GM Nel's Kingmaker Campaign

Game Master CRobledo

Much like Svetlana described, as you walk around inspecting the outpost the closest places to hide near the gates and where the "tribute" furs are collected would be the stables or the guest house. The walkways above the palisades are sturdy and would surely support multiple people, but there is no actual railing of any kind, so it would be hard to hide that you are standing up there. The catapults, if you could call him that, look to be in a great state of disrepair from when this was a border fort. You could fix them, but it would take weeks. The palisade is 10 feet high, and the 4 towers 20 feet high.

The main gate looks operational, although upon testing it you discover that it takes a minute to close it. Although Svetlana and her husband's offer to help is still open, Oleg has forbidden Svetlana to be outside their home when he hears that you are planning to assault the bandits directly. You can tell this man is deeply concerned for the welfare of his wife.

Some of you explore their house, and in the stockroom A6 you find the trading post’s current stock. The stock currently consists of a suit of leather armor, a heavy wooden shield, two hand axes, five javelins, a longbow, two dozen arrows, a scythe, two spears, two vials of antitoxin, six torches, two weeks of trail rations, a number of animal furs and a chest of coins. You also find three potions in the room: two are cure light wounds and one is shield of faith.

The far north room is the storeroom, and you only manage to find two barrels of drinking water, a half-full barrel of lantern oil, three common lamps, a dozen candles, a week’s worth of firewood, a hooded lantern, 70 feet of hemp rope, a tent, and enough food (mostly cheese, hard bread, and dried venison) to last for 2 weeks.

The cart in the courtyard marks where Oleg has been piling the furs.

Drispeera sniffs in disdain. None of this is any use to me. Not even any decent shoes. I'll take some of the food later-- if I have to. But for now I'll just take these. Drispeera scoops up the 3 potions. Now where can I have a hot bath and a clean bed? I need my strength if I'm going to climb up there in the morning. She gestures toward one of the towers close to the gate.

Drispeera is selfish. If you want one of the potions, you'll have to ask her.

"If you'd like a hot bath I'd suggest a weeks travel north back the way we came" Andrezi suggests to Drispeera while he also looks through the store room.

As the day goes by, the Levetons' moods improve, being more cheerful and less filled with dread. Now well into the afternoon, the small cooking pit outside the guesthouse is sizzling several pieces of venison that Svetlana is cooking for the party.

Preparations continue before everyone turns in for the night.

Kaeso asks Svetlana if she has any paper, and you see him scribbling out maps and plans, nervously checking them, then scratching them out and working out new plans. He looks both excited and scared. "I remember once at the local fair there was a horse race. I must have checked and rechecked Joss' tackle fifty times. I even puked!" Kaeso grins at the memory. "Won the race, though. . ."

He finally works out his version of a plan. "Here's what I got. I hope you don't mind me doing this--like I said before, just tell me to shut up if you like. I'm used to it.

1. We need someone here, or they'll get suspicious. I can dress like a farmhand, maybe put a cloak over my armor, and pretend to be helping out around the place, perhaps up by the middens. When they show up, I can call out to them something like 'Are you the guys here for the furs? Mr. and Mrs. Leveton are out looking to buy a horse. They said just to go ahead and let you take the furs.' The Levetons can hide someplace safe.

2. When they are all in, Drispeera could sleep them. I'd be far enough away up by the middens, wouldn't I? If she doesn't get them all, Mornaura can do the same. Hopefully they're all snoozing, and we can tie them up and question them at leisure. Oh, Milady Drispeera? Would it be possible for the fighters to take curing potions? Just a thought.

3. If the sleep spells don't work, I can read them the charter, and offer them the chance to surrender. I can be scary and intimidating, if I put my mind to it.

4. I'd sure like Norn and Bingo to cover the rear, perhaps hiding outside to make sure they all go in, and blocking the exit. If it comes to fighting, can't you get them from behind? Borden, you can shoot arrows to your hearts' content.

Me, I'm going to stand up at the north end of the post, and I want to take those javelins with me. I'll have them lined up point down in the ground, ready to go. They shouldn't be able to swamp me, because there's only a narrow passageway to the middens. Andrezi, perhaps you could help me out?"

All in one breath. Kaeso looks at you all expectantly, hoping he did well.

During the somewhat unsatisfying stock-check, Mornaura does not object to Drispeera seizure - It suffices if I know where the potions are. - and decides to take the antitoxins - You'll never know when these might safe a life.

When she gets back and finds Kaeso hunched over his plans, she stands next to him, arms folded, quietly examining his work and listening to his explanations, waiting for him to finish.

"I don't have any tactical fighting experience, but as it sounds good altogether, I'm going to trust in your plan. I have, however, two remarks to share with you.
Firstly, I don't think that Norn is a good choice for the part of hiding outside the post, not in that much shiny, rattling metal armor.
And secondly, if you want to block the exit, couldn't you just close one wing of the gate and place the cart next to it, so that some of our physically powerful fellows could easily push it against the open wing, like a giant trap lock bar?"

Already halfway turned to leave any further refinement of the plan to the fighter, the witch looks back at him over her shoulder.

"Oh, I got another thing: I will ask my hawk to scout for us, just to make sure we're ready for the bandits' approach."

And with that, Mornaura heads over to the stables for a quick check on the horses. Not being so very well versed in handling animals, she instead uses one of her magical gifts to ask them if they are alright or require anything. Given that she witnessed how they reacted to strange murmuring of the blind half-orc, she doesn't expect to find anything amiss, although she'd tell him if there should be anything important.
Finally, she spends the rest of the afternoon attending to Faron, her hawk familiar, again using her magic to communicate with him.

Feral Speech Hex with mammals as long as Mornaura talks to the horses, then Feral Speech on birds (as usual).

tactical map uploaded. If youd like to you can give me the positions you want to take when morning comes. just give me a coordinate, figured this corner of the map was what we were most concerned about.

For example, Norn plans to be at F13, behind the cart (which will occupy the six squares between G13 to I14) if we go with the pushing plan. Otherwise he will be at H15 hiding UNDER the walkway to jump out after the trap is spring to cut off any escapees.

He finally works out his version of a plan. "Here's what I got. I hope you don't mind me doing this--like I said before, just tell me to shut up if you like. I'm used to it.

plan

"Ya got a real talent, there, boy. Right purty plan. I'll hide in the shadows 'ahind the gate. P15, behind a barrel or something similarI kin snipe with my bow, if'n I hafta and I kin come up behint 'em in a brawl." With that, Bingo bids all a good night and heads to bed.

Kaeso will be up at H2

Norn, perhaps the cart plan would be best.

Kaeso needs to burn off some nervous energy, and looks for heavy things to lift for a while before bed.

I shall be up in the tower until they arrive (B16). And before they enter the gate I will move along the walkway to get the best angle for my spell (I15).

Drispeera tosses a healing potion to Kaeso with a wink. Since you asked so nicely. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to rest.

Drispeera will activate Wind Barrier as bandits approach. +4 AC for 1 hour.

Combat preparations in the morning:
1. Hide on the eastern part of A2's roof (R12/S12) or on the western part of A3's roof (D10/E10)(whichever is possible), as in: lay down behind the roof ridge so that she can't be seen from the gate/yard.
2. Activate Feral Speech and send out Faron to scout the perimeter and report back when he spots 'a group of people'.
3. Inform the others to get ready, then cast Mage Armor.

Map up and ready. Progress will come in a few minutes.

You spend the night doing your preparations, moving the furs and the cart for your ambush. After a good evening of work, you all get to sleep in the guest house until morning. Svetlana was even nice enough to find some leftover silk cloth she had at the trading post that she offered to lady Drispeera to "improve" her bedding.

The morning comes and the roosters wake you up at the crack of dawn. Each one of you take your positions as planned yesterday. The bandits arrive as scheduled, approaching from the south on horseback about an hour after sunrise. You see 5 figures riding in, one of them with a longbow in his hand and wearing a hooded cape, while the rest of them are unhooded. One of the goons is also riding along an empty horse, probably to be able to carry more furs back along with them.

They arrogantly ride in and begin making crude comments loudly about Svetlana and threats against Oleg while they begin loading their horses. The hooded man stays on his horse while the other 4 bandits get off their saddles and start loading furs onto the spare horse.

The hooded man starts shouting, "Oleg! Where are y' old man! Y' did well this month, but what is up with y'r gate?! Did y' break it? I'd like to see it fixed by our next visit, I almost hit my head on y'r stupid gate! Come on y' lazy asses, hurry it up! Kressle wants us back at the camp by noon!"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

From how fast they are loading, they would be done in around 15 minutes.

We are still not in initiative, so does anyone wanted to do anything with the bandits before Drisp and Mornaura let spells fly?

I was actually thinking to cast the moment they were all thru the gate, hopefully in a clump. Are they still pretty close together? I'll wait a few moments to see if the party members do something, but I'd prefer they don't scatter our targets. When it's time to go I'll center on the hooded bandit and try to get as many as I can.

I was actually thinking to cast the moment they were all thru the gate, hopefully in a clump. Are they still pretty close together? I'll wait a few moments to see if the party members do something, but I'd prefer they don't scatter our targets.

On new map, "B" tokens are bandits, hooded guy is also marked. Everything with a red outline is an enemy of some kind. Added the horses too (blue circles) as they will be relevant due to sleep

Drispeera will cast message to Mornaura. The horses are in the way. You target the fur pile and try to get the bandits closest to it. I'll aim for the hooded leader and try to take him.

Mornaura, you can reply to me. Maybe you already knew that

Drispeera will wait a moment for Mornaura's reply before casting.

Kaeso shouts "Oh, hello! Y'all must be here for the furs. Levotons said you'd be by."

Hoping to allay suspicion, or even to convince the leader to get off his horse.

Kaeso will have a javelin in hand, should it come to that.

Like I said in the recruiting thread, I've been away from rpgs for a while, and was delighted to discover Pathfinder. If I make a rules blunder, let me know.

Bingo aims his shortbow at the hooded man's back, waiting for the ball to drop. He'll only shoot if it looks like he is going to try to escape.

Sense motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Hey there, peasant! You stay over there and let my men finish up their job. If you take one step closer, Oleg will have one less pair of hands helping him. HA HA HA."

The hooded man takes an arrow out of his quiver, but just lays it on top of his bow.

Mornaura clings to the roof of the guesthouse, raising her head up just high enough to have an overview of the situation. Looking over at Drispeera for a moment, she whispers back through the magic connection.

"We have to do it the other way round since I can only hex one target at a time, and only for a short moment. I'll aim for anyone trying to wake up your victims."

Carefully shifting her weight, she raises one hand from the roof and waits for the sleep spell.

I'd like to ready a Slumber hex on 'whoever tries to wake up one of the (hopefully) sleeping bandits'. The duration is only 1 round, sadly.

Drispeera messages everybody. Alright everyone, Mornaura's going for the leader, I'm trying for the other four nearest the furs. I may not get the one cretin by the picnic table. Be ready for him, and then tie up the leader quickly. I hope you're all as strong as you are pretty. On 3, 2, 1...

Drispeera casts sleep, 10' radius, centered on the corner of K/L 7/8. DC 18, 6 HD of creatures.

Bingo hears the elf's voice in his head, thinks That's a handy talent and shifts his aim to the bandit by the picnic table. At the count of one, he looses his arrow.

Shortbow 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Damage 1d4 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + (4) = 5

Dris clearly lands Sleep on the three bandits around the furs!

Bandits counterclockwise from top, and horse

Bandit 1 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12
Bandit 2 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Horse 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Bandit 3 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

All 4 fall to the ground, sleeping like babies. The three around the furs land on top the pile.

The hooded goon, startled, says "HUH! What do y' all think y're doin? Sleeping on de job! No, wait a minute..."

At that time, Bingo's arrow flies towards the bandit, and grazes his arm and it sticks itself in the muscle. hits since flatfooted

Before the hooded man has any time to react, Norn pushes the cart in front of the gate exit, blocking everyone in.

"OLEG!! What do y' think you are pullin' here?! Y' know Kressle will have y'r head!"

Bandit 4 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5 And with that, the bandit by the picnic table is hit by Mornaura's hex, and falls asleep along the rest of his friends. The hooded man cocks and readies his arrow, trying to figure out what to fire at.

surprise round is still going on, Kaeso and our ranger still have actions. Will roll initiatives afterwards. I'll roll everyone's and post a list.

Kaeso shouts "Drop the bow! You're surrounded!

Intimidation: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

He's got his javelin ready, and moves to have a good angle, and hopes his new friends will back him up if the boss doesn't cooperate.

Leader dude seems shaken by Kaeso's threats, but now looks like he is prepping to shoot soon.

In message the party hears an irate Drispeera. What?!!! You said you were gonna get the leader! Did you not tell me to change *my* plan to get the leader, because *you* would get him? Did you not hear me tell the group to shoot at the guy by the picnic tables? You think I did that so what? The boys could wake him up with arrows after you put him to sleep? Boy, I thought I could count on you to be the one person to hold onto a thought for more than 2 seconds. I guess I have to do everything myself.

"Calm down, Dris, no plan survives th' first contact!" calls Bingo as he nocks another arrow and steps out behind the bandit leader. "Drop yer bow and git offa th' horse, scum, or th' ladies'll boil yer blood where ya sit!"

Bluff 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 (+4 ability bonus, +1 trait bonus)

From behind the store room, Andrezi casts Bless on the party!Sounds plausible he would have it prepared

Just checking if Borden has an action to carry out before we move into initiative.

Maybe it's just a side-effect of the spell, but the transmission of Mornaura's voice sounds calm, well-thought, if maybe a bit distant.

"The change of plans was inevitable. You didn't get the fourth. I waited to give Bingo a chance, but he didn't take him down neither so I applied my magic - after the shot. Should I've hexed the leader only to let us all watch that other bandit wake up those you put asleep, ruining your graciously woven spell? Because that is what would've happened."

Seeing the hooded man draw his bow, Borden preps his own up on the wall. Not wanting to kill the man, he attempts to target an arm or leg before the man can get an arrow off. He shouts, "It'll be better fer you all if'n you give up!" To add emphasis, he lets loose his arrow at the hooded man.

Attack:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Damage:1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

*Gah!* The leader might surrender. One solitary lackey definitely would have. But now if the leader fights, we'll have to kill him.

Drispeera mentally shrugs. Oh well, I kinda wanted to see what our boys are made of anyway.

Hmm... It will be interesting to see who will make better soldiers in my army, my current allies or this bandit leader. We shall see...

Sadly, Borden's arrow flies and misses.

Initiatives:
Drispeera 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Borden 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Mornaura 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Bingo 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Kaeso 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Norn 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Bandits 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Happs 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Allright, looks like Drispeera leads the regular round, Kaeso on deck, Borden follows

Drispeera casts sleep once again, this time directly onto the hooded leader. 10' radius, 18DC, 6HD.

Kaeso, shaking his head to clear it of sorcerous arguing, throws the javelin at the leader:

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 1

Then he grabs his hammer, and runs towards the leader (Happs?) to clobber him next round.

1 damage? Sheesh!

@Kaeso... Do you want to see if he succumbs to Sleep before your action? Do you wish to attack him if he's sleeping (and potentially wake him?) or maybe try to pin and bind him instead?

Drispeera, sure, I'd like to wait, but I didn't know if Kaeso would know that you were casting another spell. Would he have time to react?

GM Nel, can I edit my previous entry? If the sleep works, I'm going to run to tie him up. If it doesn't work, I let fly the javelin. I want to get him down either way. I'm worried about his bow.

Hooded man save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Horse man is riding on: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Horse in H11 save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Drispeera's sleep spell lands on the hooded man, but sadly everyone sees it only affects some of the horses nearby. The hooded man is about to fall from his not collapsing horse.

Hooded man's ride check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

However, as the horse falls to the ground, the man is able to dismount and land on his feet. "What are these tricks! I see now what is going on! I will have y'r heads! Y' don't know who y'r messing with. I'm the best da**ed marksman in t' Belt!

Kaeso's Javelin flies through the air and hits the hooded man in the leg, then bounces unto the floor. "HAH, is that t' best y' can do, little man! Barely a scratch!"

Borden atk: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Borden's arrow once again flies a bit high of the man.

Norn lunges forward when he see's Kaeso's attack on the hooded man. He pulls out his Falchion on the way up "Kaeso! You insane carpenter! You are not alone facing this scum!"

Providing flanking for Kaeso's next attack, Norn takes a swing:

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
DMG: 2d4 + 7 ⇒ (3, 2) + 7 = 12

Bandit takes a pot shot Kaeso!

ATK 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (13) - 2 = 11

Which easily misses him. The arrow zooms very close to the hooded man's head. "OOPS, sorry boss! I almost got him!"

Mornaura is next up, leader afterwards. Updated map

Huh? Why is a bandit shooting? Aren't they all asleep (for now), shouldn't it be Borden's turn before mine, and shouldn't bandit 4 (the one Mornaura slumber-hexed) need at least a move action to get up and another to draw a weapon (as he was loading furs) first...?
Anyway, if Borden doesn't take down the leader with his action, Mornaura puts her slumber hex on him.

Raising her head to get a better view on the dismounting hooded man and the situation around him, Mornaura focuses on calling forth her magic gift to let him sleep for a moment, then shouts down to her comrades.

"He should sleep now, so take him alive! And someone get over to the bandit near my position, he might awake soon!"

Will save for the hooded man 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20. The hooded man is stalwart in his resolve, and doesn't seem fazed by Mornaura's hex. He takes a step forward, trying to put his back to a wall. On the move he draws his longsword and attacks Norn:

atk: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Which misses him completely.

We have Bingo next and back to the top

Bingo takes another shot at the bandit with the bow -

Shortbow 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Damage 1d4 ⇒ 1

If that bandit is down, Bingo will draw his dagger and double move to flank the bandit leader in J10.

If that bandit is down, Bingo will draw his dagger and double move to flank the bandit leader in J10.

He is down (prone) but not unconscious, so it will be a penalty to ranged shots against him. Is that what you meant by "down"? And double check the map, the newest one, the bandit leader is in H11

Bingo Underbough wrote:

If that bandit is down, Bingo will draw his dagger and double move to flank the bandit leader in J10.

He is down (prone) but not unconscious, so it will be a penalty to ranged shots against him. Is that what you meant by "down"? And double check the map, the newest one, the bandit leader is in H11

Oops

Bingo drops his bow, pulls his dagger and moves to L11, looks at the prone bandit and hisses "Move and you're a dead man!"

Intimidate 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 1 = 17 Trait bonus

Back to the top! Drisp followed by Kaeso. map updated

Sorry guys, I'm kinda a one-trick pony here

Drispeera casts sleep centered on F11, hoping to hit the hooded bandit and miss Norn. DC18

Will you just go down already? Look how many there are of us. Just call it a night, will ya?

Hooded man's save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

With a loud *thud* he hits the floor in front of Norn.

Kaeso then Borden

Wow, spellcasters are pretty neat. Even if they shout in your head during a fight!

Kaeso moves forward to the non-sleeping but prone bandit and hits him with non-lethal damage, hoping to get him subdued so we can tie everyone up. Hope Oleg's got lots of rope!

Warhammer, nonlethal 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 6 - 4 = 8, damage 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11. Since he's prone, is he easier to clobber?