>LOOK RECAP
You woke up in the city of Thurminham without memories, equipment, or anything remarkable about you. Except, that is, a powerful need to eat--and the ability to acquire traits from the things you ate. Which you proceeded to do both of, in spades. This has attracted its share of notice from various parties, besides decimating the city's cat and bird populations.

You became acquainted with Claire, a fledgling wizard, when she pulled your unconscious self off the street--since then you've been split between eating her and befriending her, but have let her live so far. You started using her place as shelter and her courier service as cover; that changed when revenge-driven adventurers kidnapped her and set an ambush for you there. The trap nearly killed you and managed to burn down the entire building. You escaped, barely, and sought out your attackers on more even terms.

In the course of striking back at the adventurer party, you teamed up with a nameless bodysnatcher, who took over the bodies of other beings by burrowing into their bloodstreams. He seemed to think the two of you had some sort of connection; most curiously, you could not acquire a trait from eating any body he had been in. You parted on good terms after the battle, him leaving in the body of a large human barbarian.

Claire lost a lot of her innocent outlook on life after the kidnapping and torture by the adventurer party, and seems to care a lot less about other people coming to harm. She's currently in the process of copying down maps and information from the library for you.

You've also learned that the sewers are a decent, if dangerous, place to hunt; that there seems to be a war brewing with a lich-ruled nation to the north; and that the country is waging an almost guerilla war with lycanthropes who have a presence in the nearby forest. Oh, and Morsel, the cat you bought, is still missing.

Earlier today, you were found by Karreesa, a member of a cult attempting to bring a being they call the Devourer into the world. She thinks that you are a splinter of this being, and has been generally obeying your orders because of it. She got you a couple members of the local crime scene to eat, and sent word out for a large chunk of the cult to come to Thurminham. The non-essential members should start arriving within a couple days--some of them voluntary meals for the taking. The crucial cult members are busily preparing another ritual to bring the Devourer to the current plane of existence.

>And now, you're en route to ambush the Right Arm of Heironeous at a tavern, led by a small girl named Ella and accompanied by an older man with poisoned crossbow bolts, both of them acquainted with the cult.

You're in the body of a former city guardsman; you've become fit, clever, deadly; you have several special abilities; and you have acquired some equipment that has proven useful. But that's enough recap for now; if you have questions ask, but I'll post the stat block and we can get this show on the road.

>LOOK STATS
Hit Dice: 4d6+12 HP (28/28 HP)
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+6
Masterwork Knife +7 melee (1d4+4), 19-20/x2 crit
Claws +6 melee (1d4+2)
Bite +6 melee (1d6+4)
Composite Longbow +5 ranged (1d8+2), x3 crit
Longsword +6 melee (1d8+4), 19-20/x2 crit

AC 19 (+3 dex, +4 natural, +2 leather armor)
Str 18, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 14
Fort +6, Reflex +7, Will +4
+7 Initiative
60 foot land speed, 20 foot climb speed, 30 foot swim speed
Membrane for gliding (40 ft (clumsy) in favourable winds)
Scent, Low Light Vision, Darkvision 60ft, Electricity Sense, Trapfinding

Devour, Every Last Bite
Poison: with Bite, DC 14, 1d6 Primary & Secondary Con damage, 3 uses/day
Stunning Shock: 2d8 nonlethal electricity to living opponents, one target w/in 5 feet, DC 14 half
Ferocity
Immunity to Electricity
Language: Common (voices: young boy, man)
Proficiencies, dagger, club, all martial weapons

Sorcerer Casting: Detect Magic 5/day (10% Arcane Spell Failure Chance)

Total skill bonuses (when higher than stat):
Jump +25 (can use Dex)
Balance +17
Swim +14
Hide +13
Listen +13
Move Silently +13
Spot +13
Handle Animal +7
Climb +6 (plus climb speed) (can use Dex)
Use Magic Device +6
Bluff +5
Diplomacy +5
Disguise +5
Escape Artist +5
Knowledge (Local-Thurminham general) +6
Knowledge (Local-Thurminham underworld) +5
Survival +4 (+7 when tracking by scent)

Feats:
- Agile, Alertness, Athletic, Stealthy (+2/+2 skill feats)
- Skill focus: Bluff, Diplomacy
- Weapon Finesse
- Improved Initiative
- Great Fortitude
- Point Blank Shot
- Run
- Endurance
- Track

>LOOK INVENTORY
92 gp, 79 silver, 92 copper
Masterwork Knife, Cricket Bat, Garrote, Sap, Longsword
Composite Longbow (+2 Str), 48 arrows
Leather Armor
Decent Clothes
20 ft + 50 ft rope
8 flasks of high proof alcohol
Potions: Strength
Feather token (bird)
License to carry a longsword and longbow, made out to Soveliss, non-afflicted elf.
Unknown building key
At inn: travelling equipment

>LOOK ALLIES
Claire (human wizard novice)
[No lasting name] (Bodysnatcher. Last seen in barbarian body)
Kareesa (cult lady)
Ella (little girl associated with cult)
Older cultist

Y-y-your back!!!

*bursts into tears*

I was going to watch a movie tonight.. Fuck that shit, DD's back.

Let the ambush begin!

DD's back, and I get to post this. Fuck yes.

From here: http://digimagus.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html#comments

rolled 69 = 69

>>11823862
I forget, what was the plan again?

>>11824061

The girl's going to draw him outside. The older guy's gonna shoot him with the poisoned bolts. This'll weaken him. Even if the guy misses, it'll distract the paladin enough for us to get the drop on him when he goes after the guy.

Also, we're still Neutral Hungry right? We don't glow under Detect Evil?

rolled 44 = 44

>>11824098

RIGHT THEN!

ONWARD UNTO GLORY!!!!!

>Y-y-your back!!!
>I was going to watch a movie tonight.. Fuck that shit, DD's back.
>Let the ambush begin!
Good to be back.

>DD's back, and I get to post this. Fuck yes.
Holy shit. Not just real art, but an animated gif? Okay, for that awesome piece, you're getting an Uncanny Luck point. Whereas those minor luck points you've gotten in the past add a +1/point to a d20 roll, your Uncanny Luck can be used to change a situation without even picking up a die. Obviously, the more Uncanny Luck you spend on a situation, the more that circumstance can work in your favor, but even a single one packs a pretty decent punch. And Uncanny Luck has a particular benefit: by spending all your current Uncanny Luck points, you can even keep death's cold grip from you one more time--though you may find that even your great fortune cannot manage this to your COMPLETE satisfaction...

>I forget, what was the plan again?
>1d) ...have the girl cultist do a variation (1c) (acting as a rioter, of sorts) while the guy cultist waits on the roof. When the guy fires, the girl can run away screaming about an assassin, trying to play innocence.
You're waiting in the bar, watching while this goes on and looking for weaknesses in the paladin. Or even, for an opportunity to strike, yourself.

rolled 71 = 71

>>11824107
what we are is what the DM says, since no one bothered to reach a consensus on that point.

>>11824118

follow them out carefully, maintaining a 2 yard separation from the target.

wait for the bolt from the blue, then full tilt boogy and we kill the guy...

>Also, we're still Neutral Hungry right? We don't glow under Detect Evil?
That seemed to be the consensus, yes.

>ONWARD UNTO GLORY!!!!!
Let's do this.

You arrive at the Broken Club, and personally haul your crossbow-toting follower onto a vantage point overlooking the the tavern. It's not the most ideal spot for a sniper, but it seems to be the best you've got. The tavern's windows are shuttered, so for your follower to have a clear shot, you'll have to get the Right Arm of Heironeous lined up with the doorway.

Your follower is brimming with anticipation. "I will not miss for you, my lord. I will do my duty."

Ella is set to come in after about ten minutes or so and start harassing the Right Arm.

Enter the tavern, or any other actions prior?

rolled 77 = 77

>>11824223
get our sword(or other preferred weapons) clear of any impeding straps, buckles etc.

we have doses of poison left in our bite right? (how many?)

rolled 83 = 83

>>11824272
...then enter the tavern.

Find a spot for our own ambush. I'm figuring the paladin's going to go after our sniper, so let's find a position where we can take him out unawares.

I'm really hoping this isn't a horrible stupid mistake...

>We have doses of poison left in our bite right? (how many?)
You used all your venom to get a pair of crossbow bolts smeared with the poison. It'll take a day before the glands refill.

>Get our sword(or other preferred weapons) clear of any impeding straps, buckles etc.
Done.

>...then enter the tavern.
You enter the tavern casually, as any normal patron would. You're en route to a convenient barstool when you see a man with a grizzled beard clearly waving you over to his table.

Action?

rolled 32 = 32

>>11824301
>I'm really hoping this isn't a horrible stupid mistake...
so am I.

no, we stay in the tavern behind him, when he gets shot we follow him since he surely can't outrun us.

once we follow him through the alley far enough, we very thoroughly kill him.

then the nomming begins

rolled 25 = 25

>>11824345
sidle on up to him.

"good (day,evening, afternoon) you wanted to talk to me?"

Can we get some anon in here? Right now it's a namefest, and I'm starting to feel silly.

As for the guy.
>What do you want?

rolled 95 = 95

>>11824431
>...and I'm starting to feel silly.

you're on /tg/ and using a name, why do you only feel silly now?

>>11824345
in addition to >>11824370 explain that we might have to leave at a moments notice.

>>11824345


>Look Old Man

>"Good evening, you wanted to talk to me?"
>What do you want?

"Hey there, have a seat. I hate drinking alone, and there's no reason for you to be. I insist--I'll even buy the drinks." A large, chipped shield with a faded gauntlet clutching several bolts of lighting painted on it leans on the wall next to the man

>>11824476
I only namefag when I'm contributin' or for quests, such as this.

rolled 22 = 22

>>11824504
"If you're buying, I'll gladly sit by. don't expect much, conversation though

>Look Old Man
The man is pretty well built, though his appearance could use a bit of cleaning up. A longsword hangs loosely at his belt, and he's wearing some easy traveling armor. He's had a couple drinks judging by the empty mugs at the table.

"If you're buying, I'll gladly sit by. Don't expect much conversation though."
"That's the spirit. Barkeep! Bring over a couple for me and, uh, what's your name, guy?"

rolled 68 = 68

>>11824596
call me jack.

and your name?

>>11824628

Whatcha rolling?

>>11824596

Let's avoid actually drinking alcohol. We need our wits clear.

>>11824628
Second

>Call me Jack. And your name?
"Gaul. I was born out east, you see."

>Let's avoid actually drinking alcohol. We need our wits clear.
"Just between you and me," Gaul says, lowering his voice, "you can down a dozen of these ales and still hardly feel it, if you know what I mean. Good taste though, despite all the water. You're missing out something fierce if you don't partake. Anyways, I haven't seen you before whenever I've been in town. You a new face?"

rolled 4 = 4

>>11824677
I left the roll in since I started "roll and tell" last year.

and because I like it.

>Let's avoid actually drinking alcohol. We need our wits clear.
then we drink SLOWLY

>>11824740
yay, someone

>>11824773
"ah, well, if thats the case I guess a drink or 2 might be nice."

then insist on paying for the next one.

>>11824773

"You could say that. And you? What's your story?"

Okay, I'm confused. Is this paladin guy the only worshipper of Heironeous or something? What happened?

>you're eanneuz
No, you're eanneuz, captcha!

>>11824773
"As a matter of fact I am. Blew into town a week or two ago. I'm staying with my niece, who's a student here. What about you? I haven't seen you around before. "

I vote we act friendly with the guy. We don't let our guard down, but try to become bros. If that works, then we can get him to lower his guard.
The way I figure it there's only two scenarios:
1. He knows who we are, in which case acting cold is only going to confirm what he knows, but if we act warm maybe he'll doubt his intel.
2. He doesn't know who we are, in which case acting cold will make him suspicious, and acting warm will make him bored.
tl;dr: Our suspicion = his suspicion.

>Okay, I'm confused. Is this paladin guy the only worshipper of Heironeous or something? What happened?
Excerpt from last thread:
>>Okay, this is the second time we've heard about Heironeous being a cripple. That isn't true in standard D&D fare. Find out what's up.
>>>"My lord, does your splinter not know? When the forces of Heironeous and his allies pushed to wipe out their opposites from the world, Heironeous himself battled with his brother Hextor, slaying him but becoming terribly crippled in the process. His power now is but a droplet of its former amount, and he has concentrated it on a single mortal servant."

>"You could say that. And you? What's your story?
>"As a matter of fact I am. Blew into town a week or two ago. I'm staying with my niece, who's a student here. What about you? I haven't seen you around before. "
"I show up now and again as business calls. It's a nice city, and I really do enjoy coming here, but I never can seem to get a free moment to tarry. And of course, I always seem to see the worst of what the place has to offer. Such is life. I'm hoping business this time is something that can be handled with a few words and a firm handshake, but even that's more than likely a vain wish."

>I vote we act friendly with the guy. We don't let our guard down, but try to become bros. If that works, then we can get him to lower his guard.
>then insist on paying for the next one.
"You really don't have to, but that's downright friendly of you."

rolled 8 = 8

>>11824924
keep in mind we might need to leave at a moments notice.

>>11824848
and we already told him that we didn't talk much.
so if we say this, we space it all out with a long pause between each question.

rolled 94 = 94

>>11825010
>I'm hoping business this time is something that can be handled with a few words and a firm handshake, but even that's more than likely a vain wish."

give the impression of a long pull on the ale than casually ask.

"an what business is that? or is that a bad subject?"

>>11825052
Second.
Also: can we roll sense motive or some shit to try to gauge what his Sense Motive rank is?

rolled 7 = 7

>>11825097
it would be a ability bonus only check, so do not be surprised if it is wildly inaccurate.

>Give the impression of a long pull on the ale than casually ask, "And what business is that? Or is that a bad subject?"
"Not a bad subject, just one that gets people all unrelaxed. I'm in the business of getting rid of stuff that hurts people, one way or another. Easy way when I'm lucky, but I'm not the luckiest of guys. And I get a bit of help from on high to do it, though damned little of it. Heironeous' finest, or only, or whatever, yessir."

>Also: can we roll sense motive or some shit to try to gauge what his Sense Motive rank is?
>Sure, you can try
>1d20+3=19
>Well, that roll turned out well. Alright, his Sense Motive is between +6 and +10.

rolled 76 = 76

off for my evening stroll, bye everyone...

>>11825244
"How's business lately?"

>>11825247
Later mono

>>11825301
I'm okay with this.

>off for my evening stroll, bye everyone...
Take care.

>"How's business lately?"
"Busy. There's something big here, something wicked enough that I can taste it. It tastes like tar... and it feels like it's coating my mouth. But Heironeous doesn't tell me the who, or the what, or the when, or the how. He just shows me where, and I have to figure it out from there. Wish he could be a bit more specific on that where part, it'd make things a lot easier on me."

>>11825422
Okay, I doubt that's us. We're neutral: although we're dangerous, we're not EVIL. So... would that be the cult he's referring to, or is it their Devourer he's sensing?

>>11825244
That's a pretty good sense motive. We should tread carefully.

>>11825452

Well, parts of the cult could very well be evil. If it's the Devourer he's sensing, then we've got issues.

>Okay, I doubt that's us. We're neutral: although we're dangerous, we're not EVIL. So... would that be the cult he's referring to, or is it their Devourer he's sensing?
You can't be sure, although Karreesa has mentioned that there's a big ritual that the majority of the Thurminham section of the cult of the Devourer is preparing to enact soon. Then again, she mentioned that they'd performed one not too long ago. You'd have to inquire more, and even if the Devourer is present the cult might not be entirely aware.

>>11825555
Ahh, yes, the "cut twins in half then sew the separate halves together" dealie. Who was the fuck who posted guro then?

Anyway, that'd probably do it.

WOOT DD!!

I say we keep him talking until our minion outside starts making noise, see if we can get the drop on him when he's got his back to us dealing with her, if we're so hell bent on nomming this guy.

>>11825629

Hey namefriend!

Also, I second this course of action.

>>11825452

Although I wonder why he decided to talk to US in particular. He may already know that we're not exactly normal.

>I say we keep him talking until our minion outside starts making noise, see if we can get the drop on him when he's got his back to us dealing with her, if we're so hell bent on nomming this guy.
Anything specific you wish to say, or just kill time?

(Sorry for the recent slower pace, some RL stuff was coming up but it appears to have been deflected.)

>>11825650
sup.

I'd be remiss if I didn't say I have reservations about our plan to attack this guy. We were told he's one of the top human melee combatants in the country previously, and I do not know where we rank on that scale.

I would like to present a few potential courses of action. They are as follows:
1.Alligator hunting from the roofs of the sewers, and hunting other things down there.
2.Hunting outside the city, in the wilderness. We still have much to gain from various animals, if we're careful.
3.Robbing the potion store, after nomming a few more thieves.
4.Talk the guards at a guard post into getting blackout drunk on our >8 flasks of high proof alcohol, NOM.

Also, we should be getting a boon from the cult soon. They have money and magical gear coming to us.

Let's get him talking about old war stories. The hardest fight of his life. Maybe we can get him to slip up and reveal a vulnerability.

>>11825806
It's very possible he's beyond our skill which is why we wanted our cult buddy to shoot at him not us. If he takes the poison like a champ and just keeps on trucking, then we'll avoid him and go do one of your suggestions. If, however, he drops like a pansy and is able to be feasted, then no harm no foul.
Basically we won't risk attacking him personally until we see the outcome of our buddy's attack.

Hey, cool, it's DD!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!

Fangirlish joy aside, I say we be very, very careful.

In case this goes badly, I suggest that we look for any quick ways out of here, i case we have to run for it.

A quick glace for widows/backdoors/etc. would be sufficient.

>>11825890
I agree with this course of action.

captcha: real advace

>>11825880

Oh, also, what he said.

>>11825890

And also this man, he has my full support

>Let's get him talking about old war stories. The hardest fight of his life. Maybe we can get him to slip up and reveal a vulnerability.
"Heh. Sure, why not. You want the ugly, unvarnished truth? Or the shining schoolboy version?"
He mutters to himself a moment about whether he should tell about breaking up a human trafficking ring or killing some nocturnal monster, decides on the monster, and starts going into the tale. He's going into detail about the lack of assistance or even communication that Heironeous gives him when Ella walks in.

"Right Arm of Heironeus they call you? More like the pathetic follower of a dying god!" the six year old shouts at him. Gaul looks at her and shrugs. "Yeah, it's something like that."

Action?

>>11826021
Say nothing, do nothing, let our little girl work her magic.

>>11826050
>>11826021
Huh. It occurs to me that she might not actually be able to get a rise out of him. This plan might not work.

Hypothetically speaking, what are our options if it doesn't? How would we proceed?

In retrospect, maybe having a little girl taunting a grizzled old paladin wasn't the best way to provoke him into an unthinking rage.

But in all seriousness, should we try to figure out why he wanted to talk to us in particular before/without consuming him?

>>11826081
Keep talking? We can at least get some information out of him about the world we're in. We still don't know a whole lot about the world, even compared to the average lout.

It'll be a shame if we do kill him though. He sounds like a cool guy. I mean, he doesn't seem to be the SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL type of pally, if pally he is. I'm really thinking more of a fighter/cleric at this point.

>>11826021

Shrug, act casual. Maybe make an excuse about having to piss, or something. Either way, hang back and watch.

"A little girl like her shouldn't be in a tavern alone. Shouldn't we take her back to her parents?"

Directed at the Paladin.

We should ally with the Right Arm. We would get to beat up tougher things and then get to eat them to become even stronger.

>>11826144
No thanks. If we do this and the pally gets arrow'd then he'll suspect we're in on it.

>A quick glace for widows/backdoors/etc. would be sufficient.
There's a widow mourning silently in one of the corners--oh. Well the windows are shuttered closed, but could be thrown open fairly quickly. There's a backdoor if you hop the bar.

>Say nothing, do nothing, let our little girl work her magic.
>Shrug, act casual. Maybe make an excuse about having to piss, or something. Either way, hang back and watch.

>Keep talking? We can at least get some information out of him about the world we're in. We still don't know a whole lot about the world, even compared to the average lout. It'll be a shame if we do kill him though. He sounds like a cool guy. I mean, he doesn't seem to be the SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL type of pally, if pally he is. I'm really thinking more of a fighter/cleric at this point.
>But in all seriousness, should we try to figure out why he wanted to talk to us in particular before/without consuming him?

>"A little girl like her shouldn't be in a tavern alone. Shouldn't we take her back to her parents?"

>We should ally with the Right Arm. We would get to beat up tougher things and then get to eat them to become even stronger.

Pick one.

>>11826164
Hmmm. I wonder if there's a job opening as the Left Arm...

>>11826164
Assuming he's willing to work with an monster, sure. Just think of it as dealing with an unusually dangerous, intelligent creature. Like I said, he doesn't seem too idealistic at this point.

Wait. TempDM, you cad! You set us up! You WANT us to work with him! That's how we get this cult and the threat of the Devourer out of our hair!

>>11826144
I like the "maybe we should take her back to her parents" option.

rolled 74 = 74

>>11826244
>"A little girl like her shouldn't be in a tavern alone. Shouldn't we take her back to her parents?"

>>11826244
mixture of
>Keep talking? We can at least get some information out of him about the world we're in. We still don't know a whole lot about the world, even compared to the average lout. It'll be a shame if we do kill him though. He sounds like a cool guy. I mean, he doesn't seem to be the SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL SMITE EVIL type of pally, if pally he is. I'm really thinking more of a fighter/cleric at this point.
>But in all seriousness, should we try to figure out why he wanted to talk to us in particular before/without consuming him?

Maybe see if it leads to
>We should ally with the Right Arm. We would get to beat up tougher things and then get to eat them to become even stronger.

Maybe have the girl come over while we do so, so we can make to take her home if the going gets rough or whatever to lead him outside to the dude on the roof.

>>11826244
Let's keep talking with him. And find out just how far he's willing to go and who he's willing to work with for the greater good...

Because seriously, if we can get a job as "the lesser evil", that would be fucking awesome. Think Hellsing, or to stretch it a bit, Hellboy.

I don't know why I was doubting you for the last few threads TempDM.

rolled 57 = 57

>>11825581
that was me. but I'll only post it again if asked.

>>11825247
and now I'm back again.

>>11826306
with the addition of walking up, kneeling down and whispering to the child "new plan little one" then saying so the arm can hear "let's get you back to your parents, come on"

look back at the guy, and ask him if he'll still be here later.

>Wait. TempDM, you cad! You set us up! You WANT us to work with him! That's how we get this cult and the threat of the Devourer out of our hair!
I'm far more interested in seeing what everyone picks than trying to make the choice for you. (Also, my first DM was a terrible railroader and I've abhorred railroading ever since.) Besides, you might find some surprises no matter WHAT you decide on. I might be a bit rusty but I'm not entirely out of practice.

This is also a good post to mention that I might need to change the time DD would be held. I'm now about half a day ahead of most of you, and that means I can't run threads when the usual crowd is present. How would you feel about it being switched to the opposite side of the world's evenings? Or would it be better to have it during Fridays and Saturdays, as best I can manage?

>>11826267
>>11826255
>>11826164

. . . DD, you magnificent bastard.

You give us the choice between eating a real bro of a paladin, with a kickass backstory, or possibly siding with him.

. . . Fuck it, I say we just eat him.
Then we can eat the cultists, just to balance things out.

I really doubt this guy will every accept us as an ally if he learns our true nature. But it doesn't mean he has to be eliminated, I mean we can keep around to try and eliminate the competition (the blood manifestation thing), or if shit hits the fan our new fan club.

rolled 40 = 40

guys, how many arms does this guy have?

I could have sworn the arm was supposed to have just 1

this guy has 2

>>11826381
I agree with this man.
The people will be our meal,
AND THE WORLD WILL BE OUR DESERT.

3 for allying, 3 for eating, 1 for neither...

Guess I can wait a few more minutes, see if anyone sways the crowd.

Fuck the cult, work with him. He sounds like a total bro.

>>11826389
What is our true nature? I think we're a twisted perversion of magic, but not evil. We're dangerous, sure, but we can restrict ourselves to animals, monsters, and the worst dregs of the sentient races. This guy sounds like a bro. Like I said before, let's find out what his tolerance levels for "the lesser evil" are. Send the child back, have her dismiss the sniper to avoid accidental clusterfuck, and let's keep talking. After all, we can always make another plan.

Devour him.

>>11826470
Fuck working with him, he'll kill us as soon as he learns what we are. He's not some corruptible wizard lass we can convince to be an alienist.

I like him. We should still test him with the poison though. If he's strong, he'll be fine. If he's not, we can step in, help him out, and get on his good side.

I say play both sides against the middle, "ally" with him for now, we can try learn about his capabilities. Even tell him some tale we heard about a mysterious "warlock vampire", In the meantime give the warlock vampire guy the heads up, have them confront each other, epic battle ensues...winner fights us.

I say keep talking to him for now. The girl can continue with the insults while we do, and when we get him outside we can see how he reacts to the poison crossbow bolt.

Make a decision after that.

>>11826490
To be fair, we are a horrific abomination of dubious origins and potentially unlimited power. If he understood that, he'd have already attacked.

We should work with him, it might get us some big monster to eat.

>Captcha: furposts, yelling

rolled 44 = 44

>>11826464
EAT HIM

GET HIM OUT THE DOOR WITH >>11826306 AND >>11826366

>>11826511
You talking about the body snatcher?

>>11826490
This I doubt. He doesn't strike me as the stereotypical lawful stupid pally. And we aren't evil. Just really, really fucked up.

>>11826531
Yup.

Guys. We're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's just go ahead, lead him outside with the girl, and see how the poison works. We can decide what to do after that. That was the entire point of this, remember? To get a better idea of what exactly we're dealing with. Let's hold off on any real earth shattering decisions until we have a better grasp of the situation.

6 for attempting to ally, 6 for attempting to eat, 3 wanting to play the middle or do neither.

Well, a FEW more minutes couldn't hurt... this is very interesting to watch.

>>11826573
No. If the poison affects him, then that forces the decision. If not, his guard will be up, and that makes it all the harder to ally with him. We don't want him coming after us directly.

>>11826573

Alright, this seems to be the consensus. Let's just move forward with it.

>>11826513
This. Milk for info, see how he reacts to more prodding from the girl, then lead him outside under the pretense of taking the girl home and see how the poison works. We'll learn more about him that way.

rolled 73 = 73

>>11826587

I suggest that you flip a coin if this goes on too long

Send the girl back, we can try this plan again if need be. Let's keep talking with him.

>>11826599
> If the poison affects him, then that forces the decision.

Not necessarily. We can still chose to either help him out and gain his trust or exploit his weakened state to eat him.

>I suggest that you flip a coin if this goes on too long
Yeah, I'll do either that or have a "vote now, whoever gets 4 out of the next 7 wins".

Holy shit it's back.
Fuck sleep
Fuck food
Damacy time

We could just ASK him if he's ever been bit by a snake, and how badly it affected him.

>>11826644
Keep talking for a little bit. See how he reacts to the girl's taunts. Then, after a while if he does not react himself, lead him outside with the "maybe we should take her home" line. Stay out of the firing line and observe the effects of the poison. Delay other decisions until then.

>>11826656
lmao NO. Say we ask him and he tells us 'man it rocked my shit!' but he's referring to a time when he was a kid. Then when he's poisoned, who's he going to give the rage face to?

>>11826656
That's not the reason we're trying to poison him, we want to know how he reacts to a dangerous situation, and whether he has any little magic tricks he likes to pull.

>>11826656
No. Way to suspicious. We should go with this >>11826671

>>11826671
This anon knows where his towel is. Second.

rolled 5 = 5

>>11826714
>>11826714
I agree with this hoopy frood

Obviously the girl isn't fazing him. He's probably dealt with worse, judging by his reaction. If we try to push the plan ahead regardless, we look suspicious. We DO NOT want this guy coming after us; his divine support sounds crappy, but that just means he's all the more dangerous in a straight-up fight. This is a man who's survived by his own merits in what sounds like an extremely dangerous job. Let's not give him any reason to view us with suspicion. Play him against the cult, and look for opportunities to ally with him, or failing that, to run.

>>11826729

I agree. We should at least determine the pally's motives from someone who isn't a cult member.

I like how there is still the delusion that we are neutral... we eat people. Many people. Even if many are assholes thats still very very evil.

I still want to hear the story about the monster he slayed. I'm also very interested in how he broke up a human trafficking ring.

Split opinion looks to be continuing, so:
VOTING TIME. NEXT 7 VOTES COUNT. MAJORITY RULES. PLEASE DON'T BE A 3/3/1 SPLIT.

>Shoo the girl away and continue discussing things with the paladin while he's comfortable and not suspicious, see how he feels about allying with not-quite-evil beings, among other things.

>Keep talking for a little bit. See how he reacts to the girl's taunts. Then, after a while if he does not react himself, lead him outside with the "maybe we should take her home" line. Stay out of the firing line and observe the effects of the poison. Delay other decisions until then.

>Lure him outside for the express purpose of eating, prepared for full ambush.

Go.

rolled 2 = 2

>>11826778
in b4 3/3/1 split

>>11826766
Well, here's a chance to do some good deeds.

>>11826767
I would as well.

>Shoo the girl away

>>11826778
Option 2

>Shoo the girl away and continue discussing things with the paladin while he's comfortable and not suspicious, see how he feels about allying with not-quite-evil beings, among other things.

>Shoo the girl away and continue discussing things with the paladin while he's comfortable and not suspicious, see how he feels about allying with not-quite-evil beings, among other things.

>Keep talking for a little bit. See how he reacts to the girl's taunts. Then, after a while if he does not react himself, lead him outside with the "maybe we should take her home" line. Stay out of the firing line and observe the effects of the poison. Delay other decisions until then.

>>11826778
Shoo girl
Bro with paladin
???
???

>>11826789
>>11826797
>>11826806
>>11826827

Consensus. Option 1.

>>11826827
That's 4! Now tell us about this monster.

>>11826778
Fucking settled. TempDM, you've got me fired up with suspense over entirely fiction characters. The last person to do this Jim Fucking Butcher. Congratulations

We should probably tell the girl to gtfo for a bit.
Keep talking to the Right Arm of Heironeous, who I shall call Gruffy.
Ask what Gruffy's toughest fight was, have him tell you what he was fighting, how badly he was injured, and how he ultimately defeated the beast.

>a human trafficking ring

ok so we are allying
time to betray the cultists for our would be friend.
lean in close "Somethings not right here, whats a child doing in a bar like this, this is the second weird thing I saw today, first being a man on top of the building over there. what do you think?

>>11826907
New plan: Ignore that poster and don't do that.

>>11826907
Dude, don't be so fucking obvious.

>>11826907
No. Don't do this. This is way too extreme. Burns way too many bridges too quickly.

>>11826907

NO.

Wait, let me think about that.

Alright, thought about it. FUCK NO.

>>11826907

>>11826913
>>11826928
>>11826936
For the sake of no mis-communication I just meant betray the cultists at hand, being the sniper and possibly the child, who would both die for us.
but the idea was veto'd no worry.

>>11826907
Excuse me what the fuck are you suggesting?

>>11826950
>>11826936
>>11826928
>>11826913
See, it's not as if we're incapable of agreeing on things.

>>11826766
I honestly doubt working with the cleric/paladin will work out. Or that silly plan will work out for that matter.

If I recall it right we are still in the appearance of a well known townguard that has a wife and kids which we didnt visit in days. Word will get around that while he never comes home is still seen about the city.
I'd suggest somehow getting the guy outside and if the poisoned arrow hits we get him and if not we're all "woha you really got people who ahte you" and wander off. Regardless of what happens, we do need a new appearance.

>Shoo the girl away and continue discussing things with the paladin while he's comfortable and not suspicious, see how he feels about allying with not-quite-evil beings, among other things.
>ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF DIALOGUE
"Listen, runt, why don't you run back to your old man and tell HIM what you just said? If he's smart he'll get you home before someone decides to slap that nasty mouth of yours shut," you tell the girl with some edge to your voice.

She gets a little wide-eyed, then turns and scoots out the door.

Gaul raises an eyebrow. "You've got a way with kids. Really though, it didn't bother me. You get used to it. People might thank you for a couple days, and it's all the free drink you want--you can get some REALLY nice vintage that way, let me tell you--but after that they start getting nervous, and hope you'll move on. Sheep don't really like a sheepdog--he reminds them that there are wolves out there. And wolves are scary.

"Which is fine, really. It's not like I'm sticking around anyways, there's always that pull. The WHERE. I can fight it of course, but it's always there, that slight nagging guiding me to the next wolf."

>Cont unless interrupted

>>11826967
If we betray the cult we must be much more subtle about it. We don't know how many other eyes they may have.

I say we go through with the plan, but unless the poison and bolt floor the pally we should only act as if we are about to attack him from behind, but then draw back suddenly and give our accomplices the signal to flee.

We can make up a bullshit answear about an unexpected level of divine protection or some such bullshit later.

>>11827013
This Right Arm thing is kinda cool. I might use it for my next campaign.

>>11826991
>Knowledge (Local-Thurminham underworld) +5
We can fix that.
We're going to eat some criminals, keep talking to the cult, and see what our options are with this whole Gruffy thing.
We still have potential noms - a pair of predatory cats and anything with strong claws will, when combined, create quite a badarse full attack. Anything with lots of STR adds melee attacks. Then there's a Choker, which the DM probably hasn't put in-game for balance reasons, but nonetheless if we find one we'll eat it.

>>11826797

This option! We can talk more with him without committing ourselves to the cultists or him. We can decide to omnom him later if it suits us.

>>11827013
"You ever met a wolf that killed just cause he was hungry?"

He got the power of a crippled god all concentrated in him, that must be tasty. Also, if we absorb him he might shift our consensus towards pragmatic/good and we'd really become neutral after all.

>>11827069
No.
NO.
DO NOT SAY THIS.

>>11827013
Tell us a story about the toughest beast you fought!
What was it?
How badly did it hurt you?
How did you finally beat it in the end?

>>11827013
>>11827043
Well shit, there goes my plan.

>>11827069
"What do you do with a hungry wolf?"

>>11827074
> Also, if we absorb him he might shift our consensus towards pragmatic/good and we'd really become neutral after all.

If anything killing him would shift us toward evil, partially because IC it would be the more evil choice as opposed to siding with him against the cultists, and partially because it would be giving in to the people who want to play Jack as straight up neutral evil.

>>11827069
We should not say this. It's too obvious. We need to be careful around this guy.

>>11827075
Why the hell not? I want to know how this guy thinks, and if it would even be possible to reach a middle ground in this mess we've gotten into.

>And wolves are scary.
Ask him what wolves there are around here. Maybe we can help fight them?
There were those werebears outside town, and then there were those naga/mermen in the sewers. Plus there's criminals. Are those the wolves he's talking about?

>>11827121
>I want to know how this guy thinks, and if it would even be possible to reach a middle ground in this mess we've gotten into.
Then I suggest you ask this question in a place with many potential exits from at least (his runspeed + his reach) feet away.

>>11827093
>>11827069
Damnit, stop it. You're not being coy, you're not being clever, you're not being funny. You're being stupid and obvious. This is the sort of carelessness that nearly got us killed against the adventurers.

Do not say either of these things.

>>11827114
>If anything killing him would shift us toward evil
The action, yes. But it would be the first strong personality we'd absorb so maybe that could have effects on our thinking, too (which would be up to us I guess).

>>11827084
>>11827127
These are my suggestions, any vetoes on these?

>>11827121
Because we're not there yet. Fuck we just met the guy. Take your time, don't do anything to tip our hand too soon. This is the sort of impatience that got us blown up by a bunch of explosive runes, remember? Things would have been much, much better if we hadn't been so quick to read the letter, but no. Everyone ran in a spammed READ THE LETTER without stopping to think.

Why are we throwing away our cult backing for the bromance of a paladin? Seriously, when did this become a good idea?

We had a good thing going. Flunkies willing to die for us, wealth and gear coming our way, worthwhile meals incoming. Unless this dude is OK with us eating sentient humanoids, we're eventually going to have problems in any case.

In any case, we've got to wait for the top members of the cult arrive in town before we can kill them or have them submit to being eaten. Until then, we need to be hunting for gainful meals, which I was personally hoping to be able to do at some point tonight.

And there's no point in beating around the bush with this guy. He's a combat veteran, and at some point he's going to figure out we're a man-eating abomination.

>>11827143
I'm not trying to be clever, I'm trying to work with what the MAJORITY has given our character to work with. I wanted to leave this fucking place, but no, you all had to get involved with cults and angry gods.

>>11827164
> The action, yes. But it would be the first strong personality we'd absorb so maybe that could have effects on our thinking, too (which would be up to us I guess).

Except that's not really how it works. Personalities don't do a whole lot in this soup. We mainly just get one trait, and it would probably be something else. Besides, this is probably the only chance we're going to get.

>>11827190
>Why are we throwing away our cult backing for the bromance of a paladin?
We're not. We're gathering information. We might play one side against the other and eat everyone, we might side with the paladin, we might side with the cultists, we might say "fuck yo shit I'm living in the sewers" and ignore all of it.
But nonetheless, we are gathering information now, so that we can make a better decision on how to act.

>>11827121

We may be able to get more insight on this guy if we let him keep talking instead of asking him unsubtle questions. Get a feel for his apparent character. Reading in between the lines, if you will.

>>11827194
And you're making it worse by being way too obvious and way too impatient.

>>11827190
We haven't thrown away anything yet. We still have options open. We haven't done anything overt to betray the cult. We can explain everything to them later, that we learned more from simply talking with him than the original plan would have told us.

Then we can say how we discovered it really wouldn't have worked anyway, as he wasn't getting that upset by the girl.

here's more or less just wanting to use the pally to get rid of our competition and so we can learn about him. to the ultimate means of eating him when its convenient and going on to becoming a dark god of hunger, or lack there of.

Let him yammer away. Try to push the conversation in a subtle manner to learn his own opinions on the monster's he hunts.
Wait for appropriate moments though. Like when he talks about killing something maybe go "And you did such a thing just for your god?"

>Fucking settled. TempDM, you've got me fired up with suspense over entirely fiction characters. The last person to do this Jim Fucking Butcher. Congratulations
I look to my right and there sits Changes. You're too kind.

>See, it's not as if we're incapable of agreeing on things.
HA.

>Cont, with apologies for dialogue hijacking but people wanted stories
>"So you keep pursuing whatever the biggest, nastiest thing out there is?"
"Not exactly. It's more like whatever is posing the worst threat to the peace and safety of the people. Keep in mind, monster killing is only a small part of what I end up doing. A lot of threats to the populace get swatted down by the government, by the Cuthberts, or a little band of vigilantes out for a bounty--and a lot of times they do a better job than I could on my lonesome. The creatures I go after tend to be overlooked or ignored by those guys; they may be dangerous and corruptive, but they don't get that same notice by the public. But for instance, those lycanthropes? They might be eating some people, but that's not really my primary concern. There's only so much time in the world, and if you get distracted, the big fish will escape. So I get pulled toward the worst of the wolves."
>"And the worst?"
"Man's worst wolf is his fellow man."

>cont, with integrating questions as best I can, and getting to paladin stories with natural conversation flow

rolled 90 = 90

>>11827114
>>11827196
>>11827216
guys, I feel that this thread relates AS DIRECTLY AS POSSIBLE to what you are discussing

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/753011/

"I'm just glad those wolves are usually busy eating eachother... makes life as a guard much less complicated."

>>11827272
Ok if we say this we are really going to need a new face FAST.

>>11827267
>"Man's worst wolf is his fellow man."
But, the lycanthropes, and the liches, and the beasts in the sewers ...
What's happening in this town, Gruffy? I know there are petty criminals here - hell, it's my job to deal with 'em - but I don't see why the Right Arm of a God would come here just to do a guard's work.

>>11827327
We do anyway. And this seems like a more subtle way to shift the conversation a bit towards current events since we mostly ate up adventurer scum and criminals. Anyway, plans on how to get him outside the tavern?

Wait, wait, hold the phone. Didn't we say this:
>"As a matter of fact I am. Blew into town a week or two ago. I'm staying with my niece, who's a student here. What about you? I haven't seen you around before. "

We need to keep our story straight. Don't say we're a guard, it contradicts what we've already said.

>>11827361
We should at least ask him stories of the tough monsters (or tough people) he's fought, to get an idea of how strong he is.

>>11827374
Wait we said we weren't a guard? Thats just stupid. Then we need a new face this very night unless the Hand dies.

>>11827341
He already mentioned why. Take a look back, he said he was here because he can feel something nasty here.

>>11827400
Yeah. We know. We're discussing how to do that. One idea that got tossed out was finding some criminal scum who wouldn't be missed and taking his face.

>cont
>"So if you're hunting the worst of the wolves, what do you do when you run into the rest of the wolves? Kill them as opportunity presents itself, without seeking them out? Let them run free? Use them to help kill that worst wolf when possible?"
"Depends entirely on the circumstance, and I'm sorry to not be more specific. Maybe I can explain, though. There's only three real guiding rules that Heironeous gave me--the rest I've had to make up on my own. Which is a pain, though I suppose it keeps me flexible. Anyways, these three rules are really simple: Protect the Innocent. Redeem the Willing. Smite the Wicked."

"There's a lot of Willing folks out there, who just need a hand up to get on their feet. Sometimes a guy might be headed down the path of the wolf, but before he's too far gone he can be brought back into the fold--or even, turn into a sheepdog himself. Some of those wolves have got a real taste for blood--they like seeing people suffer, they don't have the slightest compunction about killing one of their own--and there's not a thing you can do for them but make sure they don't hurt anyone else. Figuring out who's who is part of what makes this business so damn hard."

"Anyhow, I promised you a story, didn't I? Well, let's not make a liar of me, just because I got to rambling. And what we need before we start a story, of course, are a couple new mugs of ale."

I vote we say:
"But, the lycanthropes, and the liches, and the beasts in the sewers ...
What's happening in this town? I know there are petty criminals here - every town has some - but I don't see why the Right Arm of a God would come here just to do a guard's work."

Doesn't mix up the stories.

>>11827452
Well, scratch that now I guess.

Fuck I bet he felt it already and is just courious what our motives for the killings are. Anyway, let's keep him talking. The more he drinks the less likely he is to escape our trap.

>>11827451
Single the barkeep or innkeep or whatever for another round and then lets haer it.

>>11827451
>open purse
>get gold coins
>use gold coins on barman
>get beer
>give beer to paladin
>talk paladin

>"But, the lycanthropes, and the liches, and the beasts in the sewers ...
>What's happening in this town? I know there are petty criminals here - every town has some - but I don't see why the Right Arm of a God would come here just to do a guard's work."
"Well, it's not about the liches, or I'd be up north. That's more of a job for the military, though, or some REALLY ballsy and lucky vigilantes. The lycanthropes are out in the woods, and while I suspect that a peaceful result could be made, if it comes to blows the government will be the ones stepping in. Stuff in the sewers here tends to stay there from my experience. I may have to check them out anyways, but usually if something pops out them there's a bounty on it real quick. As for petty thieves... most of them are among the Willing. I help those out as best I can, as often as I can. There's just never enough time.

"But what this recent thing is... I'm not sure. It's rare that I've had to deal with an evil so black that it's palpable."

"But onto the story... you mind hearing one about a human trafficking ring?"

>>11827451
We'd better be hearing tales of dragons. Or liches. Or Lich-dragons!
Not that we're any stranger to such a thing - I mean we killed a shocker lizard once. That's sort of like a dragon!

>>11827451
'Kay, hold on a sec here. Gruff's got a high sense-motive. And he just comes on out in a big spiel about how some dangerous folks can be turned down the path o' righteousness, and all that. In fact, he pulled us aside to talk to begin with. I doubt he knows exactly what we are. But I think he's figured out that a) we're dangerous, and b) we're not exactly evil yet.

How much is Heironeous helping him out here?

I know this is unrelated, but
>fallop kidokkyosajok
WTF?

>>11827535
Tell us about a fierce, formidable monster first.

>>11827543
>I doubt he knows exactly what we are. But I think he's figured out that a) we're dangerous, and b) we're not exactly evil yet.
It's possible, but we'd need to confirm his strength before we do anything hasty.

This guy is paladin done right.

My theory of the events unfolding. There's another sniper on the grassy knoll.

He said it's so black it's palatable. So it's not us. It's something else.

However, the real red herring has been him talking to us. He can probably discern us as "Neutral" aka "Willing". Given what we know about his character thus far it seems a very simple and plausible explanation. he saw us walk in, saw someone in need of a push. And is providing it.

Hell he may be trying to hit us up as a resource as well. Information gathering and what not.

I further think the thing he wants is NOT the cult. At which point there is another problem out there to worry about. Never be hasty to remove today what kills your enemies tomarrow.

For all we know when the Paladin kills something we can still eat it. An alliance with him is a possibility, including a long term one. Evil often has cool abilities to steal.

>"But what this recent thing is... I'm not sure. It's rare that I've had to deal with an evil so black that it's palpable."
Got any leads?

>>11827621

That's what I've been trying to say!

>>11827636
Lets listen to his story first then do that

>>11827621

>He said it's so black it's palatable. So it's not us. It's something else.

>I further think the thing he wants is NOT the cult.

Our nameless body stealing acquaintance, maybe?

You know, maybe it's just me, but I get a nagging feeling that maybe the body-snatcher might be the guy that the cultists actually had in mind... but they came across us first and matched our nomming habits with the devourer motif.

We need to get away from the body snatcher.
He'll steal out powerful body after we get stronger and or become immune to possession.

>>11827690
We're both part of the same evil entity that got somehow shattered if I recall it right. That also means that the cult will eventually turn against us since we are probably not willing to give up our identity to regain that.

>>11827696
I remember he seemed a bit disturbed when we described our veiw of ourself when we first met him

>>11827690
The bodysnatcher could kill us in one hit, couldn't he?
I wonder how you'd beat something that could just absorb you from range.

>>11827727

Magic. Likely holy magic.

I'm going to sleep now, I gotta get up in the morning. Somebody better archive this shit when it's done, cause I want to read it. Later all.

>>11827535
TempDM! give more story

>>11827535
I'd enjoy hearing the one about human trafficking, myself. But the monster one might be more related to how he might deal with us if he knew wheat we really were. Or not, monsters come in all types after all.

>"I'd better be hearing tales of dragons. Or liches. Or Lich-dragons!"
"So you want the knight in shining armor, never-say-die, kills hordes of demons for breakfast before rescuing a fair damsel story? I can tell one based on something I did, but if there was a blushing virgin anywhere in that story she was eaten before -I- ever saw her."
>"Nah. Seriously though, I'd sooner hear about a fierce, formidable monster first."
"Alright, I've got one. But it might not be the kind you're thinking of.

I felt the pull guide me to Tristol--it's a decent sized place a bit to the east and north, you looked confused--and enough poking around showed that there was a really nasty person lurking in the shadows. Bastard got a real kick out of cutting a child up and leaving the remains in a bag for the parents to find. Really hard to pin this guy down, but I got a pattern of where he worked after a few days. Then a little twist popped up. Seems some vigilantes had already gotten hired by a rich couple to keep an eye on their child until this guy--we'll call him the Cutter--vanished. Pretty big dent to the pocketbook, but these folks were loaded enough not to notice.

>cont

If you like the thread, VOTE FOR IT

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Doppleganger%20Damacy

Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be getting to action before I've got to head to bed tonight.

>cont

"Well these parents got their money's worth, because the Cutter picked their kid for his carving plans a few nights later. But the impromptu bodyguards were on the ball, and were ready to give this guy a few kicks in the teeth. The Cutter showed up, all knife and smile, and they met him with mace and sword, even spell. But a sword in the gut didn't even slow the Cutter down. He just took it, and carved out the swordbearer's throat.

We only know what happened because that solitary spellcaster had more brains than spine, and fled as fast as his spell could carry him. He took the kid with him, the one good news of that night, because the rest of his band didn't make it. This was a pretty big surprise, because these guys were a pretty rough and tumble bunch.

So I had a bit of a problem. If I was going to go through all the effort of finding this guy again, only to have the one of me fight an allegedly unkillable him, I'd be on the fast track to missing my own throat. Now here's where we get to the beast, assuming you don't count the Cutter as one, which I do. Bastard didn't have a shred of humanity left by my count. You see, Tristol is one of those few places where the barrier between the planes is weak enough for the occasional being to push its way through."

>typing more

>>11827901
Woah.
This beast takes down a whole group of adventurers without even fucking flinching.
And then Right Arm kills it.
When we got knocked into the negatives by HALF a group.
Oooookay, we're going to try to avoid pissing this guy off.

rolled 15 = 15

>>11827932
you're concerned about THAT

>Tristol is one of those few places where the barrier between the planes is weak enough for the occasional being to push its way through."

if it was a Balor or something we are officially boned

>>11827960
I'm more interested in hearing if "Cutter" showed up in the body of one of the bodyguards that "died".

The bodysnatcher was also quite capable of taking a sword through the gut and continuing on.

Waiting with baited breath TempDM!

>>11827960
We've been officially boned for a good while now, we're just waiting for the realisation to hit us.

>>11828064
Yea our rate of becoming more powerful < our rate of acquiring foes and danger.
Makes things exciting though!

>cont

"The Cutter wasn't some mage who'd hit the point of insanity, though I'd given that some thought. But there really wasn't much other way for him to have gotten that sort of blade-ignoring fortitude himself. Now, if someone had given it to him... or rather, something...

It took two more days, and another kid died in that time, which I will feel guilty about until the day I die, but I found where a devil had gotten through to our side of things. Not on his own accord; but there was enough for him to whisper, and with enough promises in the ear of a sorcerer--a sorcerer who died afterward by everything I could discover--he was able to get our side weakened enough to get through. Just enough to be able to appear in that spot, and have most of his infernal powers at beck and call.

The Cutter had found him, and made a bargain. That's what this devil told me, when I found him. I stayed out of its arm's reach, and that's for damned certain. There's brave, and there's stupid. Stupid was probably all over in my decision to be talking to this guy, but there you go. The devil made it pretty obvious that if I made a bargain of my own with it, he'd give me the key to killing the Cutter like a normal fellow. But I'm not a complete idiot, and I knew the devil wouldn't be just letting me end its vicarious fun for nothing. For that matter, it had given the Cutter some pretty hefty strength for a devil's bargain. Nothing gained, you know, by buying the souls of the damned. So I realized: the Cutter? Was just a means to an end for this damned--pun unintended--devil. He wanted me. Well, someone like me. Or one or more of the parents. So I told him I'd think about it, how if it meant stopping the Cutter I'd be willing to deal with the fallout from Heironeous. I'd come in two days and make the deal, so long as the devil appeared to me fully--I wanted "to at least know the face of the new owner of my soul." Heh.

>cont

>assuming you don't count the Cutter as one, which I do.

So cutter was human and a murderer before he had this power, then?

>>11828108
Awesome. A Paladin who can lie? Better not fuck with this guy.

>>11828108
Is TempDM just making this shit up on the spot? If so I am impress. Garrison Keeler would be proud.

>>11828108
He kills a Balor.
Okay, we're not fucking with him.

>our rate of becoming more powerful < our rate of acquiring foes and danger.
Then let's powerlevel!

>>11828242
So what, we find a pair of werebears, jack their 29 str and their claws, then jack a few jaguars/leopards for their ability to attack twice with a claw, and then we're in business?

>>11828279
I believe you've hit the proverbial nail on the head, sir.

It's a shame that the wounded werebear in the woods has likely healed by now. Of course if we had found it it might have ripped us a new one anyway. We were much weaker back then. And of course the were creatures are supposed to be organized, so it may have had backup as well.

>cont
"Now, the Pelorites in Tristol had been blessing a ridiculously huge amount of holy water for a ceremony due to take place the following week. I asked for the use of the water, for an unnamed good cause. They said to go bugger a goat, in so many words, they had their own good cause. So I may have resorted to stronger measures than needed had they not.

I'll spare you the boring details, but in the course of two days I moved over one hundred thousand gallons of holy water into an abandoned tenement's first and second floors through the roof, without the Pelorites realizing at the time that their own water was now decidedly less blessed. In the meantime, another child was delivered in a bag to her parents. Yes, that one hurts still too.

At the agreed hour, I only barely showed up on time for my deal with the devil in a deserted basement. The devil was pleased as punch that I'd shown up, given the effort it took for it to appear in our plane. Even happier than normal, since it knew having another kid die while I was making a decision would make me all the more willing to deal. And if I'd come to fight? Fine by it, it knew it was bigger, stronger, and tougher than me.

Bigger, stronger, tougher, sure. Bastard wasn't meaner, though. That holy water? That was right above us, only just held by a straining second story floor. It really took only a moment's use of a preset pulley to bring the second floor down, and all the cheaply made barrels of holy water it was holding up with it.

This crashed down onto the first floor, which had thoughtfully been weakened prior to this. And was holding its own caskets of holy water, which shattered very nicely as the second floor and the barrels once there crashed down.

My devil acquaintance certainly wasn't prepared for the deluge of holy water that began melting away its skin, flesh, even the bone.

>cont

>>11828340
Brofist Gruffy. Gruffy gets a brofist.

>cont

Of course, I was in the middle of this, and I'd made two big errors. One: I was in the middle of this avalanche of building materials and water. Two: I got pushed closer to the not-dead yet, still very mean devil.

Let me tell you, I was wishing right then that Heironeous would take a little more active role in my life. How I survived that... well, it was actually really embarrassing, and I'd sooner skip to the end of this story so I can let out some of this ale. So after getting out of that in mostly one piece, and then getting back on my feet, I got to tracking down the Cutter, right? I get no sign of him for days, then it turns out he decided to dance with another group of hired bodyguards, and figured he could take another sword in the gut. Not so much, not at that point. Guess who got the free drinks and kudos for taking down that son of a bitch? Yeah, not this guy. Such is life.

Also, the Pelorites haven't been, er, fond of me since the morning they realized what had happened to their holy water. They had to hold the ceremony on a little swamp of wrecked building material, in a building that had walls but no floors. I wish I could have seen it, they must have been so pissed off."

"Now if you'll excuse me a moment, I'm making a quick visit to the back."

Knows the time to restart the ambush. Or totally call it the fuck off.

Now I'm a newcomer to this here quest so I don't think my wishes outweighs what the rest of you want. But my 2 cents are we work our way in with the Paladin.

Fact is the fucker is Genre savy and bloody smart. That makes him a good ally......so long as we are okay with becoming a good person.

Now this is long range thinking. But I think he'd look the other way if we only ate "non-sentients". Considering this means monsters there's a lot of species we could predate. It's mainly taking humans off the menu.

Of course if it was one evil fucker. And we just "Disposed" of it's body. He might look the otherway at us nomming a human. Key word there is might.

>Is TempDM just making this shit up on the spot? If so I am impress. Garrison Keeler would be proud.
Hell yes it's on the spot. There's notes I wrote about the paladin, and of course stats, but I was figuring that by now /tg/ would have attempted to ambush and eat him. I'm not going to write pages of backstory for an NPC whose lines are "Hello." and "Blargh I am dead."

Once I get the feel for how a character is supposed to be, though, it's easy to write their story.

Glad you're enjoying it!

I say let him in on the cult down play out eating any one, ask to help, stop them then eat who he cant save or we antecedent kill, ask him for a plan to deal with this

>"Now if you'll excuse me a moment, I'm making a quick visit to the back."
That'd be our cue to leave.
Right. We know this guy isn't as strong as a balor / abishai, but I'm NOT thinking we can take him. Not yet. And wouldn't the strongest swordsman in the country be able to go toe-to-toe with such a demon anyway?

...

Fuck it, ask him if he's comfortable taking on a Werebear.

TempDM, have I mentioned lately that I love you and your stories?

>>11828509
I'm not sure this is the right idea.
It reveals that we know about the cult.
So don't do this.
But we should LET him fight the cult for a bit.
Go through with the ambush, see how he reacts.

>I say let him in on the cult
Nope
>down play out eating any one
Don't mention this
>ask to help
Maybe
>stop them
Nope
>then eat who he cant save
Yep
>or we antecedent kill
Wat
>ask him for a plan to deal with this
Nope

>I say let him in on the cult
maby
>down play out eating any one
Don't mention this
>ask to help
yea
>stop them
try to not us him
>then eat who he cant save
Yep
>or we antecedent kill
yes kill and eat things very good
>ask him for a plan to deal with this
give a plan like us getting them all in one spot

I want to hear the story about the human trafficking ring. It will give us insight into his investigation techniques when dealing with a more human enemy, likely in a more populous area.

>TempDM, have I mentioned lately that I love you and your stories?
I am sincerely glad to hear it. On the same note, all of you players are awesome and make this very fun for me (even with this last part replacing players with readers, oh well). I also meant to thank whomever archived the thread, and everyone voting for it.

>That'd be our cue to leave.
>Fuck it, ask him if he's comfortable taking on a Werebear.
>I say let him in on the cult, down play our eating any one, ask to help, stop them then eat who he cant save or we antecedent kill, ask him for a plan to deal with this
>Other
I'm cool with you picking one, or I'm cool with calling it a night here with most of the players gone to bed. Especially since I'm almost certain to be able to make another thread tomorrow, same time.

>Go through with the ambush, see how he reacts.
I apologize if it wasn't intended after all, but the girl and the older cultist moved out of position per Jack's order.

>I want to hear the story about the human trafficking ring. It will give us insight into his investigation techniques when dealing with a more human enemy, likely in a more populous area.
Tomorrow, please. My carpal tunnel is flaring up like a brushfire, even through Motrin, thanks to all that typing.

>>11828671
> I'm cool with you picking one, or I'm cool with calling it a night here with most of the players gone to bed. Especially since I'm almost certain to be able to make another thread tomorrow, same time.

As much as I hate to say it, I need sleep. If some other people wanna keep going, go ahead, but I'm gonna call it a night. See you tomorrow then.

>>11828671
We'd better not talk about the cult.
Ask him if he can handle a werebear just to guess his strength
then ... call it a night. The players tomorrow can decide if we leave or if we listen to his story.

>>11828738
Nah, since you're the first response in 7 minutes, I'm going to agree and say ending the thread here sounds fantastic.

It's been fun, /tg/. I will attempt to be here tomorrow, same start time or earlier. Stay classy.

>>11828764
Awesome, tomorrow then.

peace out tempdm!