Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Friday 13 July 1280, All Day (Good Housekeeping)

Duran listens as the others ask questions, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Gaven, whose curiosity outweighs his fatigue, asks Belloc: "any news on the Grey Fox bandits?"

"Not much," replies the captain. In fact, most of what I know comes from you. There have been some robberies on the road near Blackwell, but otherwise nothing you haven't already told me yourselves. The appearance of the 'grey men' that Alanna sent to do you in makes me wonder if she has joined up with them. Odd, since one of my own detachments reported seeing her heading southwest..."

The captain trails off as if thinking.

Gaven then asks: "What of the giant south of here we sent word on?"

"Ah, him," says the captain. "I've dispatched a diplomatic mission on that front. We've had the odd giant in the vicinity before. They're not all bad, some of them are fairly decent creatures. They come in, build a small cabin pasture some giant sheep for a season or two then move on. That type you can talk to and usually come to an understanding with them – making sure they keep off the roads and somewhat out of sight so as not to frighten travelers and merchants. The other type...well, let's just say I hope this one isn't the other type. In a day or two we should know which kind this fellow is."

"Do you know if the halfling merchant Filbert is still in town?" asks Gaven. "Filbert...Filbert..." says Belloc. "Was he that little fellow with the banged up head back at the Northstar Inn last week? Had a run-in with some grey men too, didn't he? To be honest, I'm not too sure. I haven't much thought of him with all the post-battle refitting and the new situations with the giant and Alanna."

Gaven asks one last question: "Any other rumors or concerns of note?"

The captain says: "Just that Maggie the Moon Witch was spotted again up near the Northstar again, though no trouble came of it. And there was the usual report of wolf – or werewolf – howls down Blackleaf way. With the full moon out right now, I'd say you were fortunate not to run into any yourselves."

The captain reads the fatigue on the faces of the party members. "You men look like you need a rest now. Go on back to the Red Tankard. If that giant turns out to be the wrong sort, and you're not engaged in any other work, you'd certainly be welcome to help us deal with him."

Oloc thanks the Captain for his generosity, and suggests that the party get a table at the inn to divide up the treasure and discuss their next course of action. He wants to see about getting a room, then take a bath, eat, and the hit the sack.

Duran, too, wants only to go to the Tavern, divide up the loot and get a meal, drink, bath and a bed. 

*****

With that you leave Belloc's office most of the party head to the Red Tankard, Gaven goes first to the Temple to pray then joins the rest of you at the inn.

Sadie and Sal greet you warmly. Sal starts making you a good hot meal while Sadie runs upstairs to get some rooms ready. The inn itself is rather quiet this morning – all the travelers have resumed their journeys, and the locals tend to show up only at meal times.

Shortly Sadie comes back down and tells you baths are prepared and your rooms are ready. Since Sal's food isn't quite ready, you go upstairs and clean yourselves off, before returning to the common room for your meal. After that, barely able to keep your eyes open, you head up to your rooms to get some sleep.

After a few hours, the noise of the lunch crowd wakes you and you take another meal in the common room, before heading out to sell off the mundane items and valuables you picked up in your foray against the bandits. All told, you manage to pull in 1824 g.p, 5 s.p. for those items. Along with the coins you picked up from the bandits, your total monetary haul comes to 2629 g.p., 7 s.p.

By the time you sell everything off, it's the dinner hour, and you head back to the Tankard to take another meal and divide up your coin, each of you taking a share of 657 g.p., 4 s.p., 3 c.p.

You still have some potentially magical items to deal with. Gaven asks to take possession of the vial of pale green liquid, and he and Oloc both look at the scroll you picked up. Gaven finds the words unreadable, but Oloc can decipher it with little difficulty – the scroll contains an arcane variant of a "Protection from Chaos" spell.

*****

With a few hours of daylight left, you decide, at Gaven's suggestion, to go to Cosmo's to identify the potion, and just to look around at any new items the old mage may have in stock.

On the way there, you pass by the temple once more and Gaven steps in to make a donation. Pleased with Gaven's substantial donation, the brothers reward Gaven with an amulet. "This amulet," a brother tells him, "is called the Medallion of the Righteous. It will grant you protection against the dead who have returned to the living (OOC: +1 to AC vs. undead)."

Leaving the temple, you continue on your way to Cosmo's.

*****

Cosmo seems genuinely pleased to see you, and as you walk down the long dimensionally transendental corridor to his back room, you have plenty of time to relate your tale, which is punctuated frequently by Cosmo's "oohs" and "ahhhs" that make you think he misses adventuring now that he seems too old for it himself.

Once in the back room, Gaven hands the vial of green liquid to Cosmo.  Cosmo looks at it, swishes it around, peers at it with candle-light behind it, gives it a sniff, then smiles.

"Ha!" he says. "I know what this is!" He sticks the tip of his finger into the liquid and licks it off. "Sure as the sunrise!" he exclaims. "I made this one myself. Distillate of Bezoar, is what you've got there my young cleric. That will cure any poison known to man, as long as the victim drinks it before the poison manages to kill him."

Then he frowns. "You picked that up from the bandits you say? Hmph! I've never sold to any bandits. Harlon and a few other screen my customers carefully for me, as you well know. The rotten no-goods must have stolen it from one of my legitimate customers."

He thinks a moment and then adds. "Tell you what. I'm so glad you took that away from those ruffians, I'll let you have the identification for free – I'd hate to think anything I made or sold fell into the wrong hands!"

Cosmo then glances at the rest of the party members milling around the back room. "See anything you like lads?"

Looking over the shelves, you see that the stock has changed considerably since the last time you were here. You note the following items that could be useful for individuals in your line of work:

Potion of Invulnerability.....250 gp (OOC: +2 to saves; -2 to enemy's attack roll)
Potion of Fire Resistance.....250 gp (OOC: +2 to saves vs. fire; if no save allowed, half damage from fire)
Potion of Cure Light Wounds...200 gp (OOC: cures 1d6+1 hp)
Returning Throwing Dagger....150 gp (OOC: no bonus, but returns to throwers hand after each shot; ROF = 1)
Borland's Shield.....500 g.p. (OOC: Shield +1 to AC)
Hagar's Short Sword....500 g.p. (OOC: Short Sword +1 to hit/damage)
Rope of Climbing....1000 g.p. (OOC: leaps upward, ties and unties on command)
Ruger's Perfect Arrow.....250 g.p. each (OOC: only one use each; automatically hits the target and does double max damage; Cosmo has four in his stock)
Apprentice's Ring of Spell Storing.....300 g.p. (OOC: grants M-U one additional spell slot per day) Losenges of Healing (Wild Cherry).....50 g.p. each (OOC: heals 1 hp; Cosmo has four of these)

After looking around and deciding what you do or don't want, you conclude your business for the evening with Cosmo, who sends you off with a cheerful farewell.

*****

As darkness begins to fall, you return to the Red Tankard. When you enter the inn, the place seems a bit more crowded as travelers have arrived to spend the night, and the local townsfolk drink and talk. You barely get inside the door before you see a familiar face – it's Filbert.

The halfling jumps up and waves to you from across the room. "Hallo! Sadie and Sal told me you were back in town. Earlier than I expected too!"

Seeing Filbert's enthusiastic greeting, Oloc suggests quietly to the rest of you: "Blackwell Keep, anyone?"

*************************

OOC: Actions? If you wished to buy anything from Cosmo, just let me know and we'll say you bought it while you were there. Simply tell me, subtract the g.p. and add it to your sheet.

Depending on whether or not you use magical healing to bring Varros back up to full hp, you may need to spend time in town to heal him up; Oloc may or may not want to spend some time copying the new scroll; Varros and Duran may want to spend time training, etc. Just let me now what you want to do. 

Note that for healing, any "light" activity like running errands, buying gear, etc. is considered "rest," allowing healing to take place. More rigorous activities (like martial training) do not count as rest and no healing takes place on a day when such activity occurs. So Varros (and anyone else who was down any hp) just healed 1 h.p. today.

Recovery of h.p. is at a rate of 1 per day of rest, unless magic is used.

If you want to buy specific pieces of equipment, just say so, subtract the g.p. and it's yours. Anything in the rulebook is available at price in town.

If you want to talk to Cosmo again, or the Abbot, the Mayor, Belloc, just let me know who you want to speak with and about what. Remember too, that you did hear tell of a Sage named Bede (see NPC page) who might know things that might relate to activities you wish to undertake (though you'd have to travel out to see him). 

Finally, here is the rundown on the new items you acquired/identified in this post:

"Protection from Chaos" Scroll (Magic-User version; chaotic creatures attacking M-U get -1 to hit, and M-U gets +1 to saves)

"Medallion of the Righteous" (given to Gaven for contribution to church; provides +1 bonus to AC vs. undead)

"Distillate of Bezoar" (pale green liquid Gaven had ID'd by Cosmo; cures any poison if taken quickly before death occurs)

Make sure you've made notes of these things on your sheet (along with whatever advantage they give you).

21 comments:

  1. Duran - Fighter


    OOC: Any update on XP and how much to the next level?

    I would like to take at least one of Ruger's Perfect Arrow and one Losenges of Healing.

    Also we might want to think about all going in on a horse/mule to help carry gear for us.

    I'll post actions once I figure out XP and what else we will be buying.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OOC: Each of you gets

    150 xp for enemies defeated (plus any bonus; but I don't think Duran has one)

    Then for treasure each of you gets: 657 gp, 4 sp, 3 cp

    All gold you have converts to x.p. when you spend it (and at conversion, those x.p. get bumped by any bonus).

    The "Rules, House Rules and Rulings" page:

    http://westkingdom.blogspot.com/p/rules-house-rules-and-rulings.html

    has all the info on x.p. for spending.

    To make level 2, a fighter needs a total of 2000 x.p.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OOC:

    Gaven has leveled up, and now gets an additional 6 hp (plus any CON bonus he may have); a saving throw of 14; and now has access to 1 first-level clerical spell per day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OOC:

    Just a little more help for everyone with double-checking your x.p.

    You each have earned (not including bonuses), through all your adventures to this point, a total of:

    392 x.p. from killing monsters
    1716.19 g.p. (some of which you may have already converted to x.p. by spending it)

    What that means is that theoretically (assuming you spent every gold piece you've earned, and again not including any bonuses), each of you has a total potential of:

    2108 x.p.

    To verify this, simply add your existing X.P. and your existing gold. If your total falls short of this, it means you've forgotten to add in something that you earned, or that you spent g.p. and forgot to convert to x.p. If that's the case, go ahead and simply add in the difference in gold and/or x.p. as you see fit. If your total is a bit over that, it's probably okay, provided you've got some sort of x.p. bonus (either from your stats or from some bonus question I offered in the comments).

    If you have a bonus, your potential (again assuming you spent every g.p. possible) would be:

    2213 xp (5% bonus)
    2318 xp (10% bonus)
    2424 xp (15% bonus)


    This should give you an idea as to where you stand. Basically everyone but Oloc should be capable of leveling at this point (assuming you spend sufficient g.p.), regardless of bonus.

    Remember every g.p. you spend counts as x.p. earned. That includes buying gear, buying magic items, giving gold to the hirelings, cost of living, etc. The special "major expenditures" in the x.p. from spending rules are different only in that they can get you an added perk of some kind (like the gift of Gaven's amulet from the church).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gaven - cleric


    Gaven looks over Cosmo's wares, "This is a fine shield, I will take it. Please hold it for me while I secure my funds. When we spoke with Captain Belloc, he mentioned that Maggie the Moon Witch has been seen again. What do you know of her?"


    Gaven smiles at the halfling, "Well met Filbert. I am glad to see you waited for us. Have you gathered any men? Have you heard any more rumors on the Grey Foxes?"


    Gaven will visit the temple each day to aid as he could and to pray for guidance on his next mission. If Abbot Cuthbert is present, he will ask about any happenings around town, rumors, etc.


    Gaven will visit with Elsie Miggins, Bob Barley, and Dagwood to see how they are doing and for any rumors.


    OOC: Did we use up any rations?

    Gaven will take his gems from the church/bank and cash them out to buy Borland's Shield (unless someone else wants it). He will then bank 100 gp with the temple.

    A mule would be useful. We can buy one for 20 gp (5 each). I will deduct that as well from my gp.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaven will give his old shield to Stan.

      Delete
    2. Check that, Stan already has a shield. Gaven will sell the shield for 5 gp.

      Also, made a mistake back in the last thread. For some reason I thought there were 4 mercs. So Gaven gave 10 gp to the 3 mercs and the 2 laborers each.

      Delete
    3. OOC: You all would have used up one day's rations (I can't remember if I asked everyone to subtract earlier or not). Basically if you've already taken off 1 day, you're ok; otherwise you'll need to subtract one.

      Delete
  6. Oloc - Magic-User

    Oloc wanders around Cosmo's place with huge eyes and an open mouth, eyeing all of the magical wares. Ultimately he ends on three items that he offers to buy.

    ooc: Oloc would like to buy the Ring of Spell Storing (300), the Returning Throwing Dagger (150), and the Potion of CLW (200).

    Oloc will give each of the hirelings a 15 gp bonus.

    If I calculate correctly this will give me 695xp for gp spend + 150xp for monsters + 5% bonus for 887 xp. I will then have 258 gp left (including my previous leftover gold)


    My new xp total is 1924. I think this is close to your calcs, Bard, but I have obviously missed a little bit along the way! Let me know if this is all ok and I will update my sheet.

    And once back in the Tankard with Filbert, Oloc will push the Blackwell Keep suggestion! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ooc: And if the party is up for another day's wait to rest, recover, shop, train, etc. then Oloc would take the time to copy the Protection from Chaos scroll into his spellbook. But it isn't imperative - he would be fine with moving on as well.

      Delete
    2. OOC: your calculations look pretty right to me, though I think you actually short-changed yourself a hair somewhere along the way. I come up with a total potential x.p. based on your numbers of 2194.9 -- my guess is that you may have forgotten to convert g.p. to x.p. for some minor expense at at some point. It looks like you should have either about 18 x.p. more or about 17 g.p. more. Feel free to add in the difference.

      Level advancement is slow enough in PbB; you don't want to make it harder on yourself than it is already, even if it is by just a few coins/xp. :)

      Delete
    3. OOC: copying your scroll will only take one day at any rate; with Gaven's interrogations below, Varros' need to heal, and Duran's inquiry about training, the party will be in town at least that long anyway, so you can easily do this.

      Delete
  7. Duran - Fighter


    At the Tankard:
    Greeting Filbert Duran says, "Glad to see you did not set off without us. When were you planning to leave? We may need some time to rest and refit. Our friend Varros here had a rough go these past few days."

    OOC:


    I think we should go with Filbert. Depending on when he wants to leave will depend if I have time for training. I believe we have to spend two weeks in training to get the bonus. How much will that cost?

    Duran will also give 10gp each to the hirelings.

    Along with the mule I think we should purchase saddle and bags for it(also throw in some fodder for it to round it to a nice even figure). (30gp+10gp+1gp=8gp each)

    I am tempted to buy a horse but do not want to do so until everyone else is ready to.

    Buying/Selling:
    Sell old leather armor (+7gp)
    2x Ruger's Perfect Arrow (-500gp)
    Losenges of Healing (-50gp)
    2x Trail Rations (-2gp)
    2x Day Rations (-6gp)
    share of mule/saddle/bags/fodder (-8gp)
    Restocking Arrows and maintenance on bow/armor (-31gp)
    Tip to hirelings (-50gp)

    Depending on how long we stay in town I may spend the required money to train and level up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OOC:

      That is correct, it will take two weeks to do training. The cost is g.p. equal to 1/2 the amount needed to level up, so 1000 g.p. (to get the perk of +1 hp).

      If it's just a question of spending enough g.p. to get the x.p. (without worrying about the perk), then it's any amount you want to spend and any amount of time you want to spend.

      That said, I think we can say that Filbert will be willing to wait for 2 weeks of healing, training, refitting, etc.

      He might grumble about it, but deep down he knows you guys are the bees knees, and he's not likely to find a more badass bunch of guys to throw in with.

      Delete
  8. OOC: Also in terms of Varros' healing time, you guys do have an easy way to shorten that dramatically now that Gaven has access to first-level spells.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OOC: yes, Gaven will memorize and use CLW on Varros and before the adventure will memorize Prot from Chaos*.

    Gaven will chip in for saddle, bags and fodder. Not sure we need horses yet. Blackwell is pretty close. Plus, we'd probably need more labored just to watch the horses and we'd need to buy horses and supplies for all the mercs.

    *Will Prot from Chaos work against kobolds and morlocks?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OOC: Gaven will also buy one more trail ration to replace the used one.

      Delete
    2. OOC:

      re: Prot from Chaos -- Yep, most definitely.

      Delete
  10. Duran - Fighter

    OOC: If everyone is ok with it Duran will take the two weeks to train and adjust my above purchases in order to have have enough gp to get the +1hp. If not I'll still spend enough to level up and save the extra money.

    I'll only take one of Ruger's Perfect Arrows (-250)

    Just let me know how to adjust my character stats. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Duran reaches level 2; stat adjustments are that he gets 4 additional hp (rolled for 3, plus he gets the additional one for training, assuming everyone's okay with that). Duran also now gets a to-hit bonus on his attack rolls of +1 for being a second level fighter (see Ascending AC Combat Table, p. 35), and his saving throw is now 13.

      The training will take two weeks. I can tell you in this instance that there is no in-game penalty to your characters for spending the two weeks in town while Duran (and potentially Varros) train. Because of the content of the coming post (which I should have finished soon) you all won't lose out on any opportunities by letting Duran train.

      Delete