The chamberlain, the king, and the dragon (drobe)

[Manbearcat]

I'll address the fictional positioning and mechanical query of the fungibility of the power bonus from Lucann (and bridge to the mechanical prospects for Quinn's new lackey as well) of the last 4 posts tomorrow in a post of my own (Thurgon's Diplomacy vs mother at Hard DC is, of course, good, the results of Lucann's Insight check, and Thurgon's Insight with Quinn at Easy DC is good as well).

Would you all mind doing me favor in the interim for the coming Action Scene. I'm assuming pemerton is going to go first as Thurgon's fictional positioning and build puts him as the "Face Man" of the group, yes? If true (even if not), please fill out the action order after Thurgon for the coming Action Scene. Thanks in advance.

 

[Campbell]

I'll go last if that's alright with everyone else. With his new found clarity Lucann will seek to gain an understanding of the situation before acting in earnest.

 

[Manbearcat]

Thurgon has been listening, but is distracted by the woman and her children. As the others discuss the emptiness of life and the workings of dark fey, Thurgon strides up to the mother. "Take heart, my friend!"

[Enc power grants her 10 temp hp and +2 to all defences; Diplomacy +19 (assuming she recognises me as a noble knight of the realm) +2 for enc power = +21, + 7 for roll = 28 total)]

"You and your children will be safe in the undercity; it won't fall. And you," Thurgon says, turning to the boy, "if you're going to carry a blade, make sure you learn how to use it, and when. Avoid foolisheness! And obey your mother."

He returns to the group.

"Quinn, that's enough nonsense about emptiness. These people aren't empty - they're full of fear, and we must turn that fear to hope! Let us deal with this recalcitrant chamberlain and call the king to account!" And I heft my heavy mace (no blood-shedding weapons for this cleric!).

The woman wraps Thurgon in a teary-eyed hug quickly, releases him, composes herself by clearing her throat and straightening her longskirt: "Please see your promise through, good Sir Knight."

The boy grins broadly as you address him and says "Yes Sir!" with polish and vigor.

I'm getting something of an Earthsea vibe.

I think we should have a general discussion about our play efforts here at some point and with some focus on the manifestation of genre as unfixed elements become fixed. None of us have played together before and know each other only through a litany of posts, so its interesting to see things come together.

Lucann glances at Thurgon. After noting the knight's readiness, he reaches into his cloak and unveils a silver lantern, resplendent with the markings of Sehanine. This marks him as a priest of his order.

Mechanics: Lucann and his allies gain +1 power bonus to Insight and Perception as long as the lantern is out.

Aided by the revelations of the lantern, Lucann addresses Quinn: "I would not be concerned that the sidhe will take overt action to bar our entrance. It already risks much in intervening in the affairs of men so directly. For children of the forest the Accords are not a simple agreement, no matter their master. They are written in the blood of our hearts. This is even more true for those who still claim the True Forest as their homes. I find it troubling that one sworn to shadows would seek the daylight. There must be much at stake for it - that is no pleasant thought."

Insight: 1d20+22=37

Intent: Lucann seeks Sehanine in the forest of his heart to see if She Who Walks The Woods of the World might have any hints as to what would drive the dark sidhe away from their homes and eternal war with the Eladrin and Gnomes. The more cryptic the better.

[With the Hard DC sufficiently obliterated] Malevolence takes all forms from wanton destruction merely to titilate the twisted mind, to the simple; greed and service to self at the expense of others. Those in power that can orchestrate such things are often are beholden to the latter vice...and ultimately destroyed by it.

Lucann is ready. He still remains present in this world as while as the forest of his heart. Once the action scene begins in earnest he will invoke Deadly Calm. He exudes a preternatural calm. He gives Thurgon a quick nod to let him know the elf priest is ready to proceed.

Note: I better not be using up all my good rolls in the transition scene. Deadly Calm is a daily stance that does extra damage when both oath of enmity attack rolls succeed. I'm not sure how to handle that for the purposes of the exercise. It seemed fictionally appropriate so I'm using it.

For the purposes of this exercise, I think the easiest way to go would be that you effectively have a token to cash in at your discretion that provides:

- Auto-success (fiat) on any one effort where an attack roll would apply and a + 2 on any future roll of your choosing (you devise the applicable fictional positioning). Applied Dailies in these scenarios do cost a Healing Surge.

If you have another offer that serves the same level of utility and functionality, I'll gladly hear it and I'm pretty amenable to most offers.

Quinn rolls his eyes.

Mechanics: He's opting out of the power bonus (if possible). Why? Well, he wouldn't buy it. I'm interested in how the reward system might reflect that action.

1 - Going back to your newly gained lackey. This would be handled in one of a few ways in my game:

a) Campanion character that would generally provide background color but be invoked for combat scenarios when another character would be appropriate/required (this guy would be a brute companion). He would, of course, count as a full character in terms of xp budgetting.

b) An Alternative Advancement Reward that eats up some of your current, or future, item budget (see pemerton's herald) that can be invoked for some limited-use effect (and may have a constant "Property" effect as well - see your Laurel Circlet). For instance. This guy could give you a constant Streetwise bonus with a Daily interrupt action that lets him take a hit for you. I'd have to sort out the item budget and charge you, but that would certainly be one way to do it.

c) He could be both (companion character and an AAR).

As to your second question, I find 4e has multiple vectors here to leverage:

1 - Thematic malleability with refluffing; You could retain those bonuses but transform their meaning within the fiction. Perhaps defiance of principle hones your senses for the moment.

2 - 4e has three primary fungible assets the way I see it; (i) Healing Surges, (ii) cash/item budget, (iii) Action Points. Any one of them could be cashed out for some kind of alternative effect immediately if you don't want to just refluff.

3 - If you want to work toward a nihilistic, principle-defying attribute that provides function/utility, this would certainly be a cue to that end. We could certainly devise an Alternative Advancement Reward that you would pay item budget toward.

If you wanted to opt out of this but we needed to provide an immediate effect to balance out the + 1 I/+1 P, I think there is an easy way to cash that out. You would very likely only use 1 of those, at most, in this Action Scene. Cashing that + 1 power bonus from Lucann out for something else you find thematically applicable (that stems from the denial of principle; perhaps the Bluff as pemerton had mentioned) would be easily enough done and generally balanced. Let me know.

Can anyone cover me for rep to LostSoul?

I cannot unfortunately.

With the power bonus to Insight Thurgon might even notice this (d20 roll of 7 +9 = 16 - so makes Easy for our level).

Assuming he does, he glowers - is Quinn's lack of faith here going to hurt our endeavour?

It is as you put here.

I'll go last if that's alright with everyone else. With his new found clarity Lucann will seek to gain an understanding of the situation before acting in earnest.

So we have bookends:

1 - Thurgon
2 -
3 -
4 - Lucann

Need Quinn and Theron to sort out 2 and 3.

 

[sheadunne]

So we have bookends:

1 - Thurgon
2 -
3 -
4 - Lucann

Need Quinn and Theron to sort out 2 and 3.

Theren will go second but he will be holding his action. He views his job as preventing anyone from stopping the group (especially Thurgon at the moment). If anyone approaches Thurgon within the distance of his great spear, he'll work to either step between them or move them away, unless their actions are violent, in which case he'll skewer them. The exceptions here are the Chamberlain and the king, in which case Theren would wait for Thurgon's lead in those cases, since they are the objectives.

Theren doesn't have a case to make here. He's more interested in determine the integrity of men (Thurgon, the Chamberlain, and the King especially). As long as Thurgon holds to his integrity, determination, and convictions, he won't allow him to be distracted by the physical efforts of others. However, if it proves that Thurgon's convictions are lacking and, say, the kings convictions prove noble, Thurgon is on his own. (i.e. if the rolls start shifting things around, Theren might be shifting with them). Roll well my friends, roll well!

Stuff in play from Theren
- Group Diplomacy (allies in 10' get +1 Diplomacy). Theren will be keeping within that distance from Thurgon.
- If Thurgon is having difficulty getting his Point across, Theren will use knack for success to give Thurgon a +4 bonus to his next skill check.
- If it looks like a multitude of people are trying to stop us (i.e. guards surrounding us, etc) Theren will use Rain of Steel to create a bubble of great spear swings in an attempt to intimidate people from approaching.
- Until necessary to change it, Theren will be on the defensive not offensive. He'll be using the total defense action to add his weapon bonus to his defenses.

Anything else needed?

 

[Manbearcat]

If Thurgon is having difficulty getting his Point across, Theren will use knack for success to give Thurgon a +4 bonus to his next skill check.
- If it looks like a multitude of people are trying to stop us (i.e. guards surrounding us, etc) Theren will use Rain of Steel to create a bubble of great spear swings in an attempt to intimidate people from approaching.
- Until necessary to change it, Theren will be on the defensive not offensive. He'll be using the total defense action to add his weapon bonus to his defenses.

Anything else needed?

Gotcha. That all makes sense. Couple things right quick.

1 - I will challenge you directly in the fiction, putting pressure specifically on your character. Just let me know your response and we can resolve things.

2 - You don't have to act when its feasible for you to remain passive, but, given the disposition and M.O that you've outlined, consider support actions primarily. Consider:

A - Insight, Intimidate, Perception, Streetwise versus the Easy DC (14) to facilitate a + 2 to Thurgon's (or someone else if you wish but you are clearly advocating for his position in this) next effort in the exchange.

B - For the full defense action you've outlined above, you would again deploy your Attack Action versus an Easy AC (25). This would be a support action that, just as above, would provide a future + 2 bonus to someone. You could use this for yourself next round for a riposte or you could provide it to someone as a "guardian/defender" bonus to their next roll.

With respect to "Knack for Success", you would just use this as an interrupt action on pemerton's turn if he failed a check. I'll be checking with everyone about immediate actions before we move on to the next panel/stage. So if pemerton/Thurgon fails and you want to deploy it, you'd just chime in and author how the retcon functions (your role specifically), and then pemerton would make it all cohere.

Does that all make sense?

 

[sheadunne]

<math>

Does that all make sense?

Sure does.

I expect to be challenged directly so that complications can emerge with my own ideas of protection and defense. After all, if you don't challenge me directly, how can my actions have risk of complications?

So basically what I outlined above is my intention, but I expect my intention to be challenged directly, thus providing complications for my intention of protecting/defending Thurgon (and to some extend the others) if I failed in the challenges.

My intention many change as well, especially if Thurgon's actions lead to complications in his convictions, which may make Theren question his allegiance. Or perhaps if the King proves to be of higher caliber than Thurgon (which I would expect if Thurgon fails in his challenges, thus perhaps making the King seem more righteous than Thurgon).

I'm really just mapping out my goals for the scene.
1) Protect/defend the party from threats, while
2) Judging both Thurgon and the King as being worthy of his support and service

If this were a campaign, Thurgon's and Theren's position would probably be established by this level and only a serious dramatic shift would cause a break in that bond. Since this is a one-shot, let's have fun with it and see where the fiction takes us.
[MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION], does this work for you? I'm basically suggesting that [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] up the stakes on our relationship based on challenges you face. In turn, I'm going to be devoting my characters resources in protecting/defending and amplifying your characters ability to succeed. If the dice hate us and the fiction turns sour, our characters may find themselves at odds (although probably not at arms). I'm testing out the role of Defender (i.e. Fighter) in a skill challenge in which combat is the character's focus.

 

[pemerton]

[MENTION=27570]sheadunne[/MENTION], [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] - that works for me.

 

[Manbearcat]

I'm going to frame you guys into the Action Scene tonight. I've decided that I'm going to run this as a Complexity 5 Skill Challenge: The King, the King is the Thing!.

Complexity	Successes	Advantages	Typical DCs
5	12	6	8 moderate, 4 hard

Easy Skill DC: 14
Medium Skill DC: 20
Hard Skill DC: 28

Easy Weapon Attack vs AC: 25
Medium Weapon Attack vs AC: 27
Hard Weapon Attack vs AC: 29

Easy Weapon/Implement Attack vs AC: 23
Medium Weapon/Implement Attack vs AC: 25
Hard Weapon/Implement Attack vs AC: 27

The odds of a Nested Combat Skill Challenge for 1 success or 1 failure towards the aggregate Skill Challenge are very high.

Primary Skill Usage:

- These accrue successes or failures toward the Skill Challenge's conclusion.
- Subsequent usage of these steps DC up by one.

Secondary Skill Usage:

- These aid/support/create assets and are used at the Easy DC. For ease of use, we are going to stick to + 2 to a subsequent check, fictional positioning requirement specified by the player. One other usage will be with the invocation of an Advantage, at the Medium DC, to cancel out an immediately preceding Failure.
- Each Skill can be used as a Secondary Skill once.

Advantages:

- These are going to be handled player-side. If you want to invoke one, have at it. Just put it in your post.
- For our purposes, these can be used to (i) step down a DC by one, (ii) reopen another Primary Skill Usage at the standard DC, (iii) reopen another Secondary Skill usage, or (iv) as a Secondary Skill Usage (at the Medium DC) interrupt action to cancel an immediately preceding failure.

Dailies:

- These can be invoked, pending fictional positioning legitimacy, for an automatic success in the Skill Challenge and a + 2, fictional positioning requirement specified by the player, but at the cost of 1 Healing Surge.

Encounter Powers:

- Combat Encounter Powers can be used to gain a + 2 to your Attack vs AC/NAD, pending fictional positioning legitimacy. You can also gain an additional + 1 (for a total of + 3) at the cost of 1 Healing Surge.

You guys have accrued assets to deploy in this and you have PC build resources to deploy as free/interrupt actions. Before I resolve any specific panel/stage, I'm going to ask people to check in to confirm whether they are deploying any of these or leaving the scene as is. I'm going to do this via PM so as to not clutter the thread. Unfortunately, since we aren't sitting around a table together in real time, this is our only recourse. Is everyone ok with this and/or do you have any questions about anything?

 

[Manbearcat]

@pemerton

You make your way up the winding stone stairs toward the apex of the Kingsmount. You get a deeper understanding why this fortress has been deemed impregnable. There are not nearly as many guards lining your course as you would expect. Only a handful greet you at the top.

A refined steward welcomes you graciously and sees you into a great stone entry hall with 25 foot ceilings, great columns with ornate entablatures and a balcony on the far end with stairs leading from the landing to the floor on either side. Massive tapestries have been unfurled, serving as area rugs for the makeshift living quarters the hall has become. Silvered candelabras have been laid out geometrically to provide functional lighting but the recesses of the ceiling are concealed with darkness. You can tell that the great catapults of the giants have assaulted even here as large, unseemly cracks adorn the edifice. The nobility appear to be holding up here, now little more than refugees in relative squalor with makeshift living spaces replete with crudely fashioned wooden privies with privacy curtains, and servants changing out chamberpots as you enter. Most action comes to an immediate halt, all eyes are squarely upon the four of you, hushed whispers a chorus. The steward leads you down the central avenue of the hall to stand before the balcony. There, seated in a great stone chair (assuredly this is where pleas or cases are heard) sits a regal looking gentleman, hair grayed, face creased and all edges, eyes narrowed like a hawk. He is flanked by multiple guards in battle garb, of which each possesses a great canine at the end of a leash.

Your herald Blaine regales the Lord Chamberlain with titles and deeds, the first of which is the Knight Commander of the Iron Tower. When he finishes, the Lord Chamberlain crisply notes, “It was the first that allowed you audience today. This kingdom has ancient accords with your order that supersede my better judgment, unfortunately. As you can see, a proper welcome is impossible under these circumstances and the War Council, over which I’m supposed to be presiding as it is one of my duties as primary functionary of the court and chair of all department meetings up to and including the convening of the War Council, is currently in session. As such, our time here must, to my chagrin, be brief. I have heard of your efforts in the rearguard, valiantly ushering in the lowland refugees, of which your herald so nobly recounted. I have heard of your many overt, unsanctioned actions to protect the city and instill hope in its soldiers and its people. The people seem to love you. I’ve heard rumor they want you to lead a charge against our aggressors. It is all very lovely and it would make a good story to tell wide-eyed boys unacquainted with life’s harsher realities. A thousand blessings upon you good sir knight. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for compensation for we have none to give. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for soldiers to recruit for the Iron Tower for we have none to give. So tell me, Knight Commander of the Iron Tower, why do you come to us in this late hour?”

<I’m sure you can sort out whether or not he respects your authority!>

Massive Entry Hall
High, Dark Ceilings
Chamberlain Seated On High
All Eyes On You
Guards With Dogs
Cracked Walls and Columns
The People Are With You
Flammable Floor Coverings and Loose Candelabras
Filled to Bursting
War Council Convening

[MENTION=16586]Campbell[/MENTION] Inbox full. Need to send a PM.

 

[pemerton]

the Lord Chamberlain crisply notes, “It was the first that allowed you audience today. This kingdom has ancient accords with your order that supersede my better judgment, unfortunately. As you can see, a proper welcome is impossible under these circumstances and the War Council, over which I’m supposed to be presiding as it is one of my duties as primary functionary of the court and chair of all department meetings up to and including the convening of the War Council, is currently in session. As such, our time here must, to my chagrin, be brief. I have heard of your efforts in the rearguard, valiantly ushering in the lowland refugees, of which your herald so nobly recounted. I have heard of your many overt, unsanctioned actions to protect the city and instill hope in its soldiers and its people. The people seem to love you. I’ve heard rumor they want you to lead a charge against our aggressors. It is all very lovely and it would make a good story to tell wide-eyed boys unacquainted with life’s harsher realities. A thousand blessings upon you good sir knight. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for compensation for we have none to give. I’m sure you aren’t coming here for soldiers to recruit for the Iron Tower for we have none to give. So tell me, Knight Commander of the Iron Tower, why do you come to us in this late hour?”

Thurgon stands patiently while the Lord Chamberlain berates him.

Thurgon (and his player!) has a feeling that conflict may be pending, but he will not initiate it, at least not yet.

"Lord Chamberlain, we do not come to distract you from your Council of War. We come to speak to that Council! Your city is guarded by stout defenders, with valiant hearts. I know - I have spoken to them, fought alongside them, called forth the blessings of the Lord of Battle upon them. But they want for leadership! The Council is remote, up here in the high citadel. The people feel abandoned. Above all, they ask "Where is their king?" Will His Majesty not come forth to see personally to the defence of his city?"

I am rolling Diplomacy, and calling upon my +1 consumable from my earlier blessing of the soldiers going to the granaries. That is +16. My d20 roll is 2, which is an overall result of 18.

I believe that fails a Medium DC.
[MENTION=27570]sheadunne[/MENTION], it may be that things are about to get ugly!