Of Kings and Commoners - Kingmaker AP

Game Master RPGGGM

"Achoo!!...*sniff*...Cats." After Luna moves away. "Obliged ma'am...*sniff*"

"O-LEG!"

"Oh, for for all the keys in the Vault." He mutters, then shouts back: "There's work to do woman!"
Oleg grumbles, puts down his hammer and grudgingly joins the party.

"Oleg Leveton, you're as bad as Breeg Orlivanch the way you carry on."

Celyne bats away the offending hand, but gently and with a little laugh... "None o' that now, fella. I'm friendly, but not that friendly... and I've got a big cat who gets jealous..." She pats his cheek softly as she moves away from him... showing that there's no hard feelings, and she's not angry, but also not available.

Celyne bats away the offending hand, but gently and with a little laugh... "None o' that now, fella. I'm friendly, but not that friendly... and I've got a big cat who gets jealous..." She pats his cheek softly as she moves away from him... showing that there's no hard feelings, and she's not angry, but also not available.

I'll let it stand, but the perception check was to determine whose hand it was you had to bat away. No one in the group fesses up.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

let me amend my post then, sorry - I misunderstood

Celyne eeps softly at the grope, and tries to bat away the offending hand, but gently and with a little laugh... "None o' that now, fellas. I'm friendly, but not that friendly... and I've got a big cat who gets jealous..." She looks around at the men near her, clearly unsure of who she should be addressing her words too, then shrugs, showing that there's no hard feelings, and she's not angry, but also not available.

better?

let me amend my post then, sorry - I misunderstood

I figured as much. Alas you cannot nest spoiler tags within other spoiler tags. For my side, I'll try to be clearer in the future.

Zokon after a few moments consideration answers Kestens question

"It's day and a half of travel from their camp to here, assuming you aren't in too much of a hurry. Go to the edge of the Narlmarch Wood and then spend the next day moving south through the wood toward their camp. Well that's what I was told."

Zokon after a few moments consideration answers Kestens question

"It's day and a half of travel from their camp to here, assuming you aren't in too much of a hurry. Go to the edge of the Narlmarch Wood and then spend the next day moving south through the wood toward their camp. Well that's what I was told."

And now here's an actual interactive map (the link is duplicated at the top of the page as well).

As for exploring a hex, most plains areas can be cleared off in a day of active exploration so long as you have a base party speed of 30' or better, hilly terrain (the majority of the map) and forested hexes take 2 days (or more) at 30' but only a day when moving at 40' or better. This is active exploration, just traveling through a place doesn't count, and there will be days where you might only get partial credit for stopping early, exceedingly rough or bewildering terrain or time spent doing other things.

"I've heard about the bandits in these parts, and the Levetons mentioned your brush with a gang of them here the other day. There's rumor of a self-styled bandit chieftain named the Stag Lord organizing the brigands throughout the Stolen Lands. His lieutenants wear a silver stag's head emblem as a token of their fealty. Tell me, what do you know of him?"

You didn't really answer my question about titles, so I'll just ask.

"So tell me, I am embarrassed but I am not familiar with your branch of the family. Is it 'Lord Kesten,' 'Sir Kesten,' 'Captain Kesten,' or just 'Kesten?'"

Once Numalar has established the proper form of address, he continues, addressing Kesten by his title if he has one. "I can't say we know a great deal about the Stag Lord, though I suspect it is inevitable that we will be forced to deal with him. Most of the bandits that came to raid master Oleg and Svetlana yesterday had never even met the man - if he is a man at all. He seems to have smaller bands operating under the guidance of his lieutenants. There is a woman named Kressle in charge of the nearby camp and she is apparently a terror."

Kesten Garess, wrote:

"I've heard about the bandits in these parts, and the Levetons mentioned your brush with a gang of them here the other day. There's rumor of a self-styled bandit chieftain named the Stag Lord organizing the brigands throughout the Stolen Lands. His lieutenants wear a silver stag's head emblem as a token of their fealty. Tell me, what do you know of him?"

You didn't really answer my question about titles, so I'll just ask.

"So tell me, I am embarrassed but I am not familiar with your branch of the family. Is it 'Lord Kesten,' 'Sir Kesten,' 'Captain Kesten,' or just 'Kesten?'"

"Kesten's a fine enough a name, I suppose and has suited me well for a long while. I use the family name more out of habit than affiliation."

"There is a woman named Kressle in charge of the nearby camp and she is apparently a terror."

"She is a terror! She threatened to take Oleg's hands if we didn't pay her tribute. There's still a gouge in the dinner table from one of her hatchets."

Cyrielle raises an eyebrow at Tokin. "Well, it's not about the strength of the punch. It's about where you put it. I'd show you, but food awaits, as does business."

Turning to Svetlana, she addresses the woman with a friendly grin. "Miss Svetlana, what do you know about these bandits? Numbers? Skill? Aside from this Kressle, do they have any other fighters of note? If not, we should pay them a visit, and sooner rather than later, I think. Between Kesten's men and our strength, we should be able to slay most of them and rout the remainder, but in matters like these, more knowledge is better."

"We've seen as many as a dozen or so here, but have heard tell of more deeper in the Greenbelt, though no one knows exactly from where. When I first arrived here, we used to visits from druids who wandered the wilds. But we haven't seen them in a long time." Her voice trails off.

"They ain't much for fighting, not most of them anyhow and not unless you get 'em desperate or out they outnumber you by a score. I'd have 'em myself if there weren't so many and Svetlana weren't here. There's a few cold-blooded ones in the bunch, no doubt about it. But I figure most of them for common riff-raff, deserters, thieves and others desperate to run from whatever it was they did in more civilized lands to hide out here were no-one can find 'em. Hang a few of from the walls and the rest would get the idea fast. Pass the the butter, will you?"

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 1 = 24

"If these bandits are causing such a problem...I suggest we move them on." Poshment mentioned after raising his head from the food for atleast a few seconds.

I would've laughed it was Poshment who touched Celyne, lol. Though to be honest he knows not to touch without permission.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Poshment leers over at the group of men at the mention of the groping. He pats a area near him that's free for Celyne.
"How about we have a drink and talk a little like we discussed earlier?" he asks as he starts pouring a drink for her of mead.

Or whatever alcoholic drink is available.

Celyne gladly takes the offer and has a seat over by Posh'. "Thanks, hon... it was getting a bit too crowded over there I think..."

Celyne gladly takes the offer and has a seat over by Posh'. "Thanks, hon... it was getting a bit too crowded over there I think..."

"Let's have some of Svetlana's stew since you mentioned it." he states as he fetches both a bowl for her and him. "So, you wanted to know about places I've been? Well I used to travel around the River Kingdoms for my whole life. I'd travel and perform for coin to keep a roof over my head, but I find staying in the same place can get a little boring."

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Zokon watches the Posh show with a bit of amusement.. he grabs a bowl of stew and sits down to eat all the while keeping an ear and an eye on what's going on.

"Thankyou Svetlana this wonderful fair"

Zokon watches the Posh show with a bit of amusement.. he grabs a bowl of stew and sits down to eat all the while keeping an ear and an eye on what's going on.

"Thankyou Svetlana this wonderful fair"

"Thank you! It's an old family recipe."

Oleg gives everyone a really serious look from behind his wife's back....
Intimidate: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15 This roll does not directly effect you guys. Use it as more of a gauge to inform your RP.

sense motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Celyne seems not to react to what Posh says in terms of not believing him, she simply listens and smiles warmly at him.

"I grew up near the River Kingdoms, but never actually went there until I left home. I have to say while the region is not the most pleasant I've ever visited, with some rough terrain to traverse and its share of rough folks, most of the people I met there were pleasant enough. I'm sure that entertaining them for a living must have been an interesting 'job'. How did you make your way to Brevoy to find yourself here, then?"

Celyne seems not to react to what Posh says in terms of not believing him, she simply listens and smiles warmly at him.

"I grew up near the River Kingdoms, but never actually went there until I left home. I have to say while the region is not the most pleasant I've ever visited, with some rough terrain to traverse and its share of rough folks, most of the people I met there were pleasant enough. I'm sure that entertaining them for a living must have been an interesting 'job'. How did you make your way to Brevoy to find yourself here, then?"

"Oh, well I had decided to travel up north to see some new sights. You can only perform in the same location for so long before you get dry on material to use." he states with a laugh "I had a few old friends escort me up north where I hoped to start a new until I met Cyrielle over there."

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

I think Celyne may get a bonus considering she's seen through a few of his attempts so far.

sense motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

"That makes sense.. I suppose you would need to travel some to get some new songs and tales to tell. I'm glad you ended up chartered to come here, for otherwise we would not have met!"

** spoiler omitted **

Numalar leans over towards Kesten.

I assume the same DCs to overhear so DC22 Perception? Numalar is not particularly trying to be quiet but Kesten addressed him specifically so he is returning the courtesy.

Numalar sits down at the dinner table with the others, climbing up onto the bench. "Ah, there's nothing more welcome than a hot meal after travelling in the rain. It is much appreciated, Missus Leveton, and quite amazing when one considers there is no market nearby. If we find or catch anything worthy of your table we shall certainly bring it to you!"

Numalar looks around the table while eating. "So, my friends, what are your thoughts for our plans for tomorrow?"

Cyrielle looks at Posh with a raised eyebrow, buts she's too busy eating, and more importantly, drinking, to say much in response to anyone. When Numalar asks about future plans, though, she can't help but speak up. "You all hardly know me, and I'm sure my voice doesn't count for much, but I think we need to find these bandits and defeat them. We'll drive them from their lair and cover ourselves in glory!"

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8 Trying to hear Numalar and Kesten

In response to Cyrielle
"At last words about this bandit camp that I welcome, I have also advocated attacking this camp, but have been unsuccessful so far, maybe together we can sway opinions"

[dice=sense motive]1d20+9

"That makes sense.. I suppose you would need to travel some to get some new songs and tales to tell. I'm glad you ended up chartered to come here, for otherwise we would not have met!"

Posh gives a wide grin at this.

"At last words about this bandit camp that I welcome, I have also advocated attacking this camp, but have been unsuccessful so far, maybe together we can sway opinions"

Numalar nods at Cyrielle and Zokon.

"As before, I am willing to make such an attempt. But at the time it was pointed out that while we did well against the bandits lying in ambush, we should expect stiffer opposition in their lair. So we decided to see what we could do in the meantime to improve our odds."

Celyne pointed out that she had played the beginning of this module on-line four times, and in each case the party went straight for the bandit camp and the attack on the bandits ended with a TPK. On the other hand I believe Zokon had played this before and said the encounter went smoothly. YMMV but we want to improve the odds if we can.

"I'm glad too." he says as he looks up at Celyne. "I'm glad Svetlana and her husband are well protected with these armed men. It should keep those bandits out whilst we try to find out more about this Stag Lord."

"Indeed. The fact that we do not need to fret so much about the approach of bandits to this post is cause for relief. It expands our options dramatically."

Fair enough. If we'd rather explore a bit, I'm okay with that.

"I do, of course, bow to the will of the group. Do we have any idea what else is out there? Perhaps there's a smaller group we could hunt down, or something similar." Cyrielle frowns, unprepared for being denied a chance to be a hero. "At the very least, we could plan a rough route in advance."

"Even though that shady Felton character ran off, and good riddance for that, he at least gave us a rough idea of where to start looking for his old friends."

Oleg explains that John Felton took off as quick as he could after the party left for Bokken's hut. After hearing about your journey he expresses hope that the trapdoor spiders got him.

"Even though that shady Felton character ran off,"

*facepalm*

After all the work we did keeping the horses from returning to the bandit camp riderless (Zokon and I nearly died), naturally a bandit escapes when we aren't looking. Is this scripted into the adventure? The other time I played this (the game ended just as we arrived at the bandit camp) we had taken Happs prisoner but he escaped in a very cheesy way (basically GM fiat even though he was guarded).

"Macrathane's Codpiece!" Numalar pounds the table in anger, his teeth set in a grimace. "So much for his 'oath.' Apparently a truthtelling spell doesn't help when dealing with the fickle. Well, it's too late to go after him tonight. But if he warns the bandits of our presence the opposition will be stiffer. Whatever advantage we might have had in surprise will be lost."

he expresses hope that the trapdoor spiders got him.

"We should be so lucky... no, I wouldn't count on it. Besides, the spiders we found were in the opposite direction to the route the bandits took. And Felton has been out here a while, and likely knows a safe route back to his camp."

Numalar shakes his head, a foul look on his face. How could I have been so stupid? I knew he could not be trusted. And now things have gotten much worse.

"Perhaps if we ride out in the morning we can pursue. He did tell us what his route was; if we ride we may be able to catch him if he is on foot..." A sickened look steals over Numalar's face. "Ah, good Oleg," he asks carefully. "Did Felton steal a horse when he left? And did he take weapons with him?"

"At the very least, we could plan a rough route in advance."

We know that the bandits approached Oleg's from the northwest; they followed the river upstream for a bit then broke out over the plains, so as to not have to plough through forest all the way here. If we took that route to find them then if the bandits were heading our way then we would intercept them enroute.

"I feel that if there is still a chance that we can reach the bandit camp before the alarm is raised, then we should move now. If we can catch Felton before he raises the alarm, then that would be perfect. If he has only recently arrived at the bandit camp, then perhaps they will not have had time to call for reinforcements. Either way, it seems like we need to move quickly. Perhaps we should head out at first light."

We did acquire a couple more healing potions from Bokken; that is probably as good as it's going to get for us as we are using story-based XP and therefore are not likely to level up before facing the bandits. So we have probably gained as much as we can and we might as well go ahead.

"Yes I agree lets take the chance to move on the camp now and make the best of it"

"Hmm I had hopes for that Felton fellow becoming a useful person, ah well I guess that's why I carry this nice sword, do we have any spare horses?"

Celyne sighs and shakes her head sadly, her loose locks straying about her face as she does so. "It is a shame that Felton could not have made a change in his life for the better. We could hope that he went back to 'civilization', but I sincerely doubt it... Like you all, I expect he returned to the bandits to report our presence and perhaps our goals here as well... or is trying to do so. Not sure if we have a chance to catch up to him, but we could surely try and at least scout the bandit camp if we track him there."

"Nah, he wouldn't take a horse. Just the road. He was headin' north outta the Greenbelt. I think Celyne's right. I figure he had enough of all this 'country livin'. I think your secret's safe for now. Though I'm not against you dealing with bandits pronto. It'll only be a matter of time before they come to do the same to us."

"If you need replacement horse you can travel just northwest of here and hit up Mr. Renault. He's probably got a few to spare though like Bokken he probably won't be happy to see you. He's not crazy or nuthin' he just likes his freedom--even though he seems good at bossin' everyone else around. Here lemme show you on your map. There's a few farmers out that way most take their lead from Renault."

We know that the bandits approached Oleg's from the northwest...

More like from the west given the position Felton placed their camp at on the map.

"Well let's go by us a Renault and then proceed to the bandits"

kn local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

"Samuel Renault is a very wealthy, and very independent Brevic farmer, who has a big plot of land in in the Greenbelt. He's sort of a defacto headman amongst the local farmers, every year in spring which is 10 days from now, he hosts a little country fair/bonfire for all the locals.

Numalar Auritonius wrote:

We know that the bandits approached Oleg's from the northwest...

More like from the west given the position Felton placed their camp at on the map.

I would have said west, but north is not directly upward on the map, it is to the left of the vertical. A hex map has six directions and so you get north, northwest, southwest, south, southeast and northeast. Going directly west brings you along the line between hexes and you usually want to avoid that if you are using hex-based movement.

The way I'm handling directions in my Kingmaker is I have a worldmap and a location the party's at. I also have a hexagon off to the side with numbers, clockwise from the top: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The players just tell me which number the direction they want to go is, and off they go!

Cyrielle raises and eyebrow at Zokon's bit of information. "Well, perhaps we'd best be back from hunting our bandits in time for the party. If we have a victory to show besides you saving the Trading Post, it'll go a long ways in keeping the locals happy with us."

"Nah, he wouldn't take a horse. Just the road. He was headin' north outta the Greenbelt."

"Well, one can hope. But I doubt a man like that would have fled to the Stolen Lands if he had a chance in Brevoy. We should assume the worst, and hope we are pleasantly surprised."

"If you need replacement horse..."

"What of the two we sold you just yesterday? Have you disposed of them already? Or can we buy one back from you?"

If we are continuing to travel by horse I figure we need four. I can ride my mule Gertrude, and Poshment can double with someone. Sound Good? Or Poshment, did you want a mount of your own?

Oh, and by the way...
Knowledge (Nobility): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Kind of a waste of a 20. Do I know anything else about Renault with that?