[Exploration gets held up but a deal (or two) is made.]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened February 10, 2020.]
[SPOILERS! If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will contain a lot of spoilers.]
Player Characters
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 2nd level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 2nd level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 2nd level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 2nd level Gunslinger
NPCd
Marativy – female ratfolk 2nd level Ninja
Day 8 Resumes
Realizing that whoever was inside the Irespan pylon The Crow was now aware of their presence, the Ratpack carefully advanced up the corkscrew stairs. The stairs went up hundreds of steps until they eventually ended at a 20’ by 20‘ landing. A passage to the right opens to another room where light is seen.
Roscuro quietly snuck to the entrance of the next room, staying in the hall to avoid being seen. At some point in the past this room had been a dining room. There is broken furniture at the dark end of the room, to the right. To the left is a sturdy table turned on its side with a lit lantern attached to it. Peering over the edge of the table/barricade were two human women, armed with crossbows. They were alert, but had not noticed Roscuro yet. Roscuro eased back from the doorway, turned back to the other members of his team, and used hand signals to indicate what he saw and to signal the group should move forward quietly. Zitch was the only one to notice the handsignals, but was able to interpret them correctly and relayed the information to the others.
[Pathfinder uses the Bluff skill for sending messages this way and Sense Motive to interpret the messages. Roscuro is excellent about intercepting secret messages sent this way due to his Canter trait, but is absolutely awful at sending messages as Bluff is not a class skill for Monks and I missed needing to have bluff to send messages when I made him, so my Bluff bonus is only +1. Luckily Zitch and Marativy also have high Sense Motive rolls and can interpret what Roscuro means…with some effort.]
Zitch and Winston crept forward to where Roscuro was. Templeton remained back at the stairs as he was too noisy to risk sneaking up [low Stealth bonus as it is not a class skill for summoners]. Once the Ratpack was ready to attack, Roscuro threw a tanglefoot bag at the far crossbowwoman and Winston shot the lantern. The tanglefoot bag bound the far crossbowwoman to the table barricade. The shot from Winston’s musket broke the lantern and splattered the oil on the turned over table…where it then lit. So much for attempting to take out their light source.
The Ratpack pressed the attack, but a wererat rogue joined the fight as a defender. After several rounds of intense fighting, the two human crossbowwomen were dead and the Ratpack was facing off against the wererat rogue. Unfortunately, the Ratpack had only one silver weapon [a small dagger] and no magical weapons, so they were barely injuring the wererat who was inflicting near fatal wounds on the ratfolk every time she attacked.
Seeing that two or more members of the Ratpack could die before they wore down the wererat rogue, Roscuro attempted to initiate negotiations, asking her how much would it cost to get her to just leave. He then held off attacking again to see what her reaction would be. Her response was that this was her home and the ratfolk should leave – but she also held off attacking again. Roscuro explained the Ratpack was just looking for a particular piece of metal and then they would leave. Suspicious, but not wanting to get stabbed by the silver dagger again, the wererat rogue agreed to stop hostilities and ask her boss. Roscuro introduces himself and the Ratpack and the wererat tells them her name is Sasha. Sasha pulled out a small white statuette of a rat and activated it, giving it a whispered message. The statuette then ran out of the room to deliver the message.
While waiting, Zitch healed those who were injured. Some time after that, three more women arrived, two human and one another wererat. All three were wearing colors that identified them as Tower Girls. The wererat introduced herself as Jade and said she was the leader. The Ratpack remembered that the leader of the Tower Girls was named Ayala and suspected that Jade was a cover name. The Ratpack gave no indication they knew her real name to avoid looking like threats.
Roscuro explained to Jade that the Ratpack was looking for a particular piece of metal and they knew it was in the pylon but not where. The Ratpack had expected the pylon to be empty and didn’t know anyone was living in it, which is why they did not announce themselves when they arrived. Jade asked what the metal was worth and Roscuro deferred, stating they already had a contract for it. This intrigued Jade. She asked if the ratfolk had a way to sell antiquities for coin. Roscuro allowed that they did. Jade invited the Ratpack further into the structure to negotiate further.
Jade and her group led the Ratpack down to a lower level inside the pylon to a common room on a lower floor. There she and Roscuro negotiated two deals. The Tower Girls were looking for a new base of operations so they could re-establish themselves. The pylon was only a temporary place and was not conducive to “operations”. If the Ratpack would scout out a new location for the Tower Girls to claim, she would grant open access to The Crow for the Ratpack to search. Thinking of the abandoned siege castle outside of town, Roscuro asked if the new location had to be in the city. He then talked up the siege castle, which was only two hours outside of Magnimar, on land, and had plenty of space. Jade was interested, but needed to send two agents to check it out first. If they reported back favorably, the Ratpack would be allowed to search for the thing they needed. They shook hands on the deal.
Jade then asked about the Ratpack’s ability to sell antiquities. The Tower Girls had found old stuff in the pylon since moving in but had no way to sell any of it safely or at good value. Without naming names, Roscuro explained the Ratpack had a deal with a buyer to purchase antiquities they found at reasonable prices and paid in coin. The two negotiated a deal where the Tower Girls would supply items they found for sale to the Ratpack and split the proceeds 50/50. Additionally, once the Ratpack started searching areas the Tower Girls had not, anything found would be split 70/30, favoring the Ratpack. Roscuro found these terms very favorable and agreed to them without too much fuss. He suspected that the Tower Girls were hurting for money based on the very favorable deals being offered, but considered having the Tower Girls as friends would be handy at some point. Roscuro and Jade shook hands on this deal.
Jade supplied a set of Thassilonian jewelry for a test sell and arrangements were made for the Ratpack to meet the two agents the next day to go look at the siege castle. The Ratpack left, making their way back to their rented boat and back to he Magnimar docks. In Magnimar they spent some time verifying they were not being followed and then went to Frederick’s. Frederick was pleased to see them and asked if they had started following the lead they had mentioned. Roscuro smiled and placed the jewelry box on the counter. Frederick smiled and said he could offer a fair price for it. Roscuro then asked, “But what about for the contents?” Roscuro opened the jewelry box, showing Frederick the gold Thassilonian jewelry set inside. Frederick’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. After he came back to himself he offered 900 gold for the set and Roscuro accepted. Frederick told the ratfolk the money would be in their back account by the end of the day. Business done, Frederick and the ratfolk chit-chatted a bit before saying their goodbyes.
Day 9
Morning
Roscuro started showing signs of illness when he woke up [the filth fever he contracted the previous day – apparently the incubation time is 1d3 days, not 3 days like I thought]. Winston got Roscuro some healing herbs and provided some healing [granting Roscuro a bonus on his first Fortitude Save to resist the disease]. Roscuro quickly felt better and promised to not over-exert himself for the rest of the day. Winston then went and spent the rest of the day crafting silver and cold iron shot for his musket.
Roscuro, Zitch, and Templeton met up with Jade’s two agents and they took a carriage ride to the siege castle. At first the two Tower Girls were dismayed at the condition of the castle, but once inside they could see that the remaining structure was solid. Roscuro explained that the third floor had some dangerous undead on it, but they were behind a locked door and would stay there unless disturbed.
After spending a couple hours looking over the ruins, the Tower Girls were satisfied and the group rode back to Magnimar. Roscuro had the carriage stop by the bank to pick up the Tower Girls’ share of the sale, providing the two agents with 90 platinum coins for easy carrying. The group then went their separate ways.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[This write-up is behind due to my need to do my taxes for the year before the cost of the tax preparation software went up. I hope to have next week’s blog entry up Tuesday morning.]
[The sudden negotiations with the Tower Girls was a bit unexpected. I was looking at the combat after the wererat had taken Roscuro to 3 hit points or less twice and how little damage we had done to her due to her DR. I was fairly certain we would win, but probably half our party or more would have gone down and possibly died as a result of the fight. Quite the Pyrrhic Victory if we took that route. I was pleased that the wererat did not want to fight to the death, but I was gambling on the Other GM’s willingness to stop a fight and not kill PCs that weren’t being stupid or foolish. I’m happy with how that played out.]
[Selling antiquities that the Tower Girls supply us was a welcome deal and helped make us more valuable to them than revenge. The percentages Jade offered were much better than what we were willing to accept to make the deal. It’s why I think they are really hurting for a solid revenue stream. Once they are back up to strength they might want to renegotiate, but I hope to have cleared out The Crow by then and have moved on to the next book in the adventure path. We’ll see.]
[Finally, Templeton, Roscuro, and Zitch leveled, so they will be Level 3 next session.]
Ratpack
Session 01
…
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 14
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened February 10, 2020.]
[SPOILERS! If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will contain a lot of spoilers.]
Player Characters
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 2nd level Summoner (Synthesist)
Roscuro – male ratfolk 2nd level Monk
Zitch Grimreaper – male 2nd level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Winston – male 2nd level Gunslinger
NPCd
Marativy – female ratfolk 2nd level Ninja
Day 8 Resumes
Realizing that whoever was inside the Irespan pylon The Crow was now aware of their presence, the Ratpack carefully advanced up the corkscrew stairs. The stairs went up hundreds of steps until they eventually ended at a 20’ by 20‘ landing. A passage to the right opens to another room where light is seen.
Roscuro quietly snuck to the entrance of the next room, staying in the hall to avoid being seen. At some point in the past this room had been a dining room. There is broken furniture at the dark end of the room, to the right. To the left is a sturdy table turned on its side with a lit lantern attached to it. Peering over the edge of the table/barricade were two human women, armed with crossbows. They were alert, but had not noticed Roscuro yet. Roscuro eased back from the doorway, turned back to the other members of his team, and used hand signals to indicate what he saw and to signal the group should move forward quietly. Zitch was the only one to notice the handsignals, but was able to interpret them correctly and relayed the information to the others.
[Pathfinder uses the Bluff skill for sending messages this way and Sense Motive to interpret the messages. Roscuro is excellent about intercepting secret messages sent this way due to his Canter trait, but is absolutely awful at sending messages as Bluff is not a class skill for Monks and I missed needing to have bluff to send messages when I made him, so my Bluff bonus is only +1. Luckily Zitch and Marativy also have high Sense Motive rolls and can interpret what Roscuro means…with some effort.]
Zitch and Winston crept forward to where Roscuro was. Templeton remained back at the stairs as he was too noisy to risk sneaking up [low Stealth bonus as it is not a class skill for summoners]. Once the Ratpack was ready to attack, Roscuro threw a tanglefoot bag at the far crossbowwoman and Winston shot the lantern. The tanglefoot bag bound the far crossbowwoman to the table barricade. The shot from Winston’s musket broke the lantern and splattered the oil on the turned over table…where it then lit. So much for attempting to take out their light source.
The Ratpack pressed the attack, but a wererat rogue joined the fight as a defender. After several rounds of intense fighting, the two human crossbowwomen were dead and the Ratpack was facing off against the wererat rogue. Unfortunately, the Ratpack had only one silver weapon [a small dagger] and no magical weapons, so they were barely injuring the wererat who was inflicting near fatal wounds on the ratfolk every time she attacked.
Seeing that two or more members of the Ratpack could die before they wore down the wererat rogue, Roscuro attempted to initiate negotiations, asking her how much would it cost to get her to just leave. He then held off attacking again to see what her reaction would be. Her response was that this was her home and the ratfolk should leave – but she also held off attacking again. Roscuro explained the Ratpack was just looking for a particular piece of metal and then they would leave. Suspicious, but not wanting to get stabbed by the silver dagger again, the wererat rogue agreed to stop hostilities and ask her boss. Roscuro introduces himself and the Ratpack and the wererat tells them her name is Sasha. Sasha pulled out a small white statuette of a rat and activated it, giving it a whispered message. The statuette then ran out of the room to deliver the message.
While waiting, Zitch healed those who were injured. Some time after that, three more women arrived, two human and one another wererat. All three were wearing colors that identified them as Tower Girls. The wererat introduced herself as Jade and said she was the leader. The Ratpack remembered that the leader of the Tower Girls was named Ayala and suspected that Jade was a cover name. The Ratpack gave no indication they knew her real name to avoid looking like threats.
Roscuro explained to Jade that the Ratpack was looking for a particular piece of metal and they knew it was in the pylon but not where. The Ratpack had expected the pylon to be empty and didn’t know anyone was living in it, which is why they did not announce themselves when they arrived. Jade asked what the metal was worth and Roscuro deferred, stating they already had a contract for it. This intrigued Jade. She asked if the ratfolk had a way to sell antiquities for coin. Roscuro allowed that they did. Jade invited the Ratpack further into the structure to negotiate further.
Jade and her group led the Ratpack down to a lower level inside the pylon to a common room on a lower floor. There she and Roscuro negotiated two deals. The Tower Girls were looking for a new base of operations so they could re-establish themselves. The pylon was only a temporary place and was not conducive to “operations”. If the Ratpack would scout out a new location for the Tower Girls to claim, she would grant open access to The Crow for the Ratpack to search. Thinking of the abandoned siege castle outside of town, Roscuro asked if the new location had to be in the city. He then talked up the siege castle, which was only two hours outside of Magnimar, on land, and had plenty of space. Jade was interested, but needed to send two agents to check it out first. If they reported back favorably, the Ratpack would be allowed to search for the thing they needed. They shook hands on the deal.
Jade then asked about the Ratpack’s ability to sell antiquities. The Tower Girls had found old stuff in the pylon since moving in but had no way to sell any of it safely or at good value. Without naming names, Roscuro explained the Ratpack had a deal with a buyer to purchase antiquities they found at reasonable prices and paid in coin. The two negotiated a deal where the Tower Girls would supply items they found for sale to the Ratpack and split the proceeds 50/50. Additionally, once the Ratpack started searching areas the Tower Girls had not, anything found would be split 70/30, favoring the Ratpack. Roscuro found these terms very favorable and agreed to them without too much fuss. He suspected that the Tower Girls were hurting for money based on the very favorable deals being offered, but considered having the Tower Girls as friends would be handy at some point. Roscuro and Jade shook hands on this deal.
Jade supplied a set of Thassilonian jewelry for a test sell and arrangements were made for the Ratpack to meet the two agents the next day to go look at the siege castle. The Ratpack left, making their way back to their rented boat and back to he Magnimar docks. In Magnimar they spent some time verifying they were not being followed and then went to Frederick’s. Frederick was pleased to see them and asked if they had started following the lead they had mentioned. Roscuro smiled and placed the jewelry box on the counter. Frederick smiled and said he could offer a fair price for it. Roscuro then asked, “But what about for the contents?” Roscuro opened the jewelry box, showing Frederick the gold Thassilonian jewelry set inside. Frederick’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. After he came back to himself he offered 900 gold for the set and Roscuro accepted. Frederick told the ratfolk the money would be in their back account by the end of the day. Business done, Frederick and the ratfolk chit-chatted a bit before saying their goodbyes.
Day 9
Morning
Roscuro started showing signs of illness when he woke up [the filth fever he contracted the previous day – apparently the incubation time is 1d3 days, not 3 days like I thought]. Winston got Roscuro some healing herbs and provided some healing [granting Roscuro a bonus on his first Fortitude Save to resist the disease]. Roscuro quickly felt better and promised to not over-exert himself for the rest of the day. Winston then went and spent the rest of the day crafting silver and cold iron shot for his musket.
Roscuro, Zitch, and Templeton met up with Jade’s two agents and they took a carriage ride to the siege castle. At first the two Tower Girls were dismayed at the condition of the castle, but once inside they could see that the remaining structure was solid. Roscuro explained that the third floor had some dangerous undead on it, but they were behind a locked door and would stay there unless disturbed.
After spending a couple hours looking over the ruins, the Tower Girls were satisfied and the group rode back to Magnimar. Roscuro had the carriage stop by the bank to pick up the Tower Girls’ share of the sale, providing the two agents with 90 platinum coins for easy carrying. The group then went their separate ways.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[This write-up is behind due to my need to do my taxes for the year before the cost of the tax preparation software went up. I hope to have next week’s blog entry up Tuesday morning.]
[The sudden negotiations with the Tower Girls was a bit unexpected. I was looking at the combat after the wererat had taken Roscuro to 3 hit points or less twice and how little damage we had done to her due to her DR. I was fairly certain we would win, but probably half our party or more would have gone down and possibly died as a result of the fight. Quite the Pyrrhic Victory if we took that route. I was pleased that the wererat did not want to fight to the death, but I was gambling on the Other GM’s willingness to stop a fight and not kill PCs that weren’t being stupid or foolish. I’m happy with how that played out.]
[Selling antiquities that the Tower Girls supply us was a welcome deal and helped make us more valuable to them than revenge. The percentages Jade offered were much better than what we were willing to accept to make the deal. It’s why I think they are really hurting for a solid revenue stream. Once they are back up to strength they might want to renegotiate, but I hope to have cleared out The Crow by then and have moved on to the next book in the adventure path. We’ll see.]
[Finally, Templeton, Roscuro, and Zitch leveled, so they will be Level 3 next session.]
Ratpack
Session 01
…
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 14
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