Forum: Public Forum

Adam,

Yeah... imagine trying to talk our way through a problem rather than killing everything? What were we thinking!? Back on track by the end, though...

As explained during the game, there was no way you could have got Ironbriar handed over at the Golemworks on a Diplomacy check. Apart from the obvious need to get something to do during the game session beyond my saying "Great guys, get a couple of thousands XP each, now good bye, let's go home and see you in two weeks" there were the points I precisely described during the interaction:

• Magnimar has a heavy bureaucracy and like the EU is blatantly corrupt.
• Money talks.
• Making and selling Golems is a very profitable enterprise.
• Selling expensive wares to people with money, gives one a lot of connections and influence in town.
• The party was NOT acting on behalf of the city guard.
• The shop was obviously full of security features.

In less words: the party was threatening the wrong guy. He was sure of himself and believed the law would serve him better than it would have served someone not from Magnimar who threatened him with some fantastic - but true - allegations against a Justice of the city.

In game mechanics: I was not going to hand over the prize on Diplomacy/Intimidate alone.
What would have been next? Going straight to Xin-Shalast and have LV6 PCs scolding a CR20 Thassilonian Archwizard and have him say "Sorry... Greed is not so good after all, here get my magical glaive and all my Ioun Stones" on a good Diplomacy or Intimidate check?

Marcus' interactions were not for naught if they had been taken into account. You sensed that Ironbriar was hiding there indeed, and making the owner aware that the party knew about it could indeed have flushed Ironbriar in the sewers, pun intended.
I also agree that Marcus was not the one who decided to start the fight.
In passing, the discussed potential tumble to get to the Dwarven artisan was ballsy. It could have worked as the Golems were definitely motivated to eradicate a more direct threat: the source of the fireballs and the Ranger. Marcus would have seen Ironbriar downstairs just exiting a secret door into the sewers and there would have been a percentile chance of him ending in the embrace of the Shambling Mound, invisible or not and Marcus witnessing it. XP would have been dished out due to facing an actual challenge.

As it happened Ironbriar did escape through the sewers when he heard the fracas, but had the time to be careful, i.e. sneak at half-speed as per the game rules. He came back later once the action had abated.

See you all in early July.
I will post the event for July 7th later.

If one of you wants to post something on the Meetup calendar and/or here, send me the event text description in an email. Or have someone else post it for you of course.

Laurent,