3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0) [2nd Thread]

[Molan]

>:-)

Damien didn't get the chance to see what they were "made of", as the room was dark (unlit except for the glowing layline powering the activation rune) and the haemonculi were facing the opposite direction. He was also only in the room for a second or so.

But that's an interesting observation given the arcane signature on the door outside!

[MrAbdiel]

>:-)

Damien didn't get the chance to see what they were "made of", as the room was dark (unlit except for the glowing layline powering the activation rune) and the haemonculi were facing the opposite direction. He was also only in the room for a second or so.

But that's an interesting observation given the arcane signature on the door outside!

You scoundrel! And Damien doesn’t know anything about Pyg, I suppose, so he’s in no position to speculate Ic, like I want to OOC, that there is a horrible program of kidnapping going on here because valentin needs live, subjects, neatly replaced by doppelgängers, to mutilated and warp.

[Molan]

You scoundrel! And Damien doesn’t know anything about Pyg, I suppose, so he’s in no position to speculate Ic, like I want to OOC, that there is a horrible program of kidnapping going on here because valentin needs live, subjects, neatly replaced by doppelgängers, to mutilated and warp.

Right. And you also know that the doppelgangers used him to ward their door, and they have been yoinking people off the street and replacing them with body doubles. Who knows how far the scheme goes!?!?

[Molan]

Still waiting on you guys just FYI.

[MrAbdiel]

Thanks for your patience.

We could jump into into the next room and just try to kill the monstrosities right away, rather than worry about the trap behind triggered later. Or we can have Damien scoot us all to the next corridor next to the guards near the trigger and try to down them quickly.

Or! Or. We can put on some of these guard uniforms and try to bluff our way in.

I’m going to assume we’re jumping the guards since that is easiest so I’ll post that tomorrow just to move us on but if anyone objects I can retcon.

Basically Damien will appear in the corridor with them so unless there is somewhere to hide he will basically spend the surprise round setting up the hole and Kate and Barb will have that surprise round to burst out and try to subdue someone. Then we’ll be back in initiative order. I think.

[Feathersnow]

Thanks for your patience.

We could jump into into the next room and just try to kill the monstrosities right away, rather than worry about the trap behind triggered later. Or we can have Damien scoot us all to the next corridor next to the guards near the trigger and try to down them quickly.

Or! Or. We can put on some of these guard uniforms and try to bluff our way in.

Sorry. I've been out of it. Plan one "frontal assault" plays to my strengths, but I am hesitant to suggest it.

[MrAbdiel]

Oh actually I might be able to get us a full turn of surprise.

Molan how high are these ceilings and how wide are the corridors?

EDIT: Ah screw it, I'll assume a normal 10x10 which means I'm going to have to go for the doorframe. If this won't work, Molan, let me know, but I'ma gonna post!

[Molan]

Oh actually I might be able to get us a full turn of surprise.

Molan how high are these ceilings and how wide are the corridors?

EDIT: Ah screw it, I'll assume a normal 10x10 which means I'm going to have to go for the doorframe. If this won't work, Molan, let me know, but I'ma gonna post!

Yeah, i was going to say 10x10.

Okay I'll post up!

[JbeJ275]

Lets see how quick off the mark we can get: (1d20+4)[20]

[Molan]

Also anyone can take their surprise round move now.

[JbeJ275]

Bolt 1 to confirm the crit: (1d20+16)[17] for (1d8)[8]+(5d6)[18]

[MrAbdiel]

Important for flatfoot purposes - does this gentleman’s turn precede Damien’s in the initiative order? Or is that action description just sort of a narrative indication that he is preparing to flee? If I get to act first, I can sneak attack again!

[Molan]

Important for flatfoot purposes - does this gentleman’s turn precede Damien’s in the initiative order? Or is that action description just sort of a narrative indication that he is preparing to flee? If I get to act first, I can sneak attack again!

Great question. Just narrative flavor text. He's behind you in initiative so you should be able to smoke him quickly.

[MrAbdiel]

There we go. 26 and 34. 36 actually because I forgot to add the +2. Naturally if the first one drops him, I'll hold off on the second. No poison on these.

[Molan]

Well that was quick! Turn order suspended. Which way we heading?

[MrAbdiel]

Hot damn, we're doing alright.

Those two beyond the first guards were just.. similar guards from upstairs, yes?

[Molan]

Actually five targets went down in this room. The two near the door were guards. The one closest to the hole Damien opened had been sitting near the tube that would activate the "bots" trap in the outermost corridor. The three figures who'd been arguing were not dressed as guards, but were instead dressed in high quality, functional clothing, not overly elaborate but fancier than a commoner could afford, and one of them was wearing leather armor.

It's not clear what the distinction between the three unknown characters and the guards actually is, since you didn't have a lot of time to observe them. The guards are decked in enchanted mail, coveted over by thick, coarse, voluminous robes with heavy hoods.

[Molan]

Sorry was supposed to post today but got tired. Will post IC tomorrow I promise :-D

[Molan]

Posted! So far, no guards in site in this area.

[Molan]

Shall I assume that Jbe is going to scan the VIP cells for imposters?

[MrAbdiel]

You probably can; but I think we're all pretty chill, and we can assume JBE's just having a busy little while. Looks like they checked in recently so I'm happy to wait for a bit. But if the scan is going to reveal very little and we'll need to make a new decision anyway, you could probably assume so.

[Molan]

Post delivered! Let me know if you guys want to push this bad Larry open!

[Molan]

Sorry! Sorry sorry. Been meaning to post for three days and keep getting distracted lol. Almost there!

[MrAbdiel]

No problemo, Molan!

But yeah, the plan is basically burst in under this flimsy disguise (none of us is good enough at disguise self for a convincing one) and make an assessment based on what we can see.

I'm sort of operating under an assumption that it's okay for us to know what dopplegangers are like, by the way? I'm not sure we pressed Oracle to roll a dice and add her bonuses for a huge result then regurgitate the entire monster profile to us, but I'm expecting we've had enough talking off screen that we know more or less what we're talking about even if we're not sure about something as specific as "would a zone of antimagic unmask a doppleganger".

[Molan]

Great question!

So yeah, I think we can assume some in-transit dialogue. Following the rule of "take ten when it's not necessary to roll", we know that Oracle's Know: Arcana is quite beefy so she'd be able to wizard-info-dump-you a fair bit.

There's bad news and good news for what she knows -- the bad news of course being that very little is known for sure about doppelgangers due to their habit of blending in -- no definitive treaties of doppelganger society has ever been written, and some scholars were driven to paranoid madness, assuming that the shape changers might be anyone and everyone they met. However, some things are known. For one, they're understood to generally be arcane beings, touched innately with magic the way most elves or human/gnomish magi are. As such, they strongly dislike psions or people who emanate psionic energy and -- more importantly -- their supernatural ability to shape change is nullified in an anti-magic field. So, if there are any lurking in here, that field would reveal them.

Now, one problem you could find is that neither you (Oracle) nor the doppelgangers can now read minds given the AMF. Some of the cells are fairly heavily crowded. So if there was an imposter hiding behind some of the assembled bards, they could be physically out of sight, absent a really fantastic spot or listen check. One could assume that the other occupants in the cell would be willing to give the imposter up, but being within arms reach of that "person", they might be too terrified to speak up, for fear of immediate retribution.

(This is "meta" knowledge, so if you object to it I can avoid sharing tidbits like this, but any of the more novice, junior bards could be assumed to have a very low character level, so an errant retaliatory slam could likely be lethal).

Finally, when Oracle clarifies that supernatural abilities are silenced in an AMF, I'll give Damien the wherewithal to ask if if there are any non-arcane ways to change one's shape, given Oracle's earlier reveal that Kate's psionics would continue to function inside, unlike everyone else's powers. Oracle answers by clarifying that AMFs generally work against everything, except what she describes as "either psionic or extraordinary abilities, both of which are rare". She further goes on to elaborate that, "If you wanted to shut Kate and I off at the same time, you'd need a way to overlap an Anti-Psionic Field with an Anti-Magic Field. For technical reasons relating to the energy source each field requires, doing so is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. It would take an incredibly powerful Archmage or Master Psion to cover the same area in both wards."

When Damien then asked, "Is our Blood Mage fellow that level of talented? Oracle almost laughed out loud:

"No. No no no nonononono. Not him. The rogue blood mage is likely slinging an enormous amount of raw power, but his 'skill', if you could call it that, is sloppy at best, and terrifyingly slipshod at worst. There's no way he could layer an anti-psionic field over this area. So unless the Karlo's have a much, much better mage in their employ who they simply didn't bother to commission for the rest of their defenses, Kate will be just fine."