Enemy in Shadows - Warhammer Fantasy (Inactive)

Game Master Aubster

Hi All - I’ll get a post up tomorrow.

In case the locations are getting confusing, you are in the Black Peaks. The Barren Hills are in Talabecland.

Thanks for the clarification. I'd been thinking that the plan was Etelka's mansion, then go fight Etelka in the mines. That's part of why I was leery about heading straight there without everyone being topped off. Talabecland is...not nearby.

If that's true, I think we're almost done in this region? Things I'm still interested in:

* try to sell some of our shipping cargo & get more
* if Etelka was in the mines, we'd probably be advised to check the place out as well, maybe? In one sense it might be good to know what she was up to down there. In another, that sounds like a fantastic way to gain more Corruption.
* see if we can get the axe & shield identified
* get the halfling lady back to town (but I think that's basically done already)

More medium term, we should probably tell what we've learned to the Cult of Sigmar authorities. So...heading back toward Altdorf?

We also still need a Party Short Term Ambition.

Thanks for the clarification. I'd been thinking that the plan was Etelka's mansion, then go fight Etelka in the mines. That's part of why I was leery about heading straight there without everyone being topped off. Talabecland is...not nearby.

If that's true, I think we're almost done in this region? Things I'm still interested in:

* try to sell some of our shipping cargo & get more
* if Etelka was in the mines, we'd probably be advised to check the place out as well, maybe? In one sense it might be good to know what she was up to down there. In another, that sounds like a fantastic way to gain more Corruption.
* see if we can get the axe & shield identified
* get the halfling lady back to town (but I think that's basically done already)

More medium term, we should probably tell what we've learned to the Cult of Sigmar authorities. So...heading back toward Altdorf?

We also still need a Party Short Term Ambition.

Kemperbad is probably the best market town nearby and fortunately it’s where Etelka was supposedly heading.

Is our current location big enough to try to sell some of our weapons/brandy and make trading supply purchases?

If not let's mosey on back to Kemperbad. That's where we got our current trade stock though, so I doubt we can sell it there...

Is our current location big enough to try to sell some of our weapons/brandy and make trading supply purchases?

If not let's mosey on back to Kemperbad. That's where we got our current trade stock though, so I doubt we can sell it there...

Grissenwald is a small settlement but luckily you can always sell some brandy at any location except poor villages. You can sell3d10 ⇒ (7, 5, 6) = 18 encumbrance points of brandy for 3 Gold Crowns per each encumbrance points. As always, you can haggle to try to get a better price.

Grissenwald is a size 2 location (bigger than a village but smaller than a town) so there’s a 20% chance of finding a buyer willing to buy your armaments. 1d100 ⇒ 75…unfortunately there’s no buyer for them.

Grissenwald has one export item (coal). You can buy as much coal as you want (being located at the Black Hills is good for something). Base price is 8 Crowns per 10 encumbrance points which can be haggled. The further north you transport the coal the more valuable it’d be to a buyer.

Hm...the base price for brandy back where we bought it was 3g. We got a 10% discount, but without that we'd be selling at cost. Is that supposed to be right? Maybe Grissenwold just isn't a great place to sell? Or maybe we just aren't far enough away from Kemperbad?

For now I'll have Landolf roll for Haggle on the sale. If we can get a 10% boost in price for 3g 6/- per unit it's probably still worth selling. If we can't, we maybe should just hold onto it.

Did we have to pay any docking fees in Grissenwald?

How many days of travel were between Kemperbad & Grissenwald? (For supply tracking)

Hm...the base price for brandy back where we bought it was 3g. We got a 10% discount, but without that we'd be selling at cost. Is that supposed to be right? Maybe Grissenwold just isn't a great place to sell? Or maybe we just aren't far enough away from Kemperbad?

For now I'll have Landolf roll for Haggle on the sale. If we can get a 10% boost in price for 3g 6/- per unit it's probably still worth selling. If we can't, we maybe should just hold onto it.

Did we have to pay any docking fees in Grissenwald?

How many days of travel were between Kemperbad & Grissenwald? (For supply tracking)

The margins on trading are small in smaller settlements, poorer settlements. Basically there is no profit margin unless you have success in haggling or trade in prosperous locations. In Altdorf, you’d get a 10% premium without needing to haggle and successfully haggling can push that up to 20 or 30%. If you have something that the location can’t get close by you also get a better offer. If you took your brandy to Far Cathay you’d be able to get 30 GC each as but it’d be hard trip to make. The trade charters may carry 10,000 bottles of brandy in a shipment which could make a fortune if it gets all the way to Cathay. Then you could take those 300,000 crowns and buy a cargo of jade and teas to sell back in the empire for another 10 fold profit. One successful trip like that would make someone a fortune but the odds of actually making it to Cathay and back are going to be low.

There aren’t any docking fees in Grissenwald.

It only takes a couple of days to sail back to Kemperbad as you’re going with the flow of the river.

hoping your wife feels better, Aubster.

I did bought the whole Warhammer PDF bundle on Humble Bundle.. Maybe some 2e edition adventures to come? Would there be an interest?

Regarding 2e adventures, there's someone recruiting for a WFRP 2e game of the Carrion Crown AP right now in Recruiting. I've been avoiding it because I need to keep 3-ish roleplaying systems in my head right now and adding another that is similar to this one doesn't seem smart.

Might work for others though.

I'm intrigued by the concept.. still, Carrion Crown could work in Warhammer...

OK, so the total sale price for the brandy is 66s per unit * 18 = 1188s. We bought that brandy at 54s per unit for 972s, which gives us a tidy 10g 16/- profit. We'll distribute 1g 1/- from the shipping fund to the Company Fund (since we need to pay our members at some point).

Before any purchases of coal, that puts our shipping fund at 63 6/-. We weren't able to get a discount on coal, but there was a specific notation that we'd be able to get a better price for it as we go farther north so it's probably still a good product to fill up the Lucky Lady with.

I would like to keep more shipping funds on hand as we head back toward the more expensive markets, so we won't buy all the coal we can afford. If we get 70 encumbrance of coal, that would cost us 56g and leave the shipping fund with 7g 6/- remaining in the shipping fund. That should be enough for fees but probably not enough for other purchases.

Basically, it'd be selling most of our brandy stores in order to buy a whole bunch of coal.

Given the settlements we already saw on our trip south down the Reik, we probably wouldn't be able to unload anything until Altdorf, assuming a travel itinerary of Grissenwald -> Kemperbad (to look for Etelka) -> Altdorf...which might not happen but seems kind of likely.

credits
4g 19/- existing shipping fund
59g 8/- brandy sale
64g 7/- subtotal

debits
1g 1/- distribution to Company fund (10% of profits)
56g coal purchase
7g 6/- subtotal

totals
Company Fund: 73g 14/9
Shipping Fund: 7g 6/-
Cargo: 14 brandy, 55 armaments, 70 coal
Loan: 100g (2% per month interest)
Predicted Expenses: probably less than 3g for the itinerary mentioned above? Also some for food. I'm guessing we'll need to restock on that in Kemperbad.

I'll wait just a bit to post that as final in case someone has objections.

Regarding 2e adventures, there's someone recruiting for a WFRP 2e game of the Carrion Crown AP right now in Recruiting. I've been avoiding it because I need to keep 3-ish roleplaying systems in my head right now and adding another that is similar to this one doesn't seem smart.

Might work for others though.

That sounds awesome. But, like you, I don't have the current capacity to figure out a new system.

Honestly, Landolf, I wonder what we would do if you weren't our official accountant.

I hope it's not too much of a burden for you.

Thanks Adelaida.

A few notes for myself for later bookkeeping:
Brandy purchase price: 2.7g per encumbrance (base 3g)
Armaments purchase price: 1.08g per encumbrance (base 1.2g)
Coal purchase price: 0.8g per encumbrance (base 0.8g)

Total value of remaining cargo using base price:
Brandy: 14 encumbrance at 3g = 42g
Armaments: 55 encumbrance at 1.2g = 66g
Coal: 70 encumbrance at 0.8g = 56g

I'll probably move all of the bookkeeping stuff out of Landolf's profile & into Yvonne's so it doesn't get repeated ad nauseum when we're fighting greenskins or the like. That will make it slightly less accessible but if anyone has questions about how our funds are doing, they'd be able to go find Yvonne's profile in our Characters tab.

Too bad there isn't an Accountant career for her to move into. Interestingly, Noble does get access to Dealmaker at tier III, which is all about Haggling...but Nobles don't ever get Haggle.

hoping your wife feels better, Aubster.

I did bought the whole Warhammer PDF bundle on Humble Bundle.. Maybe some 2e edition adventures to come? Would there be an interest?

Thanks Adelaida - she’s doing alright, meeting with a different surgeon next month.

I’m a bit jealous that you bought the bundle. I thought about it and then forgot and by the time I remembered it was already over.

I’d be interested in trying a 2E adventure. I’ve not played those rules so might need a bit of help.

If you see any lore in the 2E bundle that you’d like incorporated in our campaign please let me know.

I've been reading through the Realms of Sorcery book. The stuff I didn't already know rhymes well with what I knew before. Tons of little details that would be great if we still had a wizard hanging around...

The trial by combat is being lifted from the Rough Nights and Hard Days Scenario Book. If you have that book, try to forget what happens in the fight so not to spoil the surprises.

I did read that when I bought the book a while back. It's been a long time and I'll try the forgetting thing, but it's not like I remember nothing. So through that section I might be a bit passive as a player. Feel free to suggest things for Landolf to do.

For Aubster: is there enough time between the visit to the temple of Verena & dinner with Count Boorman to make a trip to the market? We have a bunch of knicknacks to sell off.

I'm seeing a 1g locket & stuff from Etelka's mansion: silverware, rings (minus the two Krizta took), earrings & perfume.

If there is time, can I get a Haggle test to roll against?

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For Landolf to get further investigation at the temple of Verena would cost us 3 crowns. That's a big enough expense that I want to ask before we proceed.

If we do spend that money, the question we ask would be important. I'm thinking it should be about what Etelka is after over there. Something like any legends about the area or past battles of importance nearby.

Any other ideas?

For Aubster: is there enough time between the visit to the temple of Verena & dinner with Count Boorman to make a trip to the market? We have a bunch of knicknacks to sell off.

I'm seeing a 1g locket & stuff from Etelka's mansion: silverware, rings (minus the two Krizta took), earrings & perfume.

If there is time, can I get a Haggle test to roll against?

-----

For Landolf to get further investigation at the temple of Verena would cost us 3 crowns. That's a big enough expense that I want to ask before we proceed.

If we do spend that money, the question we ask would be important. I'm thinking it should be about what Etelka is after over there. Something like any legends about the area or past battles of importance nearby.

Any other ideas?

Sure, plenty of time…

Fancy Pawnbroker Haggle (40): 1d100 ⇒ 9SL +4

I forgot to hand out XP for Grissenwald…

20 XP if Grissenwald was fun

25 XP for befriending the Dwarfs of Khazid Slumbol.

25 XP for saving the life of Durak Dimholt and rescuing Dumpling.

50 XP for defeating the Orc and Goblins in the house.

120 xp, +60 leftover so 180 Xp to spend

20 Xp to buy last two advances in Leadership (+5 total)
25 Xp to get +1 to Ballistic skill (+5 total)

and 100 XP to get to next career stage: Warrior Priest (Silver 2)

35 Xp

About money:
when you speak about "Company funds", Landolf, is it our pooled money for buying stuff individualy as needed, or the money of our nascent trading company?

I can't find back how much money I own to buy the bow&arrows

Aubster: the two don't necessarily go together, but if we're getting xp should we also be getting a fortune refresh? I think the last was back in Altdorf.

Also, I'm assuming that your pricing for the rings took into account the fact that Krizta took two of them for herself. If that isn't true, let me know.

Edit: in the post below, I'm assuming that Landolf's trapping needs are cumulative. That the Scion trappings don't count toward his Noble trappings and that he needs three sets of Courtly Garb rather than two. I'm not sure that's right & other Careers seem to handle it differently.

If you'd rather that Landolf's Scion trappings count toward his Noble trappings, let me know.

Adelaida: the two funds right now are Company (shared pool for the party) and Shipping (for our cargo venture). If it's hurting that I moved the fund amounts off Landolf's information to Yvonne's let me know.

The cost of your bow is a bit in flux right now. It looks like the price Aubster quoted you was for a longbow & the one I quoted you was for a normal bow. The price difference isn't huge and the longbow is a better weapon, but make sure you can afford the encumbrance before choosing a longbow: 3 for a ranged weapon is pretty steep. Encumbrance rules are on page 293.

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Players:
With the Company Fund as high as this, I'd like to ask for a big purchase for Landolf's trappings. We've never been in a position before where we could do that and not hurt our ability to help everyone else with basic gear. Even with all of this, we can't get everything but we could make a dent in it.

Landolf's Trapping needs (I am definitely not asking for all of this):
* new set of Quality Courtly Garb: 24g
* new set of Courtly Garb: 12g
* Riding Horse with Saddle or Coach: ignoring this for now due to our boat
* Main Gauche or Quality Cloak: he has a Main Gauche
* Jewellery worth 50g: he has none of this so far - his existing jewellery I'm pretending takes care of his Scion needs

If it's OK to get something here, my preference would be to take care of part of the jewellery Landolf is supposed to have first. As things stand, he can't even bling out one outfit appropriately so getting more outfits doesn't help him much. We could pay 20-30 crowns out of the Company Fund and not be hurting I think.

Additionally, it's probably a good time to hand some of the loot out to players for their personal funds. Making even distributions is probably the most fair. Something like 2-4 crowns each is very doable with the current Company Fund & is higher than anyone (except Landolf) would get for their Career income. If we don't make a trapping buy for Landolf, we could go higher.

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Provisional Kemperbad accounting:
Company Fund: 73g 14/9
Bow & Arrows for Adelaida: 5g 10/- or 4g 8/- plus 5/- for some arrows
Landolf donations & bribes: 3g 12/-, which assumes the Verena donation is OK (not actually decided yet)
Party loot sale: 28g * 45% = 12g 12/- (credit)
Company Fund subtotal: 76g 19/9 (assumes all the most expensive options)
* does not assume any distribution to personal funds or Landolf trapping purchase

Shipping Fund: 7g 6/-
Kemperbad docking fee: 6/-
Total Shipping Fund: 7g

Lift Fees not yet accounted (these maybe should just be personal fund stuff)

I think that helping Landolf pay for his trapping can only help the party as a whole, as we regulary meet high society people, and he is our best shot at them. So he has to look the part.

@Aubster: you have a PM

I think that helping Landolf pay for his trapping can only help the party as a whole, as we regulary meet high society people, and he is our best shot at them. So he has to look the part.

@Aubster: you have a PM

Agreed. It’s a party investment. Having a true nobleman around to speak for us is a true boon. It takes money to make money!

Also 120xp? Nice. Spending 110xp on +9 dodge, as being hit by arrows taught him a lesson. Which means that I think that technically I am almost done with the Knight career! Will probably pick up menacing and intimidate before exiting the career. Pretty excited for First Knight though. Charm, and the talents are great.

Fearless-any, Stout-Hearted, Unshakeable, Warleader

All are worth taking. Fearless several times.

Cool with me.

Adelaida, which bow version do you want?

Landolf reminded me that I neglected to let you all know the XP for the signal tower...oops...

10 XP for solving the mystery of the disappearing dwarves
15 XP for defeating the Ghoul
25 XP for defeating the zombies and recovering their keys
20 XP if you had fun

Also, it is time for a Fortune reset so consider those Fortune points returned.

I did go ahead last night and buy the next installment of the campaign. It looks really interesting. It's called The Power Behind the Throne and will take the band of adventurers to a new and exciting destination ;)

XP spend
(from 203 total since I had some left over, was waiting for it to get over 100 (don't remember for what though... probably a talent I wanted from flagellant or something)):

+2 to Agility to bring me to 30 (50 xp)

+5 to Perception (50 xp)

Added Talent:

Suave (100 xp)

3xp left over.

Note: I already had 75 xp on my sheet marked from Signal Tower... not sure where I got that from if it wasn't awarded previously. Is that wrong?

Ok, it looks like I'm the one that missed the signal tower xp. I didn't check because it was hard to believe I missed xp, but maybe I was distracted by the Ambitions discussion going on at the same time. Sorry.

So no new 70 xp I guess. I just need to catch up on the old xp. See here.

Spent 100 xp for the Attractive talent.

It might get lost in the various discussions going on. The biggest thing I need to know for bookkeeping is what kind of bow Adelaida wants.

It might get lost in the various discussions going on. The biggest thing I need to know for bookkeeping is what kind of bow Adelaida wants.

Probably the amber bow. That's doable, right?

a simple (normal, not long) bow will do, thanks Landolf

Aubster, can we declare a Party Short Term Ambition for completing our mission for Count Boorman? I'll leave it to someone else to choose the wording because I know more than I should about this next bit.

We really need to remember the short term party goals. Such as “clearing the Greathammer name” or the like. Lots of xp falling away from that.

For this:

“Prove to Count Boorman that we are dependable and worth a good reputation.” We’re getting xp from this anyways, so I think the goal shouldn’t just be from following the story, right? At least with this we have to do our job without embarrassment, or doing something like burning the tavern down.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (belated)

Philosophically, I don't have any problem with the Party Ambitions matching the story. Conversely, I like the idea of the Personal Ambitions being different than the story to keep things interesting & to support development of the characters as characters.

Having the Party Ambitions be slightly off the side of the main story is possibly better though, like the one Valghaz suggested. Not just succeed, but succeed well sort of thing.

Sorry for the long delay again. I'll get caught-up this weekend.

Sorry for the long delay again. I'll get caught-up this weekend.

Glad to have you back

Wrote up my post before I saw Krizta was doing the same thing. No big reason to change it though, I guess.

[dice=Initiative (Perception) 45]1d100

Landolf's attention is caught up in the match as it continues. He claps hearily as it concludes.

Can you use fortune to make the +3 into a +4, thus catching the assassin?

Yes. I thought I edited my post to do just that quickly enough that no one would have noticed, but you caught me!

It's not a bad thing that the original is preserved in your quote I guess.

Have to say, so glad that you nailed the check with fortune. Given the SL required, I thought that we were screwed.

Still not sure what is actually going on. The spoiler Landolf got to see didn't reveal much detail. Better to overreact in defense of our charge than not, however.

I'm also very glad that my memory of this module is poor. I really don't remember this part & it helps me feel free to act.

Still not sure what is actually going on. The spoiler Landolf got to see didn't reveal much detail. Better to overreact in defense of our charge than not, however.

I'm also very glad that my memory of this module is poor. I really don't remember this part & it helps me feel free to act.

What’s happening now isn’t in the module…I’m going freestyle:)

Guess that goes to show how little I remember. I have a lot of "oh there was...something...about this" going on in my head.

Sorry, wasn't well yesterday

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. We’ll pick up again after New Year’s Day.