Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SiCK_Boy 03-04-07, 02:56 AM	I need suggestions about what our group should do in our current situation (I'm talking ingame situation). I'll give as much details about it as I can, so it may be long. First, our group description: There are 6 characters. I'm a 5th level Cleric of Pelor, slowly going toward becoming a Loremaster. There's also - a 5th level Monk, ninja-style - a 6th level Sorceress - a 6th level Wizardess (both spellcaster heavily focused on attack magic) - a 6th level Paladin - a 5th level Fighter, cleave-power attack oriented All characters are good. We play every week, and when a player can't make it a given week, his character is still considered with the group, but he can't act, gain XP or do anything. When the player shows up, his character becomes active again, as if he'd always been there. Last week, the paladin and fighter were absent, so the group was cleric, monk, wizardess and sorceress. Our mission was to bring a letter to a man in a village over a range of mountains, in exchange for a monetary reward. We were traveling on foot, and went through a dwarven mine to get across the mountain range. Last week session started with us coming out on the other side of the mountain, badly wounded after fleeing from an umber hulk we had no chance of killing without our 2 main fighters. The sorceress' owl familiar quickly spotted a village, and so we walked toward it and came at the gate as the sun was setting. Some info about the village: - In the middle of a wooded area - One main road leading to it - Wooden palissade (wall) all around it - Guards at the gate and on top of the wall - Nearby, there's a small lake feeded by some source - There's also a cemetary outside the village, maybe 15 minutes away - There'a a temple to Heironeous in the city - The only city official is called a chief and lived in a kind of mansion - There's about 150 persons in the village, with maybe a third of them currently sick So, we come to the gate, and the guard warn us to go away before we catch the disease they have and we die. They refuse to let us in, for our own protection. The guards keep saying they are abandonned by the gods, there's only death all around, etc... We also learned that this was the village we were looking for, and that the man we are supposed to deliver our message to is gravely ill, probably dying. I was quite confident that we could help those villagers, since I have access to Remove Disease. Also, our Monk is immune to natural diseases, so he wasn't very worried. While we were trying to explain to the guards we would help them (with the sorceress and wizardess staying back and worried about catching the disease), a carriage came out, with a limping man bringing it. It contained a bunch of cadavers, the deads of the day. I followed him, wanting to examine one of the dead to gain info about the disease they had. The guy refused to stop, so I went after him all the way to the graveyard, where he was dumping the bodies in a huge hole with lots of other dead people. Seeing as he wasn't cooperating, I grabbed a body from his carriage and just dumped it on the ground to check it. The guy said a few things to me, that I'd die, etc... I saw he had symptoms of the disease himself, mostly that he was really pale, and had some pustules and warts on his face (near the mouth). I checked the body, and the DM allowed me a Healing check to see what I could learn from it (I've maxed out that skill). I learned it was a form of typhus, that it was highly contagious, transmissible via the air, and that it killed in about 2 days (the disease itself is made up by the DM, don't worry about the name). I also knew that there was no natural remedy, only a specific red flower (the DM gave it a name) that could slow it down, and from my profession (herborist) skill, I knew that this plant grew in the kind of environment we were in, although I had no clue as to wether there was any around the village. From all I knew, the Remove Disease spell should work on this particular disease. After I came back toward the group, I warned them to stay away from me, because I was probably contagious. The monk came with me since he was immune (I told him it was a natural disease). So, we insisted again at the guards, saying we would help them and cure them. Even though they knew I was a Cleric, they refused to let us in. The monk just climbed the wall, went inside and opened the gate for me. The guards didn't bother us. We went in, and people kind of groped for me when they learned that I was a cleric coming to help them, and the guards just followed us around, dumbfounded that we had been so stupid as to enter the village. We went to find the guy we had come to deliver the letter to. He was in a room, with his family. During all this time, we had talked, as a group, about ways to cure the village and making sure that people just didn't get sick again before we could get rid of the epidemic. Also, while we were in town, the sorceress and wizardess just searched for the red flower that could help, but they never found it. From here on, they didn't play any major role in what happened. One of our conclusion about the epidemic was the importance of having a quarantine section where we could have cured people just stay while we cleared the village of the disease. So, we came in to see this guy we didn't knew. And the monk started throwing his family out, since we wanted to be alone with him. Also, on that first day in, I didn't yet have the Remove disease spell learned (and I learn my spells at noon, so we had to wait a whole night before we could start the job). Before we could deliver the letter (and anyway, the guy was too weak to take it), the guards came upon us, asking what we were doing throwing people away. We explained we didn't want him to get any more sick, said we were sorry, and asked them if there was anyone we should see in priority to cure. We learned there was a chief in the village, and that he was also sick, so we went to him. I checked him, and determined he would pass the night okay. But, I wasn't able to alleviate his suffering in any way with my Healing skill (DC 30 check, I missed). He was still glad we were there to help him. I spent the night with him, praying and getting ready for the job the next day. The next morning, we learned the guy we had come to bring the letter to was dead. I opened the letter, but it was undecipherable. The wizardess tried to understand it too, and wasn't able. When I cast my Remove disease spell on the chief, it didn't work. He felt slightly better, but wasn't in any way healed. That's where things started to go bad for us... Worse yet, at the end of the day, me and the monk had to make fortitude save, and the monk failed and catched the disease (loss 2 constitution points on that first night). I was okay (it was a DC 10 check). We are now 24 hours later, I've just catched the disease myself, but haven't lost any ability points. The DC was 15 when I did my second save and failed. The monk lost an additional 4 dexterity and constitution (or maybe strength) points. From his estimation, he might not make it another day, and remove disease doesn't bring back any ability scores lost. We are also on the verge of a political disaster, since the chief is dead, and I gave them all false hope and I'm afraid the population might see us in a less than positive way. Here's a list of stuff we did during the time we were in the village (no chronological order here): - I looked with Detect Magic everywhere I could (mostly the church, the chief's mansion, the village well and the house of the first little girl that got the disease in the village). I found a few sacred symbols in the church, and some stuff in the wall of the chief's mansion, but when asked what it was, he said he'd been an adventurer in the past and that this stuff was personal, so I didn't push the issue. - I tried casting Remove Curse then Remove Disease, without success - I Spoke with Dead with the guy we had come to bring the letter to. We asked what was the content of the letter, and he said an ancient text, then we asked if he knew the cause of the disease, which he didn't (he was an archeologist). - I cast Augury, asking what would happen if I stayed in the Village, and it stated neither good nor bad (that was before I catched the disease). - The wizardess and sorceress searched around the lake, where the little girl who brought the disease was known to play, but found nothing of interest. - I prayed a lot, asking for some kind of explanation, but never got any answer. Finaly, on the last night, the monk went out of town and spent the night in the graveyard. He saw a group of orcs coming and stealing a bunch of bodies. He followed them back to a stronghold near the mountain base, but didn't go any further. He didn't catch anything of value from their speech. The orcs were led by a shaman. So, that's our situation. - I'm in the village, ill, and the guards probably won't let me go away, and I'm feeling guilty for bringing the monk with me, getting him sick, and my incapacity to save the chief and a little girl. I'm also wondering if Pelor is abandonning me, but am still clinging to my faith (I'll have to review it when that episode is over, if I survive). - The monk has an easier time going around unnoticed, but is severely ill and probably won't make it another day. - Both arcane spellcasters are on the outside, waiting for us, and still healty, but we don't want to get them sick. - Next week, we should have a Paladin and a Fighter back in our group. The Paladin could really help us figuring out the situation. I'm asking you people: What should we do? Go and attack the orcs? Still search the village for some clue? Any suggestion is appreciated. 3 last things: - Orcs in this campaing are as strong as humans, so they probably are all level 5 or 6 characters. Our first quest was to wipe out an advanced orc outpost, and we had 3 TPK trying to do it (about 20 to 30 orcs), so it won't be that easy to get into that stronghold - I'll check for poisons first thing next week, it's one of the only things we haven't checked yet. - Any suggestion is good, particularly help to think outside the box.
draco1119 03-04-07, 03:36 AM	Get the paladin in the town PDQ! He's completely immune to diseases, both natural and magical. So if he has to roll saves against it, you know it's not a disease. Have the Paladin use his Cure Disease ability on the monk. Once you've found out the cause of the illness, you can cast it more often than he can, and you'll need your party healthy. If you have access to 4th level spells, commune with Pelor. It'll help more than an Augury. Find out the time frame of when this sickness came into the town. Are you sure it's the little girl's fault? Soory, all I can think of right now.
Need_A_Life 03-04-07, 03:55 AM	If I had to make a guess, I'd say you were dealing with a necromancer orc, who's employing a magically altered version of a very fatal disease to kill off the village's population for an unknown reason (there's quite a few possibilities). Try to ambush the orcs next time they come to collect corpses. It could be a poison, so try to see if curing poisons will help. Lesser Restoration and the likes should keep the party from dying from ability damage. Figure out who was first infected and then the next one and then the next. It'll help structure your investigation of who introduced the disease into the community, and they might at least be able to tell you where they caught the disease. If nothing works, running like hell seems like a decent solution.
Varia 03-04-07, 09:05 AM	Maybe speak with dead on the little girl too, to see if anything odd happened to her at the lake?
Varia 03-04-07, 09:13 AM	Maybe speak with dead on the little girl too, to see if anything odd happened to her at the lake? Alternatively, cast Death Knell on everyone in the village and then charge the orcs while the bonuses last! For better results, charge the DM instead, dual-wielding the PHB and PHB2. :P
Kouk 03-04-07, 08:56 PM	Wow, that's pretty rough that when the players aren't there, the characters just poof out. Maybe when this is all over you can work out that it's OK for one player to control more than one character. While it seems like awesome roleplaying, don't feel guilty about getting people sick over it. You've already had TPKs so why not have the wizard and sorcerer get more involved? "Speak" with the girl, search her house too. Are there any scrolls to be found in this town? You seem like you need more spells ASAP. Maybe there is an herbalist in town who can find the flower. If the priests of Heironeous are alive, they should be able to help with some of the spells you want to try. Maybe information too. Hell, if everyone's going to die, they shouldn't mind giving you things for free. Where does the lake come from? Is that part of the town's water source? Do they eat the fish, water the crops etc. Would comprehend language work on the letter? Decipher Script? Seems important if that was the start of this. Is it magic? Where are the archeologist's notes, was there something he was investigating? What does his family know? You can sneak into the orc lair with the sorcerer and wizard using invisibility spells. What does the town think of the orcs? Maybe the orcs are good guys. Find out more about the chief's stuff. Gather help from the whole town, adepts, wizards, priests, healthy commoners. If you have to, you could rile everyone up and blame the orcs.
_SIN_ 03-04-07, 09:04 PM	I'd speak with the dead girl first. Find out what you can. I'd try to get the monk healthy asap. Then the monk can tail the orcs and infiltrate their base. If you still have no joy, I'd go out with a bang. Mass genocide would go down a treat!!
Callista 03-05-07, 07:42 PM	Yeah, that'd make a lot of sense. A Good-aligned guy randomly decides to kill a village... Anyway, there is a chance you could fail, of course; I guess you'd have to make new characters in that event. You could keep yourselves alive for quite a while with Lesser Restorations, though--there's a chance, if that happens, that the town will die and you and the monk will live. Now there's an RP opportunity for you. That sort of situation irrevocably changes characters. (If you do fail, don't take it personally or get mad at the DM. Just go on with the game.) Can you implement a quarantine plan in the village? Who's leading it now that the original leader's gone, and how susceptible are they to your party's best Diplomacy? Your party Paladin seems like the best choice here--he did take some points in Diplomacy, right? In any case, he'd've had to be downright dumb to dump Charisma, so even untrained he should be able to act as an advisor or even a new leader, and get the town organized. In case you fail to find a cure, quarantine may mean that some of the town never gets the disease. (Is it 100% fatal? If so, quarantine is really your best hope, period.) And getting the town organized in some way could be extremely useful in the event that you do find a cure--you'll have more chances of getting to the sick people on time if you know where they are and who they are. You've got a wizard in the party. Can divinations help? What's your wizard got in that area? Has the town got any scrolls she can use, if she hasn't? This is an airborne disease; so you probably won't infect them if you stand twenty feet away when you talk to them about it. Is the description of the cure they need precise enough so your wizard can track it down? After all, even a blaster-style wizard can read scrolls. Good luck. At the very worst, your party loses two members... this is NOT a TPK. They can still be raised by the rest of the party, if it comes to that.
_SIN_ 03-05-07, 09:54 PM	Yeah, that'd make a lot of sense. A Good-aligned guy randomly decides to kill a village... No, a good aligned guy has a real hard think about the situation and the direction it's taking, i.e. - The fact that even those IMMUNE to disease are being infected... So to save the region from an epidemic, and to 'help' the sick and dying, he decides that mercy-killing the entire village is a valid option. Afterall, these poor folk are suffering pretty bad.... Oh, and whilst you're picking holes.... HOW do you kill a village? A village, techncally being a bunch of inanimate objects - usually called houses? Opposed to villagers. They're the ones that inhabit, sorry, live in a village... I am a Christian. I am female. I am a gamer. Live with it. A female Christian. No wonder you missed the sarcasm....
kelvinaw273 03-05-07, 10:36 PM	Considering that Cure Disease works even against magical diseases like Mummy Rot, consider that you are not dealing with a disease!
draco1119 03-05-07, 10:58 PM	A female Christian. No wonder you missed the sarcasm.... Dude. So not cool.
Kouk 03-06-07, 08:41 AM	Dude. So not cool. Hehe. So, how did it turn out? You all wipe yet?