[The ratfolk adventurers search for a lost snitch, finally get paid for the siege castle gig, and then things catch fire!]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened December 2, 2019.]
Player Characters
Marativy – female ratfolk 1st level Ninja
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 1st level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 1st level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 1st level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 1st level Gunslinger
Day 5
After a night’s sleep, the ratfolk adventurers reassembled at the Blue Rodent. In a private room Zitch cast identify on the ring from the Paradox Box and determined it was a ring of feather falling. After a short discussion, the group decided to hand the ring to Marativy as she was most likely to need it.
The ratfolk then started strategizing on how they might track down Natalia/Kasadi. Marativy remembered her as a lookout on the one job they worked together. Marativy also suggested the group try looking around on Washer’s Row. Some of the laundries there are fronts for a Sczarni group known as the Washside Wringers. That area is also the base of operations for The Amazing Zograthy, an information broker and middleman between the Sczarni and other criminal organizations.
The group dispersed across the lower city to track down leads. Roscuro attempted asking around Underbridge diplomatically but ended up talking with his fists, elbows, and knees and got no information. [I rolled a 5 on the attempt.] Marativy and Templeton went to talk with The Amazing Zograthy and for 50 gold coins he answered any question they put to him. They learned a number of locals where disappearing and word on the street was that Nidalese slavers were grabbing people and smuggling them out of the city. The slavers were known to operate out of an abandoned tavern called the Puffy Pelican. Separately, Winston and Zitch learned the same information from other sources, but Zitch also learned that the local boss for the Nidalese was a man named Plutivarch Dremis.
The ratfolk reconvened at the Blue Rodent and compared information. They had found out nothing about Natalia, but a lot about this slaver organization. They speculated that perhaps the Nidalese had grabbed Natalia and this might be worthwhile to investigate. As their information suggested the slavers operated at night, they decided to go back to Frederick’s place and see if they could finally get paid for exploring the siege castle and sell off the things they brought back.
The group went over to Roscuro’s parent’s home to pick up the chest of goods and hauled it over to Frederick’s in a fancier part of town. This time Frederick was in the shop and the rude assistant was nowhere to be seen. After exchanging pleasantries, Roscuro started showing Frederick what the group had retrieved from the siege castle, starting with the mended swords and shields. Frederick easily contained his excitement at seeing them. Roscuro then produced the shield with the dolphin heraldry and Frederick became noticeably excited at it. Roscuro followed with the banner, the ledgers [the books not containing history], and the contracts [the scrolls that were not maps], all of which Frederick was very enthused about. Roscuro then brought out the piece de’resistance, the wax seal. Frederick was floored to see it. He barely even noticed the jewelry Roscuro added at the end, agreeing to take all of it.
Frederick went into the back of his shop and brought out a small strongbox. He presented it to the ratfolk adventurers. Inside were 5000 gold coins, 1000 for each adventurer. Roscuro did a quick visual check that the others accepted this and then thanked Frederick for his patronage, accepting the strongbox on the group’s behalf.
After that the group and Frederick worked out the process for delivering finds to his “VIP supplier depot” to avoid future unpleasantness. Frederick also assisted the group in establishing an account at a nearby bank so they didn’t have to haul 5000 gold coins around town with them and make targets of themselves. As the bank needed a name for the account, the ratfolk huddled a moment and settled upon the group name The Ratpack. [Not the most imaginative names, but easily agreed upon and undeniably descriptive.]
After Sunset
After spending the afternoon doing some celebrating, The Ratpack made their way over to the Puffy Pelican in the Dockway neighborhood. Their thinking was that the slavers might store “product” here and maybe, if they were lucky, Natalia might still be here. Either way they might get a lead on the Nidalese slavers.
The Ratpack spent some time scouting out the abandoned tavern. The windows and doors were boarded up and the wooden structure was built mostly hanging over the water on stilts. After a time, several of the group noticed there was a faint light inside the building.
Marativy took to the rooves of the surrounding buildings to try and get a better look at the interior. From that elevation she could see the roof of the Puffy Pelican had holes and gaps in it. With great stealth she moved over to the Puffy Pelican roof to look inside the structure. She discerned that the interior was almost completely empty except for a hooded lantern that was shining a light out an open back window and into the bay. She saw no one inside the structure but there was a side room with a door that she could not see into at all.
After checking the roof, Marativy climbed down and looked at the understructure. There was nothing under the building except the wooden support posts and the waters of the bay. There was no light shining down on the water, which suggested there were no trapdoors. Learning this, Marativy returned to where the rest of the Ratpack was waiting and shared what she had learned.
The Ratpack, not the most subtle of groups, decided a simple, straight-forward approach would be easiest and quickest. They would sneak around to the front of the side area, pry out two planks with crowbars, and take a look at whatever was in the side room. What could go wrong?
Waiting only long enough for Templeton to summon and merge with his eidolon, they enacted their plan. The group somewhat stealthily made their way to the front wall of the side room. Zitch and Roscuro quickly pried out adjacent vertical planks, allowing them to see in. The room seemed to be some sort of storage room in the past. It now contained empty shelves and three crates on the floor. Shrugging, Zitch pried another plank off the wall and squeezed into the room. Roscuro and Winston followed with Templeton and Marativy keeping an eye out across the street.
Roscuro had time to open one of the crates, finding old serving ware, before an invisible assailant cast color spray on the trio [note: no Perception roll was made versus the sorcerer’s stealth nor for the casting of the color spray]. Luckily, only Zitch was blinded by the attack. Templeton charged across the street and squeezed into the room, just in time for the now revealed sorcerer to again cast color spray [defensively], this time to no effect [we all made our saves]. Winston shot and hit the sorcerer with his musket, followed by Roscuro dumping a vial of oil on the attacker. Marativy sprinted across the street to join in on the fight.
[At this point I realized my plan had a flaw – none of us had any fire to light the oil. We would have to improvise.]
Templeton attempted a full attack routine on the sorcerer but missed all three times. The sorcerer backed up into the main room and then cast magic missile at Roscuro, hitting with two missiles [I was now down to one hit point]. Winston reloaded his musket in the storeroom while Roscuro and Marativy joined the sorcerer in the main room...but both missed with their attacks. [We were all rolling frustratingly low on our attack rolls, except for Winston who had to reload after every attack so couldn't press his advantage.]
Templeton decided to wait for an opportune time to attack, which allowed the sorcerer to cast a second magic missile, this time at Marativy [apparently, the sorcerer realized Roscuro had no flame to light the oil with while Marativy had a very sharp sword that needed no fire]. Winston, his musket reloaded, strode into the room and to the sorcerer and shot him at point blank range, blowing a hole in the sorcerer AND igniting the oil he was covered in. Roscuro threw a second flask of oil on the sorcerer because F that guy. Marativy tried to kill the caster with her sword but missed, allowing Templeton to decide that now was the time and step up and end the sorcerer with a final claw swipe.
The overuse of oil meant the wooden building quickly caught fire. Rather than put out the fire [or the sorcerer], the Ratpack started leaving the building the way they had entered. Roscuro delayed long enough to check the last two crates in the store room [both full of junk] before the rapidly spreading fire drove him from the building.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[We were surprised by the power of the sorcerer. At first we thought he was a wizard, which led us to overestimate his level and question the balance of the encounter. On the other hand, we missed a lot due to low dice rolls, making the fight even more frustrating. My advice here would have been to allow the players a Perception roll against the sorcerer’s Stealth when he snuck up on us, especially when he opened the door, then the Fort save against the color spray.]
[We know we probably lost a couple magic items by letting the sorcerer burn, but we hated that guy at the moment and we'll live with it. Please note how little time elapsed between the start of the fight, particularly Winston's first shot with his musket, and when we were forced out of the building because of the flames. Next session starts exactly where this one ends and... well, you'll see.]
[I changed the name of the tavern our characters congregate at. Calling the tavern that a group of ratfolk meet at "The Rat's Cellar" seems like a funny history joke at first. In hindsight, maybe not so much. No reason to be a dick even accidentally. I changed it to The Blue Rodent as a nod to The Blue Parrot from Casablanca, one of my favorite movies. As I get time I'll go back and change it in the earlier session notes.]
Ratpack
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03
Session 04
Session 05
Session 07
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened December 2, 2019.]
Player Characters
Marativy – female ratfolk 1st level Ninja
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 1st level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 1st level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 1st level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 1st level Gunslinger
Day 5
After a night’s sleep, the ratfolk adventurers reassembled at the Blue Rodent. In a private room Zitch cast identify on the ring from the Paradox Box and determined it was a ring of feather falling. After a short discussion, the group decided to hand the ring to Marativy as she was most likely to need it.
The ratfolk then started strategizing on how they might track down Natalia/Kasadi. Marativy remembered her as a lookout on the one job they worked together. Marativy also suggested the group try looking around on Washer’s Row. Some of the laundries there are fronts for a Sczarni group known as the Washside Wringers. That area is also the base of operations for The Amazing Zograthy, an information broker and middleman between the Sczarni and other criminal organizations.
The group dispersed across the lower city to track down leads. Roscuro attempted asking around Underbridge diplomatically but ended up talking with his fists, elbows, and knees and got no information. [I rolled a 5 on the attempt.] Marativy and Templeton went to talk with The Amazing Zograthy and for 50 gold coins he answered any question they put to him. They learned a number of locals where disappearing and word on the street was that Nidalese slavers were grabbing people and smuggling them out of the city. The slavers were known to operate out of an abandoned tavern called the Puffy Pelican. Separately, Winston and Zitch learned the same information from other sources, but Zitch also learned that the local boss for the Nidalese was a man named Plutivarch Dremis.
The ratfolk reconvened at the Blue Rodent and compared information. They had found out nothing about Natalia, but a lot about this slaver organization. They speculated that perhaps the Nidalese had grabbed Natalia and this might be worthwhile to investigate. As their information suggested the slavers operated at night, they decided to go back to Frederick’s place and see if they could finally get paid for exploring the siege castle and sell off the things they brought back.
The group went over to Roscuro’s parent’s home to pick up the chest of goods and hauled it over to Frederick’s in a fancier part of town. This time Frederick was in the shop and the rude assistant was nowhere to be seen. After exchanging pleasantries, Roscuro started showing Frederick what the group had retrieved from the siege castle, starting with the mended swords and shields. Frederick easily contained his excitement at seeing them. Roscuro then produced the shield with the dolphin heraldry and Frederick became noticeably excited at it. Roscuro followed with the banner, the ledgers [the books not containing history], and the contracts [the scrolls that were not maps], all of which Frederick was very enthused about. Roscuro then brought out the piece de’resistance, the wax seal. Frederick was floored to see it. He barely even noticed the jewelry Roscuro added at the end, agreeing to take all of it.
Frederick went into the back of his shop and brought out a small strongbox. He presented it to the ratfolk adventurers. Inside were 5000 gold coins, 1000 for each adventurer. Roscuro did a quick visual check that the others accepted this and then thanked Frederick for his patronage, accepting the strongbox on the group’s behalf.
After that the group and Frederick worked out the process for delivering finds to his “VIP supplier depot” to avoid future unpleasantness. Frederick also assisted the group in establishing an account at a nearby bank so they didn’t have to haul 5000 gold coins around town with them and make targets of themselves. As the bank needed a name for the account, the ratfolk huddled a moment and settled upon the group name The Ratpack. [Not the most imaginative names, but easily agreed upon and undeniably descriptive.]
After Sunset
After spending the afternoon doing some celebrating, The Ratpack made their way over to the Puffy Pelican in the Dockway neighborhood. Their thinking was that the slavers might store “product” here and maybe, if they were lucky, Natalia might still be here. Either way they might get a lead on the Nidalese slavers.
The Ratpack spent some time scouting out the abandoned tavern. The windows and doors were boarded up and the wooden structure was built mostly hanging over the water on stilts. After a time, several of the group noticed there was a faint light inside the building.
Marativy took to the rooves of the surrounding buildings to try and get a better look at the interior. From that elevation she could see the roof of the Puffy Pelican had holes and gaps in it. With great stealth she moved over to the Puffy Pelican roof to look inside the structure. She discerned that the interior was almost completely empty except for a hooded lantern that was shining a light out an open back window and into the bay. She saw no one inside the structure but there was a side room with a door that she could not see into at all.
After checking the roof, Marativy climbed down and looked at the understructure. There was nothing under the building except the wooden support posts and the waters of the bay. There was no light shining down on the water, which suggested there were no trapdoors. Learning this, Marativy returned to where the rest of the Ratpack was waiting and shared what she had learned.
The Ratpack, not the most subtle of groups, decided a simple, straight-forward approach would be easiest and quickest. They would sneak around to the front of the side area, pry out two planks with crowbars, and take a look at whatever was in the side room. What could go wrong?
Waiting only long enough for Templeton to summon and merge with his eidolon, they enacted their plan. The group somewhat stealthily made their way to the front wall of the side room. Zitch and Roscuro quickly pried out adjacent vertical planks, allowing them to see in. The room seemed to be some sort of storage room in the past. It now contained empty shelves and three crates on the floor. Shrugging, Zitch pried another plank off the wall and squeezed into the room. Roscuro and Winston followed with Templeton and Marativy keeping an eye out across the street.
Roscuro had time to open one of the crates, finding old serving ware, before an invisible assailant cast color spray on the trio [note: no Perception roll was made versus the sorcerer’s stealth nor for the casting of the color spray]. Luckily, only Zitch was blinded by the attack. Templeton charged across the street and squeezed into the room, just in time for the now revealed sorcerer to again cast color spray [defensively], this time to no effect [we all made our saves]. Winston shot and hit the sorcerer with his musket, followed by Roscuro dumping a vial of oil on the attacker. Marativy sprinted across the street to join in on the fight.
[At this point I realized my plan had a flaw – none of us had any fire to light the oil. We would have to improvise.]
Templeton attempted a full attack routine on the sorcerer but missed all three times. The sorcerer backed up into the main room and then cast magic missile at Roscuro, hitting with two missiles [I was now down to one hit point]. Winston reloaded his musket in the storeroom while Roscuro and Marativy joined the sorcerer in the main room...but both missed with their attacks. [We were all rolling frustratingly low on our attack rolls, except for Winston who had to reload after every attack so couldn't press his advantage.]
Templeton decided to wait for an opportune time to attack, which allowed the sorcerer to cast a second magic missile, this time at Marativy [apparently, the sorcerer realized Roscuro had no flame to light the oil with while Marativy had a very sharp sword that needed no fire]. Winston, his musket reloaded, strode into the room and to the sorcerer and shot him at point blank range, blowing a hole in the sorcerer AND igniting the oil he was covered in. Roscuro threw a second flask of oil on the sorcerer because F that guy. Marativy tried to kill the caster with her sword but missed, allowing Templeton to decide that now was the time and step up and end the sorcerer with a final claw swipe.
The overuse of oil meant the wooden building quickly caught fire. Rather than put out the fire [or the sorcerer], the Ratpack started leaving the building the way they had entered. Roscuro delayed long enough to check the last two crates in the store room [both full of junk] before the rapidly spreading fire drove him from the building.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[We were surprised by the power of the sorcerer. At first we thought he was a wizard, which led us to overestimate his level and question the balance of the encounter. On the other hand, we missed a lot due to low dice rolls, making the fight even more frustrating. My advice here would have been to allow the players a Perception roll against the sorcerer’s Stealth when he snuck up on us, especially when he opened the door, then the Fort save against the color spray.]
[We know we probably lost a couple magic items by letting the sorcerer burn, but we hated that guy at the moment and we'll live with it. Please note how little time elapsed between the start of the fight, particularly Winston's first shot with his musket, and when we were forced out of the building because of the flames. Next session starts exactly where this one ends and... well, you'll see.]
[I changed the name of the tavern our characters congregate at. Calling the tavern that a group of ratfolk meet at "The Rat's Cellar" seems like a funny history joke at first. In hindsight, maybe not so much. No reason to be a dick even accidentally. I changed it to The Blue Rodent as a nod to The Blue Parrot from Casablanca, one of my favorite movies. As I get time I'll go back and change it in the earlier session notes.]
Ratpack
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03
Session 04
Session 05
Session 07
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