They're outsourcing, ya dig?

[Bakaninja]

PCs finished up the Catacombs of Wrath and fully explored the Smuggler tunnels. Afterwards, they assigned 2 guards to the blocked staircase going down. They also assigned 6 guards to undig the tunnel branch that goes east, and put the rocks/debris to block the smuggler cave in the northeast.

Since the guards are dumb npcs, I had them cause a tunnel collapse, injuring 2. The pc's berated them and told them to use wood supports and keep digging. Any ideas what could happen there? I don't believe it's written where that tunnel used to go.

Also debating having an NPC accidentally drink the water at the Shrine of Lamashtu.

[Mavrickindigo]

Hm... well if its not the stuff from book 5 (which I haven't read, just skimmed over), I guess you can just maek up some stuff. Maybe some ghouls to forshadow things, or read up on some other thassilonian things, perhaps some of those mini sin spawn things (fleshrakes?) from Bestiary 4?

[Skeld]

My first thought:
how long do the Sheriff and Mayor of Sandpoint allow the PCs usurp their authority when it comes to allocating the town's guard and giving them orders?

My answer to that is two-part:
1) After finding Tsuto's journal, they know the Thistletop goblins are planning a much larger scale invasion of Sandpoint. They might want their town guards guarding the town instead of excavating tunnels to nowhere*.
2) The Skinsaw murders will scare enough townfolk that they'll be clamoring for guards to, again, guard the town, not dig tunnels.

My plan ahead for something like this is for the digging to progress very slowly (guards are guards, not miners) and the wisdom of having guards down there digging will be overcome by more important events later.

-Skeld

*- You could also have the tunnels connect to the Shrine of Lamashtu in Chapter 5 when the time is right and skip the sinkhole connection.

[Kalshane]

I'm with Skeld, I imagine the Sheriff and the Mayor would be highly displeased with the PCs 1) ordering town guards around 2) setting them to a task they're horribly unsuited for.

Also, why did the guards agree to go along? They report to the Sheriff and the Mayor, not the PCs. Beyond that, they're going to object to being told to do grunt work that they're not suited to.

[Bakaninja]

At this point, Sheriff Hemlock has left for Magnimar to get reinforcements. He appointed the Heroes of Sandpoint as the de facto Sheriffs while he was gone. The mayor did ask incredulously why they were digging deeper into the tunnels, but they bullshitted and rolled well in response. Whenever the Sheriff returns, he's definitely taking control back.

On a side note, only 1 of them read Tsuto's journal. I was half amused when I told one of them later that the Quasit was mentioned in the journal, and then that player blamed the one who had actually read the journal for not being thorough enough. Awwwkward.

[Kalshane]

Ah. In my own game, the Sheriff asked them to keep an eye on things while he was in Magnimar, but he left Vachedi in charge of the guards themselves while he was out. IMO, having the Heroes stick around town for the sake of morale is a lot more logical than putting these unknowns directly in charge of the city's protection, just because they killed a few goblins.

And I don't see how the Mayor is going to let the PCs get away with killing two of her guards by having them do something they're horribly unsuited for, no matter how charming they may be. Especially if their only response to the tragedy is "Oh, well. Dig smarter!"

[Bakaninja]

Just trying to build up their confidence as the Heroes of Sandpoint. (you save the town! The sheriff relies on you!)

Are there any NPC's qualified to mine in the city? I didn't see any named NPC's with the Profession(Mining) skill or any Mining companies in town. The PC's wanted to find someone qualified.

[bulbaquil]

Not having Profession (Miner) doesn't mean you can't mine, it just means you probably won't do it that well. Which is reasonable, as Sandpoint isn't a mining town. I also hope they realize that they're probably dispatching close to Sandpoint's entire guard retinue to this - from Medieval Demographics Made Easy:

Quote:

A settlement [Sandpoint's] size with typical law enforcement will probably have 8 armed agents of the ruling authority (guardsmen, watchmen, etc.).

...which would likely include Sheriff Hemlock, and possibly Vachedi as well.

[Bellona]

According to RotR AE, there are 12 town guards and 62 militia members (who can be called up if necessary).

And putting the jailor in charge of the guards during the sheriff's absence sounds a bit odd to me. Why not a guard lieutenant instead?

[Bakaninja]

Whoaaa, thanks Bellona, I misread the militia part, and I thought Sandpoint strangely had 62 town guards.

[Mudfoot]

Not all the NPCs in the city are named, so there's nothing to stop you adding one with mining expertise. Pick a dwarf, any dwarf.

Besides, unless the buildings are all made of wood or brick, someone has to have quarried the stone for them somewhere. Given that they've just built a flashy new cathedral out of stone and glass, it stands to reason that there are or have recently been some people with rockbashing, construction and civil engineering expertise in the town, even if they're not listed.

[Kalshane]

I picked Vachedi simply because he already had a name and personality to work off of. The PCs don't have to know he was listed in the book as "the jailer". :)

There is likely someone in town knowledgeable about mining or stonework (even if they aren't specifically named) or barring that, someone could be hired out of Magnimar.

The main point is asking guards to do mining work, especially when the town is under threat of invasion, makes very little sense and the Sandpoint authorities would quickly step-in to stop it (if the guards didn't refuse outright on their own.)

[Splendor]

The PCs could probably just hire guards from local populace without having to higher city guards. Sandpoint is on the cavaran routes.

The collapsed smuggler's tunnel is 500'+ away from the shrine. So unless the miners/tunnelers are exploring the area looking to steal stuff they shouldn't be anywhere near the catacombs of wrath. More likely you could have them mine/tunnel far enough to break into the Turandarok River and flood the entire area.

Quote:

(A23)SMUGGLER'S ENTRANCE: The long tunnel leading from this room winds for some distance through the bedrock below Sandpoint. Built decades ago by smugglers, the tunnel remains stable and serviceable as it winds lazily northeast for just over 1,750 feet before reaching a dead end. A DC 30 Perception check reveals a secret door that opens into a 30-foot-diameter cave on the side of the cliff overlooking the Varisian Gulf. The cave mouth slopes down to a narrow beach; no Survival check is required to note the crude collection of goblin beds or remnants of their meals strewn about the cave.

From the tunnel's southern half, two side tunnels branch off. One leads east to a collapse after 400 feet (it once led all the way to the Turandarok River), but the one to the west seems to have once been bricked over at the point where it diverges fr om the main tunnel. This westerly passageway winds for 50 feet before turning north for another 100 feet. This tunnel was an attempt to break into what the smugglers assumed would be the garrison basement, so that they could smuggle prisoners out for great profit. Yet what they dis covered were the Catacombs of Wrath, and what the smugglers found there convinced them to brick up the tunnel and never speak of it again. The brick wall was torn down recently on Nualia's return to the area, after which she established contact with the quasit queen of the catacombs.

The tunnel leaving the sandworks going under sandpoint, eventually branches into 3 different tunnels.

Tunnel 1) Leads to the catacombs of wrath
Tunnel 2) Leads 1750' to the varisian gulf
Tunnel 3) Is collapsed but would lead to the Turandarok River (most likely a hidden cave like tunnel 2).