Treerazer

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2,066 posts. Alias of Nathan Goodrich.


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

For the choice of adventure, it sounds like the vote is going to investigating those who are looking into your affairs.

For the trappings discussion, a lot of the treasure on the pirate island was meant to help with your career trappings. The trappings we should be short on currently are:

* Magda: only her guild license
* Axel: the magic book he found wasn't meant to be a grimoire for him, largely because I didn't know what choices you were going to make for his Wind. I'm planning to handle Axel's issues (need a wizard to teach him and a grimoire) in-game
* Calph: the pirates had everything he needs I think
* Zarine: she's still missing the horse-or-coach item, and the party can't budget for that. Since the campaign has been river-centric, both of those trappings are a little dubious. We could substitute something else in for that. There was some discussion about who the fine dress belonged to and so forth. I'm leaving it ambiguous on purpose, but Klara von Holgau (the ghost lady) was supposed to have been on her wedding barge when she was killed. It isn't necessarily her dress, but that's a solid possibility. If Zarine doesn't want to use the dress of a possibly-dead woman (even modified to no longer be a wedding gown) then she can probably trade it to the tailor she got a recommendation for instead of using the actual cloth.

If there are trapping items you are missing and aren't in the easily bought range that I haven't mentioned above, let me know.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Does anyone have a preference for which activity they'd like to pursue?


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

For availability: go ahead and roll. In a live game I'd probably roll as the GM so I didn't have chaotic player rolls all over the place, but it'd be a waste of time in a pbp environment. Just keep an eye out to see whether others have rolled for the same thing you have. The availability rules state that in a town once something is available it usually has 1d10 of the item available if quantities are important.

There is a wood elf community in Grunberg, but not an embassy. I looked up the town's entry again and Grunberg's industries are first in boat construction (something I'd forgotten) followed by trade. It's not a major political center, though. The one guy I brought up is the longest-settled wood elf in town who'd best be able to arrange your letter & answer your questions but there are others.

I'm not intending a Downtime right now, but the story could make space for one. Does the party want a Downtime? There'd be an opportunity to get some things done, but you'd need to deal with the Cash to Burn issue as well.

I'm possibly being a bit too coy in my last post. My intent here is that the party can choose which activity to focus on, kind of choose-your-own-adventure style. There won't be any huge negatives to not choosing an option. The options are:

1. Go to the Reiker Marshes, begin looking around & set up a base camp.
2. Investigate who is intruding into your affairs in Grunberg.
3. Go to Stimmigen and try to find out more about why the Earl of Harwich started behaving mysteriously before it disappeared.

The idea is whichever option you choose will take the party into wintertime, and we'll have a Downtime after. The Greater Reikland Trading Company will work on the two options not selected.

No problem if you will be busy for the next week. Take care of things!


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

We're likely not fully caught up with town stuff, but let's move along.

You return to the Carved Crown in the evening, and the staff brings you a message from Albwin that Eloise Fischbein indicating that you can meet with her after breakfast in the morning.

The evening passes without incident, and you are able to refresh yourselves from your long journey. When breakfast is concluded, Albwin comes to fetch you and crosses the small courtyard between the inn and the Fischbein residence.

Inside, Albwin directs you to the meeting room that Axel & Magda have entered before. The young woman they saw before is waiting for them with a sour look on her face. That changes quickly when she sees Zarine. Eloise squeaks in surprise and jolts to her feet before giving a hurried curtsy to the group.

"Welcome to my home. It is a pleasure to be doing business with you this morning," she stammers.

You exchange pleasantries before eventually settling down to the conversation at hand. I'll assume you tell Eloise something about your journey, but the events aren't directly relevant to your current enterprise.

Eloise gestures toward a set of documents on the table. "These are my copies of the Earl of Harwich's shipping manifests. It took some time to cross reference the information with other branches of my brother's company, but we have a reasonable guess at where the Earl of Harwich went down now. In the end there isn't even much of a secret to it, though the clerks my brother assigned to the task were too dense to realize that the Grunberg Canal didn't exist four hundred years ago." She sounds thoroughly vexed by the oversight. "They kept trying to confirm with the office in Prieze and lamenting the lack of records remaining when the obvious solution is the Reiker Marshes."

"The area is largely avoided now, due to how much safer the Grunberg Canal is and after the efforts of Emperor Leopold to drain the swamplands failed so many times. Even the knights of Castle Reikguard avoid the place these days. Besides being remote and an excellent hiding place for the wreckers, the marshes were notorious for being a danger to shipping in earlier eras. It would be a surprise if the Redblade Lion didn't take the ship there. It's a treacherous place & the next passage the Earl of Harwich would have had to pass through after it was last seen at Grunberg."

"Of course, just knowing the area of the wreckage isn't enough to make a move to secure it. Without Master Fermahn's compass to point the way to the Earl of Harwich, you would need more than a little luck to find the ship and without my brother to organize the expedition, you'd be left to dredge up any salvage by hand. I don't see any way to complete the salvage until my brother returns from Middenheim."

"We do still have some time before winter hits to get some work done, however. One obvious task is to establish a base camp in the Reiker Marshes to supply the expedition next spring. Some scouting of the area would also help and, who knows, maybe one of you would run across the wreckage by chance?"

"Albwin also tells me that we have unsavory folk sniffing around the Carved Crown, and that is a concern. If one of our competitors has gotten wind of the salvage operation, we could end up in an ugly situation in the spring. They don't have the compass but we can't ignore the possibility that they seek to beat us to the wreckage or steal our finds before the company can profit from it. The whole operation could be called into question."

"All of that concerns matters of logistics and business competition, however. I am more interested in what the Earl of Harwich was carrying. The company must have had some reason for not filing the proper paperwork. Something they were carrying perhaps, or someone? My brother isn't interested since we'll know what the ship had when we recover it, he says, but there are more mysteries here than just where the ship went down."


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

We're not in Downtime right now. I have a plan for when Downtime will come next.

For your short term ambition, how would you define its completion? The party is currently getting quite a bit of money.

In terms of finding a wizard, I've got some plans on how to make it happen.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Not necessarily in this order:

Magda locates a physician in town who is able to direct her toward the guild establishment in Grunberg. The guild will assign her to a doctor to take a licensing exam within the next week. She can check back in tomorrow to find out more.

At the recommendation of the Greater Reikland Trading Company, Zarine and Hans visit a local fashionista named Otwin Nottebohm who agrees to look at her valuables at the rate of a shilling per piece. They tell her that the silver hair spike is worth 8 crowns and the flower-shaped brooch is worth 4 crowns. They seemed particularly impressed with the dress, which they say uses exceptionally fine materials. The fabric is a little worse for wear at this point, but they estimate that it should still be valued at twenty-five crowns. Otwin asks her if she intends to have it restored and taken in for her figure. If she wants, he could recommend a tailor in town whose skills would be a match for the finery. Doing so would be expensive, but may increase the value of the dress. Is Zarine interested in using the dress herself?

Zarine isn't able to locate a embassy for Laurelorn Forest in Grunberg, but is able to trace down a wood elf that has set down roots in the area for the last few decades named Dhialitrun. Recognizing Zarine's family, he provides letter writing materials for her and assures her that he will see the letter delivered to their homeland at his next opportunity. As for the status of the island, Dhialitrun recommends that she determine which noble controls the land nearby and consult with them. He's sure that no Empire noble will simply surrender part of their fief, however, and recommends that she determine a way that it can be turned to their profit or a good use that will aid the noble somehow.

When Zarine consults with Dhailitrun about finding a Grey Wizard, the elf shrugs. "That's a secretive lot. They'll likely find you before you locate them. If you want a member of their College to speak with you and you're willing to take some risks, I'd keep asking about them. They'll take note before long, I'm sure."

For shopping purposes like bows, we'll treat Grunberg as a Town for availability. So Scarce items would have a 60% chance of being available and Rare items would have a 30% availability rate.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

I had big distractions last week, including a live WFRP session I ran. I'll try to get our next post up later today.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Let's let the others chip in since that option will influence group dynamics. I thought you mentioned the purple wind before, which would be amethyst/death. Was that a mistake, or do you need them for some other reason?


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Zarine, we've been handwaving your character's motivation for the Earl of Harwich salvage project for a while. I think we discussed at one point the notion that an important wood elf relic is believed to have gone down with the ship. Do you have any ideas for what that might be? Is it a family momento, an emblem of authority or a relic with magical powers?


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

About Axel getting some wizard training: it's slightly awkward right now due to a number of in-world considerations, any number of which we could choose to ignore.

It's largely an issue of time. It takes time to train a wizard's apprentice to the point that they'd be let out of the Colleges of Magic. Years in a normal case, probably. We could skate around that some by saying that Axel is being trained 'in the field' rather than in the Colleges, but I'd still imagine in such a situation that the training wizard likely shouldn't let Axel run off on adventures by themselves.

We have a salvage operation that could wait (the Earl of Harwich hasn't been going anywhere for hundreds of years) but I don't see a good reason at this point why it should wait. Even if one of their shareholders (Axel) went missing into the Colleges for a while, I doubt that the Greater Reikland Trading Company would see that as a reason to stall the whole project.

Some possibilities come to mind:
* we ignore all in-world considerations and just handwave everything. I'm not a fan of this idea (or I wouldn't be writing this post I guess) but it's there.
* we could have Axel be trained 'in the field' and the training wizard accompanies the group. I've already established something that is believed to be on the Earl of Harwich that the Colleges of Magic would be interested in (alchemical silver--a made-up MacGuffin to get the compass to work) and so they could be motivated that way. The training wizard wouldn't be working under Zarine, so we'd be introducing a shared-power dynamic to the party.
* we could have Axel be trained by an elf through Zarine's contacts instead of by the Colleges of Magic. This would likely be viewed as a stopgap method--something to allow Axel to still move about freely while getting him at least some training so he doesn't continue to pose such a danger. In my current thinking, this wouldn't help Axel be any less illegal since he'd be working outside of the legal frameworks of the Empire.
* In theory we could have Axel play another character while Axel is trained, but that might be effectively retiring Axel, as I'm not sure whether the campaign will extend beyond recovery of the Earl of Harwich.

Outside of in-world considerations, I'm currently planning to have a plot relevant adventure and then some Downtime that would cover the winter season in-game. After that, we'd likely have the party actually go to find the Earl of Harwich. The Downtime is probably the most convenient moment to Axel do some wizardly training and if we do the adventure first, that will give him some xp to do it with.

The others can probably chime in, but mostly for Axel: how do you want this to go down?


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

GM Stuff:
Wolfhard Haggle (Coal) 55: 1d100 ⇒ 3
General Store Haggle (Coal) 53: 1d100 ⇒ 34

Wolfhard Haggle (Pirate Armaments) 55: 1d100 ⇒ 8
General Store Haggle (Pirate Armaments) 53: 1d100 ⇒ 9

Locksmith Scarcity (1-60 = available): 1d100 ⇒ 11

Let's handwave the roleplaying the your most obvious business in town for the sake of time.

You consult with Albwin again to help you locate the merchants you should speak to in town. Your first stop is at a general goods vendor that should be willing to buy some coal & the pirate armaments you collected. Wolfhard leads off in investigations but quickly finds that he had overestimated how much the coal is worth earlier and isn't able to obtain the price he wanted for it. He's still able to talk the merchant up some from the initial lower price and gets 9g 18/- for it. The merchant is more resistant to Wolfhard's entreaties for the pirate armaments due to the widely varied quality of the tack, but still agrees to pay another 12 crowns for the lot if you throw in the scrap metal knives.

Albwin is able to recommend a locksmith that might have some picks to sell for your chest, and they do have some lockpicks available to purchase for 15 shillings.

Albwin is also able to recommend an expert who should be able to evaluate the worth of the finery that you found. This would include the rapier, wedding dress, hair spike set with emeralds & flower-shaped brooch

As you start to search for someone that can act for the Kemperbad Grain Exchange, Reinhard comes to you with a proposal. "These military quartermasters are always looking to outfit their units. The ammunition you found was scheduled to go to the army up in Ubersreik, but they'd have never gotten it if you hadn't taken out those pirates, right? We should sell it to the riverwardens here in Grunberg. I bet the quartermaster would be amenable to looking the other way and we can likely make the sale for more than any finder's fee the Grain Exchange will grant you."

As a reminder, you agreed earlier to give Wolfhard a fifteen percent commission for his help in selling the goods above. At present, his fee for the coal & weapons would come to 3g 5/-. I assumed he got an assist for his Haggling above, which let me just do the rolls myself.

Reporting to the riverwarden about the pirates should be straightforward, but how much do you tell them?

Tasks that likely still need to be handled:
* decide what do to with the marked ammunition & grain
* decide what to do with Konrad Links
* find out who has ownership of the pirate island
* any personal tasks


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Do you mention any of this to Albwin, or is it just an internal group discussion? For the record, I don't think Konrad, Margarite or Wolfhard have any reason to suspect Axel of being a witch. The crew of the Flatbottom would be the larger worry on that particular issue.

Sticking together is fine though. What would you like to take care of first?


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

You leave the office and return to your wagon where Konrad, Margarite & Wolfhard are waiting before moving toward the merchant district where the Carved Crown is located. Once there, Margarite bids her farewell. ”I must go to meet with those known by my family. I shall say a prayer to the Lady that we meet again someday under better circumstances.”

The staff of the inn are sufficiently accustomed to seeing Axel & Magda, and they direct you toward a private table and ask you to wait. Soon, Albwin Adelman comes out to join you and introduces himself to Zarine and Calph. ”Unfortunately, the young master is away from town on business and will not return for some time. I do not say so to lay any blame, but we did expect your return sooner. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes you. If you have any information that must be acted on immediately, I can hear you out now or in a more private venue.”

After hearing you out, Albwin pauses for a moment with a troubled expression. ”This is rather unfortunate. Master Fischbein was highly interested in discussing his business with you further, but I am only partly aware of the nature of your enterprise.... I shall attempt to intervene on your behalf with Madame Eloise, as she attended your meetings in the past and may be able to act in her brother's place. I shall arrange for rooms for you in the inn if it pleases you. Different rooms than you used during your last stay, of course. I shall direct the staff to inform me of your return after I have discussed the matter with the young lady.”

Albwin walks away stiffly, apparently displeased with the task ahead of him.

Only Axel & Magda would know anything about Eloise, as she has never come up before, and they have never been given her name before. When meeting with Lutz in previous times, there was always a young woman in attendance who never spoke up. It's morning right now and you wouldn't necessarily be expected back at the Carved Crown before dinner.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Zarine's spoiler is just information from the Intuition test. So if anyone would like to react without waiting further, that's fine.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Zarine:
You notice that he is getting increasingly nervous as the discussion continues. He's making up a lot of what he is saying on the spot.

And a bonus for your Acute Senses:

Ernest quickly glances over toward the window to his right once as the discussion continues.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Intuition is a basic skill based on Initiative.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Axel: you didn't see a map during your trip down the Verfelfluss (where you encountered the basilisk) either.

Zarine: the important parts of his chair would've been behind the desk & out of sight. You aren't seeing any special movement among the Winds here.

"I was sent by Lutz Fischbein, and he instructed me that under no circumstances were you to return to the Carved Crown until notified otherwise."

You can make a Dramatic (SL matters) Intuition test.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

"Erm...I'm sorry. I had assumed you were following a map to the wrecked ship. How were you planning to find it, then?"


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

I've been debating it since last night, and if anyone else has the same questions as Zarine they can look in the spoiler from the post immediately above.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Zarine:
Zarine doesn't remember anything about a map either. The only 'mission' she was aware of was that Lutz sent Axel & Magda on the Verfelfluss expedition as a way for them to make some money while the Greater Reikland Company did some digging into the shipping manifests the party recovered earlier.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

It sounds like Magda may have been assuming that Ernest Ferber is overweight due to his chair collapsing. His build is pretty normal. His chair just went kaput out of nowhere. There's no obvious cause.

Ernest listens closely to Zarine's story as she tells him about the failed expedition into the Verfefluss and their sighting of a basilisk, followed by the beastmen attack on the river and routing of the pirates. As the story continues on, he seems to grow confused. "That's an interesting tale. I'm glad you were all able to return safely. Were you able to find out anything further about the Earl though? To which of those locations did your map take you?"


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

You follow Ernest Ferber (the name he gave you earlier) into the warehouse district, to a place where you can leave your wagon during the discussion. Like most of this part of the docks, its only somewhat shady back here.

The office you enter is neat and orderly, with a pair of clerks working on papers in the front room. Ernest leads you back to a small office attached to the building, where he maneuvers around a desk covered with documents.

"Very well, I realize this is all highly unusual, but Master Fischbein asked me to... BUWHH!" Ernest cries as he sits in his chair before it immediately collapses beneath him. He stands quickly, trying (and failing) to recover from the incident with any grace.

"Sorry about that..." Ernest mutters. "What did you learn about the salvage operation during your expedition?"


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

For a Witch I'd be looking at whether I had enough Resilience to take the the Witch! talent. But mechanically Axel is a Wizard now, right? For a human Wizard I'd lean toward being Fate heavy & try to rely on having 2-3 Resilience. More Fate means more Fortune which can help to avoid casting mishaps.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Only Axel & Magda have been to the Carved Crown, but it would be a sensible place to meet up. Likely they have told the others of it. The Carved Crown is a higher-end inn that the company the party has been working with (the Greater Reikland Trading Company) runs. Your specific contact is Lutz Fischbein, and his home is behind the inn.

The guy you are talking to now has a name, but I don't have it handy right now. He introduces himself, and is someone noone in the party has met before.

Seeing you begin to involve yourselves in local business, Margarite prepares to leave. "I have friends in town I should meet with. Hopefully they will help me get back on my feet. I do hope we will meet again under better circumstances. Thank you ever so much for rescuing me from those pirates." she says.

Not seeing any complaint, the man leads you to the branch office of the Greater Reikland Trading Company.

Does everyone go with him, or do you split up to run other errands? In addition to the party, you have Wolfhard, Konrad & your wagon full of cargo with you.


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

The holidays are a tough time for lots of things. I'll plan for us to restart in the new year and make a post tonight so you'll have something to respond to.

In the meantime, we'll give everyone a holiday season gift! All players can add one extra point! (Fate or Resilience)


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

As you leave the docks, a man approaches the group gasping for breath.

"Thank...goodness I caught you in time," he says. "You're Magda & Axel, yeah? Some others too, of course. Pardon me...I had to run..." he takes a moment to catch his breath.

"Lutz Fischbein sent me to warn you that the Carved Crown is being watched by some unsavory types. We haven't been able to figure out what they want yet, but he asked me to get your report instead. There's a branch office by the docks where we can talk."

You can still be all together at this point.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Axel & Wolfhard approach the stevedores waiting on the dock and do their best to chum them up.

GM Stuff:
Wolfhard Haggle 55 +10 assist: 1d100 ⇒ 39
Stevedore Foreman Haggle 41: 1d100 ⇒ 63

Axel:
Wolfhard approaches the men, getting to know them a bit before asking if they can help him out a bit and proves to be unexpectedly winsome. The men grumble a bit but eventually acquiesce & agree to cut a penny off per cargo.

Wolfhard returns to the ship with a smile on his face. "Thems some good chaps up on deck. They agreed to unboard your Lady's cargo for 11 bits." Axel has a Haggle advance, so he was able to assist Wolfhard. The price is 0/11 per cargo, or 1g 2/11.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

"Thank you, my Lady. It might be best if you keep your head down while I negotiate with the stevedores. It'll be best if they think we can't afford their usual rates. As for the lockpicks I don't deal in those kind of goods myself, but I imagine that you might be able to find such things if you ask around. With your permission, I'll see what prices I can arranged for these goods," Wolfhard says.

With your answer, Captain Ramos orders his men to sail the ship to the docks. You make it to shore in Grunberg without any mishap and Wolfhard goes out to negotiate with the dockworkers. I'm lacking my notes on Wolfhard's stats right this moment, but the price will come out to around a shilling per cargo item. I'll get the final price to you soon.

With docking arranged, Wolfhard sets off to see what price he can get for the barrels of coal. The ammunition & wheat marked for the Kemperbad Grain exchange are stocked in a separate cart. I have no idea if it would work this way but for now I'll just roll carting prices in with the docking fees.

There were a number of objectives to accomplish. Where do you intend to go first?


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Sorry I've been absent for so long. I'll try to get something up by tomorrow morning.


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

What is your agenda in Grunberg? I'd imagine (not an ordered list):

* report in to the Greater Reikland Trading Company (your partner in the salvage plan) - note that some of your other tasks are merchant-related and so you could get help with a lot of this from the Company and/or from Wolfhard Rothenstein
* sell the coal
* look for the owner of the ammunition & grain (the Kemperbad Grain Exchange was the owner of the grain and the shipping partner for the ammunition)
* figure out what to do about Konrad Links
* look into who the island belongs to
* get some lockpicks for the strongbox, or professional help opening it
* make a report to the riverwardens about the pirates

There are probably some other things I'm forgetting.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

As you get closer to the docks of Grunberg, Captain Ramos approaches you again. "They say that when Taal he made leeches, he no get it right. So when he made men, he try again with dockworkers."

Without asking directly, the captain is inquiring about what you want to do to unload your cargo. Smuggling it into town is an option. If you dock normally, the stevedores guild will be unloading your cargo for a fee, usually around a shilling per crate or bag. Since you have 25 cargo items, that would be 1gc 5/-, though you could haggle the cost down some.


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

I meant those to be flavor for the river voyage. It's not a big deal if some are missed. You can learn a bit from them, but not a big deal either way. We'll keep it to just active players. And just one per player, so no defaulting to automatic on a failed test.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

The journey back to Grunberg is slow, with Captain Ramos stopping his ship at several minor docks along the way as he seeks more cargo for his barge. Despite this, he seems to be mindful of his current passengers and never lingers long at any stop.

The weather has turned sour with a light but steady rain, and the bargemen work under sodden cloaks without talking much.

Choose one test to attempt for each player (or succeed with in the case of the final entry).

Challenging (+0) Intuition:
During the evening of the first night, you notice Margarite humming to herself. The song is a bawdy tavern tune. The words to the song would definitely not be proper for a Brettonian lady.

Hard (-20) Perception:
Around midday on the second day of travel, you notice a shape emerging from the water. Some river creature is following you.

Difficult (-10) Perception:
You wake up in the early morning hours of the first night. You can hear faint howling in the distance, though it doesn't sound like wolves and sends a shiver down your spine.

No test:
Konrad approaches you tearfully after he is supposed to be asleep during the first night. "I want my da'. When is he going to be here?"


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Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Wolfhard happily accepts the offer of the fifteen percent commission. He takes a look at the cargo as he takes stock of its value. "This coal is high quality," he comments as he looks it over. "I'd say you should get somewhat over a gold crown for each barrel. The going rate for the ammunition is a crown and four silver. I wouldn't expect to get much out of the wheat though. Maybe half a crown for each bag if you are lucky."

Were you intending to sell the ammunition and wheat or make an effort to return it to the owners/merchant? As a reminder, you have 12 unarmed barrels of coal, 4 marked barrels of ammunition & powder and 9 marked bags of wheat.

Let's revise how you generated your Haggle score slightly, with Zarine doing the Haggle test & Hans assisting her. That would get you to Zarine Fellowship 40 +10 assist = 50 for +1 SL. The success doesn't matter since it's opposed & no one here has talents for it, but the SL is still better.

Tacito Ramos Haggle 34: 1d100 ⇒ 37 - +0 SL and a win for the party.

The captain shrugs and his men chuckle as Zarine takes note of the empty decks of his barge. There is plenty of room for him to take new cargo and passengers on.

"Twenty and four then," he concedes. "Is the least I can do for such a lovely woman."

He's giving the price in pennies, so that reduces the price to 1/8 per passenger and 0/4 per unit of cargo. The totals then are 13/4 for the passengers and 8/4 for the cargo. Something was wrong with my math for the total cargo price earlier, which is why it dropped a lot more. So the total would be 21/8 for passage (12/4 if we adjust for the funds Captain Gotthard left you with instead).

Rules tangent:
Sidenote: I had for a long time been under the impression that losing a Haggle test raised the prices by the same amount that you would get for a win (+/-10% outside of large success or failure values). I think that's how my original GM played it. That isn't how it reads at all though. I think I got it much closer here. The merchant is expected to inflate their base price "a little" & doesn't get anything for winning the test itself--a 'win' for them is baked into the base price. The only cost for failure noted in the rules is if you fail "badly" and they distrust your coinage. That means that Haggling is a lot safer than I'd assumed before. I'll still probably go with base prices for miscellaneous purchases. Assume that larger orders will be inflated though (probably less than 10% so a party win is actually winning rather than just getting back to even).


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

Yes, I just wanted to clarify options. You can do it.


Warhammer Game Notes & Maps

I had some big plan of what to do at the Oberhauser dinner at one point, but I can't think of what it would be now. So, let's move on instead...

Wolfhard asks to speak with you that evening. "I've noticed that you have some cargo to sell when you return to civilization. I would like to offer my services in selling your goods. It would help me greatly if I had even a small sum to start rebuilding my own fortunes. Would a twenty percent commission be acceptable?" he asks. "I regret that in my destitution I must beg your favor for passage to the city in either case."

"I'd ask the same, at least for passage," Margarite adds in. "I am too late for my work in Kalegen, but my family's name should carry some weight for me when I return to the city."

The next morning, the Oberhausers run up a flag on a rickety pole to call passing ships over that have an interest in doing business with them. A few hours later and two ships heading south (the wrong way) later, an Estalian captain pulls his barge over to the dock. After introductions, he tells you that he'll be able to take your party to Grunberg with him for 1/10 per head and 0/5 for each barrel or bag.

I don't think we said how much money you were left with from Captain Gotthard of the Flatbottom, but I'll say 2/4 each for Axel, Magda, Zarine and Hans (who, since he is still interested in coming back I'll assume is still here). Your group now includes those four along with Calph. Wolfhard & Margarite are asking if you can take them as far as Grunberg & you likely should bring Konrad Links with you as well. That would give you a total of eight passengers & 25 barrels & bags of cargo. You can Haggle the price if you wish (it would be normal for him to ask higher than his real price to begin with but note that a bad Haggle test can set you back), but the asked for rate would be 14/8 for the passengers (14/8) and 12/5 for cargo (12/5). The funds from Captain Gotthard are 9/4 to offset some of that.


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I looked at it more and it does look like you are short of completing Witch I. Not by a TON though.

If I'm reading your character sheet right, you'd need 2 Toughness (50 xp) and 3 Willpower (75 xp). So it would cost more than the xp penalty for leaving your career tier early. (But you would get the advances)

I'm not sure how to sort out the skills on your character sheet. It looks like you weren't counting the advances from your species as counting toward career completion the way you made your notation. They do count if that makes a difference.

I think you would need to buy some skill ranks to finish Witch I. I'm just not sure how many.

--------

It's probably best to figure out how much xp finishing Witch would take, then subtract 100 & decide whether you want the advances more or would rather just ditch on the career.


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The lowest cost to change career is 100 xp. You add 100 xp if you are moving to a career in a different Class. You add 100 xp if you haven't completed your current career tier. So 300 xp is the worst-case scenario.

I'm assuming that Axel has finished Witch tier I. If he hasn't, then the cost would be 300. If he has, it should be 200.

I banned the Career Change Endeavour for Downtime because I'm not a fan of how it distorts player incentives (hoping for a Downtime to come around to save xp). Instead, I give everyone 50 xp instead.

Edit: above, it sounds as though you don't think you've completed your career tier. That would be a bit surprising at this point. What you need:

5 advances in Weapon Skill
5 advances in Toughness
5 advances in Willpower
5 advances in eight different Witch tier I skills
At least one Witch tier I talent

Most of that except the characteristic advances are obtainable at character creation. Axel should be close to finishing the career tier if not fully done.


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Zarine Brightbow wrote:

--100 to move up from Noble:Scion to Noble:Noble in my career track (only 100, since the Scion one is complete, correct?)

--100 to buy Suave (+5 Fellowship)

--50 +5 Charm
--10 +1 Gossip
--10 +1 Language (Classical)
--10 +1 Lore (Local)
--10 +1 Melee (Parry)
--10 +1 Ride (Horse)

(just so I can use them all, but don't have enough to raise them up higher)

And that soaks up all but 15 points, so that's the end. :)

... but if we need to wait to do my stuff till we have downtime, we can. She can't really advance in the elven nobility without some word of favor from her parents/noble house I don't think.

EDIT: I do want to keep deadsight, but just can't afford it yet, and don't think we will be going after the pirates anytime soon, so I assume it will just sit there untriggered until some storyline thing where she realizes that she retains some of the ability.

Yes, for those with access to it, Faded Deadsight can be purchased later--it doesn't have to be now.

* Gossip & Ride are both basic skills, and so you don't need an advance in the skill at all to use them. You're only 1 skill point better.

* Melee isn't an advanced skill but it has a weird rider that you don't get the benefits of weapon features (like defensive) if you don't have an advance, so buying one advance there is doing something. See page 296.

* Language (Classical) & Lore (Local) are both advanced skills, so the one advance makes sense there. I'll note that Lore (Local) needs to have a locality chosen. Something like (Reikland) or (Ubersreik) or (Laurelorn Forests) or (The Empire). The narrower the scope is the less it will apply to but the more specific information you can get. Nothing in the book actually says this, but it also doesn't explain where things like Lore (Reikland) come from, otherwise.

* As a reminder, you don't necessarily have to take any advances in any of those skills to advance to your next career tier later. The rule is eight skills advanced up to the tier number (10 now), not all of them.

* I don't think we need to wait for Zarine to advance to the second tier of Noble without word from her family. Just like I was proposing with Axel above, she could be in the new career mechanically without formally having the social station. Kind of like lacking the trappings for her new career tier. It should be something she's working on getting accomplished though--not a bad plan for a Personal Ambition.


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Oh, actually I just thought of a good way we could RP Axel's current situation. Maybe he's learning from the book he got (it'd help the explanation if he picked up Read/Write) and is using that to train as a Wizard. Socially, he'll still currently have all the downsides of being a Witch since he hasn't registered with the Colleges of Magic at all. But when he finally does approach the Colleges (likely with the book as a warming gift) then he'll be ahead of a the curve and already on his way toward using the Winds properly.

If we go with this explanation, don't feel like you have to commit to the Jade Wind that the book is on. We'll just say that Axel is extrapolating from the 'Jade Wind for Newbies' section to whatever Wind Axel wants to interact with.


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Quote:
For Axel: it probably makes sense to find some amount of Downtime when you switch careers to Wizard. I don't want to enforce it though because I don't have a Downtime segment planned immediately. Are you hoping to leave Witch with this experience drop?

It sounds like I at least have most of my answer, but I'd still like to get your thoughts on the subject, Axel.

Do you have any ideas which college of magic you will have Axel join?


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Magda Stuff:
I took a look at Magda's experience expenditures because I was surprised that she still wasn't able to move to Physician. The xp awarded so far in the campaign is more than enough to complete a career tier, and I didn't remember her taking any major detours that would explain the shortfall.

Happily, it looks like she may be shorting herself on advancement progress. I'm not sure how everything happened, but I sent a PM with my work.


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Zarine Brightbow wrote:

So, question about whether the "faded" deadsight... if I take it (since I already have second sight, night vision, and acute senses (sight)), will it make a difference in being able to see the "invisible" pirate ship if we come across it?

I think that is the primary reason that I would want to retain it, but I don't know what the difference is with dropping Dhar and if that would make any difference. I like the idea of keeping it, but talents are costly, so just checking that it would actually be useful.

I'd say that tracking the pirate ship would fall under the 'hidden boundaries of the dead' part of the Faded Deadsight talent. Normally, this would refer to the boundaries and paths of the undead, but the skull's powers are close enough to that & are related to why you got Deadsight in the first place.

If the goal was to see the ship from any meaningful distance, you'd need a lot of Success Levels on a Perception test, but with all of your eyesight-related talents you'd have more of a shot at it than I'm probably thinking of right now. Talent-based Success Level stacking can be scary.

It would be far easier up close or to examine the scene of an attack by the pirate ship after the fact. Track is an Advanced skill, but if you get an advance in that you could use it to track down the pirate ship once you come across its trail...that sort of thing. (Reminder: Track isn't in the Noble Career until tier 4 but you could always pay double rate for it or use the Training Endeavour during Downtime to buy many advances all at once to be good at it)


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A quick note on the Faded Deadsight talent: I initially had a clause in there to try to make it more attractive to those that already had Second Sight. The effect was identical to the Tests: entry effect though and so I moved it up there. So +1 SL to see Shyish specifically as well as a specific test to see the paths & boundaries of the dead for those with Second Sight. Those without Second Sight get all of that, plus the ability to see Shyish at all.

The scenario version of Deadsight sees Dhar as well, but I'm dropping that with this more permanent version.


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I lost patience with the last bit of experience I was trying to sort out. So we'll do the reward now and reseve that last bit for later. Calph wasn't here for all of this, but he gets the full amount of experience anyhow:

75 xp for playing the game
30 for defeating beastmen attacking the Flatbottom
20 for keeping the Flatbottom crew alive
10 for successfully negotiating with the crew of the Flatbottom after Axel revealed himself to be a witch
10 for activities in Stormdorf
20 for negotiating successfully with the spirits of the river and gaining Deadsight
10 for gathering information from the Oberhauser farmstead and finding the pirate island
25 for finding and destroying the Skull of Bloody Klaas
10 for the 'defeat' of the pirates
10 for rescuing Wolfhard and Margarite and keeping them alive
10 for rescuing Konrad Links
50 for completing a short-term party ambition
10 for recovering the diary of Meinard Links
Total: 290 experience

We'll also hit a Fortune refresh here, so fill up any Fortune you haven't used!

When we first encountered Deadsight while meeting the trapped river spirits the first time, I said that Deadsight was a 'for this scenario only' feature and didn't need to cost any experience. That's how the scenario reads, but it's also lame. So, for those who successfully received Deadsight during the adventure, you now have access to buy a new talent if you wish to keep a remnant of the power.

Quote:

Faded Deadsight

Max: 1
Tests: Any Test to detect the Wind of Shyish
Though the sight granted to you by the ghosts of the Teufel has largely faded, you can faintly discern the wind of Shyish and are especially sensitive to its attachment to the undead. With a Difficult (-10) Sight Test, you are able to see the hidden paths of the departed and to sense boundaries that might be hidden from others: even those that have the Sight.

Explanation of Sight test: this is relying on page 233 of the Core book that explains how Second Sight works. The skill in question depends on the task at hand. Perception, Intuition & Track are called out.

For Axel: it probably makes sense to find some amount of Downtime when you switch careers to Wizard. I don't want to enforce it though because I don't have a Downtime segment planned immediately. Are you hoping to leave Witch with this experience drop?


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Some more miscellany:

Zarine & I were talking about getting some Quality leather armor to represent noble wood elf-appropriate attire while still providing some protection. The solution I used with my Noble was to buy some Fine leather armor to wear in places that might be dangerous, while he changed into courtly attire in more social locations. It's what made sense to me. Even fancy armor isn't appropriate at a ball.

Way back here, you got an offer for a reward about information for river disappearances. That was back in Ubersreik, which is the other way from where you are headed, but you might keep it in mind. You could maybe contact a different riverwarden department about it.

Loot Review:
A reference list for island loot:
* 9 silver shillings & 414 brass pennies in pocket change
* hand weapons (seventeen in good condition, six with one Flaw, one with three Flaws)
* leather jacks (ten in good condition, twelve with one Flaw & two with two Flaws)
* knives & daggers from the shrine of Khaine (most in bad condition)
* a handwavy amount of food supplies
* Meinard Link's diary
* locked strongbox
* compass
* dose of faxtoryll
* two vitality draughts
* Under the Knife - book on surgery that grants +1 SL to successful Surgery tests
* Arts & Principles of the Amber Wind - can be used to obtain a talent instance of Aethyric Attunement, Detect Artifact or Witch! (or returned to the appropriate College of Magic for a favor)
* religious books for Sigmar & Rhya (one each)
* book on engineering
* twelve unmarked barrels of coal
* four barrels of rifle ammunition & powder marked for delivery to the Ubersreik State Army (care of the First Kemperbad Grain Exchange)
* nine large bags of wheat that are marked & owned by the First Kemperbad Grain Exchange
* carpentry tools
* storm lantern (filled with oil)
* finely made rapier
* wedding dress made with extremely fine materials
* outfit of courtly garb
* silver hair spike set with two emeralds
* silver brooch in the shape of a flower, set with a large moonstone

People found on the island that are still alive:
* Konrad Links
* Margarite de la Rochelle
* Wolfhard Rothenstein

A lot of this stuff needs to be evaluated. It's an advanced skill, so if anyone has advances, they can roll for each thing. I'll skip some of the things I think the party is just keeping & don't need to know the value of:
* hand weapons & leather jacks should have been Evaluated to know which were in good condition, but whatever
* knives & daggers I'll just handle differently
* value of barrels of coal
* value of barrels of rifle ammunition & powder
* value of bags of wheat
* the finely made rapier
* the wedding dress
* outfit of courtly garb
* silver hair spike set with two emeralds
* silver brooch in the shape of a flower, set with a large moonstone


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Bookkeeping Discussion:
The coinage bit sounds right. You only found loose change in pockets & such. If you shake the lockbox, it does make some pleasant clinking sounds though. A lot of the treasure value from here is tied up in things that will take a bit of effort to convert into cash or other resources, like weapons & armor to sell as well as the coal/grain/ammunition you found.

Wieland shakes his head when Axel offers to move the farmstead to the island. "This place isn't big enough for a group like ours to farm, even if we were able to use the whole plot. No...the farm will stay where it is. If you lot settle some roots here, though, we'd be happy to have neighbors."

Difficult (-10) Insight:
You gather that Wieland has other reasons for not wanting to leave the farmstead & you can sense he is uncomfortable with the idea.

Some days pass peaceably as you clear away the remains of the pirate occupation, make some repairs, tend the gardens & otherwise straighten out the island settlement. The villagers from the Oberhauser farm row over to help when they can and offer to put you up for the nights in the farmstead. The building was formerly used as a river inn, so there are plenty of bedrooms available even with the large number of people. The farmstead has a flag they can run up on a pole to call for passing barges to stop. Any ships that come to them will want business, but should have cargo space available on their ship. No one asks about Hildegard.

The farmers do turn a cold shoulder on Konrad Links, however. While not mistreating the child, they obviously consider him connected with the pirate attack and Hildegard's death. At one point over the week, Wieland tells you to take the boy with you when you leave. "I don't trust myself with him," he grumbles.

You also get to know the pair you rescued from the pirates as well. The woman introduces herself as Margarite de la Rochelle, a Brettonian. She has golden blonde hair and hazel eyes and tells you that she was bound northward for Kalegen where she had secured a position as an actress when her ship was attacked. She seems resigned to having lost her position due to the delays involved in the pirate attack, as her work was to start immediately and she was already late in arriving.

The man is Wolfhard Rothenstein, a middle-aged man with a Nuln accent with grey eyes and light brown hair. His ship was bound northward as well, heading to Middenheim on business. His cargo went down with the ship he and Margarite were on when they were attacked by Meinard Links. He seems obviously nervous about something and admits that without his cargo he won't be able to repay his creditors.

The night before you leave, the Oberhausers offer to hold a lavish (for their circumstances) dinner for everyone.


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Answer for Calph's question: for Characteristics & Skills, look in your current career tier and you can buy anything in your current tier and lower (above) at normal rate. For Talents, you can buy within your current Career tier only. Previous careers do nothing to provide access in either case.


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Zarine and Magda eventually find some time to settle in and go over the pirate captain's diary.

There are far more entries than I list here, but the most notable ones are below.

First selection:
I am a fool. All my life, I have killed for the emptiness of reasons. A crust of bread, a bit of wine, a silent tongue, a soft bed, a bit of coin. None of it gave my heart any solace. Not once have I felt satisfied in my life. But now, for the first time I feel whole! Praise be to Khaine the Bloody-Handed for His gaze is upon me!

Second selection:
My name is Meinard Links. I am the son of Bloody Klaas, by the word of my mother and the first of my consecrations to Khaine. I left home at the age of fifteen and saw after myself since that time. I supported myself with the blade, as killing is both easy and profitable along the river if one is careful to pick their marks. In my hubris, I thought myself invincible in those early days.

That was when the Lord of the Skull found me--the fool never told me his name--and introduced me to Khaine's mighty blessings. I had killed before, but never had I felt so alive as when I plunged my knife into the heart of the soldier and dedicated his soul and mine to our god.

I served under the Lord of the Skull for months. Given our devotion it should not come as a surprised that our thoughts soon turned to the murder of the other. He was a timid man, never truly ready to commit--there is a clear line between prudence and cowardice. In a bid to tame me, the Lord of the Skull revealed his secrets to me. He likely thought I would be awed by his story of taking the head of Bloody Klaas and converting it to a holy relic of Khaine. This was his final mistake, for he remained unaware that I am the true heir of the powers he laid claim to. The irony is almost as pleasing as the sight of the old man's blood was on my hands.

Having taken on the mantle of Khaine's chosen, I followed omens until I came to the island of my present home. There I found a shrine of Morr, abandoned and overgrown. I knew then that Khaine was demanding that I take possession of the shrine, for my lord is the true master of death.

Third selection:
Having spent the last months delving into the secrets of my father's skull, I feel now that I have grasped the full extent of the Bloody-handed blessings bestowed on my family line. In order to retain Khaine's favor, the skull must be anointed in the blood of the innocent every day. I will need help if I am to gather the number of souls that the relic demands as sacrifice--surely there are wreckers about who could be persuaded with a sufficient show of my power. Once blessed, the skull's protection extends to the boundaries demarked by further lettings of blood from the sacrifice. I have clearly seen ships sailing through my island, once blessed so it must be no matter as simple as obscuring the warded area from observation.

The jawbone of the skull has power as well, though not as great as father's skull. The area it can ward is smaller, though large enough to bless a proper vessel, and it only wards from observation. A small boat I blessed was able to collide with another ship which I approached unseen. The blessings bestowed on my family are truly great, as this will facilitate my plans to further Khaine's glory in this land. A surly crew of wreckers will easily slaughter even river patrols if they are able to collide with their ship while yet unseen. I expect a harvest unlike any I have yet seen.

Fourth selection:
My men have brought me word that a whore from Wissenland claims to have fathered my child and demands that I take responsibility for herself and her spawn. Such a farce is obviously not worthy of attention.

Fifth selection:
It should come as no surprise that men pledged to Khaine should plot upon the life of those above them--I did no less to the Lord of the Skull. One of my crew convinced some of his fellow swamp rats to join him in taking my life. After I carved a line through the fool's throat, I sacrificed the others in mighty thanks to our god and invoked his seventeen names. There is truly no comparison between a pretender and the true line of the Skull.

I've told the rest that the Skull's power lies only with those of the blood of Bloody Klaas running in their veins. 'Tis untrue, as the Lord of the Skull made use of it before I, but it should keep mutiny further from the minds of the men.

Sixth selection:
When I returned from a raid today, I found a messenger waiting for me at the door of my cabin. I still don't understand how he passed through Khaine's warding. He claimed to call from a river gang I'd not heard of--the Redblades—and proposed an alliance. I received an omen from the Lord of Murder warning me not to treat with the creature and sent him away. I hope I never see his like again.


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Some miscellany first:

Is the idea to stay on the island for a few days, straightening things up? I can imagine doing what you can to sort out the temple, burying or burning the bodies (or just dumping them in the river) and taking stock of the gardens & livestock as general tasks. My assumption is that you'll eventually want to fetch a river ride back to Grunberg. The captain of the Flatbottom left you with enough coin for that.

I don't think I mentioned it before, but the pirates were maintaining some vegetable patches.

After you sort through them, you find that you have seventeen Hand Weapons in decent condition, six with one Flaw (it likely doesn't matter which) and one with three Flaws that is likely better as scrap metal. The leather armors are worse for wear, but ten are in normal condition, while twelve others have one Flaw and two have two Flaws. That's more than enough to outfit yourselves and share tack with the Oberhausers, with some left over to sell. Leather Jacks are armor for the arms and body locations (see page 300).

There's no specific elven armors, but if you want higher quality 'elven' armor, you can add on some Qualities and search for that. The rarity would increase as well & be harder to find, but that's normal for specialty goods.

I didn't include a knife/dagger in the treasure, but Calph can have one.