Temple of Elemental Evil - Delving the depths of the Abyss on Golarian.

Game Master Tirion Jörðhár

@ Maegge - Ouch - I usually pay for the warranty on most computers as I have had things fail on many of them. Got a brand new hard drive on my Mac about 2 months ago, took my computer in, and there was a new drive the next day - then it took about an hour to restore from backup and it was like I had the exact same machine as before. The drive would have cost more than the 3 year warranty if I had to pay for it. The one time I did not get a warranty the motherboard went bad and that cost a ton to fix.

If I can even screw up asking for directions, I will definitely realize that influencing others is definitely a weakness.

Sorry for the spoiler. Not all that tend groves are druids.

Home from Gencon now, trying to catch up on ALL my games (instead of doing it spottily) as I relax abit.

Welcome back.

How many games you in? I know that Glorfin has 29 listed on his page. I only have 11 actives at present.

On these forums, I'm in 16 active games, and run 3 games. Table-top wise, I run 2 and play in 2.

Braden - I have to give you some props. As a lover of bizarre and left field analogies the use of a full english as a point of clarification was well done.

Seems fitting for a hobbit. But I actually heard a variation of the bacon and egg analogy at a leadership conference from a U.S. Marine Colonel.

Wiki link to pig is committed quote.

Diplomacy Dwarven style :P

I know it looks like Glorfin has basically done nothing but bluster at the room - but that is part of the point. Glorfin is seeking a few things:
1) Try and weed out those with ill intent, by making himself a target.
2) Announce his intent, so that those with need might present themselves to him.
3) Lastly, make a conversation piece - which might loosen tongues so that his companions (with better ears than he) might o'er hear some juicy tidbits.

Lol - you guys are doing great. It is tough to figure out how to respond to 6 different people all of whom are searching for something unknown in six different ways. I must say that I did not foresee Glorfin standing up and announcing his intent, but it clearly will tell people that he is in town.

It's why he was polishing up his credentials :P - wanted to make a good impression like.

FYI, I'm going on a short vacation Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I'll be able to occasionally check and post from my phone, but since it's a holiday weekend I don't expect there to be much activity anyways.

No problem. As usual, I will try to keep things moving, but we will wait if we need your input. I need to catch up on the NPCs you have met and some of the stuff in the Campaign Info tab anyway.

Home now, but there doesn't seem to have been any need for me!

Yeh - I have been busy. You guys need to figure out what you are doing. A number of options have been put forth. I will attempt to consolidate things and people on the Campaign Info page tonight or tomorrow - no guarantees though.

What do you mean we need to find out what we are doing? Tybek knows exactly what he is trying to do. He is trying to find somebody to hire them for some good cause. This way, he can earn money, and Glorfin can feel like they are pursuing something noble. If that does not work out, he will then pursue his other ideas. However somebody will have to talk to him to find out what those plans are.

Glorfin's explicit plan for the evening was to make his proclamation and then see if anyone came forward. If no-one did, then he was going to discuss with the others with a mind to just striking out in search of trouble in direction of most likely rumour.

Yeah Arindale will probably want to just go in the first likely place, he doesn't like to think about things too much, just do them...

My suggestion is to see Jaroo for advice and info on the people we met first thing (after second breakfast).

""What're yae daein offerin information and then tellin us that yae hae tae come along wid us?! Why wid yae want tae accompany us anyway? Yae dae ken that we hae wee halflins travellin wid us?! They are always stoppin fer breakfast even if they've already ate! They also hae animals that are always crappin on the trail! Tryin tae walk behind 'em is loik tryin tae avoid caltrops in the dark! Sae, tell me why yae're comin tae us with this offer?"

Chaos, is there a reason you do not have them answer any of these questions? Is he squirming in his seat as the Dwarf lays it out there? Or is he simply having trouble understanding what he is saying?

I left myself almost 4gp after buying my starting equipment. This is the first time I have spent so much--I love it.

Definitely feel the need to support my big breakfast/elaborate dinner habit. Braden has to adventure just to buy the elaborate dinners at the Inn!

In the old DM guide there was advice to the affect of making the players feel the need to keep adventuring to get coin and 'keeping them hungry'. Well, this is the most I have felt that need in a long time :-)

Is there anything anyone wants from the store besides money, out of curiousity? Like I said, was just guessing. I do know we need funds though.

Glorfin's idea of finding a cheaper food source is a good one. At 3gp per day in the Inn, Braden is feeling the bite. And he is a teetotaller. If he liked his spirits the cost would go up.

Unfortunately if we get one sixth of the value of our items, money will continue to be tight. Glorfin could use the composite longbow rather than we sell it for a song, but I understand his position on that one.

I'm beginning to think we've already found the 'great evil' that's brewing. A systematic adventurer bilking organisation who'll stop at nothing to bleed people dry of all the coin they have ;)

lol

Taken to OOC to avoid cluttering the main thread - but my complaint with the pricing is more along the lines of How do the common folk of Hommlet afford to eat?

Basically we've found out that the inn is the only place to eat in town, and from your initial post we've also found the following:
Plain breakfast - 5sp
Plain lunch - 6sp
Plain dinner - 8sp
Single ale to wash down dinner - 4sp
Total cost for one day - 2gp 3sp

Compare that with prices in the PRD - which state a set of Meals per day (Common quality) of 3sp (and only 5sp for good quality)
A mug of ale is 4cp, pitcher of wine 2sp

Similarly the PRD lists the cost of a trained hireling at 3sp per day...

Laborers in this town must get bloody good wages to be able to actually eat.

Combine this with the fact that an isolated inn off in the middle of nowhere should probably be commanding lower prices as their bread and butter is supplying the working folk of the area with their meals and drink.

IC - the high prices have made Glorfin very suspicious about the whole setup here :P

Ah - I see your point. Lets just simplify things. There is a Mill in town (grain/flour/etc.), assume somewhere there will be a butcher, you can get fruit and vegetables from farmers, you can buy rations from the trading post. Most adventuring stuff is listed at about 110% of the PRD, while common goods are actually about 90% (shovels, picks, etc would fall into this category).

For simplicity, don't worry about food. Assume you can get food for 4sp/person per day. If you want to eat the better quality stuff in the Inn, it will cost more. Also, you can probably get a keg of decent ale from the brewer directly and avoid the Inn's markup. The inn is a high quality inn despite it's location. It has a reputation far and wide - nobody attempted any knowledge(local) about the village I don't think, if they did, you would have learned this.

Also, one key with the trader is that so far the spokesman of the party has all the social skills of a diseased goat. These are hard guys to bargain with anyway, but starting off with a -11 Diplomacy roll really did not help. You have about 530gp of stuff if it was all in good condition, the goblin stuff is pretty questionable - they are not known for taking care of their stuff. So, figure half value at best for their stuff - or about 480 value. Selling at 1/2 would be 240. The module says that these guys are never going to give you full value (they do pretty much have a monopoly), the question is how far up you can talk them. I will let it go one or two rounds, if I get creative or interesting arguments, you will do better. If not, then you will end up will less.

Excellent good - that's what Glorfin was after basically. Just a means of getting together some basics for a simple meal.

Also - if/when you all decide to do something other than have Tybek and Braden alienate people in town, you will have enough to be able to stay at the inn. Perhaps not enough to go out and by a bunch of Belts of Physical Perfection +6, but enough to at least fill the 8 meals a day stomachs of the hobbits.

I am not in any way criticizing the role playing of the above mentioned duo, simply referencing them as the two who have no social skills and are out to prove to the world this fact.

I assumed that Ty would get us below the regular value...just part of this party leaning who is NOT good at certain stuff :)

At least at 125gp we are getting something for it. We are just learning that Ranim needs to do the talking while someone who can actually sense motive should be watching...

Lol - it has been fun so far to watch the interaction.

Tybek has kept Glorfin's share, thinking that it is only fair considering the weapons were meant for him. This is based on Glorfin's earlier agreement which is posted below.

"Your actions against us were ill meant and without honor... and because of them you find yourself in the same state as the stag was. Wounded and trapped, desperate for a means to endure... I will give you an opportunity to raise yourself above your nature and walk from this place freely. Here is what I propose:"

"One, your weapons are forfeit to Tybek as weregild for the injury that you have caused him unlawfully.
Two, in lieu of the purported theft of the deer... I refute your claim. The deer was beholden to Maegge before your imprisonment and torture. To assuage his and his companion's suffering you are to surrender your purse to him as weregild.
Three, we will draft statements of witness that surrenders the Lumber Consortium's threat against Maegge in exchange for us surrendering our rightful claim against you and your companions for assaulting us."

Consequently, the dwarf only gave 25 gold to each of you. If you think Tybek is being unfair and you want to argue with him about it, he always welcomes a good argument.

Forgive me if this seems unfair, but Tybek is very frugal if not stingy!

According to that argument, Tybek is entitled to all of the proceeds from the sale to the merchant.

I was thinking that, but there was some armor in the stash as well. I like playing Tybek with a low charisma, but he also understands the need to be able to get along with the rest of the company if they are to succeed. In his mind, this arrangement is fair enough, considering that the rest all played their part as well. If you want, you can always mention it to Glorfin. Tybek respects him enough that he will do what he asks.

Rofl - ah, greedy and low charisma, gotta love it.

It's really not on Maegge's mind at all; he's just happy to be done with the issue entirely (I assume we won't see him again hired by the bad guys and coming back to get his revenge, right? Right.)

Tybek - that proposal was rejected wholesale by the group as per:

Glorfin turns and locks gaze with Braden. No words are said, though it is clear that he has taken personal insult at Braden's mocking of his proposal and Maegge's wholesale rejection of it. A few moments pass as Glorfin thinks before he turns to the hunter and intones "They reject my words and my honor, so I will not hold you to any terms of my making. With that, your fate is no longer of my concern. Fare well hunter."

So I don't think you can use it as an argument.

Tybek would never have rejected the proposal from such an esteemed Dwarf! However, if anybody wants to call Tybek on it, we can role-play it out. Remember, he is good at heart and tries to be a good dwarf, but sometimes, his difficult past catches up to him, he panics, and he makes poor decisions. He definitely does not want to have to resort to stealing to make ends meat, so he is trying to ensure his own survival, but he will still listen to a reasonable request.

My wife and I are going on another little trip this weekend, so will not be available this Friday through Sunday.

That sounds nice! Have a great time, Maegge! Thanks for letting us know!

Na, I usually hold off the dread wraiths for level 2 or 3. More likely a dire bear or young dragon.

Probably a good thing since we haven't found magic swords yet. Which makes me think about how pointless a full half of Lord of the Rings would've been if the hobbits had bothered to stab the nazgul on Weathertop instead of waiting for the Pelennor Fields; they already had their enchanted swords from the Barrows.

Hey, a hp could be important. Especially if Tybek continues to be prone to swooning :-)

BTW - Arindale, it's two uses from the healing kit.

Treat Deadly Wounds: When treating deadly wounds, you can restore hit points to a damaged creature. Treating deadly wounds restores 1 hit point per level of the creature. If you exceed the DC by 5 or more, add your Wisdom modifier (if positive) to this amount. A creature can only benefit from its deadly wounds being treated within 24 hours of being injured and never more than once per day. You must expend two uses from a healer's kit to perform this task. You take a –2 penalty on your Heal skill check for each use from the healer's kit that you lack.

Ironically, Glorfin pretty much sucks as a tank n spank until he's got a chance to improve his armor. At the moment Tybek is harder to hit and has almost as many HP.

wow, yeah your AC does pretty much suck...lol need a tower shield...lol

His nickname in the tunnels was Glorfin the Agilely Challenged.

I'm effectively going on "vacation" in less than 10 minutes; feel free to NPC me to keep things moving over the next few days.

Oooh, the goblins are gonna have a halfling barbecue.

Or frog legs. Just sayin'....