Who wants to play D&D online again?

I'm still wrapping up my background and concepting. How 'serious' is the campaign / party? 3 Days of the Condor? Winter Soldier? Naked Gun?

Hey sarapen thanks for the additions you made. Just want to check though, I think I actually get more extracts per day, it's supposed to be (@level 1) 1 plus my spell modifier thingie.

"His base daily allotment of extracts is given on Table: Alchemist. In addition, he receives bonus extracts per day if he has a high Intelligence score, in the same way a wizard receives bonus spells per day."

Is anyone going to write up a post-game recap so we have some recollection of what happened in later sessions? If no one else wants to do it, I'll throw together a thing.

Yeah, I was thinking the Invisibility Potion might be good for the spy mission, but I'm pretty sure sarapen said that we're all just doing one mission each, and that our NPC coordinator woman was going to do the theft mission?  If anyone else thinks it could be better used on another mission though, please say so; I did literally nothing to help stop the gang of pickpockets, so it probably shouldn't be my decision.

I'd be willing to do it.  I'd probably not get them written up immediately after sessions but should be able to get them up within a couple of days.

Maybe, but I'm pretty sure that we can help each other out on missions.  The party will probably take a while, and if I read the 'social combat' stuff correctly, we'll have to use cumulative successes to learn what to do to influence people, and then make skill checks  / execute a plan to actually do it.  So I have to make some anti-Eutropia politicians loose clout, which means we have to figure out who is against her and what would make them look bad before making them look bad. Someone has to pressure Idris Elba into maintaining support for Eutropia, so we'll have to figure out how to leverage him, etc.  We'll probably spend some time at the start gathering intel and setting up our actual activities, so we can set each other up to spike our individual goals.

I really need to double check the 'social combat' rules, though.  I think they're in the intrigue book.

So peeps, I flubbed a couple of rules last night but just made an on the spot ruling to keep the game from getting bogged down with looking up stuff. Sorry, it's been a while since I played Pathfinder and I should have reviewed the rule book more instead of just focusing on the campaign stuff. None of it was major but if you spot an inconsistency with the rules next time, that's why.

Also, some of you sound alike. Can't one of you talk with a French accent or something? I'm starting to regret not keeping Murray the Demonic Skull in.

How was everyone's impression of the whole thing, anyway? How'd you find it?

Anyway, I forget who but someone mentioned being unavailable mid-July. Would Saturday July 6 at 9 pm EDT be acceptable for the next session, or do you all have 4th of July stuff going on that weekend?

So welcome to the first session of Crownfall, Part 1 of the adventure path War for the Crown - a campaign of political intrigue and backstabbing.

This adventure takes place in Taldor, an empire that's seen better days, but is still pretty rich thanks to all the conquering it did back in the day, and thanks to all the trade that flows through it. The writers practically hit you over the head with allusions to the Byzantine empire. We start in the capital of Oppara - a coastal city full of grand palaces and horrible poverty.

In this fantastical Babylon, six heroes step forth:



Aloysius Abastion, a half-orc cleric, son of a high noble ashamed of his orcish side. Also apparently possessed of a stick up his ass about breaking the law and keeps trying to convert his party members. Played by @wearytraveler



Bomo Frugglemop, a halfling (i.e., hobbit) brawler who came up from the mean streets of Oppara. An underground pit fighter famed for defeating the half-orc gladiator Hulg Hokan to win the Taldor Championship Belt in a stunning upset victory. Played by Nudeviking


Cosgrove Ashmore, an alchemist from an aristocratic family whose father died in mysterious circumstances and who has spent the time since then drinking away his family fortune. Likes bombs and shit. Played by Baron von Costume


Goha, a half-elf wizard and travelling merchant of magic stuff who's made her way to Taldor. Considers laws and rules to be for lamers and squares and knew Bomo's parents back in the day. Played by patbat



Peak Dartbox, the stage name of an Aasimar (i.e., half-angel) bard. Possesses a halo and entirely useless wings. So far has done nothing besides look pretty. Played by Celebith

Finally, Sterrance Mips (no picture provided), a gnome spy and naturalist who developed the theory of evolution and has been trying to disseminate it but keeps getting shut down because his book makes racism look bad - a horrible faux pas in Taldan society. Is now trying to accomplish his goal through political maneuvering instead. Played by Roy Batty's Pet Dove

The story begins in a smoky cafe where our party has been invited by their employer, a Lady Martella Lotheed. She welcomes them and tells them to order whatever they like, recommending especially the fig jam. The party immediately rushes the open bar and starts guzzling as much wine as they can get their hands on and ignoring the fig jam. By the way, if anyone had bothered to ask I would have mentioned there was also a charcuterie board.

In between chugging alcohol well before the sun is below the yardarm, the party introduces themselves to each other, as this is the first time many of them are meeting. Things are awkward between Goha and Bomo as Goha had apparently let Bomo grow up in the projects despite promising to look in on her long before she was grown enough to win a title belt in pit fighting.

After things have settled down, Martella tells the party why she hired them. An exclusive gala for the rich and powerful is taking place that night in the senate. Martella has gathered a team of specialists to complete specific missions, but also to act as her eyes and ears in high society. The objectives for the party are twofold: to complete the specific missions assigned to each person and to make their debuts in the circles of the upper class.

During this time Bomo is still slamming back drinks, which is especially impressive since she's only 3'4". This catches up to her and she retreats to barf in the kitchen. Peak Dartbox uses his prestidigitation spell to clean up the evidence and they pretend nothing happened when they get back to the front area, where they find that Sterrance carved a Darwin fish into their table.

Martella either didn't notice the hijinks or doesn't give a shit as she continues her presentation. She presents the list of gala missions to the party and lets them decide who does what. After divvying things up the party realizes they assigned their Lawful Neutral priest the job of stealing items out of a museum. After that they try getting Aloysius to sabotage an expensive bottle of wine to embarrass some people. Aloysius isn't sure that his god Abadar, the deity of wealth and civilization, would appreciate ruining a fine vintage, so several party members cajole and wheedle him to try to get him on board. Cosgrove jumps at the chance to use his philosophy degree and tries to use fancy rhetoric to sway Aloysius, while Goha says that there's no law against making wine taste bad. Bomo says drunkenness is a sin, and therefore what he's doing is really a good thing, then tries to intimidate Aloysius into going along. Remember that Bomo is a 3'4" halfling and Aloysius is a 6'3" half-orc. Peak Dartbox breaks thing up by suggesting that they just reshuffle their assignment one more time. Things are divided up equitably and inter-party conflict is headed off. As there are 7 missions and 6 party members, Martella will take care of the remaining theft mission.

By the way guys, who was doing what mission? I remember Bomo was doing the messenger Aide one and Sterrance was doing Spying, while Peak Darbox is doing Fraud, but I forget who else was doing what. The rest were Discovery - uncover the voting intentions of two senators, Politicking - influence Baron Okerra to Martella's cause, and Sabotage - poison a bottle of wine.

Anyway, after the party decides on their missions, Martella issues them some senate aide badges. Anyone not wearing them will be kicked out of the gala, and they also allow two-way telepathic communication between the party and Martella. Bomo asks if the badge lets Martella read her mind, to which Martella says no, which relieves Bomo as she was thinking lewd thoughts about her employer. Goha tries to find out if she can get a replacement badge if she loses hers, but the answer is also no, which disappoints her since the badges are 1500 gp each and she was planning on selling hers.

Martella also explains that the party looks like shit and she'll send them to her tailor to get fitted for tuxes and whatever, otherwise they'll be laughed out of the gala. Cosgrove is a bit miffed since he doesn't appreciate having his fancy clothes criticized, but Martella gives him the secret rich people high-five to let him know it's all good, she wasn't including him in her fashion critique. Martella tells the party she's giving them each a 30 gp line of credit at the tailor and patiently explains to the poor people that no, she's not physically handing them cash and no, they can't withdraw a line of credit at a store.

The party is about to bounce when someone remembers to ask if there are any other rules for the gala besides fashion restrictions. Turns out there are a bunch. Who knew a gathering of important politicians and wealthy aristocrats would have such tight security? Someone else thinks to ask about their targets, so the party learns about High Strategos Maxillar Pythareus, whose fashion sense they agree is terrible, and Baron Nicolaus Okerra, who they agree looks like Idris Elba and would make an excellent James Bond.

Everyone finally gets to the tailor and it's mostly uneventful, except for the fact that the tailor has a bunch of spy gear for sale and obviously isn't a regular tailor. Goha is disappointed to learn that the jewelry that comes with their outfits is only costume jewelry, while Bomo apparently came straight from her home in the slums and so takes a sponge bath in the back room. After getting some special gear and leaving some of their stuff behind in storage, the party sets out to adventure.

Outside the tailor's shop they're accosted by a couple of street merchants selling some cheap knockoffs. A bystander steps in to shoo away the swindlers and apologizes profusely to the honoured sirs and madams for the trouble, but during this obsequious display Peak Dartbox catches one of the swindlers trying to pick his pocket. Oh no, that smooth talking half-elf chick was trying to distract him while he got his wallet stolen! He tries to grab the swindler and the party enters their first combat.



Things don't start off too good as the swindler dodges Peak's grab. Goha runs up beside him to zap the half-elf with her dazing touch, but is clearly still tipsy from all the wine earlier as she misses completely and instead zaps Peak Dartbox, who is out of commission for 1 round. Cosgrove thinks very hard about throwing a bomb but decides against it as the explosion would a) hit Sterrance and b) burn down the market. Disappointed, Cosgrove instead shoots his crossbow and misses, sending the bolt flying off down the street to land who knows where. Aloysius tries using his Command spell to order a swindler to run away, but they're too strong-willed and ignore his mindfuck.

However, the gang decides that running away does sound like a good idea and turn around to escape. This gives the party a chance to attack them while they're running away. Sterrance tries punching one but kind of sucks at the whole melee things and gets nothing but air.

The second swindler runs away but they're in punching distance of Bomo Frugglemop, champion pit fighter, and in one blow the swindler drops like a sack of potatoes. Bomo then connects with the half-elf for a solid left. Sterrance pulls out his crossbow and tries shooting the other swindler in the back and misses, but this time the bolt hits a house instead of god knows what two blocks away. It's now the half-elf's turn to run away. Goha activates her spring-loaded wrist sheath and cuts the half-elf a bit with her dagger. Bomo tries another one-two combination but the half-elf apparently knows kung-fu and blocks. She manages to disengage and successfully runs away.

At this point two cops show up wanting to find out who the fuck was shooting crossbow bolts at random in the city. They see some poor people running away from some angry rich people and immediately decide the poor people are at fault and go for the obvious criminals. However, they're too slippery and the one guard's tackle goes nowhere.

Peak Dartbox is still dazed and can't do squat. Goha decides not to chase after the gang because really, they didn't manage to steal anything at all so no harm no foul. Cosgrove again really wishes he could throw a bomb but this time the cops are in the way, so he just repositions himself a bit. Aloysius tries another Command but again the spells falls against the will of the swindler. The half-elf and swindler run from the guards and the party and one of them gets a sap to the back of the head, but still manages to stagger away.

However, more cops show up and it's clear there's no running away. Bomo runs after the remaining swindler and does another one-two - the right misses but the left connects. At this point the guard clocks the swindler on the head with a sap, knocking them out, and the other guard wrestles the half-elf to the ground. The combat is over and our heroes have won!

One of the cops approaches and spots the party's senate aide badges, immediately recognizing their VIP status and turning on the obsequiousness. The guard officer promises them that the gang will be working in the salt mines the next day and dead of exhaustion in the next year. Aloysius is somewhat disturbed at the course of justice in the city but Peak Dartbox tells the officer that their stuff got stolen, so the cop tells them to just grab their things from the unconscious prisoners. Peak does so and robs the swindlers of their magic potions. Clearly they were a cut above a regular gang.

But it doesn't matter because the real heroes - the police - are throwing some poor people into an early death. And the party helped! A mighty blow has been struck this day for the forces of good!