5E [OOC] Uller's Out of the Abyss

[Zansy]

Hey guys I'm a lil bit curious about whether we have a plan or not?
How important is our equipment? I'd imagine I might need something to cast spells with, but I don't know if that matters, or whether my spells require materials that I can't just smuggle from somewhere.
Klep might also want his Dulcimer back, if it's an option. >~>
How are we going to escape or deal with drow guards?
Which NPCs (if not all) should we take with us? personally, I think Drum, the smurfneblins and the Quaggelf are interesting. But what do you guys think?
And does anyone know If there's anything useful in Topsy's & turvy's hoard?

 

[SunGold]

Looks like we have a few days to come up with a plan.

Thoughts on equipment: We need it. The weapons, anyway. We're not gonna last long in the Underdark just fist-fighting everything. I'm not too worried about a mook guard or two in the guard outpost (which is where the weapons apparently are), but the spellcasting foci (which includes your dulcimer) are apparently in Asha & Ilvara's quarters. Which is terrifying. :|

NPCs: Well, apparently one (or more) might be a spy. Perhaps someone more insightful than my dumb barbarian could try to sniff them out before we decide who to invite. The only specific comment I'll make right now is that I find Buppido...unsettling.

 

[Uller]

And, just to add...if thursday or this weekend rolls around and you're still trying to lock down a plan I'll give you more time...not forever...but as long as folks are talking and trying to figure things out I'll hold off a bit on moving things forward.

If you feel stuck let me know...I'm know youve had a lot of info thrown at you and what might seem painfully obvious to me might seem obscure or dangerous to you...

And yes...casters will need foci and/or components...you have 5 PCs that might want those...but it's definitely a risk...Ivana is not to be uderestimated....rumor has it she summoned a swarm of bugs that ate a prisoner alive just because he displeased her...

 

[Zansy]

And, just to add...if thursday or this weekend rolls around and you're still trying to lock down a plan I'll give you more time...not forever...but as long as folks are talking and trying to figure things out I'll hold off a bit on moving things forward.

And yes...casters will need foci and/or components...you have 5 PCs that might want those...but it's definitely a risk...Ivana is not to be uderestimated....rumor has it she summoned a swarm of bugs that ate a prisoner alive just because he displeased her...

Thanks. The extra time might come in quite handy.

As for this detour, I'd imagine that to infiltrate and raid the tower, a stealth mission would be wisest to try. The ideal candidate would be someone with reasonable to good dexterity, proficiency in stealth, or both, And I can aid him or her ahead of time with Bardic Inspiration. If we have a distraction, bait, or any means to keep those girls away from us, this could go a little easier. Thoughts?

 

[JustinCase]

I say we need weapons and rations. Spellcasting stuff is necessary, and it wouldn't hurt if we can obtain some more stuff from the drow (perhaps even magic items).

A distraction is good, but it seems that one drow is planning on starring something.

And I say, bring all the slaves who are capable to run away with us. I don't believe in spies we can't unmask later.

 

[SunGold]

Heh. From the DM's seat, everything is obvious. From the PC's...

View attachment 71251
It's a trick, get an axe.

It's so easy to spiral into paranoia (see: my ETA on that last IC post) and flee past genuine clues or helpful information...particularly in this AP's environment.

 

[SunGold]

Yeah, it does sound like there will already be a distraction. Stealth is a thought, but unfortunately that also means potentially sending one PC to the wolves alone. Still probably the best option, though. If Ilvara's there, I doubt it will matter if it's one PC or the whole party.

The worry I have about bringing everyone is that then we'd likely have a saboteur in the party. They could make off with our food, weapons, etc. on their watch while we rest, lead us somewhere they know is dangerous, stuff like that. FWIW, I think it's the kuo-toa. He never goes on work detail and the drow leave him alone. But then, he was able to calm Ront and Eldeth really quickly, so maybe he just has some sort of Jedi mind trick thing going on that gets the drow to forget/ignore him. Still seems the most likely culprit though.

And I'm not going to fight Buppido if he wants to come (heck no), or anyone else who wants to bring him. But guys. He's scary. He's totally unafraid of being captured. He disappears, someone gets grotesquely murdered, he comes back. The "murderer" is totally unlikely - the drow taunt each other all the time, and Sarith was on his way to succeeding on an important mission. I don't see a real motive there. Plus, Sarith was freaking meditating when it happened. From quiet contemplation to murder, just like that? I mean, if he snapped mid-taunting, I'd think differently. What seems way more likely: Buppido mind-magic'd him into doing it, and the Three E's into forgetting he left (it's weird that none of you remember him leaving just begore the murder). I think he's totally unafraid because he's freakishly powerful, and knows he could magic the drow into letting him go and shuffling off any time he wants. Plus the amused-by-everything bit...he just seems like a powerful psycho. Or the actual avatar of a powerful and psychotic god.

Again, though...if he wants to come, I'm not making a peep against it.

 

[Zansy]

Virtually no argument about Buppido. Unless we think we could win that psycho's favor, and potentially score a valuable ally. If no objections are made, I'd vote we tell him to "reconnoiter" with us in the Drow's nest called Menzoberranzan while we flee for Blingdenstone with the smurfneblins.

 

[Herobizkit]

Sending one PC to the wolves, you say? That's Bertram's whole jam.

Sorry I haven't been chiming in as often as the others... I don't see anything to add that isn't already being said.

In the case of Buppido, I'd weigh him in as 'acceptable losses'. He's going to be far more useful than you guys give him credit for - remember, he LIVES underground and he has an innate grudge against Drow. He'll kill a fair amount of them - just be sure we always outnumber him and keep an eye on him. When it's his turn to watch, keep two people on him.

 

[SunGold]

I kinda feel like it doesn't matter much what we think of Buppido anyway. Dude's kind of a space cadet; he's gonna do what he's gonna do. If he thinks we can further his "plan," he'll probably tag along when those doors open. I guess we could just ask what his plan is...if he's in on the escape, he could certainly be useful. (Hell, he could probably puppeteer a guard into just handing us our stuff.) Still seems likely to blow up in our faces at some point, but we can can cross that bridge if we come to it. Escape first...

Further thoughts RE: stealth and Ilvara's tower. I just looked at all our stats, and it looks like four (!) of us are at +5 to stealth (Bertram, Erevan, Ezraen, me). Buncha sneaky scoundrels 'round here. What would you guys think of more than one of us going? If Ilvara's in there the backup probably won't make a difference, but if there are a couple guards inside it could be the difference between life and death. Seems unlikely that the tower is going to be totally empty.

Alternately, one could go, but try to stay in contact with Drum (if that's possible?) to call in backup if need be. Looking at the map, Ilvara's tower is next to the guard post with the weapons, so we'll already have passed through through tower 10 on our way out. Not even sure where the rest of the party is going to be (hunkered down in tower 10, maybe?) if it's just one or two sneaky stealthed members continuing on to Ilvara's.

And a crazy moonshot thought: Orsik's spider seems friendly and possibly intelligent-ish. Could it bond with Drum and be sent skittering off (maybe in a window at Ilvara's?) to do some recon?

 

[Uller]

Just a couple quick comments: You don't know that Jorlan is specifically planning a distraction or just has a bit more info than you do about the dreams and the general sense of foreboding. It is strange that Shoor lead a patrol out to meet the other one, something caused that to happen.

Sarith/Buppido...none of you have really talked to either of them about what happened to Nildus. You heard the other drow scream in horror at what they saw. You know Sarith and Nildus were together. You were vaguely aware of Buppido not being in sight as the alarm went up, then he was there. Drow, like all elves are somewhat resistant to mind magic so either Buppido is really powerful or really lucky (or had nothing to do with it or it wasn't mind magic). Don't forget, all three PCs were still somewhat anesthetized so their recollections are a bit fuzzy.

As far as planning goes, you have people to talk to...certainly your PCs have some familiarity with the main areas. So you can even just ask questions about what is where...I'll try to fill you in as best I can. No one has to write up formal "turns" if all you want to do is ask questions or conduct reconnaissance while doing slave work.

 

[Uller]

And a crazy moonshot thought: Orsik's spider seems friendly and possibly intelligent-ish. Could it bond with Drum and be sent skittering off (maybe in a window at Ilvara's?) to do some recon?

I dont think so. It's really just a normal (albeit unnaturally friendly) spider. I dont think it can take commands or retain information enough to do anything complex.

 

[JustinCase]

So, I've read OotA so I'll keep my opinions about the NPCs to myself. But Erevan is ready and able for stealth mode. Are any slaves working in the towers? Cleaning or something? They could take a look around so we know where to find the needed stuff.

 

[Uller]

So, I've read OotA so I'll keep my opinions about the NPCs to myself. But Erevan is ready and able for stealth mode. Are any slaves working in the towers? Cleaning or something? They could take a look around so we know where to find the needed stuff.

Any of you can probably get into any of the towers to clean. For Ilvana's quarters it is usually only one slave and at least two guards. For the others it is usually more relaxed.

 

[Marcelus14]

Personally, I believe the target should be weapons then travel supplies (both at the same time would be ideal to save time, but our arms and armorments would make this certainly easier) and Evandur (despite his melancholy) is more than willing to get out of here. He isn't consumed with revenge and would just as soon get back to the light, where he believes his answers may be. Area 10 and 3 are high on my list so I am for whatever plan takes us there.

 

[SunGold]

Just a couple quick comments...

Yeah, I'm not claiming any certainty in my last few posts here; just throwing out some general impressions and guesstimations based on our limited info thus far. Maybe Buppido had nothing to do with the murder and it was just coincidence that he was gone. But he's a weirdo at the scene of (and seemingly unperturbed by) a weird murder, so...*shrug* Regardless of his culpability in the murder, I stick on him because of the I'm-a-god business. There are really only three possibilities for anyone who claims that:

1. They're actually a god. Scary. I don't particularly want to get tangled in the affairs of some unknown god. Plus (metagaming, sorry) what are the chances that the devs dropped a god in a party of level 1 adventurers? That would be an incredible jerk move.

Which leaves the two much more likely options:
2. They're insane, in a dangerous way.
3. They're insane, in a harmless way. This is the best-case scenario, but it also means he might just be a useless, giggling, hungry mouth to feed with our very limited food supply. If #3 is the case I hope he's at least handy in a fight. Time will tell.

In any case, I don't trust him to lead us anywhere, tell us what's safe to eat, etc., because chances are very good that he's bonkers, harmless or not. But Buppido talk is sort of moot at this point, because it sounds like there's a general agreement that he's coming along, but needs eyes on him.

Continuing the talk of potentially dangerous companions...Sarith. How does everyone feel about him? Should we bring him?
Cons:
- He's definitely an evil bastard
- He might be the spy. Why is he even still alive? You'd think Ilvara would be delighted with this excuse to torture him and make him do menial labor, but he just sits in the cell. He may be spying in exchange for not being killed...yet.
Pros (assuming he's not the spy):
- He'll know the Underdark (and in particular, this area) really well
- He's been on surface raids so he should know the way out
- He's got at least as much reason to want to get out of here as the rest of us. Maybe more. He'll know what bad stuff Ilvara has in store for him.
- Drow may be evil, but they're also selfish opportunists. I doubt he'll feel any loyalty or need to help the drow stop us when they've forsaken him already and his best chance at freedom/survival is with us.

Finally, since time is of the essence here, I'll go ahead and do a bit of recon at Ilvara's. Could someone else check out the guard tower/armory?

OOC: I'll try and get duty cleaning Ilvara's to get a look around. While I'm out, I'm also going to keep my eyes open for ways out besides the lift.

 

[Herobizkit]

Bertram would likely be the best candidate for sneaking into a guard tower/armory. He's easily ignored. I'll volunteer for that if no one else has the GUTS... ^_^

 

[Uller]

So far I have Surana wanting to get a look at Ilvana's quarters and Bertum reconning the guard tower. Is anyone else doing anything concrete like trying to steal food or weapons, talking to someone specific or trying to craft something useful? (Or something I haven't thought of?)

The most obvious way down other than the lift is the pool. It's where all the garbage and chamber pots are dumped. It's a long way down...so it might still hurt. If you hit the spider webs first then jump it definitely should be safe....but then the spiders might be a problem (or getting stuck in the webs). And you have no idea what might lurk in or around the pool.

There is probably no path without risks.

Ginger: Listen. We'll either die free chickens or we die trying.
Babs: Are those the only choices?
- Chicken Run

 

[SunGold]

Ok, tommorow's D-day, nobody chimed in on Sarith, and it looks like we may be making a very low-prep escape...so I'm gonna roll the dice, because our odds are looking pretty rough anyway.

OOC: If I get a moment to catch Sarith with no guards at the gates and no other slaves close by, I'm telling him (in the quietest possible, he's-gonna-have-to-lean-in, only-just-audible whisper) of our escape, including that Jorlan is the one letting us go (although I won't tell him about the key in the rocks), and why he's doing it. I'll tell him he can come, because we both know what awaits him down here, and I know he could be useful. If he agrees, I'll ask him for any helpful info he can offer (the safest way out, what foes we're likely to face where, stuff like that).

 

[Uller]

No, you still have time. Tomorrow I'll post what comes of your attempts to Ilvana's and the Guard Tower. We'll go round with a couple of actions first to give you all a chance.
[MENTION=6801671]itcomeswithamap[/MENTION]: Make a persuasion/deception check (your choice if you have one or the other trained...and/or something else if you want to come up with a good reason for using it) to see how much useful info you manage to get out of looking around in there (you will be with no other slaves and 2 guards watching you closely). Once you are in the tower I'll give you a chance to try to act again
[MENTION=36150]Herobizkit[/MENTION]: Make a stealth check to see if you can slip away from a detail unnoticed and a persuasion or deception check to see how well you deal with anyone you meet while exploring the tower. Same with you...once in the tower you can probably have a chance to do something (after I describe what's in there).

If others have actions they want to do, say so come up with an appropriate skill check and make a roll for it.

I'll respond IC with Sarith maybe later tonight or tomorrow AM (first I'm going to watch an episode of Game of Thrones...)