Episode 1 discussion/planning

Hey everyone, fun session yesterday, just thought I would post a topic for us to figure out what we are looking to do next. Gonna do a recap of the 5 gangs we can join and some of their pros and cons, feel free to add anything I might miss in further comments. Emerald Arrow: Lead by Poisa Grey the Air genasi, she will allows us to join if will kill Bark Frankenson of the half deads. Pros: Poisa is hot, She offers the ability to pass through walls, she has the potential of allying with the drowning devils which gives us a 2 for 1 kinda deal. No gang said they had a problem with her. Cons: Their gang's supply drop doesn't help much. Wanting us to murder someone of importance is also kinda a con, Allying with certain others could make fewer enemies. Drowning Devils: lead by Wairun Wush the water genasi, he will allows us to join if we murder Urg Strongmar of the BloodCrows. Pros: Water breathing, Not drowning, not dying once we escape the prison. Has 2 different supply drops which are at least a little useful. Have more territory than 3 of the other gangs, potential alliance with Poisa. Cons: Wairun is hot, wants us to murder someone renowned for kicking ass, half deads don't like them. BloodCrows: Lead by Urg strongmar the DwarfLord. Didn't have a huge request for us if we wanted to join, but we would still have to prove our salt. Pros: Offers serious combat training, owns the center most valuable pile, not a high bar for entry. Cons:has no intention of escape, probably would help us the least. Seems more beneficial if we were going the aquasseum route. Has obvious enemies due to their ownership of the center and would probably expect us to defend their center resource pile fairly routinely. Skulking Seventy: Lead by Scarchin Muffincrow the...Ex-organized crime lord turned priest of darkness(I can't recall his race). They also did not provide some kind of entry quest, but have indicated that they are known for rather intense initiations. Pros: Honestly, I can't think of a single good reason for us to side with these guys, unless retiring to a life of Jixian opium(which is probably 3 parts lightning and 1 part tentacles) and death worship becomes the new party goal. Cons: All of them, they are creepy and worship Hel, and offer like no actual benefits aside from the fact that they may consider helping one of the other gangs in the future. Half-Deads: Lead by Bark Frankenson The Half Orc. If we want to join the we have to find the Guards quarters which helps with finding Old man Vouwd's buddies in the sewers. Pros: Don't want us to kill anyone, Their request also doesn't piss anyone else off. Their Escape plan is the most straightforward, we find the quarters, we tell bark, we get out. Potential for some upgraded weaponry, though I doubt the forges there are pumping out masterwork anything. Cons: They hate the drowning devils who feel like they are a bit of a "Bigger fish"(haha get it?) than the Half-dead. They want to ally with the skulking Seventy who rubbed us all the wrong way. With how quick he discarded his subordinate, I worry that Bark would cut us loose the first chance he could escape, IE: A bunch of guards trying to attack us while we escape, we start fighting them off, Bark grabs the ship and sails off without us. Personally, I like the Emerald Arrow/Drowning Devil point of view, their powers sync up real nice for what could be a painless escape, though the thought of escaping the prison and ending up having to swim back to jixian shores gets me as a bad idea. Obtaining a boat or something couldn't hurt, unless wairen has some kind of awesome "help us swim without dying ability" Though another thought emerges, that kind of unifies the ideas. We Kill Bark Frankenson, not only as a gesture of goodwill to poisa, but to assert control over his territory, we claim the gang and make it our own, but we defer to Poisa to allow her the perception of control over the territory. Any Half dead that doesn't like it can kiss the forge. Hopefully we can then use our increased resources and maybe ask Poisa for aid in killing Urg and maybe even pushing the Blood Crows out, Giving Wairun access to their supplies, we build a 3 gang alliance and combine the resources for the most well executed escape since that movie with Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Though I might be overthinking this, suggest your ideas below maybe we can come up with something cooled than Turf Wars.

I also concur with the Drowning Devils/Emerald Arrows escape plan. However, I wouldn't suggest acting on it until we at least explore some of the sewers so we can see if there may be a waste tunnel, or garbage chute we might escape from. In addition, as far as the swimming goes, we might be able to create a special boat with scavenged materials, if anyone has skills related to that. What I'm thinking is something like an upside down canoe. Our heads would be breathing underwater, but the canoe would bouy us up to the surface in a straight shot. We may have to do a constitution check against getting the bends. But that would be the fastest way to get up to the surface of the water I think.

I like that plan, but I suggest we go ahead and try to team up The Devils and Arrows and join them before we go down, I don't want to risk running out of time and being hunted by the less savory gangs while we look for a way out.

I agree with all the suggested ideas so far. However, I propose that we join the Half Deads instead. This allows us to easily enter the Half-Deads sewers where Old Man Vould's friends went. In addition, we can bluff Bark into believing that the entrance to the guard quarters is down there and thus get rid of him quietly. The main problem is the Blood Crows. Considering how they control the center and appear to be the strongest fighting force, I suggest we avoid fighting their entire force. I propose we steal Urg's idol to get him to come after us personally. We then bribe Sorcho to keep the rest of the Blood Crows at bay. This plan relies on too many variables however, so feel free to suggest any more ideas.

I love all the ideas and input! 2 things I want to point out: 1) You don't know how long or how strong Wairen Wush's breathing bonus is. 2) Poisa Grey never offered or mentioned making you have the ability to go through walls. Just some points to consider. Carry on :)

Belanor (Tam) said: I agree with all the suggested ideas so far. However, I propose that we join the Half Deads instead. This allows us to easily enter the Half-Deads sewers where Old Man Vould's friends went. I think it was the stairs in the main atrium.

Rob said: Belanor (Tam) said: I agree with all the suggested ideas so far. However, I propose that we join the Half Deads instead. This allows us to easily enter the Half-Deads sewers where Old Man Vould's friends went. I think it was the stairs in the main atrium. It was, yes, The stairs in the Half dead chamber are exclusively sewer tunnels according to Bark.

I did want to bring that up Sunday but we were starting to be pressed for time and I still had a lot of stuff to do. But yes, we never inquired whether Poisa could transfer her ability to us, nor even whether she would be willing. As far as the time that Wairen's ability lasts for, I think that we'll be able to make do with a substantially lower amount if we use a flotation mechanism like i suggested. Whether that's baloons filled with air(no idea how we'd get that) or some form of bowl that can hold air and rocket us up to the top through the whole "air is lighter than water" thing. I still have no idea how easy or difficult it would be to make this happen.

I still like the idea of getting two gangs to fight each other. Nothing like a prison riot to bring out the guards. Make allies with their enemies. Basically, there is no way it can go wrong!

Unless a mind flayer joins the guards to "pacify" the prisoners.