Travels amongst the Border Princes (WFRP 2e) OOC

[Haval]

Rolled a 9 above for initiative, which would be 57 with her full Ag.

Her second arrow was a miss though.

[rax]

Swift Attack with sling vs. BS 48 plus any relevant modifiers (1d100)[51], (1d100)[92]

Darn it! If there are no modifiers in play that make the first shot hit, I'll spend a Fortune Point to re-roll the second attack.

(1d100)[27]

[rax]

"So, Sol don't want to stick to his side of the river? I ain't got no hard feelings towards him, ya know? If he wants me to switch sides, I'll help ya guys out, right?

One of the two successor bandit lords around here was named Solomon Tollares, right? I presume he'd be the one running "Northdale County" on the map. Which would make Tick's boss "Otto the Hunter" of "Otto's Fief"...or possibly a successor of his.

[dojango]

Yep, that's it. Sol is the one who has some halfling bandits working for him.

[rax]

@Haval
How about it? Interested in having Gabriele infiltrate Colten's gang? Maybe see if Reuben or Bert will partner with you?

Or do we just play it straight, string Tick along until he's given us as much intel as we think we're going to get, and...make him disappear?

[Haval]

Hmm, willing to try it. Her backstory is close enough to be believable as someone who might hang out with these people.

The trouble is that she isn't really a talker, but might have a decent chance of slipping away when the time comes.

[rax]

It's certainly a risky move. For one thing, it depends on Tick not being bothered by the fact that we killed his two companions. He hasn't seemed too distraught yet, but if this Colten fellow gets annoyed about it I would expect Tick to finger you as the killer straight away. There's also the worry that Colten might want to force you to prove your loyalty in some unsavoury manner, e.g. kill Reuben or Bert if one of them goes with you (and I do think it would be best if you don't go it alone).

I suppose another option is for Severin and Gabriele to do the infiltrating while the NPCs are tasked with returning to Stralwald and filling in Sir Laurens and the locals on our plan. We can't really set up a means of communication between the infiltrator(s) and the village, so any undercover work will have to be quick and dirty. A day or two at the most, then sneak back to the village without anyone the wiser...hopefully.

[Haval]

It's certainly a risky move. For one thing, it depends on Tick not being bothered by the fact that we killed his two companions. He hasn't seemed too distraught yet, but if this Colten fellow gets annoyed about it I would expect Tick to finger you as the killer straight away. There's also the worry that Colten might want to force you to prove your loyalty in some unsavoury manner, e.g. kill Reuben or Bert if one of them goes with you (and I do think it would be best if you don't go it alone).

I suppose another option is for Severin and Gabriele to do the infiltrating while the NPCs are tasked with returning to Stralwald and filling in Sir Laurens and the locals on our plan. We can't really set up a means of communication between the infiltrator(s) and the village, so any undercover work will have to be quick and dirty. A day or two at the most, then sneak back to the village without anyone the wiser...hopefully.

Or it proves we're worth more as recruits because we're still alive. I'll edit the last post to get Tick's opinion on that.

[dojango]

Fellowship test then to gauge Tick's trustworthiness.

[Haval]

Hmm
vs. Fel 32
(1d100)[13]

[Haval]

So he's untrustworthy, but doesn't have any particular reason to be against us. That leaves how Colten and the other raiders might be about it.

I think that we're not obviously important enough to be singled out for special treatment as long as we seem to be useful as more recruits. And if we need to go out hunting for food for the raiders that gives us an excuse to go off into the woods where we can disappear.

[rax]

Okay, let's try an infiltration then. Severin will take the three NPCs out of sight and have a loudish "argument" with them resulting in us going our separate ways. In between raising his voice, he'll whisper instructions to them about what to tell Sir Laurens, to wit:

- We ambushed three bandits at the castle ruins. Killed two and captured one who proved ready to talk and is perhaps not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He offered us a place in the bandit gang.
- Severin and Gabriele are going to try and infiltrate the bandit gang.
- We expect to be there a couple of days at the most, then we'll sneak off and return to Stralwald to report.
- The leader of this gang is named Colten the Club and is working for or with Otto the Hunter.
- The bandits don't appear to expect any real resistance from the villagers and are dismissive of the Duke.
- Colten likes cutting off heads and has talked about building a shrine - we found something like that in the castle ruins.
- His interest in cutting off heads and quotes from our prisoner Tick remind Severin and Gabriele Khorne worship. That's a bad thing and needs to be stamped out. If we're lucky, only Colten and a small number of lieutenants are actual worshippers - if we can take them out, that might break the morale of the band. Khorne worshippers tend to be scary to everyone that's not one themselves.

@Haval
Anything else?

I'm uncertain how widely known the names of the Ruinous Powers are supposed to be known in the Empire, hence not saying that Severin sees clear signs of Khorne worship.

@dojango
If Khorne et al are considered to be known by name amongst the common folk of the Empire, Severin would tell Sir Laurens his suspicions directly, rather than just alluding to the Red Temple.

[Haval]

@Haval
Anything else?

I'm uncertain how widely known the names of the Ruinous Powers are supposed to be known in the Empire, hence not saying that Severin sees clear signs of Khorne worship.

@dojango
If Khorne et al are considered to be known by name amongst the common folk of the Empire, Severin would tell Sir Laurens his suspicions directly, rather than just alluding to the Red Temple.

Only if we still want to go talk to Sol and the Northdale Halflings at some point. From what Tick says they're more a rival bandit gang then a separate Halfling community, but if the raiders seem crazy enough they might count as a common enemy.

I feel like people might know vague information about the Ruinous Powers, particularly post Storm of Chaos. Details are for Witch Hunters and the very well educated. Even if we don't know about Khorne I think we know there's something wrong with Colten at least.

[dojango]

Yeah, people know a lot more about the chaos warriore now than they did a few years ago. You would know he's a bad dude, even if the specific theology is not known.

[rax]

Only if we still want to go talk to Sol and the Northdale Halflings at some point. From what Tick says they're more a rival bandit gang then a separate Halfling community, but if the raiders seem crazy enough they might count as a common enemy.

I think if we infiltrate Colten's gang then we're going to be dealing with that for a couple of days at least, and we'll need to get back to Stralwald and report before trying for an audience with the Northdale folks. So, no rush, I guess.

Re Khorne, then with dojango's clarification I'll amend my post above to have the NPCs get straight to the point with Sir Laurens.

[rax]

Are the tents in the bandit camp uniform in size, indicating a fairly high degree of organization and logistics, or are they more a case of everyone bringing their own?

If they're reasonably uniform, or at least similar in size to each other, can Severin and Gabriele hazard a guess as to how many each tent can sleep?

[dojango]

They are not. They are very haphazardly placed, no apparent order. Although they are in three separate groupings, it appears. Each based around a cooking-fire.

[rax]

'Tis embarrassing, but I think both Gabriele and Severin have neglected to bring a tent for the camping trip.

It's summer though, right? Apart from a downpour or two I'm guessing we could rig a small windbreak and manage just fine with our cloaks and blankets?

[dojango]

Yeah, you can sleep rough. Or try and ask someone to share a tent. I had planned to introduce a thunderstorm in the next day or so anyway...

[Haval]

How close is the treeline and is anyone camped near it? I was wondering if we should make it easy for us to leave when the time comes.

[dojango]

This field is about a hundred feet square with the camp in the middle. The house is north of you, and the forest surrounds the other three sides.

[dojango]

Going to roll perception for the two of you real quick... Gabrielle (1d100)[1], Severin (1d100)[87]

[rax]

Severin will wait to her the kid's reply to Gabriele before saying anything more. I.e. no need to wait for an IC post from me.

[rax]

Stuff I think we should try and find out about in our next conversation:

1. Has Colten set up any rules or routines for the camp(s)? Has anyone been punished for breaking the rules and if so, how?

2. Under the guise of asking about #1 - has Colten ordered any drills to train the new recruits and/or get the three groups (newbies, veterans, Colten's own) to work together?

3. What sort of pay/loot scheme is Colten running? Is first come, first serve, or has he set up a strict order for splitting any spoils? How do the gamblers feel about the pay/division of spoils?

4. If we catch sight of what sort of weapons the gamblers have, lead them into a discussion about weapons and, more specifically, have they seen Colten's fancy gun? Do they know if there are any other such technological marvels about.

5. Tick mentioned Otto's big plans to us. Have the gamblers heard the same and what do they think about it. Are they worried about facing the Duke's forces? If the gamblers seem to be able to count, do any of them have any idea how many men Colten's got? Try to weave that question into a general discussion about possibly fighting the Duke.

[dojango]

OK, sounds good. Maybe make a charm or gossip roll, give yourself a bonus of +20 if you lose to them at cards...

[rax]

And now we can really regret having lost our party face...

One set of Charm or Gossip rolls coming up. Severin's untrained in both, so he'll definitely throw some hands in the card game and I'll also do a pre-emptive re-roll for 1 Fortune Point if needed.

Charm or Gossip vs. 41 (Fel 42/2 = 21, Difficulty +20) (1d100)[68]

Re-roll for 1 FP
Charm or Gossip vs. 41 (Fel 42/2 = 21, Difficulty +20) (1d100)[100]

Edit: Yikes! Can't fail much worse than that...

Edit 2: I need to read my character sheet better. Severin has Gossip +10, so I should have been rolling vs. 72 (Fel 42, Gossip +10, Difficulty +20), which is a pass on the first try.

[dojango]

Yeah Gossip is a starting skill for halflings and humans and works as a good catch-all skill.

[Haval]

If we survive this I was going to ask for charm as an elite advance. I might get away with this sort of thing in Rogue Trader.

[dojango]

What are your career plans for Gabrielle & Severin?

[dojango]

Gabrielle loses (1d10+5)[10] pennies. Severin loses (1d10+5)[14] as well.