[5e] Spell & Crossbones

[Quickleaf]

Btw [MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION], it's been a while since we heard from you! If I don't hear back, am I to assume that real-life obligation have interfered and you're dropping the game too?

 

[Quickleaf]

We've got a huge upheaval in the game. Toph and Wendy have both decided it's in their best interest to drop. And Unsung has been MIA for quite some time, so I'm putting him on the "hiatus" list.

So that puts us back to Nia, Old Zef, Katerina, and Etienne.

Obviously, I'm going to have to wrap my head around this a bit as GM! I'll look for transition-out opportunities for Barrington and Kid in the IC. Maybe we'll do a bit of a fast forward. Not sure what the best way to go is yet.

Ah well.

One thing we should discuss is whether you all want to open the game up for recruiting 1-3 new players or not?

 

[Queenie]

[MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION] has also disappeared from the game he GM's

I am totally fine with opening up for new players. I think it's up to you if you want to put in the time and energy to help craft new characters. I think you mentioned at the beginning of the game we always have players coming in and out of a Pirate crew...

Do you want me to respond in game as if everyone is still around? Kat was going to send Jim and Kid off to handle the cannons, Nia to possible scope out some recruits and Etienne to help move Davard. They would all meet back up in town to handle the ship business, if that can be done in the light of day.

 

[Shayuri]

Arr...Nia's original plan was to start the cleansing ritual tonight, but I suspect that's not going to happen...though Etienne might be better suited to recruit people than Nia...and Nia has spells that will wreck D'avard, so she could move him.

I'm good with recruiting, though I am a little cautious that we might want to let the game move forward first, so we're not eternally trapped in Nassau, introducing new characters.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION] has also disappeared from the game he GM's

Hope he is ok! Sending good thoughts your way Unsung.

For now, we can just assume Caillou is there in the background handling random preparation stuff for the venture.

Do you want me to respond in game as if everyone is still around? Kat was going to send Jim and Kid off to handle the cannons, Nia to possible scope out some recruits and Etienne to help move Davard. They would all meet back up in town to handle the ship business, if that can be done in the light of day.

Sending Jim and Kid to handle the cannons is good, that gives me a way to transition their characters out peacefully and swiftly, perhaps settling into some other venture together.

Sounds like Nia has a moonbeam spell that could be very effective to controlling D'avard, and Etienne is a bit more of a people person who could be good at recruiting. By don't forget [MENTION=2820]Fenris[/MENTION]! Old Zef could probably manage to move the bound seawolf himself too.

Arr...Nia's original plan was to start the cleansing ritual tonight, but I suspect that's not going to happen...though Etienne might be better suited to recruit people than Nia...and Nia has spells that will wreck D'avard, so she could move him.

I will definitely scale any fights down since you'll be going into them with 4 PCs instead of 7.

But you do have the know-how about the ritual (Voodoo Rituals fortune), you know the djab's name "Yellow Jack" or "Xekik", and you've also got Etienne's protective white buffalo skin, so you are ready to do the cleansing ritual. All you need to do is decide which of 4 things you'll offer as a sacrifice:

(1) poisoning an entire supply of healing potions or anti-venom solutions
(2) burning the legacy of a great healer (e.g. bones of cleric or a medical text)
(3) deliberately inflicting yellow fever on a sentient creature
(4) offering a favored sacrifice specially suited to Yellow Jack/Xekik (yes, this one's vague, you haven't discovered it yet, but applying Voodoo theory Nia knows every djab has a favored sacrifice)

I'm good with recruiting, though I am a little cautious that we might want to let the game move forward first, so we're not eternally trapped in Nassau, introducing new characters.

Hmm, good point. OTOH recruiting in Nassau will be easier narratively. Let's wait till after you've completed the cleansing ritual, and are further along with recruiting crew / gathering supplies, then we can open up the game for 1-3 new players.

Sound good?

 

[peterka99]

Yellow fever. Can we use davard as a sacricifial victim ?

I'm surprised, because i fast-forward a lot as a Gm, but i like the slow pace...

There is a lot of roleplay, and few dice rolls...

 

[Shayuri]

It does indeed!

As for the ceremony...

Nia's original plan was to sacrifice D'avard. A creature of unnatural constitution and near-immunity to disease. Buuuuuut our patron wants a word with him first.

Her backup plan is perhaaaaaps to sacrifice the skin, though that's rather extreme, and she'd rather not. There's less costly ways to go about doing this.

What would Nia logically do to research a particular djab though? A favored sacrifice sounds good, but I don't think there are libraries that deal with such things. Are there experts on dark spirits on Nassau that she could consult?

 

[Queenie]

Personally, I think it would be better to recruit new players now, so they have time to get their characters together while we are taking care of business. But that's just me

 

[Quickleaf]

I'm surprised, because i fast-forward a lot as a Gm, but i like the slow pace...

There is a lot of roleplay, and few dice rolls...

I think going light on dice rolls works well with PbP. And while I agree the slower pace is fun (and inevitable in PbP), I think I need to speed things up a bit. 10 months real-time for barely 2 days game-time is just nuts!

As for the ceremony...

Nia's original plan was to sacrifice D'avard. A creature of unnatural constitution and near-immunity to disease. Buuuuuut our patron wants a word with him first.

Her backup plan is perhaaaaaps to sacrifice the skin, though that's rather extreme, and she'd rather not. There's less costly ways to go about doing this.

What would Nia logically do to research a particular djab though? A favored sacrifice sounds good, but I don't think there are libraries that deal with such things. Are there experts on dark spirits on Nassau that she could consult?

You could always tell your patron an "accident" happened on the way.

I've shared a bunch of info on Yellow Jack / Xekik already, how he has been invoked by bokor on slave ships to infect the crew and such. There are a couple avenues of investigation that don't involve directly interacting with the djab or The Coral Curse:

1) Finding the past crew and dwarven Captain "Piet Hien" Van Djik, and questioning them.

2) Speaking with other voudosaints / voodinistas on New Providence Island. I think we established earlier that there were 3: Mambo Asizwe (NPC), Caillou, and Nia.

3) Conjuring some other spirit that might know more about Yellow Jack / Xekik.

Personally, I think it would be better to recruit new players now, so they have time to get their characters together while we are taking care of business. But that's just me

That makes sense. By the time new characters are finished, you'll probably be further along. OK, I'll open up the game then.

However, like [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] said I'd like to incorporate them into the group quickly. Would any special plot points need to be established for Katerina to accept new crew members? Or anything goes?

EDIT: Despite a slightly heavy heart at recent player losses, I've edited the first page to show that I am recruiting 1-3 new players.

 

[Queenie]

Well, we are hiring crew right now so mostly anything goes, I think. Kat might be on the lookout for some "good looking" crew members to keep her entertained rofl

Honestly, it would be nice to eventually have a "foil" to Kat's character. I find that livens things up. But that's OOG stuff
[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] and [MENTION=6787234]peterka99[/MENTION], what roles did you envision your characters taking on the ship, if any?