.
Now, that's the philosophical side. From a purely practical side, a giant honking colossus is gonna smash the city and all inside it, including us, if the city doesn't cough up the King. Given a choice, I'd rather face off against the King than the colossus, and it looks like many in the city agree.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Nope, no new player - where'd you hear that? (Now that he's back in Boston, though, I've extended an invitation to an old player who used to play in my Defenders of Daybreak game before he moved, and who has had a standing invitation to return. Dunno if he wants a regular game or not. I'm a little leery of playing with seven players, but I know he's an awesome low-maintenance gamer who fits very well with the current group, so it could definitely work.)
My Merchant Prince campaign also technically has seven players, but one is in England for the next three months, and four (two couples) are new parents. Heck, under my "we'll play with 5, do a side game with 4, cancel with 3" rule, you need seven players just to make sure you're getting off a game!
The Grey Guard game last week was fascinating and went nothing like I thought. The group assiduously avoided my awesome, crunchy combat in favor of stealth, skill challenges and sneakiness.
As a reminder, the capitol city of Iskaine province - excuse me, the newly rebelled kingdom of Tordon, apparently - just had its navy destroyed by a 250' tall imperial colossus (about half again as big as the Statue of Liberty). The city had a deadline: deliver the rebel "king", his advisers, ministers and generals by nightfall in 12 hours, or lose the city. Either way the citizens are to be conscripted as slaves for their treason. While this was happening, the PCs were trying to break into the palace to find and/or rescue Logan's friend Tara. Tara had been conscripted into the army as a "cook" several weeks before, and the PCs feared the worst after a divinatory ritual showed her real location. What was she doing in the palace?
To find out, the players embraced my new house rule of "ritual times in minutes get reduced by 1/10th." They walked through a tree to get into the walled palace compound, neatly avoiding the mob of people trying to break down the door, and they used a camouflage ritual to give themselves a whopping +10 to stealth when not in combat. They then pretty much sauntered around the palace grounds.
"Denek? Did that garden hedge just move?"
"Don't be absurd, Rollin! Hasn't there always been a flowerbed in the.. exact.. center.. of the path?"
Using bluff, diplomacy and intimidate, the group claimed to be hunting an incorporeal monster and got past the door guard with the second guard coming along as an escort. They then did a fast search of the palace's south wing. I ran this as a series of skill challenges, giving them more information with each success. The group found signs that Tara was now the nanny to the bratty royal princess, but she was nowhere to be found. They also determined that the King and his immediate family (and half-elf adviser) had quickly packed, and arcana checks showed that the teleportation circle in the wizard's lab had just been used for a linked portal spell.
Which means that "King" Tordon and his advisers had already fled the country. Which means that he wouldn't be around to turn over to the colossus. Which means there was no obvious way to save the city.
Scouting showed that Tara was one of many hostages inside the throne room, people apparently left behind to act as distractions and scapegoats when the palace was eventually stormed by angry mobs. The throne room was sealed and guarded by three huge goliaths, all members of Tordon's personal guard. They weren't what you'd call smart, but they made up for that with stubborn, refusing to be tricked out of letting the PCs into the throne room. Boy, I was sorry to have missed this fight! But everyone knows that you can't just attack members of the Grey Guard, so the goliaths didn't initiate hostilities, and the PCs opted for a non-violent route.
So the players figured: all good throne rooms have secret escape hatches. Where should this one's be? Meanwhile, I'm thinking "what the hell?" Of course it had an escape route, but I hadn't planned it all out. So.. complex skill challenge! Some freakin' amazing skill checks indicated where the exit would come out if the PCs were planning it, a small stable at the edge of the walls. A perception check let them notice a trapdoor; a nature check let them move the hostile stallion standing on top of it. Arcana and Thievery checks to get in, perception and thievery to avoid the trap on the ladder, perception, arcana and thievery to get past the locked door and magical trap that would transmute you to water and drain you away, and bluff/diplomacy/arcana to get the bound spirit at the end of the hall to assist with the throne teleporter. Based on some clues that Stron (the PC warforged wizard) might have crafted this himself hundreds of years ago, a final History check provided the activation phrase (which Stron's player herself provided.) And boom - they were suddenly in the locked throne room.
For me, this was a really satisfying use of an impromptu skill challenge. Players were trying different skills to move things along, with each new obstacle providing different challenges to defeat and new skills to try. I was more than happy to have them fail at any point since I had statted up the throne room guards already, but they rolled beautifully and had great teamwork.
In addition to getting Tara out and fleeing the palace before the mob broke in to try and seize Tordon, they talked a minor noble into declaring herself the new duchess of Iskaine and seizing the throne. They then gave her a patriotic speech (several, really) and escorted her to the docks, where she told the colossus that the old duke/king had fled and she was now the responsible ruler of Iskaine. The colossus reached down, picked her up, and popped her in its mouth. Was she teleported? Swallowed? Instantly killed? Unknown, but it doesn't seem to have changed the time table.
Now, here's the interesting thing. I had another skill challenge prepared where the PCs would need to split up to address the fact that there was chaos in the streets and the military seemed to have sealed the gates shut, trapping everyone inside the city. The players demurred. Instead, they are working on a plan to get their families out, and are headed off next game to find the acting general of the armies; they hope he can order the gates opened, thus allowing more people to flee.
So, even if it went nothing like I'd expected, I think the game was a success. Best kind of game, really.
My Merchant Prince campaign also technically has seven players, but one is in England for the next three months, and four (two couples) are new parents. Heck, under my "we'll play with 5, do a side game with 4, cancel with 3" rule, you need seven players just to make sure you're getting off a game!
The Grey Guard game last week was fascinating and went nothing like I thought. The group assiduously avoided my awesome, crunchy combat in favor of stealth, skill challenges and sneakiness.
As a reminder, the capitol city of Iskaine province - excuse me, the newly rebelled kingdom of Tordon, apparently - just had its navy destroyed by a 250' tall imperial colossus (about half again as big as the Statue of Liberty). The city had a deadline: deliver the rebel "king", his advisers, ministers and generals by nightfall in 12 hours, or lose the city. Either way the citizens are to be conscripted as slaves for their treason. While this was happening, the PCs were trying to break into the palace to find and/or rescue Logan's friend Tara. Tara had been conscripted into the army as a "cook" several weeks before, and the PCs feared the worst after a divinatory ritual showed her real location. What was she doing in the palace?
To find out, the players embraced my new house rule of "ritual times in minutes get reduced by 1/10th." They walked through a tree to get into the walled palace compound, neatly avoiding the mob of people trying to break down the door, and they used a camouflage ritual to give themselves a whopping +10 to stealth when not in combat. They then pretty much sauntered around the palace grounds.
"Denek? Did that garden hedge just move?"
"Don't be absurd, Rollin! Hasn't there always been a flowerbed in the.. exact.. center.. of the path?"
Using bluff, diplomacy and intimidate, the group claimed to be hunting an incorporeal monster and got past the door guard with the second guard coming along as an escort. They then did a fast search of the palace's south wing. I ran this as a series of skill challenges, giving them more information with each success. The group found signs that Tara was now the nanny to the bratty royal princess, but she was nowhere to be found. They also determined that the King and his immediate family (and half-elf adviser) had quickly packed, and arcana checks showed that the teleportation circle in the wizard's lab had just been used for a linked portal spell.
Which means that "King" Tordon and his advisers had already fled the country. Which means that he wouldn't be around to turn over to the colossus. Which means there was no obvious way to save the city.
Scouting showed that Tara was one of many hostages inside the throne room, people apparently left behind to act as distractions and scapegoats when the palace was eventually stormed by angry mobs. The throne room was sealed and guarded by three huge goliaths, all members of Tordon's personal guard. They weren't what you'd call smart, but they made up for that with stubborn, refusing to be tricked out of letting the PCs into the throne room. Boy, I was sorry to have missed this fight! But everyone knows that you can't just attack members of the Grey Guard, so the goliaths didn't initiate hostilities, and the PCs opted for a non-violent route.
So the players figured: all good throne rooms have secret escape hatches. Where should this one's be? Meanwhile, I'm thinking "what the hell?" Of course it had an escape route, but I hadn't planned it all out. So.. complex skill challenge! Some freakin' amazing skill checks indicated where the exit would come out if the PCs were planning it, a small stable at the edge of the walls. A perception check let them notice a trapdoor; a nature check let them move the hostile stallion standing on top of it. Arcana and Thievery checks to get in, perception and thievery to avoid the trap on the ladder, perception, arcana and thievery to get past the locked door and magical trap that would transmute you to water and drain you away, and bluff/diplomacy/arcana to get the bound spirit at the end of the hall to assist with the throne teleporter. Based on some clues that Stron (the PC warforged wizard) might have crafted this himself hundreds of years ago, a final History check provided the activation phrase (which Stron's player herself provided.) And boom - they were suddenly in the locked throne room.
For me, this was a really satisfying use of an impromptu skill challenge. Players were trying different skills to move things along, with each new obstacle providing different challenges to defeat and new skills to try. I was more than happy to have them fail at any point since I had statted up the throne room guards already, but they rolled beautifully and had great teamwork.
In addition to getting Tara out and fleeing the palace before the mob broke in to try and seize Tordon, they talked a minor noble into declaring herself the new duchess of Iskaine and seizing the throne. They then gave her a patriotic speech (several, really) and escorted her to the docks, where she told the colossus that the old duke/king had fled and she was now the responsible ruler of Iskaine. The colossus reached down, picked her up, and popped her in its mouth. Was she teleported? Swallowed? Instantly killed? Unknown, but it doesn't seem to have changed the time table.
Now, here's the interesting thing. I had another skill challenge prepared where the PCs would need to split up to address the fact that there was chaos in the streets and the military seemed to have sealed the gates shut, trapping everyone inside the city. The players demurred. Instead, they are working on a plan to get their families out, and are headed off next game to find the acting general of the armies; they hope he can order the gates opened, thus allowing more people to flee.
So, even if it went nothing like I'd expected, I think the game was a success. Best kind of game, really.
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You mentioned helping a new player make a cleric, over in the 4e forum. I just assumed that was for one of your games.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Oh, right. No, that was for D&D Encounters.You mentioned helping a new player make a cleric, over in the 4e forum. I just assumed that was for one of your games.
I think I want to share my no-longer-relevant skill challenge here, but I'll wait until next game so as to not bias PC actions.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
This was the fourth game at lvl 7, and only the second combat in all that time. I'm clearly getting my money's worth out of skill challenges, investigation and diplomacy. The PCs are on track to level if they live until tomorrow's dawn.
Last Thursday's game was an unusual one. With three of the six players missing (one illness, one concert rehearsal, one religious obligation) I invited Dr. Rictus to play with us, and had a table of four instead of the usual six. Dr. Rictus played in my Defenders game way back at the start of the storyhour in 2002 or so before he moved to NY and had to leave the game. He's recently moved back to Boston. If you ever heard us refer to the term "push the tummy and it will spout rules," he was the origin of the joke; he knew the 3.5 rules so well that any time we needed a citation we could push his tummy and get the answer. (No tummies were actually pushed, incidentally. That's decorum for you.)
This turned out to be Dr. Rictus's first game of 4e. I gave him Arogg, a lvl 7 half-orc brawling fighter who happened to be an owlbear wrangler. The set-up is that the city is in chaos (aforementioned colossus, Imperial ultimatum, panicking mobs, locked gates, roving cultists, etc.) and a rich wizard's pet owlbear escaped. The PCs were heading down the same street where the wizard's hireling was trying to recapture the owlbear, so they jumped in to help. Amidst the chaos and stampeding mob, another kenku assassin seized the opportunity and tried to kill Bramble. It was one elite lvl 8 and one elite lvl 9 monster against four lvl 7 PCs.
I drew a wide street and placed Arogg and the owlbear (which this group calls "browls") in the middle of the street. The monster was feeding on a dead horse and Arogg was trying to recapture it. I described the owlbear as having painted talons, dyed feathers and fur, and lots of jewels on its collar and pierced beak; it was clearly not wild. I then took a pipecleaner and formed a circle around the owlbear in about an aura 2. I told the group that the street was full of a panicked and running mob of people, and that everyone would be pushed 2 squares each round due to the surging crowd; the crowd would avoid the monster, so anyone within that aura wouldn't be pushed (but would be within range of the owlbear.) I also gave the group several options for avoiding being pushed, including an intimidation, streetwise or acrobatics check.
We started off with the owlbear roaring ("GrrRRAARRRGH-hoo-hoo!") and the fighter saying "Owls can turn their heads around, right? Let's see if this one can, too. I grab its head and twist." The fight was great fun. Brawling fighters are full of control options and are great at grabbing. I really don't think the damn owlbear got to move more than one square the entire fight. It also never landed both of its claw attacks in the same round; it almost did in round one, but Arogg used an immediate interrupt to add +5 to his AC, grabbing the horse noggin to interpose.
Simultaneously, the kenku assassin started putting shrouds on Bramble in preparation for an attack. I described these as cold, terrifying chills crawling across her body. Bramble spotted the assassin up on a roof before I expected her to. The fight then became "avoid the crowds / escape the assassin / recapture the owlbear / keep the shaman alive long enough to escape!" Very tactically interesting.
Also, I am clearly a masochist. Instead of creating a monster version of the assassin, I built it in the character builder. It was too complicated to want to do very often (or in fights with more than one or two opponents.) Tremendously successful, though; the wide range of powers made for a tactically rich fight, but I definitely shuffled paper a little bit more than I like to. The trick is hiding the irrelevant powers, using inherent bonuses instead of magic items, and increasing hit points to be monster-appropriate.
I was sure I had Bramble dead when the assassin knit together their shadows, using a power that says "if I take damage, you also take 5 points." Since Bramble was down to 8 hp by then and out of healing, I figured the heroes would either accidentally kill Bramble themselves or let the assassin go. Instead, Bramble cleverly used a new daily that gives her damage reduction 4 for the rest of the fight.
It turns out 1 pt of damage per hit is a lot easier to withstand than 5 per hit. And the fighter grabbed the prone assassin, stood on her neck, and everyone proceeded to beat on her.
Dang.
Meanwhile, Logan recently redesigned his character to be a cunning sneak; he stood on the roof and used his new superior repeating crossbow to rain fire down on the assassin. His attack rolls generally sucked, but the strategy was great; hiding worked well due to his massive stealth, and his choice of "force" on his magical crossbow meant that the insubstantial assassin was taking full damage from his shots. I'll be curious to hear his impressions so far.
We ended with the group trying to recruit Arogg while his wizardly master, determined to teleport out of the city while there was still time, demanded the half-orc bring the owlbear "Petunia" to the summoning circle. Arogg declined to leave his current employment for a life of monster hunting.
Interesting note about treasure: the owlbear was loaded down with jewels, but no one (quite correctly) wanted to loot her with Arogg there. Similarly, I thought they might bargain with the wizard to have him teleport their families out of the city, but no one thought of it. they did get loot from the kenku assassin, however.
Last Thursday's game was an unusual one. With three of the six players missing (one illness, one concert rehearsal, one religious obligation) I invited Dr. Rictus to play with us, and had a table of four instead of the usual six. Dr. Rictus played in my Defenders game way back at the start of the storyhour in 2002 or so before he moved to NY and had to leave the game. He's recently moved back to Boston. If you ever heard us refer to the term "push the tummy and it will spout rules," he was the origin of the joke; he knew the 3.5 rules so well that any time we needed a citation we could push his tummy and get the answer. (No tummies were actually pushed, incidentally. That's decorum for you.)
This turned out to be Dr. Rictus's first game of 4e. I gave him Arogg, a lvl 7 half-orc brawling fighter who happened to be an owlbear wrangler. The set-up is that the city is in chaos (aforementioned colossus, Imperial ultimatum, panicking mobs, locked gates, roving cultists, etc.) and a rich wizard's pet owlbear escaped. The PCs were heading down the same street where the wizard's hireling was trying to recapture the owlbear, so they jumped in to help. Amidst the chaos and stampeding mob, another kenku assassin seized the opportunity and tried to kill Bramble. It was one elite lvl 8 and one elite lvl 9 monster against four lvl 7 PCs.
I drew a wide street and placed Arogg and the owlbear (which this group calls "browls") in the middle of the street. The monster was feeding on a dead horse and Arogg was trying to recapture it. I described the owlbear as having painted talons, dyed feathers and fur, and lots of jewels on its collar and pierced beak; it was clearly not wild. I then took a pipecleaner and formed a circle around the owlbear in about an aura 2. I told the group that the street was full of a panicked and running mob of people, and that everyone would be pushed 2 squares each round due to the surging crowd; the crowd would avoid the monster, so anyone within that aura wouldn't be pushed (but would be within range of the owlbear.) I also gave the group several options for avoiding being pushed, including an intimidation, streetwise or acrobatics check.
We started off with the owlbear roaring ("GrrRRAARRRGH-hoo-hoo!") and the fighter saying "Owls can turn their heads around, right? Let's see if this one can, too. I grab its head and twist." The fight was great fun. Brawling fighters are full of control options and are great at grabbing. I really don't think the damn owlbear got to move more than one square the entire fight. It also never landed both of its claw attacks in the same round; it almost did in round one, but Arogg used an immediate interrupt to add +5 to his AC, grabbing the horse noggin to interpose.
Simultaneously, the kenku assassin started putting shrouds on Bramble in preparation for an attack. I described these as cold, terrifying chills crawling across her body. Bramble spotted the assassin up on a roof before I expected her to. The fight then became "avoid the crowds / escape the assassin / recapture the owlbear / keep the shaman alive long enough to escape!" Very tactically interesting.
Also, I am clearly a masochist. Instead of creating a monster version of the assassin, I built it in the character builder. It was too complicated to want to do very often (or in fights with more than one or two opponents.) Tremendously successful, though; the wide range of powers made for a tactically rich fight, but I definitely shuffled paper a little bit more than I like to. The trick is hiding the irrelevant powers, using inherent bonuses instead of magic items, and increasing hit points to be monster-appropriate.
I was sure I had Bramble dead when the assassin knit together their shadows, using a power that says "if I take damage, you also take 5 points." Since Bramble was down to 8 hp by then and out of healing, I figured the heroes would either accidentally kill Bramble themselves or let the assassin go. Instead, Bramble cleverly used a new daily that gives her damage reduction 4 for the rest of the fight.
It turns out 1 pt of damage per hit is a lot easier to withstand than 5 per hit. And the fighter grabbed the prone assassin, stood on her neck, and everyone proceeded to beat on her.
Dang.
Meanwhile, Logan recently redesigned his character to be a cunning sneak; he stood on the roof and used his new superior repeating crossbow to rain fire down on the assassin. His attack rolls generally sucked, but the strategy was great; hiding worked well due to his massive stealth, and his choice of "force" on his magical crossbow meant that the insubstantial assassin was taking full damage from his shots. I'll be curious to hear his impressions so far.
We ended with the group trying to recruit Arogg while his wizardly master, determined to teleport out of the city while there was still time, demanded the half-orc bring the owlbear "Petunia" to the summoning circle. Arogg declined to leave his current employment for a life of monster hunting.
Interesting note about treasure: the owlbear was loaded down with jewels, but no one (quite correctly) wanted to loot her with Arogg there. Similarly, I thought they might bargain with the wizard to have him teleport their families out of the city, but no one thought of it. they did get loot from the kenku assassin, however.
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So can Browls turn their head 120 degrees?
Say PCat, this is the second time Bramble has been targeted for death. As the only healer in the party, I have to ask: did you guys hit any walls in terms of the fact that Shamans can barely heal themselves? Aside from the direct target of their Healing Spirit, all of the Shaman's other healing powers says 'Ally", and since the Shaman is not their own Ally...
We ran into that problem.
Say PCat, this is the second time Bramble has been targeted for death. As the only healer in the party, I have to ask: did you guys hit any walls in terms of the fact that Shamans can barely heal themselves? Aside from the direct target of their Healing Spirit, all of the Shaman's other healing powers says 'Ally", and since the Shaman is not their own Ally...
We ran into that problem.
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