Edwyd's Pie Parade Brigade II [DM: Rae] [Judge: Trouvere]

[epicbob]

Arthur accepts the coins and says

"Thanks for the revenue. If I remember well, one of the departed guards paid a man to deliver the dogs at the inn. Since we've been busy for a good while after their demise, would you know of a dealer in wares of recovery? Assuming they're still alive..."

Hearing the name Frandeth, he asks

"Skip town, you say? Hopefully they'll first take into account the fact that I'm attempting to cure the two animals...A private "meeting" with the local law is the perfect way to end this day."

Releasing a groan of frustration, he adds

"I swear. If I see either of those idiots who ran off on me, they'll wish they had kept running after that wizard until their hair turned grey!"

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: Sorry for the silence, I have to review the thread in its entirety and come up with XP to finish up, and finding a block of time during which I can tackle that is proving difficult. Update with awards summary coming soon...

 

[Scott DeWar]

no hurries, real life is always first.

 

[epicbob]

OOC: It's cool. I'm just worried about whether or not Arthur will be able to remain in town since he was tied to the whole dog fiasco and Edwyd said he might get visited by the local law.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

A Tale from Volidar
Gather round my friends, if you care to hear the tale of what is likely to have been Edwyd Edwyd''s Penultimate Pie Parade...

In this true story, the Parade takes place on a gray, drizzly day. Our heroic brigade is staffed by Arthur, a man of nimble fingers, the dwarf Kalli Deepwarden, Kaleva, cleric of Chennet', and Petra of Arkanian, ex-Vastermarch 'Templar'. After a brief definition of terms in a Red Dragon Inn sideroom, Edwyd goes to his shop to prepare for the predicted onslaught of afternoon customers.

Kaleva comes up with the idea of hiring a cab to protect the pie from the elements, and also makes sure every brigadier has a quarterstaff, to better stave off pie-grabbers without bloodshed. Petra calls a cab while Arthur and the rest head off to purchase a bird cage with a cover to transport the pie from the shop to the cab. Only crusty old cages are available for sale, so that idea is abandoned and everybody meets Petra back at the shop.

While Petra and the others manage to resist the smell of the pie, some kind of madness overcomes Arthur, and he makes a lunge for the kitchen, where the pie is being kept. After a brief scuffle and a light thwack from Kalli's quarterstaff, Arthur snaps out of it.

Edwyd emerges from the kitchen with the nigh divine apple pie, Kalli takes it in hand, and Kaleva and the others drape a cloak over it to bring it to the cab. A small crowd of about ten patrons from the shop gathers near the cab, and the parade begins.

The parade moves out of the Red Dragon Plaza and down Merchant's avenue, attracting a couple dozen followers, not to mention some excited dogs. The wary brigadiers take notice of the drooling canines and prepare to defend the pie. When two particularly hungry dogs make a dash for the crispy, golden prize, Kaleva crushes one's skull with his staff, while Kalli brutalizes the other with his flail, breaking its ribs, all thoughts of avoiding bloodshed apparently forgotten. The once happy crowd of parade-goers dissolves with shrieks and cries into the merchant stalls and alleys off the Avenue.

Kaleva stabilizes the dogs and attempts to calm the scene with assurances that the dogs will be healed later. He hires a bystander to wheel the injured mutts to the Red Dragon Inn for two silver, and the much diminished parade continues.

It's not long before a large man claiming to be Edwyd chases the cab down, scolds the brigadiers for making a scene, and demands the pie. The false Edwyd drops his disguise and collapses in tears after being revealed by Arthur's clever bluff and threatened with lethal violence. In the midst of his blubbering, he suddenly produces "the pie" out of thin air and takes off running. Kaleva, Kalli, and Petra follow in pursuit before Arthur can tell them that the impostor Edwyd is carrying an impostor pie. The brigade of four has become one.

Arthur is fortunately joined by Karl, an adventurer, and his ass, Itchy. Karl and Itchy easily resist the pull of the pie, and Karl offers to help escort the pie to Edwyd's wife.

Due to the rain still drizzling down, and also thanks to the dog fiasco, the parade has zero followers when Karl and Arthur find the road blocked by a half-giant. A cunning plan is hatched, and Arthur sneaks away from the cab with the pie while Karl advances to confront the large fellow. When the half-giant sees the cab retreating, he wallops Karl upside the head with a mercy-bound club, dizzying the newest brigadier but not dropping him. The half-giant immediately snaps out of his pie craze and apologizes, deeply shamed.

Finally, the cab reaches Edwyd's house, pie intact. Edwyd's wife, surprised by the small parade, nonetheless accepts the pie from Arthur with a smile. Arthur pays the cab three silver, for which the driver is very grateful, and the man-donkey-man trio returns to Edwyd's Victuals for payment.

There they find the shop almost empty except for Edwyd and Vernon, who are engaged in a shouting match regarding the scene with the dogs on Merchant's Avenue. Arthur and Karl do their best to explain what happened, and Edwyd begrudgingly hands over ten platinum dragons, which he entrusts to Arthur to distribute as he sees fit. He and Vernon leave his shop to talk with Watch Captain Frandeth, and Edwyd mentions that Karl and Arthur might be wanted for questioning later.

Material Rewards
10 platinum dragons, handed by Edwyd to Arthur

Realtime XP (50 XP per level per month)
Thread's first post: 2011-11-20
Thread's last post: 2012-08-29 (this post)
Total months: 9.5 realtime months (9 DM credits to Rae)

Arthur: 475 XP (whole adventure! -> 9.5 months)
Kaleva: 275 XP (last post 2012-05-08 -> 5.5 months)
Kalli: 275 XP (last post 2012-05-04 -> 5.5 months)
Karl: 125 XP (first post 2012-06-12 -> 2.5 months)
Petra: 50 XP (last post 2011-12-21 -> 1 month)

Parade Planning
Arthur: 50 XP
Kaleva: 50 XP
Kalli: 50 XP
Petra: 50 XP

Scuffle with Arthur (CR 2)
Arthur: 150 XP
Kaleva: 150 XP
Kalli: 150 XP
Petra: 150 XP

Canine Bloodbath (CR 1.67)
Arthur: 125 XP
Kaleva: 125 XP
Kalli: 125 XP
Petra: 125 XP

Edwyd Imposter
Arthur: 150 XP
Kaleva: 150 XP
Kalli: 150 XP
Petra: 150 XP

Half-giant Hindrance (CR 3)
Arthur: 450 XP
Karl: 450 XP

Denouement
Arthur: 100 XP
Karl: 100 XP

Grand Totals
Arthur: 1500 XP
Kaleva: 750 XP
Kalli: 750 XP
Karl: 675 XP
Petra: 525 XP

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: It's all OOC from here, folks, take IC back to the tavern!

Awards are pending Trouvere's approval.

I suppose I also get 1 more DM credit, for the summary.

Sorry this took so long. My initial prediction for this adventure was 1 month, we got close to 10, thanks in no small part to my own frequent absences.

Some follow-up comments: It's really easy to lose track of the adventure when it's not moving quickly enough, which is why I think lethal force was used on the dogs. There was so much emphasis on non-lethal force in November, going so far as to equip everybody with a quarterstaff, and all that was just completely forgotten half a year later in April, when the dog fight happened.

Ultimately, I think "bloodbath on the Avenue" made for a more interesting adventure that might have ripple effects into the shared world, but if this were at a tabletop, I think it would have gone differently.

My own lack of attention is really very much to blame for the pace of this game. As the DM, it's my responsibility to make sure things run smoothly, and I think it's pretty clear that I failed at that. I didn't hold myself to my own standard of one post per day, so what kind of standard does that set? I can't apologize enough for my disregard.

That said, even after the player disappearances (rubisco, Kaleva, Medina, come back!) and the DM's soul searching about halfway through, we made it through to the end. Completing a PbP adventure is no small task, so thanks to everybody for your dedication.

For those of you who left us, I definitely understand that real life takes priority. I do hope that whatever dragged you from this adventure wasn't anything serious; if it was, my thoughts are with you.

I'll step off my soap box now. It was a pleasure! See you in the tavern.

 

[epicbob]

At least we made it to the end. Time spent aside, this was one of the better games of D&D I've played. The DM I used to play with tended to make the players feel like they were constantly in over their heads. This game was a nice change of pace.

And uh, If I got this right, I'm now a level 2 Rogue, right? How does it work again for rolling my HP?

My last question is, where does one go for healing supplies?

@Scott DeWarhttp://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=3565 , I'll give you 5 of the 10 total platinums. Will that be okay?

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

[MENTION=99102]epicbob[/MENTION]: Indeed, pending Trouvere's approval, Arthur has reached level 2. Regarding HP, as specified in the character thread, you don't roll HP, you automatically get 3/4 of the max. Since rogues have a d6 hit die, that's 4.5, which rounds down to 4 at level 2 (and will round up to 5 at level 3, etc.).

 

[Trouvere]

OOG: fully approved; 10 DM credits to Rae. Special thanks to epicbob for sticking to it all the way through. It certainly wasn't a usual pie delivery.

Re: healing supplies. Outside an adventure, a PC enters a timeless limbo, so they 'instantly' recover from whatever ails them through natural healing (with the exception of some diseases, where the required Fortitude saves must be made). Potions, wands and spellcasting services are available at standard SRD prices from offstage NPCs, bearing in mind the fairly firm limit that no NPC in Orussus is above 9th level. Healing services between PCs can be negotiated freely.

Re: moving adventures faster. I wonder what would happen if a game employed two DMs who trusted one another with the game concept, either of whom could advance the plot in a spare moment.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Could that be done by the judge, or should there be a stand-by dm?