DM Carbide's Kingmaker (Inactive)

Game Master John Woodford

Vasily slides down off Sev and jogs down to the water to the horses. He keeps his hands low, trying not to look too threatening, and reaches out to try to calm the beasts down.

Wild Empathy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Wild Empathy +4 or he can Aid Another for the Fitcher's check if Fitcher rolls higher.

Vasily is able to calm the horses.

The Fitcher assesses the situation, looking a bit edgy astride his horse.

Does the wagon look well and truly stuck? Now that the horses are calmer, the Fitcher would probably try to hitch his own steed to the wagon and help them to pull, if there seemed to be any hope that it might work.

The swirling, silty water blocks easy examination of the state of the wagon's wheels. Based on how it shifted when the ponies tried to pull it, though, the Fitcher thinks that it could move with a bit more muscle behind it. It should be possible to hitch to the traces and get it free, though getting the ponies to go along with that will take a Handle Animal check or another Wild Empathy check.

Vasily is better with the animals, so The Fitcher hitches his steed to the wagon, trying to keep the beasts calm, but letting Vasily take the lead.

Aid Vasily with Wild Empathy 1d20 ⇒ 14, and hitch horse (ride?) 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

I started playing back in the Dark Ages, before AD&D of any edition, and somewhere in the back of my head I still think that druids need to have CHA 15 or higher.

Round 1: The Fitcher wades into the surf and reaches the wagon, Vasily calms the ponies, and Katya starts to conjure. Bea follows the Fitcher into the water.

Round 2: The Fitcher is able to get his horse tied on to the tack, and manages to convince the ponies that they'd really like to try to pull the wagon out of the muck. Unless obviated by the player, Bea ties on to the other side of the team.

Bea Ride check to tie on: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Vasily and Katya, you're up! Next round, you can start making STR checks for the horses to get the wagon moving.

Ok... since we are trying to get the ponies to pull the wagon, can we change Katya's animal to a Celestial Aurochs and have it move into position behind the wagon to help lift it out of the muck? If that's ok, here's the Aurochs' strength check.

Strength: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Works for me.

Katya calls forth an avatar of the Bull of Heaven, which obligingly pushes against the rear of the wagon. It creaks and rocks forward slightly, but remains stuck fast.

Since it's going to come up--in a situation like this, where you have a lot of creatures pulling/pushing on the same thing and making STR checks, everyone rolls their check normally. The highest result is taken as the primary, and then every one of the other rolls that are ten or higher are taken as Aid Anothers to the primary.

Vasily clucks at the horses and pulls out his secret weapon- a couple of dried apples- as he tries to convince the horses to pull harder.

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

I'll do the rolls to move things along.

Round 3:

Bea dismounts into the waist-deep water and pulls along with the various quadrupeds. The combined effort nearly frees the wagon...but not quite.

Pony check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Pony check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Bea horse check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
The Fitcher horse check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Aurochs check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Bea check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Round 4:

Before the wagon can settle back into the muck, though, the celestial aurochs gives a mighty heave. The wheels come free, and you're able to get the wagon out of the water to the cheers of the grateful gnomes.

The leader of the expedition hops down from his hillock with a broad grin. "Thank you, thank you! Here, come by our fire and dry yourselves. I am Jubilost Narthropple, explorer extraordinaire, and these are my companions and most valued assistants." He gives a florid and elaborate bow. "Please stay for a meal--it is the least that I can do for you who've saved us so much."

The Fitcher walks his horse up onto dry land, tying it nearby so it can relax and eat some grass. He gives it a pat on the flank before turning to the gnome. Pleasure to meet you. I am The Fitcher. We are surveying this land. Where are you bound?

The Fitcher keeps his expression neutral, and says nothing more until Bea speaks up. He looks over at the kobold bodies, but makes no comment. Do they look like they've been killed in a battle? Are they clearly dead, or might they still be alive? Perception 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20 Maybe heal as well? 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

They are clearly dead from wounds, and the blood on their weapons & wounds on the gnomes at least implies a recent fight.

Vasily nods at the Fitcher, agreeing with his question. He looks curiously in the direction of the wagon and the other gnomes. "Your assistants? This is an organized expedition, then. Where are you from?"

"Artume, most recently. I'm looking for new and interesting things. Seen any?"

"There's a tendriculos guarding a patch of rare mushrooms by a hot spring, if that's the kind of interesting you're talking about. An unfriendly wyvern flying around these parts, too."

The Fitcher holds his arms out to the sides in order to gesture widely. This, I think, is interesting also. Do you wish to speak of these happenings, maybe?

The gnome scribbles note as Vasily and The Fitcher talk. "That's the sort of thing I mean! Where did you see them?"

Vasily gives the gnome directions to the tendriculos's mud pit and the place where they were attacked by the wyvern.

"Interesting, interesting." Can I get a Diplomacy check for the party? In this instance I'm good with everyone rolling, and making the highest possible total check out of it.

Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 20 OMG. I'm currently in the middle of combat in another game here on the boards and have rolled a 4, 1, and 3 in my past 3 rounds. Where are the 20s in combat, dicebot!?

I hate it when that happens.

The Fitcher produces a genuine, if a bit feral, smile.

diplomacy 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

The gnome seems to be warming to you. "Tell me--have you been to Candlemere? I didn't have a boat, so all I could do was map it from the shore."

Vasily grimaces. "We have. I would not recommend trying to land on the island. We were attacked by will o' wisps as we tried to explore."

"I hope you didn't leave anyone behind--they're dangerous." Inferring from Vasily's tone that no one died, he laughs and looks over at one of the other gnomes, who has the grace to look abashed. "Told you it was a bad idea to land there!"

More to come.

As you're talking, the other gnomes are performing various chores--cleaning up the camp area, tossing kobold bodies into the river, and preparing a meal. Narthropple rubs his hands together. "Now, then. You've been most helpful, and I hate to be mercenary, but I do have an expedition to support. If you'd like, I can sell you copies of my maps. Since you've given me some valuable information, I'll start by giving you one outright." He brings out a scroll from the wagon you saved and unrolls it. It shows a location which Katya recognizes as the barrow that the mad hermit also had a cruder map to--Narthropple's map and description are much more accurate, and you'll be able to find it easily.

"I have four other maps, and I'll sell them for 500 gold each."

"What regions do they cover? We wouldn't want to buy a map to territory we already know."

Do we have 2000 gp to spend? If this counts as hex exploration, could we take the money out of the treasury?

Thanks for your patience. I think you have the money between you. Taking it out of the treasury because the maps would speed up exploration makes sense, which is to say it'll fly if you don't tank a roll.

He'll tell you that he's found an abandoned keep west of Nadezhda, that he's met and spoken with a dryad in the forest, he's found signs of some large beast in the forest near the abandoned keep, and he's mapped a ferry station south of Nadezhda.

We should attempt to use the treasury to buy the maps.

The Fitcher smiles as the trading begins. People who want to buy and sell generally don't want to stab you in the back. Literally, at least. A reasonable opening offer, but I think you can see that we may be valuable partners in the future, no? Maybe 1500 gp if we buy the lot?

Diplomacy 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18 and Sense Motive to tell if he is planning to rip us off, either with this deal specifically, or more generally 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Aid Another on Diplo attempt: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Vasily nods. "Not to mention that we've been through much of this countryside ourselves. Perhaps we could simply trade maps, an even swap."

Fitcher, he seems sincere. He's apparently trying to recoup some part of his investment in the expedition. In response to your counteroffers, he frowns. "You've helped me a lot, I admit. What I'm really interested in is trolls, though. Have you seen any of those in your travels?"

The Fitcher shakes his head, shrugs and looks around at the rest of the group. Have you heard that there are trolls about, maybe?

I found some posts about trolls, but they were from before Vasily's time.

Vasily shakes his head. "Not that I've heard. Why the interest in trolls?"

"Rumors only. Some sort of troll chief with a fabulous treasure. The usual, don't you know? I think 1500 gold would suffice, if you promise to get word to me if you hear anything about trolls."

Vasily nodded. "Tell us where we can send word and it's a deal."

"Leave word for me at Oleg and Svetlana's trading post, or at the outfitters in Nadezhda. I get back there occasionally."

Not surprisingly, The Fitcher likes the idea of a "fabulous treasure".

Vasily nods. "We'll send word if we hear anything. I wouldn't go chasing trolls if I were you, though."

He smiles. "We can run away with the best of them. Oh--one more question. Do you know of any kobold bands about? We'd really rather avoid the scaly little rats."

-Posted with Wayfinder

The Kobold dealings were way before The Fitcher's time. I doubt he knows anything about them.

Same for Vasily.

Vasily, you know that Bea and a few of the other councilors spoke of having had reasonably cordial dealings with a kobold band in the eastern part of the Kamelands.

Vasily nodded in Bea's direction. "There are some in the eastern Kamelands. The Council has cordial relations with them, so your instinct to avoid them is for the best."

"That's good to know. We'll keep our distance, then." There's some muttering from the other gnomes, apparently about the wisdom of allowing kobolds to survive when they could be slain out of hand.

If you have no other questions for him, we can move on. I'll get the map updated.

Are we in the hex immediately adjacent to our home base? Have we fully explored the hex we are in, or do we need to finish doing that?

You are, and you'll finish your exploration in another day--rescuing the expedition took a bit.

Figured I should post a short coda for the campaign. Thanks again for playing!

With the gnomes commissioned to explore, the party can turn its attention back to managing the growth of their small realm. Over the next several months, you manage to unmask a spy/provocateur from Pitax (possibly there because of Retsiji, but more likely because of the possibility that you would be a threat to him later), deal with the resurgence of the cult of Gyronna, and put down a plague of owlbears. As the curtain falls on Nadezhda, it's still thriving despite having had to sever official ties with Brevoy and otherwise handle the minor vicissitudes of the world, and perhaps Doktor Zloty's final warning was unneeded. Perhaps....

You know what to do here.

Just checking in.

Also checking in. Thanks for picking this up!

dot

Havrin checking in. If there's anything we can do to help out, just let us know. Thanks for taking this on!

Are we gonna try and grab one more player to replace you, or just go with what we have?

Are we gonna try and grab one more player to replace you, or just go with what we have?

In the near term, at least, I was going to play Retsiji as a DMPC. There are enough things to keep track of in Kingmaker, though, that I'm not sure I can manage that in the long term. I do recommend having a full arcane caster in the party. So let's see how things go in the next week or so--that'll give the group some time to firm up, so if/when we recruit someone else you'll be able to bring them along quickly.

Just as a heads up, Im taking my vacation from work this Friday May 27th through Monday June 6th.

Normally, Id be able to post from home, since we arent travelling anywhere for more than a few days during that time, but weve been having bad weather lately, and my internet is being wonky. I can try to post from my phone during next week, but if you Im slowing the game down, feel free to bot me.

I'll let you know when we get the internet working at my house again.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll also be able to post only sporadically over the long weekend (USA holiday Monday); will be out of town Friday to Monday.

Incidentally, Jacyn, good luck getting into Black Fang's RotRL game. It's been entertaining, but between the initial loss of the DM partway through the first melee (sound familiar?) and the disappearance of one of the more consistent posters, we've been kind of coasting for the past few months.

Thanks lol. Thats the kind of luck Ive been having with PbPs lately. Im in a Curse of the Crimson Throne game as well, and weve lost a GM and a player too so far. We are going pretty consistently right now, though the posting rate isnt as fast as Id like.

*pokes Kano Kaijitsu aka godsDMit aka Jacyn Frestarn*
Good sir, you're presence is requested at the home of one Brodert Quink in the town of Sandpoint. (Translation: you're in!) :)

Isn't it funny that the one thing we're agreeing on is splitting the party?

Well, if the DM is up to running that type of thing, It seems like a rational thing to do. We are obviously of such different interests and agendas that the group may not stay together on its own. I've thought of having Adam leave to protect his new allies, since everyone seems downright intent on killing them or "bringing them to justice", but unless the DM agreed to run something like that, I don't think it would work out. :(

As I mentioned earlier, Adam is perfectly happy to kill unrepentant bandits. He would prefer to do so in more amusing ways of course, but that is a separate conundrum.

I guess here is as good a place as any to discuss what the plans for repentant bandits. We gather them up and send them somewhere to be tried? And then what happens to them? House Surtova likely sends them to the slave pits or the mines. That's a waste of a quality-trained eye and an intimidating voice that can be molded into a charismatic one, not to mention skills in weapon training, and to some degree an expertise in intrigue.

Well, hopefully I've come up with a suitable solution for the present issue, at least. It's quite possible the stupidest idea I've ever had (as a gamer) right after splitting the party, but at least in character it seems to be the most sensible thing.

Well, hopefully I've come up with a suitable solution for the present issue, at least. It's quite possible the stupidest idea I've ever had (as a gamer) right after splitting the party, but at least in character it seems to be the most sensible thing.

It'll be interesting, at least. I'm still thinking through how the hopefully-ex-bandits will react, because I sure didn't expect that. It makes a great deal of sense in hindsight, though.

"And I contend that an oath made under duress holds no value," Havrin responds in a calmer tone. "If you were a bandit who was captured and told that the only means of ensuring your continued survival would be to swear an oath to renounce banditry, would you not so swear? And would you truly feel honor-bound to uphold your oath once your captors let you go about your merry way?

Shugs - it worked fine for Jean Valjean.

Shugs - it worked fine for Jean Valjean.

OTOH, I suspect Jean Valjean was of a slightly different alignment than our sometime bandits. OTOOH, the River Kingdoms put a very high premium on oathkeeping.

Count Buggula wrote:

Shugs - it worked fine for Jean Valjean.

OTOH, I suspect Jean Valjean was of a slightly different alignment than our sometime bandits. OTOOH, the River Kingdoms put a very high premium on oathkeeping.

I dunno. He made several references to how he was "before" and that the time in chains had pretty much turned him into an animal. I don't remember if he went into specifics (it's been over 10 years since I read it) but pretty sure he made mention of some of the depraved things he did in prison.

OTOOH, the River Kingdoms put a very high premium on oathkeeping.

That's right! I forgot about the Six River Freedoms. In that light Havrin will have to re-evaluate his skepticism regarding the (former) bandits' oaths.

I am going to have limited internet access through Sunday; am at a hotel that charges for it, so all I have is my phone.

Where'd everybody go?

I'm still around... =)

I was wondering that myself.

Apologies again for my weekend absence; I had mentioned in a couple of places that I'd be traveling, but had missed doing so here. I'll take care of the next round tomorrow.

That's weird; I posted last night and it never showed up here. The post is still in my posting history, though. Anyway, here's what I wrote:

Apologies again for my weekend absence; I had mentioned in a couple of places that I'd be traveling, but had missed doing so here. I'll take care of the next round tomorrow.

Are any of you going to GenCon? I'm not, but I'll be on the road elsewhere. Unfortunately, my internet access is probably going to be kind of spotty from Friday to Sunday, so I'm going to put the game on hiatus until Monday evening.

So are we going to try and grab another player to replace Retsiji as soon as we get back to Oleg's? I don't know how much longer we'll be until we get there but it might be a good idea to put a feeler out there so the new player has a chance to get the character built by the time we're ready.

Either way is fine with me, but I think it might be a good idea, as he is our main source of arcane power.

I've posted a request for a replacement for Retsiji in the Gamer Connection thread. As submissions come in, please take a look at them and let me know if any look like particularly good fits (or particularly bad ones, for that matter).

Hello just wanted to drop and just let you know I did post on your recruitment thread and Ill have character up shortly (on brothers comp and all my things are on mine) Thanks again and guys great roleplay I enjoyed the interaction :) hope to hear from yall soon. Also sorta interested in making a sorcerer experimentalist sorry if I break up the posts on here (forgive me lol)

Out of the three people who have input a character so far, my preference falls to:

Hu5tru - sorcerer
Kiradia- wizard (conj)
DM Aaron- Summoner

I put the sorc first cause we really need a full arcane caster, and we have a large party already without adding summons.

Obviously, whatever you pick is fine with me though. :)

Anyone else have any comments on the field as it stands? If you're rather send them by email, my address is on my profile.

Sorry I haven't weighed in on this yet - my vote goes for the wizard, Katya Volkv. A close second is the Magus Lythal Nemur. Both have good character write-ups, and while I like the flavor of Lytha's slightly better than Katya, I think Katya would fit in our party better.

Couple of good new character write-ups. The sorceress Tahl is interesting but might be more drama than we want in our party due to the vampire blood. That's entirely up to you though. The wizard Mikam's description if full of good description and imagery and really makes the character feel alive, possibly more than any of the other entries so far.

I like Mikam, too.

Hmm. Several good candidates to choose from.

I liked Hu5tru's Tityanna Medvyed the best, too bad she pulled out.

Of the remaining candidates, I think I like the sound of ZetaGilgamesh's Mikam Orlovski and Kiradia's Katya Volkv the best.

DM Aron's Poshment Underhill sounds interesting too, but then bards are my favorite class.

Not sure if that really helps much!

How many bards do we need...? :P

How many bards do we need...? :P

Wouldn't Adam like to have a backup singer?

Bards are like inquisitors--you can have a decent party that's all one class, with the right archetypes and weapons & spell selection.

I once ran a party consisting of a Paladin, a Rogue, and 3 Bards through Master of the Fallen Fortress. Fun times. :P

Heya all! Just wanted to say thank you to DM Carbide for allowing me to join in. I've been looking to do a Kingmaker campaign for a long time and I hope we can go all the way through the AP as a group.

I will look over Katya Volkv's character sheet one last time and make an alias for her. Please tell me when you'd like me to hop in DM Carbide.

Ok, here is my character sheet. Completely finished and up today per the character creation rules.

Welcome, Katya! I'll start to catch you up over in the IC thread, behind spoiler tags.

Welcome

Welcome to the group! I look forward to catching up to you at Oleg's and getting you into the party.

Also, I love this adventure path. That little turn of events was just as unexpected as it was brilliant. I'm still trying to figure out how Bea's gonna react to it, but major kudos.

Hehe...that was an epic two-line sentence by Jacyn. Made me smile.

Hey, welcome to the group. Adam here. :P

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard, Katya!

Just a quick note that I'll be away for the next couple of days. NPC Simn as necessary.