GMTrex's Kingmaker Campaign

Game Master Andrew Trexler

Taranis eyes the gear. "While I find the weapons of choice distasteful, there's a lot here."

The druid picks up the stag skull amulet. "Does anyone recognize this as a symbol of allegiance or obedience?"

He then picks up one of the potions from Oleg, with a hearty handshake, "Friends, if you don't mind I'd like to hold one of these potions. It nearly broke my heart to see Toth so wounded."

-----------------------------
We haven't talked treasure yet, but I'll update the tracker on the regular. Working on it now.

Marc takes a look at what's the bandits have and picks up the compound bow. "This puts my small bow to shame. if there are no objections I will take this as my share."

"Take it. Anything to make ourselves more formidable. I recommend we sell the other arms and armor in trade with additional supplies from Oleg and Svetlana."

Marc nods and replaces his shortbow with the heavily strung one.

"You know, these 4 will be missed tonight when they don't return to camp. We should expect company, soon."

”Agreed priest. If everyone is ready, we could track their footsteps back to their camp.”

The druid picks up the stag skull amulet. "Does anyone recognize this as a symbol of allegiance or obedience?"

Oleg shakes his head. "Probably something he stole from some other poor sod."

"Take it. Anything to make ourselves more formidable. I recommend we sell the other arms and armor in trade with additional supplies from Oleg and Svetlana."

Exuberant at his newfound freedom, Oleg readily agrees -- in fact, he will trade the dead bandits' gear at full price, rather than just half. He lists off the items he currently has in stock [LINK].

He has enough coinage to cover the sales, but you can also trade item for item if anything interests you. Just let me know.

Oleg also notes that, should any of you wish to place a special order for an item beyond the Trading Post's current trading capacity, he would be happy to send the special requisition on to Restov and the item can usually be ready within a week.

”Agreed priest. If everyone is ready, we could track their footsteps back to their camp.”

Make a Survival check!

The wind seems to call to you, and the hills beckon. With the immediate danger now passed, the great wild of the northern Greenbelt [LINK] stretches out before you.

Oleg invites you to take the horses, now bereft of their erstwhile riders, as you begin to fulfill your charter to explore, map, and document the northern Greenbelt.

Let the exploration begin! A few notes: traveling across and fully exploring a hex on the map [LINK] are two different things. An opaque hex is a place you have never visited. A translucent hex is one that you have visited but not fully explored and mapped.

You now have the choice as to where to go and what to do! You can stay where you are and fully map this hex, or you can specify a direction of travel (west, southwest, southeast, or east at the moment).

Checking your charter, you are reminded that your charge is to explore an area 36 miles east and west and 60 miles south of the Trading Post. Important note: the Stolen Lands are dangerous. Wandering beyond the bounds of your charter may have mortal consequences. That said, the choice of where you go is yours.

Marc takes a moment to explore the trail the bandits have left:

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

A trail of 24 horse hooves across an open plain is not hard to follow. The trail leads southwest from the Trading Post.

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 Taranis aids Marc!

THIS. This is what I, we, left home for! I suggest we make intelligent work for our planning. Willy nilly in the wilderness is a surefire way to get killed."

Taranis looks at the tracks, "Twenty four hooves is a bit much for us. I suggest we look methodically for weapons and items of power before seeking out a war."

I suggest we buy up as much food and water as we can before exploring anything. Let us start in the morning!

I'll post my exploration idea in the Discussion tab here. Slack isn't permanent, so it makes more sense to flesh out the final plan here.

survival to aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Successful aid
”I believe you are right. We are outnumbered. But I think it would be a good idea to follow the tracks while they are fresh and return at a later time when we are ready.”

Zed's poor showing in combat gnaws at him. Rather than support his new companions, he spent the fleeting moments of the fight trying desperately to recall the elusive components of his Black Tentacles spell. Alas, the magical forces he used to manipulate with such ease were always just out of reach.

"Gentlemen, if you'll permit me, I'd like to spend the evening hours in solitude just out there in the fields. I have some magical business to attend, and I'm hoping to focus on it entirely to the exclusion of all else."

Zed notes Oleg's nervous glance and moves to reassure the man, "Sir, there will be no danger, and the magical forces I hope to harness are quite benign. I am going to attempt to bind a familiar to myself.

If a familiar is dismissed, lost, or dies, it can be replaced 1 week later through a specialized ritual. The ritual takes 8 hours to complete."

Zed nods to the collection of confused expressions and glazed eyes and heads out to the field, staying well within shouting distance of the homestead.

As the morning sky brightens from black to the wan grey of false dawn, Zed can be seen with a small raptor wheeling about and swooping down to fly around the Wizard's head. Both the elf and the falcon seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Zed forms and Arcane Bond with a female Peregrine Falcon

Zed eyes the beautiful creature thoughtfully, and asks her what she is called...

While he doesn't know the elf, Taranis DOES know birds, "A sign of weal my new friend. She will a good friend to you. The peregrine is fastest of all Gozreh's birds. Faster even than the great cats of t-"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...."

"Sorry friend, it's true. They're even faster than cheetahs.

Taranis hands out coins to everyone, though it's distasteful to him to deal in metal coins as valuable. "From sale and conquest, we each have 82 gold coins with which to buy supplies."

We still have some unclaimed treasure; a dagger and two alchemist's fire. I would not mind an extra dagger, but the alchemist fire ought to go elsewhere and not be sold.

Once the party buys supplies and claims them. Taranis and Toth offer to map and explore the rest of the immediate vicinity. In the morning, we ride towards the origin of the bandits.

Marc spends the evening cleaning his new bow and making it his own, "A follower of Erastil they are not. No follower would keep their bow in such a state. Heathens..."

Going to assume that you all assist with the exploring/mapping.

The rest of the day brings fruitful progress on fulfilling your charter. You survey the expanse south of the Trading Post, always keeping the former fort within sight, and certainly close enough to return for a luncheon and again at the end of the day for another helping of delicious stew.

You find the land around the trading post to be generally flat grassland, with sturdy earth beneath, well-suited to either farming or, perhaps, the establishment of a larger community around the Trading Post -- though the Levetons, and particularly Oleg, might shudder at the thought.

For fully exploring and mapping this hex, each member of the party earns 20 XP!

Over dinner, Svetlana leans in after Oleg gets up to make use of the middens. "Can I beg another favor? I know you're heading out tomorrow, and, well, Oleg has been real stressed and grumpy lately. I want to cook him his favorite moon radish soup, but I haven't got any moon radishes. A passing trapper told me about a grove about 16 miles south of here. If you pass that way, could you bring me some? I'll pay you for 'em!" You have been given your first QUEST!

"It'd be our pleasure! Sounds like a good option for the morrow."

Taranis has 5 days of rations. Hopefully everyone else bought a kit that comes with them. (I'm reminded of the Dark Sun alignment explanation as it pertains to water rations.) I suggest we clear Oleg out of his current stock. If we each but 2 days worth for a gold, we'll be close enough. I'm confident in our ability to get by in the wild, but if we spend time hunting and foraging, it literally double the time we need to explore.

Moon Radishes
survival to know what the heck they are...: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

Marc check is rations. He's good to go for a few days (5 to be exact).

"We can look for the radishes while we explore that area. should be a nice trip"

Trex, is there a check for exploring and mapping a hex?

"I recommend we each buy a couple days more from Oleg Marc. Just in case. We have horses."

Zed purchases 5 days supply of Spartan trail rations from Oleg. Enough for himself and his mount, minus what he assumes the beast can forage in the grasslands.

He also buys a club and a crossbow to go with the dagger he claims from the bandit loot.

Finally he buys what he needs for spell components and a leather glove to work with his new familiar on some falconry.

@ Marc: that would be Knowledge (nature).

@ Taranis: not unless I ask for one.

@ Zed: Oleg has none of those supplies (except horse feed) in stock. However, if you had coin before, I will allow you to retcon those purchases in Restov.

@ Everyone: a day's worth of feed for a horse is 5 coppers.

2d100 ⇒ (95, 28) = 123

The morning of 2nd Pharast dawns a clear as yesterday, but colder, prompting both Levetons to bundle up to see you off as you strike southwest. "Be careful in the Narlmarches. Lots of fey in those woods!" Svetlana warns. "I saw a hunter come back last month with his ears turned bright blue." She nods knowingly and taps her nose.

The ride is uneventful, if chilly with the wind on your faces, as you follow the hoof-trail southwest. Around noon, the group enters the outer reaches of thick forests known as the Narlmarches. The forest is thickly vegetated with oaks, beeches, rushleafs, and a dense understory crisscrossed by game trails. Dismounting, the team begins to explore the forest and document various landmarks and streams.

I will take a new Survival check to continue following the trail, if desired.

In the late afternoon, you hear a faint moaning in the distance. Entering upon a glade, the source of the noise becomes clear: huge, pale radishes lie piled in baskets, harvested from the thick patch that fills the glade, and sprawls among the baskets are four stomach-sick kobolds who clearly had too much to eat.

A twig snaps.

Despite their stomach-aches, the kobolds jump up with surprising alacrity, brandishing spears. "NO LONGSHANKS!" one shouts. "OUR RADISHES!" squawks another.

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak, Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

"Kobolds! Toth! Attack!"

Taranis wastes not a moment, skiping parlay entirely. He hurls a sling stone at the closest red

ATK: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 but it sails overhead

Toth growls and attacks the same kobold, teeth as big as his target's head. Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14 for DMG: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The big cat nearly bowls over the frail kobold, sending radishes flying in his charge. The scaly barely clings to life, and its feet.

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak, Taranis
2. Kobolds (red @ 4dmg)
3. Marc

With Aurora wheeling overhead, Zed begins to gather eldritch power with a gesture and a few words uttered in the language of wizardry. He points five digits at the kobolds as he completes the incantation.

Zed is reminded of his humble station in life when the force of his Magic Missile zips out of but a single extended finger. A sad, lonely force bolt flies unerringly toward the object of Toth's aggression.

1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 damage

The kobold's death is punctuated not by a scream or a roar, but a squeak.

Kill shot to Zed!

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak, Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

Augrym studies his target as he approaches, drawing his sword and readying his shield.
Move action to study. Move action to move.

”Know this cold-bloods, we are walking away with these radishes and there is no need for more of you to die this day. If you would like, I would gladly trade some of rations for your radishes. Nobody needs to starve in this plentiful land. You are outnumbered and outmatched. Erastil would not like it if we killed you just for farming, but we will do what we must.”

You had asked for a survival check to stay on course, but I didn’t see one.
Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Also, Is there a hex grid that we’ll be keeping track of the explored land on?

@ Augrym: yes, the Strategic map.

Augrym's overture succeeds only in eliciting further defiance from the kobolds, in stunted Taldane. "NO! OURS! YOU NO HAVE!"

Unrak bellows a challenge and charges at the nearest kobold.

Unrak @ Yellow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10 MISS

The dragonscales form a spear line and lay into Augrym and Unrak. While the kobolds are clumsy fighters at best, Unrak leaves himself exposed and gets stabbed in the armpit, prompting a flow of red on his clothes to join his beard for a rusty display.

Spear @ Augrym: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 MISS
Spear @ Augrym: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11 MISS

Spear @ Unrak: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21 THREAT Confirm: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17 CRIT
Damage: 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (3, 6) - 2 = 7

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak (9/16hp), Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

Marc hustles to protect Unrak's flank. He sets his feet and brings his blade down onto the Kobold that hit his companion (blue)

attack on blue: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
damage?: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 6 = 10

Marc's glaive is barely turned by the kobold's pitiful armor, but it is turned.

Round II
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak (9/16hp), Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

Taranis draws his scimitar and moves in, reiterating the attack word to Toth.

The cat moves in with a snarl and a bite: Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5, but snaps only the air.

Botting Zed, though he doesn't have his spells listed. I'm going to assume Daze is on there: Zed weaves a basic spell, hoping to addle the kobold in the thick of things. Targeting Blue. Will DC 15 to negate.

”I have warned you. This could have ended peacefully. Instead, you die, for radishes!!
Weirdest battlecry ever
Augrym salutes the kobold before swinging in a large arc towards the much smaller opponent.

attack the kobold: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Unrak literally goes berserk at the outrage of this wretch having gotten in a lucky swing

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 6 = 13

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Unrak gets his bloody revenge on the poor kobold, taking its life in a single savage swing. Augrym and Toth are less exacting. Zed smacks another with magic and causes its eyes to begin spinning in their sockets.

The kobold shrieks.

Kill shot to Unrak.

Its sole living companion continues to protest Augyrm's presence. "LEAVE LONGSHANK! YOU NO EAT!" The spear presses into his armor, leaving a bruise but no blood.

Spear @ Augrym: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16 MISS

Round II
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak (9/16hp), Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

Marc thrust his pole arm at the remaining Kobold. He contemplates the silliness of all this death over radishes

attack on blue: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
damage?: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (1, 2) + 6 = 9

The glaive slices easily through leather, hide, and bone. The kobold crumples.

A single foe remains!

Round III
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak (9/16hp), Taranis
2. Kobolds
3. Marc

Taranis closes distance and makes a harsh slash with his Scimitar ATK: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4

Toth tries the same:
Bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

is this the Dazed one?

No.

Round the Third
• Current HPs: 8/8

Spells Remaining: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1c |

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 1

The lone kobold's tongue decides it has an urgent need to escape its host, and lolls frantically all over its snout. Taranis and Zed succeed in little else.

Round III
1. Zed, Augrym, Unrak (9/16hp), Taranis
2. Kobold
3. Marc

Unrak strides with savage purpose and takes a measured swing at the dazed kobold—trying to sever its tongue AT THE NECK

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
dam: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (4, 2) + 7 = 13