Campaign Journal: Massive Five Fingers Sewer Crawl

[AnotherPoet]

Hmm. Well, the old forums have been, er, "retired" but my Five Fingers Sewer Guard campaign lives on. In the following posts I hope to re-post, hopefully with formatting intact, all the existing session write-ups. For reasons of time I can't bring everything over, but will try to get some of the more useful expository posts as well as the actual sessions.

I'd also like to thank everyone who spoke up in the "Saving the FAQS" thread and said they hoped this would make it over. It's good to know we have fans. (And whoever asked if it was okay that they copied everything, YES, and thank you for making sure it wasn't lost!)

If any mods or PP staff read this, I'd also like to take the opportunity to gently chide you for not offering to port over select threads at the community's request. I understand the importance of updating the forums and I know not everything can come over, but other forums that have done similar upgrades (or purges) usually offer to save/port specific threads if the author or community requests it. I would've liked to see such an offer, as it would save me a lot of time compared to copy-and-paste, and it would preserve all the comments and discussion as well as the sessions themselves.

That said, I realise I'm here as a guest, and I won't throw too much of a stink. As always thanks for providing this space and hosting the IKRPG community.

Okay, now, on with the show! ZEL UNTERTACHEN must soldier on!!

[AnotherPoet]

originally Jan. 22, 2009:

Another_Poet's Five Fingers Sewer Campaign

Hi everybody. Another_Poet here. I haven't posted much on these forums (yet!), but on my other gaming forums I notice that campaign journals are quite popular. The one thing that always bothers me about them is that they don't usually include stats or detailed notes, so other DMs can't really grab the cool parts and put them in their own campaigns.

Now, I'm not trying to presume that my campaign is going to be so cool you'll want to use it.... but hopefully there will be the occasional gem in there. I plan on taking it level 1-20 so there should be plenty to choose from. Plus, I'm mapping and populating a detailed (and LARGE) sewer system, so why keep it to myself?

Anyway, here we go...

First off: The Rules

Combining Pathfinder and IK

We're using Pathfinder RPG as the base ruleset, rather than D&D 3.5. Of course, Pathfinder is D&D 3.5, mostly. In case anyone doesn't know, Pathfinder is a 3.5 revision put out by Paizo in an effort to keep the awesome corpus of 3rd edition D&D material alive. There are a few changes, mostly to rebalance the classes, power down the spells a bit, and add more character options. There's also some streamlining of the "problem" rules of 3.5 such as grappling, turning undead, etc. There are fewer skills (listen + spot = perception, for instance) and thus fewer skill points. Other than that, it's the same old system and I've had no problems integrating regular 3.5 monsters or NPCs into my Pathfinder games. Mostly I'm just grateful that someone is still supporting my favourite roleplaying system, and especially happy that the entire Player's Handbook is free online.

Still, IK rules are already a little different from 3.5 and trying to combine them with a whole new system poses some challenges. Here are the main changes that you should be aware of as you read about the campaign:

-Sorcerers are completely different from the 3.5 PHB version, much more like the Warlock class. They must choose a bloodline from monstrous or outsider species, and this determines the powers they get. They also tend to acquire physical traits (bat wings, etc.) that mark out their ancestry. Combining this with IK is roleplaying GOLD. Sorcerers are already feared and hated, giving them weird outsider powers and making them look like mutants just fans the flames. Even if I wasn't using Pathfinder I'd houserule this class into any IK game.

-Barbarians (or Berserkers for us IK fans) no longer suck, and have a lot of different abilities they can spend their rage powers on. My favourite is gaining a bite attack while grappling so you can bite your opponent's ear off.

-HD are different! Barbarians still get d12s and other warriors still get d10's. Divine casters still get d8's. But all support/skill characters (Rogues, Bards) now get d8's as well. And no one is stuck with a measly d4 - all the caster classes got bumped up to d6's. I've extended these changes to IK classes as well so (for example) Arcane Mechaniks get d8's now.

-More HP at first level. All characters now get double their max HD, plus their con modifier. So a wizard with a Con score of 12 would get 6 + 6 + 1 = 13 hp at first level. Much more survivable, and definitely helps in the IK. Basically it translates to cooler (and longer) 1st level encounters, then becomes less meaningful as characters level up. (At 2nd level and all subsequent levels, you only get your normal 1 HD + con.)

-Unlimited 0-level spells. Yep, those cantraips and orisons can be used over and over with no limit. Of course, Cure Minor Wounds has been removed altogether to avoid abuse.

-Almost anything can be sneak attacked or crit'd. This includes most undead.

House Rules

1) None of the PC's have ever been to Five Fingers before, ever, for any reason.

2) The PC's must have some common element or deep reason to stick together. They're siblings, or all the same race or profession, all members of the same union - something. No meeting up at a bar; tie your backstories together and tell me what the common group goal is in coming to Five Fingers.

3) Players do not need to worry about creating a balanced "caster-healer-fighter-skillguy" party. If they roll up (for instance) four rogues, or a bunch of melee specialists with no healers, I will do my best to tailor the campaign to their party most of the time. Major themes of the campaign are exploration and player freedom, so they can find work that suits their classes.

4) I use hit point piles for groups of identical enemies. This makes it easy for me and, more importantly, it frees up the PCs to spread out over the battlefield rather than ganging up on one creature at a time. Of course, for unique enemies or statted NPCs I may still use individual HPs.

Second: The Premise and the PC's

Before rolling up characters the players were told the basic premise of the campaign. They will be arriving, for the first time in their lives, at the city of Five Fingers. Why they are there is up to them.

Here's what they came up with. They are all from Khador, from a small town in the very far north. Rather than waiting to be conscripted they all decided to join the military together when they came of age. They put their talents to good use, and even though none of them became officers they were all given specialist jobs and a fair amount of respect.

Their unit never saw much action. They were sent from place to place, but it seemed they always arrived a week after the heavy fighting. With only a few battles under their belt, they completed their term of service to the Empress and got their discharge papers. They had long talked about going to a big city - a big city far from the war front - and trying to make their fortune. They made good on their plan, and headed for Five Fingers.

The characters they made are as follows:

Utar - male Skirov Cleric of Morrow. Utar is from the PC's home town, but he was not in the military unit with the rest of them. Rather, they ran into him again as he traveled through occupied Llael trying to give aid to refugees. They were glad to see a familiar face and he agreed to come with them to FF.
Played by J, a structural engineer and deeply spiritual man

Sabvra - female Skirov Druid. Sabvra was known for gathering rare herbs and other ingredients for the town healer as a child, but no one suspects she is actually a druid in training. She wisely kept her chosen profession to herself, and fit into the military unit as a scout. She has not called an animal companion, though she reserves the right to do so if she feels the need. She gives loose worship to the Devourer Wurm.
Played by my ex-wife A, who is the person that first got me into D&D

Vasili - male Umbrian Bard (but from Khador). Vasili's bardic abilities were viewed with interest by the Khadoran special forces, and they had hoped to put him to good use. A guitarist by training, he is also the only Menite in the group. Luckily this is the less strict Northern variety of Menite, and he's hardly what one would call devout; he gets along fine with the party priest.
Played by N, a sarcastic guy who enjoys outsmarting people.

Thamateal and his Fabulous Fingers of Fury! Male Thurian Wizard (but from Khador). Thamateal learned what little he could of magic from the local alchemist back home, and managed to squeak by the entrance exams to be trained as a junior wizard in the military. He's worried about being perceived as a sorcerer, so he has styled himself as a stage performer and tries to pass off his abilities as mere sleight-of-hand. The other PCs know the truth, of course. Thamateal is often the over-eager voice of the party, and is a bit reckless. He chose Summon Monster I as one of his two starting 1st level spells, fully knowing the risks.
Played by M, the only guy I know who talks louder than I do.

As you can see I've taken some liberty with the population distribution of the human ethnic groups. My players are coming out of much looser worlds, typically playing without any world map and making up geography as they go. Plus, with the potential for favourable ability adjustments it seemed cruel to limit their ethnic options. So unless something is very far south I didn't take it off the table. Despite their ethnic backgrounds they are all from the same "diverse former trading town" (a depressed mining town where the mine ran dry), and they all consider themselves firmly Khadoran. They're getting good at roleplaying this, and when (for instance) Vasili is presumed to be Llaelese they know how to use it to their advantage.

NEXT TIME: Crazy jobs, settling in, baiting the PCs, and a gang fight gone badly.

(Also, is there a way to do spoiler boxes so this post isn't so huge?)

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - originally Jan 22, 2009

Asurya:

The reason I allowed a more ethnically mixed Khador was because of my requirement that the PC's share a common backstory. If they wanted to be human, which they all did, that largely meant they were all going to be from the same place. They really liked the idea of being from the same hometown, but if that meant they could only choose one human ethnicity, it became pretty lopsided. For instance, if they chose a Skirov town (and even if I ruled in a few Kossites, which would seem fair) the +2 Con -2 Cha would be great for the wizard, so-so for the druid, and terrible for the bard and cleric. Even if the bard took a pass on the optional ability adjustments it would still kind of sting that he gets nothing while the others all get extra hps from the Con bump. I didn't want the cool backstory the players put together to end up punishing some of them. So, I ruled a wider selection of races for their home region.

Another reason I was OK with it was because I think it's pretty believable. Thurians are supposedly from northern Ord, and Umbrians share a border with Khador. It seemed pretty reasonable to me that if the PC's hometown was on a major roadway, which was perhaps a major trade route before the railroad went in, there could be a mixed population living there.

Offhand I don't remember how we handled the +2 humans get in Pathfinder. I suspect I allowed it as well as ethnic adjustments, but with the rule that you can't stack them. So as a Skirov you can put your +2 into anything except Con, since you already get a +2 to that.

Hope that makes sense.


DrShackles:

Players? Think? Since when?

Well, in all fairness my players think quite well in combat. They're tactical geniuses. The main problem is that out of combat, on the roleplaying side of things. They've all been gaming since the early 80's at least, and they've seen it all and done it all. Or so they think. I'm the n00b DM who's only been playing D&D since I met my wife 4 years ago. This stuff is still new and exciting to me. So my challenge in building this campaign (my second long-term campaign, ever) was to find or build a world that will surprise and challenge them. Something to get their attention.

That's a big part of the reason I went IK. The IK flavour is all new to them. Beyond flavour, I've also been keeping it fresh by building the place in detail. One of the things I said to them when we were getting started was that my goal was to make talking with the shopkeepers and getting to know the bars just as much fun as the actual adventuring. I want to make it feel as many-layered as a real city, so that it's fun to just explore. We're only three sessions in, but so far they say they like it a lot. Considering all the new rules and the minutiae they have to deal with, I consider that a victory in itself.

Thanks for reading guys. Hopefully I can write up the first session soon.

ap

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Jan. 23, 2009:

Getting Started

No Alignment

There is one rule that I didn't list under House Rules in the previous post, as it is more a world design decision. For our campaign, we are not using alignment. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while, but alignment is deeply integrated into the magic system of D&D (and thus into magic items, power balance, and characgter options). So this is what I told my players:

When someone does something that needlessly hurts another being, or acts with greed or malice in their heart, their aura darkens and becomes evil. That's what a paladin sees with Detect Evil. The problem is, from that aura you can't tell whether the person is a psychotic cultist or is sleeping with their best friend's husband. Only very heinous acts will result in an extra-strong evil aura like Blackguards and demons have.

An evil aura fades with time. If you stole something small from a shop it might fade in a couple of days, whereas if you murder someone it might cling to you for years. But no evil is unredeemable, and a person with an evil aura one day might be perfectly good the next.

That's the closest we'll have to alignment. Good and Evil still exist, but they are not the permanent, tattooed-on-your-soul concepts of normal D&D. Try to be reasonably good, and maybe cheat once in a while. Or if you want to be a team of assassins, be as evil as you want. If you want to play a class that normally has an alignment restriction just talk to me and we'll make it work. Protection from Evil (or example) still works, but a little differently.

As you can see, this approach makes morality a bit grittier and perhaps slightly more realistic. At the same time, it doesn't take away anyone's class abilities or spell lists (although it does leave it in my hands as DM whether any given opponent counts as "evil" for purposes of a spell or not). Best of all, it flies in the face of the "smite on sight" paladin and other rigid stereotypes. A character can still be a moral absolutist, of course, they just can't back up their narrow views with the RAW. They end up looking every bit as ridiculous as real-world absolutists.

A Warning to my Players

Shortly before we started our first session, I passed on a friendly word of warning to my players:

In Five Fingers it will be very possible to walk into a situation that's way beyond your level. I'll try to give hints of this or put this stuff in logical places. But don't assume encounters are level-appropriate. Run if you need to.

The other thing you need to look out for is being perceived as criminals. You're not in a dungeon so this is your official reminder that there are laws to follow.

Five Fingers thrives on crime, but it is still a city. Even with gang violence everywhere, a single dead body can cause an uproar. Think of 17th Century London: a "massacre" was killing three or four people at once. Three deaths in a row could make a serial killer famous. People are nosy, opinionated and judgemental - and they have friends. If you kill someone, it's likely that either someone will see you do it or their friends will start asking questions. Be careful!

As you'll soon see, the PC's managed to disregard both parts of this warning before the first full session was over.

Session Zero: Rolling into Town

After character creation we had a mini-session for the players to get a feel for their characters and the setting. We agreed that they would look for lodging, look for jobs, and choose one before the session was over. That way I could prepare for next time without having to railroad them into any particular plot. Here's how it went.


On the warm, clear afternoon of Friday, Cinten 4-6* the four Khadorans find themselves on the final stretch of a long riverboat trip. The stinking smudge of coal soot on the horizon warns them their destination is close at hand. They are restless, and try to busy themselves fishing off the side of the boat. Of the little they catch, they eat soem and try to sell the rest to fellow passengers, with little luck.

*i.e. Week 4, Day 6 of Cinten; I use this and the real-world weekdays to replace the complicated week/day name system of IK.

They turn to small talk as a way to pass the time. One passenger explains he's going to town on business. They ask him what he does. "Importing and exporting," he answers with a dubious smile. They make sure to get his name and find out how long he'll be in town, hoping they can turn to him for work down the line if needed.

When they pull into the docks of the Rivergrav they see ships and boats of all kinds, cargo heaped up in piles, and steamjacks in varying states of repair working alongside humans, trollkin, and ogrun. They have never before seen so many monsters at peace in a human city.

As they disembark the boat's captain tries to sell them pints of fresh water. Confused, they look at one another and then turn down his offer. He pushes the matter, insisting he scooped it up several miles upriver. They refuse, and he lets them go. It is the last clean water they will see for some time.

Making their way through the docks, many of the locals won't even give them the time of day. They finally find someone to ask about lodging, and it's explained that the farther they get from the river, the better the lodging will be. "These places by the docks are full of thieves," one honest bloke tells them.

To follow his advice they must take one of the lifts up the rocky cliffs to the city proper. They don't like the looks of it but figure it must be safe if so many locals are using it. They also neglect to tip the attendant, who gives them a dirty look as they walk away.

They ask again about lodging, but the man they ask happens to be on the dime of one of the local establishments. He sends them to his own hostel, Hostel 22, a place with a door wached by a shirtless Ogrun and more stains than plaster left on the walls. They leave.

At long last they are directed to a place with a certain charm. The Live Snapper offers a bar, a hostel and a kitchen all in one. Signs outside declare "Low-end luxury for half the price!? and ?No bed bugs, guarranteed!? Sounds prety good!

No sooner do they enter than they see how the place got its name. The entire greatroom is dominated by a 30' long giant crocodile, stuffed like a hunting trophy and mounted upside-down from the ceiling. It clings like a massive gecko over their heads, a chandelier suspended from a collar around the middle of its body. Numerous coloured candles hang from its neck, claws, and the ridge of its back. It was probably a masterwork of taxidermy at one time; now it is stained by years of smoke.

Currently late afternoon, the bar and greatroom are fairly empty. A few local drunks sit here and there, and a bard with a lyre tunes it gently by the fire. A female dwarf approaches the newcomer, beaming with a warm smile.

"What can I get for you? New in town?"

The dwarf turns out to be Marcia, who impresses the strangers with her sense of humour and quick wit. Grudgingly they agree to pay the outrageous price of a gold crown for one night's lodging and breakfast for the lot of them. To that they add another 3 silver bits to cover dinner and weak ale. "Anything with a bite'll cost you extra," Marcia explains.

Their lodging is a single small room with two bunkbeds, a fifth single mattress, and a wooden strongbox built into the floor. They feel pretty good about leaving some of their heavier gear there, and decide to head out and explore a little.

At this point, Thamateal (the wizard) realizes it's going to cost him an arm and a leg to maintain his mule in the city. That's a shame, since he's physically weak and owns by far the most gear of any party member. But they seek out an outfitter to buy the mule. Sine it's late in the afternoon the Tongue Alley street market is mostly gone for the day, and they have to walk alfway to Tambertan Lane (some ten city blocks) to find a market. They offload the mule for a fraction of what it was worth in Khador and, disheartened, agree to Utar's (the priest's) plan to go to the nearest Church of Morrow.

It was at this point that the high prices in the city really hit home for them. Everything is 50%-300% more than the PHB price to buy and less than the PHB price to sell. This was especially bad for Thamateal, since he bought the mule with his starting wealth in character creation only to sell it first session without getting any use out of it. Essentially he lost gold for the privelege of roleplaying a mule sale. Even though the players had been careful to save money for lodging and genetral expenses, they suddenly realised it was slipping through their fingers at classic Big City speed. This definitely added some urgency to their quest for work.

Being the generous DM I am, however, I did give them a purse of 21 gp to represent the wages they "saved up" for heir trip to the city. I waited till after they bought starting gear to give it to them, so that they would definitely have it in cash.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

What they find, even farther from their inn, is the Church of Asc. Angellia of Morrow, overseen by a seemingly crooked priest. The man is welcoming to Utar, and is quite blunt in his advice: "If you got dispensation to travel, go as long as you can without reporting in. No need to be ordered around if you don't have to." Utar goes on to ask about what kind of charitable or missionary work he can help with in the area, but the local father (Father Marcos, though they didn't ask his name) doesn't seem to understand. he just lists different ways of making money as a priest. He even offers to cut Utar in on a sort of Avon-esque buisiness deal he has going on, which revolves around healing services. Utar is disgusted, but stays polite. After parting ways with the priest he notices a sad-looking acolyte praying at a side shrine and tries to encourage him. Then he decides that from now on he'll be a street priest, and stay away from the corruption of the large churches if he can.

Finally, the team works their way back toward the Live Snapper, stopping at various bars and looking at posted flyers as they go. They buy people drinks, chat people up, and generaly try to get the skinny on any kind of work for experienced soldier types.**

**This involved making Diplomacy checks (gather info was lumped into this skill in Pathfinder). The results of their checks determined what sorts of jobs they dredged up. They got most of the ones I had prepared, but not all of them.

These are the jobs they found, reproduced here for your amusement:

DC 13:
A man with wild hair shows you this flyer, but takes it back once you've read it:
Zel Üntertachen
Five Fingers' old regiment of sewer guards is being re-established at last! Strong, able workers needed for equal parts repair, maintenance and security duty. An adventure every day!
Pay: 5 gold/day.
He says to go to the Rivergrav guard house Sunday evening if interested.

* * *
DC: 0
RATCATCHERS WANTED
Pay is freakin unbelievable!
Great bonus!
Choose your own hours - !
Inquire at Muchler's Rattraps & Fine Footwear!
(Pay not listed)

***
DC: 7
Coast Guard
The Cost Guard is recruiting search & rescue workers to patrol the bay and keep the peace. Work is dangerous and demanding, must pass basic training to receive pay. Sea legs preferred. Loyal subjects only!
Pay: 2 gold/day

***
DC: 11
Ratcatcher
Are you healthy? Great! We need ratcatchers. Apply to the Dicer's Island Rathatter on Coarse Rd.
Pay: 5 gold/week

***
DC 16
Guards Needed!
Solid & honest muscle needed at the grave port. Sharp eyes preferred, no sleepers. Our departed must be protected from thieves & fiend-callers. Good pay from the Morgue Street Funerary Society, plus Morrow's blessing.
Pay: 2 gold/day

***
DC 24
Tomb Guards Needed!
Everyone's heard about the Hospice Isle tombs - here's your chance to be part of the solution! Looking for well-equipped, skilled soldier types to keep the peace in and around the tombs.
Join the Hospice Tomb Guards - it's like being a paladin without all the rules!
Pay: 5 gold/week plus GREAT BONUSES!

***
DC 12
Arsonists Must Die!
Do you hate arsonists as much as the gods do? DAMN RIGHT! Then join us in gathering them all up for justice! A fat bounty for each arsonist! GREAT!
Pay: N/A
(No contact listed...)

***
DC 14
Couriers needed!
Fast, determined couriers needed to outrun gobbers in the rigging & deliver across the city FAST! Talk to Lolly Lars at the Metal Pint on Wored Street.
Pay DOE

***
DC 15
When he hears you are looking for work, a dodgy old man sidles up and offers to buy you a drink. Whether you accept or not, he starts to ask about your background and where you're from. Finally he tells you why he cares:

"The work is part guardsman, part skilled labourer and prob'ly part explorer. You're gonna get dirty and you're gonna have to be a tough guy. But you get the Governor's backing and a hefty 5 gold heads a day!"

He says to come to the Tongue Alley guard house tomorrow afternoon.

* * *
DC 15
"You lookin' to get famous, er jus' rich?" slurs the busty sailor at the end of the bar. "You should join Kilbride's army!" She refers you to Kilbride's island to apply.


* * *
DC 13
"Hey Mister!" A young boy with a black eye looks up at you. "My ma says she'll pay you good!"

He explains that his mother has taken up a collection from the families in the neighbourhood and they'll pay 15 crowns (30 gp) to whoever can take out Fat Sasha. Sasha's been demanding protection money for years, but is too drunk to actually offer any protection. Still dangerous, though - and regularly beats his clients for late payments.

The PCs get back to the inn late at night, and order their dinner in the midst of the bard's performance. The bard, Ockham, gives Vasili (their own bard) a wary eye as the Umbrean brings out his guitar. But rather than competing with Ockham, Vasili joins in and the crowd is tapping along and singing with them in no time. Because Vasili does not try to get any of Ockham's earnings, the house bard takes a liking to the newcomer and they do a few more numbers together.

Once the crowd thins out the Khadorans plan their move. They don't want to get under the thumb of organized crime, so the Kilbride job is right out. They seem to think the coast guard work is either too dangerous, or that they wouldn't qualify as "loyal subjects" (probably true) so they ignore that one. They also understand that they have little hope of outrunning gobbers in the rigging, so they start to focus on the Grave Port and Hospice Island Tomb Guard jobs.

"Wow, you guys are just itching to get back to the undead," I taunt them. Their last campaign with me was over a year of battling through undead in a sealed-off cave with no shops, little treasure and suicidally courageous NPC allies. They had vowed not to do another undead campaign for years to come. And here they were, looking at being tomb guards only a month or two later! I love PCs.

Disregarding the jobs guarding corpses, they had two main categories left: he jobs that paid the best (the 5 gp/day sewer job, the 5 gp/day mystery job for the governor, and the 30 gp bounty on Fat Sasha) and the jobs that seemed least dangerous (the two rat-catching gigs). Ultimately, the group decided they needn't limit their options.

"If we're working in the sewers, we can get plenty of rats for the rat-catcher," Thamateal reasons.

"And the Fat Sasha thing is a one-time gig," adds Sabvra (druid). "We could check him out tomorrow and then go to the sewer meet on Sunday."

"Agreed."

So that's their plan: hunt down Fat Sasha and teach him a lesson; collect an easy 30 gp and then see how promising the sewer guard job sounds.

End session.

NEXT TIME: Finally, the gang boss fight I promised last time. FOR REAL!l

[AnotherPoet]

discussion - originally Jan. 26, 2009:

Thanks for the kind words guys. I'll try to answer some of the questions that were asked.

Lubby
As far as preparation, I've done a ton. I was actually hoping they would choose the sewer job (one of the reasons it pays so well) and I did a little advance research. One day my wife (who, remember, is one of the players) saw me bring in the mail. I had a huge cardboard mailing tube, the kind you send large rolled-up sheets of paper in. She said, "What's that?"

"Nothing," I replied.

She looked at the label and her eyes widened. "Sewer historian? You got a huge mailing from a sewer historian? There's such a thing as a sewer historian!? HOLY CRAP THIS IS FOR D&D ISN'T IT????"

So, in short, yeah. Here is the story of how I came to design the Five Fingers sewers as a D&D adventure:

-I watched the extra features on the DVD of the classic movie The Third Man. Although the movie is a classic, I didn't like it much; it's just not my genre. But it does feature the sewers and secret tunnels of Vienna, which really exist; and there is a short special feature with the history of the Vienna Sewer Guard, which (in its heyday of post-WWII) had the highest mortality rate of any police unit in Europe. I figured that such a job, and the labyrinthine tunnels of such a sewer (built by the Romans and continually expanded/revised through the modern day) would be a great game.

-I dug around, finding little additional information on the historic sewer guards and zero maps of the Viennese sewers, even at the Vienna Sewer Dept website or the Third Man Sewer Tour in Vienna. Various urban exploration/urban spelunking sites proved to have a similar lack of maps; I suppose offering maps would infringe on the "exploration" part.

-I decided to search for information not by sewer, but by era; and found some useful information (though precious little in the way of maps) on the Victorian London website. The mother lode of sewer info, however, came from SewerHistory.org. I've spent hours and hours reading their articles on historic sewers and the evolution of sewer technology. Okay, so I'm a total fricking geek. I know I could've just drawn any random set of tunnels and, in true D&D style, my players would've gone along with the idea that they were sewers. But I didn't want that - I knew that nothing I could imagine up would have the same balance of insane twisty-curvy-maze layout and sensible, pragmatic engineering as an actual medieval or early modern sewer. I mean, google Vienna sewers and just look at some of the images you get. Could you have designed those rooms? I didn't think so.

-Anyway, still finding a lack of maps, I emailed the SewerHistory.org site owner and ended up talking with him on the phone. I told him (honestly) that I was researching old fashioned sewers, though I left out that it was for D&D. If he is a big D&D player and he happens to read this, sorry Jon, I didn't mean to be deceitful. I just didn't want to be hung up on. Anyway, he is the source of the above-mentioned sewer historian mailing. He sent me photocopies of some early American sewers, but explained that maps are hard to scan in (big files and all) so local archives or historic societies would be the way to go.

-Following his advice I ordered photocopies of various late 1800's maps from historic archives here in the states. Most of them don't have the awesomeness of medieval European sewers, but on the other hand I don't need to make international calls or speak multiple languages to get them. For the most part, these early American maps form the basis of my sewers, along with everything I've read of ancient and medieval sewers, the state of 1700's London's sanitation, and a healthy dose of fantasy revision. I believe that this level of research has allowed the setting for this adventure to have a level of secret and mysteries that my one-track plot-writing mind couldn't have built. Of course, 90% of the sewer information I've gained will never get mentioned to the players, who come to the table for fun and adventure, not history or engineering lessons.

-Some of you may do a little research on your own and quickly find piles of online sewer maps. Yep, they're out there. Digitized zoom-able topographic sewer maps with street names and pump houses and all that stuff etched in. Why didn't I mention these? Two problems: First, they are all American cities, mostly western American cities, which haven't been around long enough to develop the ridiculous layout I want to use. Second, they use nothing but colour-coded lines to show the sewer lines; there is no detail on the shapes or layouts of any of the connexions, intersections, or rooms that might exist down there. No one wants to adventure in endless straight-line tunnels with perfect 90-degree intersections and no variation.

Anyway, that's the prep I did. Probably about 16 hours of research to come up with my sources and general ideas, and no complete map yet. The map is still a work in progress, although I've (obviously) mapped the area the PCs first entered. I'll give a general overview of it for you guys when I post that session...


Azzykun:
Feel free to gank it! As far as alignment in healing, I'm being a little loose with it. All of the characters are friends with a shared background and shared goals, so unless one of them betrays the group or starts scheming I'm going to treat them as similarly-aligned for healing purposes. If they try to heal NPCs I will also ignore alignment unless the NPC is a criminal, a foe, or some other opposed-to-the-PCs type of person. Of course, I still pay attention to who worships what when the healing is broken out.


Asruya:
As far as prices go, yeah, pretty much what Azzykun said. How can they justify paying so little to sell something for so much? Capitalism, that's how. Go into any pawn shop or used video game store and you'll see a similar mechanic at work. D&D assumes a shopkeeper will buy something used for 50% of what they can sell it for new, and that might make player bookkeeping easy, but that's a ridiculous model. I've sold video games for less than a dollar that are still selling new for $19.99 and used for $9.99.

In addition, part of this is the "country bumpkin + unwanted foreigner in a big city" attitude. The PCs make diplomacy checks to try to barter but they're still low level and who puts ranks in Diplomacy? As they level and gain skill ranks or synergy bonuses, they'll get better prices. Becoming recognised as regulars, and buying a few high-ticket items will also prove their worth as customers to the local shopkeepers, and that will decrease the swindle factor. I've intentionally made the prices quite daunting to start with, to keep a sense of urgency in the PCs and to remind them they're small fish. But this won't last forever.

As far as the price on Fat Sasha, it's pretty good actually. Although 30 gp isn't a lot of money, it is the highest pay they could find and it's 600% more than the rate for the second best paying job (which is 5 gp/day). Considering it was raised by a group of commoners who are being extorted by criminals, it's pretty good. Also, the pay is only for beating him up or chasing him off; the PCs don't have to kill him.

Of course, the price tag was not the only warning sign that he is a tough encounter. I'll write up the session (and its various clues) today, and that's a promise...

ap

[AnotherPoet]

originally Jan. 26, 2009:

A small revision: last time, I said that the PC's gathered all the info on jobs on Friday, and made their decision Fri evening. In fact a lot of the job-hunting happened on Saturday, Cinten 4-7. But either way they made their plan and went after Fat Sasha Saturday evening.

Session 1: B-B-B-Beatdown!

After job-hunting Saturday morning, the Khadorans reconvened at the Live Snapper and formulated their plan. Seeing that they were looking for honest work, and having exacted a promise that they weren't looking to bring trouble down on her hostel, Marcia the dwarf offers them a deal. If they prepay for a whole week of lodging, she'll give them about a 10% discount. This is a good deal, but having seen the way business works in this town they are understandably suspicious. Vasili speaks up.

"Look, we'll consider it... if you throw in dinners for the week too."

Marcia laughs. "You guys are too much. This is a great deal!"

"Dinners, or nothing."

"Alright well, I'll throw in dinners at a reduced rate, but not free. And hard booze is extra!"

They agree, getting themselves a darn good deal on a week's lodging and food.

Once that's settled they go to their room so they can speak in private.

"We're going to need to get some info on this guy," says Vasili. "Did that woman say where he hangs out?"

"A bunch of bars," remembers Sabvra. "Basically he just goes from one to the next, drinking."

"We should wait till tonight," suggests Utar. "Till he's drunk."

Everybody agrees with that. They decide they'll wait till late afternoon, then go ask questions in his neighbourhood and see if they can catch him off-guard. What they're going to do after that, however, is a matter of dispute.

"We're going to have to kill him," Thamateal insists. "We don't have any choice."

"What are you talking about?" Asks Sabvra. "We beat him senseless and tell him that if he lays another hand on his clients, we'll be back to finish the job."

"Yeah that'll work," Thamateal chuckles back. "Because an alcoholic gangster isn't going to just turn around and whip that woman silly for hiring muscle."

"He doesn't know who hired us. It could be anyone he beats!'

"Yeah, so he'll take out his revenge on all of them."

Ultimately, it's a two-two split vote. Vasili sides with Thamateal on the "better off dead" side and Utar sides with Sabvra on the "let's not start off by killing gang leaders" side. They argue back and forth for a good hour.*

*Sadly, this was not only (probably) an hour in game time, but it was an actual hour at our gaming table. We have gathered round our humble battle-mat a priest with a degree in philosophy (me), an atheist political activist (my wife), an atheist who is the son of a minister (N), a medical researcher who is used to having his opinions backed by tested, reproducible empirical proof (M) and a father of five children, the oldest of them barely past the toddler stage (that's J). WHEN WE ARGUE IT GETS A LITTLE LOUD. Holy crap does it get loud.

In this case, I did my best to stay out of it. After all, their decision could get them arrested or targeted by gangs; as DM I shouldn't nudge them one way or the other. Once we passed the 45 minute mark of debating the topic, I did interject in a sort of referee capacity.

"OK guys, I think we've heard all possible opinions. Let's move along and get back to the game. What is it, you guys going to try scare him or kill him?"

They decided they would at least try scaring him, with no guarantees that Vasili or Thamateal wouldn't snuff him out if it seemed prudent. They continued to grumble back and forth for another 10 minutes, with M loudly recapping the points in his favour as N and J took a smoke break. I found it all very amusing.

With their plan cemented, the four headed out on foot toward the neighbourhood where they were hired. Wisely, they ducked into a bar in the next closest 'hood and bought some drinks there, waiting while Vasili tried to get some information on Fat Sasha.

"What, Waernuk's guy? You're in the wrong place."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Look buddy, you trying to make trouble?"

"No, no sir. Just asking."

"Yeah well we're covered by Hurley. We got nothing to do with that slob."

Thamateal had come in separately from the others and sat on the other side of the bar. He noticed a tough-looking young man get up and leave the room, then come back with several more toughs. At this point he walked over to the bar next to Vasili and slammed down enough coin to pay for his drink. "I think that's all for me, barkeep," he says. "Keep the change."

Vasili et al got the message, waited a moment and went on their way as well. When they left, the group of youths followed them out, and hung around on the bar's front stoop for a bit to keep an eye on the door. When they saw the Khadorans move down the street, all but one went inside. The Khadorans chatted down the way.

At this point J passed me a note telling me that Utar was slipping away to talk to the lone youth at the bar entrance. Amusingly, he probably could've just said it out loud; the others were so engrossed in talking to each other they didn't notice the first 8 minutes or so of Utar talking with this NPC.

"Hey, wondering if you could help me," asked the priest.

"Sorry old man, I don't need a sermon. And aren't you with those guys over there?"

"Yeah, and we need some info. I'll make it worth your while."

Utar produces enough coin to open the eyes of a standard street ruffian. The kid looks over his shoulder into the open door of the bar and then accepts the coin. "What do you need to know?"

There follows a somewhat confusing conversation as Utar, who has no idea who Hurley or Waernuk are, learns that Fat Sasha runs a few city blocks for Waernuk in the middle of a huge district controlled by Hurley; and the gang kid, who figures Utar must be working for another High Captain, slowly realises the guy has no clue what a High Captain is.

They each finally figure out what the other is talking about, and Utar gets a physical description as well as the general impression that Sasha is a complete hack. Utar asks: "So how many guys does Fat have working for him?"

"What? None. That guy doesn't make friends. As far as I know everyone hates him."

"He runs a whole neighbourhood by himself?"

The kid shrugs.

"How come you guys don't just go in and take it over then?"

Another shrug. "Look Father, I just do what I'm told. You done here or what?"

"Maybe. Look, you can tell we have some.... business with him. Would it be good for your man Hurley if Fat disappeared?"

"I guess."

"Well, you interested or what?"

The kid's eyes go wide and he shakes his head. "You better get lost man. I can't make deals like that."

"Alright, thanks for your time kid. Here's a little extra." He flips him another coin.

The kid looks in the bar door again and says to Utar, "Watch out buddy. I've seen him take down two men at once." They part ways and Utar heads back to the rest of the party.

"Well, this Fat guy is completely incompetent. He runs a whole neighbourhood into the ground and neither his boss nor these guys want to do anything about it. That sound weird to you guys?"

"Aww crap," says Vasili. "He's probably that Waernuk guy's kid brother or something."

They realise this means the job is potentially more dangerous than they thought. There is some discussion about posing as Hurley's gangsters, to get the heat on the High Captain instead of on them. But after a lot of argument they decide that's more likely to get two gangs after them instead of one. They also consider going to Hurley and seeking endorsement in taking out Fat, but they still don't want to be working for a mob. They decide to go on as planned, more or less, but this new info reopens the questions of whether it's safer to let Fat live or just kill him. The new verdict is in favour of killing him.

Once they reach Fat's neighbourhood they try to keep their heads down as they walk the streets and glance into the doors of various bars. At the second venue they stroll past, they spot a massive--tall and wide--baldheaded Skirov with an entire ceramic jug of wine in front of him. The bar is just one door down from a narrow, unlit alley. They confer and decide they should try to get him alone in the alley and jump him. Bravely, Sabvra volunteers to go in and try to seduce him, then lead him to their ambush site.

"No way are you going in alone," says Thamateal. "I'm coming too. These guys can set up in the alley."

"If I have a man with me, it's going to be a lot harder to hit on him," Sabvra objects.

"Look, I'll go in separate but you need someone else there. If things go bad maybe I can sleep him."

"Okay. I'll wait a minute before I come in."

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)


They set it up. Vasili hides behind some barrels at the end of the alley, while Utar pretends to be taking a pee on the alley wall. (He stands there with his equipment out the whole time that he awaits Sabvra.) Meanwhile, Thamateal gets a corner table with a view of Fat Sasha and the doorway. He also notices a long, wicked polearm leaning against the wall near their mark. There is a leather sheathe fitted over the blade, however.

When Sabvra goes in she sees that there are empty stools to either side of Fat at the otherwise crowded bar. She boldly strides up and claims one of the seats, putting her hand gently on his shoulder. "It's good to see a Northern man around here," she says.

At this point A makes every roll she can think of to make sure that he doesn't get suspicious. Little does she know, he isn't on high alert at all. She could've said anything and he would've given the same approving grunt.

She flirts him up some more and Fat gets free with his hands. He orders the bartender to bring her "a round" which turns out to be two glasses of straight wine with two shotglasses of beet rum. The bartender holds the shots over the wine glasses and gives Sabvra a look like, "Should I drop them in?"

"No, it's fine," says Sabvra faintly. Fat meanwhile has shot after shot, each washed down with a looooong pull on his 5-gallon jug. He also has various beers lined up on the bar. She acts like she's already drunk so she has an excuse to spill some of her own beverages and avoid becoming drunk as she slams them down.

After some more talk, which is mostly her talking at him and him making occasional macho declarations, Sabvra makes her move. "So, you gonna show me what you go under there or what?"

Some more worried rolls by A, who thinks he might suspect that she's got ulterior motives. He assumes the opposite, however...

"Here," he says, and puts some coins on the counter by her. "It's about time they get a new girl here!"

Not noticing the angry local prostitutes eying her up, Sabvra takes the money and goes outside with Sasha. He brings with him his five-gallon wine jug and his spear, and leaves no money for the barkeep as he departs. As they approach the alley Fat seems to plan on walking right past and going somewhere else - his flat? - but Sabvra steers him toward the alley.

Sasha doesn't notice Thamateal follow them out, as the wizard keeps his distance. He pays no mind to the drunk priest relieving himself in the alley, either. But as he tries to push Sabvra up against the wall, she skips away toward the darker end of the alley, cooing at him to come and get her.

At this point, his gangster senses start tingling. He's not walking down there.

"Get back here, woman!" he barks.

"Hey buddy," slurs Utar as he turns around, dribbling pee all over the alley (he had been holding it in and saving it for when Fat arrived). "If you're not going for her I will."

Sasha backs away from Utar, about five feet toward Sabvra and the barrel where Vasili is hiding. Thamateal appears at the entrance of the alley. At this point the team has a chance to surprise attack the gangster, but they wait to see what he will do.

"I consider our deal broken!" Seeing that he is surrounded, he hurls his wine jug at the priest. It shatters into a hundred fragments and a spray of booze as it soars past the Utar's head and strikes the wall. The fight begins.

Thamateal attempts to cast Sleep on the gang leader, but it has no effect. The enemy Skirov laughs as he shakes off the magical effect, and taunts his four assailants. Utar doesn't attack directly, instead moving toward Sabvra and the (still hidden) Vasili, hoping to move the fight to the darkness where his comrade lurks. Sabvra, not wanting to expose her druidic powers, loads her sling and unleashes a bullet which Sasha easily sidesteps.

Sasha, for his part, grips his sheathed longspear with both hands. He charges the priest and delivers two artful swipes of the pole, not bothering to unsheathe its blade. The priest reels back and then casts Doom on Sasha, setting him up for Thamateal's next sleep spell - which fails again!

Finally Vasili springs out of the darkness to stab Sasha, but misses; Sabvra casts down her sling and draws her smallsword.

At this point Sasha is in his natural element. Seeming to lose any semblance of drunkenness he grins and roars as he casts about. One-two-three-four he strikes back and forth amidst the attackers, with the crack of wooden spear shaft and the solid thud of his punches interspersed masterfully. Yet it is clear he's trying to knock out, not murder, the four newcomers. Vasili, Utar and Sabvra use good tactics, coordinating their movements so Vasili can move back and try to trip Sasha with his whip. Thamateal hangs back, switching now to his various missile spells. The scuffle continues and Sasha is still up.

With a one-two he nearly drops Sabvra, then darts way; Utar takes a swing at him then rushes to their scout to infuse her with new life force. Vasili gets another chance to trip Sasha but chooses to attack outright instead. He hits but Sasha closes with him. As more acid pelts Sasha from afar, he pulls the whip from Vasili's hand and then sweep's the bard's legs, knocking him to the ground. "That's how it's done, little man!" yells Sasha, and strikes Vasili in the head with his pole.

Vasili opts to fight from the ground, attacking Sasha's legs rather than standing up. Crack! Down he goes, and as Utar tries to reach him for healing, he takes a mouthful of fist.

Thamateal sees that his acid splash cantraips are of little use, and that his friends are being clobbered. Drawing a weapon, he joins the fray. Sabvra leaps onto Sasha, trying to grab a hold of him with both arms and both legs, while Utar revives Vasili. It is the last thing the priest can do before he has the wind knocked out of him.

As Sasha breaks free of Sabvra's hold, Thamateal grabs Utar's body and starts to drag him out of the alley. Sasha laughs again. "I tell you what, you pay me for my time here and maybe I let you walk away," chortles the big man.

"Sure, sure, we'll do it," says Thamateal, but he tosses only a couple of silvers at the gangster. More to the point, he throws them on the ground as if to lure the man into bending down. Sasha considers this an insult and pummels the mage's ribs while taking a heavy hit from Vasili.

Finally, Sabvra and Vasili get toward the mouth of the alley along with Thamateal (who is dragging Utar). Sasha sprints some fifty feet and grabs a hold of Sabvra, a firm grapple with no care for her modesty. "Pay with the gold or pay with the girl," he threatens. He nods toward the purse on Thamateal's belt - it contains the 20+ gold coins they saved up for their move to Five Fingers.

Defeated, Thamateal nods. This time he hands the whole purse to Fat, who shoves the woman at him and then dashes off toward the back of the alley. The four would-be heroes make a run for it, not looking to see where Sasha goes. They get a few blocks away and manage to wake up Utar, then drag their bruised and wounded bodies all the way back to their hostel near Tongue Alley.

When they come in, Marcia is horrified. "What happened? Did you go to one of those sailor bars?"

They shake their heads "no" and move to go past her.

"Hang on now, I've got some alchemical salve I can give you."

"No thanks," grunts Thamateal.

"What, are you sure? It won't take but a second!"

"Yeah but it'll cost us, right?" asks Vasili sharply.

Marcia looks as if she's just been accused of a crime. "Not if you're hurt! What do you think I am?"

Surprised, they accept her ministration and allow her to tend their wounds. Utar helps too, with what little healing power he can still channel before resting. With no pride and little money, they go to bed, wondering if they have come to the wrong city...

End session.

The session ended with much speculation by my PCs at the level and class(es) of Fat Sasha, and many accusations that I must have broken rules to build him.

They were dubious as to whether Fat had the Improved Grapple, Improved Disarm, or Improved Trip feats (he does) and especially surprised by the number of attacks he got per round. He even got two attacks after making a move action of more than 5'. They wanted to know what class he was, and if I had used strange classes from splat books that they might not be familiar with. Or if I had just made stuff up.

Since Fat Sasha (for all I know) might be encountered again, I didn't tell them much. I did tell them that, on the one hand, the monsters/NPCs I throw at them don't have to be the same as the ones in the MM or built the same way as PCs would. On the other hand, in this case, he was built using all normal rules. He was a tough encounter, sure, but nothing out of the ordinary. Beyond that I let them just guess at his class.

And, since I don't have time this second to type up his full stats - I think I'll let you guys wonder the same thing. Any guesses??



NEXT TIME: Enter the Sewers

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - originally Feb. 2, 2009:

Hehe, sorry about the wait Azzykun. But hopefully this'll help assuage the curiosity for now...

(Eventually I am going to start a special thread for my monsters/NPCs so that their stats don't appear in this thread. That way my players can read the journal if they want and not spoil anything. For the time being, however, I'll just put Sasha's stats here under a spoiler tag, and ask that discussion of his class/feats also be spoilered. Thanks.)

SPOILER

The Fat and the Furious
Fat Sasha
Size/Type: Medium human (Skirov) Monk 7
HP: 68
Initiative: +2
Speed: 50
Armor Class: 17, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+2 dex, +1 deflection, +4 wis)
Base Attack: 5
CMB: 9
Attack: Unarmed +7 or +6/+6 (1d8+2); or staff +5/+5 or +7 (1d6+2); or thrown jug +8 (1d6)
Full Attack: TWF Staff/Unarmed Flurry +4 (1d6+2)/+6(1d8+2)/+6(1d8+2)/+4(1d6+2)
Space/Reach: 5?/5?
Special Attacks: Two-weapon fighting, Flurry of Blows
Special Qualities: Evasion, Improved Unarmed Strike, Ki Pool (see below), Slow Fall 30?, Tattoo of +2 Wisdom,
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +10 (or +12 vs. enchantment)
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 18, Cha 10
Skills: Acrobatics +19
Feats: Improved Grapple, Caught Off-Guard, Blind-Fight, Extra Ki, Deflect Arrows, Two-Weapon Fighting, Throw Anything, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Soft-Shoes of +2 Dex, Robe of Resistance +2, Ring of Protection +1, 98 gp
Ki Notes:
Has 8 total Ki points in his pool. Most relevant Ki abilities (and cost) are:
(1) 1 extra attack in flurry
(1) +20 speed for 1 round
(1) +4 dodge AC for 1 round
(1) +20 to Acrobatics skill made to Jump for 1 round
(2) Heal 7 points as a standard action (self only)

I'm hoping to type up the next session soon, maybe even today, but it might not be till tomorrow.

ap

[AnotherPoet]

originally Feb. 10, 2009:

QUOTE (beshkno @ Feb 10 2009, 10:58 AM)
AnotherPoet....what is happening in your campaign? Many of us are looking for another satisfying report on your activities....


Okay, okay. I've been putting this off and blaming work for keeping me so busy. But I'm finally cracking down to write it up. And away we go!

Session 2: Dragon Ears

Our downtrodden Khadorans drag themselves out of bed Sunday morning to find Marcia cheerful as can be while she serves up breakfast. "It's dragon ears today, boys!" she tells Vasili and Thamateal.

"Dragon Ears?" asks Vasili.

"Go look outside," she says.

They do, and discover that because of the mist over the river this morning, the rising sun has created not just one but two separate rainbows above the Serpent Tongue River to the east. The two arches rise up into the sky, indeed quite a sight to behold.

"They say people's fortunes change when there're Dragon Ears," Marcia explains. And then she sort of mutters, "Which you lot are going to need if you're gonna make it in this city..."

Vasili is not heartened. "For all we know that means next time we won't make it out alive," he complains.

Thamateal had originally hoped to go and do some shopping today, but given the lack of money he no longer has any interest in it. No one bothers to remind him that he was talking about selling a lot of his extra equipment, which would actually help out their financial situation quite a bit; instead they console themselves with the fact that they were smart enough to pre-pay a week of food and lodging.

Sabvra seems particularly moody, and feels a sense of personal responsibility to the woman and son who hired them in the first place. Against the group's protests, she decides to return to Fat Sasha's neighbourhood and seek the woman out, to let her know they haven't given up.

"We haven't?" asked Thamateal. "Because I was pretty sure we gave up."

The rest simply exact a promise from her that she will be careful not to be seen, and she heads out.

Her visit with the woman, Tillie, is short and to the point. Sabvra tries to explain what happened and is clearly very upset that she failed, but Tillie is unsurprised and obviously wasn't hoping for much to start with. [This got a chuckle around the gaming table as everyone wondered how many other adventuring groups took on this "job" only to get the beatdown.] Sabvra promised that once her team got rested up and trained a little, they would settle the job once and for all. Tillie shrugs, not really believing it, and more surprised that Sabvra came to make excuses at all rather than just disappearing. In any case the team wasn't paid any money in advance for the job, so it's no sweat off Tillie's back - just beatings as usual until someone stronger comes along.

Sabvra is happy at least to see that Tillie and her son Warren have no fresh marks on them. Perhaps Sasha won't take revenge out on his clients. Or maybe he just hasn't figured it out yet. Filled with sadness for the single mother, Sabvra takes out what little coin she has left and tries to hand it to the woman. "Please, at least accept the help we can give you--"

"No!" Tillie says emphatically, recoiling from the money like it was a snake. "No charity, no favours, nothing. We get along here. We'll pay an honest fee to a good strongarm. Nothing else."

Sabvra is confused about why the woman is so adamant. She thinks it's just pride, and tries over and over to give her the money. But no amount of kind words, savvy spin or "think of it as a payment for..." will sway Tillie. Finally, Sabvra takes back her money and leaves with head hung low.

My players definitely haven't come to understand how protection money works in Five Fingers. Tillie doesn't mind paying Fat Sasha, and would even stay quiet about occasional beatings - if he did his job. Likewise, it's no real trouble to get all the people in the neighbourhood to chip in for the reward money for whoever takes out Fat. They just think of it as another protection payment, not as a reward at all. The PCs aren't the only ones wondering why neighbouring gangs haven't come in the steal Fat's turf, and if that happens it promises to do more harm to the locals than one drunk scrapper ever could. But until they can properly replace their current "protection" they certainly aren't dumb enough to accept money for vague reasons and potentially owe favours to even more dangerous people.

As Sabvra makes her way back toward the Live Snapper she gets the sense that two youths are tailing her. Not wanting to confront them alone, she makes use of her scout skills and zig-zags from street to street until she is confident she's lost them. Only then does she head east back to her own neighbourhood.

As she approaches the Snapper a street merchant shouts to her. That's not unusual, but the guy's stall certainly is; he has set up shop in the mouth of an alley across from the hostel, with an array of knives and clubs hanging from the makeshift racks he's put up. A banner above the stall reads "Micro's Fine Armaments" (pronounced MEEK-ro) and the gobber who tends it is practically climbing over his table to shout at Sabvra.

"You look like a lady who can carry herself!" he shouts. "But you can't carry that sword everywhere! Come on, come get something a little more subtle!"

Due to lack of funds, Sabvra has to turn him down, but she does promise to reconsider when she has more money.

The team's meeting about the sewer job isn't until evening, so they decide to try to earn some money during the day. The rest of them get accosted by Micro as they head out, and Micro tries to sell Thamateal a grenade. "This is a nasty one, buddy! But easy to use. You want I should demonstrate? Haha, no, no, it's okay, but you will feel a lot safer with this on your belt..."

"Yeah how much does it cost?"

"Thirty gold!"

"No."

"Twenty gold!"

"No."

"Eighteen gold!"

"No."

"Sixteen gold!"

"No."

"You're breaking my heart, human! Come on, come on, because you stay at my very favourite inn the Live Snapper, I give you special friends and family rate of fifteen crowns, two wheels!" (15.4 gold.)

"Yeah, what do you have for, I dunno, seven copper?"

Micro doesn't miss a beat. "Aha, a bargain shopper eh? Okay, okay, look here. This billyclub is made with actual blackthorn from the Gnarlwood forest! It's harvested by troll-women who soak the wood in snake spit for a whole two years. I only have it because I have a friend who works with those trolls at the docks. It could be yours!"

Despite its fascinating provenance, it appears to be a mundane club and Thamateal has no need. The group leaves behind Micro's weapon stall over his protestations.

Now at this point the group takes up a place at a street corner. Sabvra performs acrobatics while Vasili plays his guitar and sings and Thamateal performs his sleight of hand. A pretty good crowd draws around them, but Utar moves down the street and takes a corner of his own for preaching purposes.

He gets little interest for quite some time, although one person does throw a copper at his feet. "Hey, thanks!" he says without a hint of sarcasm. Finally he gets a few people who actually stop and listen as he teaches. One young woman stays behind after the others have left and, as Utar catches his breath she approaches him.

"Can I talk to you about something, um, private, Father?"

"Certainly. What can I do for you?"

She leans in and explains in a whisper that she thinks she did something terrible...


TO BE CONTINUED! (don't worry, it won't be long)

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Feb. 12, 2009:

Dragon Ears Part II

Utar leans in to the troubled young woman and asks what's wrong.

"I think I failed the test, father."

"Test?"

J, who plays Utar, is clearly at a loss. I explain to him that in the Morrowan faith - you know, the one he preaches - it is believed that every person will be tested at some point in their life and have to choose between the good path of Morrow and the selfish path of Thamar. I also add that it's widely considered the most important moment in a person's life. J runs with this and puts on his very best priestly concern face.

"Oh, oh, the Test! My dear, what makes you think that?"

"I--I think I chose Thamar, Father!" The girl bursts into tears and Utar puts an arm around her.

"Tell me what happened," he says gently.

She goes on to explain that a "friend" of hers deliberately spilled ink on her dress for her debutante ball. So she put some herbs in the friend's food that were supposed to give her the runs on the night of the ball. But it was a lot worse than she thought and the girl got gravely ill. "I thought she was going to die Father! Oh, I'm so horrible!" More sobbing.

"It'll be okay," says Utar. He then goes on to pull an all-time classic clergy schpiel out of thin air. "I don't think you chose Thamar," he leads in. "You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're here."

"What?"

"I think that if you had chosen Thamar, you wouldn't feel so bad right now. You wouldn't be here telling me what you'd done. You'd be hiding it. The fact that you came to me means that you have a good heart."

"Really?"

"That's what I think."

At this point the other players have lost interestin theuir street performance and are jostling to try to get the poisonous herbs from the girl. They figure that would be a quick way to put down Fat Sasha. I have to remind them Utar is having a private conversation in low tones a block away. They say they'll start heading toward him to see what's going on. "I'll meta-let you know when you meta-get there."

"But you know, you are going to have to do something to purify your heart," Utar goes on.

"Like what?"

"Well, the Church always needs help in its works of charity. You should volunteer for at least a month."

"Oh... do I have to?"

"It's the only way, my daughter. You have to do good works to balance out the harm you've done. That isn't so hard is it?"

"Well... I just... do I have to go to the place down the street here?" She leans in and whispers, "The priest there kind of creeps me out." Then her eyes widen. "Not like you! You're nice!"

Utar laughs. "Yeah that guy is an . There are plenty of Morrowan churches in this town [he presumes] - go to whichever one you feel most welcomed at."

"Okay father, I will."

"And there is one other thing..." he says.

"Yes?"

He holds out his hand. "I think you should probably give me the rest of those herbs so you're not tempted any further."

"For real?"

J keeps a perfectly straight face. "Of course."

*sigh*

"Oh, father, I threw them away! I promise I did! I threw them in the river after she got sick!"

"Okay, well where did you get them?"

"What?"

"Where is a sweet person like you getting these poisonous herbs from?"

"Umm.... well a friend helped me get them."

"A 'friend'? A real friend would never give you--what is it called again? How much did this 'friend' charge you?"

It turns out they are not expensive at all, a relatively common but non-edible plant that could be gathered wild outside the city or purchased from most apothecaries. It's used in small amounts to ease constipation. Once Utar realises the girl is not a source for rare and exotic poisons, he goes back to his helpful demeanour.

"I hope you feel better, my child. Work hard for the church and help as many people as you can. You will feel your heart lighten when you do!"

"Yes father. Thank you!" She gives him a small financial donation and goes on her way.

The group confers and decides that, since the herb is readily available at any time, there's no need to get it now when they're nearly broke. They can always go after Fat later in the week if the sewer thing pans out.

And since they still have time before their meeting, they ask around for directions to Muchler's Rat Trapping & Fine Footwear" to inquire about rat catching rates. They wanted to go look at the other rat catching job too, but when they found out how far away it is (otherside of the island) they decided just to check out the local one.

Muchler's proves to be a storefront with two separate entrances, one for the rat catching business and one for footwear customers. Neither side makes any apologies for basic business model; Muchler quite obviously makes rat-skin slippers and boots with rat-fur lining.

Muchler himelf is a gobber who is happy to see potential employees and leads them over to the rat-catching side of the shop. He goes on to list the daily and weekly rates (all terribly paltry) and the various bonuses that can be earned (some not too bad). The Khadorans finally get him to shut up long enough to explain that they don't want to work as regular employees, but might be able to do some rat-hunting in their spare time. "Do you buy pelts?"

"Oh yes, I suppose I could buy some pelts. But I tell you the real money comes in when you go out to a customer's warehoue or factory and do it on contract. So if you work evening hours I can--"

They cut him off and inquire more about the rat pelt rates. Even though he keeps trying to pitch them on just working for him outright, they finally get a fair price out of the man and promise to be back as soon as they can with some "merchandise."

And with that it is time for their meeting...

TO BE CONTINUED... AGAIN!!

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Feb. 12, 2009:

Dragon Ears Part III

The Khadorans show up at the River Grav guardhouse in the early evening, around 6 pm. Vasili imediately recognises the wild-haired man who first told him of the sewer job. Oddly, Utar also immediately recognises a second man leaning against the wall of the guard house - the dodgy old guy who had bought him a beer and told him about a (very different sounding) job. They hadn't suspected that two of their leads actually led to the same place.

Apparently neither did their two leads, because both call out a greeting simultaneously upon seeing the party, then turn and look at each other and curse.

"Guess they have to split the recruiting bonus," says N.

"Yep."

The recruiters take them into the guard house anyway and seat them in an empty room. One of them takes an authoritative tone.

"Okay so as far as we're concerned you guys already have the job. But you're gonna have to convince the sewer commissioner on that one. Seems like you all know your way around a weapon, but you have to understand - the only reason we can hire you is because you're all loyal citizens of Ord."

"But we're not from Ord!"

"I'm gonna assume that's out of character. Let's try this again."

"So look, we don't need to see any proof or anything. We can pick out good home-bred Ords when we see 'em. I just thought I'd let you know how important it is that you're all citizens. You understand, right?"

A round of "Yep, right, sure," from various heavy Khadoran accents in the room.

"Huh, I knew you were local guys. Didn't my kid go to school with you? Anyhow wait here."

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

The recruiters head out and the team has time to practice their Ordic accents. In fact, they wait a long long time with nothing to do before a recruiter comes back. With him is a very fat middle-aged Thurian man wearing upper class clothing and inch-thick spectacles. The glasses are so heavy they constantly slide down his nose and he has to shove them back into place three times before he get himself settled into a seat.

"Well, good evening to you," He manages at last. A series of monosyllabic replies echo back.

"I want to thank you for taking the time to come and see me about this job, a very exciting job actually, I'm so glad that we've gotten inquiries already..."

The man continues on in a doddering, professorial manner. Obviously he's not used to talking business and his mind seems to wander from topic to topic. He squints heavily through his glasses at the others in the room whenever he looks at them. He does give Utar and Sabvra (both Skirov) a look up and down. "Oh my, such big fellows! The navy really does feed them well these days, hmm? It reminds me of..."

"We're Ordic," interrupts Sabvra.

"Oh? Ah! Yes, oh my, pardon, I'm sorry I thought you were a man."

"I'm a woman, from Ord. I was born and raised here, been Ordic all my life."

"Oh good, yes, I'm glad you say so because you see we simply must be very careful not to let word get out about this project, you see it's very delic--"

"A flaxen-haired maiden of Ord, through and through, that's what I am."

Finally Sabvra's nervous demeanour puts the man on guard. He turns to the recruiter and starts to ask if they've checked out the group.

"Oh yes sir. All of 'em have witnesses to testify to their birth and upbringing, and no run-ins with the guard at all. Loyal and good sir."

"Oh, I'm most pleased to hear that, you see, the matter is of some delicacy and..."

The man putters on in his longwinded way, but the nature of the gig slowly comes out. Seventy years ago the Governor assembled a team of renowned engineers to design a sewer system for Five Fingers. The system was to be state-of-the-art, requiring years of labour to complete. Billets of workers were assembled and excavation began. But as the project was so widely publicised it ran into numerous crime problems. Smugglers, gangs, and all manner of lowlifes took up the unfinished tunnels as hideouts and shortcuts. A special branch of the Guard was formed, Zel Untertachen or "Sewer Guard" in old Thurian. Even with Zel Untertachen's presence, however, the criminal element could not be completely suppressed. The cost of security and damages compounded with inflating building costs and numerous construction delays. After eight years the entire sewerage project was canceled, and the (sometimes nearly finished) tunnels were sealed off. It was considered an embarrassment and a foolishly over-ambitious engineering project at the time.

Lately however there has been public outrage over sanitation conditions, "As you all would know, of course, living here as you do - though really how can you call it living with so much rabble all about clamouring for this and that service and, oh, well, I digress, you can follow your noses to see what I mean..." Although keeping quiet on an official level, the Governor has ordered the Sewer Commissioner (the heavy guy with the glasses, as it turns out) to secretly re-assemble Zel Untertachen. The new Sewer Guard is to enter the sewers, neutralise any dangers and prepare each section of tunnels for engineers to enter and evaluate. The job includes clearing out blockages, killing or driving out "vectors" (unwanted wildlife), and keeping the place secure from any street gangs or other unsavoury types. Engineer escort will also be an eventual part of the job.

The Sewer Commissioner emphasises that the work is potentially quite dangerous and may require combat. He also emphasises that the job must be kept utterly secret. Eventually the re-opening of the sewers will be publicly announced, but not until they are fully secured and everything is in place to rapidly complete construction. If word gets out beforehand, it is likely that all out criminal warfare will be the result.

The team inquires about pay, and are told by a proud Sewer Commissioner that it will be a generous 3 gold pieces per day per person. "You'll work six days a week and have Sundays off, and can collect pay each Monday here at the guard station."

"Wait, wait," says Thamateal. "We were told it would be 5 gold a day."

"What, oh, you were...? Oh well, let me... hmmm... well I just don't know that the city is able to pay such a high rate. We're already being quite generous as it is, and you have the honour of doing a great service for your town and country, you know, and--"

"Well, we do want to be able to serve Ord. But we're skilled professionals here, and you said yourself this is risky work. Besides, it's rather embarrassing for our fair city to advertise a rate that it can't actually pay, hmm?"

"Oh, yes, I see well um... let me just..." The man tries desperately to look through a stack of documents in his bag, but between dropping half of them on the floor and being nearly blind he has no recourse. "Well, I'll offer you this. This job is not, at the outset, an actual position with the City Guard. You're on a private contract, and have no power to arrest or fine anyone. Only authorised to draw weapons in self defence! But if you were to perform capably in that position, and do your duties well, it is quite likely that you would be offered a commission as a sworn guard, with all the attendant duties and powers. Such a promotion would normally come with a pay raise. So I can give you the higher rate now, but in that case you must understand that should you be offered and accept such a position in the future there will be no additional pay raise at that time."

"Deal!" Vasili almost yells it in frustration at how long it takes the man to spit out his offer.

"And the rest of you all agree as well?"

"Yes! Yes, yes!"

"Oh, very well, then the rate shall be five gold per day per person. Your work starts tomorrow and you can pick up your first pay a week after that, right here."

"So do we report here for work as well?"

"Oh heavens no! Please don't come near the guard station any more than you have to. No, you'll report to Outpost 5 on Tambertan. You'll be working under an experienced veteran, who was a sergeant for the original Sewer Guard--"

"This guy is 90 f---in' years old?"

"Ummm.... yes, that sounds about right. You'll be in good hands. Heschean is his name."

Once again it is emphasised that secrecy is their utmost priority, and they each take an oath of duty that includes, "Not to reveal to any person the nature of my industry nor, through my inaction, allow the nature of the undustry to become known." With that they are dismissed, wondering how sound of body (and mind) Hescheah will be and worried about having enough money to get by until their first pay day.

They head back toward the Live Snapper, where Vasili sings a few jingles to try to drum up some business for Micro and then the party goes to sleep to get rested for their job...

One thing I want to add is that the Five Fingers source book makes it very clear that there are no, or practically no sewers in Five Fingers. Even cellars are rare because the islands are made of solid rock. Of course the city has its famous natural caves, which I always find hard to believe in any fantasy city (just too convenient). Personally I feel this would've been a better choice of flavour for Corvis; in fact, I think the below-street-level flavour text for the two cities should be swapped altogether. Corvis looks like a very classical medieval city in the drawing of it, and certainly smaller than FF. Plus, my understanding is that a river delta is an unlikely place for natural caves, and certainly for solid-rock islands; if the area were solid rock the river would've flowed around it instead of cutting through it. Deltas are known more for their abundant rich silt and their wide, soft marshy flats - the kind of thing that Corvis is said to have. (It also seems strange to me that the south riverbank near Five Fingers is still forest, and not cleared away for farmland.) Five Fingers, having been "graced" with Orgoth engineers from the beginning of the Invasion, could easily have an early sewer system and an entire Undercity, whereas Corvis, which was nothing until 300 years ago, should have more catching up to do.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Probably the capstone is just "gut feeling" - a city that's meant as a "den of thieves" setting is incomplete without an elabourate Viennese sewer. And of course, had I just said Five Fingers has one, my players would never have known that I was rewriting the setting. But I figured I would take a sort of "in between" approach: no, Five Fingers didn't have a sewer, and trying to put one in was so difficult and expensive and crime-ridden that it ground to a halt. But now it's more desperately needed than ever! And it will connect in numerous and mind-boggling ways with the natural caves described in the book...

Anyhow, TO BE CONTINUED! This session still isn't over and the next instalment should be the final one. Enter the sewers!

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Mar. 2, 2009:

Dragon Ears, Part IV (final part)

Monday morning comes and the crew gets up early. They eat a hurried breakfast, get together their combat gear and make their way through the winding streets toward Outpost 5. Unfortunately, by following the commissioner's directions they will cross right through Fat Sasha's neighbourhood?Tambertan Lane and its outpost are on the far side.

They decide to go around the long way, which means they will be late for their first day on the job. They did leave a little extra early, but not early enough?they show up nearly 30 min. late.

When they find the place, there is indeed an aged placard that reads "Five Fingers Civil Guard Outpost 5" on the corner of the building. But the building itself is in a terrible state. The roof looks ready to cave in and the few windows are sealed with heavy planks. The door is not original, but rather a mighty oak beam monster that was obviously fitted in after the original was removed or destroyed. The door is partly open.

They approach and poke their heads in. An old man is inside, his overalls covering leather armour and his thigh-high waders covering much of his overalls. He's lean, and wears a weathered utility belt full of tools, pouches and a catch for his oversized crossbow.

"You the new guys?" he asks. "You're late, but I don't give a sh*t. I'm Heschean."

They introduce themselves and look around the station. It's little more than a single giant room. Vertical beams support the roof around the edges, but there is no roof at all in the centre. It's open air except for a rickety wooden grate that was put in to keep squatters out. The centre of the floor is likewise missing; a long pit (some 30' x 60') yawns before them. Peering in, it's at least four stories deep. They can hear water in the bottom.

The room also features two long axels, which extend from cranks at either side of the pit. Rope is wrapped around the axels. Heschean explains that they can unwind the rope to climb up and down, then reel it up at the end of the night. "So no one can get up here," he says.

"Does that happen a lot? People trying to get up?" Vasili asks.

"People, critters." Heschean shrugs. "It happens. Not a lot, but it happens."

The rest of the outpost has nothing but a few empty crates and barrels, and occasional piles of junk. The Khadorans ask what kind of gear they've got and Heschean laughs. He tells them that their gear was supposed to be dropped off today, but no sign of it yet. The promised gear includes rope, armour, heavy tools, wooden beams, pumps, explosives and alchemical items?but Heschean seems ready to go down without it. He brought a half-dozen pairs of waders on his own, so the team can at least try to keep the sewer water off of them.

Heschean also comments that they're obviously northern, and asks how they managed to get a job with the guard.

"Um, ah..." Vasili sputters.

"We're special contractors," Thamateal tries.

"I'm a daughter of Nord, through and through," Sabvra declares

"Ord," I say.

"What?"

"It's Ord, not Nord."

"Oh. Right."

"I don't really care," says Heschean. "As long as you watch my back, I'll watch yours."

"So what's it like down there?" Asks Vasili.

"It's never dull. Being in the Sewer Guard was the best days of my life. Nonstop action. Of course, it's a young person's game. Highest mortality rate of any civil or town guard unit in Immoren. You need to watch where you're going and keep your eyes on the your surroundings. Stick together and watch out for each other or you won't come out."

"So how come you're doing it again?"

Heschean scoffs. "Sh-t, I'll p-ss on your t-ts for a gold piece," he replies.

With that sobering announcement, they lower the rope, anchor the cranks, and descend. They find themselves in barely ankle-deep water, in the bottom of the rectangular pit. The east end has two very large (10'+ diameter) round pipes and one smaller (6' diameter) round pipe. The west end has three ovoid pipes. There are also a lot of smaller pipes, some 15' or more up the walls, and some on the long (northern and southern) walls of the room. None of them are dumping much water out, but many (mostly on the northern, eastern, and southern sides) are putting out water. The ovoid pipes to the west seem to be taking the water away.

Heschean explains that the sewers, naturally enough, run slightly downhill to keep the water moving. At the east end of the island, the original plan was to build huge reservoirs that would fill at high tide. Then, at low tide, the reservoirs would dump into to the sewers and flush them with fresh water, forcing any refuse out at the western (seaward) end of the island.

The means there are three distinct sections of sewer. The Uppers, which are on the eastern side of the island, feed directly off of the reservoirs. They are closest to the surface and so they have a lot of access points to the streets.

The Middles are in the middle of the island (surprise). They are somewhat deeper down, so there is less contact with the surface. They generally have the least problems.

The Outers are on the western side of the island. They dump into the ocean at several points. They are the deepest sewers of all, but they also have the most strange creatures and criminal activity. This is both because of the numerous outlets to the sea, and because the Outers run into the natural caves beneath Five Fingers at several points.

Our heroes' outpost, Outpost 5, is on the border between the Uppers and the Middles. So if they go east the Khadorans will enter the Uppers; if west, the Middles. Wanting to start out in an area with as few surprises as possible, the Khadorans opt for the Middles.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

Map posted!



However, they can't just stroll in. The major tunnels going either way are blocked by heavy metal grates. These grates, once controlled by large levers and gears, are now rusted in the "shut" position. Each one must be opened or cut through somehow before its tunnel can be accessed.


Opening the Grates

There are 6 total (three to the west, 3 to the east). Each one is most easily resolved with a two-step process: a Disable Device check on the broken machinery that is holding it shut (DC 15, takes at least 30 minutes) and then a Strength check to pry it out of place (DC 15). Alternately a DC 25 Strength check can remove the grate without first disabling the machinery. If the PC's prefer they can leave the grate in place and attempt to bend or break the bars so they can slip through (DC 24 per bar, at least three bars per grate must be broken to allow a Medium creature through).

The team decided to be meticulous and get all six main grates opened up so that they wouldn't have to bother with it in the future. Together with Heschean's help they spent the entire first work day getting all six open. Exhausted, they made the long walk back around Fat Sasha's neighbourhood to the Live Snapper, where they did their best to get the smell off of themselves and went to bed.

They returned Tuesday morning, bright and early and on time. Back down the hole, and through the middle tunnel on the west wall.


Ovoid Tunnels

Ovoid tunnels are just under 7' high. At their widest (around chest height) they are nearly 5' wide, but they quickly narrow to a V at the bottom. An ovoid pipe is treated as difficult terrain (half movement, no charging or running, no 5' steps). In addition, extended hiking through ovoid tunnels requires a fortitude saving throw each hour (DC 11 + 1 per hour) to avoid becoming fatigued. There are virtually no handholds inside an ovoid pipe, so if the water level rises above waist height the character will have to make some very difficult (DC 20) Balance checks to avoid being swept away. If the water rises to chest height the character is effectively swimming and must make Swim checks as appropriate to the strength of the current.

Large creatures are squeezed in an ovoid and Huge creatures or larger cannot enter at all.



Down they go, and after an ankle-turning walk down the ovoid they eventually come to a four-way intersection. They turn to their left (south) and follow the pipe some distance. Eventually they come to a place where the brick walls of the pipe only come up about 80% of the way. The roof is no longer brick but is instead covered by warped wooden planks.

Pushing on cautiously, it isn't long before the planks fall into worse and worse condition. Soon there are no planks at all and they can see that the sewer pipe actually runs through a large cavern. There is light coming from the far end of the cavern, but the immediate area is completely covered in spiderwebs.

The spiderwebs are actually a red herring, but the PC's don't know that.

After some talk about maybe burning the webs away, the group decides to go back and explore elsewhere first. They hightail it back to the four-way intersection and head west.

West proves even less inviting, as they reach a blockage. The entire brick roof of the tunnel has collapsed leaving only a heap of loose rock in front of them. They notice (DC 12 Perception check) a metallic glimmer amongst the bricks and rocks, however. It turns out to be the handle of an old lantern and a quick search (DC 15) also reveals some bones around it. They dig a little bit and find the disarticulated and badly battered remains of a skeletal arm. They also find part of a sleeve with some buttons, and their best guess is that the body has been here for quite some time.

Vasili (Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) DC 11) gauges that the tunnel is still unstable and needs some shoring up before an excavation would be safe. The team leaves this job for another day and goes back once again to the four-way, this time turning north (their last option).

The northern tunnel has no cave-in but it too is blocked. In this case the blockage is nothing more than a massive plug of dirt, garbage and muck. Having no interest in digging in if they don't have to, they decide that the spider-web cave seems most promising out of the three options.

"I don't want to explore the cave," protests Vasili.

"We don't have to," says Sabvra. "We can follow the tunnel right past it."

"I say we burn it out. Burn the whole thing out. Just to be safe." Thamateal is always the voice of reason.

They decide to go take a closer look and evaluate the danger level before they settle on a course of action. Sabvra is able to ascertain (DC 16 Knowledge (Dungeoneering)) that the spider webs belong to a relatively common local spider that seldom grows larger than a silver piece. Somewhat emboldened the team peeks over the top of their roofless sewer pipe. They can see that the cave has shallow pools of water across much of its floor, and some old wooden boards and pieces of junk here and there. In the far corner is a ledge, with sunlight shining down from above. Spiderwebs cover everything and a large number of frogs croak amongst the sparse plant life by the water.

Using a stick to clear webs from in front of them, they push along through the sewer pipe. Soon they are past the cave. A normal brick roof resumes and they follow their pipe.

Now, all this time they have seen tiny eyes in the darkness beyond their lights and heard occasional rat squeaks. Once in a while they even see a rat before it can scamper away from them. With a sharp eye (DC 22 Perception) Utar notices that one rat has stripes like a tiger. Intrigued, the party chases after.

They see more sunlight up ahead. This time, it's a vertical sewer shaft that seems to end in a manhole at the top. There are small drain pipes dumping into it, but none have water coming down. The group feels it would be good to have some sense of where they are under the city, so they take a break from their rat chase while Sabvra bravely ascends the rusted iron rungs to the street. With great effort she heaves up the manhole (those things aren't light) and takes a peek.

She sees a busy thoroughfare. Across the way is a business with a pretty memorable sign, a giant azure blue sea shell. Confident that she has a landmark to look for later, she closes the grate—but not before some young children start yelling about sorcerers in the sewers.

The group continues farther south. They catch up with their rat friends soon enough. In the light of his lantern Thamateal can see that there is a huge rat nest ahead, but he can also see that the sewer widens out. He also spots some tiger striped fur amidst the rodents. The humans approach.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

Rat Nest Area - EL 3 (remember that first level Pathfinder char's are ECL 2)

The 5' wide ovoid is open along one side to a 5' wide ledge (so 10' wide total). The ledge is only 25' long. Just after the ledge, the ovoid is blocked by the rat nest.

Each square of ovoid counts as two squares of movement, but each square of ledge counts as only one square (normal terrain). The ledge is higher than the bottom of the ovoid, so moving from ovoid to ledge takes three squares of movement, except in the one place where there are steps. Moving back down to the ovoid however has no extra movement cost.

Numerous small drain pipes (6" to 12" wide) empty onto the ledge.

This encounter uses 3 separate rat swarms. One comes out of the nest right away, the second 1d2 rounds later, and the third 1d2 rounds after that. This would normally be very overpowered for a 1st level group, maybe even for a 1st level Pathfinder group. But the swarms have no interest in fighting. They are cornered and will fight for that reason; but they want to get away as quickly as possible. Each swarm will randomly choose to run down the ovoid (through the PCs) and back the way the PCs came from, OR choose to get up on the ledge and start dispersing through the drain pipes that the PCs can't follow through. If a swarm reaches the drain pipes, they must stay in front of the pipes for 2 rounds to get away. After the 1st round the size of the swarm is cut in half, but its stats remain the same.

In addition to the swarms are 8 rats who fight as individuals, basically trying to cover the swarm's retreat. Up to 4 can fit in a single square. One of these 8 rats is the striped bullrat, which has 2 hp instead of 1 hp but is otherwise normal.

The rats do not treat the ovoid as difficult terrain nor do they pay extra movement to get up on the ledge.

The group has a surprisingly difficult time with the encounter, mostly because they have no idea the rats are actually just trying to get away. Through ample use of Acid Splash and a lot of swings of Sabvra's sword they are able to do some damage, but ultimately it is Vasili's Sleep spell that puts down an entire swarm. They scoop the whole swarm into a couple of sacks, which they then beat mercilessly against the walls. It's the only way to kill all 400 rats before they wake up, and they do want to sell these rats to the rat-catcher after all.

Utar is particularly triumphant, as he is the one to nail the tiger-striped rat. He skins it carefully and hangs it from his belt for safekeeping.

When the battle is over and the rats are being put in the sacks the party notices Heschean, who has been behind them this whole time. He clenches a grenade in one white-knuckled grip and has the other hand on the pin. He's dripping sweat and his jaw is tighter than a gib sail on a Morrow crest [that's authentic Immoren sailing slang made up by yours truly]. Clearly he was prepared to blow himself and the rats away if the rest of the party had been overwhelmed.

"I seen people been eatin' alive by those little teeth," he says in perfect monotone.

Awkward silence.

They spend quite some time skinning all the rats so that they weigh less. Sabvra does keep one bag of skinned rats to see if they can be sold as fish bait; the rest of the bodies are heaped in the sewer.

Completely covered in rat guts, the group now begins digging into the huge rat nest. They find a few trinkets (1d12 silver) but nothing of interest. As they dig deeper they hear the sounds of more rat squeaks beyond. Considering their injuries they do not want to tangle with more rodents, so they pull out and head back the way they came.

"I want to explore that cave," says Sabvra.

"Yeah I don't think so," Vasili interjects. "Right now we don't know what's on the other side. We should see where it lets out topside and enter that way. Then we know we have two exits."

"Hmm, good point."

They also realise it's evening so they hurry through the cavern area and get back topside. Phew, shift over.

They say goodbye to Heschean and head to Muschler's to sell off their rat pelts. Muschler is amazed by the quantity and can't believe they got so many. He also seems quite undisturbed by the rats' method of death. He buys them at just over a copper a hide, giving the crew a whopping 4 gp for their effort. However, he does pay special attention to the tiger-striped one. He says he hasn't seen one of them in years and wants to know where the Khadorans found it. They won't tell, but he still buys its pelt for 3 gp. "And I'll pay a lot more than that for live ones if you can get them," he says. "The customers never know it's rat if it's got those stripes."

Next they do their best to triangulate where the cave opening would be. (Knowledge (Dungeoneering) DC 17 for a general area; DC 27 for an exact spot.) They head west and then south and ask around for a store with a blue shell on its sign. They get a bunch of blank looks and insults at first but eventually they hear of the Blue Oyster, a gambling parlour on Masian. They take a look and sure enough there is a manhole across the street. Bingo.

From there they trace their way up and estimate that the cave opening would have to be behind a row of houses just off of Masian. There is an alley that goes behind them but it's closed off with a metal gate. Through the gate they can see that there are more houses in the bacj, and some alleys and walkways but they don' see any obvious place for a cave.

They think about going up on the rigging to look down on the houses from above, but are worried that the gobbers will come after them. They don't know much about the rigging and don't want to arouse suspicion by asking locals, so in the end they give it up.

"I guess we'll just have to check it out from the sewer end," Vasili complains.

So ends their Tuesday, for everyone except Sabvra. Having sold the rat pelts, she heads to the docks to see if she can sell the skinned rat carcasses for chum. She is turned away by every fisherman she sees, one of them even commenting, "Ah, not another one of you rat freaks." Ultimately she dumps them in the water when no one is looking and leaves.

Wednesday morning comes and soon they're back at it. Down they go and first things first. They move on to the section of open-top pipe in the cavern. They brush away as many spiderwebs as they can and climb out of the pipe then hop down to the cave floor below.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)


Gossamer Park – EL 3

Gossamer Park is what Heschean calls it. With the spiderwebs, the pools of water, the sunlight at one end and the occasional scrubby bushed and vines ushes trying to grow there, it's actually quite pretty.

Reduced: 79% of original size [ 645 x 643 ] - Click to view full image


For a sense of scale: about 75' long on the east side. The pipe runs along that side, only 5'-10' from the edge of the cave. About 50 feet of the pipe is missing the wooden planks that once served as its roof (mainly just to keep out wildlife). The pipe is an avoid. Getting out of the ovoid is a DC 5 Climb check, which leaves a character perches on top of it. The jump down is 10' and the climb to get back up to the top of the the ovoid is more difficult, DC 15.

The west side is an angle, more of a curve really. The whole cave floor is difficult terrain (each square counts as two, no running/charging, no 5' steps). The very southwest corner has a raised ledge (10' up, DC 10 climb check). The deepest pool of water, only 2' deep is around the bottom of this ledge. This water makes the terrain even more difficult, with each square counting as three. Other areas have shallow pools of water as well, most only a few inches deep, which don't make movement any worse than it already is.

Along the northern/eastern side of the cave, nearest the pipe, is a lot of junk. This junk can provide cover (+4 AC) but almost always has tons of spiderwebs. Standing in these webs will get spiders on a character, and casting a spell while covered in spiders requires a DC 13 Concentration check (or Spellcraft in Pathfinder).

Lastly, the area around the base of the ledge has the most shrubs. All the shrubs are relatively small and don't provide cover, but they do also have their own share of spiderwebs and passing through them get spiders on a character.

The characters can clearly see the frogs as they approach the water. They can also see that the sunlight comes from a hole in the ceiling above the ledge area, and that the ledge has some upright wooden beams and some scrappy remains of a masonry wall. (It used to be someone's basement.) What they cannot see is that there is a small (5') passage in the SW corner that leads from the top of the ledge to another room. In that other room are three teenage kids who will cause problems for any PCs who startle them.

A knowledge (nature) check DC 13 recognises the frogs as gulper frogs, a carnivorous species that can grow to the size of small dogs. They normally prey on smaller frogs, rats and other small creatures and aren't considered dangerous. Only on a DC 20 knowledge (nature) check will a character know they have a poison that makes a person woozy and can even knock someone unconscious. Missing this check by 5 or more means the character is completely certain that the creatures are not poisonous at all. (Sabvra rolled a 14 so she recognized the frogs but assured everyone they're not poisonous.)


GULPER FROGS x2
These frogs use the stats of a homunculus.

There are many more frogs here including non-gulpers and younger gulpers. These are the only two who will post a threat however.


HUMAN KIDS x3 (Ringleader is Jenner, female, accompanied by two younger boys Tod and Rod)
10hp, AC14, saves+2/+1/+1, 8 skill pts, 1feat
+2 melee stick (1d6+1 nonlethal) or dagger (1d4+1 piercing)
+2 ranged (rock, 1d4)
CR 1 each

The team advances slowly, very cautious for any sign of danger. They get closer and Sabvra tells everyone they don't have to worry about the frogs. A moment after she speaks they hear a voice yell out from on top of the ledge.

"Who in Urcaen are you guys?"

And another voice: "Holy crap I think they came out of the sewers!"

First voice: "Yeah well stay away from our frogs!"

Sabvra tries to explain that they weren't going to touch the frogs.

"Yeah right!" They spot the teenage girl just in time for her to hurl a fist-sized rock at Utar.

"What's so great about your frogs?" Asks Sabvra.

"Just leave them alone and go away!"

The Khadorans really don't want to fight kids, but they can't say they're with the sewer guard and the kids don't trust them without a reason why they were snooping around there. [The kids would actually attack almost no matter what—I don't design these encounters for nothing, and teenagers are messed up in the head anyway.]

As the team tries to talk down the kids, all they get are a few facefuls of rocks. Then one of the boys says, "Hey! Try the whistle!"

Jenner laughs and blows what looks like a whistle, but no sound comes out. Nonetheless two dog-sized bull gulper frogs seem to go into a frenzy and come after the Sewer Guards.

The battle rages on, with Sabvra using precious seconds to throw some debris across the pool to more easily access the ledge. She and Vasili scale it under fire, only for her to get bulrished off when she reaches the top. Utar gets cornered by a frog and nearly knocked out [from damage, not from the poison, which he repeatedly saves against] while Thamateal and Heschean pelt the frogs from farther back with acid splashes and crossbow bolts respectively.

Vasili starts ripping the kids with his whip. Sabvra stays down and helps dispatch the frogs. It takes the combined efforts of most of the team to get the frogs to back down. They kill one of the gulpers while the other is cowed by Sabvra's animal skills—but only temporarily, and soon lashes out in a panic.

By the time the frogs are down, Jenner sees her two friends taking a beating and flees to the other room through the passage in the SW corner. Vasili sees her and decides to cast Sleep on the boys so he can pursue. Both fall into a deep slumber, but by the time Vasili jogs ibnto the SW room all he sees is the tail end of a rope being pulled up through another (much smaller) hole in the ceiling.

The team brings he two boys into the SW room and tie them up, then shout up the hole hoping to lure Jenner back, but no answer. While they're there Sabvra notices a single twisted shrub is growing in the shaft of light coming down from the small hole in the ceiling.

Knowledge (Nature) DC 13 reveals that the shrub under the chimney bears Cappy Nuts which have strong medicinal qualities. Sell to alchemists for 450 gp (150 gp per handful), or use as 3 handfuls of nuts each boosting Dex by 1d3 and then another 1d3 one minute later, wearing off after 1d6 minutes.

Also, on the boys are 17 gp worth of mixed coins plus 2 daggers.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)



When the boys come to they are so frightened that one of them literally wets himself. Utar succeeds in convincing them that the team was actually dispatched by King Baird to investigate who has been poaching the king's frogs. The boys spill everything in a desparate attempt to make themselves look innocent, saying that it was all Jenner's idea to cull the strongest frogs for the fighting ring behind the Purple Sock Inn just off of Masian. Apparently he fighting ring usually just has dog fights, but pays a good purse on more unusual aggressive animals and puts good odds on them too. They were just trying to make some money.

Unfortunately Jenner took the whistle, so the Khadorans have no way of putting the surviving frogs to good use, even if Sabvra would tolerate animal fighting. They leave the kids tied up with their knives nearby, knowing they'll eventually get loose and be okay. They also exact promises from the boys not to tell anyone they were here, so they can continue their secret investigation. The boys promise, in return for not being arrested.

By looking up through the holes in the cave ceiling it's easy to tell that one is the foundation of a house, directly over the ruined basement. He floor must have given out long ago, and the house is a roofless ruin. The other is the bottom of a chimney. If it's from the same house then the house was quite big; the chimney is a good 30 feet away from the basement. But why a chimney would have an opening into a cellar isn't clear.

Sabvra harvests 3/4 of the nuts from the shrub, carefully wrapping them up. She also plants some of the nuts in the soil around the shrub, pulls out any nearby weeds and waters the area. With any luck they can get an orchard of the things growing there. Of course, she makes sure the teenage boys are carried away and can't see any of this first.

At this point they are, on the one hand, low on hit points and low on healing. They had woken up in the morning not fully recovered, and Utar used everything he had. On the other hand they're in high spirits because they have something truly valuable and Vasili figured out he could use it to make Cat's Grace potions (Craft (Alchemy) DC 13) and sell for an even higher profit. This is the point at which they would normally call it a day from a dungeon crawl, and go rest. But it's not a dungeon crawl, it's a job, and their shift isn't over yet.

"Wussin' out on me already?" accuses Heschean when he sees their flagging stamina.

"We're pretty banged up here," says Utar. "Isn't there some other work we could do besides pushing further on?"

"Well," says Heschean. "It is your first week. Let's just get our equipment cleaned up and maybe clean out the outpost building until shift's over."

"Deal!"

The promised supplies still haven't been dropped off from headquarters, but they clean the place up at least. They get out a little early and are just getting near their hostel when they see a familiar face….

* * * * *

NEXT TIME the PC's gain a new ally with a unique skill set… and a lot more Orgoth ruin than they bargained for! See you then!


ap

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Mar. 28, 2009:

Session 3: The Old Friend and the Old Man

When last we left our adventurers they had begun the difficult task of charting and clearing out the sewers, getting badly banged up in the process by everything from bull rats to kids with stones. With three full days of sewer work under their belts, they made the extra long trek around Fat Sasha's neighbourhood and dragged their feet back to the Live Snapper.

And who should they nearly run into but gods-damned Schnelling himself!

I should explain. If you're wondering who Schnelling is, the answer is: he's the 5th PC.

You see, our friend D. used to game with us on a weekly basis. In his late 40's, D. is the propud father of two kids-turned-adults. One of them, his son, just started his first yeart at college about two years ago and is quite the roleplaying enthusiast himself. Well, when the son came home for the summer no one could blame D. for wanting to spend some quality time DMing for his son and his son's friends. So, he left our group and his character, a cleric, was handed over as another PC's sidekick for the rest of our undead campaign.

Even after D.'s son went back to college in the fall, D. was quite busy and even had a gig playtesting a friend's game. So we were all quite surprised about three months ago to get an email asking if we still got together weekly and whether we'd allow a 5th player at our table.

Of course we would! Anyhow, after I sent D. the basics of the Iron Kingdoms world I knew he was in love with the setting. A machine head in real life, it was no surprise he wanted to roll up an Arcane Mechanik. Good thing, since it's exactly what the group needs. Anyhow, about 15 emails later and 1 copy of Liber Mechanika later Schnelling was stat'd out and ready for play. I'm only going to call him by his last name, Schnelling, because I can neither pronounce nor remember his first name and anyway, it's what everyone calls him.

Schnelling is also from the PCs' hometown near Skirov, and was in their same unit of military specialists. Toward the end of their term he was transferred to another unit and they didn't hear from him anymore. Thus, they had no reason to expect him in Five Fingers.

Okay, game on.

The Northerners hail their old friend and bring him to the Live Snapper for multiple rounds of drinks. He won't say much about the "special project" that he worked on before his discharge, telling them he's not allowed to talk about it. But he's happy to reminisce about old times and is doing well other than his lack of a job.

They tell him they can probably get him a gig in their line of work, if he doesn't mind getting dirty and pretending he's a local. Doesn't sound hard, so he agrees to come with them in the morning. They then proceed to order as many rounds of drinks as their diminishing party funds will let them. Marcia gets Schnelling to prepay for his meals for the rest of the week, and he crashes on the fifth bed of the room the Northerners have already rented.

In the morning, two of their party - Thamateal and Vasili - are not looking good. With some noisy vomitting into the chamber pot and out the window, it's apparent that they may not be in working condition. Sabvra, Utar and Schnelling let them go back to sleep and, shaking off their own much milder hangovers, head to the Outpost to start their Thursday shift.

The two sick characters stayed behind because this gaming session took place on the night of a huge blizzard and neither of their players could make it. I had actually meant to imply that they were sick from something they picked up in the sewers, but everyone assumed they were hungover. I went with it, storing sewer contagion away for some future session.

Heschean was surprised, and a little angry that the others had told someone about the Sewer Guard job without clearing it through the recruiters. But the two regulars vouched for thye newcomer, and insisted he was reliable and discreet. And, after all, since the two mages were "laid low with a mysterious illness" they needed the extra help!

Heschean couldn't disagree with that logic, so said Schnelling could come along today and see how he took to the work. If he was up to it then he needed to go talk to someone at the guardhouse, because Heschean had no hiring authority. It was agreed, and off they went.

The team spent much of their morning inspecting the cave in with the crushed skeleton, and trying to determine how best to get past. After all, if they intended to keep exploring this section of sewer it was either this, or burrow through the rat nest to the south, or burrow through a huge clog to the north. This one had the obvious promise of treasure and/or clues sticking out of it, so who wouldn't have chosen it?

Cave-in Area, CR 3

Spot DC 12 (lantern sticking out)l; Search DC 14 (skeletal hand under the debris)
DC 19 (any relevant skill) to determine it is definitely still unstable and needs a roof brace - or a lot of luck - to be dug out without further cave-in.
DC 11 (any relevant skill) to construct the brace and get it in place Strength DC 12 (and three hours' work) to dig it out
If no brace is put in before digging, use the stats of the CR 3 Stone Blocks Ceiling Trap. No disable check is allowed since that is what the brace would've done.

Although the promised shipment of supplies still hadn't come to Outpost 5, enough wooden planks were still stacked up in the place to build a basic brace and, with effort, the party managed to slowly clear debris, shore up ceiling, clear debris, shore up ceiling, clear, shore up, and clear. They unearthed the skeleton, which had only a few broken bones and probably died quite slowly, and also inspected its gear. It was still hard to date the remains but (Heal DC 10) they knew it had been around for years rather than months.

Loot on the Skeleton (299 gp value total)

109 gold coins in a hefty pouch
2 alchemists' fires (plus broken pieces of a third, worthless) (100 gp)
Medium mighty composite shortbow (+1 Str bonus) (150 gp)
NOTE: Bow's string is long since rotted away, and it cannot be used without a new one. Bow itself looks like it will be okay with some oil however.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

The team started to divvy up the money. Heschean didn't say anything, but stood about sullenly till they asked if he wanted to be cut in.

"Wouldn't mind," he said. They gave him 30 of the gold coins and he was happy.

The group moved on, and Heschean looked about as if he was concentrating. They asked him what he was thinking about and he said, "I think there's something up here."

"What? Good or bad?" asks Utar.

"Not bad. You'll see. If it's here."

They asked him if he had a map or something, and he said, "No, just goin' by memory."

"They didn't give you a map?"

"What "they"? The city doesn't have a map."

Surprised looks all around. Schnelling chimed in. "How could they commission all this engineering and not even have a map?"

"Well, I'll tell you a secret. They did have a map, yep, several copies. All kept in the city archives on Bull Island. Get this - about two weeks after it was decided to re-form Zel Untertachen [the sewer guard] they all went missing."

"Whoa."

"Damn right whoa. Okay, hold up, this is it."

They shine their bullseye lantern around at the wall up ahead and see that there is a ledge along the right-hand (northern) side of the sewer. They approach and see that the ledge has three separate sets of bronze double doors, each with a heap of debris (broken furniture mostly) blocking it off.

"What's this?"

"You'll see."

They go to work unblocking one of the doors, the right-most. The corroded bronze is unhappy about opening, but at least not locked, and they shove it open.

Inside is a room with a 15 foot ceiling, and every surface made of smoothly cut black bedrock. A single table and tipped-over chair sit in the middle of the room. The back has two hallways leading off into darkness.

They go down the right-hand hallway first. On the left it has three small siderooms. The first one has a stack of skulls piled up in it. The rest each have crude wooden doors, made of scrap wood slats with gaps so big you can reach your hands right through.

The Khadorans inspected the pile of skulls in the first room. Utar picked one up and discovered (Knowledge (Nature) DC 10 or Craft (Pottery) DC 1) that it was actually made of some kind of fired clay. It was expertly glazed and treated to appear as actual bone - very convincing indeed. He estimated the piece as beinbg worth perhaps 30 gp (Appraise DC 12 or Craft (Pottery) DC 3) though only to a buyer morbid or eccentric enough to want one. He went through the pile and found, however, that some of the skulls were real. He broke one ceramic skull to see if anything happened (which it didn't) and searched the whole pile carefully. Nothing.

He then went on to fail a Knowledge (Religion) check (DC 30 to non-Thamarites) that would've reassured him that such fake skulls were not associated with any particular Thamarite ritual.

"I don't know of any specific ceremonies, but this sort of thing would definitely be used in Thamar worship," he confidently misinformed the party.

This is my favourite part of DMing.

The group didn't notice Heschean's amused look, as they were more interested in carefully searching each of the other three siderooms. In them they found: one chamber pot, two three-legged stools and (in the last one) nothing. They also saw that the main hallway opposite the fourth door widened somewhat, and the widened area was only roughly hewn rather than smoothly cut like the rest of the walls. A broken chair leaned against the wall, and the spot provoked special attention and repeated searching - to no avail.

Finally they pushed on and found that the main hallway turned left to a long, narrow room (scarcely wider than a hallway itself).

V.I.P. Club

This room was once lavishly furnished, and now is in ruins. Four sofas, several end tables, a rug, a buffet, half a dozen arm chairs and several wooden chairs are arranged haphazardly about it. They are all in terrible shape - mildew, water damage, rodent teeth and vandals have reduced them to tatters.

At the far end, behind the last sofa are three massive (tun sized) barrels.

A voice calls out with a sort of howl of anguish as the group enters the room. They point the light around erratically trying to spot the source, and see a quick glimpse of a shadow darting behind one of the couches.

"Hesch, what is this place?" asks Sabvra in a worried tone as she draws her weapon.

"Old Orgoth ruins," he says as he reaches for his grenade and takes a step back. "We used to use it as an after-hours hangout. Called it the V.I.P. Club."

"Whoever you are, come out!" shouted Schnelling into the darkness.

"Sewer guard!" comes a voice.

Looking at each other in surprise, Sabra and Utar advance while Heschean and Schnelling cover them. Schnelling tries to stand up on a couch to get a cleaner crossbow shot, but his foot goes right through the cushion to the floor and he has to spend a few seconds freeing himself.

Finally, Sabvra gets the figure in her light. It's an old human, very sickly looking, wrapped in a dirty blanket. The man mumbles and mutters and tries to flee from the group, but only succeeds in trapping himself in the corner just behind the tuns.

A lengthy talk-down ensues, with Sabvra doing her best to reassure the guy. Eventually she does calm him down to the point of talking with them, albeit somewhat madly (Diplomacy DC 15) and the man says he is with the Sewer Guard. Of course, he also says some nonsense phrases.

Heschean comes up and inspects the man in the light, but doesn't recognise him. He does ask him some sewer guard history questions, however, and determines that if the geezer isn't an actual veteran then he's a well-informed imposter. Sabvra's medical knowledge (Heal DC 15) reveals that the man is malnourished and probably has parasites, on top of the obvious signs of a recent beating. He babbles that "they" will come back for him, but doesn't give any specifics of who or what "they" might be. He asks for water, which they give him, and then gets even more delirious - practically unconscious in a fever dream.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

"Heschean, is there some kind of doctor in this neighbourhood?" Sabvra asks.

"I don't live around here, but I think I know where one is."

"Can we--"

"Yeah." Anything for a fellow veteran.

Utar does a quick search of the three tuns finding nothing but scummy water in one and not even that in the others. While he does that the others build a litter. In short order the team has the man loaded up. They didn't anticipate how hard it would be to haul a litter through ovoid pipes against the current, but with time and effort they get the man back to the outpost and hoist him up.

Sabvra steals a moment to conjure goodberries, which she claims she's been holding onto for a while and force-feeds two to the man while he's in transit.

There's a charity clinic for the poor in the area, basically a sick tent in an alley. A single doctor, a gobber, moves between beds. The Khadorans are surprised to see a gobber as a doctor, and figure it either means he's very good or it means he's very bad. They hope for "very good" and show him the man they found. The doctor puts him on the ground near a cot, since all the cots are occupied, and takes a good look.

As he tells them his diagnosis Sabvra offers the goodberries and asks if they would help at all. The gobber gets suspicious and asks where she got them.

"I... just from a local seller," she says.

"You got these from Walson?"

"Who?"

The doctor goes on a rant about what a worthless piece of scum Walson is (whoever that may be) and warns her about consorting with his sort.

"No, I didn't--"

"Can it, Miss. I don't need your sort coming in here."

"Look," said Schnelling, "Can you help our friend or what? What'll it cost?"

"Cost! Is that all you think about? Phh. I'll need to give him some medicine for the worms. Other than that you'll need to nurse the fever. We're short on beds so once I get you the medicine you should take him home. Bring him back if he's not better in two days." He glowers at them. "We don't charge anything, but if you want to cover the cost of the medicine, the donation would be appreciated."

They do so, and Heschean chips in as well. Forty gold later they have several doses of the herbal mixture and instructions on how to care for the man.

At this point most of the afternoon has gone by. The team decides to take the man back to the Live Snapper and get him a bed. Heschean doesn't object to skipping out on their work. In fact, he comes too. They rent a hand-cart, transport the man and pay for a cot right behind the fireplace in the kitchen.

Heschean is clearly impressed by the place they're staying. "No bedbugs," says Utar, pointing at the sign. "Guaranteed."

Heschean whistles.

After making sure the man has his medicine and is reasonably comfortable, most of them settle in for dinner. Hesch even stays for a few drinks. Sabvra however has a big heart and stays by the old man all evening. She keeps hoping he'll come out of his fever delirium and she can talk to him, but he only mutters gibberish when he does speak.

Schnelling comes by in the wee hours and makes her go to bed, promising to watch over the man for the rest of the night.

She sleeps fitfully, worried about the poor, beaten man they found.

The other partie members also think a lot about the man. Was he living in the sewers all these years? What was after him down there? Some start to wonder if he might be a valuable source of information about the sewer system with the missing map...

He might be very useful indeed.

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - originally April 13, 2009:

Hi Alex, and welcome.

I had hoped that they would take the sewer adventure, so I did some of the research and brainstorming before they ever picked it. But I didn't start much mapping or anything until after I knew for sure they were going down there.


I asked my wife for advice before the game started. I didn't want to spoil the sewer guard idea so I kept it vague. "There are a bunch of jobs for you guys to choose from, but there's one I'm really, really hoping you'll pick. But I don't want to railroad everyone. What do you think?"

She thought for a minute. "Make sure it pays the best."

Done.



ap

[AnotherPoet]

Session 4: The Vault, Part I

Friday morning dawns and Sabvra immediately goes to check on the old man. He is sleeping, albeit still a little fitfully, but it seems better to let him rest than to rouse him. Marcia promises to get him some food if he wakes up.

Schnelling sets off early to apply for a sewer guard job at the local city guard house. Utar considers going with him to vouch for him, but the team doesn't want to be short a man (let alone a healer) in the tunnels. They settle for writing a letter of recommendation, and reminding Schnelling to pretend he is Ordic and to act dumb about the nature of the work. Off he goes.

D. actually couldn't make it that day, so having his character spend all day waiting to talk to the sewer commissioner or someone else in charge made sense.

They go wide around Fat Sasha's neighbourhood as always, get to work on time and meet up with Heschean. The team, Hesch included, spend a few minutes cursing about the promised supplies that still hasn't made its way over here. Then they talk about what to tackle for the day.

The plan is to first check out the V.I.P. Club and see if there are any clues about the old man's origins. Failing that they'll continue pushing on westward (downstream). Agreed.

Getting to the V.I.P. club takes a little time in the uncomfortable ovoid pipes, but they get there. They find everything exactly as they left it. Further attempts at searching yield nothing new in the right-hand branch where they found the old man.

They try the left-hand branch. It dead ends almost immediately, at a single rectangular room with a very high ceiling.

"You thought it went deeper?" asks Heschean with surprise, and snorts. "I could've told you that."

They ask him if it was any different in the old days. He looks around thoughftully and shakes his head. "Better furniture. That's about it."

Nonetheless, the team is just certain there must be something more to this room than meets the eye. And they're right. Inspecting the ceiling with their lantern light, they see that one section of the brickwork is different than the rest. There're also some discouloured lines on the floor under it. It looks like there was once a staircase up through an opening in the ceiling, but the stairs were removed and the opening bricked shut.

The ceiling is a good 35 feet up and the walls are smooth and hard to climb. Plus, the sealed opening is in the middle of the ceiling so climbing the walls wouldn't even put one within arm's reach. This drives Vasili crazy. Half in anger, and half to see if the ceiling might be an illusion, he looses a crossbow bolt at it. It tinks off the solid brick and falls to the ground.

After a long discussion of possibly building a ladder or scaffold, the team decides it isn't worth the work.

"We could probably try to figure out what's above us topside," suggests Utar. "Home in on this area and look for a building that might connect to this."

That seems easiest, so it is agreed.

They close the bronze doors and stack up the garbage in front of them so they look undisturbed. They push on toward the west.

There are a number of branching tunnels as they go. The main ovoid always continues on, and the side tunnels seem to be offshoots. There are two kinds.

On their left, to the south, are slightly smaller ovoids that dump a tiny trickle of water into their main east-west line. Over the next two hours they find three such ovoids on their left.

To their right, the north, a cavernous round tunnel leads off into the darkness.

I will treat these two different types of tunnels as two different areas to explore. Even though the large tunnel was encountered in between two of the small ovoids, for sake of clarity I'll recount them one at a time.

Cavernous Round Tunnel

To their right, the north, a cavernous round tunnel leads off into the darkness.

They follow it, finding it poorly engineered. Since it is larger than the ovoid line it dumps into, backed up water has stagnated along the first stretch of the damn thing. A little way in the water gets shallower, and then ends altogether and they realise they are going uphill. The dry tunnel goes only a little way before dead-ending in what is clearly a work in progress. A couple of broken tools and an upturned mine cart are scattered around the terminus. A narrow, natural crack in the stone walls indicates there might be a way forward even though the tunnel hasn't been completed. Sabvra worms her way in, but after going 20' and nearly becoming stuck she decides it's not worth it. Her light reveales only another bend ahead in the narrow fissure, and she doesn't want to risk wriggling in further to get around it. She backs out.

The team searches the cave floor and finds nothing of interest. Perhaps too stubborn to believe in a lack of loot, they figure the mine cart itself is worth taking. Despite its rusty axels they drag it along with them back to the main line and continue searching the side-ovoids as they go.

Ovoid Storm Sewers

There are three ovoids branching off to the south, one every tenth of a mile or so. The three aren't identical, as they twist and turn in slightly different courses, but they are mostly parallel to one another. They each go about 500-600 feet or so, with small round pipes dumping into them here or there, and each one ends in a round vertical well with a very little light shining down from the top. There isn't a whole lot of water running through them, but it's obvious they are storm sewers and that, during or right after a rainfall, they would be flooding into the main ovoid.

Each of the three vertical wells has massive rat nests stuck all over the ladder rungs leading up, as well as blocking some of the smaller pipes that dump into them. Our intrepid sewer guards were very worried this would be the case, and detected the rats in advance with a bullseye lantern and careful listening. At each of the three they sent a single scout forward, with no light since it seemed to spook the rats. The scout looked up by the faint light coming from above and made sure there was nothing hidden or unusual, then came back. Thus, the team avoided taking wounds and wasting resources on unnecessary fights with rats.

Until the third tunnel.

In the third one, they spotted the "brindle" as they now call it. That is, one of the tiger-striped rats. [Remember, Muchler's Ratcatching & Fine Footwear Ltd. offered to pay a high price for a pair of living brindles.] By using a Sleep spell and some quick moves, they managed to get in, nab the unconscious brindle and get out without a full-scale rat-riot. Proud of their catch and quite pleased with themselves, they rigged up a harness that would keep the thing from being able to wriggle around too much and then tied it to the top of Sabvra's pack. After triple-checking that it couldn't reach its harness or the lashings with its teeth, they set out.

Upon reaching the main east-west line they continued west.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

The Mysterious Locker

As they continued west they encountered an unusual gate blocking their way. Made of wood, it had been roughly fitted to the ovoid. It was constructed of slats so water could pass through it, but some bits of garbage were already caught up on the bottom. There didn't appear to be any hinge, handle or lock - it wasn't openable. It was simply a barrier.

They found this odd, and had no idea whether it was original sewer design or an illegal later addition. But they suspected the latter and figured that, in any case, they were authorised to explore the sewers so they had the right to force open the barrier. A little bit of crowbar work had the planks dismantled and they stepped through the opening and continued.

Not long afterward they encountered something strange. The ceiling of the ovoid, normally a round stonework arch, disappeared into a five-foot-wide, thirty-foot-long rectangular gap. The gap seemed to be a verticle shaft running upward into the darkness. This perplexed the team.

"Don't look at me," said Heschean when everyone did so. "I don't know what kind of crazy crap people put down here."

They wanted to go up and explore, but it was obvious that it would be a tough climb. The bullseye lantern revealed a good 20' feet of vertcial climb before reaching the ceiling at the top, and who knew what miht be waiting up there. Plus just getting a grip on the wall of the shaft meant somehow getting nearly 10' up to grab the bottom of it, since it was in the roof.

Sabvra volunteered for the gig, and tried standing on someone's shoulders but it didn't help too much. Then they tried setting the mine cart upside down, standing on top of it, and giving Sabvra a boost from there. This got her up.

But even with her expertise the slick stonework was tricky. In a moment she fell back down, landing with a painful clang on the base of the cart. Thanks to her acrobatic prowess she knows how to take a fall and wasn't hurt. At this point she declared the climb impossible.

Pretty much everyone objected, even Heschean [[yeah, I had prepared the room at the top carefully and darned if their lust for gold was going to give out on me now ] and she decided to give it one more go. This time she did indeed make it all the way to the top, and scrambled over.

Before her she saw a couple of steps leading up to a closed bronze door. She tied a rope to the handle of the door, for lack of anything better, and lowered it to the others. Tugging on the door handle didn't open it, but Utar's weight halfway up the rope did. It yanked open with a groan and Utar nearly let go of the rope in fright. But the team made their way up into the room.

From this front room, with the long narrow hole in the floor leading back to the ovoid, they were able to see that the place looked like another Orgoth ruin - black stone walls, bronze doors just like the V.I.P. Club. But as they cautiously entered the room beyond the bronze doors, they weren't so sure. All the walls were covered in white plaster!

The first room is nearly square. It's also not very large. Four support pillars hold up the roof. Bronze double doors provide possible exits in all four directions. The doors to the left are partly open.



(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

They try to be stealthy, and upon looking into the north room see a line of clockwork mannequins standing upright but apparently shut down. Wishing their arcane mechanik Schnelling was with them, Vasili cautiously enters the room to take a look at the mannequins. He's hoping they're in good shape and can be taken as loot, but fears they may be a trap. No sooner does he step in than he discovers his fears are well placed. They come to the life and begin to defend their territory...

These mannequins' stats will be forthcoming soon, in the form of a page number for where to find them in Liber Mechanika (I think). There are 6 that are based on the Small sized servitors and 1 based on the Medium sized one. The servitors use decent tactics, with 2 or 3 surrounding a single PC and Aiding Another on a single attack roll. The 6 weak ones also try to prevent the PCs from getting past them to the strong one, making sure to position themselves to maximise AoOs.

The strong one has some special additions. Here they are.

HARPOON (ex)
On the first round, its chest opens up and it fires a huge harpoon with a fine metal chain dangling from it. This harpoon counts as a thrown weapon with a 15' range increment. Use javelin stats for damage. On a hit that deals damage, its barbed hook is stuck in the target. As a standard action the the harpoon can be pulled out, but doing so deals damage again.

If the harpoon is not pulled out, the mannequin starts to reel it in with a winch on the next round. The mannequin can reel the target 10'/round if they do not resist. To resist they can try making a Strength check, which is opposed by the mannequin's strength with a +4 bonus from the winch. On a success of 5 or more the target resists all movement, and the manequin can choose to either winch itself 10' closer to the target or to simply fail winching that round. The mannequin can continue winching every round that the target is harpooned. The mannequin's goal is to drag the target through as many AoO's as possible and then shock it at close range.

If the target wins the opposed Strength check by less than 5 they accidentally yank the harpoon out and are dealt damage accordingly, but are at least free.

If the chain is broken or the harpoon pulled out, the mannequin simply drops the entire winch out of its chest and gives up on this tactic. It will do the same if some PC gets ahold of the chain and tries to drag it around by it. If at any time the harpoon and winch become a liability, it simply lets it fall out of its chest cavity and closes for melee.

JOLT (ex)
As a standard action the mannequin can deliver a wave of 1d4 electrical damage to all adjacent squares.

SHRAPNEL (ex)
As soon as the mannequin is reduced to one fourth of its total hit points, the dynamo inside it malfunctions and unleashes a wave of power that knocks the damaged parts of its body off. A wave of shrapnel hits all targets in a 10' radius, including its allies, for 2d4 piercing damage (DC 12 ref save halves).

The battle is brutal. The clockwork men surge forward, and Sabvra is harpooned. Bravely she rips the harpoon free, shrieking as her own gore spills out of the wound. The mannequins make it out of their starting room and into the room with the pillars, using them expertly for cover. The Khadorans break into two groups, those mobbing the heavy mannequin and those trying to finish off the others. The heavy mannequin shoots off burst after burst of electricity, and when it shrapnel explodes off of it it takes down one of its own. At length, they are put down in heaps of whirring, scrapped clockwork.

As a fun side-note, I completely forgot to have Heschean act for about 4 rounds of this battle. When I realised my error I told the PCs he had been in the corner, trying to overload his crossbow with 4 bolts at once. When his initiative came up again I had him leap to his feet, screaming curses more suited for Thamarites than pleasant company, and letting loose with the overloaded hail of bolts. He did good damage, effectively the same as he would've done over 4 rounds anyway, but it really lended to his "utterly flipping insane" demeanour.

The Khadorans aren't sure what to do. They don't know where they are or who might have left these guardians here. They want to salvage the parts for money, but don't know which parts are valuable and which are junk. There are more doors to choose from, but they are out of healing spells and not everyone is fully recovered from the fight. They also find a switch in the wall of the room the mannequins came from, and aren't sure that it's wise to try flipping it.

Heschean suggests they break for lunch. Nerves jangled, they agree. He slow-brews some tea in his canteen, promising it will help them feel better. [The tea in question works the same as Blackroot ointment from the IK Players' Guide except with no ill side-effects. Hesch made clear he wouldn't always have this kind of stuff on hand, but after the fight they just had he felt it was merited to break into his "secret stash."]

Once recovered, Vasili checked the south doors for traps and decides to try to open them. Everyone else hung back with their ranged weapons or spells ready to go. The doors opened and....

... revealed a line of six more clockwork mannequins, with 1 bigger one behind them.

Bad news. The group panicks, but Vasili tells them to hold up. "The others didn't attack till we entered the room. And these already look a little banged up," he reports.

Sure enough, the mannequins don't move at all. Vasili carefully withdraws from the door and whispers to Heschean. "Hesch, do you still have that grenade?"

The veteran gets the idea. "Yeah, but I only have two of 'em. You sure it's worth it?"

"YES!" everyone exclaims.

"Hmmm.... okay." They take cover in the northern room. Hesch lights it, stares at the open doors with a look of uncertainty, then screams and charges at them. When he reaches the doors he hurls the grenade in, spins about and dives behind a pillar.

BOOM!

Smoke blinds the room. Chunks of plaster the size of dinner platters rain in every direction. The team is temporarily deafened and then all they can hear are each other's coughs. They aim their weapons and try to see if anything moves.

It takes a while for the dust and smoke to settle, but it does eventually. Lathing and black rock shows from under the damaged plaster. The bronze door to the south room is bent on its hinge. But most importantly, all the clockwork beasties are destroyed.

As they inspect the rubbish, they discover that there are mannequin frames but no actual gears. Rust covers all of it. Remains of wooden posts are stuck in the floor. It would appear that the mannequins in the south room were mere decoys. Perhaps someone couldn't afford two platoons of the things, or perhaps one had been destroyed in a different scuffle long ago. Despite the fact that the grenade was just used to destroy non-hostile, lifeless statues, no one in the group feels cheated. Their caution with their lives was worth the cost. But they know they only have one grenade left for future problem areas.
Don't worry, there is more of the mysterious locker story ahead. But for now it is....

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!!!!

[AnotherPoet]

Originally April 24, 2009:

Session 4: The Vault, Part II

Standing in the smoking, dusty ruins of the three chambers they've explored (and bombed), the Khadorans begin to pick up each and every piece of metal from the clockwork men. They can't tell what is worth money and what isn't, so they'll take it all. They load it into their mine cart (still below in the ovoid). Even if it's junk metal, there's so much it should bring in some money as scrap.

At this point, it's afternoon and they figure they're done.

"Let's leave the rest of this place and head back," says Vasili.

"I want to see what's past these other doors!" objects Thamateal the Over-Brave Wizard.

"Are you crazy? We're half-dead here!"

"Yeah," agrees Sabvra. "We've got all this clockwork, we've got our brindle rat - we made a ton of cash today!"

At this point, I cringed. A., who plays Sabvra, didn't catch it at first. But when everyone else looked at me expectantly she realised something was wrong.

"What?" she asked.

I frowned and made an apologetic face.

"What!?"

I shook my head sadly. Suddenly she got it.

"Not the brindle! No!"

"Sorry," I told her. "But it was on your back in the radius of two of the electrical attacks, and rats only have 1 hp."
(Actually it had a bolstered 2 hp, but they don't know that, and it still took enough damage to drop to negatives and had long since died.)

Sabvra checks the little harness on her backpack and sees the lifeless rodent, its mouth frozen open and its fur on end. They toss it into the sewer, not wanting to risk revealing their secret occupation for the paltry price of a single pelt.

"F--- it," says Sabvra. "I'm with the wizard. Let's open those doors."

So they do. Of course, the doors are locked, and there is no visible keyhole for Vasili to try to pick. They decide to try flipping the two switches - one each in the North and South rooms the mannequins came from - to see if they control the door. After many and fearful searches for traps, they flip the North switch. Door still locked. They put it back and try the South switch. Door still locked. Only then do they try flipping both; the door is no longer locked, and opens easily.

The room beyond also sports plaster walls and ceilings. It's little more than a series of interconnected hallways [all 10' wide; see the Locker Room on the map below]. Creeping stealthily, they go far enough down to see that the first branching hallways have some kind of storage lockers at the end. Each locker is made of solid hardwood, with a metal handle and lock. They are built to roll open, like a bread-box or rolltop desk. As such, the tops are curved.

What they don't know - at first - is that the plaster ceilings conceal a long slots, through which circular sawblades are waiting to drop. There are eight tracks total, together covering every square of the 10' wide passages in the locker room. This trap can be triggered from several locations - lifting the lid on any of the lockers, except the one in the far northeast, will set it off. So will a failed attempt to disable the trap [if it misses by 5 or more] on the master control panel that is hidden behind the plaster at the far east end of the hallway. A successful Perception check is needed to notice that the plaster is a little discoloured in that spot, hiding the controls underneath.

(Cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(Cont'd from prev post)

Custom Blade Trap - CR 3
(Stats to be posted)
(But as you can guess from the tracks on the map, you roll randomly to see which blades go off each round. 1d6 blades are triggered each round; roll a d8 to see which tracks they follow. Up to 2 blades can go down a single track in one round; if a third would use the same track, reroll to determine a different track. The blade attacks every square in the track. After one blade has used a track, it has cut through the plaster so there is a slot in the ceiling. The PCs can try to shoot through the slot to damage the gears of the trap; treat as an attack against a size Fine creature with cover (AC 22, touch 22). Alternately the PCs can try to attack individual blades (AC 17, touch 17) if they hold an action to attack one when it comes out. If a blade in a given track is destroyed, that track can no longer be hit and it is safe to stand in. The trap is powered by two spooled clockwork flywheels, so if they leave the room and "wait it out" the blades will keep going for 2d4-1 hours (minimum 2).

Standing on the lockers does not offer protection. After all, the blades are basically on pendulums - they nearly scrape the floor in the middle, but at the ends of the hallway they are just high enough off the ground to swing up over the lockers and nearly strike the wall above them.

Climbing into a locker and lying down is the only way to be safe in the room. One Medium creature or two Small creatures can fit, but will be squeezed.



When Vasili picks the lock on one of the lockers, he and Sabvra are the only ones in the room. They see sawblades shooting out of the ceiling in clouds of plaster dust, and they book it for the exit. Wisely, once they get out, they hang back and start to shoot at the blades as they swing past. Thamateal's unlimited Acid Splash spells are great for this, and instead of wasting their own ammunition they let him handle it. About 50 minutes later he dissolves the last of the sawblades into uselessness. Before them is another ruined room, destroyed at their own hands; damaged metal arms, broken chains, and the slowly spinning carcasses of saw blades dangle from the ceiling, twitching like some wounded Colossal. Whirring comes from the ceiling, as does the occasional clanking and grinding noise of mis-firing machinery. Liquid plaster runs down the walls and stains the floors from the many darts of acid that missed their targets. Triumphantly, the Khadorans enter.

They search, pick and open every storage locker. All are empty - except the very last one, the NE one, which wasn't even locked. It contains 4 sacks of plaster mix, two empty buckets and some trowels.

The Khadorans refuse to accept that someone would go to all this trouble to trap an empty room. And they're right. They waste even more time searching the walls above the lockers for hidden openings, before noticing the discoloured section at the E end of the main hallway.

"Suspicious..." says Vasili, and wastes no time bashing it open.

He quickly discovers the reason for the discolouration. There is no solid wall behind the section, rather a 3' wide x 4' tall window in the black stone. A bit of wicker was fitted into it to give support to the plaster, but the difference in texture and lack of backing led to a different drying rate and different colour. But the construction of the wall is not what interests them.

Behind the wicker, the window is further blocked by numerous gears, rods and counter-weights running up into the ceiling above. Obviously, this is the master control panel for the ceiling trap. Vasili cautiously disarms it, then removes the metal bits. He doesn't want to trigger any secondary traps or the like.

Finally, the window is cleared. There is open space beyond it, pitch black. Shining a light in, the sewer guards behold an interesting sight.

The room beyond is tiny, just smaller than their bedroom at the Live Snapper. It is dug out of the rock, completely unfinished. Two suits of ornate wooden armour stand on either side of the room, facing each other. And opposite the windowm, the far wall holds an oversized door of solid metal. The door has not one, not two but three separate wheels on it. Creeping in, the team inspects the wheels and sees that they are each covered with a set of strange symbols. Some are recognisable from alchemy and astronomy. Apparently, it's a very complex vault door with three different combination locks.

No amount of lock-picking has prepared Vasili for a work of this calibre. He stands back, announcing they'll need to bring in heavy equipment if they ever intend to get through. He turns his attention to the wooden armour, which he does know a little about

Knowledge (History) DC 14 or Craft (Armour) DC 14: Wooden armour (samurai style) was once more common on battlefields than it is now, mostly before the Occupation but even somewhat right after the Rebellion in the early days of the IK. Seldom used anymore, it still makes for a fine show piece. Most of the time it's passed down as an heirloom within a family or maintained by art and antiquities collectors.

Vasili can't find any traps on the armour, [Perception DC 21, rogues only; Vasili isn't a rogue so...] but before he touches anything Thamateal casts Detect Magic. He discovers the presence of faint magical auras of Conjuration on both sets of armour. He surmises this is more likely to be a magical trap than any enhancement to the armour itself, and they decide not to take anything just yet. Vasili takes time to sketch a picture of the armour in case he can dig up any more information later. Backing away from the secret room, they all huddle up.

The consensus is that they must have stumbled into the basement of a rich person's house. The vault probably protects a secret back entrance so they can escape through the sewers if they need to. The storage lockers are empty because they are on the outside of the vault door and the trick wall. This raises the issue of why the combination dials on the vault face their side, the outside, rather than inside. But for all they know there are dials inside too. They're not totally sold on their own theory [nor will I reveal just yet if they're right] but it's the best guess they can come up with. Since they think they are on private property (and clearly are not in sewers any longer) they worry that trying to take the trapped armour would make them burglars. They've already destroyed expensive machines, but at least that was without criminal intent.

Their consciences aren't totally clear, however, as they still take the scrap metal, spending the last hour of their shift schlepping it back to Outpost 5 and hoisting it up by rope to street level. They decide to store it in crates in the Outpost itself for now, until Schnelling can look at it and evaluate it. They have over 300 lbs of the stuff, so they're not eager to move it across town.

Utar notices one strange thing as they lower themselves down to the ovoid to begin their trek to the Outpost. There are always small (2" to 6") pipes that dump into any given segment of the ovoid, but usually only a trickle of water - if anything - comes out of them. As they leave the Orgoth-ruins-gone-wealthy-basement, he notices that one such pipe is gushing a prolific stream of water into the ovoid. He's quite sure it wasn't doing that earlier when they climbed up. He tells the rest of the team, but none of them know what to make of it so they go home without further inquiry.

Friday's shift is over, and there's only one more day of work in the team's first wek as sewer guards. But whose "basement" did they break into, and will the person notice? Stay tuned for another episode!!

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - Originally May 8, 2009

@ TheRiddler [asked how annoyed I would be if PCs had given up]: You mean when they almost gave up climbing to that room? Well I would've had to do some scrambling and would've been a little disappointed, mostly because I stole the room trap from a game with another DM and wanted to see how my own PCs handle it, from the other side of the screen.

However, that is the cool thing about the sewers. Like a West Marches campaign, I don't really have to do much railroading. They state which pipe they're exploring and I check my map, encounter tables, and any time-sensitive information (like the IK calendar) and tell them what they find. I have at least some sewer mapped out in every direction, so even if they change course mid-session I can generally keep things going. I try to keep the sewers running with a life of their own so that the PCs can go to any part at any time and find something interesting. Maybe it wouldn't be the same thing they would find if they went to that area a week later during Tidesebb, but everything in that sector is still on paper just waiting to be explored.

This actually isn't as hard as it sounds. For areas you haven't planned yet all you need is:

1) A list of cool hooks/NPCs/places, divided into the 8 compass directions.
2) A couple of random encounter tables and a random loot generator.
3) A rough map of the sewers, which can be made basically by tracing lines down the major streets of Five Fingers and adding a few extra sections or natural caves wherever you think it'd be interesting.

With those three things you're set. Even if the PCs wander into an area you weren't expecting, you can look at your list of ideas for "what's northwest" and choose one. You look at your map and assign it a sewer section near their location. Then you roll to see if there are any random encounters on the way.

If you truly don't feel prepared for a path the PCs choose, a tough "random" encounter can easily scare them back the way they came. So far I haven't had to do this - I just lay out some sewers, have those three tools for the "unprepared" sewers, and tell the PCs what they find. It's more exploration and less "save the world." With no central plot or villain I can lay off the railroading and let them go where they please.

* * * * * * *

@ mercator [asked if we'll see Fat Sasha again]: I can't say, because it's largely up to the PCs. I can tell you that as of now no one else has killed or scared away Fat Sasha and he hasn't gotten sick of being the sole gangster in his neighbourhood. He's still taking money, drinking free booze, womanising, beating up clients, and slacking in his protection duties. So if the PCs go back to his neighbourhood he'll surely show up.

ap

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - originally May 11, 2009:

QUOTE (TheRiddler @ May 8 2009, 02:52 PM)
>Oh AP, how I hate thee!

>I excitedly see that you have replied to the thread, but upon clicking on the link, >there's no new report of a gaming session :-(

>I'm addicted, feed my addiction :-)

>Actually that does bring another question.......do you have an end game in sight? >How will you know when the campaign has ended?


Okay, well, sadly my response to your post will be another such teaser

But I promise tio try my very hardest to update by week's end, how's that sound?

Anyway to answer your question, I have some long-range plans. Five Fingers, as I'm sure you know, is a very corrupt and "adventuresome" city, so I have ideas of what is going on in the politics and crime rings of the city and what thatmight mean for the PCs as they learn about these things. I have a few events I hope to introduce later in the life of the game.

I'm building some of these on the players' stated preferences. For instance, A (who plays Sabvra) wants to eventually develop druidic anti-mechanika spells. She'd like to create monster plants with very small seeds that can be scattered into a machine's vents or joints and then rapidly grow to break it apart. She then wants to take on Cryx, if possible. Yeah, yikes huh?

And M, who plays Thamateal, has shown a willingness to work with infernal powers if it will increase his magic. He doesn't really care for the magical limitations of IK and is after a quick route to power.

So, I'll try to work those themes in sooner or later. At the same time I'll need to draw out the other players to get a sense of their goals. I think right now they're still kind of in "dungeon mode." I want to break them out of that and get them into the life of the city a bit more.

However, I have no endgame. My true goal is to see the game through to Level 20 and then consider some kind of epic game like an assault on Cryx or something. I don't know if I have the GM skills to run an epic level game, but maybe by then I will.

For now I am just trying to keep the city alive and fresh so they can enjoy going back into the different areas again and again. There's a lot they haven't seen yet, so I hope the game survives that long.

ap

[AnotherPoet]

Originally May 15, 2009:

Session 5: Greetings! (Part I)

When last we left our Khadoran ex-pats, they had just finished up a very eventful Friday shift. They climbed a vertical crevice out of the sewers and into an Orgoth ruin, fought numerous working and defunct clockwork men, tripped an expensive but ultimately escapable ceiling trap and stumbled upon a sealed vault door. Worried that they may be in a rich person's basement, they made a hasty retreat - but not without hundreds of pounds of pillaged clockwork. And of course, there's the pesky issue of that water pipe that started to gush while they were there...

Fast forward to the present. As they depart the sewers, they decide to put off looking for any topside evidence of the Orgorth ruin and head straight back to the inn. Sabvra is concerned about "her" sickly old man and wants to see if he's woken up.

He has indeed. Marcia informs the adventurers that their friend has run up quite the tab. Sabvra had said she would pay his expenses, after all.

The man hasn't moved from his cot in the kitchen, but he's awake and sitting up. He has an empty bottle of rum beside him and a half-empty one in his hand. When Sabvra approaches him he seems wary of her, not to mention feverish and intoxicated. Once she explains to him that she brought him here, he almost seems angry.

"Why din' you jus leave me where I was?!"

"You were in the sewer!"

"Yeah!"

Sabvra tries a different tactic. "I was worried about you. We all were. We didn't want you to be all alone."

"Yeah, well you shoulda jus led me DIE!"

Much of the conversation from there on involves the man telling them how stupid they are to have not just let him die, but then (in true alcoholic fashion) switching to thanking her profusely and apologising for what a bother he must be. His name is Jack: either Rattlin' Jack, Jack the Rattler or Jack Rattlesworth. (Or, if you prefer, Rattlin' Jack "The Rattler" Rattlesworth!) Sabvra explains to Jack that she's covering his room and board, and she'll get him a bottle of rum but he has to make it last. And he can't order the top shelf stuff anymore. Jack immediately promises to follow the rules and starts apologising - the two of them repeat this dialogue 5-8 times before Sabvra thinks he might actually mean it.

He demands to know which island they're on which, humourously, neither Sabvra nor any of the others can answer. Marcia has to pipe in "Captain's!" as she walks by with a pot of hot stew and an eyeroll.

Sabvra then goes on to try to get his story out of him. To summarise:

Yes, he used to be a sewer guard.

After that he was a fencer at local tournaments. He was really good in his youth! A real master! He [long story].

He also worked some security jobs and got some work as a guide for people who imported "tax free merchandise if you know what I mean." he would help them navigate the sewers and store shipments from time to time.

That was a long time ago though... he's just an old drunk, can't they see?

The reason he went down in the sewers was so he could die in peace.

He wanted to die because he is cursed.

He was cursed by Thamarites.

That's the point at which Sabvra completely stops believing his story. Most of it she buys but not that. Thamarites, if there even are any around, would probably have better people to harass than elderly drunks.

However, his avowed knowledge of the sewers intrigues her. She asks if he had a map, and he says no. She asks if he can draw a map, and he says he doesn't think so - he's only seen it in person, and gets around by instinct and memory. He's never tried drawing it top-down before.

She asks if they got a draftsman to do the drawing for him, if he could verbally instruct him on drawing the layout. Rattlin' Jack says no (and apologises), but Sabvra repeats her question enough times that he agrees to try (and apologises).

Sabvra also asks him about the Orgoth ruins where they found him. [Remember, this is not the same set of ruins that had the mannequins and vault.] He repeats the same story that Heschean gave them, more or less: the ruins were used as a break room and after-hours club for sewer guards, with a couple of jail cells for putting troublemakers in. He doesn't know about the other set of ruins when Sabra asks him, the set with the vault, but he does have an idea of what part of town the V.I.P. lounge is under. He says it's under the market at the eastern edge of the Emerald District. The would put the other ruins a bit west of there, maybe even in the Emerald District itself.

Now, all this time Utar and Thamateal have been outside haggling with Micro. Micro's Traveling Weapon Stand has a new toy on the shelf: a mechanikal longsword with the ability to blast fire at an enemy. Someone has pried off the rune plates that enhance the weapon (leaving it a +0 flaming longsword) and damaged the fire runeplate and the socket (giving it a high chance of malfunction, which Micro freely admits) and the balance is so off with the missing components that it can't even be called masterwork. For a couple hundred crowns they could walk away with a flaming weapon [at first level!] - and the longsword is Utar's weapon of choice, after all. Considering their general lack of physical oomph in their last few skirmishes, it seems appealing. It's even possible that Schnelling could repair it. But the Khadorans would need to make some serious gear choices to afford it - pooling money and selling off other equipment would be the order of the day. They work out a way to get the money together, but would be left impecunious. Micro offers to hold it one day for them, but they don't get paid till Monday night.

As Thamateal puts it, "He's selling a lemon, but he's calling it a lemon." Ultimately, though they decide to pass on the sword, their respect for Micro's integrity (and inventory) has gone up appreciably.

(cont'd next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

The group spend the rest of their evening cloistered in their room. They are plotting how to do the drafting of the Rattler's map, what day to do, when to scout the streets and market for signs of the Orgoth ruins, etc. Understandably they worry that others might overhear their planning and figure out their line of work. They decide to put in a normal day of work Saturday, scout Saturday evening, and do the drafting on their Sunday off. Sabvra makes frequent trips downstairs to check on the Rattler - both to make sure he's not spilling any information (though they've been vague with him on how they managed to find him, and he hasn't pushed them for info) and to make sure he's driving their tab up.

Saturday Shift

The next day they check on the Rattler, who is asleep and snoring, and head out. They go around Sasha's neighbourhood and tell Heschean about Rattlin' Jack. He's interested to hear confirmation of another veteran, and sorry for the man's pitiful state. But soon they get down to the business at hand.

They head west. Their plan is to check on the ruins with the vault again and see if there is any sign of activity, then continue to explore the tunnel past it to the west. Of course, on the way, they go past the V.I.P. Lounge where they first found Jack.

The Khadorans had re-piled the garbage in front of the doors of the V.I.P. Lounge, and they see nothing has disturbed it.

At this point, since it's the third time they've visited the place, I throw them a free clue. I have them roll a simple Wisdom check (DC 11) and pass a note to Utar's player reading, Doesn't it seem odd that Jack managed to pile garbage outside the doors from inside the lounge?

Utar raises the point and there is some discussion. The doors open outward, toward the sewer, so it seems a dificult trick to pull off. Someone must have shut him in there. But who?

They've already thoroughly searched the Lounge though - twice - so they head onward.

Once they get to the ruins with the Locker Room and the Vault, they see that their rope is still in place. Vasili volunteers to go up and scout it out. He'll call out if he runs into trouble. They agree to the plan.

Up he goes, with lights out so as not to give himself away if anyone is at the top. Once up he casts a Light spell and creeps into the ruins.

My Players DO NOT READ THE SPOILER
***

He tells me his Stealth and Perception modifiers and I make secret checks for him as he goes. He's fine on Stealth, but biffs one Perception after another as I roll collective Stealth checks for not one but two groups of enemies. There are squadrons of people hidden in both of the rooms that once held the mannequins. They wait in silence with lights out to see who will turn up at the ruin. Seeing only Vasili, their leader figures there must be more behind him and holds off on the signal to attack. Vasili walks past both rooms of ambushers without a clue. When Vasili leaves without bringing any friends up, the leader decides it will be better to send a hit squad to follow him rather than to jump him all alone and let his partners get away.

As you read the next leg, bear in mind that these ambushers send a single scout to tail the PCs, and when the PCs turn to head back the scout goes up the rope to stay out of view. Then they tail the PCs back toward Outpost 5.

***
Okay it's safe from here down.


Vasili sees that the rubble of their grenade is still strewn about, the ceiling traps still hang in broken bits, and everything is unchanged. The vault is still closed and the armour is still in place. Noting all of this, he heads back to the sewers and explains what he's seen.

"No one's been there," he reports.

They decide to leave it that way. They keep on westward.

Soon they come to anopther gate blocking their way. Unlike the one that had been east of the ruins, which was wooden and obviously not original sewer consruction, this one looks like the real deal. Even so, its neglected lock gives up its tumblers to Vasili's lockpicks. This, despite the lock facing the other direction (westwards, while the Khadorans come from the east) forcing Vasili to work blindly and backwards through the bars.

Once past the open gate, they can hear the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder. Sabra pounds a piton into the wall, ropes up, and tells the others to wait for her. She moves step by step, piton, rope, etc. Finally she can se the waterfall....

TO BE CONTINUED in a few hours

[AnotherPoet]

Originally May 15, 2009:

Session 5: Greetings! (Part II)

So Sabvra finds herself strapped to a rope and edging inch by inch up to the edge of a sheer drop. The shin-deep water around her rushes over the edge, a cataract into unexplored darkness. She pitons the wall near the edge, re-ropes herself and leans out into the dark with her lantern.

Now, a word about Sabvra's lantern is in order. She stopped fueling it long ago, explaining to her fellow specialists that it's a minor magic item she got her hands on. A simple command word lights it up, and it never needs oil. In truth she uses her druidic magic to cast Light on the wick. The fact that it's a bullseye lantern allows her to focus the light spell somewhat and gain a bit more radius, though still not nearly as far as an actual bullseye lantern. This makes Thamateal highly suspicious, and he has begun keeping a closer eye on Sabvra to see how she always pulls off these neat tricks and where she gets these goodberries from. Luckily, at the moment he's not here.

Sabvra can tell she is high above a very large underground chamber. She can only see the vague shadow of a ceiling above her. She can see a large pool of water below, but can't see the far side. She sees no ladders going up or down; just a sheer drop with stone walls slick with moisture. At least she can tell it's not a natural cave.

What she doesn't notice are tiny holes in the brick wall to the right, where there were once iron ladder rungs driven into the masonry. Later when they have better light she doesn't bother to scan the ceiling a second time or she would've seen a ledge, and above it a round vertical shaft. The shaft leads to a street access, which is where the ambushers in the ruin came from. They have long since removed the iron ladder that runs past the waterfall, so that the only way up or down is with a rope from the street access. Since someone pulled up said rope there is no trace of their passing here.

Sabvra helps the others rope their way to the vantage point. She asks Thamateal for his bullseye lantern. With rolled eyes he hands it over and she re-scans the room. She can see that there ae a set of three archimedes' screws at the far side. One is completely still but two are turning steadily!

This is a major breakthrough for the Khadorans, as up till now they had seen nothing in working order and were, in fact, under the impression that the whole sewer had never been functional. The fact that this screw is still lifting water implies a power source, and that implies regular maintenance and active usage.

Still, with no easy way down (and no easy way back up) they're hesitant to proceed. They can see there is a walkway at the far side of the pool (it goes under the screws) and a second level at the top of the screws. But there's no such infrastructure on their side, so it'd be a jump and a swim to get there.

They note the location on their growing map and decide they will explore a whole new branch of sewer rather than pursuing this one any further.

They reverse themselves and head east-ish all the way back to the very first four-way cross. They are practically back at Outpost 5 now; it's just a bit to the east, Gossamer Park (the spider and frog cave) is south; Orgoth ruins are west and a thorough pipe blockage of muck and mire is to the north. They've never been past the blockage before so they decide to try to break through.

They determine that the pipe there is stable, simply blocked. So they dig without bracing the ceiling. They get through a lot of general decomposed muck and then start finding pieces of actual garbage - junk, meat bones, that kind of thing. It takes an hour of work but they do manage to get through.

They wisely choose to dig at head level first, so that if there is a built up wall of water on the other side that suddenly pours through it will take a moment to undercut the blockage and they won't be flooded away.

So they remove the blockage top-down, and find that only a slurry of mud perhaps knee-deep flows through. Soon that is gone and a trickle of water moves through the tunnel again.

They don't find anything of value amongst the junk, but they do discover a single brick sticks out from the others about a quarter-inch. This [as our real-life engineer is thrilled to announce] is the cause of the entire blockage.

Resting briefly, they Prestidigitate clean and eat their lunch leaning against the round walls. (This pipe is round, not ovoid, and wide enough to have a reasonably flat bottom so as not to cause any movement limitations).

When they push northward, they walk for a while and find a room some 40' wide by 120' long. It is a about three stories tall, like the pit in Outpost 5, and like the pit the top is open to the sky. Unlike Outpost 5, there does not appear to be any building over it but the whole big trench has been sealed with a metal grate.

At several points in the grate there are openings for people to empty chamber pots into. And indeed, the room has been used as a refuse receptable. A heap of garbage, scrap and litter some 2 stories tall dominates the long room, with skanky standing sewage concealing the floor in every place. The group theorises that this may have once been Outpost 4 (or 6, for all they know), and has since become the local landfill. There are certainly people near the grate up above - they can hear faint voices, see shadows from people walking by, and occasionally see a person hurry across the grate itself. No one looks down, however.

Toward the edges of the room, they might be able to get through more by wading than by climbing. They decide to try that; there are some small storm sewer pipes and open gutters that empty into the room from higher up, but they hope for a continuation of the large floor-level round pipe at the far end of the room. They creep around to explore.



In the real-life session this is where we ended the night due to tiredness. I think I'll also use it as the break point in writing because I've used up my lunch break at work and need to do something productive. More to come, I promise!

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - Originally May 15, 2009:

Y'know Redbeard, the line between stalking and flattering is a fuzzy one, but currently you're on the good side of it. So thanks for the compliment


@theRiddler: My hope is that they will stay in the sewers for a very long time. I've got a lot prepared and there are a ton of secrets down there. The sewers work well because, even though they're dungeony, they're more like an environment than a building. And they are so closely connected to the town above that I can always throw them hooks to get them into a more social situation, if that's needed. I feel like we have the best of both worlds with this setup so I hope my players don't abandon the underground before I run out of tunnels


thanks again guys.... combat coming up... x2!
ap

[AnotherPoet]

Supplement - originally June 3, 2009:

I haven't written up the next session and a half yet, but I thought you guys would like this little touch.

In between sessions, I decided to email the players with the rumours & info they pick up on the streets. Stuff that might make interesting background, sidequests or career goals but isn't directly related to their current gig. The first round of rumours was sent out this week and you can see it attached as a .pdf below!

Enjoy

Attached File(s) The_Word_on_the_Street_in_Five_Fingers.pdf ( 546.92K ) Number of downloads: 29


edit: Prize adjusted to 80,000 gp after I realised how much it would cost to build a basic mechanika flying machine. Assume the 8,000 in the flyer is a typesetter's error.

[AnotherPoet]

Originally June 15, 2009:

Session 5: Greetings! (Part III)

When last we left our Khadorans they were part-way through their Saturday shift. They had headed farther west than ever before, but halted at the top of a waterfall over a room with working water scerews in it. Not risking the jump down, they turned back almost all the way to Outpost 5 and unblocked a north-running pipe for the first time. They found a huge pit-like chamber, with a metal grate to the open sky above, which is used as a garbage dump by the locals. And now they climb their way across the dump....

BUZZARD BEETLE ASSAULT - 4 CR 1/2 beetles* plus 1 CR 1 beetle - EL 3 - 180 XP/person (5-person ECL2 party)

*I don't know who at Privateer listed these 3 hp beetles at CR 2 each, but it's wrong. I treated the by-the-book beetles as CR 1/2 (their nasty special attack almost never succeeds) and let one beetle spit its acid attack at a range of 10 feet, bumping it to CR 1. See Monsternomicon p. 24.

Terrain: PCs are trying to manoeuvre through a single 5' wide strip of Difficult Terrain (half movement, no charging/running/5' steps). One on side is the solid, slippery masonry wall of the pit and on the other side is the heap of garbage (DC 13 climb check). This narrow passage around the garbage heap is about 20 feet long.

Tactics: The beetles are in the garbage heap and come out when their prey tries to squeeze its way past. Surprise round + flanking = good time for all. However the beetles aren't smart enough to Aid Another on attack rolls (which might make them worth their CR); they're all hungry and they see fresh meat that has a hard time getting through the garbage. If the PCs were teenagers doing some sewer-crawling for fun, they might be in trouble. But the beetles were dispatched by the 4th round of combat. The PCs took a a little damage - mostly the wizard, for obvious reasons - but the encounter was more scare than pain.

Loot: None
[COLOR=#008080]

After smashing (well, mostly spell-blasting) the beetles into goo, the team reaches the north side of the garbage pit and sees that the round tunnel does indeed continue northward. They also make a full circuit of the garbage heap, wary of more beetles that might be ready to attack them on their way back. But they find no other threats, just individual rats who run away in terror and clouds of mundane flies. They consider trying to climb to street level but they can see that there is a slight overhang (5') of stone ceiling before the open grate starts. Even if they could ascend the 40' of grimy masonry somehow, swinging from ceiling to reach the grate hardly seems worth it. They push on.

The round pipe continues north for some distance, curving slightly NE. It is a very well-made pipe, clearly able to handle a great deal of flow at once, yet there is no water coming down it - not a single trickle. It's dry as a bone. In addition, the group noticed (DC 11 Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check) that for once they neither hear, nor catch glimpses of rats. That's totally new.

There are occasional branching pipes. The pipes are narrow enough that going down them requires crawling on all fours. They are round-bottomed, arch-ceilinged tunnels that meet the main round pipe at right angles. There is one every city block or so, on alternating sides. They are probable storm sewer drains but Vasili decides to go down and verify this for himself.

With a Light spell in effect and a rope tied to one foot for emergency retrieval, the *****y bard makes his way down the first branching pipe. Not terribly far down he finds that that the pipe dead-ends at the bottom of a small well. The floor is damp but there's not any standing water. Looking up, Vasili can see sunlight. But there is no ladder and he can't see an actual grate or manhole. He stands up and sees that there are two small openings, one on either side. Each start 6 feet up from the base of the well and reach up on angles. Sunlight glows faintly from each one. They're too small to enter.

Vasili does not notice the small snare set to one side (Perception DC 12); he goes back to the group. They discuss the strange construction of the storm sewer.

After some knowledge rolls and some real-world discussion, I simply tell them that the storm sewer is based on actual design. In the early 1900's sewer engineers tested to see how high rats can jump. The answer is 3 feet, max. So the engineers started building storm sewers that emptied into the side of the main sewer line, near the top, more than 3' up. This way rats in the streets could still flee into the sewers, but rats in the sewers could not jump and climb back up to the streets. The sewers became a one-way "goodbye" to rats. (Unless of course the storm sewers became clogged with enough debris that the rats could climb it to get out.) Only a few areas of Five Fingers use this design, as it was a relatively late innovation.

Continuing on, Vasili checks the next two side-sewers in the same way. They are identical, but on the next one he does notice a small snare set in the well at the end. In fact, there is a live rat still struggling in the snare. The group talks it over and decides to kill the rat out of mercy, but to put the snare back in its original place so that no one suspects other people have been here.

The third side-tunnel has the same layout, and another snare, this one empty.

They push on, definitely heading northeast rather than north now. They expect to find more branching side-tunnels but before they reach the next one their way is blocked.

The structure before them is impressive. Built of wooden slats, it is a wall that is clearly designed to stop people from walking through without impeding the flow of water. The slats were made by boat-makers, probably; they have the same sleek curved design as a ship's rudder or oars. They are thick and rounded at the Khadorans' side but hydrodynamically shaped to let water from the north run smoothly over them. It seems to work well; there is no debris stuck to the slats.

The wall does not fully block the passage. It has a small opening at the bottom, presumably to let some water trickle under with ease, but it's too small to crawl through. The opening near the ceiling is much bigger, easily enough for a human to swing over if they can climb up.

Vasili does just that. He is wise enough to search for traps first, as this is clearly an intruder deterrent. [He biffs this roll, which had a DC of 18.] Finding nothing, he climbs up and over - but as he swings over the top, one of the slats clacks down and trips a switch.

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING -- !

(cont'd in next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

Vasili comes back over in a hurry. He wastes no time disabling the alarum [a simple DC 12 and 1d6 rounds of work; CR zero on this harmless "trap"].

The group falls back about a hundred feet, extinguishes their lights, and waits to see if anyone responds to the alarum. A half hour goes by, and nothing. They give up and turn to head back to the Outpost.

They cross back through the garbage pit without incident.

As they enter the next round pipe and keep heading south they notice something strange - once again, no rats! The Khadorans become paranoid. What if there is a big flood on the way, and that's why all the rats left?? They break into a run for Outpost 5.

Perfect! Another group of sewer-crawlers, of whom the Khadorans are unaware, hear the sound of the footsteps. The other group takes up positions at the 4-way intersection just west of Outpost 5. They cover their lanterns and wait for the approaching footsteps.

GREETINGS, AND WELCOME TO OUR SEWER!

2 thug swordsmen (human Warrior1, CR 1/2 ea) + 3 thug club-wielders (human Warrior1, CR 1/2 ea) + 1 veteran swordsman (human Fighter1, CR 1) + 1 healer (human Warrior1/Adept1, CR 1) = EL 4 - 225 XP/person (5-person ECL2 party) (XP adjusted down for retreat tactics)
See attachment for sewer thug stats (taken from d20npcs.wikia.com, adjusted for Pathfinder and good sense)!

Terrain: A four-way sewer intersection. The North and East branches are 10'+ wide round pipes (2 squares wide walking surface, no terrain problems) while the South and West branches are ovoids (5' wide, difficult terrain - movement halved, no charging, running or 5' steps). Thugs start in the West (adept, thug swordsmen, veteran swordsman) and East (three maulers wielding "weighted clubs" with warhammer stats) branches and have a surprise round. PCs start in the North branch.

Tactics: these thugs know how to set a sewer ambush! When the first PC enters the intersection, one of the clubbers unveils her lantern and then hurls the lantern around the corner. It hits the shallow water and will burn out next round, but frees her hands and provides light for now. The other two clubber rush in and beat the lead PC silly.

Simultaneously, the adept unveils his lantern and the swordsmen rush in from the west, going behind the lead PC if possible to attack the rest of the PCs - and effectively cutting the PC party in half.

Since there is limited space, and the swordsmen and adept are at half movement, they won't all get out on the first round. This creates the illusion, to the PCs, of an unending stream of more and more thugs coming out of the ovoid every round. Scares three kinds of poo out of 'em.

Anyone who goes down unconscious has a 50% chance of falling face-first into the sewage water. It's shallow but deep enough to drown. Since they were unconscious before they hit the water they don't get to hold their breath. Go immediately to the drowing rules (as if they failed the Constitution check for holding their breath) which means they will die within 3 rounds if not helped. Once someone on either side goes down face-first, give the PCs a DC 15 Perception check to see if they notice that the person (friend or foe) is at risk of drowning. Just give them one check to figure it out. Otherwise, they learn the hard way (or the fun way, if it's an enemy).

Loot: See attachment.

Let's see how it plays out.

As the Khadorans race down the pipe, Utar is at the front. He runs to the four-way intersection intending to round the corner to the west and head for home. Boom! He is stopped in his tracks.

Two weighted clubs swing at him while a lamp suddenly lights up his vision as it flies over his head.

*thud* *whiff* He struggles against the heavy clubs and sees swordsmen piling out of the ovoid beside him.

The team forms up behind him, but can't get to their healer before the round pipe is completely blocked. Neither side uses sound tactics - the Khadorans don't form a wall, and some thugs are foolish enough to run past the lead Khadorans and assault those in back. Soon there is a chaotic melee where everyone is caught between enemies and allies.

"Hey a--holes," yells Thamateal to the enemies with the clubs. "They didn't give US any good gear either!" He means this to have double meaning - if the enemy is another team of sewer guards, who mistook the Khadorans for thugs, they have probably been screwed out of their promised gear just like the Khadorans were. On the other hand if they are just common thugs they probably won't connect the comment to anything having to do with sewer guards. It's clever. But the thugs are thugs, and it means nothing to them. The kind-of sort-of attempt at diplomacy fails.

(cont'd in next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)

The enemy adept stays at the back, and it takes the Khadorans a while to realise what his role is. As wounded clubbers and swordsmen fall back [Withdraw action] they seem to get infused with new energy and return to the fray. In addition, he had placed a couple of spells on the middle-aged veteran fighter who is with the thug team, and this man in particular seems to be a real threat.

One of the inexperienced swordsmen goes down, falling face first into the muck. A moment later, another swordsmen goes to drag him back to the healer. He looks up to the vetern swordsman in shock. [In my best New Zealand accent:] "Roy! I think he's deed!"

"Get 'im anyway!"

Indeed, the corpse is dragged back toward the ovoid. This marks a turning point in the battle, as corpses can't be healed. Club-fighters stagger back into the fray, barely brought back to the land of the living by the diminishing healing spells of the adept.

Soon thugs are working in pairs to evacuate their own wounded. They pull back to the ovoid pipe. Most of them are casualties of Sabvra's spear, the only real bruiser in the party since utar is on non-stop heal-slinging duty. Vasili lashes swordsman after swordsman with his whip, clatterign weapons out of their hands and spashing them into the water. Unfortunately, the Khadorans focus their attacks on the veteran swordsman, who is now fighting defensively and can hardly be hit. Only Thamateal's barrage of acid dart after acid dart pierces the man's defenses, and even that doesn't always get through.

This focused attack on the veteran allows the other thugs to pull all of their wounded back into the ovoid. The adept waits just six seconds with his lantern, allowing the veteran to pull back and block the ovoid entrance bodily. The veteran sneers into the faces of the Khadoran intruders [total defence action] and receives the adept's final helpful spell as the thugs retreat.

The Khadorans batter the man with everything they've got. And he feels it. But he holds the pipe - two assaults, three assaults, four - while his team slowly shambles up the pipe behind him, twisting their ankles on the angled floor - 15 feet, 30, 45.

"Why did you attack us? Who do you work for?" Sabvra demands as she scores a spear hit against the man.

"You won!" Bellows the fighter. "Let 'em go, they're retreating for Morrow's sake!"

I love this response:

"Drop the sword and give us your money and we'll let you go!" Thamateal yells.

The other players look at M in shock. And then, suddenly, understanding. Everyone laughs evilly. The PCs have learned the laws of Five Fingers, and they have learned well.

"How do I know you'll do it?" The fighter responds while pulling back farther up the tunnel.

"No choice, jack a--!" Sabvra pursues and stabs at him again.

A brief pause.

"Dammit!"

The man releases his sword and it clatters into the water. He kicks it forward with a splash, and hurls a pouch of coins as far as he can. Then he mumbles a prayer, turns tail and runs after his fellows.

The Khadorans honour their agreement, just as Fat Sasha did a week prior.

And this was easily my favourite battle of this whole campaign so far.

The team gathers their earnings as the light fades down the tunnel. It isn't nearly all of what the thugs had on them - but with two masterwork longswords (Utar's prefered weapon!), a regular longsword, some weighted clubs and a pouch of coin this is their biggest haul yet. They gather their things and move quickly to Outpost 5, still wary of a flood but now in jubilantly high spirits.

Their Saturday shift is over, and they actually have spending money for their day off on Sunday. They make plans to try to find the top of the garbage pit Sunday, as well as do some shopping and see if they can figure out where the Orgoth ruins are on the surface. They part ways with Heschean and head back to their inn for some well-deserved rest.

This post has been edited by AnotherPoet: Aug 10 2009, 03:30 PM
Attached File(s) 2009.04.04_Gang_Encounter.doc ( 100.5K ) Number of downloads: 13

[AnotherPoet]

Discussion - originally Aug. 10, 2009 (yes there was a long gap in posting):

*Ahem*

QUOTE (Izza @ Jul 26 2009, 08:13 PM)
>sounds more Australian to me.
>


Please refer to the movie "Bad Taste," one of the most awesome (and possibly only) sci-fi action movies ever to come out of New Zealand. Not too far into the movie, a little after the government agents first respond to the zombie alien attack but well before anyone uses a belt to hold their brains inside their skull, you can clearly hear one of the New Zealand actors announce (of the local town): "...They're all deed."

Clearly, this single instance of an outdated B-film is sufficient to show that all New Zealanders talk exactly like this and that this is representative of the New Zealand dialect of English. Q.E.D.



And, thanks everyone for the kudos. It may interest you to know that as soon as I hit Submit I will begin work on the next campaign update so you should have another "episode" within just 2 hours or so!!

Thanks all...

ap

[AnotherPoet]

Originally Aug. 10, 2009:

The Summer Sessions: A Week to Remember
(Part I)

Well everyone, some of you worried I was done updating. Not so! I'm off from work today and am going to begin to write up the several sessions that have happened so far this summer.

A lot has happened in-game. One thing that is becoming apparent is that with so many areas to explore, characters to meet, and side-plots to consider, the players are a bit overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, they still seem enthusiastic - but many details, clues and secrets are forgotten as new ones are uncovered. This hasn't really been a problem for me, but it may be a little frustrating for those of you who read about their adventures here. Who were those girls? Why is Fat Sasha on the hunt? You found a what in a where?

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here. You'll see all of these little plot points revealed soon enough. But be warned - the team hasn't done much to follow up on all of them, and I don't blame them. It's a big city and there's a lot to see. Plus, their team is backing down a little bit after the unfortunate death of.... well, one of the characters, but forgive me, I shouldn't say who just yet...



Sit down and enjoy tales of goo, muck, murder and theft--all uncensored, uncut and straight from the crapper to your screen.

When last we left our Khadoran homies, they had survived a harrowing assault only a short jaunt from their own Outpost 5. They had been rushed by armed thugs from two directions at a four-way intersection. They managed to beat the thugs back and even rob their rearguard as he covered their retreat. Saturday night was a night of drinking and recuperating, and then blissful sleep.

SUNDAY

Sunday is a day off for Zel Untertachen (the Sewer Guard), but that doesn't mean they're idle. Utar manages to get quite a bit of preaching in first thing in the morning. Sabvra spends that time keeping Rattlin' Jack company and making sure he's alright. So far, despite the worm medicine she got for him, he hasn't improved yet. He seems stable however, and in good spirits.

Late in the morning the group sets out to do some topside reconnoitering of the places they have been crawling themselves into sewerside. The first step is to go to Outpost 5 and walk west and north until they find the open midden pit they stumbled into yesterday.

It's surprisingly easy to find the spot, for the streets lead right to it only a few blocks NW and they can smell it before they see it. There are a few people hanging around on benches (on the upwind, westward side) and others walk around or right over it as they hurry on their way to various destinations. It's a sort of plaza at the intersection of several streets, and a number of rain spouts and street gutters dump into it. There are only a few openings for people to throw waste into; the pit, though huge, is almost entirely covered by a sturdy iron grate. The bars of the grate are close together and flattened on top so it is easy to walk over.

From here the group heads north. The major north-south street seems to line up perfectly with the major pipe they were in the other day. Indeed, as they follow it north it begins to curve slightly to the northeast just as the pipe did. With a little effort they are able to locate the grates of the storm sewers on side streets.

They count storm sewers (three of them) to figure out how far they must have gone before setting off the alarum at the strange barrier. They can't be sure of the exact place but they do see the roof of a huge building just a block or so northwest of the street. This they discover is on the border of the distillery district and the ironworks district. They assume that the barrier must have been a security fence at the edge of a factory.

They have one other place to look for - the topside of the Orgoth ruins, if it exists. Rattlin' Jack had a theory about that. He said that if they took Judge's Walk west toward the Emerald District, he reckoned the Orgoth ruins they found him in would be somewhere under the last market square before Emerald. They took a risk and told him about the other Orgoth ruins (the ones with the clockwork mannequins and the vault, though they didn't mention that part) and he shrugs. He figures if they're close together, they're probably both under that market somewhere.

So they take his advice. They head down to the market. It's surrounded by pretty standard buildings: shops and eateries downstairs, apartments or businesses upstairs. None look particularly out of place. In addition, scores of booths and stalls and tables line the market square. The place is crowded and bustling - far more so than any of Utar's sermons have been. And on a Sunday. For shame!

The team does a bit of digging around but they don't want to make anything too obvious. They fail to identify any building that is definitely part of (or connected to) the Orgoth structure, and they leave it at that. They do get the latest news, however, which is that the fountain in the middle of the market square has stopped working. This is a major problem because all of the local residents & businesses rely on the fountain for a steady supply of water.

Intrigued, they approach some of the people standing around the fountain. There aren't many, and they found out why: the fountain has been down since Friday sometime. Vasili climbs into the basin and both looks into, listens to, and tries suck-starting the pipe that is supposed to produce water, but to no effect. Big-hearted Sabvra tries to promise the people that she will get it fixed, but they scoff. They tell her she better not, because Luckarte already knows.

This draws further questions. Turns out "Lefty" Luckarte is Hurley's man. He oversees this neighbourhood for the High Captain. The well is "his" and thus his responsibility to fix. He has promised the locals that he will have his best workers on it ASAP, but so far they haven't showed. Meanwhile water merchants have set up shop with barrels and kegs of the stuff, but most locals walk four blocks to a different well.

(cont'd in next post)

[AnotherPoet]

(cont'd from prev post)
The Khadorans don't really want to get mixed up in gang affairs so they let the fountain issue lie. They do however do some shopping. They spend a lot of time talking with a very up-scale blade merchant who is interested in purchasing one of the two swords they took off of the thugs in the sewers. He offers them a good price, for Five Fingers, but they decide to shop around. They do bring out the weighted clubs they captured, however, and this gets a look of distaste... and perhaps nervousness.

By late afternoon they are done with their mutual chores. For now they have found out enough about the topside layout of the sewers that they decide not to bring in a cartographer or engineer to try to draw maps from Jack's descriptions. They're too concerned about leaking the fact that they're working in the sewers, especially after yesterday.

Vasili does have one more chore, however. He heads off on his own to seek out a good trapsmith. He barely made it out of the trapped room in the Orgoth ruins without being cut in half, and yesterday it was he who set off the alarum on the security barricade. He had inspected it carefully and was sure it wasn't trapped. But he was wrong.

What follows with the apprenticeship was arranged between N and I so that Vasili could gain Trapfinding despite not being a Rogue. N went back and forth on whether or not to take a level in Rogue. I advised him against it because, as a Bard, his spell progression is already delayed enough. No use in getting even further behind.

We decide to make it a feat. Prereq: 2 weeks' training under a Journeyman or Master trapsmith (and paying for the privelege). Benefit: Gain Trapfinding, as Rogue. Since cross-class skill ranks do not cost more than class skill ranks in Pathfinder, skills would not be a problem.

Vasili got the names of a few trappers and locksmiths, but only one sounded like the kind of expert he needed to see. A man by the name of Willfrender Hurov who lives on Tongue Alley. Early Sunday evening Vasili went to pay him a visit.

The Khadorans had heard mention of Tongue Alley before but this is the first any of them visited it. Tongue Alley is a remarkable place, and it deserves a bit of description. The alley itself wends sinuously through the dense neighbourhoods that lead up to the cliffs above the Grav. Hemmed in by the backs of tall tenements, once upon a time it would run like a river at any moderate rainstorm. The locals, however, seeing the utility of their close and shady back-street, built it up. It has no storm drains, so over the years they installed layer upon layer of cobbles over the muddy street. Each layer ends somne two feet from the buildings on either side, so that now there is a raised, paved, narrow causeway of sorts flanked by two thigh-deep storm gutters. Wooden planks cross these gutters to offer access to narrow doorways. This construction runs almost the whole length of the alley. At the western end where it lets out onto a main street, the cobbles taper down to street level just a few feet out of the alley. This, and the decorative arch overhead, makes it look as if the alley mouth is actually sticking out its tongue at passersby.

Tongue Alley is home to an open-air street market of varied providence. Everything from comfort food to illegal goods is found here.

Every urban setting refers to the black market(s) where smuggled and rare items must be purchased. Few give a description. I identified a curving street on the Five Fingers map near the "Tongue Alley" label and decided to make it real. When my PCs think of going to the black markert, I want them to know exactly where that is and what it means. If they hang out in the Tongue enough and make a few contacts, they will have access to a wide array of goods and services they won't find in a market square. Picture equal parts Hong Kong street vendors, Lowtown from Final Fantasy XII and a makeshift Venice c**** and you can picture Tongue Alley.

Vasili picks his way along several blocks of this strange bazaar until he comes to the named building he seeks. He actually walked past it once, then back past it again after asking for directions, before spotting the little placard that reads, ANIMAL TRAPS & DEVICES OF PERSONAL SECURITY, Most Expert & Precise, Designed & Built on Order. The door is closed, and Vasili is well into a third fit of pounding before a thin, gaunt, middle-aged Umbrean man opens it up.

The bard asks if Master Hurov is there and the man cautiously identifies himself as such. Sh*t, Hurov is Llaelese. Vasili is Umbrean too, but anyone not hard of hearing will hear the Khadoran slant to his voice. Still, he states he is there on business and the man chuckles.

"You got a lot of nerve comin' here on any kind of business, Northerner," he says coldly.

Vasili sputters, trying to tap into his usual smooth talking ways to make this all okay. Hurov lets him go on for a few minutes and then breaks into a huge grin and laughs.

"I'm just gummin' yer chum, kid. A sale is a sale. Get in." He lets the bard in and closes the door against the mild drizzle outside. As he leans over a work bench he explains that his parents left Llael when he was still a little kid. He's a Fiver for life, and his only patriotism is to his little back alley here. "Still, it's a shame what you ***-knockers did up there. But I'm sure you weren't in on any of that, right?"

Vasili agrees and quickly moves the conversation to the subject of apprenticeship. Hurov immediately explains that he doesn't take apprentices, yet goes on to ask Vasili some (fairly general) questions about what he wants to learn and why. Over the course of their talk Vasilo lets on that he knows more than a few things about alchemy, and would be willing to trade his alchemical services for the tutelage. Hurove gradually changes his opinion, since the level of education Vasili wants is so basic and field-oriented, and the value of his services could easily make up for a little lost time.

Hurov lays down the terms of the contract. First, nothing during daytime. Hurov keeps to a very strict schedule: sleep till eleven, drink heavily till 3, sober up till 5, nap till 6:30, work from 7 at night until whenever the work is done. And repeat. So work starts at 7, no exceptions.

Second, if Vasili keeps him waiting even two minutes even once, they're done.

Third, if Vasili misses even one session, they're done.

And last, no one can know the nature of their agreement. Hurov has a contract with a local alchemier and can't afford to alienate the man.

Vasili agrees to all of this. He also puts up with Hurov going on about his hobby of fishing. He seems quite pleased to show off his several rods and numerous lures, but he confesses the lures are all for show. "You don't need lures or bait for this kind of fishing," he laughs. Opening up the door again, he shows Vasili how the gutter between his shop and the paved Alley fills with rushing water during rainstorms. "Everything that gets dropped in this place comes right past my door in a thunderstorm," he says. "I just gotta catch it as it goes past."

Vasili asks what sort of stuff he's caught. He pulls down a little keg marked Blasting Powder and opens it up to reveal a collection of trinkets. Jewellery, coins, a phial, all sorts of things are in there. Hurov says he also caught a potion once, and both halves of a pair of slippers. He also caught a fish once, somehow, which he did not eat. He gave it to some kids instead.

"Weirdest thing I ever caught," he muses, putting the keg away, "Was a dead baby. An actual dead baby."

He looks Vasili in the eyes.

"That one was maybe not so good," he adds.

"Maybe not," Vasili agrees.

It is decided that Vasili will begin his apprenticeship Tuesday at 7 o'clock in the evening. 7 o'clock sharp, or no deal. The bard and the trap-maker shake hands and Vasili lets himself out while his fellow Umbrean lifts a giant jar of spiders off of a shelf and puts on some gloves.


TO BE CONTINUED!! SOON!!