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playtest session 29 -- scenario M2m4 detours
6/29/09 -- me GMing for John, Dan and Merlin at John's place
After last session's visions, the PCs decided to go introduce themselves to the local imperial commander. I played the commander as an older guy with a somewhat fatherly manner. The conversation was friendly as the players tried to figure out how best to segue into their exorbitant demands for payment (they'd decided to ask for looting rights, horses, and 100 shillings). The commander looked over their list of previous accomplishments and thought, "Wow, these guys are effective, I want to keep them alive and in business instead of wandering into that death trap at Hesengard, it sure would be nice if they'd tackle some smaller local problems instead!" So he told them about a village with children disappearing down a well, and a trade route plagued by bandits, and argued that these were both urgent while Hesengard wasn't.
I had figured that the players had their hearts set on Hesengard, and would just respond with some bluster about their own prowess and how glorious it would be to finallt conquer Hesengard... but they surprised me and said, "Sure, okay, tell us the deal with the well and the bandits."
I had not prepared either scenario. Oops.
Merlin had to leave in an hour and a half, so I figured I'd churn out a short bandit encounter, consisting of a little bit of searching and stealth and positioning, followed by a fight.
The PCs were brainstorming what kind of payment to ask for the bandit job, and Einarr said, "Bandits are no threat, we could clear them out for free!" The players seized on this and decided to basically do this one gratis to impress and befriend the imperial commander. That would nicely prepare them for their Hesengard payment requests.
We also had a nice bit of roleplaying as Merlin's character befriended the roughest thug among the roadhouse soldiers and recruited him to watch the party's stuff while they were away.
The short fight scenario was fun. I basically gave the opponents similar armor to the PCs, but with one or two fewer ranks in weapon skill and agility, except for the big boss, who was one rank better than the PCs. The guys strategized well, rolled well, and basically dominated the fight, taking lots of very minor injuries. We knew we were racing the clock a bit, and the fast pace and abundance of action was a fun departure from our usual style.
Loot Value
After victory, the players took all their opponents' gear, which I realized after the fact was a friggin' gold mine. Killing 5 guys in chainmail effectively nets you 100 days' pay worth of goods. I really need to figure out all the relevant limits on damage and use affecting re-sale value.
After last session's visions, the PCs decided to go introduce themselves to the local imperial commander. I played the commander as an older guy with a somewhat fatherly manner. The conversation was friendly as the players tried to figure out how best to segue into their exorbitant demands for payment (they'd decided to ask for looting rights, horses, and 100 shillings). The commander looked over their list of previous accomplishments and thought, "Wow, these guys are effective, I want to keep them alive and in business instead of wandering into that death trap at Hesengard, it sure would be nice if they'd tackle some smaller local problems instead!" So he told them about a village with children disappearing down a well, and a trade route plagued by bandits, and argued that these were both urgent while Hesengard wasn't.
I had figured that the players had their hearts set on Hesengard, and would just respond with some bluster about their own prowess and how glorious it would be to finallt conquer Hesengard... but they surprised me and said, "Sure, okay, tell us the deal with the well and the bandits."
I had not prepared either scenario. Oops.
Merlin had to leave in an hour and a half, so I figured I'd churn out a short bandit encounter, consisting of a little bit of searching and stealth and positioning, followed by a fight.
The PCs were brainstorming what kind of payment to ask for the bandit job, and Einarr said, "Bandits are no threat, we could clear them out for free!" The players seized on this and decided to basically do this one gratis to impress and befriend the imperial commander. That would nicely prepare them for their Hesengard payment requests.
We also had a nice bit of roleplaying as Merlin's character befriended the roughest thug among the roadhouse soldiers and recruited him to watch the party's stuff while they were away.
The short fight scenario was fun. I basically gave the opponents similar armor to the PCs, but with one or two fewer ranks in weapon skill and agility, except for the big boss, who was one rank better than the PCs. The guys strategized well, rolled well, and basically dominated the fight, taking lots of very minor injuries. We knew we were racing the clock a bit, and the fast pace and abundance of action was a fun departure from our usual style.
Loot Value
After victory, the players took all their opponents' gear, which I realized after the fact was a friggin' gold mine. Killing 5 guys in chainmail effectively nets you 100 days' pay worth of goods. I really need to figure out all the relevant limits on damage and use affecting re-sale value.
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