Spurred by Roger's armor situation and a couple other factors, I've been noodling on the team's wealth distribution. The three characters that are closest to WBL are Hawk, Nerissia, and Majara. Roger is furthest away. Emma and Hannelia are in a somewhat better position than Roger but still well below WBL in my estimation.
I’d like to make this proposal to the team to work towards some semblance of parity. It won’t be perfect but I think it is fair. The team can, of course, veto or tweak the proposal.
For those of us closest to WBL (Hawk, Nerissia, and Majara), we can decline the 'gift', get a new Trait, or (if the player prefers cash) take 1000GP.
For Emma and Hannelia, they receive a Trait and 2000GP – or 2500GP if they also take a Drawback.
Roger will receive new armor (~4400 GP), a Trait, and his retraining will be paid for this time around.
1. If I make a ruling that isn’t in-line with the ‘standard’ we’ve been using in the game, please correct me. My memory is not what it once was and I’m happy to retcon things.
2. If you run into an encounter, you will very likely see the monster’s first post under one of my ‘Villainous XXX’ aliases… so Villainous Plant, Villainous Outsider, etc. Each one has a sub-header mentioning the appropriate Knowledge check. So, as soon as you see the alias, you will know what kind of K roll to make to identify and learn facts about the creature. I also find it a bit more immersive.
3. I may customize monsters a lot or a little. I do this to keep encounters fresh, offset player knowledge of the monster DB, make Knowledge checks a little more valuable, and bring back the ‘wonder’ of the first time we played the game when every monster was an unknown. It is entirely possible that you will face a Lawful Evil Black Unicorn or a Kobold Paladin.
4. My worlds tend to be ‘shades of grey’ morality-wise. So, you have a little more latitude in how you handle situations than you would in a game where alignment is strictly enforced.
Hand o’ Fate:1d100 ⇒ 90 lol! Well that didn’t take long…
Nerissia averts her glance and looks around the tavern. No one in particular draws her attention or really stands out. There are some drunk travelers flashing their wealth a little too boldly, but it really isn’t of note. However, scooting her chair as she does places Nerissia in a spot where the room’s acoustics are shifted and amplified. She hears a conversation to which she is not a party.
It takes her a moment match the conversation to the mouth movements at a table on the far side of the tavern. Three women – seemingly local women of common employ – sit around a small weather-beaten table sharing a wooden tureen of stew and small cups of beer. Two are ‘sturdy’ and of middling years. The third is older by at least a score of years, with gnarled hands and a skinny frame.
Their Conversation (Nerissia Only):
Skinny: ”…lin’ ya, that’s an odd one. I got silver in me pockets and he won’t take’em for some booties.”
Sturdy 1: ”Booties?”
Skinny: ”What did I say? Yeah, BOOTIES… like for a babe.”
Sturdy 2: ”Why ya need booties? Someone knocked you up, at your age?”
Sturdy 1: [laughs heartily]
Skinny: ”Oh, ‘har har’. Never you mind, why I want’em! Point is, I offered a fair deal. He said no. I upped it. He said no again!”
Sturdy 1: ”So what did he want?”
Skinny: ”That’s what I asked! I said ‘what’s your price?’.. and he says he wants a gen-u-wine smile from me.”
Sturdy 2: ”A smile?”
Skinny: ”Yeah, not hard-earned coin… a smile.”
Sturdy 1: [pauses] ”A’right, that’s a bit queer… but it sounds like you got a good deal. You kept your money AND got the baby shoes, eh?”
Skinny: [affronted] ”I didn’t! You think I’m gonna smile like some jackanape? No.”
The sturdy women say nothing, clearly used to the skinny one’s moods… but it seems clear they are puzzled by her choice.
Like a patient thief, virtually unnoticed, autumn slowly steals its way into Saringallow. The only tracks it leaves are subtle and passing… a shift in the intensity of the breeze off the river, a surprising crispness in the dawn air, a hint of brown on the leaves’ edges.
The old timers feel the change in their bones. The young imagine summer will last forever. The dead… well, they haven’t shared their perspective on the season’s change yet. But, for the living, commerce and life proceed apace – morning, noon, and night.
Morning
Hannelia SM:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Hannelia’s eyes snap open abruptly. Nothing is wrong, nothing is menacing.
It had been a benign dream. She was visiting areas of Saringallow, getting the town’s pulse, checking in with contacts, and chatting with friends. She vaguely recalls sharing lunch outside of Gunty’s with someone that felt like a friend she hadn’t seen in a while, probably one of the Seekers. It was pleasant. They were chuckling together about something. The whole dream seemed normal... and yet, something intangible felt slightly off about everyone in the dream. That realization had brought Hannelia to consciousness.
As dreams do, hers would fade by day’s end. But in the first hours of the day, as Hannelia made her rounds of the town, she watched people more closely. She saw and felt no oddness from the locals. Everything seemed normal.
**********
On her way to work, Majara swings by the market square. Someone’s timing is impeccable as Bitiborium is just rolling up the door flap to his Item Emporium. Majara also notes that there are a couple potential customers milling about outside the portable shop, anxious to get in.
Majara wrote:
"Sunnyday, Bitbit!"
Flap up, Bit waves the customers in before giving Majara a broad smile and his full attention. ”And a sunnyday to you as well, Miss Pricknettle! It is lovely to see you again and a delight to not crick my neck having to look up at you. They grow these humans so tall now-a-days. I heard you have recently returned. Am I your first stop? Should I take that as a compliment to my store or my personal appeal?”
Noon
Emma heads to Sarini Manor. She narrowly avoids Shel then runs into Talon. As their conversation winds down, Nerissia appears, lugging her gear up to the manor. Generously, Majara has offered it as a place for the Inquisitor to stay and help repair. This seems fortuitous because, during Emma’s and Talon’s quick tour of the home and its history, Emma spots a fresh crack in the wall near the piano. Given the general state of the house, she might not have noticed it except there is a respectable pile of plaster dust below it on what were swept floors.
Hand o’ Fate:1d4 ⇒ 1 1 Emma, 2 Nerissia, 3 Talon, 4 All
Night (Dinner time)
Locals gather around the tables at the Witch’s End for food, drinks, warmth, and a bit of camaraderie as the evening grows chillier. Roger’s stories improve the festive air and inspire a smattering of guffaws and some applause. Hannelia and Emma share some public and quite a few private words. Who else will enter the Witch’s End this night? None can say.
I'm delighted to see folks jumping into their 'regular lives' posts. I'm working on an initial post that weaves into those and the happenings about town. We are skipping through a few different times of day, which is fine. Feel free to jump into one or more as you see fit.
Majara, regarding your scribing and crafting spoiler, I am fine with you 'rounding down' on time spent for the sake of ease. I try not to be dictatorial unless a player is trying to abuse the system, which you are not.
Thanks to all of you that have updated your character sheets and/or given me your 'day in the life' schedules.
Since this is my first turn in the big chair for this group, this adventure is somewhat exploratory so I can get a handle on how you guys play, think, and what resonates with you individually. To that end, I’ll be testing out different story elements, play pacings, depths of description, encounter types, shifting spotlights, and anything else I may think of.
In my opinion, the biggest downside to PbP is the lack of feedback, both from body language clues and ‘table talk’. At a table, these clues let me know what I’m doing right or wrong and help me to micro-correct in real time. So, feel free to talk either publicly or privately to me. If you aren’t engaged, are super engaged, hate something, love something, are lost, or want a change of pace – let me know. I won’t take it personally and I have an incredibly thick skin for criticism. My goal is for everyone to feel they had a great adventure – period. You guys biting your tongues when unhappy isn’t going to get us there.
Related to that last point…. I rarely do straight-forward adventures. There are usually at least a few twists, and the clues pointing you in the right direction may be subtle. At table, when players bat theories around about the plot, that gives me the opportunity to nudge the group in the right direction if they are missing something or veering off course. It lets me figure out a sly way to provide additional clues. In PbP, that mechanism doesn’t work well. So, if you are confused or feel rudderless… it likely isn’t you. I probably failed to give you sufficient clues or my writing was unclear or open to various interpretations which I didn’t spot. I’m happy to clarify, restate, or provide hints. Just let know if you are feeling stuck (not in a good way).
Without going into detail, you guys are about to get wrapped up in a mystery… which means clues. As I said before, I don’t do straight-forward adventures. I’m also a planner who is looking ahead to the next adventure when you are 11th level. Sooooo… in this adventure, you will encounter clues related to the mystery you are trying to solve, red herring clues, distractors, and clues related to the next adventure(s). In other words, don’t assume all the clues you find are related to the mystery at hand. If you do, you will spiral down rabbit-holes that lead nowhere.
I don’t think it will be a problem for this crew, but I need to mention this. I don’t believe in the heroes winning every encounter. As in great stories, the heroes are sometimes stymied, face setbacks, are overmatched, or fail before they finally triumph. Victory is sweet when it comes after the bitter taste of defeat. So, you may face encounters that are extremely difficult to ‘win’ in the conventional sense… but they are an opportunity to learn important facts - facts that will enable you to prepare yourself for the next encounter and lead to your eventual triumph.
Majara, I believe you get to roll 2d8 and take the best for your HP. You may not beat that 6 but who knows?
It's been a busy day here. I am putting together some notes about my playstyle, philosophy, plans, etc. to level-set on my expectations and what you can expect from me. I was hoping to post it tonight but it may come out tomorrow.
After that, I'll give you guys another day or so to finish up your characters and answer the questions about your character living arrangements and daily schedules before the adventure begins in earnest.
If you have any questions or concerns, let me know!
The next DM rubs his hands, eagerly waiting to see the revised character sheets...
There's an essay to be written about what people's choice of GM avatars says about their play style!
LOL... then I definitely won't share some of the other avatar contenders I contemplated for this adventure. :D You can assume, if it were available, I would have picked a bouquet of smiling daisies. Yeah...
