Difference between revisions of "Current events"

Revision as of 16:49, 13 February 2009

This page is for discussion of stuff related to the game coming up this week, no matter when that actually is. For instance, we can all assume Nate isnt coming for some lame reason and that Ed is sick of pizza and is bringing teriyaki or some other crap. They can post something here if that happens to be untrue.

Schedule

Date...........game................Location..........(Advanced attendance)

2/13/09.....OAAAA.........Ben's Condo.........Ed likely absent, Gabe absent
2/20/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
2/27/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
3/06/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
3/13/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
3/20/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
3/27/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
4/03/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
4/10/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........Dieter maybe absent
4/17/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........
4/24/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........Dieter absent
5/01/09.....???.........Ben's Condo.........

Attendance and Food Preference

2/13/09

--Matts 22:44, 8 February 2009 (MST)Is everyone out for Valentine's Day I'm guessing?

--Brandon 23:31, 8 February 2009 (MST) That's right. I'm totally not gaming on Valentine's Day. But, of course, given that Valentine's Day is February 14th - and thus on Saturday - I wasn't planning on gaming that day anyway. I do, though, appreciate you pointing out that the fact that I am not gaming on Saturday is overdetermined. I like to keep track of the causal determinants of my actions. ; )

--Matts 23:44, 8 February 2009 (MST)This is a fantastic example of what happens when you indulge in too much philosophy. As hemlock killed socrates, pedantry has shredded and addled this poor man's mind!

Who IS coming then, on the NIGHT BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY?

--Brandon 00:45, 9 February 2009 (MST) Let NBVD = 'NIGHT BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY', let OAAAA = 'we are playing "Of Amor, Armor, etc.," on NBVD' and POW! = 'we are playing SuperHeroes' on NBVD'. Then, for all X, such that X is identical with me, X will be coming on NBVD if and only if OAAAA, and thus, since POW! implies ~OAAAA, X will not be coming on NBVD if POW!.

Edmiao wow. if that's what philosophy is like, then i'm gonna watch some more TV. There is an off chance that i will be there but late. that said, don't count on me.

BEN: ok, we're OAAAAing it up this week...matt and I discussed it and decided that made the most sense. Sound off if you are coming. I'll try to put up some more info soon.

--Dieter the Bold 12:18, 10 February 2009 (MST) Present and down for some Pudge.

--Brandon 13:13, 10 February 2009 (MST) My response is clearly stated above, now that Ben has supplied the appropriate antecedent. And, Ed, no, that's not what philosophy is like. That's more like what Philosophy's bastard child - computer programming - is like. Zing!

--Matts 13:54, 10 February 2009 (MST)If n is the number of philosophers able to spawn bastard children, then for each n, there exist n "children", defined as intellectual antecedents, such that to determine the vocation of any given "child", both for true ancestry and for intellectual disposition towards computation or computability, is an n^n operation, irreducible to polynomial time. As such, if n is sufficiently large, we won't really know an answer unless we dedicate outsize resources to the problem, or unless a Quantum Fourier Transform is applied and results in a high probability of success.

Though, I would remind you that Descartes was both an influential mathematician as well as a crucial philosopher, so to separate or maneuver your "discipline" to some higher intellectual standing requires a certain willful ignorance.

Edmiao I think what Matt is trying to say is: "what! you mean some slut was dumb enough to screw a philosopher and what more, bring his bastard child to term?" (this is too easy, it's like playing a mono black vs druids)

BEN: speaking of mono black, I've resolved to make a mono-white deck that will bring the pain...

Edmiao i want to play mono black vs mono white so the blacks can get lynched. Then I'm going to make a native american deck so that it can catch smallpox from the mono white deck and in return give it syphilis.

Edmiao Hey Brandon, if i show up on friday, can i get a ride home from you (up to northgate mall)?

--Brandon 17:01, 11 February 2009 (MST) Matt, I yawn at your epistemological problems with my metaphysical theses, and lord knows I don't have any "discipline," so embrace willful ignorance I shall! Ed, if I can get the car, I'd be happy to give you a ride. I can find out soon, but I'll warn you that Kate likes to take out her dislike of me gaming by doing the best she can to make it hard for me to get to it.

--Matts 18:17, 11 February 2009 (MST)I could emphatically and concretely declare that I could give you a ride home on Friday, Ed.

Edmiao oh that's swell! i forgive you for wiki blocking me, you fucker.

BRANDON:As predicted, I don't have the car today, so I can't be the pizza man (unless you want pudge after a 45 minute bus ride). Let me know if you want to go some other route to get pizza. Otherwise, I'll fend for myself.

Ranting and raving or other random comments

ED: great party ben, we had a blast. i left a green extension cord at your place, i'll grab it next game session if that's ok, or maybe in two weeks as i think i'll be gone this week.

--Brandon 23:32, 8 February 2009 (MST) Yes, it was a good party. On an unrelated note, Ben, what's the name of that Italian restaurant that you were talking about that is near your house?

Gabe: Did all my heroscape dudes get put back in the box? I have to ask as those are my only ones....

And yeah, twas fun!

JASON: For Ed[1], read the last paragraph. I still cant figure that out...

Other RPG or Non-RPG or Monthly Board Gaming Day gaming Events

Weekly Magic Whining/Complaining/Smack Talking

Shards of Alara

Elder Dragon Highlander Rules

--Brandon 15:05, 10 February 2009 (MST) I was misremembering last week when I was talking about the Conflux card that is a repeating Coiling Oracle. The card is Skyward Eye Prophets. It might be too expensive to get excited about, but if it's online, things become ridiculous.

Next step in Super Heroes

Next step in Of Amor, Armor, and Alchemy

Current OAAAA XP: 75 base + 153 XP

Aetan - We have decided that to match wits with a dragon is suicide. However, in so doing, we have also decided that wresting the ruby shield from the mighty orc Grunbad is not, a decision which may not have been the wisest, but is one we chose after much careful deliberation.

How might we accomplish our goals, my brethren?

I can think of a few approaches:

Might Makes Right: The orcs respect strength; this much we learned from the fellow who told us of Oryxis. It is possible, thought not likely, that with all our abilities combined, we might best him in a contest of strength. I do not, however, consider this bridge sound.

The Tip of His Spear: Grunbad's prized javelin kills whoever it strikes. Perhaps if we were to gain it, we could best him in combat.

His Ultimate Goal: Grunbad hired Iyi to steal the Ruby Shield for him; the price was astronomical. We can assume that the plunder he seeks goes to repay the legendary thief. A question then arises as to Grunbad's motivation: Does he seek nothing but glory? Is there a grudge he wishes to settle? Perhaps we might hasten him to his goal, or bring about his defeat, with knowledge of his desires. However, if we approach from this angle, real, decisive action must be taken.

The Thief Again: We could also hire Iyi to steal the shield back. Does anyone have a great deal of money?

In any case, I desire that our strategy be sound. Not only is Galen currently within the enemy camps, he may likely have been pressed into service. Additionally; every day brings our lady closer to ruin and the fiend who put her there closer to victory. We must resolve to defeat all that stand in our way.

--Matts 16:57, 10 January 2009 (MST)Ok, I came up with a plan! We go into the camp all pissed off that they press ganged our priest/healer; this is a crime they have to pay for! If we're lucky, we'll run into them taking him to Grunbad, and we demand penance from him, to the price of his most prized possession. Then we *mumble* fight him and win *mumble*, and take the shield!

All I'm saying is that if we're going to fight him, we should come up with some "standing", some kind of grievance, so that when we do defeat Grunbad, the orcs there respect the result as some kind of justice, right?

Edmiao brilliant. any plan is better than all the mucking about we have been doing. so, probably it will have to be single combat, for honor's sake. any plans on how you are going to beat him besides making a bridge of air through his chest? oooo, that would be a fantastic power for you. make bridge, only through people. i say if we have not made serious progress by half way through the next session, we abort and go to the clocktower. likely there will be some fatalities, but such is the cost of progress and Fantus will lead the way.

Question for ben: the shield gives Gundbad magic immunity, correct? is the shield protected from magic as well? if grundle is immune to magic, does that mean that he can automatically see through my illusions, or is it just that he cannot be targeted by magic?

Wait, why the fuck are we doing this anyway? to get the dragon to come and extinguish the flames to get Danny girl out of the flames, right? Well, Tithe's girlfriend is on the way with the super ice stuff to do just that, we enlist her or steal it from her, so what the fuck are we doing? shouldn't we work on a cure for the poison instead?

-Matts 19:59, 10 January 2009 (MST)Oryxis' flame is one of the only cures we found for bloodstone poison. That's why we're doing this.

Edmiao ok then. i was a bit confused there.

--Brandon 14:03, 11 January 2009 (MST) Yes! I like the plans so far. I had a couple of my own, some along the lines of what Aetan has raised, some slightly different. I'll fit these plans under two scenarios: the Sneaky Stealing Scenario, and Aetan's Might Makes Right scenario. I don't think that these scenarios are mutually exclusive.

Useful Background Information: We will most likely have the best success if we infiltrate the camp as mercenaries (note: this will probably mean that Tithe will have to not talk for long stretches of time). Regardless of plan, Galen will play a valuable information-gathering role, since he has already inadvertently infiltrated Grundad's camp. So:

Sneaky Stealing Scenario: The basics of this plan involve Aefra sneakily stealing the shield. As I see it, this involves a confluence of factors. Aefra can make herself invisible. Tithe can make her silent. Fantus can give her a strength potion (so that she can lift the shield) and , I imagine, might be able to whip up something that causes a stinkbomb, so that no one can smell Aefra (maybe Fantus can recreate the Cherry Lane (?) Effect?). Then, all that we need to do is either (i) make sure that Grunbad isn't wielding the shield or (ii) dampen the "anti-sneakin" magic on the shield (maybe my dispel magic will work for that purpose temporarily)j. Aetan, I hope, can open the old ways to get all of us out of there before our lives are sought by Grunbad's spear.

Might Makes Right: As Matt's plan, except only one of us challenges Grunbad (I imagine this would be Tithe, because he fits the bill of self-sacrificing martyr most closely). Ideally this will cause enough of a distraction that we can do something nefarious (for example, Aefra steals the spear - which I imagine Grunbad wouldn't use on a measly nobody stone elf - and Fantus heaves it at Grunbad's back just as Tithe disenchants the shield momentarily). This plan also involves a hasty retreat along the old ways, or possibly a mid-air extraction via magic carpet. Aetan could also conceivably be the challenger, while the rest work behind the scenes.

The best plan - by my lights - combines aspects of the Sneaky Stealing Scenario, the Tip of His Spear, and Might Makes Right. Thoughts?

--Dieter the Bold 14:52, 11 January 2009 (MST) You forgot option 3: Galen Charms Grundbad Into Giving Us the Shield. It's just so crazy it might work. Otherwise I'd go for the Sneaky option, followed inevitably by the Might option when Sneaky doesn't work.

Edmiao it is worth considering a hybrid of might and stealth. might fight for distraction, go for the "fair fight" mano a mano, no weapons or armor. then sneaky sneak steals the shield. i could spend all my points on invisiblity improvements for the sneaky option (invisible to sight, sound, smell and magesight, with GM approval)

--Brandon 10:42, 12 January 2009 (MST) I was also thinking we might be able to go the traditional route, and have Aefra (or Galen, I won't pretend to know how this orc swings) seduce Grunbad so as to get into his bedchamber unsuspected, then sneaky sneak the shield away. It worked on Arthur Pendragon, it can work on this punk ass warlord!

GABE: Lets just kill him in his sleep. Or lets bring him to the dragon, bam, shield delivered, I never said anywhere in the contract that an orc wouldn't come with the shield. Not like it protects the user from his talons anyway.

--Brandon 10:55, 12 January 2009 (MST) This is actually a fascinating idea. If Grunbad is obsessed with glory, we might be able to convince him that defeating Grandfather Flame would be in his best interest. However, we probably have to make sure Grunbad doesn't have his Life-Seeking Javelin with him, 'cause otherwise I imagine Oryxys would be pissed at us!

BEN: you can't kill him in his sleep. The shield protects him from sneak attacks of any kind (it doesn't allow him to detect anyone sneaking around or anything, it just means he can't be backstabbed, etc)

--Brandon 11:35, 12 January 2009 (MST) Ben, am I crazy to think that my spear's dispel magic ability could "turn off" some of the shield's abilities, or the life-seeking spear's abilities, momentarily?

BEN: yes...and no. Yes, in the sense that the ruby shield is one of the most powerful magic items ever created in Amora. A 20D6 dispel, while powerful, will never shut off any power with an active points cost above 120 points (assuming you roll all 6s), and is very unlikely to shut off anything above 75 points, and though I haven't built Ignus, I imagine it's powers are significantly more than that each. No, in the sense that massive, cinematic, heroic effects are always possible, at a price...something you and I could negotiate depending on what you want to do.

GABE: Well shoooot. Oh I didn't know he had that... that'd be bad if he got rid of our cure... Well I'm leaving this one up to you, I don't have much interaction with orcs.

Edmiao why can't we kill him in his sleep? the shield protects him, but only while he holds it, right? it is possible that he sleeps with the thing, of course. but if he put it down, then we could sneak up on him, yes?

BEN: as long as it's in use by him, it protects him: he doesn't have to be holding it. So, if it's slung on his back it would protect him from sneak attack, and likely also if it were mounted over his throne or his bed.

GABE: Does it protect from accidents?

BEN: nope...but you would be mistaken if you think you can "trick" the shield on the basis of a technicality...it's very sharp. (yuk yuk)

--Matts 18:29, 13 January 2009 (MST)Does the shield offer full coverage against natural disasters or (DIETER) acts of God?

Edmiao would he be protected if, say, he engaged in an honor duel where the two combatants agreed to take off their armor and put down their weapons and duke it out? in this case he is willingly putting the shield aside, and possibly relinquishing it's protection for a time.

Edmiao I have an interesting idea for a power for Shao. He has been in existence longer, the longer he exists, the more real he becomes. I could give him some power that would simulate interdimensional movement, allow him to pull an object into the shadow world. Maybe Desolidify, usable as attack. were he stealthy enough, he could grab the shield and run with it through the shadow realm. We would of course still need to get Solomon Grundy to put it down for a bit. Perhaps Priestly Deiter could tell Grundy that he needs to make offereing to the gods and that in order to recieve their favor Grundy must go without weapons or armor and offer up sincere piety to Zeus or Amora or whatever god Solomon Grundy might worship. What gods do zombies like him worship anyway?

maybe this poem will help:
Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
That was the end of
Solomon Grundy.

Edmiao if someone were to take the shield, they might need to flee in a hurry. can fantus make a potion of movement?

BEN: as for what I put on your "talk" page, Ed, If Shao managed to steal the shield, and THEN go "into the shadow realm" he could probably do that: he just couldn't send the shield there while it was in the possession of Grunbad.
If Grunbad put down the shield for an "honor duel", the shield wouldn't protect him, no.

GABE: Sure can, but what about the people we leave behind?

Hey wait... Matt is all Earth like right? And one of Grundel's servents... How about some sort of Earth Shaping Spell?

Or even better what if we convince the Orc his shield is a fake! OH wait gotta jump into Fantus for this.

Fantus: I GOT IT! Okay okay... so Aefra... we will need your illusion magic. Basically lets convince the orc that his shield is a fake, and that he had all this amazing ability to begain with... We can do some "tests" in which we use your illusion magic to prove he is indeed that amazing... And we offer to take the shield from him as we are collectors and a fake still at least looks nice... or something like that!

Either that or lets challange him an honor duel, steal it, then all make off. Although I THINK that may cause some trouble down the line, even more so with war coming.

--Brandon 15:09, 19 January 2009 (MST) Another thought for a possible plan, though one that might be too sneaky for Tithe to dream up:

Great Empires Die From Indigestion: I imagine that there is some up and coming Orc badass within Grunbad's camp who's just itching to become the new warlord. Given the hugeness of the army, I'm sure there's at least a badass orc or two with ambition. But, I also imagine that said orc badass is hesitant to challenge Grunbad mano-a-mano because of Grunbad's possession of Ignus (not to mention the life-seeking spear). If we can make a deal with the badass so that we promise to take the shield out of the equation (even if momentarily) in exchange for being able to keep Ignus, maybe orc badass will do our fighting of Grunbad for us. Whaddya think?

Edmiao well, we know who the brains in this outfit is. that's brilliant. the big problem with the Aeten challenges Grundy to a duel was that Aeten ended up dead (although Galen could buy resurrection to counter that, gm approval). This will work. we get him to put down the shield during a duel with mr uppity up and while grundy slaughters the uppity, we steal the shield and javelin. we must steal both, i think. Possibly a new interdimensional movement for Shao would solve a lot of the stealing problems. but the javelin of death will still kill shao as he runs away intangibly with the shield through an army of orcs (hopefully the orcs lack magic weapons and spells), so we would need to acquire the javelin as well. we should split our forces, one group takes the javelin, one takes the shield. maximum chaos to minimize their ability to focus on one target

BEN: the orcs definitely have some spellcasters, and some of their champions definitely have magic weapons. Also: Resurrection magic does NOT exist. As to EDM...this will be subject to very stringent GM control, but you can take it if the effect is story appropriate and not unbalancing.

--Matts 14:18, 21 January 2009 (MST)I'm fairly certain that whatever plan we dream up, it'll at best prevent us from being roundly demolished. As for the unarmed combat: Aetan has STR 30, PD 3/9 without any buffs. He has a 2d6 Aid to STR, PD, and STUN. He can get +10 STR from a potion. The way I see it, if we're lucky, he tops out at 47 STR, if we're really lucky he's over 50. That's a lot, and with judicious use of XP, might be enough, but that assumes we can even convince him to drop his gear, which I'm not sure we can.

--Brandon 14:24, 21 January 2009 (MST) What's Aetan's OCV? Regardless, I'm with Ed that we don't want to risk you being dead. As for the dropping of the gear, I'm thinking about trying to cook up a one-time whizbang Dispel Magic to at least shut off the shield momentarily.

--Matts 14:43, 21 January 2009 (MST)OCV is 4, +4 with Mauls, +2 when enraged. I will probably need a one-time whiz-bang +OCV also.

Edmiao you know, for Shao's entering the real world, i was thinking extradimensional movement, but it isn't really another dimension. in another dimension, you are not touchable from this world. you are not in this world. the power i was thinking of for shao was just to become solid for a while. i think perhaps i should just buy off the "always on" limitation on his desolidification and buy a limitation at the same time "costs end to deactivate" at whatever "costs end" would be for an constant power.

If he did buy EDM it would be to move to the shadow world. in that case, he could grab the shield, move to the shadow world and walk away scott free, untouchable by any magic unless they also had EDM. that might be game breaking.

BEN: I think you are making assumptions about the "shadow world" if you think magic couldn't reach him there: I don't see "the shadow world" as so vastly divested from the real world (being a shadow of it, after all) that all connection is severed. As I've said, EDM would have to be tightly controlled for game balance, and keeping it consistent with the world is a good starting point. I will definitely not allow Shao to cross over into some realm where he will be immune/removed from all influence of the world. In general, many forms of magic are likely to be able to cross into whatever other "dimension" he enters, as will certain inherently magical creatures. As for grabbing the shield: it's a big shield, and it's made out of stone (ruby, to be exact). Just something to consider if you want a cat to carry it.

ED: that's what strength potions are for.

BEN: I'm not sure what Gabe's take on this is, or what the book says but I'm not sure even REAL creatures get the benefits of magical potions the way sentient beings do. Even if they do, a shadow creature composed of nothing but shadow might not derive the same benefits. And even if it did, mixing magic potions, as fantus will tell you, is a risky business for anyone but a master of hag magic: what mixing hag magic with Fae magic (in fact, a being composed almost exclusively of Fae magic) will do is anyone's guess. Again, not saying it won't work, but ANY plan, no matter how many l33t rul3z hax it uses, will require careful planning. I know y'all hate that, but you guys are, you know, sort of DONE once you solve this one. So if you think I'm just gonna hand it to you...
besides, thinking semi-logically, Grunbad is the biggest, baddest orc warlord of all time. He's fighting the imadigo, who are the masters of assassination, thievery, and intrigue (along with the Csarans). There MUST be reasons Grunbad is still alive. not only alive, but stomping the ever loving shit out of the imadigo. On their home turf. In the middle of a giant camp of the most easily upset, fierce, well armed, veteran creatures of Amora.
As metagame knowledge: I do think the shield will be easier than the castle. Either is doable, both will be on the very hard to nearly impossible difficulty level, and PCs may die in the pursuit of either. You definitely have the tools, contacts, resources, etc, etc, to accomplish them, but if you guys think you can just wing it in a single session, you guys will spend a lot of time in the liberty city hospital, working off your xp debt. Or scraping your allies off the pavement with a wet dry vac.

ED: hey, shao's a person too! He may have to grow then, he can do that up to 45 STR. might make him a bit conspicuous. he can also has teleport from shadow to shadow, which he could buy up for more distance. might be handy for getting out of dodge with a big red target on your back.

seems i'm going to miss the next OAAAA session, y'all have fun plotin' and planin' and tell me where to cast my spells and what useful xp expenditures will help the group.

ben, does that mean the end of the game is imminent? or just the end of the current arc?

--Brandon 01:08, 30 January 2009 (MST) There is an OBVIOUS reason as to why Grunbad has done so well. He has the ruby shield. If we take it from him (which will be, of course, no problem at all), he's gonna go down like Gabe. And why didn't you tell us we had access to a wet dry vac? Your very hard to impossible scenario, which is easier than the other very hard to impossible scenario (and less likely to cause significant moral collateral damage than the third very hard to impossible scenario), is going to be a piece of cake as long as we have a wet dry vac. Oh, and a tactical nuke. Is there one of those lying around that you forgot to mention as well?

BEN: shao has sufficient levels of growth to get 45 str? jebus. I'll have to go back and look at his powers...I haven't been that restrictive with his powers compared to players, and in general I don't want to be restrictive, so that should all be fine...but it does give me pause, at least briefly Re: what other abilities he might be allowed to pick up in the short term. But in all likelihood you can do whatever.
Grunbad was a badass even before he had the shield. Iyi is said to be many things, but nobody says he/she is an idiot (cue Gabe and/or Ed), and you don't sell something that turns the entire Dwarven race against you unless you are reasonably sure you are going to get paid (or you are getting paid upfront). Not to mention that maintaining an orc army is like trying to get your Gemini Crew to agree on something.
I originally saw the story terminating with the rescue of Daenerys as the first of 3 "books", in which each session was a "chapter": that way players could nix the game at the end of each of these if the game had run out of steam while still getting the satisfaction of a major accomplishment within 12 weeks or so. It hasn't worked out that way...the first book has spread out considerably, which is fine, but it does mean I have to be mindful of how well I can maintain GM responsibilities if I were to start Book 2. This is something we can discuss when this book comes to an end.
That being said: If you guys get really motivated, I think you could easily solve whichever dragon bait you guys are going for in the next 3 week block. You guys could also end up getting one or two PCs killed, which might sour the game somewhat, so I will try to avoid this. Thereafter, we can be on a "week to week" lease as far as continuing the story goes, I suppose.

Edmiao wait, it's not 45 str. he has growth levels for +45 str but he has to spend some of those getting back to human size. lets see if I remember right, I think he has 9 levels of growth, and six of those are used to get to human size (as he is two size classes smaller than human and 3 growth levels per size class). Humans are STR 10, then three more levels should get him to STR 25, which should be about 16 feet tall, or maybe 12 feet tall.

GABE: Potion is totally up to you, I don't think it is worth a minus to affect him (the cat that is).

How about we just get a lance, and fucking fly and ram the orc on the flying carpet? Mwuhahaha!

Or just convince him that he is a poor warrior because he has to relie on objects more powerful then he is.

Ed, is your illusion magic more powerful yet? Like gives big -'s?

Edmiao minus 7 to PER for a simple nonmoving object. I think the modifiers are: +2 for a simple moving object, like a ball rolling; and +4 for a complex moving object, like a man walking; +6 for a very complex thing, like a football team playing basketball.

--Brandon 10:59, 30 January 2009 (MST) If Iyi isn't an idiot, why is she hanging around wearing skimpy clothing, serving Sasha's every need?  ; )

BEN: a very good question indeed...as for the potions, I think I would say that you can brew EITHER a sentient being version of a given potion, or an animal version: the potions have no magical effect when drunk across this divide. you don't need to spend any points to be allowed to make animal versions of your potions, but you do need to specify which type of creature you are making the potion for. Does that sound fair?
I've repeatedly mentioned the divides between magics and that magic potions can interact with each other, so you can expect that trying to mix different kinds of magic will have dramatic and poorly controlled/understood effects.
The shield protects the bearer from treachery. It can be assumed this extends to illusions.

--Brandon 11:26, 30 January 2009 (MST) Does the shield protect Grunbad from buggery? Aetan's abilities in this area are, purportedly, magical.

Edmiao sounds fair to me. just means we need to test it out if we go that route.

i thought previously you said that the shield protects the bearer from being snuck up upon. but that it would not allow him to see through an illusion. if we were invisible, and tried to back stab him the shield would alert him; but if we made an illusionary wall, he wouldn't be able to auto detect it. fine if you want to change the way it works, we just need to be clear by game time.

--Matts 13:53, 2 February 2009 (MST)I want to bring up the possibility that this will take several sessions, and that if it does, we should establish some mini-goals to work towards for each of those sessions. I have a sneaking suspicion that orc society doesn't let wanderers freely challenge warlords, so we're going to have to "gain standing", I imagine, to get a fight/audience with Grunbad. Ben, can we get some background on orc culture, so that we have an idea what the ladder to the top looks like?

Also, I'm not sure that single combat will end well. I think that even without the shield, if Orc culture values horsebowmen, it's likely they consider hit-and-run tactics honorable, and it's further likely that Grunbad would employ them against us. See the fight with Sky for how many knots that kind of enemy put us in. So if we can find a way to face him en masse within the corners of orc culture, I think we'd be in the best shape.

So in summary: Let's identify some short-term goals once we have a good idea of orc culture. Let's not leave it to single combat with Grunbad unless we have some chicanery that lets the whole group's resources come to bear.

Edmiao good ideas. ben essentially said that this will take a few sessions to get through.

--Brandon 15:10, 2 February 2009 (MST) Good call Matt!! I have some suggestions for mini-goals for the next session:

(1) Gain access to the camp in such a way that allows us some freedom of movement within it.

(2) Learn aspects of orc culture that might allow us to challenge Grunbad effectively.

(3) Identify conceivably mutinous sub-group within orc camp that we might be able to incite to revolt.

(4) Kill some stuff (this is a meta-game goal 'cause I think we need a good fight).

Edmiao consider the following from Ben's recent orc post: "Today, it is considered a grave insult for an inferior to challenge anyone of superior rank, or to even address such a person." This rules indicate to me the following: we cannot talk to grundy. we cannot challenge grundy. we cannot talk to anyone who could challenge grundy. We could get around these problems by passing ourselves off as kings. oh!!!! wait! Aefra is a queen.

--Matts 13:01, 12 February 2009 (MST)I imagine that we can talk to him, we can't challenge him. I also imagine that if Aefra challenges him, that'd be a declaration of war, not a challenge-from-within.

I propose: we join his army. We work our way up the ranks, butchering his horsemen (god, grant me an entangle) in challenges, and proving our worth in other ways. In the meantime, Galen works on the orc, giving him "bad medicine" or something that works through the shield, so that when we're finally of the stature to challenge him, we don't get stomped.

--Brandon 13:30, 12 February 2009 (MST) I like the overall tenor of this plan, and still think that we can do this while conceivably sowing discord from within. We might be able to parley Aefra's royal stature as the sort of thing that would allow her to be something like one of the band of "brothers" that has some sort of status in the camp. Maybe we can promise a bunch of goblin cannon fodder (we totally should have brought a bag of goblins to demonstrate our wares, like Fantus said).

Edmiao from the above, it seemed to me that a band of mercenaries would not even be able to speak to grundy. my interpretation may be wrong. However, if this is true , then the plan of showing up as mercenaries could go astray and make it so that we can never speak to grundy, let alone challenge him. If we later say "by the way, I'm a queen" it is likely to be scoffed at as a lie. What if we show up as "Queen Aefra and her royal guard" who are searching the world for adventure and battles to cut their teeth on and hone their skills. Orc waaaaaaaaaaghh seems like a good place for the royal guard to train, so here we is. Thus we could be a sort of royal band of mercenaries. This will give us an "in" to the royal table while still just acting as mercs, we would probably be invited to dinner with grundy and his captains out of respect. Course I won't be there, feel free to NPC Aefra and her royalty if you want to take this tack.

GABE: I'm actually digging Aefra's ideas, not Aeten's, that takes too long, and we have a time limit. I guess when it comes to making deals it is up to the warlock.

Maybe we could offer him an alliance with our island? Gain much honor by defeating the big baddies?

--Brandon 16:42, 12 February 2009 (MST) I don't think that Aefra's ideas and Aetan's are incompatible. In a way, I see Aefra's plan as a certain, inspired instantiation of Aetan's plan. I'm totally on board with the royal guard idea. As a reminder, we might want to keep in mind the fact that Tithe isn't able to lie, so I will have to be careful about what role he plays in any deception. Of course, it is true that Aefra is a queen, and that Tithe is dedicated to protecting her (along with all of the other auspice bound).

GABE: Didn't say incompatible, just don't like Aeten's takes too long (meta-game, ZERO interest in being bossed around by orcs for who knows how many games). If the is the route the characters go Fantus will try to make a cure for the posion, or heck even a potion to help deal with the fire.

--Matts 17:52, 12 February 2009 (MST)I also think the royal guard route is a good one. Aetan is after all a Knight.

Edmiao if it will help tithe, aefra can officially anoint him with some title.

BEN: Aetan is, if you recall, more than a knight, he is an official retainer/ambassador for Grendel, and has a magical "seal" to prove it (assuming Grunbad would understand the meaning of a black stone disk...). Just to clarify.
As a queen, you could probably address Grunbad, but that doesn't guarantee you would be addressed as an equal. Orc society is still based on strength and martial prowess, so Aefra's effeminate charms wouldn't count for much. But they would respect her title, at least temporarily.
You are right, you CAN'T just challenge Grunbad, even as a foreign Queen. Formal address is usually "3rd Person" though, to get around this: ie, messengers, etc, speak in soliloquy to no one in particular, and ranking orcs "muse aloud" what information it might be useful for them to have. Very irritating and silly, but they are orcs, after all.

GABE So we now risk pissing off 20k worth of orcs instead of a small cult and a tower full of traps. I still say tower! You know the biggest problem with all of this is how do we get the sheild, my alliance idea wouldn't really get us the shield.

--Matts 12:30, 13 February 2009 (MST)So, i agree that the "work our way up" strategy isn't really gonna cut it. Maybe as a gesture of statesmanship, we'll have to do some feats of strength or something, and then we can challenge him? Note that this leaves unresolved the actual challenge, which is likely as not to be a total slaughter. So in the course of our proving our worth, if we could turn a significant portion of his waaaagh against him, that'd be ideal.

GABE I'm telling you, wave after wave of goblins into the tower, bam. I bet we have more goblins then that towers has traps. I mean if you gonna make orcs kill each other, who could actually be useful as allies, why not just use the goblins as trap disarmerment? I dunno about starting an entire war is really nessary to get this shield. I mean can't you just throw a pebble near it and we just teleport in?

BEN: I will tell you right now that you do NOT have enough goblins to overwhelm the traps in Ixymion's tower, even if you could find a way to a.) get thousands of goblins from the undermountain to Ixymions isle, b.) somehow land them on a fortified island staffed by several hundred fanatic knights templar and c.) get them organized enough to charge into the tower. If there's one thing dragon's hate, its when "lesser" creatures get away with shit by overwhelming quality with quantity. Some dragons have been known to come to the aid of their nemeses merely out of frustration at what they see as an overturning of the natural order on this basis (Jormundgandr, for instance, had a long running rivalry with the hero Aiolos, but nevertheless reduced an army to corpses when Aiolos was the last man standing defending a pass against said army.) As such, you can bet (as in, I'm telling you) that at least *some* of the traps in the tower aren't going to use ammunition: however they work, they will work that way regardless of whether 1, 10, or 1000 people step in it.

GABE: Dude Ben, if you don't want us to do something just say it won't work haha. Most of these things are fairly easy to get past such as buying a gate teleport, thousands of goblins should beable to beat hundreds of knights (numbers).

I'm a little confused as to the dragons coming to "help", um isn't that what we are doing, is helping the dragon wake up? So I'm not sure why a dragon would come?

Edmiao i think that was just an example of how dragons hate armies of beanies and they are ready for them. btw folks, as i won't be there, feel free to switch to the tower if you want to. those absent have no input, i say.