ZEITGEIST Just about to finish Always on time...

[Hitomi Camacho]

I’m near finishing Always on time and I have some issues about how it might go the last encounter.



First of all, let me congratulate the writers of the Zeitgeist campaign, the faces of my players when they got the revelation from Ashima-Shimtu were worth watching, just when they were sure the Obscurati were about summoning alien entities from the other-planes to conquer the world the revelation that God-slaying is in the game was kind of a shock, endless possibilities of conspiracy raised in a few seconds… great job guys.



Now it comes the tricky part, first, at Odiem, they didn’t fight against Ottavia, they just run downstairs to Ashima’s vault. So now Ottavia is alive, would it make sense to have her on the Obscurati meeting? I was thinking about cutting some of the musketeers or guards and have her besides Luc but maybe this makes the encounter to much difficult for the players.



Also I have a problem with the political repercussions of my player’s actions. They have previously contacted Inspector Delft and he has marked Luc as a not suitable target for kidnapping, just because the incredible amount of that will rain over the RHC when the sovereigns of Danor reclaim his liberation.
With that in mind just imagine their looks when Lia Jierre greeted her brother at Vendrice Station. Once again an amazing cliffhanger for a game session, just when the players were thinking about the repercussions of their interaction with Ashima-Shimtu BAM! , the king’s fiancée is one of the bad guys!



So, what do I “fear”? As I see, my players will get to the warehouse, look at the meeting inside, do nothing and then leave. Don’t get me wrong, I feel it’s a logical conclusion, they have discovered really valuable information but I would like to end the adventure with a chasing on Vendrice or a good session of sword-fighting atop a train. Do you believe it would be ok to push things a little so a confrontation is assured? Like having the Obscurati spot the players and chase them? Not sure to punish good spy-craft in sake of action...

 

[gideonpepys]

They have previously contacted Inspector Delft and he has marked Luc as a not suitable target for kidnapping, just because the incredible amount of that will rain over the RHC when the sovereigns of Danor reclaim his liberation.

There's your problem right there: if Delft has told them not to target Luc then what would be the point of them engaging the group in the warehouse? Why did you have Delft tell them that? Maybe you were trying to keep them on track by averting an early intervention? That would be something similar to the general order I gave my group not to interrupt the train journey until they reach Vendricce, and can observe who Luc's final contacts are. But circumstances have changed now. See the final orders sidebar on p.51:

"Chief Inspector Delft knows the PCs are scheduled to reach Vendricce on
the 16th. That morning he has an RHC mage perform up to three Sending
rituals to ask them the status of the mission and suggest a course of action.
He encourages them to capture Luc if possible, kill him if necessary, and
recover the lantern for study. Any additional information is just a bonus."

If I were you I would have him countermand his earlier orders (perhaps on a higher authority, having waited until now for clearance) and give the group orders to grab that lantern!

By the way, I had concerns about the political ramifications too, but if the PCs have evidence that Luc is connected to a group who (a) almost drowned half of Flint in necrotic sludge; (b) released alien horrors that nearly destroyed RHC HQ; (c) has corrupted several senior officials of the Risuri goverment... well, I think anything they do to disrupt the activities of said group can be justified. It's the Danorans who should be embarrassed when you think about it!

Good luck with the final session. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Hitomi Camacho]

There's your problem right there: if Delft has told them not to target Luc then what would be the point of them engaging the group in the warehouse? Why did you have Delft tell them that? Maybe you were trying to keep them on track by averting an early intervention? That would be something similar to the general order I gave my group not to interrupt the train journey until they reach Vendricce, and can observe who Luc's final contacts are. But circumstances have changed now. See the final orders sidebar on p.51:

"Chief Inspector Delft knows the PCs are scheduled to reach Vendricce on
the 16th. That morning he has an RHC mage perform up to three Sending
rituals to ask them the status of the mission and suggest a course of action.
He encourages them to capture Luc if possible, kill him if necessary, and
recover the lantern for study. Any additional information is just a bonus."

If I were you I would have him countermand his earlier orders (perhaps on a higher authority, having waited until now for clearance) and give the group orders to grab that lantern!.

Ugh, I forgot that part of the text at our last session, even the group was about to contact Delft by themselves. I think we would replay this part before resolving the warehouse encounter. I still don't see the group kidnapping Luc even if he is part of an evil conspiracy there's a peace meeting at the doors and you won't kill the brother of your future Queen, .... but getting the lamp seems quite the logical move. When Delft gave the orders to the group my intention was to abort an early abduction by the RHC team. They have made contingency plans to blow up the train using witch-oil and Luc seemed THE target after Orithea.

 

[RangerWickett]

The group I'm running for murdered Luc and Ottavia in Orithea, and have been kinda bored on the train since then.

 

[Hitomi Camacho]

The group I'm running for murdered Luc and Ottavia in Orithea, and have been kinda bored on the train since then.

What did they saw in Orithea to do this??? Aren't they worried about how they are going to find the meeting?

 

[gideonpepys]

What did they saw in Orithea to do this??? Aren't they worried about how they are going to find the meeting?

Yeah, I'd be interested to know what possessed them to do that.

 

[RangerWickett]

Two PCs following Bree and Ottavia ended up linking up, then turned invisible and stalked the carriage to the lighthouse. As Luc and Ottavia headed into the cottage for the meeting, the PC slipped through the door and hid, while the other one waited outside, trying to stay out of the way of the 20 guards hanging out there. They were right by the ocean, so it seemed fair that no one would hear his footsteps.

Cue the demonstration, and the fiery explosion in the harbor. The PC inside, who was nervous and planning to run, had said that he was just waiting to cast expeditious retreat. He apparently panicked, because he says, "Okay, I cast and run."

The people in the meeting hear the casting, and I look at the time and realize it's a little late to start a combat. So we broke for the week. And over the break, the other players mentioned that they were kinda itching for a fight, and hoped we could slightly retcon so they'd be close enough to the lighthouse to react when the sea turned to fire. They were concerned that if a big fight broke out while the party was split, half the group would sit around while the other half were killed or captured. I don't like leaving players idle too long, especially if they're just spectating combat, so I agree.

So the PC who'd been watching Boone decided to ditch (cue one dead prostitute), and the ones hanging out with Damata and Verzubak decided those guys weren't worth following. So they risked using their "Twitter" (the wind that Gale gave them), and we retconned that they were all converging on the lighthouse.

The fire mishap occurs, and the PCs who were converging start to run, which attracts the attention of Bree (who was lurking nearby to try to delay investigators). The PC sniper hangs back, so Bree chases on after the other two, giving the sniper time to set up her perch a few hundred feet out.

Meanwhile the invisible infiltrator realizes he blew his cover by casting expeditious retreat. So he punches out a window and ducks to the side. Guards assume someone has jumped out the window, which distracts people long enough for him to get out the front door. He's tempted to steal the lantern, but when he realizes he can't tuck it into his clothes and make it invisible too, he instead decides to grab the schematics Luc brought to show how to make a big one for the lighthouse.

Then he opens the door and bolts. A bunch of guards, alerted that someone's invisible, fail terribly to catch him. He hops onto the carriage, whips the horses so they'll run, then jumps off. As expected, the guards start shooting at the carriage, but he's able to just saunter away.

And if the rest of the party hadn't asked for the retcon so they could save their friends, the invisible PC would have gotten away Scot free. Instead, two PCs get close and feign concern for people who might be in danger from the mishap. Bree's not taking any chances, so she shouts for the guards to come over and detain them until things get straightened out. Luc and Ottavia come out cautiously, worried that they're under attack.

And the PCs refuse to be detained, so after multiple warnings, Bree gets permission from Ottavia, then attacks. The other invisible PC emerges from his hiding spot and tanks Ottavia (and accidentally kills Luc with an opportunity attack). Bree gets knocked down by sniper fire and the other PCs, and then they mop up the various mooks.

I bullsh*t in that Bree has regeneration, and so while the group is elsewhere she quaffs a potion of invisibility and gets the hell out, but Ottavia gets captured and carted off, and the group takes Luc's head and the lantern (and throw his body into the ocean), then runs before the local police show up. (Police who, honestly, aren't in a huge rush to respond to the scene of dozens of gunshots and spells being cast.)

They talk to Ottavia, who is calm and restrained, and who has absolutely no interest in helping these people that just murdered Luc and so many others. She tries to bargain information in order for them to spare her, but the group realizes they can't just leave a spellcaster who is powerful enough to cast sending, and they can't risk taking her on the train. So, well, they're spies. And now they have two heads in their handy haversack.

They're in Nalaam now, and they've already gotten rid of Boone in Drakr by forging a letter from Ottavia to the Obscurati cell there, saying, "Sorry, we've been delayed. You might have heard about this big gunfight in Orithea. If you see a tiefling gunslinger around, he tried to kill us." (More accurately, they think they got Boone off the train. The Ob did come for him, but he explained his situation, even let himself be charmed to prove it, and now he's lurking on the train with a new set of minions, waiting to strike.)

And they think they got rid of Bree, because she dropped a note to them saying, "Hey, I'm just a mercenary. Don't follow me. I'm out." But actually she took the other train back to Danor in order to get reinforcements. Those reinforcements will ride the train east until they get to an area of stable magic, and then teleport to head the party off."

Oh, and that's not even counting how in Cherage one PC abducted Isobel and managed to elude Elanor's bodyguards, smuggle the eladrin onto the train, and trick Elanor into staying in Cherage to look for her.

Right now they're helping out Damata, they captured Malia after the Malice Beast attack, and they know Verzubak was helping Bree but they suspect he's not going to be a problem. It's been a little crazy, but they're about to get bit in the ass. Word of advice: don't carry the severed head of two people you murdered if you're going to get pulled into the Plane of Ruin.

 

[gideonpepys]

If I was Stover Delft, I'd fire their asses.

 

[Hitomi Camacho]

Dead Luc is coming for you! Something like Headless Horseman strikes back?

 

[RangerWickett]

If I was Stover Delft, I'd fire their asses.

Well, one PC is pushing for them to ditch the RHC bureaucracy anyway and save the world on their own. And they actually went directly to Nigel Price-Hill since they didn't trust Delft . . . because they were afraid their info from Xambria about Saxby wasn't enough of a smoking gun. So they managed to get Saxby reassigned to Shale, then hid their mission on the railroad from Delft (mostly).

Yeah, my group does not play well with others.