Café de Nuit

Also!

You will have a range of options for your entry to the Palace:

--You can go with a large group of revolutionaries, including Guy Benoit, and try and storm the front gates. (Very heavily guarded)

--You can try the back gates (heavily guarded)

--You can enter via the tunnel from Montmort (requires DC 20 Dungeoneering check from at least one person, lightly guarded).

--You can enter via a tiny tunnel that Rex's contacts dug up (unguarded, but the small size of the tunnel means that only two characters can start here)

I'm also taking recommendations on where the House NPCs, Andre & Night Terror start.

Rex is going either tiny tunnel or lightly guarded tunnel. Probably tiny tunnel since he is the stealthiest character by far.

I vote back gates disguised as gendarmes whilst the front gates get hit. Although Nicolas would quite fancy hanging out with Guy...

I should also mention that we may not want to split up too much. EoA experience showed small groups get into trouble quickly (especially if they aren't balanced - remember the shipwreck fight at the monastery anyone?)

Nicolas has:

HP 77
AC 24 Fort 21 Ref 23 Will 25

In addition anyone within 5 squares of Nicolas gets +1 on initiative.

If I don't get a chance to post before the off Nicolas will use a song of rest and the Foclucan Bandore to grant Rex a +2 power bonus to damage rolls until the next short rest.

Finally chastity belt and Nicolas should never be uttered in the same sentence....

In all fairness, the graveyard battle was a matter of bad management (mostly on my part). It would have worked much better but I gave some bad advice to some players and I totally screwed the pooch on some other issues.

Anyway...Despite your warning, Rex's best bet by far is the unguarded secret tunnel. For a rogue he has pretty good survivability and is remarkably adept at getting out of combat. As long as he has even a little cover, he can disappear. And he can move full speed without taking penalties to Stealth.

Plus his Stealth check is +22.

For the rest of you, I'd recommend taking the tunnel from Montmort if anyone has any Dungeoneering trained. There aren't enough of you to take on a heavily guarded gate and not everyone in the group is good at bluffing. In a battle like this, you guys are going to want to get in quickly. Don't want to risk alarming the entire inside that you're coming in.

Well, here you are!

Three more notes.

1) Due to the sheer scope of this battle, I'm not going to be writing fluff for every area or every post. I'm only one man. Fluff will happen when someone talks to someone else, or when something really interesting happens.

2) Take the chance now to plan out what happens and what you do. I'm giving you guys until Saturday Night / sometime Sunday before I start the battle proper (depending on how much people are discussing/planning, etc)

3) Decide as well which/if any NPCs from the Chateau you want to bring, as well as Andre. If anyone wants to request a certain accompaniment, just let me know, otherwise I'll either divert them wherever they seem most needed, or just leave them at home.

Oh, also. My defenses/hp for Lia, Mercator, and Tomas are probably out-of-date, so I'll update them appropriately once informed of the more recent set.

hmm ok then what do we do?

Montmort tunnel does look inviting but if it goes badly then there are a lot of potential reinforcements at the front door 9and I'm sure plenty of others we can't see yet). Whatever happens Kage is right we need to do it quick and quiet.

How far do we want to split up? Lets also make sure there is someone with healing potential in each group , so Kerrian, Tomas, Nicolas and I think Agale to a lesser extent (anyone else with healing prowess we should know about?)

lostboy wrote:hmm ok then what do we do?

Montmort tunnel does look inviting but if it goes badly then there are a lot of potential reinforcements at the front door 9and I'm sure plenty of others we can't see yet). Whatever happens Kage is right we need to do it quick and quiet.

How far do we want to split up? Lets also make sure there is someone with healing potential in each group , so Kerrian, Tomas, Nicolas and I think Agale to a lesser extent (anyone else with healing prowess we should know about?)

Just to clarify I don't think we need to split up the whole group like we did the shipwreck battle

From the perspective of Rex:

Rex would prefer that the others come in via the Montmort Tunnel. With all the revolutionaries fighting at the front gates, it's doubtful many of them are going to be able to get away from the fighting to deal with you. Reinforcements may not be an issue either way.

That also keeps attention directed at the front of the palace which benefits Rex who thrives on not being noticed. If you guys storm the back gate, that makes active combat on both sides, which is harder for a sneaky fellow to navigate.

I don't think the rest of you really need to split -- aside from the fact that the Montmort Tunnel has restricted mobility.

If anyone has halfway decent Stealth and Perception, Rex might consider them for his second. Otherwise I think he'll be pretty okay by himself. He's going to spend the hours between his meeting and go-time gathering useful tools and items.

If you guys think lack of mobility is going to be a problem, I suppose fighting at the back gate is a good idea. I definitely advocate against going for the front gate, though. Revolutionaries or no, it's going to be a mess down there.

I have no idea where we should start, but we should do it together (minus Rex, I suppose).

I have Stealth +10, which may be higher than some, but I don't recommend using it as a primary. I also have 1 emergency daily heal, Healing Word.

Ok then howabout lets take the Montmort tunnel. But my vote goes on making it look like we aren't even there or that we are something that should be there. lets stealth/bluff/diplomacy/intimidate our way in and use large explosions as a last resort if we get rumbled.

In the spirit of not wanting to die lets pool knowledge on what we can and can't do.

Nicolas rocks a +9 in stealth +10 in perception, plus he could boost everyone a +2 with Inspire Competence. But lets be honest he functions better with others around him, so whatever he goes with the main troupe. On another point he has a base +15 on any skill involving CHA.

I'm still hazy on whether rituals work in adrenaline fuelled situations but if it makes any difference Nicolas has the following available at his disposal to ease our passage; Lullaby, Glib Limerick, Call of Friendship.

He also has 2 x Scroll of silence, which may alert magic types to our presence but could also mask our passage of a single room if needed. I don't mind handing these over if others think they need them.

On top of that he can Inspire competence as above, can bang an extra +5 on a single diplomacy check, and due to some fey-dabbling (Neo am I ever allowed to post that, I admit slightly odd fiction piece?) has access to Mire the Mind as an encounter power (group invisibility for one round).

Finally I spent the last lvl up trying to make him more useful as a healer, therefore he now sports a majestic word that grants temp hp as well as surge healing, a few extra healing potions, a shield of protection and he can bring one and only one person back form the dead as an immediate interrupt (as well as the usual chord of resilience).

Of course likely he'll be dead as soon as he opens his mouth, but hey thats the way sh!t goes sometimes....

Exciting!

Unfortunately (at least for game purposes) I have a busy weekend ahead of me, with my sister in town and a lot of wedding business to transact. I will do my best to get you updated information and game moves, NT, but I may have to delay my entry.

Vive la revolucion!

Lia Mourneswaithe:
AC: 25
FORT: 20
REF: 22
WILL: 21

Current HP: 57
Maximum HP: 58

Healing surges remaining: 5
Healing potions in my possession: 5

NT, do we still have the same spells/powers/tricks/blegh-I-hate-4e we did after the previous battle, or are we refreshed in that regard? If we are refreshed, I'm going to need some help selecting the optimal combination of spells for the upcoming battle. o_o

I am, at the very least, going to prepare the Unseen Servant and Comprehend Languages rituals before the upcoming battle. As a matter of fact, I'm going to go the whole hog and summon three Unseen Servants; they may not be able to attack, but maybe they can do other useful stuff.

yes, you folks have all of your powers recharged, all action points and dailys returned, etc.

Alllrighty.

I vote for taking the Montmort tunnel.
Can anyone advise me as to which spells would be best to bring for the occasion? Seriously, I can use all the advice you can give me.

What've you got in your spellbook?