Looking forward to getting back in the swing of things on the 3rd

Happy New Year to all!

I'm not quite sure where/when Vadim has ended up since he diverted.  If everyone's happy with the idea of having made a rendezvous time/place and picking up Vadim then he can tail along with the new lead (and possibly Constantine can as well, after a few hours at the inn).  Otherwise Vadim can go home to bed trusting that Shade or Jonah will be able to send for him if needed.

I feel that I would have invited anyone to come along on my excursion.


Query for our DM:
Will you be allowing the Dirty Tactics Toolbox?
Dedicated Adversary looks like a nice feat to be used with martial flexibility

Happy new year everyone!

We'll officially get started back up again tomorrow, for now let's do a head count and see who's still here and rarin' to go.

Kendra isn't too well versed on the trial itself, but she can make introductions at the University, make Gather Information checks while you guys are off investigating, Aid Another on research or knowledge checks, and otherwise help out with the investigation going forward.

Vadim, when we jump back in we'll put everyone back together and branch off from there if you want to divide up the investigation again.

Constantine, any 1st party material is okay. Dirty Tactics Toolbox and other Pathfinder Player Companion releases are just fine.

Here and ready to go. :)

I'm still around!

Me too

Fantastic! It sounds like Darcon and Shade were headed off to talk to Hora, which is still fine to do.

While we're getting back in the swing of things though I've put everybody back together at the inn to reconnoiter. You can split up to investigate different stuff or all go together, either way works fine.

Be sure to say hi to Kendra, an ally of the party and an important NPC from the first book, the Haunting of Harrowstone. Mechanically speaking she has the Helpful trait, and can convey a +3 bonus any time she uses the Aid Another action. You can take her with you to apply that bonus to research, crafting, or gather information checks. She is also happy to help the investigation in other ways, like following leads on her own and then reporting back or doing research at the University while you are elsewhere.

Hey, still here!  Just a little behind...

I had a new theory on the answer to this question and asked the DM privately in my last post if it is ok to share it.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:49, Sun 05 Jan 2020.

That's a great theory to float to the party in character. In answer though...a mongrelman would be a great suspect.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/besti...umanoids/mongrelman/

I wanted to be sure you didn’t want a knowledge roll before I floated the idea...
But it is a CR 1 and a monsterous humanoid (which I have a redemptive rapport with)

Step 2 is of course to find one in town and see if they can assist
If one went rogue or missing they might know

; )

If the discussion in the inn is wrapping up I'll move things ahead to Hora's workshop in the next GM post. If the discussion is heating up we'll split it out into a concurrent thread.

Constantine, you can make any knowledge check you want, but since the theme of this adventure is essentially Law and Order: Supernatural Victims Unit I don't want to constrain your ability to theorize, guess, probe or investigate by locking that sort of thing behind a check. Feel free to spin out and follow up on any crazy theory you'd like, and of course you can also make checks to get even more information.

My favorite (thus far) speech to try diplomacy to redeem an evil creature is this one:

"Listen people living as foes. Maybe. it's not too late; to learn how to love, and forget how to hate; Mental wounds not healing; Living a bitter shame. Turn away and embrace redemption; rise above the noise and confusion; take a look at the truth beyond the illusion. I see a blind man, a mad man yet I hear the voices of redemption, I can hear them say...'Come back my wayward son, for there'll be peace when you are done, lay your weary head to rest; don't you cry no more."

Which I lifted from these two songs:
Ozzy Osborn's crazy train
Kansas carry on my wayward son

That’s not how good cop / bad cop is done!!!

LOL!

I have never thought of Paladins as police officers.  I think that’s a poor comparison...
Perhaps like The Andy Griffith show; part police part justice of the peace
...Truth be told I have thought that’s a great Paladin; easy going and eternally optimistic

Too many takes on paladins are Judge Dredd. I like paladins that are just nice.

Sir Constantine is very nice indeed.  Shade is just unwilling to be thwarted when the Judge wants something done.  "Lady, I don't care that he's taking his evening nightcap, there is justice that wants doing!"  :D

Now I have a mental image of the big, half orc paladin as the cloying nice cop and the waifish little witch as the swaggering bad cop.

Your welcome!

Who has the item that the NPC made?
I was thinking it was Darcon or Garland

Did we lose Jonah?

Jonah's busy and is taking a sort of semi break at the moment, so he may post but not very frequently.

And here I was hoping we might get a purchaser from Morast directly...but nope

Still good business people keep ledgers...

Him and his bardic knowledge are needed
Because we have no idea what kind of super nasty boogeyman was murdering the good citizens of Morast

Because this book is a tense race against the clock you may want to burn the midnight oil beating the pavement and hunting for clues. The RAW on that sort of thing is a bit sparse (as far as I can see the only thing it mentions is becoming fatigued if you march for 8 hours or hustle for 1 hour) so we're going to add some fatigue and sleep house rules.

Keep watch is still officially my favorite Paladin spell!
I am guessing it will be useful for pulling all nighters studying, reading or researching

It reminds me of the blood guard from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Plus we still don’t know if Solomon
Has bite marks
Dark vision
Red blood or blood at all
Has the dexterity to hold or open a knife.....
Etc
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

You whiffed your original checks, but if you'd like to know more about Solomon you can re-roll using a library to do research.