Sure, let's throw in engineering too!
Rilka, it seems we have a dead heat to an expected value of half a point in our checks! I'll take history then, you take geography.
Rilka will also watch drug dealers for the week as well; see where they sell, try to find common means of importing and transporting drugs.
Anyone want to do the knowledge (local) or (engineering) roll?
With assists we can get these numbers up into the 30s.
I agree with Rilka that we hole up and pour over the data until we get it sorted. It seems foolish to act before we know what's going on.
It seems non-magical aid isn't Dalton's strong suit.
Aid another is a difficulty 10. You aced all those aids.
Aid for skill checks :
Everything okay, Omen?
Ah I got mixed up, thought there were rolls to still make.
Expect an update tonight when I can get to my laptop.
Well I'm sure you guys will all be excited about the news of my girlfriend visiting, which means an imminent slow/stop of gameplay until we part ways once more.
Thanks for the warning. Not a problem. Have fun!
Quick Update:
We're approaching the end of escrow and I'll be moving into my new digs shortly afterward. I should have my computer set up first thing and I'll be back up to 50% posting capacity at least. I apologize for the slackiness this past couple months.
I've been tooling around with a couple more character concepts I'd like to try-out. If anyone knows of a game quality starting up that isn't purely combat, let me know. From what I can see, the boards look pretty sparse.
Sounds good Bjorkus!
I'll keep an eye out Dalton, but I haven't been really keeping up with the recruitment threads lately.
Also, I'm not rushing you guys, but just giving you a little nudge to keep brainstorming how to approach these problems.
Omen pinged me on gmail to tell this group that he won't be able to post until Friday.
Thanks for the update!
So, I've seem a lot of ideas thrown around the think tank. What is the plan of action?
What's been described I think.
Rilka infiltrating the station to get a job. Toramin suggesting to his grandmother that the clan set up a banking concern in the city. Ianna charming the old gnome.
...and I'm back.
I'm setup at my new place and I've got my computer set up. I should be slacking much less now.
Is time passing or are we operating within a single day currently?
Assuming you guys don't get into combat somehow, time can get a little out of order.
What kind of punishment can users face versus dealers?
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking me here. Could you clarify the question?
Our users treated the same as dealers and Daniel about yours? What sort of punishments do the perpetrators of each drug related offenses face? Are we talking life in prison, a few months in rehab, or community service?
What's at stake is going to give us a better idea of what kind of criminals we're dealing with.
Ah, I gotcha now.
Users usually get rehab and/or community service, although more serious crimes can get them locked up.
Dealers get weeks to months to years of jail time depending on what they did.
Our users treated the same as dealers and Daniel about yours? What sort of punishments do the perpetrators of each drug related offenses face? Are we talking life in prison, a few months in rehab, or community service?
What's at stake is going to give us a better idea of what kind of criminals we're dealing with.
Heh, that was my attempt to post while driving.
This was supposed to read:
Are users treated the same as dealers and manufacturers? What sort of punishments do the perpetrators of each drug related offenses face? Are we talking life in prison, a few months in rehab, or community service?
Gotcha Bjorkus.
So Rilka, what exactly are you hoping to achieve with this new job and how do you intend to go about achieving it?
Also, how is everybody else doing?
I've beeb feeling under the weather. Will post tomorrow.
Rilka will observe how shipments arriving by rail are handled, not just for the adamantine ore, but also other goods as a point of comparison. She will try to determine if any particular rail lines are more susceptible to having their adamantine stolen. She’ll try to understand the finances of the mining system. The miners are getting paid by the mining company, which gets money from selling their ores, but if that is stolen their customers will complain/demand their money back...which ultimately will take money from the mining company resulting in laid off miners. Is insurance for the ore helping the mining companies stay in business? If the ore is being mined, where is it getting diverted to? These are the kinds of questions she’s asking herself and trying to find the answers to.
How will she achieve this? she’ll try to sweep and clean around the unloading docks, hopefully clean the trains as well. During her lunch break she’ll take an invisibility extract and watch the rail cars get unloaded. If she has access to paper trash from offices, she’ll stuff that in her bag of holding to peruse at night looking for memos about missing ore or finances. She’ll also talk to diggers while they commute, mentioning how her uncle used to be a miner years ago but now spends his time as a ship figurehead carver; mostly trying to gauge the general mood of miners, how they feel about the missing ore.
Rilka is prepared to spend at least a week as Majet Tarcobble.
Bjorkus is open to suggestions on how to get more information on Grastle Hollow's kingpins.
Old-fashioned legwork, it seems.
Dalton is going to hob-nob around a few more shops.
That much information gathering would take Bjorkus a few days. Are you worried about keeping the party in sync or should I just keep going?
As long as you guys don't start any deadly fights, feel free to take a few days to work with.
Dalton will readily agree with Toramin on the suggested path forward; he just hasn't returned to speak yet.
DM Omen, did you see the Rilka post above about how she’s investigating the railway/transport station as a janitor? Or did I miss a game play post?
I think I did miss that. I'll get a reply once I'm out of class.
Actually Rilka, I'm not seeing what post you're talking about. The only post of yours that I haven't responded to lately is the one where you returned to the party. Could you point out which post I'm missing?
So here is what's going on:
- Today is Wednesday
- Splintertoe is expected to come in on late Friday, and Dalton knows where he should be
- Toramin arranged a supply of adamantium, he needs to develop a method of advertisement to get some orders
- Bjorkus is doing the legwork to find the drug trail, and is learning that the independent developers have no paper trail
- Rilka has a job starting tomorrow as a janitor where she (supposedly) intends to snoop around
Am I missing anything in there?
Oh I should specified which thread. It’s this one, the discussion thread. Here. Just a few posts up.
Sorry guys, I've been busy again. Assume Bjorkus tags along with Toramin's plan for now. I'll be good to post again tonight,.
Omen, I feel like there may be some divergence of what you are hoping for us to do and how we are engaging in this scenario. You have previously described this mission as a sandbox, but in my experience, sandboxes are most engaging when there is a high amount of reactivity and mutual engagement.
OOG, we have been at this for nearly a month with no substantial progress. We have made checks, plans, brainstormed, and execute several ideas. None of which have born fruit. A few not bearing fruit is to be expected, but none is a bit surprising. Moreover, a couple of times we have been told that skill checks won't do the thing that the rules describe them as doing. (Which, personally, I found . . . disheartening.)
These two things suggest to me that you are looking for something quite specific that we are not giving to you. Some of my concerns can be explained away by us all being rather busy this past month, but I do not believe that exhausts the issue.
I actually thought you guys were approaching the situation rather brilliantly. Not to mention that you all came at the problem with a different angle. Perhaps it may not seem like you are making progress, but in reaction to your actions I have already planned out the next few weeks worth of what's going to happen. You have set a lot of events into motion, and as with the events of Akropash, you are moving along faster (in game) than I had originally anticipated. Dalton will be meeting with Splintertoe in two days. Toramin will (after some advertising) get a shipment of adamantium from home and draw some attention. Bjorkus (once he gets settled IRL) will be working the underground to get some contacts and info. Rilka is learning more about the structure of the mines economy and where the weak points of it will be.
I suppose the main bit of advice is that this mission is not short-term, and that several weeks will pass in-game before there is anything close to a conclusion of it.
As far as skill checks not succeeding for certain tasks, there is every chance you guys can accomplish what you want with a combination of roleplaying and multiple skill checks as opposed to an entire side-quest. Just a few back and forth posts of asking the right people as opposed to "I want to accomplish this, here's a skill check".
Yes, I agree that it is very possible we have different expectations. I encourage everybody to openly communicate with me so that we can get goals and expectations as clear as possible.
Yeah, school has been rough on my lately, which has caused the ooc slow progress. Not much I can do about that to be honest. I love gaming, but if it costs me my grades I know I can't do it.
To help with communication, I am going to start an editable google doc where everybody can put their plans on so I can reference it instead of searching through posts.
If Rilka reveals that information to us as a group, I believe we have motive to investigate the tracks between the origin and terminus before the weekend to see how the ore is going missing.
DM, I believe it's been a combination of busy schedules and misaligned expectations that have worked to stymie progress. I will say the onset of any new setting requires a lot of work on the DM's part to answer questions/provide immersion, just like Akropash. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the ... colorful conversations about the viability of that place :)
Okay. While I was thrown for a loop about the skill checks, I see what you are saying. I interpreted it as gathering information via talking to people won't be successful. Which left me a bit stymied, since we don't have the divinations to acquire info without talking to people. But, know I see you want us to talk to specific people.
It's also edifying and a relief that oog you like our approach.
@Omen: What unit of measurement do people buy adamantine in? How much is it per unit?
@Everybody: What do you guy's think the % mark up should be?
Basically, my understanding of a gather information roll is that you just ask typical people around town to answer a question for you. Where is the bakery? Oh that's down the street and to the left. Who's the mayor? Oh that's Johnny. Who is in charge of all the illegal drugs coming into the city? Uhh...
My interpretation is it's based on "common knowledge". You can still absolutely find out the information you seek via talking to people, but it would have to be specific people.
@Omen: What unit of measurement do people buy adamantine in? How much is it per unit?
It depends on the person. The major dealers of adamantine will buy it in large quantities (upwards of a few hundred if they're short) while small dealers or individuals may only buy a few pounds or a few dozen pounds, depending on their need.
As for per unit, I can't find any rules for the price of adamantine per pound. It's probably floating somewhere at a few hundred gp/pound, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't worry too much about the actual price per pound, only the percent mark up.
It's your game so I'll roll with whatever but here's the rules for using diplomacy to gather information.
Gather Information
You can use Diplomacy to gather information about a specific topic or individual. To do this, you must spend at least 1d4 hours canvassing people at local taverns, markets, and gathering places. The DC of this check depends on the obscurity of the information sought, but for most commonly known facts or rumors it is 10. For obscure or secret knowledge, the DC might increase to 20 or higher. The GM might rule that some topics are simply unknown to common folk.
Retry? Yes. You can retry Diplomacy checks made to gather information.
'Who are the movers and shakers within the city's drug trade?' seems within the bounds of obscure or secret knowledge.
I ruled the topic is simply unknown to common folk.
As for per unit, I can't find any rules for the price of adamantine per pound. It's probably floating somewhere at a few hundred gp/pound, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't worry too much about the actual price per pound, only the percent mark up.
My specialty: 300 GP/pound for adamantine. You can find prices for most things here.
I became familiar with some of the values after playing a lizardfolk with a small fetish for cinnamon.
Thoughts on the percentage mark up?