RangerWickett
Legend
I am reminded of the Dan Akroyd/Chevy Chase movie Spies Like Us.
ZEITGEIST Deathwyrm's Zeitgeist Campaign - Clockwork Eclipse
Deathwyrm
Explorer
S04E03
A new day, a new luxurious ride. With new passengers! Most of whom the party just chose not to pay attention to because they were just exhausted and were more concerned with stowing away a corpse in a case.
During the safari, Goodwyne takes the time to bond with the Griento family and developed a respect for their role in finding a place in the ever changing society of Ber. Mikkel took to the safari and used it as opportunity to put the moves on Bree, much to her annoyance.
Orithea is where things get exciting. Mikkel and Dr Basch hit the town in search for hints and clues to where the nearest person who can Raise Dead is. Goodwyne and Dr Teko decide to follow Luc & Crew. Threm and Cysgod are certain that weird oily naked weirdo from Cherage is sure to be here too so set out a stakeout by the hotel for him.
How'd it go for the team who loves to separate as much as possible as often as possible? Let's divide it up.
Golem Stakeout: The ninja and swashbuckler find the highest vantage point, and start Batman-ing the enclave. After a scream and a chase, they follow the strange figure to Elanor's room.
I wasn't too sure what the actual type of character of Mr Mapple/Andrei was.... so I went with a big sweeping dramatic sort. The kind fueled by the concepts of love, romance, and all those lofty ambitions that give life meaning. As the pair of investigators watched Andrei taking his bath in the hotel room, he gave a speech about his crusade to save his love from the clutches of vile wickedness, "for what is life about... if not to overcome adversity with all the strength our passions provide, as long as we struggle for love... we empower the hearts that beat in our chest."
They took a very serious liking to Andrei, asked him to stop breaking into stuff and in return they'll help rescue Isobel however they can. By having him be just a little bit over the top, they'll get the feeling something is amiss when they find him acting differently in later seasons.
Follow that Carriage: The investigator and alchemist are somehow super crazy good at not being detected as they follow their quarries down to the lighthouse... where they inexplicably decide to split off, steal a rowboat, and try to scale the cliff up to better eavesdrop in on any conversations. A rather time consuming endeavor, and as neither is particularly athletic the climbing had them stuck halfway up to their area, they were in a difficult situation when the sea caught fire underneath them. Consuming many potions, they held in there and came out a little scalded but absolutely convinced that the conspiracy is developing a superweapon capable of massive fires.
Raise the Dead: After lots of bribes in the Night Market and a great deal of interrogations and intimidations, a lead indicated that a mysterious fallen priest named Father Nemo operating just outside of the city's safe limits who may do so, but no results are guaranteed. With that, Mikkel asked Dr. Basch for a 5000gp loan to get this done. In the middle of the night, they go out to the lonely tent where back alley miracles are sold, open the triceratops case... and pay the masked figure for their abilities.
So, magic acts weird here. I got thinking... my wife is pretty weird, and enjoys watching. I asked her to draft a list of 20 possible Raise Dead complications. Five must be positive for the players, but the rest can be whatever she wants.
"No refunds" cackles Nemo under his porcelain mask, extends hands and invokes the magic through some dead language. A green mist rises, covering the deceased Finona Duvall, and a thick energy fills the air.
Mikkel's player rolls the d20, my wife consults the table.
The mists dissipate, and Finona is now a potted ficus plant. The pot looks to have the same colouring as the clothes she wore.
Dr. Basch: "I walk the f*** out, slam the door behind me, I don't even want to look at Mikkel for the rest of the night. Its time to seriously drink."
The party reconvenes, update each other on what happened... and head back to the hotel for the night. Mikkel is dedicated to protecting this plant for the rest of the journey.
A new day, a new luxurious ride. With new passengers! Most of whom the party just chose not to pay attention to because they were just exhausted and were more concerned with stowing away a corpse in a case.
During the safari, Goodwyne takes the time to bond with the Griento family and developed a respect for their role in finding a place in the ever changing society of Ber. Mikkel took to the safari and used it as opportunity to put the moves on Bree, much to her annoyance.
Orithea is where things get exciting. Mikkel and Dr Basch hit the town in search for hints and clues to where the nearest person who can Raise Dead is. Goodwyne and Dr Teko decide to follow Luc & Crew. Threm and Cysgod are certain that weird oily naked weirdo from Cherage is sure to be here too so set out a stakeout by the hotel for him.
How'd it go for the team who loves to separate as much as possible as often as possible? Let's divide it up.
Golem Stakeout: The ninja and swashbuckler find the highest vantage point, and start Batman-ing the enclave. After a scream and a chase, they follow the strange figure to Elanor's room.
I wasn't too sure what the actual type of character of Mr Mapple/Andrei was.... so I went with a big sweeping dramatic sort. The kind fueled by the concepts of love, romance, and all those lofty ambitions that give life meaning. As the pair of investigators watched Andrei taking his bath in the hotel room, he gave a speech about his crusade to save his love from the clutches of vile wickedness, "for what is life about... if not to overcome adversity with all the strength our passions provide, as long as we struggle for love... we empower the hearts that beat in our chest."
They took a very serious liking to Andrei, asked him to stop breaking into stuff and in return they'll help rescue Isobel however they can. By having him be just a little bit over the top, they'll get the feeling something is amiss when they find him acting differently in later seasons.
Follow that Carriage: The investigator and alchemist are somehow super crazy good at not being detected as they follow their quarries down to the lighthouse... where they inexplicably decide to split off, steal a rowboat, and try to scale the cliff up to better eavesdrop in on any conversations. A rather time consuming endeavor, and as neither is particularly athletic the climbing had them stuck halfway up to their area, they were in a difficult situation when the sea caught fire underneath them. Consuming many potions, they held in there and came out a little scalded but absolutely convinced that the conspiracy is developing a superweapon capable of massive fires.
Raise the Dead: After lots of bribes in the Night Market and a great deal of interrogations and intimidations, a lead indicated that a mysterious fallen priest named Father Nemo operating just outside of the city's safe limits who may do so, but no results are guaranteed. With that, Mikkel asked Dr. Basch for a 5000gp loan to get this done. In the middle of the night, they go out to the lonely tent where back alley miracles are sold, open the triceratops case... and pay the masked figure for their abilities.
So, magic acts weird here. I got thinking... my wife is pretty weird, and enjoys watching. I asked her to draft a list of 20 possible Raise Dead complications. Five must be positive for the players, but the rest can be whatever she wants.
"No refunds" cackles Nemo under his porcelain mask, extends hands and invokes the magic through some dead language. A green mist rises, covering the deceased Finona Duvall, and a thick energy fills the air.
Mikkel's player rolls the d20, my wife consults the table.
The mists dissipate, and Finona is now a potted ficus plant. The pot looks to have the same colouring as the clothes she wore.
Dr. Basch: "I walk the f*** out, slam the door behind me, I don't even want to look at Mikkel for the rest of the night. Its time to seriously drink."
The party reconvenes, update each other on what happened... and head back to the hotel for the night. Mikkel is dedicated to protecting this plant for the rest of the journey.
Deathwyrm
Explorer
S04E04
The group gathers once more upon the train, and discreetly meet somewhere after Mikkel offers generous monetary gifts to train staff to ensure the Ficus Duvall is taken highly care of.
"So the Obscurati are working on some kind of doomsday lantern explosive device" concludes Det. Goodwyne after what he saw. "They turned it on and all the water turned to fire, it has to be a weapon of war."
The others are shocked and start to wonder about what they can do to, and if they this job needs to become an assassination.
Before they can though, there's a train robbery and oh my word the party is just way too excited for this. At long last of all this undercover nonsense, they decide to just let loose.
Mikkel is up on the roof of the train with a rifle in each hand burning as much grit as possible to shoot at the Screaming Malice and draw its attention away from the passengers.
Cysgod and Threm go full ninja, and smokebombs and swashbuckling abounds and they are more than a match for any person or spawn that stands up to them. The daring pair laugh aloud at their victories all the while.
Det. Goodwyne starts using some odd alchemies to mutate his body a bit and help him fight off some bandits.
Dr. Basch and Dr. Teko both head to the locomotive to get the train going again. Dr. Teko decides to drink some of his alchemies as well, but as they were made during a pocket of wild magic earlier in the trip... its another wild magic table roll courtesy of my wife, and his clothes go sentient, and after a few moments of recognizing their own consciousness his garments begin arguing against each other whether the Great Wearer is deserving of worship because he brought life to them, or is he a false god because he depends more on them for protection only to cast them away when they are too unclean for his liking.
Dr Teko decides that between the archaeologist in the brain and this religious schism in his clothes, this is just too many voices for him and sits down rocking back and forth for the remainder of the encounter.
The train slowly rolls into Trekholm, and the party convenes once again in private.
"That felt good and all... but, that wasn't good for our cover identities, right?" asked Threm.
Cysgod reassured him, "Its fine, it was all kind of crazy. No one could have paid attention to all that. Our identities are secure just fine."
Their identities were indeed not secure at all.
The group gathers once more upon the train, and discreetly meet somewhere after Mikkel offers generous monetary gifts to train staff to ensure the Ficus Duvall is taken highly care of.
"So the Obscurati are working on some kind of doomsday lantern explosive device" concludes Det. Goodwyne after what he saw. "They turned it on and all the water turned to fire, it has to be a weapon of war."
The others are shocked and start to wonder about what they can do to, and if they this job needs to become an assassination.
Before they can though, there's a train robbery and oh my word the party is just way too excited for this. At long last of all this undercover nonsense, they decide to just let loose.
Mikkel is up on the roof of the train with a rifle in each hand burning as much grit as possible to shoot at the Screaming Malice and draw its attention away from the passengers.
Cysgod and Threm go full ninja, and smokebombs and swashbuckling abounds and they are more than a match for any person or spawn that stands up to them. The daring pair laugh aloud at their victories all the while.
Det. Goodwyne starts using some odd alchemies to mutate his body a bit and help him fight off some bandits.
Dr. Basch and Dr. Teko both head to the locomotive to get the train going again. Dr. Teko decides to drink some of his alchemies as well, but as they were made during a pocket of wild magic earlier in the trip... its another wild magic table roll courtesy of my wife, and his clothes go sentient, and after a few moments of recognizing their own consciousness his garments begin arguing against each other whether the Great Wearer is deserving of worship because he brought life to them, or is he a false god because he depends more on them for protection only to cast them away when they are too unclean for his liking.
Dr Teko decides that between the archaeologist in the brain and this religious schism in his clothes, this is just too many voices for him and sits down rocking back and forth for the remainder of the encounter.
The train slowly rolls into Trekholm, and the party convenes once again in private.
"That felt good and all... but, that wasn't good for our cover identities, right?" asked Threm.
Cysgod reassured him, "Its fine, it was all kind of crazy. No one could have paid attention to all that. Our identities are secure just fine."
Their identities were indeed not secure at all.
Deathwyrm
Explorer
S04E05
The train limps into Trekholm, and boy does everyone plans. None of which involves the Obscurati at all.
Det. Goodwyne aka Hank Prospane is approached by Damata Griento, who asks him to attend a speaking of Vlendam Heid. Afterwards, explains of his troubles with The Family but surely a man of such bold character can help out. Anyone that stood up to malice beasts and bandits can help him in a scrape, and will be surely rewarded? Moved by his touching story, Goodwyne agrees that even if he can't get the others to aid him... he will be there.
Cysgod and Threm were so captivated by Andrei's impassioned speeches about saving love from the grips of tragedy that they exert all their efforts on following Elanor and Isobel. Through careful eavesdropping and clever impromptu disguises, the pair just barely manage to catch her communications regarding an upcoming auction. They swear themselves to Andrei that they'll rescue her! Because love is what's important. Governments rise and fall, but what hasn't changed is the indomitable spirit of greater emotions.
In getting off the train, Dr. Basch decides to do some random mind-reading and successfully gets into Cardiff's head. Finding out about his secret rendezvous to sell government secrets... he works up Mikkel and Dr. Teko into a frenzy that he needs to be stopped for this nefarious transaction can take place. Due to poor stealth rolls, a massive shootout begins. The party manages to escape with an unconscious Cardiff Hengehill through copious use of the Confusion spell, diving into Dr. Teko's Top Hat of Holding (bag of holding, except occupies a head slot usually reserved for his alchemy tables) and the tiefling flying off awkwardly on his new wings (Alchemists are weird anytime they level up). Hiding away for a while, Dr. Teko and Mikkel grow alarmed by the crazy mind control powers that Dr. Basch exerted and how it caused half their pursuers to turn on each other... or themselves.
The trio make their way to the docks knowing that there's a supply ship ready for them. Only instead of resupplying ,they decide to drop off the turncoat spy to one of their superior contacts. Giving them an update as to what happened, they ask for advice on what to do further now that their main plan went terribly.
"How new to you are this? Always have a plan C. Plans A and B never work. Did you actually take this mission with no regard for contingencies?"
Heads are lowered in shame.
The party returns to the train by morning feeling pretty triumphant... until they remember that they were supposed to keep an eye on the Obscurati agents, who may as well have been doing whatever they wanted. Then there's a bit of facepalming. Then they justify it to themselves.
"Well... we're supposed to follow them to the end of the line, right? Which means no matter what they do, they'll be back on this train where we can keep an eye on them. So we have lots of time to investigate them still."
I simply didn't have the mean spirit to convince them otherwise.
The train limps into Trekholm, and boy does everyone plans. None of which involves the Obscurati at all.
Det. Goodwyne aka Hank Prospane is approached by Damata Griento, who asks him to attend a speaking of Vlendam Heid. Afterwards, explains of his troubles with The Family but surely a man of such bold character can help out. Anyone that stood up to malice beasts and bandits can help him in a scrape, and will be surely rewarded? Moved by his touching story, Goodwyne agrees that even if he can't get the others to aid him... he will be there.
Cysgod and Threm were so captivated by Andrei's impassioned speeches about saving love from the grips of tragedy that they exert all their efforts on following Elanor and Isobel. Through careful eavesdropping and clever impromptu disguises, the pair just barely manage to catch her communications regarding an upcoming auction. They swear themselves to Andrei that they'll rescue her! Because love is what's important. Governments rise and fall, but what hasn't changed is the indomitable spirit of greater emotions.
In getting off the train, Dr. Basch decides to do some random mind-reading and successfully gets into Cardiff's head. Finding out about his secret rendezvous to sell government secrets... he works up Mikkel and Dr. Teko into a frenzy that he needs to be stopped for this nefarious transaction can take place. Due to poor stealth rolls, a massive shootout begins. The party manages to escape with an unconscious Cardiff Hengehill through copious use of the Confusion spell, diving into Dr. Teko's Top Hat of Holding (bag of holding, except occupies a head slot usually reserved for his alchemy tables) and the tiefling flying off awkwardly on his new wings (Alchemists are weird anytime they level up). Hiding away for a while, Dr. Teko and Mikkel grow alarmed by the crazy mind control powers that Dr. Basch exerted and how it caused half their pursuers to turn on each other... or themselves.
The trio make their way to the docks knowing that there's a supply ship ready for them. Only instead of resupplying ,they decide to drop off the turncoat spy to one of their superior contacts. Giving them an update as to what happened, they ask for advice on what to do further now that their main plan went terribly.
"How new to you are this? Always have a plan C. Plans A and B never work. Did you actually take this mission with no regard for contingencies?"
Heads are lowered in shame.
The party returns to the train by morning feeling pretty triumphant... until they remember that they were supposed to keep an eye on the Obscurati agents, who may as well have been doing whatever they wanted. Then there's a bit of facepalming. Then they justify it to themselves.
"Well... we're supposed to follow them to the end of the line, right? Which means no matter what they do, they'll be back on this train where we can keep an eye on them. So we have lots of time to investigate them still."
I simply didn't have the mean spirit to convince them otherwise.
Deathwyrm
Explorer
S04E06
Nalaam. Oh boy did the task force love this city.
First priority they had was doing something about Elanor and Isobel, and in doing so... Det. Goodwyne disguised himself to get out of his promise to Damata Griento. The captured Andrei caused such outrage in the party that they felt they had to intervene and do something.
Rather than involve themselves directly (because they're trying to remain undercover), they decide to divide up and help behind the scenes. Some cause a distraction to the stadium guards, and the others sneak into where the captives are kept... and convince Andrei that the best way to get out will be to be victorious, at least until whatever he's being charged with can be dropped. In time, Andrei is convinced to let the party stuff him full of explosive powders and performance enhancing alchemy to allow him to win.
They return to their seats, observe carefully... see the impassioned speech... and a fight with a pyrecat. Given that they just stuffed this living construct full of explosives before a fight with a fire creature, they shouldn't have been as surprised as everyone else when everything went boom. The pyrecat died, Andrei lived, the crowd cheered at the results... and the party quickly left the arena to think things over.
Dr Basch: "Yeah, yeah we should have figured that would happen. I hope he's not mad."
Mikkel: "Okay, so I need another loan from you guys. This is a magic city right? And they love money? Then let's buy our friend the best lawyer the city has so that he has some defense while he recovers."
Goodwyne: "I... uh... need to check on something."
Det. Goodwyne seperated from the party to check in on Damata Griento, and after some investigative measures he found the body. Stoically, he nods and says "Well.... a shame, but that's what happens when you fall in with criminals."
Back at the train, this caused quite the scene between Mikkel and Goodwyne.
Mikkel the gunslinger, being a Neutral Good man of the people began shouting at the team leader about how "You gave him your word! He was a good man in a bad position, and he asked you for help and you gave him false hope!" Goodwyne, being very strictly Lawful Neutral, in return countered with "We have a mission above all else. We already gone beyond what we should be doing and risked everything. Our mission is national security and I will not have us getting wrapped up in the affairs of others again. It's unfortunate, but vital."
Train sets off again, session ended.
This... was a complicated one because time had to be taken out of game to make sure that the two players in the argument at the end were okay with each other. It did start to get borderline personal, but friendships were maintained and we continued on another day.
Nalaam. Oh boy did the task force love this city.
First priority they had was doing something about Elanor and Isobel, and in doing so... Det. Goodwyne disguised himself to get out of his promise to Damata Griento. The captured Andrei caused such outrage in the party that they felt they had to intervene and do something.
Rather than involve themselves directly (because they're trying to remain undercover), they decide to divide up and help behind the scenes. Some cause a distraction to the stadium guards, and the others sneak into where the captives are kept... and convince Andrei that the best way to get out will be to be victorious, at least until whatever he's being charged with can be dropped. In time, Andrei is convinced to let the party stuff him full of explosive powders and performance enhancing alchemy to allow him to win.
They return to their seats, observe carefully... see the impassioned speech... and a fight with a pyrecat. Given that they just stuffed this living construct full of explosives before a fight with a fire creature, they shouldn't have been as surprised as everyone else when everything went boom. The pyrecat died, Andrei lived, the crowd cheered at the results... and the party quickly left the arena to think things over.
Dr Basch: "Yeah, yeah we should have figured that would happen. I hope he's not mad."
Mikkel: "Okay, so I need another loan from you guys. This is a magic city right? And they love money? Then let's buy our friend the best lawyer the city has so that he has some defense while he recovers."
Goodwyne: "I... uh... need to check on something."
Det. Goodwyne seperated from the party to check in on Damata Griento, and after some investigative measures he found the body. Stoically, he nods and says "Well.... a shame, but that's what happens when you fall in with criminals."
Back at the train, this caused quite the scene between Mikkel and Goodwyne.
Mikkel the gunslinger, being a Neutral Good man of the people began shouting at the team leader about how "You gave him your word! He was a good man in a bad position, and he asked you for help and you gave him false hope!" Goodwyne, being very strictly Lawful Neutral, in return countered with "We have a mission above all else. We already gone beyond what we should be doing and risked everything. Our mission is national security and I will not have us getting wrapped up in the affairs of others again. It's unfortunate, but vital."
Train sets off again, session ended.
This... was a complicated one because time had to be taken out of game to make sure that the two players in the argument at the end were okay with each other. It did start to get borderline personal, but friendships were maintained and we continued on another day.
RangerWickett
Legend
Wow. I think your party is the first I've seen to let Damata get himself killed.
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
Also the first group I have heard of who have not killed Eleanor and rescued Isobel
Deathwyrm
Explorer
I imagine that the both of you could be surprised by that. I kind of was as well in a few ways, but the party alignment division and their approach can illuminate that.
We all enjoy the 3x3 alignment spread, because alignment isn't a character restriction to us but a trait to build the roleplaying decisions off of. It can help the immersion in realizing your character and how they look at the fantasy world they occupy. I'll often check in every couple of levels to ask players about their character development and if they feel that alignment still fits how they've grown.
At that moment in time, three characters in the team are Neutral Good, and the other half are Lawful Neutral. If this was a group formed of primarily good aligned spies and detectives, odds are all the midnight oil would have been burned to aid the people around them. But with this kind of division? The ethics of what's the "correct" thing to do often becomes a very heatedly debated topic in this group.
Especially with an assignment like this, in which its clear that there's the main mission and other events that come up. The lawful neutral characters (Goodwyne, Dr. Basch, Threm) stick to the argument of "Our mission is clear, to spy on the Obscurati. That's the most important thing, because big things are happening and as distasteful as it is to ignore people in need... our country and the people in it depends us right now, the rest is a distraction we can't afford". The neutral good characters (Mikkel, Dr. Brinolt, Cysgod) refute that with "We got into law enforcement so we could have the ability to help those in need, and these are people in need. We have moral obligation to at least try and accomplish both the mission, and help people."
Some of the roleplaying on this has been just great. Can get intense, but sometimes gold can come out of it. We always check after and between game to make sure no one out of game gets offended, as we have players who are Christian, atheist, conservative, liberal, brony, etc, and from all kinds of out of game beliefs and backgrounds that can easily become arguments out of game let alone also managing in game beliefs.
Actually its kind of funny that despite all our mixed ideologies and spiritual inclinations, we can all agree on dice related superstitions as objective truths... like how d20s obviously start the day with a limited number of 20s that can be rolled, so don't use them all up or something like that. Or green rolls better. Weird.
Anyway, as for how this relates to the side missions... it's a tricky matter and one that still resonates to the current day. By the time the party reached Nalaam, they were exhausted, often wounded, being spread in several directions trying to handle several tasks, most of them unrelated to their main assignment.
Det. Goodwyne's player explained to me after that while his character originally pledged himself to help Damata, the rapidly escalating amount of crazy on this voyage needs his focus. He considered in his mind whether helping this unfortunate man get out of a bind to a criminal syndicate (a syndicate he recently learned has also been talking to one of his team) is as important as the Obscurati and these "lanterns of mass destruction" agenda. In the end, he saw that there really wasn't an obvious "right" choice to make, so he made one and stuck with it. Needs of the many and all that.
As for the rest of the party and how they handled the Elanor/Isobel situation... the original plan was to go to the Nalaam authorities to have her prosecuted for slave trading. However, as they learned that everything in this city has a kind of monetary value to it... they quickly became uncertain and lost confidence that it would work, because slavery may be a totally legal thing there and thus she may not have technically committed any crimes. Once they were able to identify the bidders at the arena, they became certain about how no charge would stick to her. So one of them made the suggestion about possibly killing her. That in itself prompted a discussion about how much that would fix, and how much attention it would bring onto them if something goes wrong. The concern was especially on the worst case scenario that if any of them were caught and revealed, it could spark an international incident that would take away their upper hand.
With the clock ticking and too many uncertainties for them to make the stab at it, they reluctantly abstained from direct involvement. Mainly in hiring legal protection for Andrei, because he doesn't seem like someone who would let explosions and pyrecats stop him from his dramatic cause. If they can't save Isobel themselves, they're sure he can.
This was a session of heavy choices and everyone brought their best to the table, digging into all the events up to now and how they shaped their character influenced by the lens of alignement. They really enjoyed exploring some of the complexities of their characters and the world, and even accepting their own limitations. They aren't gods, they aren't the heroes of legends from fairy tales, and they certainly aren't perfect. They're just people with badges and skills trying to make what difference they can with whats available to them.
So when Det. Goodwyne tells them "We should really get back to the train, we have a job to do"... everyone was more than able to agree.
It occurs to me that being a musician, I have like... so much recording equipment in my home studio. If the players consent unanimously, I should put up a couple microphones to hopefully catch them when they're about to start one of these debates of ethics, alignment, and duty. It could make for something worthwhile to look back on or share.
We all enjoy the 3x3 alignment spread, because alignment isn't a character restriction to us but a trait to build the roleplaying decisions off of. It can help the immersion in realizing your character and how they look at the fantasy world they occupy. I'll often check in every couple of levels to ask players about their character development and if they feel that alignment still fits how they've grown.
At that moment in time, three characters in the team are Neutral Good, and the other half are Lawful Neutral. If this was a group formed of primarily good aligned spies and detectives, odds are all the midnight oil would have been burned to aid the people around them. But with this kind of division? The ethics of what's the "correct" thing to do often becomes a very heatedly debated topic in this group.
Especially with an assignment like this, in which its clear that there's the main mission and other events that come up. The lawful neutral characters (Goodwyne, Dr. Basch, Threm) stick to the argument of "Our mission is clear, to spy on the Obscurati. That's the most important thing, because big things are happening and as distasteful as it is to ignore people in need... our country and the people in it depends us right now, the rest is a distraction we can't afford". The neutral good characters (Mikkel, Dr. Brinolt, Cysgod) refute that with "We got into law enforcement so we could have the ability to help those in need, and these are people in need. We have moral obligation to at least try and accomplish both the mission, and help people."
Some of the roleplaying on this has been just great. Can get intense, but sometimes gold can come out of it. We always check after and between game to make sure no one out of game gets offended, as we have players who are Christian, atheist, conservative, liberal, brony, etc, and from all kinds of out of game beliefs and backgrounds that can easily become arguments out of game let alone also managing in game beliefs.
Actually its kind of funny that despite all our mixed ideologies and spiritual inclinations, we can all agree on dice related superstitions as objective truths... like how d20s obviously start the day with a limited number of 20s that can be rolled, so don't use them all up or something like that. Or green rolls better. Weird.
Anyway, as for how this relates to the side missions... it's a tricky matter and one that still resonates to the current day. By the time the party reached Nalaam, they were exhausted, often wounded, being spread in several directions trying to handle several tasks, most of them unrelated to their main assignment.
Det. Goodwyne's player explained to me after that while his character originally pledged himself to help Damata, the rapidly escalating amount of crazy on this voyage needs his focus. He considered in his mind whether helping this unfortunate man get out of a bind to a criminal syndicate (a syndicate he recently learned has also been talking to one of his team) is as important as the Obscurati and these "lanterns of mass destruction" agenda. In the end, he saw that there really wasn't an obvious "right" choice to make, so he made one and stuck with it. Needs of the many and all that.
As for the rest of the party and how they handled the Elanor/Isobel situation... the original plan was to go to the Nalaam authorities to have her prosecuted for slave trading. However, as they learned that everything in this city has a kind of monetary value to it... they quickly became uncertain and lost confidence that it would work, because slavery may be a totally legal thing there and thus she may not have technically committed any crimes. Once they were able to identify the bidders at the arena, they became certain about how no charge would stick to her. So one of them made the suggestion about possibly killing her. That in itself prompted a discussion about how much that would fix, and how much attention it would bring onto them if something goes wrong. The concern was especially on the worst case scenario that if any of them were caught and revealed, it could spark an international incident that would take away their upper hand.
With the clock ticking and too many uncertainties for them to make the stab at it, they reluctantly abstained from direct involvement. Mainly in hiring legal protection for Andrei, because he doesn't seem like someone who would let explosions and pyrecats stop him from his dramatic cause. If they can't save Isobel themselves, they're sure he can.
This was a session of heavy choices and everyone brought their best to the table, digging into all the events up to now and how they shaped their character influenced by the lens of alignement. They really enjoyed exploring some of the complexities of their characters and the world, and even accepting their own limitations. They aren't gods, they aren't the heroes of legends from fairy tales, and they certainly aren't perfect. They're just people with badges and skills trying to make what difference they can with whats available to them.
So when Det. Goodwyne tells them "We should really get back to the train, we have a job to do"... everyone was more than able to agree.
It occurs to me that being a musician, I have like... so much recording equipment in my home studio. If the players consent unanimously, I should put up a couple microphones to hopefully catch them when they're about to start one of these debates of ethics, alignment, and duty. It could make for something worthwhile to look back on or share.
Deathwyrm
Explorer
S04E07&08
Okay, so.... I don't actually remember a whole lot about what happened at the start of this game, wherein a trap was set for the lantern on the train to go off. I was quite ill and riding a whackload of medication, it took a bit to become coherent and somehow I continued to run game and not a person noticed. Except my wife, who called me names after.
What I do remember of this session was the arrival in Sid Minos and following Ottavia to the Isle of Odiem. After recent events, the party was battered and exhausted and now just ready to do something about it. No more distractions, no more lack of focus. This time they're going to get professional and trail some suspects and if anything weird happens they're just going to arrest them all and pat each other on the back.
"You know, they probably know that we're on their trail. Way too much has happened that they can't just ignore us. So, the mission says they're meeting someone at Vendricce. But what if that's misdirection? They're going to change plans. I think they're going to get off at this stop and leave us behind on the train like suckers."
And with that, the task force set out to sneakily trail the party, hastily bribing someone for use of their boat to sail out to the island. One of them struggling to carry a large ficus plant with them.
Half the group decides to stay with the boat at shore, while the other half follows their quarry to the lighthouse tower.
The dead rising was something they had a feeling would happen, but the scene was intense enough to keep them in a constant state of panic of what to do while the other half finally saw through the trap Ottavia set, and they beat her up pretty handily but did not kill her. They figured that someone like this would have a lot of knowledge and would be worth keeping around.
The Crypta was intense and they were certainly not prepared for a sudden dungeon crawl for survival, however they were a hundred percent engaged with the lore. Except maybe a bit for Goodwyne, who often said "Of course its cursed. Ancient places like these are always cursed, and if we don't hurry we're going to get cursed right with it."
Belcamp and Giovanni and their rivalry was a blast, and ultimately as distasteful as they found Giovanni, they were inclined to give him the upper hand against the clearly-pathetic Belcamp. Of more interest was Adolini, and the nature of his imprisonment. Mikkel, who up to this point had been a regular Clergy respecting church goer, just got worn down from the vile nature of this tomb and all the stuff its imprisonment. His outrage began manifesting in moralizing lectures about how corrupt the church is and that a new revolution is needed to tear down the hypocrites hiding behind masks of sanctity.
Also, the main chamber fight with the golden doppelgangers was absolutely nuts. Rather than thwart Gene and his use of them, the party immediately chose to have doppelgangers of their own.
Now, I've seen this PCs act in a variety ways since the start. Happily trusting the wrong people, or being belligerent to the right people... but I never seen them actually show apprehension and terror like in the face of Ashima-Shimtu. Feeling hard pressed for options, they agreed to her deal and dove into the well... remembering the Finona-ficus but having left behind Ottavia.
The sensation of washing ashore was disorienting for the group, but they felt they didn't have time to rest. AT this point... they were severely battled and chose not to rest or go looking for ways to heal. After all, there was a meeting to crash.
Donning new disguises and costumes to look like common rail workers, they coordinated and intercepted the meeting. The reveal of Lya's presence surprised absolutely no one, but they were more concerned about what they were going to do with the lantern... and as they lit it to reveal the people hiding on the other side of reality... Goodwyne said "Get them!" and kicked down the door.
It wasn't a very coordinated affair from there as the only two who ran in to engage with the conspiracy was Det. Goodwyne himself and Dr. Teko... who in the second round was cut down by Lya Jierre. The party realized they may have bitten off more than they can chew, and scrambled to stuff Dr Teko's body into his own Hat of Holding and beat a hasty retreat... on foot.... the long way to their rendezvous with the ship, dodging patrols of guards in a desperate attempt to get away.
It was a solemn trip back, and the party began to bicker. Goodwyne was dismayed that when he called to apprehend the conspiracy... only him and Dr Teko made the first advance. Mikkel challenged his authority saying that it was a bad plan because the mission said to observe only. A growing schism is developing between those two... but maybe some time spent back in Flint would alleviate tensions.
Solemn funeral was held for Dr. Teko in and out of character.
"He was a madman, but he was our madman" said the player of Cysgod as we followed the traditions of our games and burned the character sheet in the Kiln of the Fallen.
Okay, so.... I don't actually remember a whole lot about what happened at the start of this game, wherein a trap was set for the lantern on the train to go off. I was quite ill and riding a whackload of medication, it took a bit to become coherent and somehow I continued to run game and not a person noticed. Except my wife, who called me names after.
What I do remember of this session was the arrival in Sid Minos and following Ottavia to the Isle of Odiem. After recent events, the party was battered and exhausted and now just ready to do something about it. No more distractions, no more lack of focus. This time they're going to get professional and trail some suspects and if anything weird happens they're just going to arrest them all and pat each other on the back.
"You know, they probably know that we're on their trail. Way too much has happened that they can't just ignore us. So, the mission says they're meeting someone at Vendricce. But what if that's misdirection? They're going to change plans. I think they're going to get off at this stop and leave us behind on the train like suckers."
And with that, the task force set out to sneakily trail the party, hastily bribing someone for use of their boat to sail out to the island. One of them struggling to carry a large ficus plant with them.
Half the group decides to stay with the boat at shore, while the other half follows their quarry to the lighthouse tower.
The dead rising was something they had a feeling would happen, but the scene was intense enough to keep them in a constant state of panic of what to do while the other half finally saw through the trap Ottavia set, and they beat her up pretty handily but did not kill her. They figured that someone like this would have a lot of knowledge and would be worth keeping around.
The Crypta was intense and they were certainly not prepared for a sudden dungeon crawl for survival, however they were a hundred percent engaged with the lore. Except maybe a bit for Goodwyne, who often said "Of course its cursed. Ancient places like these are always cursed, and if we don't hurry we're going to get cursed right with it."
Belcamp and Giovanni and their rivalry was a blast, and ultimately as distasteful as they found Giovanni, they were inclined to give him the upper hand against the clearly-pathetic Belcamp. Of more interest was Adolini, and the nature of his imprisonment. Mikkel, who up to this point had been a regular Clergy respecting church goer, just got worn down from the vile nature of this tomb and all the stuff its imprisonment. His outrage began manifesting in moralizing lectures about how corrupt the church is and that a new revolution is needed to tear down the hypocrites hiding behind masks of sanctity.
Also, the main chamber fight with the golden doppelgangers was absolutely nuts. Rather than thwart Gene and his use of them, the party immediately chose to have doppelgangers of their own.
Now, I've seen this PCs act in a variety ways since the start. Happily trusting the wrong people, or being belligerent to the right people... but I never seen them actually show apprehension and terror like in the face of Ashima-Shimtu. Feeling hard pressed for options, they agreed to her deal and dove into the well... remembering the Finona-ficus but having left behind Ottavia.
The sensation of washing ashore was disorienting for the group, but they felt they didn't have time to rest. AT this point... they were severely battled and chose not to rest or go looking for ways to heal. After all, there was a meeting to crash.
Donning new disguises and costumes to look like common rail workers, they coordinated and intercepted the meeting. The reveal of Lya's presence surprised absolutely no one, but they were more concerned about what they were going to do with the lantern... and as they lit it to reveal the people hiding on the other side of reality... Goodwyne said "Get them!" and kicked down the door.
It wasn't a very coordinated affair from there as the only two who ran in to engage with the conspiracy was Det. Goodwyne himself and Dr. Teko... who in the second round was cut down by Lya Jierre. The party realized they may have bitten off more than they can chew, and scrambled to stuff Dr Teko's body into his own Hat of Holding and beat a hasty retreat... on foot.... the long way to their rendezvous with the ship, dodging patrols of guards in a desperate attempt to get away.
It was a solemn trip back, and the party began to bicker. Goodwyne was dismayed that when he called to apprehend the conspiracy... only him and Dr Teko made the first advance. Mikkel challenged his authority saying that it was a bad plan because the mission said to observe only. A growing schism is developing between those two... but maybe some time spent back in Flint would alleviate tensions.
Solemn funeral was held for Dr. Teko in and out of character.
"He was a madman, but he was our madman" said the player of Cysgod as we followed the traditions of our games and burned the character sheet in the Kiln of the Fallen.
RangerWickett
Legend
Good job with the creepy demoness!
This party needs to nap more often.
This party needs to nap more often.
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