[Busted!]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened December 9, 2019.]
Player Characters
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 5/6
As the Puffy Pelican Burns
The Ratpack was just walking away from the Puffy Pelican as flames started consuming the abandoned tavern when a group of 4 armed and armored people ran up the street to them. Their leader claimed to be part of the City Watch and wanted to know what happened. Roscuro attempted to lie to them and stated that the group of ratfolk was just walking down the street when the building caught fire as they were passing. The “guards” did not believe this for a second and immediately accused the Ratpack of starting the fire.
None of the ratfolk wanted to kill the “guards” if they actually were City Watch, but they also didn’t want to be arrested. While most of the group could have escaped by taking to the rooftops, Zitch couldn’t and no one wanted to leave him behind. Noticing that the “guards” only had two lanterns and seemed to be humans [assumption on my part – I should have asked the GM as two of them were elves with low-light vision], Roscuro attempted to knock out one of the lanterns so maybe Zitch could escape in the darkness. This initiated a fight.
Two of the “guards” grappled Roscuro and tied him up with a rope before he could react [there was an issue here because we all had a poor understanding of the grapple rules]. Another grappled Templeton and knocked him out. Winston ran for it and was pursued by the fourth one, one of the two elfs, to a nearby roof. While the elf could climb well, Winston’s acrobatics allowed him to quickly escape across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Zitch stepped back from the fight and then ran for it along the streets, ducking into alleys to get out of sight as soon as he could. The “guards” took their two captives to Arvensoar, the garrison of the city’s watch and small military. Both were put in holding cells for the rest of the night. Zitch and Winston reconnected and followed the “guards” and then stayed nearby to see if they could help Roscuro and Templeton, staying in touch via the message spell.
Day 6
Morning
Sheila Heidmarch entered the holding area shortly after the sun had risen. She asked Roscuro and Templeton if they had a good excuse for getting arrested. Roscuro said he did, but the holding cells were too public to discuss it. Sheila accepted this answer and proceeded to get the two ratfolk released.
Once outside Arvensoar, Roscuro explained what the group had been up to, what they had done and why, and how two of them ended up arrested. He then asked Sheila how the “guards” knew to contact her as neither Templeton nor Roscuro had said anything to them about who they were working for. She explained that the City Watch, when faced with an odd occurrence contacted the heads of several organizations in the city to see if they were involved and wanted to collect their people. Roscuro found this peculiar. Sheila asked if the group had questioned the Watch Captain. Roscuro said no and doubted the Watch Captain would talk to two ratfolk his people had recently arrested. Sheila suggested that showing him a wayfinder would make him more inclined to talk. Roscuro also found this dubious, but accepted her suggestion. They parted ways.
Mid-Morning
The Ratpack regrouped at the Blue Rodent and discussed what to do next. Roscuro was dubious about talking to the Watch Captain but Templeton was willing to give it a try. After strategizing a bit, Templeton and Zitch went back to Arvensoar.
At Avensoar, Templeton demanded to speak with the Watch Captain. The person on duty refused to go get the Watch Captain, so Templeton slapped down gold coins and told the duty officer the coins were his if he went and got his superior and there were more coins for his superior when he or she got here. Using this method, Templeton quickly got a meeting with the Watch Captain.
The Watch Captain was not impressed, but once Templeton showed his wayfinder, he was willing to talk. [Note: the GM presented the Watch Captain as male and never gave a name. Later reading of the Magnimar source book pointed out the Watch Captain has a name and is in fact female. I have no control over this and don’t know if it will be changed.] The Watch Captain asked what Templeton wanted. Templeton explained he was looking for Natalia van Caskerkin. The Watch Captain explained that she was a member of the Tower Girls, a faction of the Sczarni having a run of bad luck. The Watch raided the Tower Girls’ base a month or so ago, then the Tower Girls had a run in with The Wreckwash Gang and lost their new base. The Tower Girls seem to have moved into an abandoned warehouse in Underbridge owned by Fenster the Blight. Fenster takes odd jobs if he likes the offered pay. This pay is in items and knick-knacks as he refuses money. The Tower Girls leader is someone named Ayala, but that might be a title as the person with that name has appeared as very different people over time. The gang might have between 30 and 50 members overall. Natalia seems to have disappeared about a week ago.
Templeton asked about the rumors of the Nidalese slavers and the possibility that they might have grabbed Natalia. The Watch Captain was very dismissive of the rumors, stating they were false. People are disappearing, but they all are found a week or so later with complete amnesia, trying to get along as best they can in their new circumstances. The disappearances are happening all over the city and are usually socially lower-end people who were out on the street going somewhere or other. Restorative magics have failed to cure the memory loss. The issue has been happening for about a month.
Templeton also asked about Plutivarch Dramis. The Watch Captain seemed to really have it in for Plutivarch, describing him as a “bastard child of academia.” Plutivarch is a disreputable mage and “an asshat.” The Watch Captain does not believe Plutivarch has any connection to the Nidalese.
Templeton ran out of things to ask about and so left. He and Zitch returned to the Blue Rodent and reported back what they had learned to Roscuro and Winston. This hardened Roscuro’s belief that the Watch were either the slavers themselves or in league with the slavers. [This may just be a delusion on Roscuro’s part or not – we’ll see how it plays out.]
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[Remember when I said pay attention to the short time between when the fight started and the end of the session? This is why. To say the players were unhappy that a patrol of super-competent “guards” specializing in grappling showed up within a minute of the previous fight starting is a bit of understatement. I don’t know if this scene was scripted or not, but if so, I don’t know what it was supposed to accomplish. It felt very railroad-y to us and definitely changed our opinion of the City Watch and how we interact with them. It is also the reason I type “guards” in quotes as Roscuro is definitely of the opinion that they ARE the slavers.]
[Marativy’s player missed this session and the next due to work reasons, but she should return for Session 9. As is standard for our group, when a player cannot make the game their character fades into the background. If there is a convenient place to “park” the character we will, but otherwise they are considered just off camera until the player returns.]
[Also, Roscuro, Templeton, and Zitch have earned enough experience points to level up and will be 2nd level after this.]
Ratpack
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03
Session 04
Session 05
Session 06
Session 08
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened December 9, 2019.]
Player Characters
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 5/6
As the Puffy Pelican Burns
The Ratpack was just walking away from the Puffy Pelican as flames started consuming the abandoned tavern when a group of 4 armed and armored people ran up the street to them. Their leader claimed to be part of the City Watch and wanted to know what happened. Roscuro attempted to lie to them and stated that the group of ratfolk was just walking down the street when the building caught fire as they were passing. The “guards” did not believe this for a second and immediately accused the Ratpack of starting the fire.
None of the ratfolk wanted to kill the “guards” if they actually were City Watch, but they also didn’t want to be arrested. While most of the group could have escaped by taking to the rooftops, Zitch couldn’t and no one wanted to leave him behind. Noticing that the “guards” only had two lanterns and seemed to be humans [assumption on my part – I should have asked the GM as two of them were elves with low-light vision], Roscuro attempted to knock out one of the lanterns so maybe Zitch could escape in the darkness. This initiated a fight.
Two of the “guards” grappled Roscuro and tied him up with a rope before he could react [there was an issue here because we all had a poor understanding of the grapple rules]. Another grappled Templeton and knocked him out. Winston ran for it and was pursued by the fourth one, one of the two elfs, to a nearby roof. While the elf could climb well, Winston’s acrobatics allowed him to quickly escape across the rooftops. Meanwhile, Zitch stepped back from the fight and then ran for it along the streets, ducking into alleys to get out of sight as soon as he could. The “guards” took their two captives to Arvensoar, the garrison of the city’s watch and small military. Both were put in holding cells for the rest of the night. Zitch and Winston reconnected and followed the “guards” and then stayed nearby to see if they could help Roscuro and Templeton, staying in touch via the message spell.
Day 6
Morning
Sheila Heidmarch entered the holding area shortly after the sun had risen. She asked Roscuro and Templeton if they had a good excuse for getting arrested. Roscuro said he did, but the holding cells were too public to discuss it. Sheila accepted this answer and proceeded to get the two ratfolk released.
Once outside Arvensoar, Roscuro explained what the group had been up to, what they had done and why, and how two of them ended up arrested. He then asked Sheila how the “guards” knew to contact her as neither Templeton nor Roscuro had said anything to them about who they were working for. She explained that the City Watch, when faced with an odd occurrence contacted the heads of several organizations in the city to see if they were involved and wanted to collect their people. Roscuro found this peculiar. Sheila asked if the group had questioned the Watch Captain. Roscuro said no and doubted the Watch Captain would talk to two ratfolk his people had recently arrested. Sheila suggested that showing him a wayfinder would make him more inclined to talk. Roscuro also found this dubious, but accepted her suggestion. They parted ways.
Mid-Morning
The Ratpack regrouped at the Blue Rodent and discussed what to do next. Roscuro was dubious about talking to the Watch Captain but Templeton was willing to give it a try. After strategizing a bit, Templeton and Zitch went back to Arvensoar.
At Avensoar, Templeton demanded to speak with the Watch Captain. The person on duty refused to go get the Watch Captain, so Templeton slapped down gold coins and told the duty officer the coins were his if he went and got his superior and there were more coins for his superior when he or she got here. Using this method, Templeton quickly got a meeting with the Watch Captain.
The Watch Captain was not impressed, but once Templeton showed his wayfinder, he was willing to talk. [Note: the GM presented the Watch Captain as male and never gave a name. Later reading of the Magnimar source book pointed out the Watch Captain has a name and is in fact female. I have no control over this and don’t know if it will be changed.] The Watch Captain asked what Templeton wanted. Templeton explained he was looking for Natalia van Caskerkin. The Watch Captain explained that she was a member of the Tower Girls, a faction of the Sczarni having a run of bad luck. The Watch raided the Tower Girls’ base a month or so ago, then the Tower Girls had a run in with The Wreckwash Gang and lost their new base. The Tower Girls seem to have moved into an abandoned warehouse in Underbridge owned by Fenster the Blight. Fenster takes odd jobs if he likes the offered pay. This pay is in items and knick-knacks as he refuses money. The Tower Girls leader is someone named Ayala, but that might be a title as the person with that name has appeared as very different people over time. The gang might have between 30 and 50 members overall. Natalia seems to have disappeared about a week ago.
Templeton asked about the rumors of the Nidalese slavers and the possibility that they might have grabbed Natalia. The Watch Captain was very dismissive of the rumors, stating they were false. People are disappearing, but they all are found a week or so later with complete amnesia, trying to get along as best they can in their new circumstances. The disappearances are happening all over the city and are usually socially lower-end people who were out on the street going somewhere or other. Restorative magics have failed to cure the memory loss. The issue has been happening for about a month.
Templeton also asked about Plutivarch Dramis. The Watch Captain seemed to really have it in for Plutivarch, describing him as a “bastard child of academia.” Plutivarch is a disreputable mage and “an asshat.” The Watch Captain does not believe Plutivarch has any connection to the Nidalese.
Templeton ran out of things to ask about and so left. He and Zitch returned to the Blue Rodent and reported back what they had learned to Roscuro and Winston. This hardened Roscuro’s belief that the Watch were either the slavers themselves or in league with the slavers. [This may just be a delusion on Roscuro’s part or not – we’ll see how it plays out.]
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[Remember when I said pay attention to the short time between when the fight started and the end of the session? This is why. To say the players were unhappy that a patrol of super-competent “guards” specializing in grappling showed up within a minute of the previous fight starting is a bit of understatement. I don’t know if this scene was scripted or not, but if so, I don’t know what it was supposed to accomplish. It felt very railroad-y to us and definitely changed our opinion of the City Watch and how we interact with them. It is also the reason I type “guards” in quotes as Roscuro is definitely of the opinion that they ARE the slavers.]
[Marativy’s player missed this session and the next due to work reasons, but she should return for Session 9. As is standard for our group, when a player cannot make the game their character fades into the background. If there is a convenient place to “park” the character we will, but otherwise they are considered just off camera until the player returns.]
[Also, Roscuro, Templeton, and Zitch have earned enough experience points to level up and will be 2nd level after this.]
Ratpack
Session 01
Session 02
Session 03
Session 04
Session 05
Session 06
Session 08
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