Storminator
First Post
General Mog is a hobgoblin that likes his comforts and his money. Somehow he's become the richest member of the clan, but he wants to stop sending the newfound Khyber wealth out to weaponsmiths by bringing one into the clan. He has a smith in mind, and the brute squad has to go and "recruit" him.
The smith works for one of the city's "broken clans". These aren't true clans with family allegiances, but motley collections of outcasts that band together for mutual protection. This particular clan lives near the bottom of the city cave system, in the bad part of town (and when a goblin city has a bad part of town, it's really bad!).
Skill challenge to find the way to the clan caves without drawing suspicion. Essentially fails, in that they find the caves, but half the city knows.
In the middle of the challenge they come across a street gang that charges tolls for passage and a fight breaks out. I had the whole group roll Intimidate checks, and everyone attacks the guy with the highest roll. Going for the macho "take down the big guy and the rest will break!" philosophy. Worked awesome. Not a particularly challenging fight by the XP budget, but memorable when the bard dropped in one round. The next guy almost dropped as well, but then the gangsters were cleared out.
Getting inside, navigating the complex, and finding the weaponsmith was another skill challenge. The assassin, with an epic bluff check, tricked the guards out of the password and used it to gain entrance to the caves. He then neutralized (by stabbing) the alarm ringer when the group stormed the gates.
Inside, the group found the weaponsmith and were forcibly convincing him along when a clan patrol arrived and the fight broke out. Patrol, smith, smith's son and apprentice, and fire elemental vs the party. The assassin, with an epic intimidate check, defeats the bloodied smith, and the group and the patrol spend a few actions during the fight trying to sway the smith's allegiance. The assassin also kills the fire elemental and gains an alternate reward that grants him fire resistance.
Once the patrol is defeated and the smith cowed, the party hightails it out of the caves. The alarm is rung and the whole clan turns out to give chase. Another skill challenge, this one of escaping. The group eludes most pursuers, but some of them catch the group in the market place and a nasty running brawl takes place. Pursuers and one PC dies - Tuktuk the goblin wizard. Everyone else escapes.
The smith works for one of the city's "broken clans". These aren't true clans with family allegiances, but motley collections of outcasts that band together for mutual protection. This particular clan lives near the bottom of the city cave system, in the bad part of town (and when a goblin city has a bad part of town, it's really bad!).
Skill challenge to find the way to the clan caves without drawing suspicion. Essentially fails, in that they find the caves, but half the city knows.
In the middle of the challenge they come across a street gang that charges tolls for passage and a fight breaks out. I had the whole group roll Intimidate checks, and everyone attacks the guy with the highest roll. Going for the macho "take down the big guy and the rest will break!" philosophy. Worked awesome. Not a particularly challenging fight by the XP budget, but memorable when the bard dropped in one round. The next guy almost dropped as well, but then the gangsters were cleared out.
Getting inside, navigating the complex, and finding the weaponsmith was another skill challenge. The assassin, with an epic bluff check, tricked the guards out of the password and used it to gain entrance to the caves. He then neutralized (by stabbing) the alarm ringer when the group stormed the gates.
Inside, the group found the weaponsmith and were forcibly convincing him along when a clan patrol arrived and the fight broke out. Patrol, smith, smith's son and apprentice, and fire elemental vs the party. The assassin, with an epic intimidate check, defeats the bloodied smith, and the group and the patrol spend a few actions during the fight trying to sway the smith's allegiance. The assassin also kills the fire elemental and gains an alternate reward that grants him fire resistance.
Once the patrol is defeated and the smith cowed, the party hightails it out of the caves. The alarm is rung and the whole clan turns out to give chase. Another skill challenge, this one of escaping. The group eludes most pursuers, but some of them catch the group in the market place and a nasty running brawl takes place. Pursuers and one PC dies - Tuktuk the goblin wizard. Everyone else escapes.
