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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 9316617" data-attributes="member: 70468"><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/describe-your-last-rpg-session-in-5-words.679952/post-9316618" target="_blank">dragon burninated the PCs’ plans</a>We had sessions two weeks in a row. Next week is going for three! <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="🥳" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f973.png" title="Partying face    :partying_face:" data-shortname=":partying_face:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" />This session picked up from where we were before. The PCs had successfully negotiated with the raiders. They wanted to make it back to their settlement (Cal Maestros) before Firlax (the fire dragon) showed up. He’d been spotted near their settlement, but so far he was keeping his distance. There was some discussion at the start of the session how best to get back. They opted to pay to store their wagon and bought saddlebags for their horses to use to store their rations. I don’t really understand why my players are so paranoid about rations.The PCs along with Sona left the next morning to head back to Cal Maestros. Because they didn’t have their wagon to slow them down, they were able to get there in half time. It would still take two days, but that was better than three days. While they traveled, Deirdre (the barbarian) worked on her relationship with Sona. She wanted to impress Sona with their accomplishments, which she was doing to get a boost from Sona when they eventually went to talk to the raiders. (Essentially, Sona would be speaking on their behalf for a +1 to the first roll with them.)The PCs arrived at their settlement the next day, and my dice decided Firlax still would not be arriving. On 2d6+4, he needed an 8. He got a 7. His arrival was going to be possibly an event consequence, but I didn’t roll well enough on that night’s event either. I decided to check the wilderness encounter table to see what kind of hostile fauna I should introduce, and it said dragon. Right. So the guards report in the morning that Firlax had been seen west towards the statue garden (mentioned in posts <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/commentary-thread-for-that-“describe-your-game-in-five-words”-thread.682741/post-8606831" target="_blank">#84</a> and <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/commentary-thread-for-that-“describe-your-game-in-five-words”-thread.682741/post-8712297" target="_blank">#163</a>).The PCs decide this is an opportunity to meet with Firlax outside of their settlement (meaning it’s less likely to get torched by an angry fire dragon). They set out west in the morning, but no one has a map to it. Deirdre rolls bad on her Survival roll to navigate, so they get lost, waste time, and I roll another encounter. It says dragon again.At this point, the dragon is spotted, but it’s fair off in the sky going the wrong way. Deirdre decided to flag it down in what she thinks is some friendly (but suitably noticeable) gesture. She gets a mixed success on this Rapport roll. That means she got what she wanted (Firlax’s attention), but I indicated that any escalation tracker would start one higher than normal (meaning closure to an unwantedly explosive outcome). That was the basic parameters of the conflict. The PCs had to talk Firlax into a favorable position. Given his temperament, they were looking at his possibly blowing up and blowing them up.The ask from Firlax was pretty simple. He wanted tribute — 10 MS per year (mega-Silver, or 10 million silver). That would be the clock for the conflict. At any time, the PCs could agree to pay it. If they talked him down, then they’d get what they wanted based on what they had negotiated with no monetary cost.The party inquired early about the extent of Firlax’s territory. He said his demesne ran to the river, which would be about 40 km from the fallen capital (Donarhus). They asked if that included the raiders, and he said yes. Dingo (the thief) wondered about the kind of deal they were getting (using Investigate as a way to gain insight into the situation, effectively adding details they can leverage). He got only mixed success, resulting in only confirmation that Firlax had negotiated something with them (though it would turn out later he’s not happy with everything they’re doing).Tama (the cleric) asked about Thief Town to the west, which Firlax indicated he had to burn it from time to time to get what was owed to him. She also tried to make the case they were doing good things by redeveloping the area, but Firlax took it poorly. He demanded to know who gave them permission to do that. She said she had a deed to the land, but Firlax didn’t recognize the authority that granted it. Tama tried to make the case they would be good partners. She was a good leader. She rolled Leadership to demonstrate her authority. She got mixed success, so Firlax replied that a leader like she claims she is would command her subordinate to fight him.He wasn’t asking to the death (only to first blood). At first Tama asked Deirdre to fight, but Firlax is like no. So Tama told Deirdre to fight. (This could have turned into PvP, but the players were going along with it.) Firlax changed into his humanoid form, a tall yuma with firery red hair wielding a pole-hammer and wearing fine silks (but synthetic armor under it). A dragon’s Humanoid Form magic allows them to designate equipment to appear when they change. Firlax equipped Elemental Blast while Deirdre equipped her battleaxe, triggering combat.The combat was over quickly. Deirdre won initiative, so she charged forward and used Forceful Blow. Forceful Blow trades margin for distance. She beat Firlax’s Armor by 5 then added 3 more for a total distance of 8m knocked back. For damage, she only dealt her weapon’s dice. Firlax’s mitigation from his synthetic armor is 2, which reduced her damage dice from 2d6 to 0d6. She rolled well (5 and 6), dealing 5 damage. That ended the combat with her victorious. Tama offered to heal Firlax and used that to continue to build rapport.One question that came up is whether Firlax knew who occupied Cal Maestros before. He confirmed that he did, and he knew them from before the calamity destroyed Adal-Sinths (the region where they are). That would put his age at 300+ years old. He had a good relationship with the queen of Adal-Sinths and her warlord daughters, including one who resided at the ruins now where the PCs’ settlement is. She’d been in charge of antiquities and history. Alas, she and it are mostly gone. Mostly, and that proved to be what burninated the PCs’ plans.As the conversation continued, and the PCs talked down the price, Firlax’s position shifted to two things: first, he wanted access to their property to hold meetings with people like he had used it before. The PCs were fine with this (but not with the tribute requirement). The other was Firlax was not happy with what the raiders were doing with the artifacts they were recovering. As the conversation went on, his ask would get more and more specific. Essentially, the risk is the PCs might succeed eventually in talking down the tribute, but the ask was going to be more specific and more dangerous.In the end, Deirdre finally talked Firlax down from asking for any tribute. She got a 13 on her last roll for Rapport versus a difficulty of 10 (due to Firlax’s rank versus hers as an additional factor on top of the standard 8). That cleared the remainder of the tracker. Firlax agreed not to ask for tribute, but he said he would hold them responsible for any artifacts that were removed from Adal-Sinths by the raiders. Firlax’s ask is both sentimental and his nature. They’re to bring the artifacts back to the capital where they belong, but it’s also where he lairs.The PCs plans for the raiders are now a mess. They had planned to go there next and negotiate some kind of deal or passage where they didn’t have to formally join but would be left alone. Whoops. That’s shot. They have to do the thing Firlax asked. Or not. They could try their luck upsetting a hot-headed dragon. Maybe they won’t get burned too badly. Firlax did give them one more tip. The leader isn’t who they thought it was. The real leader tends to keep her identity secret. The real leader is Lady Emma, one of the three surviving warlords from before the calamity (elven live longer than yuma, and warlords in particular tend to live longer).My players are like: oh, so we get to beat up a granny? No, elven have the Methuselyzation trait, which means they remain young until they die. Lady Emma is an 11th level knight. She’s not going to be an easy fight. (Firlax wouldn’t want to fight her in his dragon form. She’s at least as well-armored and probably better equipped.)Now the PCs have to decide how they’re going to handle this mess. I really have no particular idea. <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="😂" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f602.png" title="Face with tears of joy    :joy:" data-shortname=":joy:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" /></blockquote>

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