Branding Opportunity's page

My PC was already entered in the Character Keeper - is it not visible? Bolded, in any case ;)

No, sorry, you were. I was mixing your character up with the other wolfkin.

Question to GM BrOp - would you like us to post regardless of Initiative order, or should we wait for our turn. It feels like this might be important in Dragonbane?

Let's play this combat with the rules as written where we have a specific order we act in. For future combats I will probably move to how I generally run combat initiative in PbP games, which is that initiative order is broken down into groups that are structured around opponents' initiative order. So if you have PCs going on initiative points 1, 3, 6, and 9, and opponent's going on 5, then we'll break posting into two PC groups: 1 and 3, and 6 and 9. So first 1 and 3 go in posting order (meaning whoever posts first goes first), then the opponents, after which 6 and 9 go in posting order. Does that make sense?

Another question - so if I understood correctly, it is enough to stand next to the canyon wall to be considered as having cover? (For example where Bastonn is right now?)

Yes, you understand correctly.

Sounds like a great idea.

Well, since there are no objections ...

ROLLING STATS (4d6, drop the lowest)
4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 5) = 15 : 13, I'll assign that to Agility
4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5, 2) = 10 : 9, I'll assign that to Will
4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 1, 1) = 13 : 12, I'll assign that to Constitution
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 1, 3) = 13 : 12, I'll assign that to Strength
4d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 1, 6) = 12 : 11, I'll assign that to Intelligence
4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 6, 5) = 17 : 16, I'll assign that to Charisma

KIN
I'll pick human

PROFESSION
I'll pick Bard

AGE
I'll pick Adult

SKILLS
As a bard, my trained skills are Acrobatics, Bluffing, Evade, Knives, Languages, Myths & Legends, Performance, Persuasion

OK, I'll think about this a bit.

Rules elements to remember when we start playing:

Skill Rolls and Ability Rolls

If you faill a skill or ability roll you may reroll it by "Pushing Your Roll". Just roll it again, applying all modifications to the roll as before but you have to abide by the new roll. Immediately after the roll, you have to pick a condition (these are listed in the keeper under your attributes: Exhausted, Sickly, etc). Any future rolls involving that attribute or skill linked to that attribute (each skill is linked to an attribute) you roll with a Bane (meaning you roll 2D20 and take the worse result).

Combat
Remember that both Parry and Dodge are actions and you only get 1 action per combat round, which means you can't attack on your turn and then expect to Parry or Dodge when someone hits you later that same round. Both Parry and Dodge can be performed as Reactions, however, which means if you haven't used your action for that round, you may Parry or Dodge a successful attack against you when it's not your turn. This means that it's good to go first in combat, but often it's better to go later.

Most humanoid creatures (and NPCs) have to make attack rolls to hit you, but monsters (non-humanoid or non-human-sized creatures) AUTOMATICALLY HIT YOU and just roll damage. Monsters also can't be parried but can be dodged. This obviously makes monsters very dangerous. Some monsters are even more dangerous and can act multiple times during a single round.

Experience
This game has no levels so you'll be advancing your skills through experience. Each time you roll a 1 (called a dragon) or a 20 (called a demon) while making a skill roll, make a note of it on your character sheet by BOLDING the skill name in the online keeper. After a certain number of posts (exact number TBD) I will call for Advancement Rolls. Roll 1D20 for each marked skill and if the result exceeds your current skill level, the skill goes up by one. I will also give you a few bonus "marks" to potentially advance skills you haven't rolled 1 or 20 on.

I'll copy this post into the Campaign Info thread.

I also want to state that for those of you not familiar with the rules (which I assume is most of you), is that this game was modeled on Runequest as it existed back in the 80s. This means that PCs are pretty squishy, and that players need to be cautious before throwing themselves into combat. This is pretty much the default design idea for OSR games, and Dragonbane generally falls into this group.

Excellent! I'm glad there's interest. I'll wait until we have a few more interested souls then open the official recruitment thread.

Even though Luccia has not posted, I am moving forward so that we don't lose more momentum.

As you move into your home, you see a few rats scurry into the holes in the walls. Rats are an ever-present part of life here in Sag Harbor, and the best you can generally do is sleep in hammocks off the floor (so as not to get bitten during sleep) and NEVER keep any foodstuff where they can be easily accessed.

Moving into the second-story room that is your communal living area, you realize that the rats are the least of your problems.

All of your belongings are wrecked or missing.

Your furniture, which you had patiently gathered over the course of months, has been broken into pieces. Holes have been punched into the walls (most likely to search what was behind them), loose floorboards have been wrenched up, and even your food stash (carefully hidden in the flooded basement to keep it cool) has been found and stolen.

Most importantly, Gemma's lantern is missing. Gemma is your friend who has been living with you on and off for several weeks. When she first arrived, she brought with her a beautiful oil lantern that she claimed to have stolen from a wealthy household. Whenever Gemma put oil into this lantern and lit it, all the roughness and ugliness about your home seemed to have been smoothed out, and for the first time your house looked like more than just an abandoned shell of a collapsing building, it felt like a real home.

What happened here and who could have done this?

So this now becomes an investigation. All of you have various Investigative Abilities and Allegiances that you can use to figure out how you were robbed and who did it. The way it works is that you tell me what Investigative Ability (or Allegiance, which can be used just like an Investigative Ability) you want to use and I tell you if there are clues to be found with that Ability; no dice rolls needed.

I'll give you an exampled to help get you going. Luccia has the Thieves' Guilds Allegiance, which means she not only has useful contacts in the Thieves' Guilds, but also understands how they operate. Luccia's player could say: "Luccia looks around at the devastation of her home, paying particular attention to what has been broken and how things were left. Does this look like something a member of the Thieves' Guild would do?"

To which I, the GM, would say: "Luccia looks at the haphazard, thoroughly unprofessional way things have been torn up in her house and comes to the conclusion that this clearly was not done by the Thieves' Guild. Sure, professional thieves could have come after Gemma's lantern, that clearly was worth some money, but they woudn't have trashed the place like this."

As always, feel free to ask any questions either here or in the OOC thread.

I guess if we're Refreshing after this, I may as well just spend 3 points from Athletics to guarantee the roll? Unless I'm misunderstanding how that works.

Since I wasn't clear, you will completely refresh any General Ability points spent after this encounter. In the future, however, there will only be a refresh of a limited number of "Refresh Tokens" that you all have to share. Normally, for this chase, you would have a Refresh Token pool of 3, but as I said, since I wasn't specific, we'll just do a complete refresh. This is also a game of managing the resources, in this case the Refresh Token pools. For combat encounters, each opponent or group of opponents is worth a limited set of points that everyone has to draw from. I won't tell you the amount of Refresh Tokens in a pool until after the encounter is over.

Alongside the other spoilers in the Campaign Description, would you mind putting the link(s) to the ruleset and pregens for easy reference?

Done.

Things seem to be slowing down. I'll keep recruitment open through the weekend and then get things started next week!

You mentioned spending General Ability points. For example if a PC has a 6 in athletics they potentially have 6 points to spent to increase athletics rolls that they make. Is my understanding correct?

Also, do these General Ability points regenerate/refresh?

Yes, in your example, you can spend up to six points to boost Athletics Tests (their name for checks). Each point spent improves a 1d6 roll by +1.

General Ability points refresh more often than Investigative Ability points. Basically, any time you complete a scene where people are likely to spend pool points, you receive Refresh Tokens. These tokens are a pool that anyone who was involved in the scene can use to "refresh" any General Ability points that were spent. It's a common pool for the entire group, not a per-person pool, so the group has to decide who gets the points. In a combat scene, each opponent has their own pool of Refresh Tokens that you get for defeating (or otherwise overcoming) them.

Investigative Ability points only refresh at the end of the adventure.

Questions

1. The cheat sheet suggest that you spend points before you roll. Are you changing that? (I read somewhere that one of the developers suggests doing it after the roll. Which would work better for pbp).

The way I generally play it is that I give you a general idea of the difficulty you're trying to beat. The default is always 4, but if it's a lot harder, I will let you know. You then tell me how many General Ability points you want to spend. Then you roll. If the roll is one off a success, however, I'll generally let you spend an extra point (after the roll) to make it a success.

2. How do allegiances work (especially negative ones)?

Allegiances allow you to wield political power. They allow you to manipulate politics to get favors or help you in some other way. In game terms, you spend Allegiance points to gain a "spotlight moment" and grab narrative control that you might otherwise not have been able to pull off. You can spend an Allegiance point (or any Investigative Ability point) to get:

* Gain a +3 bonus on a related General ability test (including attacks).
* Gain +1 die of damage to a successful attack. Investigative points from only one ability can be added to any given attack.
* Gain Armor 4 (which reduces Health damage) or Grit 4 (which reduces Morale damage) for one round.
* Increase your Health or Morale Threshold by +3 for one attack.
* Give Supporting Characters a favorable impression of you.
* Stretch the definition of the ability you’re using, granting you a clue that would ordinarily be gained with a different ability than the one you have.
* Create one of the special effects noted under the ability's description
* Create a unique special effect that you and the GM agree is balanced with others on this table.

You can also do this with Enemies, it's just if you do, I get to do pull some shenanigans against you at a later time.

Here are some links for the folks who are interested in playing in the Swords of the Serpentine game:

Swords of the Serpentine Rules 101 "Cheat Sheet"

Online Character Keeper of the PCs

G-unit and Sir Longears, feel free to look at both docs and add your name to your chosen character's profile in the character keeper.

While we are waiting to see if others show up to play, feel free to ask my questions about the game/your characters/the setting that are not covered in the Cheat Sheet.

More info:

Link to Dave Thaumavore's review of the game

"Three things about Eversink": Quick info about the setting

Hi folks,

I've been absent from the forums for a good while now to deal with family issues that took up all my available brain space. I did not end my last GMing experiences here in the forums well (I ghosted my groups), so I'll apologize for that for starters:

Sorry to all my players for ghosting our games. I was under a lot of stress at the time, but that doesn't excuse the poor way in which I dropped all of the games; nobody deserves that, mea culpa.

-------------------------------------------------

I say all of this because it is my intention to run a brief game of Swords of the Serpentine, a fantasy sword and sorcery GUMSHOE game. To make it as simple as possible, I'll be running a pre-written adventure called "Ragamuffins" about a small crew of pre-teen street urchins who have to deal with a strange situation. Anyone who is interested will be playing one of the following pregens:

* Gemma, a 12-year-old who fancies herself a freelance slink (P.I.) or a City Watch member, even if the Watch regularly chase her away.
* Benito, a brainy introvert ((who struggles with demons of his own, quite literally, as he’s a sorcerer and his demon keeps speaking to him in a voice no one else can hear).
* Luccia, the tough girl who keeps them safe.
* Ratter, an easily distracted thief in training.
* Vittoria, a church ward who regularly runs away to hang out with Gemma and her friends.
* Arabor, a commoner boy who is secretly a disguised noble girl on the run named Arabella Tiverti. She is the heir to the noble House Tiverti, but her parents were killed several months ago by her uncle Tellio Tiverti so that he could seize power. She evaded her parents' fate and fled to Sag's End (the neighborhood the Ragamuffins live in) and changed her appearance and is masquerading as a boy.

Names and genders are flexible and can be changed by the player.

If you're interested, this will be a game with a lot of RP and investigation and even a bit of combat. Since all of the PCs are children, however, most of the time it will be much smarter (and more in the spirit of this adventure) to run away instead of trying to win a stand-up fight. I am hoping to begin as soon as all the pregens are claimed on a first-come basis, or if they are not all filled, once new players stop showing up. No previous knowledge or experience with Swords of the Serpentine or a GUMSHOE game is necessary to play, and all rules will be taught during play.

Should Author:Misty Belmont be Minty Belmont?

Hagar has never seen such a thing before. He has heard that necromancers can animate corpses and control them like marionettes, but this disembodied arm is new to him. As far as he understands, countering necromancy is either done with other high magic, or requires special religious blessings or artifacts. Lacking any of these tools, however, he understands that animated bodies can be hacked apart like any other corpse.

As Motherbear lunges at the arm, it instantly tightens its grip on Agatha's neck, who begins to turn blue and make choking sounds, scratching at it fruitlessly with her nails. Motherbear grasps the arm, but realizes that it is covered in some kind of slime or oil and is fiendishly hard to get a hold on. Every attempt to gain a good grip fails, and the arm looks like it might break Agatha's neck instead of just choking her out if it squeezes any harder.

Thibault, the grip the arm has on Agatha's neck is already too tight to slip in anything as large as a club.

What does everyone want to do? You can try again to pry the arm off with the help of others, but if you fail again she is most likely dead (she has already taken some damage). It definitely reacted to you getting closer to her.

And if it might be the case that my habit of 'favoriting' all the gameplay posts [besides that of my own] happens to be off-putting to anyone else participating in this pbp game, please feel free to let me know, via public post or private messaging, so I can change things. :)

I'm fine with it. It's nice to be appreciated, and think it improves the esprit de corps of the game.

When Syrina pulls aside the curtain on the four-poster, she uncovers a terrible sight. Agatha, Candace's eldest sister, lies on top of the duvet in only her nighshirt that clings to her body as if she has been perspiring heavily. What immediately draws your attention, however, is the disembodied arm that is wrapped around her neck in a choke hold. The arm is quite obviously from a deceased person and is not connected to anything else, but nevertheless holds Agatha in a death grip. As Syrina moves closer, the arm tightens its grip around the prone woman's neck, causing her to wheeze and as she struggles to draw breath through her constricting wind pipe. Only when Syrina instinctively moves away from the bed does the arm relax its grip and Agatha takes a huge breath, sucking in as much air as she can. Her eyes plead with you desperately as she holds up her hands in a defensive posture.

"Please, I can't help you. Just go away or you will kill me."

The voice behind the curtain falters and grows quiet for a few seconds. You then hear wheezing as if she was having trouble drawing breath. She then states: "Please, just leave. I cannot tell you anything! Please!"

Well, that's one down. Anyone else want to give it a try? Remember, you may also assist other PCs in their rolls, giving them +1 on their Negotiate moves. I'd say that in this situation, no more than one other person may assist the person making the check. Anyone with a positive Charisma modifier want to give it a try? The person assisting doesn't have to roll, so a lower Cha would be fine. You just have to explain how you are assisting the other person. Also remember that you could attempt to intimidate her (using Strength) or trick her into revealing something (using Intelligence).

Seems we are down to 2 active players. Are the others still around? Have you lost interest? Is there something we could do to bring you around again?

I apologize if there hasn't been enough "action" this far, but I swear, we'll get there!

First, Candace gets to "mark" her Charisma, that's the good part.

The voice behind the curtain speaks up again, this time with quite a bit more antagonism in her voice.

"Candace, is it? You've got some gall to waltz in here after what you pulled, or do you think I'd forgotten about young master Alain? He was supposed to me mine, Candace, you knew that! But no, you had to drag him around and show him all of your disgusting birds. He never looked at me again after that!"

There is a slight hesitation following Motherbear's question followed by a pathetic answer from behind the curtain: "Go away. I can't help you."

There is a small click from inside the room following your appeals and you realize that the door has been unlocked.

When you push down the mechanism that releases the latch and enter the room all of you are shocked. An acrid, unpleasant smell permeates the chamber and the air is thick with various types of incense. The large bedchamber is in a chaotic state with books opened on every surface and more than a score of potted plants scattered about.

A single four-poster bed dominates the chamber. Its heavy burgundy brocade curtains have been pulled, hiding anyone inside from view, and you see the barest of movement from them, as if someone had just passed through them to get back into bed.

"What do you want? I can't help you." says a weak voice from behind the curtains.

Candace, you have not spoken to your sister in quite some time, probably at least a month, but she does not sound well. You're pretty sure its her, but she sounds much weaker than you've ever heard her.

Also for clarity, only one roll is needed for the Reaction move, since it applies only to one person (Agatha). I'll take the roll for the first one posted.

Thanks for the info!

Candace's call echoes through the empty rooms of Achandunie Manor. The estate may be empty, or its occupants might be in a room so far away that they can't hear the group's entrance, or they may simply be ignoring you. Whatever the case, when no one answers her call, you are left to climb the steep and narrow servant stairs to the third floor to the private quarters of her sister Agatha.

The eldest of the Baron's seven daughters, Agatha was considered a great beauty during her youth and the best chance to save the family's crumbling finances through an advantagous marriage. But first her teens and then her twenties passed with few proposals and several broken engagements. In the end, no one wanted to take on the family's generational debt, and Agatha eventually withdrew from the public and even her family. She spent more and more time locked in her chambers working on pet projects, most of which involved researching the religions of lost civilizations.

When you reach the door to Agatha's bedroom, a short knock brings a single response: "Go away!"

Any of you may try to talk to Agatha if you wish. Candace can tell you that she's not particularly fond of the rest of her family.

The group leaves the strange hermit and makes its way to the ancient baronial seat of House Macdougal: Achandunie Manor. This crumbling edifice began as a small country estate several centuries back and was expanded on several occasionals when times were good. In the past several decades, however, the Macdougal family has fallen on hard times and now most of its dozens of rooms sit empty and its vacant windows stare like empty eyes down upon the village below it.

Bones takes you around to the back of the manor to a small door no more than five feet high. She unlocks it with a key she pulls out of a satchel that is big enough to be used as a kosh. It grinds and squeaks in the lock, but eventually the door pops open.

You can't be sure, but one of you thinks they can see momentary movement from a window on the second floor. When you look up to confirm this, however, you see nothing but heavy black-out draperies in the window.

Bones, how do you feel about your home? Are you embarassed at its state, proud of it, indifferent, or have a different outlook?

GM: If you had a different Agatha in mind, well then Candace can just be wrong about her assuming it was her sister.

I'm happy for the PCs to drag the story off in any direction that seems interesting. I have a number of "encounters" planned, but those could happen anywhere!

Apologies on my own absence this week. I took last weekend off and then got a new COVID booster which knocked me on my butt for two days now, but I'm back now!

Apologies on my own absence this week. I took last weekend off and then got a new COVID booster which knocked me on my butt for two days now, but I'm back now!

The old man's eyes drift off as he listens to the bounty hunter speak, moving a pouch he has tied around his waist from the side to the front. He fishes around inside it for a moment and pulls out something dark and unidentifyable that he smells and then pops into his mouth.

When Syriana has finished speaking he states matter-of-factly: "I have not one idea what you are talking about when it comes to that hand thingy. Never trucked with the divine and its done me a world of good!"

"As for strange tracks, that could be from the woman who goes up to clean them once a month, you know, pick off the moss and give them a good scrubbing. Her name is Agatha and she's got a peg leg!"

Not to waste more time, he clearly does not know anything about the Hand, which means that either the cryptic statement in town, or he is not the oldest man in town.

Sorry if it wasn't clear, but only one Reaction roll was needed (since it's only person who is reacting to you). I went with the first one.

The assembled group has a chat with Jerrod, who lets you approach once he realizes you are from the village. He remains on his platform in the tree about twelve feet from the ground and does not seem particularly happy that you are interrupting his day.

"So what is it you want from me?"

Just a reminder that alignment in SWADE Pathfinder is a less cut and dry thing, at least how I run it. Just because a creature is undead, does not mean it is necessarily evil, especially depending on how it achieved unlife. Or maybe I've just taken a shining to this poor creature ;)

GM: I'm not exactly sure what equipment Candace was able to get from Florian or if we need to spell it all out at this point. Perhaps everyone gets one Adventuring Gear as defined in the Equipment Table?

I think that is reasonable. Let it be so!

Syrina, in order to keep things moving and not take up too much more time in this "preliminary" part of the adventure, let's just say that the bowyer agrees to help you out, but requires you to do some physical work in exchange for the bolts. This work will lower you Constitution score by 2 points when you begin the "adventure" part of this adventure. You can regain Constitution as per the normal rules for the "Pass the Night" move (Funnel doc, p. 25). In exchange he will gift you with 2 more bolts, but note that this doesn't mean that he gives you literally 2 bolts. Take a look at the "Shoot or Throw" move on p. 22, and you will see that you actually only mark off the ammo if you roll poorly during combat. Do you want to take him up on this offer?

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the above happens because you rolled an "8" in the Negotiate. The moves states that with that number "they'll do it, but only if you conced something meaningful in return."

The Story Coninues ...

A group of folk make the short journey into the village's backcountry on the edge of the Gloomwood to speak with an old hunter/trapper name Jerrod. While the man certainly does not have the friendliest reputation and generally does not interact with townfolk, it's been years since he's shot at someone who approached his hut.

Not everyone has to go visit Jerrod, so if others want to do other stuff, please feel free. I'm assuming you don't do this immediately after the Pig and Pickle scene, as that occurs at night, and will wait until the next morning to visit the hunter.

This is where I make a "Check Reaction" move (p. 20 of the Funnel doc).

Check Reaction move: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 1) = 7

You know that Jerrod long ago withdrew from earthly life, and lives on a platform in a tree at the top of a small hill that has a good view of the surrounding countryside. As you begin to make the slow climb up the switchback trail to his home, you hear a voice call out from above.

"What the Seven Hells are you lot doing tromping on my flowers? Who are you and what do you want? Speak up or do you want an arrow in the chest?"

[dice=Negotiate for a mount to carry the blessed coffin/Int]2d6+1.

The local temple is willing to help and loans you the use of Beatrice, an old donkey with a bit of an attitude, but who is still quite capable of carrying her weight.

Beatrice has a capacity of 8 but also has the tag "cantakerous".

Hagar confidently replies to Mathilde's concern, "In a time of such urgency, I'm certain that the temple will lend it's support in this holy endeavor."

[dice=Negotiate for healing supplies and various assortments/Int]2d6+1.

Upon hearing a second request, the local Lama's face goes red. "Haven't we helped enough, Madame Renault? We are not made of money, you know!"

If it's not clear, that's a "No" on the healing supplies.

Almost forgot, Zuni will try to negotiate for some supplies from either the Town Watch Commander or the Watch Quartermaster for her and some of the villagers; this'll take place the day after the quest announcement, maybe.

"...Like I said, the villagers that are going ain't likely to have much in the way of anything. Any supplies that could be reasonably spared for this undertaking would really be of help and all."

The Watch's Quartermaster, a middle-aged woman named Leslie Cheron, had taken Zuni under her wing when she first joined and seems happy to help.

"Here, you can have these," she says as she rummages through an old chest covered in dust, pulling out several items. "They're not the newest, but I guess that's okay for just a short trip into the country."

The Quartermistress gives Zuni two sets of leather armor and a shield, but none are in good condition and have the fragile tag. They otherwise work as stated on p. 16 of the "Funnel" doc.

Taking a final swig of his small beer, Thibault leaves the Pig and Pickle afterwards in order to request a few days off from his apprenticeship to Gregory the Miller in order to seek out the Hand of St. Ignys.

"... Oh yeah, that reminds me, Master Gregory... saw your son Stitch over at the Pig and Pickle. He was busy making small talk with Charlotte, as usual, last I saw of him."

Gregory growls at the mention of Stitch's name and seems inordinately annoyed.

"What? Time off? I have four other lads who are dying for the work, Thibault. Fine. I'll give you the time off, but don't be surprised if you find yourself with a pay cut and working under somebody new when you get back."

The miller seems done with the conversation and excuses himself, leaving Thibault out standing in the rain.

Candace "Bones" Macdougal wrote:

"Big prints. Not like cattle or uhhh sheep. They were heading away from the village." She adds shyly and with a shiver as she too thinks of all the children's tales of evil and dangers lurking in the Moors.

Furrowing her brows in thought, Zuni tries to recall who or what could be lurking out there to make such big enough prints that Candace described.

Motherbear thinks for a moment and decides that judging from the shape and arrangement of the tracks, it was most likely a beast of burden of some sort, but not one that he immediately recognizes. He does remember that there is an old trapper named Jerrod living outside the village who would probably know the answer.

Assuming it's ok to make up some lore. Adjust this all accordingly, GM BrOp...

Yup, please, go ahead! When you create something that either a) has no direct positive impact on you or the other PCs, or b) has a negative impact, I will generally be okay with such "expansions" of lore and story. The only time this won't be the case, is if I've already decided on something that would be changed by your suggestion.

Charlotte the barmaid looks at Stitch with an expression that is a cross of pity and frustration as she cleans up the sticky mess on the floor. Once she is finished, she stands up and throws the rag back in the bucket and answers him in a plain and matter-of-fact manner.

"Stitch, I can't believe I have to tell you of all people this, but my father has not forgiven you for what you did to my sister, and he will never forgive you. The only reason he hasn't taken you out behind the woodshed himself is that he respects your father too much. I can't believe I have to tell you this, since you are not stupid, but you can't go around treating people the way you do and expect them to do you favors. The only boon you'll get from our family is that I won't tell my father that you asked me such a braind-dead question. I don't think he'd be able to contain his temper if I did."

Having said her piece, Charlotte turns around and disappears back into the kitchen.

Having failed big time, you may "Mark Charisma" on Stitch's charachter sheet. You can find the info on this on p. 39 of the Rules document. Once a given ability has been marked 5 times, you increase the ability's current and maximum score by 1 and erase all its marks. It's one of the two ways in the game of improving your character (the other is Marking XP).

Master Florian listens with the air of someone who is being pushed to stay out in the elements longer than he wishes, even if he is under the partial shelter of the lantern maker's home. When Candace seems to be finished speaking, he replies curtly.

"I, of course, understand that it would be in the town's best interest that you are in good kit, what being the Baron's daughter and all. It is truly a sad sight to see one of the county's most historic families brought so low that one of its children comes begging to one such as me." Even though he hides it very well, it is clear that Master Florian is enjoying himself thoroughly.

"But something your father should have taught you is that nothing is life comes free. I will provide you with servicable gear from my own supplies, but only under two conditions. Firstly, I ask you to use what little influence you have with your father and try to convince him to lower the gate tolls of the village. It has been negatively impacting trade, and I believe if they were perhaps half of what they are now, the increase in commerce in the town with be in everyone's best interest."

"Secondly," and here the merchant looks around to make sure nobody is listening, "You will be my eyes and ears in this expedition. You will wear this brooch on you at all times. It has been enchanted so that I may hear and see through your eyes and ears whenever I so choose." He reaches into a pocket and draws out a small metal brooch shaped like an open eye and presents it to Candace.

"Do we have a deal?"

Syrina is attempting a "Find Answers" move (p. 20). A result of 9 has the following result: "the Judge's answer is cryptic and incomplete, but they'll tell you how to learn more". Here's how I interpret that:

Shay asks around among the people of the village who have congregated in and around the Pig & Pickle. Few seem particularly eager to talk to the young bounty hunter, being an outsider and all, but she finally corners a squirrly-looking man with wet, thinning hair. He seems particuarly nervous about talking to her, constantly looking towards the door and not meeting her eyes as she is asking questions. Finally he blurts out: "Check the oldest man in town! You'll find the answer there!". He then pushes a passing waiter into Syrina, who is knocked off balance and falls to the ground. By the time she jumps back up and looks around, the man is nowhere in sight.

The members of the village counsel who are present grimly take a count and make a list of everyone who proclaims their willingness to take part in the expedition to recover the Hand of St. Ignys. Once that is accomplished, they quickly leave the tavern to head back to their "council chambers" (in actuality just the large, well-appointed home of Master Florian).

So what now? The only clue to the hand's possible location are the Standing Stones, but might there be other clues around town? You certainly have not asked around yet. Additionally, do any of you want to scrounge for any supplies in or around town that might be useful in your expedition? Unless it's listed in your inventory, you don't have money, but I would certainly allow any of your PCs to make a "Negotiate" move (p. 21 of the Funnel doc) to convince someone to help you out or swap something that you own.

I am also assuming that those of you from the village have access to the mundane things needed to perform your profession, such as a knife, length of role, sack, etc.

Sorry for my absence this week as well. Busy RL issues.

On a side note, I am assuming that everyone who is from the village knows each other. It's just not that big of a town.

The merchant thinks about it for a moment, then turns to the other members of the town council and gathers them close to him. The group has a short but involved discussion.

When it seems they have resolved their differences, Master Florian turns back to Syrina.

"It is thus decided. Yes, anything you come across that it not someone else's property or is the property of the party or parties who stole the Hand is fair game. You may not, however, hold any member of the town council or its representatives liable should you NOT find any valuables while retreaving the Hand, nor does the town council or its representatives guarantee your safety during your search."

The wealthy man shakes his head. "There is no reward for the recovery of the relic, nor has it yet been decided whether there SHOULD be a reward. Most of us think that we can look to our fellow townsfolk to take care of our problems and not rely on the paid work of outsiders to take care of things, but maybe I am in the minority in that opinion."

"As for this Black Rose, I have never heard of her."

Still waiting on some characters to join us ...

One of the councilors, Master Florian the Merchant, turns to Syrina with a look of annoyance.

"A reward for what, Lady? And who are you anyway?"

Since we're still waiting on one player, I'll continue the "Tales of the Pig & Pickle" a bit.

The sound of a heated argument presages the arrival of the town council. This is the third town council that has been formed at the request of the aging baron in the last two months, the previous two having fallen apart due to infighting.

"What do you mean, we can't do anything about this? This is clearly a problem that we as the town council have to deal with!" shouts Councilwoman Cécile Astier, the butcher's wife, as she bursts into the main room of the Pig & Pickle. She throws the large pail she had been using to protect herself from the rain into a corner and stomps over to the bar where she signals for a drink.

She is followed into the room by Florian the Merchant, the longest-serving member of the town council (he'd been serving for the past three town councils). "No, no, you missunderstand me, Mistress Astier," Master Florian intones with as much gravitas as he can muster from under his rain-soaked floppy hat. "All I was saying is that we need to first establish a sub-committee to study the problem before we can take an active role. We don't just want to rush off, willy-nilly. This is a serious crisis!" The merchant carefully un-dons his feathered hat and places it carefully on a table before joining Councilwoman Astier at the bar where he orders a pint of bitter.

The two are followed by the remaining two council members: Ernest Colbert, the village's second-most-famous candlemaker, and Alain Messier, the local clockmaker. The two join Florian and Cecile at the bar, but remain mum, content to let the others go at it.