Day 2
Posted 12th January 2009 at 07:08 PM by Radiating Gnome
Day 2 - Day of the Crown
(note: as I prepared for our next session, which was yesterday, I became concerned that I would move through these skill challenges too quickly, and so this day includes a couple of combat encounters to fill time. I was running out of time before the session, and combat takes a lot longer to play through than skill challenges . . . . that's why there are a couple of combat encounters here. MY next post will be a report on the action from yesterday's session.)
The Day of the crown, symbolized by the Crown of the High King, is a celebration of commerce, craftsmanship, and all things financial in the Isles.
This is the day, each year, when masters take on new apprentices, pass apprentices to journeyman status, promote journeyman to masters, and the new masters are given a chance to show off their work in the guild halls and marketplaces of the city. Craftspeople from all over Ikaria save their best work all year to bring to Ikarport for the Day of the Crown. In the evenings, the guilds hold whatever elections and annual meetings with their entire membership.
This is a special day for moneylenders, who traditionally calculate their annual interest and debt amounts on this day.
On this day the Duke or his representative visits the city's debtor's prison to select one prisoner whose debts he will pay off. This selection is made in a different way each year -- in some cases based on merit, in other years through drawing lots, games of chance or skill, etc.
Before dawn, craftspeople flood into the city and set up stalls in marketplaces and plazas. The streets will be packed from sunup to sundown with shopping -- any vacant corner is usually quickly filled with an impromptu game of chance.
After sunset, the guild halls hold great feasts for their members and any important nobles they can convince to attend. It is a mark of great status to have a member of the royal family attend a guild's feast, so frequently the family is split up and sent individually to different feasts to spread out that status among as many guildmembers as possible.
Chad, an officer of the Cloak Knights with a bad case of poison ivy and a serious case of the hates for the party has decided to use this day as his big chance to try to get some payback. He has arranged for some minor embarrassments for the party over the course of the day. Also, the PCs are new heroes in a city badly in need of heroes. A handful of the assorted guilds in town will ask the PCs to attend their banquets that evening.
Challenge 1: Shopping & People Watching
The PCs can't help but spend some time prowling the streets looking at all of the fine goods being offered. The entire City is a street festival, crowded with goods and food carts and music and buskers and so on.
Scene 1: Gnome Effigies
The players catch a child running away from a vendor from whom he has stolen a clay drinking mug shaped like a dragon's head. The child is no practiced thief, is easily caught, and surrenders quickly. Any questioning at all reveals that the child was put up to it by "Bennit" -- who turns out to be her brand new gnome doll, tucked into her tunic. When he's pulled out, Bennit announces "I'm a Monster. Rawr." Bennit will also say "I think you're pretty" and "You smell like bacon". When examined by a PC, Bennit says "Soap and Water won't kill you, you know. Lemme go!" or something like that. Bennit mostly says his usual three messages, and shows no other sign of sentience, except for at key moments when he seems to either get in a good barb or encourage the child to do something naughty (like steal).
Asking around a little, The PCs come upon a toy vendor selling a massive pile of stuffed gnome dolls to eager children -- empty sacks and crates make it clear that he has already sold dozens, if not hundreds of the little dolls, and the children and clamoring for more.
The Vendor, who calls himself "Stonemeal" is respectful and insists that he's a simple toymaker who has been working all year to bring his talking gnomes to the city. It's a harmless enchantment that brings joy to lonely children -- just look at them, how happy it makes them to each have their own talking friend.
The PCs are out and shopping among the people. They come upon a scene that has been organized by Chad, who is not at all subtle in his methods. But he, himself, is being used by Fey agents in the city who cannot show their hands.
During the day the PCs are attacked by some urchins throwing dung. Once the PCs have been pelted, the kids run for it. A quick chase (Skill challenge, 4/3, DC 5/10/15) allows the PCs to catch one of them and question him – which reveals that the kid was hired by Chad, who was watching from a nearby window.
Chad, of course, didn’t come up with this on his own – he was put up to it by a fey agent (the doppelganger at the kiln), in the guise of another Cloak Knight. The Dung is actually special dung, carrying an odd scent. And, shortly after the PCs are pelted with it, a pack of 3 Fey Hounds (shadow hounds) appears and attacks them.
A few minutes later, before they can clean up, the PCs are attacked in the street by 3 Fey Hounds.
(Fey Hounds are modified Hell Hounds).
The Crowds – There are three crowds of people -- one that is 1x1, one that is 2x2, and one that is 3x3 (using the streets of shadows dragontiles for this encounter). The crowds panic once the fight begins and move 1-6 spaces in a random direction at the end of each turn until they finally leave the board. They will not enter the space of a hound. Any PC who moves into the crowd, who the crowd moves on top of, or who starts his turn in the same space as the crowd, must make a save or be knocked prone. If the crowd moves on top of a hound, a person in the crowd is killed. Crowds provide cover
The hounds were intended to be untraceable, but a investigation of the bodies of the hounds reveals some interesting red clay packed into their foot pads – there’s brick kiln on the outskirts of town that uses this sort of clay, and this might be some sort of clue.
Scene 2: People Watching and Observation
A repeat of the investigative challenge from day 1. More clues and details provided . . .
Scene 3: Beanie Baby Ambush (Combat Encounter)
(this encounter happens whenever the PCs decide to investigate the brickworks)
Tracking the clay back to the kiln leads the PCs to the brick warehouse that houses the fey portal that the doppelganger has been using. She has been sent to try to kill the PCs by Lady El. She has also been given a small army of the stuffed gnome effigies o protect her hideout.
• Doppelganger Sneak (150)
• 2x Tickleyou (250)
• 24 x Effigy Minions (25@)
Monsters:
Gnome Effigy Level 1 Minion
(Kobold minion, with the clay scount limited invisibility rather than shifty)
Gnome Effigy TickleYou Level 2 Lurker
(Clay Scout, with guard creature rather than guard object)
Scene 4: Guild Feast.
The PCs are invited to several feasts -- as city heroes they are celebrities and having them attend a guild's feast will be considered a great honor.
The PCs have to choose which feast to attend:
1. The Merchant's Guild
2. The Metalcrafter's Guild
3. Shipwrights and Chandler's Guild
4. Hoslter's Guild
5.
What ever guild they pick, the encounter is basically the same. The PCs have a chance to win the support of the guild for the Duke's efforts ot maintain independence if they can behave well and make a good case for it during the dinner.
Complexity: 6/3
Difficulty: 6/11/16
Primary Skills: Diplomacy, Insight, Bluff, History, Streetwise (may vary a little with the choice of guild).
(note: as I prepared for our next session, which was yesterday, I became concerned that I would move through these skill challenges too quickly, and so this day includes a couple of combat encounters to fill time. I was running out of time before the session, and combat takes a lot longer to play through than skill challenges . . . . that's why there are a couple of combat encounters here. MY next post will be a report on the action from yesterday's session.)
The Day of the crown, symbolized by the Crown of the High King, is a celebration of commerce, craftsmanship, and all things financial in the Isles.
This is the day, each year, when masters take on new apprentices, pass apprentices to journeyman status, promote journeyman to masters, and the new masters are given a chance to show off their work in the guild halls and marketplaces of the city. Craftspeople from all over Ikaria save their best work all year to bring to Ikarport for the Day of the Crown. In the evenings, the guilds hold whatever elections and annual meetings with their entire membership.
This is a special day for moneylenders, who traditionally calculate their annual interest and debt amounts on this day.
On this day the Duke or his representative visits the city's debtor's prison to select one prisoner whose debts he will pay off. This selection is made in a different way each year -- in some cases based on merit, in other years through drawing lots, games of chance or skill, etc.
Before dawn, craftspeople flood into the city and set up stalls in marketplaces and plazas. The streets will be packed from sunup to sundown with shopping -- any vacant corner is usually quickly filled with an impromptu game of chance.
After sunset, the guild halls hold great feasts for their members and any important nobles they can convince to attend. It is a mark of great status to have a member of the royal family attend a guild's feast, so frequently the family is split up and sent individually to different feasts to spread out that status among as many guildmembers as possible.
Chad, an officer of the Cloak Knights with a bad case of poison ivy and a serious case of the hates for the party has decided to use this day as his big chance to try to get some payback. He has arranged for some minor embarrassments for the party over the course of the day. Also, the PCs are new heroes in a city badly in need of heroes. A handful of the assorted guilds in town will ask the PCs to attend their banquets that evening.
Challenge 1: Shopping & People Watching
The PCs can't help but spend some time prowling the streets looking at all of the fine goods being offered. The entire City is a street festival, crowded with goods and food carts and music and buskers and so on.
Scene 1: Gnome Effigies
The players catch a child running away from a vendor from whom he has stolen a clay drinking mug shaped like a dragon's head. The child is no practiced thief, is easily caught, and surrenders quickly. Any questioning at all reveals that the child was put up to it by "Bennit" -- who turns out to be her brand new gnome doll, tucked into her tunic. When he's pulled out, Bennit announces "I'm a Monster. Rawr." Bennit will also say "I think you're pretty" and "You smell like bacon". When examined by a PC, Bennit says "Soap and Water won't kill you, you know. Lemme go!" or something like that. Bennit mostly says his usual three messages, and shows no other sign of sentience, except for at key moments when he seems to either get in a good barb or encourage the child to do something naughty (like steal).
Asking around a little, The PCs come upon a toy vendor selling a massive pile of stuffed gnome dolls to eager children -- empty sacks and crates make it clear that he has already sold dozens, if not hundreds of the little dolls, and the children and clamoring for more.
The Vendor, who calls himself "Stonemeal" is respectful and insists that he's a simple toymaker who has been working all year to bring his talking gnomes to the city. It's a harmless enchantment that brings joy to lonely children -- just look at them, how happy it makes them to each have their own talking friend.
The PCs are out and shopping among the people. They come upon a scene that has been organized by Chad, who is not at all subtle in his methods. But he, himself, is being used by Fey agents in the city who cannot show their hands.
During the day the PCs are attacked by some urchins throwing dung. Once the PCs have been pelted, the kids run for it. A quick chase (Skill challenge, 4/3, DC 5/10/15) allows the PCs to catch one of them and question him – which reveals that the kid was hired by Chad, who was watching from a nearby window.
Chad, of course, didn’t come up with this on his own – he was put up to it by a fey agent (the doppelganger at the kiln), in the guise of another Cloak Knight. The Dung is actually special dung, carrying an odd scent. And, shortly after the PCs are pelted with it, a pack of 3 Fey Hounds (shadow hounds) appears and attacks them.
A few minutes later, before they can clean up, the PCs are attacked in the street by 3 Fey Hounds.
(Fey Hounds are modified Hell Hounds).
The Crowds – There are three crowds of people -- one that is 1x1, one that is 2x2, and one that is 3x3 (using the streets of shadows dragontiles for this encounter). The crowds panic once the fight begins and move 1-6 spaces in a random direction at the end of each turn until they finally leave the board. They will not enter the space of a hound. Any PC who moves into the crowd, who the crowd moves on top of, or who starts his turn in the same space as the crowd, must make a save or be knocked prone. If the crowd moves on top of a hound, a person in the crowd is killed. Crowds provide cover
The hounds were intended to be untraceable, but a investigation of the bodies of the hounds reveals some interesting red clay packed into their foot pads – there’s brick kiln on the outskirts of town that uses this sort of clay, and this might be some sort of clue.
Scene 2: People Watching and Observation
A repeat of the investigative challenge from day 1. More clues and details provided . . .
Scene 3: Beanie Baby Ambush (Combat Encounter)
(this encounter happens whenever the PCs decide to investigate the brickworks)
Tracking the clay back to the kiln leads the PCs to the brick warehouse that houses the fey portal that the doppelganger has been using. She has been sent to try to kill the PCs by Lady El. She has also been given a small army of the stuffed gnome effigies o protect her hideout.
• Doppelganger Sneak (150)
• 2x Tickleyou (250)
• 24 x Effigy Minions (25@)
Monsters:
Gnome Effigy Level 1 Minion
(Kobold minion, with the clay scount limited invisibility rather than shifty)
Gnome Effigy TickleYou Level 2 Lurker
(Clay Scout, with guard creature rather than guard object)
Scene 4: Guild Feast.
The PCs are invited to several feasts -- as city heroes they are celebrities and having them attend a guild's feast will be considered a great honor.
The PCs have to choose which feast to attend:
1. The Merchant's Guild
2. The Metalcrafter's Guild
3. Shipwrights and Chandler's Guild
4. Hoslter's Guild
5.
What ever guild they pick, the encounter is basically the same. The PCs have a chance to win the support of the guild for the Duke's efforts ot maintain independence if they can behave well and make a good case for it during the dinner.
Complexity: 6/3
Difficulty: 6/11/16
Primary Skills: Diplomacy, Insight, Bluff, History, Streetwise (may vary a little with the choice of guild).
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