Plotting a Heist

Glurghk will charge 80 gold for any information tips, in advance regardless of the quality of info.  He will request that price prior to answering.

Assuming You Pay:

@Zeiss: Your range on Advoc is 30' per level.

There, I paid for the info. *making changes to the character sheet*

I'll mark it down in my debt.

Nah, I paid for it. No need to put yourself in debt for this.

Don't worry, dude, it won't be THIS that put me in the red.

As Warlord of the Holtburg block, Zeiss cannot let a human, who never heard of Dereth until a few weeks ago, pay for info that will be used for the benefit of the Exchange. We're in Sho and I have to work on my image. So I pay for it.

But we should start a new collective wallet for future expenses. I suggest that we follow the same rule that we had with the old party : 10% of the net profit we make as a party goes into this group fund. I'll keep track of it. I will immediately add 200gp in it.

As for the Heist's plan, you're up Kolson. I guess.

*disappears in a puff of pinky smoke*

I'm posting Advoc's powers to give us ideas about the heist.

Lucent Beam: Does 1d8*Level Holy-type damage.  Can multi-target with no penalty. 
               
Pillar of Light: Does 1d8*Level Holy-type damage and requires a Willpower save DC 10+Level+WIS Modifier or target temporarily repents, losing their next 2 turns.         
     
Light Storm: Does 1d8*Level Holy-type damage to a 10’ square area and heals 1d4*Level to Aspect and summoner.       
       
Lucid Barrier: Grants 50% chance to block an attack for anyone with a shield, 25% chance to block for anyone wielding weapons of any kind with no shield.  May only be on one target at a time. 
             
Holy Radiance: Baths area within 100’ with light, provides +1 to all ally rolls and requires enemies to pass a Willpower save DC10+Level+WIS modifier or flee in terror for 3 rounds.        
      
Holy Saber: Grants 1d4*Level Holy-type damage to one weapon of friendly allies nearby for 1*Level rounds.  May re-cast on additional weapons, but each cast only buffs one weapon.  Weapons gain a 10% chance on successful strike to heal the wielder for 1d4*Level.

I also want to ask our informer when these two Burun established themselves in this area. And I'll use Knowledge Politics to determine if something happened in Kinshoi around that time.

'Nother 80 gold for the information, up front.

Assuming you'll pay so no clandestine'ness this time: Both individuals have been here for about 2 years, him having setup shop about 2 months before her.

Okay, paid in full.

So guys... Kolson said that we are hitting Lorkhihf. And we didn't get any information that would convince us to do otherwise. So that's it I guess.

Arch, Zeiss will look around for a place where we could set up false headquarters, as discussed. I will also go and burn my journal.

By the way, do you remember these gemstones we got way back in that cavern where we met our first Tusker? I took one of each type, totalling eight gemstones. Any change about them? Appraise and Knowledge Elements rolls please.

They're still the same elementally gemstones they were eons ago.

Yay, player is well again! You know, some things that happened during the boat trip would make sense to effect Javan, and perfect timing, I didn't really participate on the planning for this heist! So I'm going to post this now.

Anyways, while people in the party are going about planing, gathering information and so on, Javan has been seen meditating in his room, something he learned from imitating Higaide. He's been doing that a lot lately.

He's been complaining about lack of sleep lately, has been eating less than normal, sometimes looking like he's forcing himself to eat even, and not leaving his room unless strictly necessary. Javan is still his usual air-headed self around the party, but it looks fake sometimes.

Luck has it that he seems to concentrate well during his usual morning training, so him being a problem during the heist looks unlikely, and Javan himself confirms he's going to be fine for the heist.

Hmm, okay Javan. That sounds... ominous. But good to see you again nonetheless! 

So I've reread Arch's post. Lorkhihf's manor has four entrances and a woven lighthouse that serves as a weak canon that has a range of several miles. So unless someone can sneak towards this tower and deactivate it, I guess this is going to be a huge problem. If I am successful in my infiltration of the manor, me or Advoc could try to take care of that.

-Arch, do I know anything about these canons and how to deactivate them? If I do not, what about Kolson? His weaving skill is of 23.
-What is a Name of Worth? And what does Lorkhihf need to do to get hers? Knowledge : Politics check.
-Has Lorkhihf been hiring recently? GI check.
-Does Glurghk have any info on the manor's traps, personnel and comings and goings that he hasn't told us because he would rather sell it instead?
-Does he know about any other Undermarket agents in the area and in Sho in general? What about the local Blocs? It might be preferable to establish a power base first.
-Any recent events that happened recently in Kinshoi or this portion of Sho territory worth mentioning? GI check
-I'll ask for Kolson : how much time would be required to weave... let's say five smoke bombs?

Since our plan relies on me lying through my teeth, I'll try to get as much info on Lorkhihf as I can. Then I'll figure out a good lie to tell her. But for now, there are way too many unknowns on this front. While I do this (since time passes with these GI checks), could someone else check for an abandoned building where we could set up some false headquarters? What about you Rory? That's a good job for a mutant.

Someone else should go buy some clothes. Something that would hide our bodies and faces.

And I'm also going to examine Javan. Since the fairies at Arwick didn't know what was happening to him, I'm not expecting anything different. But I'll keep his current "status" in mind and watch out for any cellular degradation the next time I examine him. Or elemental dissipation. Whatever.

Note:

Thank you for taking the lead Zeiss. I've been busy and tired the past few days.

We all have cloaks. Let's just make them blue and give them some sort of symbol, ok? 1 cxp. And then later we can ditch them, whatever. And take my masks! I made them for you dammit, and don't you dare complain about the quality or the smell!

Dear Archengeia,
I will go look for abandoned buildings. I approach this by starting in the poorer neighborhoods in the south-to-west part of town and scope out vacancies to try and determine if anyone owns the buildings. I'm aiming to find what I want clustered together(one complete block of space or diagonally adjacent is acceptable). The ideal number is 3, but I will stop searching if I can only get clusters of 2 within the range of my search. If need be, I will run off squatters of 1-3 with Intimidation to get my cluster of 3.

Hmm, now that would be interesting. Keep me posted on that, it may become more complicated if I know you well enough.

Assuming that cannon is meant for naval defense, it shouldn't really be that accurate against personnel. I could be wrong, but it stands to logic.

This party fought cannons before. 'Shouldn't really be that accurate against personnel' is not something that can be said about D&D cannons, they just destroy everything in their line of fire, and uses reflex saves instead of AC to see if it hits or not... for half or full damage. I don't like D&D cannons when it's not me or the party firing them, yeah.

So yeah, mundane logic is meaningless in front of D&D rules.

As a side note, real life cannons can actually be really really effective against personnel... and that was back during the American Revolution or the American Civil War times.  *cough*  Anyways that bit of sunshine out of the way...

-Arch, do I know anything about these canons and how to deactivate them? If I do not, what about Kolson? His weaving skill is of 23.
This would be an engineering check.
-What is a Name of Worth? And what does Lorkhihf need to do to get hers? Knowledge : Politics check.
I've actually answered this twice already, once in this very thread.  Suffice it to say she hasn't 'won' at Sho politics yet.
-Has Lorkhihf been hiring recently? GI check.
Yes, she's been hiring a fair number of explorers and map makers lately.
-Does Glurghk have any info on the manor's traps, personnel and comings and goings that he hasn't told us because he would rather sell it instead?
He will charge you up front for any information

If you pay:

-Does he know about any other Undermarket agents in the area and in Sho in general? What about the local Blocs? It might be preferable to establish a power base first.
This one's free; the Undermarket never had a strong presence amongst the Sho, and he was the only freelance agent he was aware of anywhere nearby.  There is this Moarsman crime lord who operates further south, by Hebian-To, but he's someone people try to avoid.
-Any recent events that happened recently in Kinshoi or this portion of Sho territory worth mentioning? GI check
No.
-I'll ask for Kolson : how much time would be required to weave... let's say five smoke bombs?
Normal, mundane smoke bombs would take *roll roll* about 3 hours to Weave and 1 CXP.


Rory finds the perfect building, exactly to his specifications, with a natural 20 on his roll.  There are no squatters, it looks like these were designed to be warehouses.  You also find tons of cloth to make some cloaks and flags with.

So I paid our informer so he could tell me he knows nothing. Great. *subtracts the money from my inventory*

-Well, I'll make an engineering check about these cannons. Or cannon, singular.
-Where do I sign up if I want to take one of these jobs? Any skills required? What does it entail exactly? Could be good to know how much it pays too. GI check(s).
-Would Lorkhihf be interested in an "unconventional" path to power since her political career hasn't really taken off as of now? GI and Knowledge Politics checks. My intentions : I want to know if breaking conventions would be something she would consider doing. Like becoming a crime lord.

And Kolson, it's up to you if you want to weave these smoke bombs.

As a side note, real life cannons can actually be really really effective against personnel... and that was back during the American Revolution or the American Civil War times.

Purely for the sake of the argument and nothing else, wasn't that when you had a bunch of soldiers spread out in an even grid on the battlefield forming a firing line? Cause that's about as hard to hit as the broad side of a mountain. Any cannon would've nailed something no matter what.

Regardless, rules say they're bad. I don't really have a problem with that.

If you spend several minutes removing certain key components they will have a hard time aiming the cannons, and it'd take them a decent period of time to figure out why unless they had an engineer present.

You would need to have Profession skills appropriate to the above, or a good enough forgery to fake it.  He hires them openly through the local Mercantile Guild.  No details on what it entails are publicly available.  Pays 100 gold per week.

If she hasn't taken off by now she's probably already a crime lord.  Especially since she's still funding what amounts to a small fortress with no apparent difficulty.

Aww. I mean yes! Where's my cookie!? Let's paint 'em pritty colorz!

I think Arch's answer regarding the gemstones is supposed to mean they're just gold nuggets, Zeiss. Go sell 'em.

I think we have our answer on whether or not we can have a feel-good conscience when we rob Lorkhihf blind.

No, i get the feeling there's more to this whole affair. Regardless, we've dug as deep as we can, i guess it's time to act.

Uhh I think this is a pretty good plan, we should be able to pull it off this time. Uhh, what do you think Kolson? Can you give me a number crunch real quick?

K wrote:

As a side note, real life cannons can actually be really really effective against personnel... and that was back during the American Revolution or the American Civil War times.

Purely for the sake of the argument and nothing else, wasn't that when you had a bunch of soldiers spread out in an even grid on the battlefield forming a firing line? Cause that's about as hard to hit as the broad side of a mountain. Any cannon would've nailed something no matter what.

Regardless, rules say they're bad. I don't really have a problem with that.

Depends on concentration of forces and what kind of ammo they had available. If you aren't familiar with grapeshot I suggest you look it up. The short version is that it turned a cannon into a great anti-personnel weapon.

Essoje wrote:Uhh I think this is a pretty good plan, we should be able to pull it off this time. Uhh, what do you think Kolson? Can you give me a number crunch real quick?

I think you are right, this plan is really shaping up. I'm also sorry man, I'm not sure what you want me to do with the total. Fatigue and all that. Do you mean you want me to decide who has what position when we start?

@Arch I'll spend the 2 CXP to make the smoke bombs and to change our cloaks into the fake enemy symbols.

@Everyone What is the name of the organization we are pretending to be? What do they want? We also need a means to run away quickly in case we are pursued.