KC's Age of Worms

Game Master Kobold Catgirl

"Yeah, figured. had to try." Eben returns the lopsided grin. "Let me go hit everyone else up, see if they want in." He looks up and gives an amicable wave across the arena at a completely random someone else, departing as though he weren't ever deeply involved in conversation with Tirra to begin with. He then proceeds to sidle around the space, approaching the rest of Spiny's Six in between their own conversations, laying out Tirra's bookmaking and the odds 'against' the party. He doesn't leave out the fact that, besides the monetary reward, beating Auric's Warband would require a severe payout on Raknian's part. But mostly he's just checking to see who else wants to wager on their own success.

Easier to do it this way than have five separate conversations in between your own ongoing NPC meetings. If all six of us go in, that's 417 gp apiece (well, 416.67, to be technical.) Payout will be triple that if we win, which would be separate from the prize money we split with Ekaym. All who want in can just say so.

I want in.

To Tigri:

"Oh, there's one of my other teammates, the chronicler. I gotta go."

To Eben:

"I was just on my way to talk to the bookies anyway so...yeah."

Note that you can still talk to the bookies and place bets separate from your joint one with the thieves.

Dungeon Kobold wrote:

Rodrigo:

Rodrigo is working hard seeming completely unoccupied. Unfortunately, this inevitably means people are going to decide to bother him.

"Excuse me, sir," says a small voice. Rodrigo looks over, then down, seeing a gnome woman climbing up into the seat next to him. Her dyed green hair is done up in a tight bun stuck with several pencils. She's holding a notepad and pencil in her hands as she looks Rodrigo over approvingly. "You're with Spiny's Six, aren't you? My name is Kaslen Fenceli. You must forgive me—I'm a huge Games enthusiast, but I haven't been able to learn much of anything about your group. It's very...

Rodrigo looks up...or rather down at the gnome. "Sure, Ms. Fenecli, ask away."

"Let's see..well, how long has your group been together? Are there any major accomplishments you feel comfortable mentioning? The toughest fight you've been in? What do you think is going to be your group's greatest weakness for the Games? And strength?"

Note that you can still talk to the bookies and place bets separate from your joint one with the thieves.

Farrukh mosies on over to see what the odds are like.

As Eben turns to go, he feels a hand grip his wrist. "Eben. One more thing."

Tirra coughs, releasing him. "Khellek and Auric may be idiots, but they're decent people. Well, no, Khellek's kind of an evil a%@$!$*, but he's a...a good partner. So as a personal favor to me...Make sure they survive. It's hard to find new people to trust in my line of work. Raknian might pay for Auric's resurrection, and he might not. I don't like taking chances any more than you do."

The bookies Farrukh finds are willing to take bets of up to 250 gp, though he gets the impression that some high rollers might exist who would accept more.

"Well if you don't end up facing each other again for whatever reason but we do, we'll even the score for you", Tanith offers.

***

He shrugs at Eben's offer. "Sure, sign me up. Do you think we could up the odds a bit more by building some hype."

Oh, almost forgot.

As Eben is on his way to ask Tanith and Carina, he notices a group of unusual-looking humanoids gathered at a table passing around a large wine glass. Among them are a very short human, a legless halfling, a woman who appears to be boneless, a one-armed, one-legged goblin and a human-sized "individual" with two heads—one male, the other female.

They seem to be in exceptionally high spirits as they perform a curious but catchy chant before their somewhat unpleasant-looking half-elf manager.

Rodrigo Dantares wrote:

Dungeon Kobold wrote:

Rodrigo:

Rodrigo is working hard seeming completely unoccupied. Unfortunately, this inevitably means people are going to decide to bother him.

"Excuse me, sir," says a small voice. Rodrigo looks over, then down, seeing a gnome woman climbing up into the seat next to him. Her dyed green hair is done up in a tight bun stuck with several pencils. She's holding a notepad and pencil in her hands as she looks Rodrigo over approvingly. "You're with Spiny's Six, aren't you? My name is Kaslen Fenceli. You must forgive me—I'm a huge Games enthusiast, but I haven't been able to learn much of anything about your group. It's very...

Rodrigo looks up...or rather down at the gnome. "Sure, Ms. Fenecli, ask away."

"Let's see..well, how long has your group been together? Are there any major accomplishments you feel comfortable mentioning? The toughest fight you've been in? What do you think is going to be your group's greatest weakness for the Games? And strength?"

Take 10 on bluff for a 24.

"Well, I first came up with the concept for Spiny's Six about a decade ago. I've spent the last ten years scouring the darkest corners of Oearth to find the most savage fighters in existence. Getting them to agree to work together on a team was my magnum opus. I think what really brought us together was killing that dragon turtle. We were sailing back from Ket (or somewhere else if that's geographically innapropriate) when it attacked our ship. I've never seen such a brutal dispatch. We had enough turtle soup for the whole rest of the trip," Rodrigo laughs. He appears to think for a moment, before grudgingly continuing to speak. "Our greatest weakness is probably Tanith. The truth is, he's actually a female gnome wearing a greater hat of disguise. She's a masterful illusionist, but hir gender identity issues have been causing shim a lot of stress lately. I'm really hoping she can hold it together long enough to fight. Our greatest strength of course is Eben. He might appear like nothing more than a simple chronicler, but I've seen him call creatures from the depths of Hell so nightmarish they lack humanly pronounceable names. I sometimes worry about the rash of disappearing orphans that seems to haunt our group's travels, but I'm honestly too scared of him to bring it up."

Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 10

The gnome jots all this down, clearly interested. "Mm-hm. Good to know. Sounds like your enemies have a lot on their plates." She smiles brightly. "Thank you for your time! Good luck in the games, and good luck to your illusionist friend!"

With that said, she hops down and heads over to the slateboard, where Farrukh overhears her saying some rather strange things about his group to the other bookies.

She buys it, but the lie's not quite convincing enough to affect your odds.

Stuff.

Stop triggering me you ableist cis scum.

It's not about you, Tanith. Actually, it's about ethics in Champion's Gaming journalism.

I live in China, these words mean nothing to me. :P

Hope I didn't actually trigger anything though...just a harmless bluff.

It's not about you, Tanith. Actually, it's about ethics in Champion's Gaming journalism.

Check your privilege.

Oh, almost forgot.

As Eben is on his way to ask Tanith and Carina, he notices a group of unusual-looking humanoids gathered at a table passing around a large wine glass. Among them are a very short human, a legless halfling, a woman who appears to be boneless, a one-armed, one-legged goblin and a human-sized "individual" with two heads—one male, the other female.

They seem to be in exceptionally high spirits as they perform a curious but catchy chant before their somewhat unpleasant-looking half-elf manager.

Gooble gobble!

What would I have to do to track down one of these "high rollers"?

Eben says in a low, but reassuring voice to Tirra, "Look, my preference is that nobody dies at all. I wouldn't have even signed up if the games were lethal-required. I don't think I'll even have to pull any strings to keep Auric and Khellek alive, even Tanith likes them. But if things get crazy... I'll do whatever I can to make sure they just take a nap, and not a dirt one."

It'd be a Diplomacy check, I'm afraid, and a pretty tough one. Raknian frowns on large-scale betting in his operations.

Is the only payout on these 'who wins the belt', or are there lesser payouts for advancing round to round?

I think I listed those...aha!

"Winning teams of the first round recieve a bronze trophy and a cash payout of 2,000 gp.

"Winning teams of the second round recieve a silver trophy and a cash payout of 5,000 gp.

"Winning teams of the third round recieve a gold trophy and a cash payout of 10,000 gp.

"And the winner of the Champion’s Games wins the right to wear the Champion’s Belt for a year." Ekaym's eyebrows arch. "Along with a cash payout of 20,000 gp, of course."

Sorry, I was unclear. Are the individual bookies payouts based on the grand prize only? So If I wanted to place a longshot bet on the Woodchuckers, would they have to beat us & Auric and win the belt for there to be any return on that wager?

I believe you can bet on individual battles.

PCs can attempt to adjust their odds up to three times with Bluff checks during the Free Dinner (you've used once). The check to move from a particular rank is easier the more "average" the rank is—moving either direction from Rank #5, for instance, is much easier than moving from Rank #2 or Rank #8.

Since the elves are apparently full on man-hating amazons, is there anything Tanith can do to improve the payout on our odds?

You can talk down your own team to bookies.

Also, harken ye the words of the wise savant Stephanie Meyer: "I am not anti-female. I am anti-human."

Well that's not something Tanith's going to do either so I suppose Tanith's going to hang out.

Wait, did you just quote the author of Twilight?

She is wise and knows much of elf psychology. Or whatever psychology Bella possesses. Not sure yet; need to do more research.

Unable to resist the insane odds, Eben places a bet of 100 gp on the Woodchuckers to advance to the second round. And then, just because he has an oddly good feeling about them, (that legless halfling looks like he could carry a mean knife in his mouth while crawling along) 50 gp on One of Us.

And while he's around the bookies, he regales whoever is listening with a rousing tale of how he and Spiny's Six managed to overcome a horrifying gang of kobolds. "Well, I got captured by them- I mean, there were three of them and one of me, what was I going to do? But when my friends managed to sneak in to the lair, we had a rousing battle with the kobold king and his concubines! We managed to take down four of the five kobold ladies, and the king and his last concukoboldine just barely managed to get away. We would have chased them, but we were hurt pretty badly. But we knew we'd meet them again, someday. Those kobolds are our arch-nemeses! Why, they might even attack us while we're vulnerable in the arena tomorrow!"

Using Quick Change to take 20 on my Bluff check.

Bluff: 20 + 21 = 41

Eben:
Eben can tell that those listening—including several other gladiators—are stifling laughter as they listen to his harrowing tale.

Farrukh is pushed aside by a bookkeeper. He wipes out a number next to one of the teams and writes in a new one.

Spiny's Six has been lowered to Rank 2.

Anybody still nearby Ekaym, make a Sense Motive check.

Let's see...Farrukh is checking out the odds, Tanith and Carina are sitting around, Rodrigo is listening to Sombra, Astraden's player is occupied, and Eben is confusing bookies. Just to recap.

We're not 'sitting around'. We're talking to the haughty elven ladies.

Ah, I took your earlier posts to mean you were giving up on the conversation.

"Well if you don't end up facing each other again for whatever reason but we do, we'll even the score for you", Tanith offers.

Rennida sniffs. "I don't see much likelihood, but I suppose the sentiment is appreciated. And if we end up facing you before then, my family and I will try to keep from killing you."

Once Rodrigo finishes off whatever food is within reach, he begins drinking in earnest. Ye gods...how long is this thing going to last? I'm getting chafed in all this damp velvet.

Basically the only thing left to do of any importance is placing wagers (and possibly tampering with odds). Does anybody want to, besides Eben?

By the way, Eben is free to make the second check to try to hit Rank 1. There's no "one per person" rule, though aids might come in handy this time.

I as a player don't really understand betting odds etc, and don't care to. But I wanted to do this "Easier to do it this way than have five separate conversations in between your own ongoing NPC meetings. If all six of us go in, that's 417 gp apiece (well, 416.67, to be technical.) Payout will be triple that if we win, which would be separate from the prize money we split with Ekaym. All who want in can just say so."

Should I just mark off 417 gp?

417, yeah.

Farrukh is in on Eben's plan, and places a 250 gp bet on Spiny's Six winning the tournament.

"Nice to meet you, Joren," Astraden says, baring her own sharp canines. "See you after the games, if we both make it through." She inclines her head to the gnolls and heads towards Eben, who she's noticed approaching.

After getting the scoop, she tromps through the mud over towards One of Us, quickly devouring half a chicken breast as she walks. "Hey, what are you singing?"

Once she's talked to the people there, she'll walk over to Eben and the bookies and stage a choking fit.

Auto-aid.

Astraden:

"Just an old rhyme we know," the legless halfling says cheerfully. "We were chanting it for Olga here. She's been very helpful in getting us into the Games."

Olga, their manager, gives a tight smile.

"Aren't you with that 'spine' group, or something like that?" the short human asks. "We've been hearing about you. Best of luck with those kobolds! A lot of folk don't get how nasty those guys can get when they've got a home base."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled," the boneless woman says, smiling sympathetically. There is no trace in mockery in the gladiators' words, though perhaps there may be a hint of concern that Astraden's group is going to get slaughtered tomorrow.

Rodrigo Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16
Nope. And looks like everyone else is out and about.

"Yeah, those kobolds . . . damn, it was almost like the housecat fight all over again. I'm glad we didn't lose anyone that time."

Bluff: 10 + 12 = 22

"But yeah, that's us. Spiny's Six. How about you? Where'd you get your name from?" Astraden eats a chunk of white, fluffy bread dipped in olive oil after speaking.

As Farrukh is finishing up his wager, he's again shoved aside when a bookkeeper rushes in and hurriedly adjusts the odds. Again.

Spiny's Six - Rank 1

Astraden:

"All our lives, we've been treated like crap for being different," says a vaguely humanoid face growing from the chest of a brawny half-orc. "Like nothing, at best. But adventuring hasn't got the same rules. 'One of Us' means that anyone who joins our team, no matter what they look like, is a teammate." The half-orc 'host' nods mutely, gesturing to the half-ettin. The head speaks again. "And it annoys the hell of of Jack."

"It really should be 'One (or more) of Us'..." the half-ettin's male head mutters.

The female head rolls her eyes. "It's just an arena name, Jack."

We'll be moving along shortly.

Carina stands up and nods. "It was a pleasure meeting you. Tanith, let's go--I think we should regroup with the others." She extends a hand to Tanith.

Tanith takes the offered hand. "Yeah, good idea."

Back home, but it looks like we've been bumped back down another rank- does that mean I don't need to do another Bluff?

Aside from that, the respondees to the 2500 gp wager were Farrukh, Tanith, and Rodrigo. Did I miss Carina or Astraden's signing on? If not & it's just the four of us, that's 625 apiece instead.

Carina didn't put any money up yet. I'll chip in my 417 gp. Because why not, right? :)

It will be almost overwhelmingly hillarious if a series of really bad rolls leave us out in Round 1, but yeah.

Eben, you're good for Bluff checks. Astraden's going to pitch in, she's just busy right now.

Another half-hour goes by before a quiet descends upon the crowd. A group of male and female dancers emerges to surround the central bonfire and begins whirling around it, their lean bodies outlined by the roaring flames. As the dance builds, an impressive display of explosions and arcs of fire and lightning burst upward into the air from the bonfire. Suddenly lightning strikes from above, hitting the bonfire dead in the center and releasing a shower of brilliant bursting sparks and an earsplitting crack of thunder.

In the sudden silence that follows, the dancers fall to the ground and Loris Raknian announces in a jubilant roar: “The Champion’s Games...have begun!”

Afterwards, the party is hurriedly reunited by Ekaym. They notice the crowd is starting to move towards one part of the massive arena, and Ekaym is leading them in the same direction. "Hark, my fine friends, we must away to the Coenoby! I hope you enjoyed chatting with your fellow gladiators—I myself was somewhat occupied dealing with the bookkeepers, but I'm confident..." Passing by the rankings board, he seems to notice the group's new number. "Hm. Well, I've met the Woodchuckers once or twice, and we are in fine company. Anyways, let's go—there's something I should actually really expl—oof!"

"Hol' up, misser." A burly bodyguard has grabbed the bard by the shoulder. "First night the gladiators sleep wi'out their managers."

"Oh, but what if—"

"We've got enough to worry with wi'out havin' to worry about thirty extra weasels. Er, no 'fense." Showing almost no effort, the bodyguard lifts Ekaym up and sets him distinctly apart from the rest of the group. "You can visit 'em after the first battle. Judgin' by their scores, they'll be needin' some comfort then." She pauses again. "No 'fense."

Ekaym looks reluctant, but he steps aside. "Right. We'll...talk tomorrow."

Up ahead, the group sees that the gladiators are filing slowly onto some sort of large lift. It begins descending downwards, carrying seven at a time. Considering there are almost two hundred gladiators present, it's a slow process.

"I HATE waiting in lines..."

Shortly before the final entertainments of the Feast, Eben makes his way back to Tirra with a heavy sack of gold collected from Spiny's Six. "I think you'll find the odds on us winning have lowered significantly in the past hour..." he says with a pleased grin. "Boy, I hope we don't have to face kobolds in the Games!" He hands the money over. Then he finds another bookie and makes a private wager of 250 gold of his own on the- now very sad looking- Spiny's Six.

-150 for my wagers on the Woodchuckers and One of Us
—417 for the group wager
—250 for my private wager on us

After the dancing and explosions (Eben sniffs a bit derisively at the spectacle. "Illusions should be subtle," he critiques to anyone who cares to listen) he rejoins with the rest of the group. "Well, it took some doing, but everyone thinks we're the most incompetent gladiators that ever swung a sword. So this should be fun."

Tanith stares at Eben in confusion. "Wait, you want people to think we're incompetent? Why would we want that?"

"Because now we're- alongside of the Woodchuckers- considered the least likely team to win, which means the payout if we do win is really, really high." He pauses and looks thoughtful. "I wonder if the Woodchuckers are secretly a really competent but clever group too? Hope so, I couldn't resist betting on them as well..."