chese780 wrote:Jaded, I hope you don't go and force me into a situation with the army c:
Can't tell if you are kidding or not.
I wouldn't deliberately force a player into a situation where they would be caught by the army and executed. But if the player sets it up himself...
For instance, if Felran reveals his powers right in front of the army, then I wouldn't hold back. But I wouldn't create a situation where he had no choice but to reveal his powers in front of the army (not without some kind of backup to save him, that is).
Anyway, XP is finally done and we do have some level ups.
Haahque, you can pick Haahqae's new WP and distribute his thief skill points (30) as you like, but cannot put more than 15 points into any one score. Read Languages is now open to put points in. You also get 5 bonus points due to your kit, but they can only be applied (all together) in Open Locks, Move Silently, Find/Remove Traps, or Read Languages. For his HP, I rolled a 2, which divided by half is a 1.
Horizon, I rolled a 9 for Kendra's HP.
Djhyland, you can pick Arulia's new WP and I rolled a 4 = 5 for HP, which divided by half equals 2+1 = 3.
spyguy, I rolled a 9 for your HP.
chese, I rolled a 5 for your HP.
Here are my notes on the chapter:
Title and Theme
The title of this chapter, "Proving Worth" was a reference to the PCs' various goals. Haahqae and Gregeddin are trying to prove their worth to the occupation, Kendra is trying to prove her worth to the army (so she can undermine them), Ne-Chanz and Felran are trying to prove their worth as mercenaries so they can get steady work, Arulia and Grubnick are both trying to prove their worth to those around them so they can build a following and keep themselves fed, etc.
Brace Yourself. Winter is Coming.
As the days pass, the temperature will continue to drop. It's still another month off before winter arrives officially, but you should keep note of this and be prepared by acquiring warmer clothing if you can.
Tulbas' Dream
As I said in-game, the purpose of the flashback/dream sequence Tulbas had was to help keep BishGada occupied while he waited to be rescued, which I predicted would take a very long time. But it also was to try and flesh out his background more. I didn't get much information out of it, but I did get a little--like the name and age of his sister, although nothing about what his parents were called or looked like. I mean, they're dead, so I suppose it doesn't matter too much.
I did learn that I got his parents mixed up, though. In Tulbas' dream, he identified his father as Raetmal's brother. I thought Raetmal was the brother of Tulbas' mother, though. I even had Ratemal refer to her as his sister once. But I suppose we can hand-wave that by saying he meant 'sister-in-law' and was just being less formal.
I also was really wrong about Maelana's age. I thought she was older than Tulbas, but in fact, she was only 65 making her the equivalent of an 8 or 9 year old.
Gregeddin's Fate
Hopefully, this is the last time I have to NPC him. I'll be emailing mgbevan to see if he's coming back or not. If he does, he can resume playing in the next chapter. Hopefully his character isn't too much changed from since he left him. If not, I'll be removing the character from the game some way or another.
Anyway, something he said when he agreed to help with the Neo-Belzorites was "I suppose it can't possibly be as troublesome as the last one" with 'it' referring to the group of mercenaries Haahqae put together. Foreshadowing! Technically, though, he was right. Yvette and Xyleena only stole from the party. The last group they put together, two of them straight up tried to kill the party.
Separation of Church and State
There seems to be a lot of confusion on this matter, and I've brought it up before, but I'll go ahead and re-clarify it one more time. The church and the army are separate entities. They are allies, but one does not control the other. And they often spat with each other. Hence why the guards weren't impressed that the party was working for the church and why the church is blackmailing Kendra to spy on the army for them.
This is also where the confusion Arulia suffered stems from. When she went to the temple, she asked if she could join the temple guard, not the army. The temple guard is something else entirely (basically fighters who serve as templars and bodyguards for the priests).
Kendra's Squad
The Baaz that went with Kendra on her little excursion were all rolled up on the spot, including their colorful personalities: Krup, Tern, Grev, Slinn and Perp. It was fun roleplaying them. It also helped humanize the enemy a bit. I tried to play up how different they are from the mammalian races; how they don't have women or families or any kind of upbringing similar to our own. They don't even know where they come from. They are trained from hatching to be loyal soldiers and nothing else.
Neo-Belzorites
The XP from the Neo-Belzorite mission is spread pretty thin, as there were 10 party members. I also greatly reduced the strength of the Yuanti (although not the Histachii). The acolytes (purebloods) were only level 1 while the priests (half-breeds) were only level 3. This reduction in difficulty can be justified by claiming that as they were the world's first yuan-ti, they hadn't quite developed in strength yet.
Remember the trap in the hall Grubnick found? They never disarmed or triggered it, but if anyone had stepped on it, the two snake statues would have breathed fire on the target. This would have most likely killed Haahqae and Ismene had the party triggered it. Had Tulbas managed to escape earlier and try to sneak away, he would have been killed by it, as well.
Kendra's Big Decision
Horizon actually agonized quite a bit over the decision to leave with the elves or remain in Haven. Had she gone with them, she would basically have been split from the party probably permanently, going on a solo adventure off in Ergoth. In the end, I was pretty confident she'd stay, though. Obligation to her family has been one of her primary attributes so far.
The new plotline of having a cleric of Takhisis blackmail her was mostly because it was the only way I saw that didn't end things with her execution as a spy. Her plan to bring back ONE member of her squad alive was no less suspicious than if she had come back alone. Her lie that the elves just walked away, leaving them alive, was pretty flimsy. And I knew she'd lie during the truth spell. So it was this, or a court martial ending in her losing her head.
NPC Reaction Updates
Ismene slightly approves of Haahqae voting to turn in the books and slightly disapproves of Grubnick, Arulia and Ne-Chanz voting to destroy them.
Pen slightly approves of Grubnick, Arulia and Ne-Chanz destroying the books and slightly disapproves of Tulbas and Gregeddin voting to use them.
Faction Updates
Kendra gets a +2 in her relationship with the Elven Resistance. They are still indifferent to her (8) but warming up to her. She also suffers a -1 to her relationship with the Fire Snakes on account that her captain keeps winding up dead. They are still cautious (13) of her, despite the fact that the cleric said she was telling the truth; if nothing else, they are starting to see Kendra as bad luck.
Divine Favor Updates
I gave Grubnick a point toward Sirrion for his passionate actions against the paralyzed yuanti (killing him over taking him captive). I gave him another point in Sirrion for voting to destroy the books.
I gave Kendra a point toward Shinare as she refuses to abandon her duty toward her family to run away with Sadron. I gave her a point in Kiri-Jolith for being honest with her husband.
I gave Arulia a point in Paladine for sticking up for Pen when the others weren't taking him seriously or were threatening him. I gave her another point in Paladine for voting to destroy the books. This brings her up to 5 points in Paladine, which is the first level of divine favor. This means Paladine will reach out to her in some way. He's already done so a couple of times, though, so if you have any specific ideas how you'd like this to play out djhyland, let me know.
I gave Ne-Chanz a point in Chislev, because he voted to destroy the books to make new yuan-ti (he said they were 'abominations' so I interpreted that to mean he doesn't like unnatural things; if I'm wrong, let me know).
I gave Felran a point in Gilean for abstaining to vote at all on the matter of the books.
I gave Haahqae a point in Sirrion for voting to turn the books into the Conclave. This was because he seemed keen on keeping them until Ismene said her piece, then he immediately voted in her favor. So I'm assuming it was more that he was trying to impress her/earn brownie points with her than actually believing that was the best choice (again, if I'm wrong, let me know on that).
I gave Tulbas a point in Takhisis for voting to keep the books and use them.
I'm exhausted and it's late, so I'll put up the new chapter tomorrow.
) he would like to go to the cults lair again. If Belzor is not there at least they can search for loot. I guess common people will fear the surroundings for couple more days before others will loot it (or the church). So they shouldn't waste too much time running afterthe ladies.