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

[Molan]

Also, after discussing with Abdiel, I've tried to come up with a bit of an indicator system for the relative "heat" (how close we are to time lapsing moving the plot forward) of the various side quests you have going on.

Thieves Guild - The Gotham Thieves Guild is in trouble. One of the City's preeminent organized crime organizations, the Guild's troubles are racking up. They're under pressure from the Downtown gangs (Dark Market, House Cobblepott), they lost their Fort Clinton territory, and their corrupt connections with the City's leadership are under attack from multiple sources, including the False Face Society. The party has a path to kneecapping the Guild's Underboss, Kysel Velnire, and knows where Boss Falcone's Guild Hall is hidden. Finally, the assassin "Padfoot" is now likely on the move, meaning the Thieves are as likely to strike out at their intended enemies as they are to be struck. Something will happen this week.
The False Face Society - House Sionis is dead. Their princeling and heir, Roman, appears to have destroyed his family and seized their assets for himself. Sionis controls a large and well armed army and likely the Craftsman's Guild to boot, plus who knows what else. He's intent on decapitating the city's leadership, and doesn't have the Penguin's patience about it. The Black Mask could strike again at any time, but you have no idea where he currently is or what he's up to.
House Cobblepott - The Cobblepotts are rich, powerful, and well armed, and control significant chunks of Gotham's "daylight" and "night time" worlds. Their patriarch, Oswald, is trying to decapitate House James and take over, but needs backing from the Wizard's College to do it. However, recently, Oswald overreached, and his enterprise is currently under serious investigation by city authorities, backed by the military strength of House Blackgate. Things are currently at a standstill, but the stakes are high.
SCI Cult - Oracle discovered a cult that seems very likely to be responsible for the attacks against the Bard's Guild. The cult appears to be mimicking the terror campaign of the old Fools' Guild that had harassed the Bards years earlier, until the Dark Knight threw their leader, the "Jester", into Arkham and destroyed their organization. Oracle disrupted one of their initiation ceremonies but so far they've been slow rolling their attacks, drawing fury and terror from the Bards but few others. However, the Bards' anger poses a political problem -- they hold Houses James and Gordon responsible for protecting them, something the latter two organizations have so far been unable to accomplish.
Justicar Corruption - Some excellent detective work, a lot of it on Oracle's part, has revealed the extent and nature of corruption among the Justicar ranks. It's bad, but not unsolvable. A huge amount of the influence wielded over individual and groups of Justicars comes from the Thieves Guild itself; going after corrupt Justicars, taking down the Thieves, or both will seriously help move the needle. However, there are currently no events urgently moving this issue -- with the exception of the terror operations Oracle is currently in the middle of.
House James' Fragility - After House Wayne fell, House James became the new rulers of Gotham after a bitter power struggle. They're weak, somewhat corrupt, and not well respected, leading to a slow burning political crisis. The biggest problem with the James' is that they can't really protect themselves, but so long as none of the other factions can overthrow them, the city is preserved from outright chaos.
The Eye of Ymir - Kysel Velnire made a name for himself stealing a powerful artifact -- the Eye of Ymir. Spoiler knows that a powerful wizard -- Lord Victor Fries -- wants to get his hands on the Eye, and he has a deal with the leader of the "House Kyle" rogues gang to get it for him. The "Cat Woman" has offered a valuable reward for anyone who helps her take it, but so far the Bat Family has not completed the operation. Something is going to give, and soon. Either the Cat will grow impatient and make a move for the Eye herself -- thus nullifying any interest she has in dispensing a quest reward -- or Fries will get tired of waiting and enact his vengeance on the Kyle Gang for failing to produce the artifact. Either way, time is running out quickly.
The Dark Market - Run by a nefarious and crooked convicted halfling named Baron Zucco, the Dark Market is one of the oldest organized crime organizations in Gotham. They've been trying to push north into Midtown after losing much of their territory after the Dark Knight threw Zucco into prison, but they haven't yet been successful. The Dark Knights successfully stopped the Market's takeover and infiltration of the Merchants' Guild, and Dark Market rogues were present at Chelsea Motte, where the criminals attacking the Justicars were very publicly defeated. Zucco got out of prison thanks to intervention by Oswald Cobblepott -- and with their patrons under investigation, the Market is currently forced to lay low, very low. They're weak, but not going anywhere.
House Tetch - Oracle was able to determine that the Tetch's were involved in quite a lot of criminal activity, including working with the Thieves and the Cobblepotts and being involved in Justicar corruption. However, no one has heard much from them since the attack at Hill Hall. Rumors on the street indicate they're upset about something...but only the Tetch's and maybe Oracle, know exactly what about.
House Nigma - The Nigma's were thwarted when the Dark Knights visited one of their lairs on South Channel Island and freed the hostage they'd taken, a girl named Verena. The Nigmas are likely still very unhappy about the intervention, but no one has heard from them since the events on SCI. The Nigmas aren't into big armed forces like some of the other Houses. Their physical headquarters is defended by elven duskblades, but most of their power base lies in a secret byzantine network of spies. The Nigma's likely have spies everywhere in the city; learning about their plans may depend on finding and cracking some of these informants.
The Merchant's Guild - When you first met them, the Merchants Guild were on the verge of collapse. Now, they've re-established their control over their docklands and are making money again, employing the once-desperate people of the Fort Clinton Slums and moving large amounts of Arcana - all thanks to the Knights. There's no immediate threats to the Merchants; they'd like to spread their influence throughout Midtown, by pushing out the crooked forces that run it, and eventually take over their own power base -- the Merchant's Guild Tower -- much of which is currently abandoned. However, without help or a new attack from an enemy, their status is unlikely to change any time soon.
The Bat / House Dent - A horrific bat-like monster is terrorizing Gotham. No one knows when it will show up or why, but you're aware that Bruce had previously fought a beast just like it -- and was nearly killed in the process. Bruce, Alfred, and Richard all believe that this monster can't be beaten by conventional means alone -- defeating it requires a pair of artifacts. One is a sacred magical book, which the party has already secured. The other is a magical "cypher" which will unlock its use. However, the villains of Gotham believe that rather than destroy the beast, it'd be in their best interests to control it -- the Monster appears to be one of the only things in the city that the Mages' College fears. Preventing them from taking it over will be vital to saving the city. The bad guys all believe that the "House Dent" Gang controls the means to capturing the beast -- though it's not clear whether that's actually true or just a misconception based on the botched heist at the Vaults. Only one thing is certain -- Harvey Dent and his minions are now some of the most sought after and wanted people in Gotham's underworld.

Red: Hot Plot. Events surrounding this plot line are heating up, and you can probably expect major action to occur within the week, whether you get involved or not.
Orange: Unstable. It's hard to gauge what's happening in this plot without more direct intervention, but things have been set in motion that cannot be undone.
Yellow: Precarious. Events in this plot are not currently moving. However, other changes to the layout of Gotham, or actions by the heroes, could tip this plotline into motion.
Green: Slow Burning. Things are in motion, but there's no urgent or immediate urgency -- players are likely to take their time getting what / where they want.
Blue: Cool Plot. The plot is active, you've interacted with it, but the key players are coasting at this time, and their status is unlikely to change at all without outside influence.

Hope this helps! Tell me what you think!

[MrAbdiel]

This is awesome and extremely helpful for me. Let’s get that gem!

[JbeJ275]

That’s brilliant, I love the system and it’s a good sign of how things have gone. It’s also a good refresher for other reasons, I was sceptical that getting the gem would just lead Velnire to lash out in at attempt to maintain their power base but if there are other interests involved it might be the play we need to make anyway.

[Molan]

Sweet. Glad you like it. I'll wait for a post from Damien/Oracle and with any luck we can set up the next mission. Are we doing more with the Bullock thing given that he failed his save?

[Molan]

Okay, I've already got the next one ready, so all I need from people is what you want to use the two days downtime for, then Stephanie will come back with her Gather Info and Know: Local Results and set up the premise for the heist!

You can post your downtime actions IC or OOC, but Jbe I replied to the Bullock nightmare.

[JbeJ275]

I’m obviously gonna do some spell copying, and maybe shopping for scrolls, does anyone have anything they want scribed on in advance of our adventure?

[Molan]

Okie dokes, pick your poison Dark Knights!

Jbe do we have more to do on the nightmare scene with old Detective Bullock?

[MrAbdiel]

Okie dokes, pick your poison Dark Knights!

Oh, you mean metaphorical poison.

[Molan]

Oh, you mean metaphorical poison.

Hey, it could also be real poison! Lol.

I hope that scene made sense. I wanted to give the feeling of one of those pre-heist montages where you can see like how they got the intel, ocean's 11 style, before the whole thing went down.

EDIT: Whoops, almost forgot the nightmare bit. Fixed!

[Molan]

Oooooooookay! Let me know what you think!

[MrAbdiel]

Alright! In the short downtime, I bought a bunch of potions of low levels - lesser vigor, some more longstrider, one see invisibility, two gravestrike (I had about 5 before but I think I distributed them to the team and I've lost track of them since!) - and also the bracers of armor +1 I was eyeing up. Two shots of "Nerv" from Complete Scoundrel (+2 Alchemical bonus against fear). If the batcave can spot me any extra Purple Worm Venoms, I'll take 'em, since strength drain works just fine against the nerds we're hunting. A listening cone too, since they're so cheap and I might as well, and it seems easy enough to get! Camouflage kit I'll use 1/10 Uses of before we set out.

I suspect Nightwing has better spot and search than Damien. Damien will refuse to be more than a close second to whoever is going first, but his keen senses are his ears, and has to cope with the fact he is trusting other eyes.

[JbeJ275]

I’m tempted to drop a clairvoyance and clairaudience here, and probably an arcane sight to. Let’s map this situation out then make sure we hit it right.

[Molan]

Alright! In the short downtime, I bought a bunch of potions of low levels - lesser vigor, some more longstrider, one see invisibility, two gravestrike (I had about 5 before but I think I distributed them to the team and I've lost track of them since!) - and also the bracers of armor +1 I was eyeing up. Two shots of "Nerv" from Complete Scoundrel (+2 Alchemical bonus against fear). If the batcave can spot me any extra Purple Worm Venoms, I'll take 'em, since strength drain works just fine against the nerds we're hunting. A listening cone too, since they're so cheap and I might as well, and it seems easy enough to get! Camouflage kit I'll use 1/10 Uses of before we set out.

I suspect Nightwing has better spot and search than Damien. Damien will refuse to be more than a close second to whoever is going first, but his keen senses are his ears, and has to cope with the fact he is trusting other eyes.

Okay cool. Batcave can cover four vials. Nightwing definitely has better Spot than Damien does. Plus Oracle can help.

I’m tempted to drop a clairvoyance and clairaudience here, and probably an arcane sight to. Let’s map this situation out then make sure we hit it right.

Okay, got it.

[JbeJ275]

Also I’m ready to post on the combat stuff, but am I missing something on the bullock thing that would be helpful to us long term beyond him giving Babs all the evidence of corruption and leaving the city forever?

[Molan]

Also I’m ready to post on the combat stuff, but am I missing something on the bullock thing that would be helpful to us long term beyond him giving Babs all the evidence of corruption and leaving the city forever?

Ah, this web of lies and deception I spin...

...trying to remember what the heck I had him connected with. Obviously, he's bought by multiple parties, but I can't remember which other big players he could help incriminate based on the evidence you guys already collected...

...really need a better way to organize plot progression lol.

Okay let's recap. Based on the evidence you've gotten, you know:
1. He's dirty (early sleuthing by Oracle).
2. He was doing jobs for the Mad Hatter before...you know...
3. He was taking bribes from the Thieves Guild (multiple sources).

So...I would squeeze him for the following:
1. Known Lawmen (noble Justicars, typically poor knights), who are on the take.
2. Any of the Bloodhounds in his ring.
3. Names of any Thieves Guild or noble house members (likely not high level leaders, but mid level managers) who have used bribes or blackmail on the Justicars. If the cops round them up, they can collect evidence on which Justicars were bought.

All in, you could probably aim for squeezing upwards of 30 names out of him. That'll probably require that you write down whatever he says, I assume you can hear all this through the dream, right?

Then you can decide how to deploy the intel.

[MrAbdiel]

Okay cool. Batcave can cover four vials.

Nice. I'll goop-up a pair of shuriken to have 'em ready.

[Molan]

Okie dokes! Call the ball!

EDIT: Oh. Also. Feather / Jbe, if I look at your character sheets is there a quick reference to see what powers you know / spells you have prepared for today?

And Jbe you still have some charges left in that wand, right?

[JbeJ275]

In the spells known column the ones on the left are all the ones I know and the ones on the right are the ones for today, with Xs meaning spells I cast already.

And rn all of my wands still have castings, I haven’t used any of them more than a few times each.

[Feathersnow]

Okie dokes! Call the ball!

EDIT: Oh. Also. Feather / Jbe, if I look at your character sheets is there a quick reference to see what powers you know / spells you have prepared for today?

And Jbe you still have some charges left in that wand, right?

Whoops! I have forgotten to properly update my character sheet or it got reverted some how.

My spells known and numeric stats should be accurate.

I only know a few powers, they are listed by level

[Molan]

In the spells known column the ones on the left are all the ones I know and the ones on the right are the ones for today, with Xs meaning spells I cast already.

And rn all of my wands still have castings, I haven’t used any of them more than a few times each.

Whoops! I have forgotten to properly update my character sheet or it got reverted some how.

My spells known and numeric stats should be accurate.

I only know a few powers, they are listed by level

Great! Thanks! Let me know if you guys want to take any other actions before opening the door.

[JbeJ275]

Spot: (1d20+7)[13]
Search:(1d20+30)[41],
Listen: (1d20+17)[26]
Sense Motive: (1d20+5)[24]

I’d also like to spend the seconds to consider the area inside my emendation with Detect Secret Doors and to be annoyed that find traps is a cleric spell.

[Molan]

Spot: [roll0]
Search:[roll1],
Listen: [roll2]
Sense Motive: [roll3]

I’d also like to spend the seconds to consider the area inside my emendation with Detect Secret Doors and to be annoyed that find traps is a cleric spell.

Okay cool.

Your Spot check turns up nothing.
Your Sense Motive, however, reveals a rather unconvincing Bluff on Nightwing's part -- he may be nimble but he's a poor liar.
You Search the area and find the following: the door's locked, but the mechanism is rusty and likely easily broken. The door itself is trapped by a bizarrely simple trap door directly in front of it. You can attempt to disarm it but are unsure of how the trap door would be a reliable deterrent for such a dangerous criminal's hideout.

Finally, the brick Nightwing had inspected has a curious symbol on it; a ring, with several smaller partial/broken rings inside of it. It's clearly a sigil of some kind, but you can't tell for whom. Three runes you also don't recognized are carved below it, but the brick does not hide the mechanism for any secret doors. A Decipher Script attempt could tackle the rune meaning, otherwise you're clueless.

Finally, Listen reveals there are voices behind the door. They're not whispering, but thanks to the door and the environment they are incredibly faint. It's hard to tell how far away the voices are, or if they're behind multiple other doors past this one or not.

Spoiler: OOC: Damien Only

Show

Spoiler: I told you last time, this is for Damien.

Show

Spoiler: Are you from Australia? Then go away.

Show

Spoiler: Okay...last warning...spoilers ahead.

Show

You will need to use your own Search to spot the sigil unless Oracle points it out, otherwise you don't notice it and will have to ignore it. However, if she points it out, you'll recognize it immediately as the League of Shadows symbol. Problem is, you can recognize that the sigil is there as a directional marker, but you don't super remember the relevance of the runes below it in order to decipher their instruction. You can attempt to roll an Intelligence check to try to remember how the rune markers work.

[JbeJ275]

Hang on what is he bluffing about? Just that he did in fact see something far more important than he initially let on? Or is that what’s behind the spoiler and you were referring to Oracle not Scion?

[Molan]

He bluffed about seeing something and he was bluffing about it's relevance, in case you noticed it anyway.

Oracle can tell he was concealing something, and identified the presence of the sigil and runes herself, and even checked to make sure it didn't lead to a secret passage.

But so far as it's significance...that truth is cancelled from her.

[JbeJ275]

…… See I can still cast the old reliable detect thoughts, but it might be considered rude and probably isn’t mission relevant so I’ll save my slots for now and circle back if I haven’t figured it out in a while.

[Molan]

…… See I can still cast the old reliable detect thoughts, but it might be considered rude and probably isn’t mission relevant so I’ll save my slots for now and circle back if I haven’t figured it out in a while.

True! Lol. And I'd say that he's a hard target for mind affecting spells but the Hatter worked him over so....maybe not hahaja

[MrAbdiel]

Well, I've already rolled a listen and spot; but I'll make the other checks as presently:

Spoiler: Checks:

Show

SenseMotive - (1d20+10)[20]
Search - (1d20+7)[12]
IntCheckIncaseIMissedSomething - (1d20+2)[9]

Depending on if I notice anything, I might consider ghosting past the door to see what we see.

[Molan]

Damien also notices that Richard is bluffing, but his Search returns no results. Intelligence check also fails.

[Molan]

Well, I've already rolled a listen and spot; but I'll make the other checks as presently:

Spoiler: Checks:

Show

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Depending on if I notice anything, I might consider ghosting past the door to see what we see.

Are you gonna ghost past the door?

[JbeJ275]

Well lets try out the rings meaning in case it's important:
Decipher Script: (1d20+13)[21]