ooc Fright Night at Claremont (OOC)

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Oh, if the +10 is there then I'd use it.

[Cubismo]

That huge Arcane Lore roll of 34 means that Salvo knows the contract is blatantly asking way to much of her and is lopsided towards Baal's benefit. By the complicated metrics of Hell, the human souls of four relatively weak warlocks simply do not equal the value of a magical weapon that Salvo could make. In essence, he's obviously trying to cheat you and is greedily trying to further con you into giving up your soul as a form of collateral. 

 

For a lower ranked demon that's typical business behavior, but Baal is a Lord of Hell is supposed to have more class than that, especially when dealing with youths who haven't lived a long life of sin yet and likely won't. 

 

Salvo knows that if any other Lord of Hell learned that Baal had stooped so low they'd probably assume that he was desperate for more souls and weapons to gain advantage in wars in Hell. Many of them would see that as a sign of weakness and attack him on en masse which is something Baal does not want. 

[RocketLord]

Lend Forever Boy your power! Anything that can help him, anything to circumstance bonuses, be it knowledge or theatrics! And then we'll scam Baal out of his pants, if it comes to it!

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Rolling to see if Salvo knows Baal's greatest rivals. There are two criteria she is looking for but they don't have to be all hit perfectly. She'd get who she can think of. 1.) Those who have the means to "hitch a ride" as it were with Mike's summoning. And 2.) Those who Baal really doesn't want to see it negotiate for Nicole's soul as such.

 

Knowledge (Arcane Lore): 1d20+15+10 = 30

[Cubismo]

For convenience sake I'm going to say that Asmodeus perfectly fits the bill for both of those criteria. 

 

@RocketLord And with all that new information Forever Boy can end the negotiations with one last Bluff against Baal's Sense Motive. If he succeeds he'd be able to trick Baal into believing that Asmoedus could catch wind of his scummy deal, which would make him just decide to call it quits and go home, weapon or no weapon. Of course, it's obviously up to you how you want Forever Boy use this info. So go wild with those creative Bluffs! 

[RocketLord]

@Cubismo: Alright, as Salvo has made very clear, her soul is on the line here, which means Pan's friends are in danger of getting hurt. Would that be enough to trigger Pan's I'll hold you in my heart, until I can hold you in my arms complication for you? I'm aware its kind of vague, but I'll be doing some work on his complications soon^tm.

 

And just to confirm: Since last combat, where he had 2HP, Pan has spent 1, so he's currently at 1HP, right? If the complication isn't triggered, at least.

Edited March 19, 2019 by RocketLord

[Heritage]

I was planning to sit the rest of this one out, since you guys seemed to gave a handle on it, but if people's souls are on the line, should Lulu pull a Han Solo and swoop back in to help out? Assuming the gate Salvo created is still open, of course.

[RocketLord]

Far be it for me to deny a big damn heroes moment, but can Pan try to Bluff Baal first, once I get Cube's response? All fired up to see if he can do it. If the portal is still open, anyway 

[Heritage]

Go for it, Team Rocket!

[Cubismo]

@RocketLord Given the severity of the situation I think it would be appropriate for Forever Boy's complication to go off here, which would bring you back to 2HP. 

 

@Heritage Welcome back! If your game on returning I got no problem with that. You can go about explaining Lulu's return by saying she followed the metal "breadcrumbs" Gauss left behind straight to Salvo's portal, but it's up to how you want to describe it, of course.  Maybe Lulu's used her psychic powers to find them instead? 

[RocketLord]

Then... let's roll!

 

Pan will be bluffing, bringing up weakness, Asmodeus, lust and all: 1d20+21+10 = 50

 

Bring it on, Baal! IC coming soon!

 

And depending on what Baal rolls, wait with an IC for him, Cube. Might force a reroll

Edited March 21, 2019 by RocketLord

[Cubismo]

With Baal gone and the idiot classmates saved we're finally heading towards the end of this. Did y'all have fun? I hope so!  

 

If @Heritage is willing than perhaps Crystal-Gazer can show up having brought some of Claremont faculty as the cavalry. If not, than I'll end it with something similar happening. 

 

Anyways, let me know if you want me extend this epilogue further by letting your PCs talk amongst themselves for a bit (and get more juicy posts for PP) or cut to the chase and end it.

[RocketLord]

It was great! I'll have at least one more post for tomorrow, but great if Heritage can bring the cavalry! 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Yeah! Kudos to the thread and you as a GM. I wouldn't mind a post or two before and after the cavalry arrives, whether or not it's Lulu bringing them in.

[Heritage]

I will try to come up with something quick; I like Lulu showing up with the authorities.

[RocketLord]

Tried giving you a great opening line for that!

[Cubismo]

And that's a wrap folks! It was a pleasure GMing for y'all. Any thoughts, feeling or criticism are more than welcome. 

 

Stayed tuned for a possible sequel in the future. Baal ain't exactly someone who'd take a loss gracefully.

 

Until then, adios!

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Well, enjoyable things first. I like how your GM posts are seen from the perspective of the characters, oftentimes the antagonists. It allows us a look into their minds and show there is a level of attention given to NPC characterization. That’s great and adds flavor to the thread and I can easily see how their POVs can be manipulated to bring about the mood of a scene or the thread if one were so inclined.

 

I like the “puzzle” sections, problem-solving and all. It’s always fun to think of how to go about things and how the characters would be able to solve them given their aptitudes. Plus you were able to lean into different PCs strengths with the two puzzle sections. Nicole when they got lost and her magic abilities and Pan with his negotiation skills.

 

That whole bit with Baal was I think the most supernatural horror part of the thread as there was that implied power gap between Baal and the PCs that stopped us from just blasting it away. Plus there were souls on the line. Still, I think it could have been better pulled off and it’s the scenes prior to the climax that we should be looking at.

 

You said you wanted supernatural horror but what we got instead was more like an supernatural thriller-action movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great curb-stomping demons in one round while firing off one-liners and taunting Baal, but yeah, the thread I think the whole horror aspect was taken down by the two curb-stomps the PCs brought to the antagonists.

 

So if you want horror I say take away the curbstomps. Take away Nicole’s battlesuit, shred the optimism Pan wears like a cape, make them suffer and want to not face the monster head-on. The whole race-against-the-clock thing where the PCs had to move to the problem made it seem like a supernatural thriller to be honest. Instead, keep up the suspense where they’re only just able to beat or run away from the threat while they figure a way to solve the whole thread.

 

Fights seem too swingy for it or hard to balance between the PCs getting curb-stomped or the antagonists getting curb-stomped. Maybe, treat the encounters like "puzzles" or problem-solving sections where the PCs can’t touch the antagonists but there’s something ramping up the pressure.

 

Baal was something like that, but what undercut the pressure in the climax was that we knew how badly off he was. Nicole and Pan had him on the ropes and we as the players knew that. He was getting frustrated and shown as fallible and in a weak position. Same with all the other antagonists, making the players have the sense of superiority the whole time. Perhaps put in your POVs more the sense of power, of knowing that the PCs can run or delay but you don’t care cause you have all the time and control. Put in malevolence and something alien and predatory there.

 

Also, Nicole doesn’t need to know everything. She wouldn’t have all the facts in place so she couldn’t get the right answers or she knows what’s happening but doesn’t have the solution or can’t perform it right now without the proper tools. And maybe that divide between knowing what to do but not being able to act on that knowledge because of some limitation can be a conflict or even the whole thread's problem itself.

 

Here's my two cents.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Cubismo]

Oh, wow. Thanks for this, ZB. I really it appreciate it and will keep in mind for the future, especially in regard keeping things difficult and on theme.