Expedition - Piers: the Fate of Tyrrell - 07 July 2021

[Fearghus]

Dabney

He admits to not having experience handling pack animals, but "How hard can it be?".

He drops his pack and asks Malenor to keep an eye on it. In calm manner and leisurely pace, he approaches the animals. The intent is to lead the animals back to his companions.

Without the pack, he is in leather armor and only carrying a total of 22 lbs of equipment.

[Marullus]

Dabney walks slowly towards the horse and mule. Their gear is beaten and torn, clearly subject to weeks of neglect but still serviceable. The animals both look healthy, but he can see the puckered seams of new flesh where gashes on their flanks have recently healed. The horse looks fleet of foot, a good riding mount, and wears a southron-style riding saddle which is sliding sideways due to its torn girth. The mule has a simple human-made pack saddle which trails leather ties and scraps of sacks where things have been torn away. They both still wear bits and bridles, trying uncomfortably to eat around them as they pull up the tall grasses.

He moves slowly, trying to looks as non-threatening as possible, hoping to get close enough to catch a bridle as the skittish mounts eye him dubiously.
Dabney CHA [4d6] = 16

Finally, he takes one step too many. The two beasts spook, bolting together at a run in the opposite direction of the party, heading for the next hill's ridge.

Day: 08 July 2021
Time: 1:40pm
Light: Sunlight
Temp: 57 F
Distance traveled: ~4 miles
Injury: None

[Jernau35]

Upon seeing the horses bolt, Piers sighs softly and mutters "Ah.....well, if Baudh did not think we would learn something from the experience, he would not make us do it the hard way". He starts to walk down the hill, towards the two escaped equines. "Come my friends, it seems we have a short walk ahead of us". Piers unshoulders his pack as he walks and begins to search through his fresh rations, looking for apples, pears, dates, oranges, leafy greens, or any other fruit or vegetable that might seem appetizing to a hungry horse.

"Remember to keep an eye out for anyone or anything that might like to catch us too", he reminds his companions.

[Marullus]

Piers leads the way over the next ridge. Rowine and Crowgar dutifully keep watch for any ambush, their bows at the ready. You eventually spy ahead of you where the two equines have paused - they again chew the grasses, but it is clear that they're intently watching your next move.

Piers selects some fruit from the food he has packed (subtract 1 fresh ration) and approaches cautiously. He tosses the food and the horses eventually sniff it, then crunch it with their powerful teeth.
Piers WIS Check [1d20] = 15

The horses seem less dubious of your intentions, now that they know you've provided them food, but they are still not friendly.

For new player explanation:
When I use terms like Friendly, Uninterested, Dubious, etc., I am indicating their Disposition on the five-point scale used in LL Basic. In the house rules it talks about how CHA checks work, which is essentially 2d6+1d6 per disposition away from friendly.

There are two main social actions - first is change disposition (towards friendly or hostile) allows you to roleplay an action and its impact will be to make them like you or make them angry. (On a failure, it is often a shift in the wrong direction, which helps escalating things to violence.) I'll decide what is the most appropriate roll based on your roleplay and intent. In this case, for example, I had Piers make a WIS check to see if he understood horses well enough to make them less wary.

Second, you can make a CHA check to try to achieve an objective. This is what Dabney tried - he wanted to get the reins and went straight in do so. His check was at 4d6. Now that the disposition has shifted, a new CHA check could be made at 3d6.

Day: 08 July 2021
Time: 2:00pm
Light: Sunlight
Temp: 57 F
Distance traveled: ~4 miles
Injury: None

[Jernau35]

Question for DM: So can Piers try again to make another attempt to improve their disposition? Or is it one attempt until something significantly changes the circumstances of the encounter?

Question for Players: If it is only one attempt until another action is taken, who has the best Charisma for an attempt to approach the horses? (It's not Piers. He's an 8)

Edit: 1 ration deducted

[Marullus]

Question for DM: So can Piers try again to make another attempt to improve their disposition? Or is it one attempt until something significantly changes the circumstances of the encounter?

It remains pretty freeform, but yes, a second action to try to improve disposition needs to (by definition) significantly change the circumstances. This is less relevant for the trained animals in this encounter, but consider how it works with NPCs (like the impending goblins). If they were Dubious, you'd first need to reassure them to Indifferent, then find a way to befriend them to Friendly. Each of those is a big step and so would take a big action. At a tabletop game, I could make you work for it iteratively with back-and-forth roleplay. On a play-by-post, we need to consolidate a bit - you can make a grander gesture in a single post with more RP packed into it. It feels "fast" because it is a small number of posts, but remains a RL week to get there. It is on you as players to find something significant enough to "up the ante" and merit the test. (Gifts of significant items, for example, have worked for such greedy creatures before.) If you're just smooth-talking, that is usually only good for a single disposition test only.

Note that you don't need to make them friendly to convince them to do something. (They need to be friendly to try recruiting them along with you as retainers.) The test is just more difficult, but an Indifferent or Dubious test is still achievable. Particularly if it is something of potential mutual interest or which doesn't have a downside for them, you can also RP your way into bonuses (generally -4 to +4 on an attribute roll, per the LL Basic rules). I assign all this based on the RP and circumstances just before I roll it. Just remember that they retain their nature - even a friendly goblin that agrees to help you with your goal remains a duplicitous, evil, chaotic creature.

This is the advantage that magic users have with a Charm spell - they default a creature to a Friendly disposition without extra effort. But it highlights that the reverse is true as well. A charismatic character can achieve the same results with time and effort, not needing magic.

See the Social Encounters house rules for more detail.

[Marullus]

I just received a note from Jernau35 - he has a medical issue that will prevent him from joining us for several weeks.

Modric and Fearghus - how would you like to proceed?

• If you two want to take the lead, we can continue onward through our encounters. I'd suggest stopping when you arrive at the goblin's tower (for courtesy's sake) and see where we are then.
• We can pause the expedition entirely. You can play around in the Festival thread. Just don't dissappear on us.
• If you're really itching for action, I can also permit you to roll up your second characters and you could engage in a different endeavor.

[Fearghus]

Marullus,

I would like to pause the game and wait for Jernau35. It is no problem for me to wait considering I have been lurking here for years. The thread is still subscribed, so once there is activity I'll know.

[Marullus]

Thanks, Fearghus. Hopefully we're back on track soon! Feel free to participate in the festival in the meantime.

[Marullus]

I fear Jerneau isn't returning, so we'll wrap this up and release the PCs to reconstitute new groups.

Story Wrap-up

The small band manages to catch the beleaguered mounts -- a good horse and a mule being quite prized nonetheless. They pass over the ridge and then the next until they indeed spy a dwarven tower, lit and occupied, watching over the highlands right where you expected from the reports the townsfolk and caravanners had given. The sight of warg riders in the dusk tells you all the truth you need to know to confirm the church's suspicions.

It takes another day to trek back to town, but you find it for the best, knowing a larger or more equipped band might be better for parley with Guhra the goblin warlord, or a quest into the dungeons reported by Carchannoi the elf to be below.

The Duke rewards you for your scouting and you seek better odds with your next crew.

Guhra.png (19.59 KiB) Viewed 618 times

(Middle of the red hex is now a confirmed location for "Guhra's Tower")

Wrap Up Summary:

Gathered info on the location
Inspected the cavern
Found the lost mounts
Spied the tower

Explored four hexes
Duration of three days

675 total XP, divided is 170xp each

Treasure:
Clive's Compass
Norp the mule (with pack harness)
Gwegwin the riding horse (with riding saddle)
200gp from the Duke for solid goblin intel


Your sheets are updated with XP. Each PC gets 50gp and the retainers each get 25gp. One of you gets the riding horse, one gets the more practical mule, one the imbued magical compass. Post here to state your preferred claim.

[Fearghus]

Hello,

As mentioned in the other thread, I am passing. Having only showed up briefly it makes more sense for the other players/characters/npcs to have the items.

[Marullus]

Fair enough.

The horse, mule, and compass are donated to the Church of Baudh.

Each PC should still record 50gp.