Misfits of the Sharn Watch (Reloaded) [DDN]

[slobster]

Sharn, the City of Towers. Once the pride of Galifar, the very word is still a synonym for excitement, opportunity, and high culture throughout the continent. The streets are paved with silver and the parties never stop, or so the stories go.

Maybe it's true, at least for the upper city. But as rarefied as the air is high in the clouds, it's always a lot easier to fall to the ground than it is to fly in the sky. When people fall, they end up here, in Sharn's Undercity. And life in the shadow of Sharn's towers isn't much like any of the stories.

It's oh-dark-thirty in the obscenely early morning as you make your way through the Spice Quarter. You'd blame the hour for the lack of light and the fog so thick you could chew it, but the truth is that the towers block the sun and it's always dark and wet down here. As nice as the “Spice Quarter” sounds, it doesn't look or smell any different from most of the Undercity. That is to say, it looks and smells like $#!t. You can hear the sounds of jeering voices carrying from one or two streets over, likely some kind of riot, or a party that got out of hand.

For a moment you steel yourself to rush over, see what the disturbance is. You are on duty after all, ungodly hour notwithstanding. Then you force yourself to relax, and purposely stride along your original path without glancing up. You have a special mission today. No distractions. Besides, the Undercity doesn't work like Above. Unless property owned by someone with “clout” is threatened by one of these disturbances, the Watch tends to let them burn themselves out. No point in getting your face bashed in for the sake of an ungrateful wretch and his sad pile of cheap boards and flimsy wares, is there?

A figure emerges from the fog ahead, and straightens suddenly as it notices you. It's a hobgoblin man, wrapped in a ridiculous number of scarves and cast-off rags, which makes him look like a puffed-up goblin boy.

Afternoon, mate, he says with an ugly grin. Beautiful day, innit? He laughs at his own words and takes a pull at a worn-looking leather flask.

He wipes his mouth and looks nervously behind you. Your instincts twinge, letting you know that the two of you aren't alone in the dark. With barely a turn of your head, you take stock of your situation: 3 men step out behind you, another two step out from behind the hobgoblin. Above you, on roofs, 4 more men are hunched, probably with ranged weapons. You notice that the hobgoblin has a vicious-looking cudgel hanging from his belt.

No need for this to get ugly, yeah? Just give us what you got, and we'll all be on our way. No muss, no fuss.

So much for avoiding trouble, then. At the other end of the alley, you notice a few more shapes stirring in the mist, and you smile. Maybe this fight isn't as hopeless as you thought. If you can just buy some time. . .

[sblock=OOC]
Let's try this again! The first person to post gets the enviable position of being in the middle of this little gathering. You can roll to try and gather more info about your ambushers, or to try and affect the situation through negotiation. They think they are in a strong position right now, and so aren't likely to resort to violence immediately. You have some time.

If you aren't the first person to post, you happen upon this event while likewise on your way to the rendezvous point. The ambushers won't immediately notice you, intent as they are on their prey, so you can attempt to use stealth if you like.

Or heck, you can all scream and charge in if you want![/sblock]
[sblock=maps]

A view of the alleyway. The hobgoblin in front of you seems to be the leader, and you can see his men fanned out around you in ambush formation. The green square represents whichever PC ends up in the ambush. First come first serve!

A zoomed-out view of the same thing. Newly arriving characters can appear from the top or bottom of the map, and if you want you can attempt to flank by entering one of the buildings/climbing to the roofs, whatever. It all depends on how much time the Watchman in the trap can buy while you get into position!

Also, purely out of curiosity because I've never done this before, does this link https://app.roll20.net/join/48339/xKmabg take you to the map in roll 20?[/sblock]

 

[NiClerigo]

OOC: Angelico, my character, is a Thrane and thus does not belong to the Sharn Watch (although he cooperates with it, as seen in the updated character's description), and would not ignore the possible need for help by someone as told in the description, so I will rather be one of the passersby.

IC: Upon seeing that someone will be attacked, and given his oath to protect the innocent, Angelico approaches the thugs from behind walking silently. He uses stealth given his training in the 'Templarios' order. He rolls a 13: 1d20+4 (link to the roll)

 

[tuxgeo]

OOC: Alright, I'll bite.

Ortley Oldbrook has just walked into a trap, ten people against one -- which is terrible odds if he remains alone against them all.

"- 'Ang on, mate, let me get me change out of me poke," Ortley replies clearly -- and much more loudly than necessary, as well as in a higher-pitched voice and a lower-class dialect than usual. "I guess you'll be takin' these pouches at me belt, too. Let me untie the thongs."

"There's ritual components in these, so they'se worth sommat," he elaborates, in order to keep talking and taking time. As he talks, he also moves toward his right (the brown-colored building on the map) and drops his quarterstaff onto the dirty cobbles and accumulated refuse directly below the overhang of the brown building, to free his hands so he can take off his pack. He fumbles a bit with the thongs of the pouches, but he soon unties one pouch, then the other, and drops them both before he starts to remove his backpack.

OOC: While talking and removing things, Ortley is using his peripheral vision to watch for anyone else coming along any adjoining street; he is also getting out of line-of-effect of the archer atop the brown building, while getting into position to use his "Sleep" spell on the Hobgoblin, the two backup men, and the three archers on the rooftop across the street. (Take out those six -- or at least a few of them -- and the odds should improve markedly. Many of those six are within 20 feet of a target point he could choose if the situation does deteriorate to require spellcasting.)

OOC Further: Ortley doesn't have any "Streetwise" skill training, and I haven't specified a background for him, so I'll avoid having him check to see whether he knows any of this band of robbers.

OOC: Edit to add: The link in the sblock takes me to https://app.roll20.net/join/invitation_createaccount, not to a map.

 

[slobster]

OOC: Alright, I'll bite.

The hobgoblin smiles and chuckles greedily at Ortley's mention of valuable spell components. "There's a clever boy. This will all be over in a moment. Say, I like your cloak." He eyes your warm clothing meaningfully, then gestures to his own ragged appearance.

Meanwhile, the archer on the building doesn't bother to reposition as Ortley moves out of his line of sight. In fact the bandits don't seem to consider Ortley any kind of threat at all. One of the archers that he can still see yawns, and another picks his nose, with his crossbow resting unloaded at his feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ortley sees another person approaching. It's not a member of the Watch, but he seems to be avoiding the looks of the bandits . . . and moving into position to flank them.

Angelico is moving quietly enough to avoid the notice of any of the thugs. The leader is chuckling and threatening their lone victim, who is backing slowly against one of the walls and apparently emptying his pockets.

[sblock=OOC]Well thanks for checking out the link, anyway. Maybe we'll try and use it some day as an online, persistent map, but for now the snapshots will carry us through for a while.

The ambushers are likely to become the ambushed, but the combat won't happen until everyone has a chance to post, and every PC has happened upon the little scene.

From which direction will Angelico approach? Any of the alleyways, buildings, or rooftops is fair game - these bandits aren't very careful, and your stealth is good enough to sneak around to wherever you'd like to be without being seen.

Once everyone drops by and says where they are, we can start the negotiation/combat/whatever happens!

Oh, and how is Ortley dressed? Specifically, is he wearing his Watch uniform? It would make sense that he was, since he is on duty, but it would also make sense that he isn't, since he knows the plan is to send him into No Man's Land, and that they don't have much love for the Watch there. Your choice.

In any case, thanks for taking the plunge! I'm sure Ortley will be all right, he's a prepared sort of man. [/sblock]

 

[tuxgeo]

The hobgoblin smiles and chuckles greedily at Ortley's mention of valuable spell components. "There's a clever boy. This will all be over in a moment. Say, I like your cloak."
< snip >
Oh, and how is Ortley dressed? Specifically, is he wearing his Watch uniform?

[sblock]OOC: I imagined him wearing the uniform to the meeting to get his official assignment; but -- the watch uniform doesn't include any cloak, just a greatcoat. Even a hobgoblin could see that the cloak that's part of Ortley's traveler's outfit is merely halfling-sized, for sure. Let's say that Ortley is wearing his cloak over his uniform and pack, so he'll have to unfasten his cloak before taking off his pack; but let's save that for next round, after more of the others are in position. (That'll give me time to craft an appropriately gutter-level comeback about hobgoblins wearing cloaks that are 20 sizes too small. )[/sblock]

 

[Li Shenron]

As soon as Sheridan, while walking towards the ambush scene, understands what is going on, his immediate reaction is to get out of the way and into the shadows, to hide in the nearest dark area close to a building's wall (1).

(Thinking) Alright, here we go again. How many times have I been through this?, he thinks to himself. Having been in similar situations many times during his life in the undercity, he knows that he's been sometimes quite good at turning the tide through intimidation, but generally prefers to avoid confrontation outright. But this time is different... Hang on in there, you fool... you're the Sharn Watch now. You can't let this scum have their way on that halfling. Although the little guy looks like he might not be as hopeless as it might seem....

Sheridan tries to remain hidden in the dark for a little while in order to assess the situation. First and foremost, being somewhat familiar with the setup of an ambush in the undercity, he tries to locate the ambushers and particularly the snipers on the roof (2), which he thinks will be their first target in case of a fight. He already draws a couple of his daggers ready, but if combat doesn't erupt too quickly, he will then focus his attention to the hobgoblin to check if he's a known character to him (3).

[sblock=OOC]Let us know if you prefer that it will be us players declaring rolls, or that it will be you the DM calling out what to roll!

In this first sequence, Sheridan presumably rolls (1) to hide without being noticed, (2) to spot the snipers number and locations on the roof, and (3) possibly a streetwise check to see if he knows the hobgoblin.

Of course it might take multiple rounds for all these checks... and if combat starts already, he might not have time for all of them. But I post here what he's going to do in case combat doesn't start, so that the PbP can continue even if I'm late for the next post.
[/sblock]

NOTE: Because of Skill Mastery, the Spot check defaults to 10 + 6 = 16.

 

[NiClerigo]

Out of the corner of his eye, Ortley sees another person approaching. It's not a member of the Watch, but he seems to be avoiding the looks of the bandits . . . and moving into position to flank them.

Angelico is moving quietly enough to avoid the notice of any of the thugs. The leader is chuckling and threatening their lone victim, who is backing slowly against one of the walls and apparently emptying his pockets.
[/sblock]

Before moving towards the bandits looking inconspicuously, as someone that just happens to be a pedestrian in the scene, Angelico spends one use of his disguise kit to look like a thug [the playtest says that I should roll a Charisma check opposed by the Wisdom check of those trying to see through the disguise. I rolled a 10 (1d20+1, link)]. Angelico intends to approach from the upper right corner pretending to be drunk. As soon as he gets really close to the hobgloblin leader, he will stagger and say "Hic... c'mon mate... I seen' that halfling before, ain't he the Boromar dude? Careful mate", he says, looking from the halfling to the hobgoblin leader, "If his bosses find out that you've harmed him, they'll get back at you"

OOC: I've mentioned this before and will say it just this time again, but being not a native English speaker I apologize beforehand for any mistakes or confusion.

 

[mcmillan]

Taelvosh is making his way through thinking how far his fortune had fallen to bring him down here. His misgivings about this part of seem to be confirmed when coming across a halfling surrounded by a gang led by the hobgoblin. Then I recognize Ortley as someone I've seen at the watch house a couple times. "It wouldn't help my case to get back on the good side of the House leaders if one of the teammates gets killed before we even get to the briefing location"

I work my way closer to get an idea of how things stand, trying to look like a begger. I'll also try to position to go after whoever would be nearest gang member if fighting breaks outs. Unless there's a reason to favor one direction that I'm arriving from I'll let that be determined by my bluff roll, even from bottom left, odd = top right along with Angelico

Bottom left it is