Session 20; An Even Shorter Patrol.

Session 20; Begun on the 22nd of November and finished on the 23rd of November Of 2023. 

The team having gained some minimal xp, they leave town following the same route as suggested in the last session report, though after buying 100 gp worth of medicines. 

The Light Feet. 

Alexander the Red of Reward.

Man-at-Arms 1st Level.

Tough Arnius.

Thug 1st Level.

Grammerius the Sturdy.

Thug 1st Level.

Malagate the Clever.

Thug 1st Level. 

Clelia of Reward.

Blade-Initiate 1st Level.

Hanno the Handy

Man-at-Arms. 

They pass through the woods by a different way, but without incident.  The same goes for the hills and they camp among them.  In the morning they get lost in the Hills and wander back to the forest before they realize their errors.  They turn and make their way back, without further incident, preparing to camp near the Valley of Slaughter.  This might have been an inferior choice, as in the next nearby area, they run into a Troglodyte Warren.   Worse, they are surprised and the Troglodytes prepare for an immediate attack.  

There are 36 gangs present, which means that there is absolutely no way to fight them.  We found them at 18 yards, and we are surprised.  Which… is just an auto-party wipe.  The party is covered by dozens of javelins in moments and hit with dark curses.  

Conclusion.

Didn’t expect another party wipe so soon, but such is the case of Cosoricalta.  This put me off playing solo for a while, but I am back to playing these out and writing session reports. 

Session 19; The Short Patrol.

 Session 19; Begun on the 20th of November and finished on the 21st of November Of 2023. 

This party was rolled up sometime before the 10th, but due to business this was not played until the 20th.  25+ characters were rolled up, per the alternate character generation rules presented in the ACKs rulebook.  

New Party; The Light Feet. 

Alexander the Red of Reward.

Man-at-Arms 1st Level.

18 Strength +3

15 Intelligence +1

16 Wisdom +2

12 Dexterity 0

11 Constitution 0

11 Charisma 0

Tough Arnius.

Thug 1st Level.

14 Strength +1

6 Intelligence -1

9 Wisdom 0

14 Dexterity +1

16 Constitution +2

11 Charisma 0

Grammerius the Sturdy.

Thug 1st Level.

15 Strength +1

11 Intelligence 0

13 Wisdom +1

9 Dexterity 0

16 Constitution +2

9 Charisma 0

Malagate the Clever.

Thug 1st Level. 

14 Strength +1

16 Intelligence +2

9 Wisdom 0

14 Dexterity +1

15 Constitution +1

14 Charisma +1

Clelia of Reward.

Blade-Initiate 1st Level.

14 Strength +1

16 Intelligence +2

15 Wisdom +1

14 Dexterity +1

14 Constitution +1

5 Charisma -2

Big Janus.

Man-at-Arms 1st level. 

16 Strength +2

13 Intelligence +1

14 Wisdom +1

11 Dexterity 0

14 Constitution +1

16 Charisma +2 

Also 1 hireling Slinger to guard the horses while the party are delving into Dungeons, be they ever so foul. (We will name him Hanno the Handy.).  We will roll up his stats if it becomes necessary.  

On the morning of the 20th this force sets out for the Manor of Bones and Immortal Rest.  Their march speed is the usual 12 miles per day, by letting the two heavily plated fellows ride horses.  At 24 yards distance they see a Chimera burst from the undergrowth.  Both sides are surprised for a moment and then the Light Feet attempt to escape, they are pursued for some distance, but ultimately disappear into the woods.  Delayed somewhat, they set out for the hills.  

After entering the hills they meet another party; this party consists of an assassin, a bard, a Dwarven Craft Priest and an Elven Spellsword.  They are a 1st level party.  They are 90 yards away.  

Now for those who do not know, the Silvans Empire is a human supremacist realm and dwarfs and elves are killed on sight.  As the Light Feet party is led, in matters of orthodoxy, by a lawful cleric (well, blade dancer) they will be attacking on sight.  Neither side are surprised and the characters come together.  (Note, I will use the templates in the standard ACKs book for the npc part’s armament). 

First Round.

The parties move towards one another, fairly slowly.  The bard is the first to have range and looses a bolt from his crossbow at Malagate the Clever and it does one damage to him (out of 6).  Big Janus charges, the craft priest tiress a counter attack, but fails and Big Janus with his lance and charges the Spellsword, piercing him, but not killing him with his well handled lance (5 damage out of 6).  Alexander prepares his own charge and he is fired on with a magic missile by the elf.  He takes the hit (2 out of 5 hit points) and presses his lance firmly at the Spellsword, and through the elf’s chainmail he pierces! (+3 strength feels good!). Then he cleaves for the foul dwarf, but its shield and armor were enough to hold off it.  The assassin now rushes Big Janus, both blades extended, but they are unable to cut honest plate and shield and he is thwarted.  

Somehow the morale of the npc party is such that they keep fighting. 

Second Round.

Big Janus exchanges thrusts about with his lance and he targets the foul dwarf, piercing a crack in his armor, immediately bleeding him out.  Big Janus cleaves and stabs at the bard but misses.  The back line continues coming forward, but remain out of range, at least before the assassin attacks at Big Janus again, this time slipping a blade through and bringing him down, even to falling off his horse (-5 hit points currently) It then cleaves for Alexander but fails to pierce his armor.  Alexander will not stand for this foul deed and drives his lance at the assassin, he pierces and kills him.  He then cleaves for the bard, and kills him as well.  

In the aftermath of the battle, Big Janus is attended to.  Sadly, despite being a comparatively light injury, the healing of the blade dancer was insufficient to help, and he died at evening.  Where now is the horse and where the rider? (The healer could only heal 2 hp normally and 2 hp from lay on hands, which was two short for survival.)  His armor and gear is collected and cleaned, while the other bodies are plundered.  1250 silver pieces were found, an agate (25), and a wrought silver brooch is found (400 gp), along the goods and gear in the starting packs.  These are as follows.  (Som of the stuff has been discarded or broke in the salvaging process. (Also note that the iron rations are not to be sold, but were collected,))

36g, musical instrument (25gp), Broken strapped-engraved banded plate armor (30 gp), steel holy symbol (craft insignia) (25gp), craftsman’s tools (25), chainmail armor (40), (181 gp)

Non-Sale.

4 Backpacks, 8 weeks rations.  spell book with magic missile. elven composite bow, quiver with 20 arrows, embroidered cloak. 

This gives a total of 731, Or shares of 121.  (Note, since I don’t know how to work mercenary shares, I rolled to have him become a henchmen and then accepted into the full group.  He accepted.)

The night is spent there and then party turns back for Punishment, to sell what is gathered. Punishment is those reached on the 21st and the goods are sold.

Conclusions.

Following a different solo player’s model of taking one fight and then running has generally worked out for this party.  Other than Janus.  Sad.  We will see how they fair in the future. 

Solo Session 18; Bede's End?

Session 18; Begun on the 16th of November and finished on the 20th of November Of 2023. 

After the utter destruction inflicted on the Green Mountain Company by the vagrant griffons, my self-confidence was lowered to some degree, but Bede’s party cannot hide forevermore.  In the meantime one of my players has been running a chaotic party on the island and it is possible we will run into the signs of their actions, which will no doubt trouble Bede and his very lawful party.  Their deeds will not be reordered here, except to say that the player is really playing to alignment.  We are also running a group play in #ACKsfrica, but for time reasons I will only mention that this has been a learning experience as I attempt to combine the no-prep methods taught by the #BROsr. 

Party. 

Bede’s Party.

Lexius of No Last Name.

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Synope the Spiteful.

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Lorenzo the Luminous. 

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Bede. 

Catechist 1st Level.

Henches.

‘Tan’ Suggs. (Thief)

Having essentially just wasted money on their trip, the party set out for a chance to start gaining profits by going to the “The Manor of Bones and Immortal Rest.”

As this is obviously skeleton themed, let me demonstrate the shifted table that this will use for the first layer, instead of the standard monster table.  

1. Goblin skeletons. 

2. Kobold skeltons. 

3. Orc Skeletions.

4. Cultists (armed as brigands, but in black robes backed by bone fragments rather than chainmail.)

5. 1-3 Ghouls. 

6. 1-3 Zombies. 

7. NPC party 1st level. (Composition governing origin and alignment.)

8. Re-roll.

I then roll for a random number of rooms (getting 6) and create the following map on Gimp. 

The doors are then randomly rolled for and whether this party gets there or not, it is ready for other parties to attend in the future. 

The party sets out on the 16th after purchasing objects from the town, including a thieves kit for Suggs, medical powders and some other fighting implements. Thus the party and their mule set out.  They leave town and after not getting lost (yeah!) they have an encounter in the woods.  12 small Rocs fly over head and disappear into another part of the woods. They pass into the hills and spend the night there.  On the morning of the 17th they continue their march, successfully passing by the Valley of Slaughter, before they see a group of 9 Centaur, who ignore the party.  The Colligiate party notes the oddity of meeting centaur here, but they have neither the strength nor the inclination to challenge 9 of them.  That evening they camp in the hills, though first time they can see the sea beyond Cosoricalta.  On the morning of the 18th they wake up and leave before the dawn (they got lost) and found themselves in a wood. They turn back before coming to the Silver Tower and retrace their steps until they reach the edge of the hills before descending into the plains near the old manor.  It is still known by reputation and they are rather determined to make something of this trip.  

Tan Suggs opens the outer door with alacrity and the party runs into 4 orc skeletons (skeletons for stats purposes,) The party acts.  The roguish Suggs prepares his sword, while the rest wait to see if the cleric can turn them.  For reasons unknown, Bede cannot!  Faith is shaken.  Suggs then makes a sword strike, but his weak arms are insufficient to make the blow clean. Each of the mages then attack with their staves, Synope and Lexius each destroying a skeleton with powerful blows. One succeeds in closing with Synope and bringing him down with horrid scratches to -3 before failing to cleave through him.  The other attacked Lexius and brought him down to -2 hit points.  

Round two. 

The skeletons attempt to attack, but only one gets through the clerics’ defenses.  The thief then steps forward and make a blow, chipping bone, but not bringing it down.  Lorenzo makes his own swing and blasts the bone skeleton with his staff.  The cleric then brought it down with a final blow 

Round 3.

The last skeleton scratches them up Bede pretty bad, but he remains on his feet.  Lorzenzo misses his staff swing, while the thief does as well, however their missed attacks prove useful and Bede plants his mace in the things face.  

Afterwards healing rolls are needed.  Synope receives permanent brain trauma from claws.  Lexius is damaged with both legs being crushed.  Due to not having sufficient healing skill in the party, both of these members die.  (Sad.)

The remaining party (all three of them) decide to open the door going south, to see if they can find anything of value before leaving. With the picks not working, the axe is freed from the pack and the door broken down over the course of three turns. A load of bricks nearly fall on him, but he successfully saves vs. blast and the room is explored.  No treasure is found in their quick search.  They decide to open the corner door and again the lock picking fails, so the door goes beneath the axe.  They found the old formal immortal’s research room (special).  Most of the room is destroyed and most of it the library is burned to ashes from a no doubt failed magical experiment.  The pieces of the long dead lich and his broken phylactery are scattered through the room as well.  One scroll and one potion are found among the wreckage. (These are a potion of Healing and scroll of ward against undead.) Glass fragments and ruined scrolls, books and broken tools litter the rest of the room.  Having thus collected, they try to open a door, they fail and leave.  Over the 19th and 20th they return towards Punishment.  While going through the woods they have an encounter with 30 brigands.  We try to barter with them, but for now the three are captured and held by the brigands.  

Conclusion.  

Will this longest party survive or ever return to service in the field?  I don’t rightly know.  At some point I will figure out a mini-game to determine whether they are released, ransomed or the like. In the meantime, there are no active (Lawful) parties on Cosoricalta. 

Later Edit.

On the 26th of November I rolled Bede's fate with the bandits and after a haggling session gone wrong with his bandit captors, he and his followers were beaten to death.  

Solo Session 17; The End of the Green Mountain Company.

 Session 17; From November 11th to November 16th 2023. 

And after waiting for time compression to catch up, the two parties (or party particles) return or at least attempt to return for Cosoricalta.  

The wind is checked and from the 11th it coming from the Northwest (or directly against us) and the ship is forced to wait in Reward’s Harbor.  On the next day (the 12th), the wind weakens, but continues to come from the west. However, after refilling our water and provender, the winds shift.  They are weak (moderate breeze) but the from the north east and the ship is ready.  With this favorable wind, the sailing ship quickly crosses over the intervening channel in short order without trouble, arriving before night of the 13th.  Bede’s Party disappears into the town of Punishment (I will work with them on the 13th or later.). The Green Mountain company reassemble and compare notes.  

Jorham Hill. (Busted Knee)

Outrider 2nd Level. 1357 xp. 

Charles of Bramshire. (Busted Knee)

Outrider 2nd Level. 1357 xp.

Jonathan Bower.

Outrider 2nd Level. 1524 xp.

Bradford of Rice Manor.

Acoylte 2nd Level.  2192 xp.

Tilly the Kid Mage.

Seer 2nd Level. 1192 xp.

+ 2 Henchmen.

Unhealthy Causarius. 

Sturdy Robustus. 

And the following mercenaries.

23 horse archers

16 light cavalry 

7 medium cavalry

This whole force is capable of being mounted and thus they gather information.  Amusingly, much of the available information would come from Bede’s party, including the knowledge of the Ogre Village.  And frankly, I kind of think it is time for me to learn the arts of ACKs battle combat.  For reference and record there are 55 Common Male Ogres, +43 Female Ogres, +29 young ogres  +10 sub-chieftains and a great chieftain.  However, after looking at how the battle rating works, I am thinking we will look for a softer foe first.  55 ordinary ogres are more powerful than the entire Green Mountain Company by about twenty percent (give or take) and thus field combat with them is extremely unenviable.  

Having thus established this, the Green Mountain company rides out of Punishment towards the place most susceptible to raiding, Musk’s Monolith.  To accommodate the supply mules, the force only moves at a very leisurely 12 miles per day, while the company  rides, Tilly the Kid Mage considers the needs of claiming the monolith and making it a hold for them.  The party thus is setting out on the morning of the 14th. Due to a failed exploration check (HOW!) they wander into the near by forest, before correcting and aiming back for the sea, otherwise meeting nothing.  On the morning of the 15th they again struggle to find direction, but otherwise make their way slowly down the coast, stopping in the evening to feed and water the horses.  For the third day in a row the exploration roll is failed (weeps) and the party finds themselves wandering towards the area on the map marked as the ‘Inhuman village.’  However, knowing that they should not be in the woods, they leave the woods before meeting or even finding out these inhuman creatures true nature and make for the sea and towards the monolith.  15 griffons burst up, some 45 yards away, and the men all look on with some concern.  

(I note some confusion with the fluff/rules as written.  It says that the griffons like horseflesh (who among us does not) and if they fail their morale roll automatically attack.  I rolled a 12 on the morale table.  For the purposes of Griffon’s eating horses is this a fail?  (12 says ‘victory or death’.).   I have, in my capacity as Judge decided that this means the griffons are very hungry and will be attacking.

The initiative is now to be rolled.  Somehow both sides are surprised, so no free shots.  

(Following the advice as seen somewhere or other, all units of the same class or monsters of the same type are rolled as one. This method will be used throughout the battle.)

15 Griffons 5

23 horse archers 4

16 light cavalry 6 

7 medium cavalry 4

The party proper. 

Jorham Hill. (Busted Knee) 6

Outrider 2nd Level.

Charles of Bramshire. (Busted Knee) 3 

Outrider 2nd Level. 

Jonathan Bower. 5

Outrider 2nd Level. 

Bradford of Rice Manor. 4 

Acoylte 2nd Level.  

Tilly the Kid Mage. 3

Seer 2nd Level. 

The henchmen will be holding the mules (I forgot to equip them, so no bows and arrows for them.)

The light cavalry await the Griffons charge before casting their javelins, while Jorham Hill knocks a bow, as does Jonathan Bower.  The Griffons surge forward at the light cavalry and the leading explorers.  (As they were attacking from low altitude, I have ruled that they cannot do a dive attack,) As they reach close range, a shower of javelins cuts one of the griffon down, while the two explorers target another (7 damage).  The griffons each make attacks at different targets, as given their wingspan, that is about as much as they can fit.  The leader is attacked with a powerful bite and claws to his horse, before the griffon is forced to land.  Bower’s horse is badly bitten, and dies.  Bower falls for 4 damage.  The rest of the light cavalry virtually evaporate, as men and horses are torn apart by the lion eagle hybrids and Bower is also killed.  (Note, due to cleaves the light horse have basically no chance.  Stay no to fighting griffons at close range.)

For the rebuttal, the horse archers fire a furious barrage at the winged lions, targeting them by who is nearest.  (Note, this matters for overkill, but not for cleave as mercenaries are technically 0th level and cannot cleave).  They successfully kill an especially thin and mangy one, but other than that are unable to bring another down.  The cleric Bradford and the medium cavalry, like Roland and the Bishop rush open the lions in full charge.  They ride two abreast, so as to maximize their hitting potential, and all of the lances strike great blows. (I really enjoy the charge mechanic combined with lances.  Medium cavalry really have the feel of knights)  Bramshire shoots and kills the griffon that was the secondary target of the horse archers, and then shifts his aim to another, again killing it.  He shifts for a third shot, but misses. (Note, this was an error, as charges do not move cavalry past the target, which is what I was picturing, technically shooting should have only been done at unengaged griffons)  Tilly the Kid raises his hand and shoots a magic missile at one of the griffons that is not engaged in combat, and does minor damage to it. 

Suspringly, the morale roll is an effective 13 on the human side, matching the insane determination of the Griffons and there is no further consideration for retreat on either side.  Victory or death.  Given that monsters can cleave and the mercenaries cannot, this looks like a potential party wipe, but we keep going. 

Tilly the Kid ain’t looking to get hit and he casts Shield on himself.  The 7 who would be knights and their horses fight back against the horde of flesh and wings, they kill two with a terrifying output of damage (mostly from angry horse hoofs), while injuring a third.  Charles of Bramshire sinks an arrow into an undamaged target as it looked for a new target to feed on, before the griffons begin to attack about them.  One attacks for the priest, but his every attack fails, showing the man’s faithfulness and the creature’s own injuries.  Another attacks at the dismounted leader and brings him down, before coming towards the knights.  Meanwhile, three griffons have rushed around the knights and try to attack the horse archers. That knight falls and the creature cleaves for his horse, it is not killed but heavily wounded and with its rider’s corpse will flee. Another knight is killed and another horses savaged (1 damage) The third knight is attacked catches the attacks of teeth and class on his strong shield and though blood drips profusely, he holds the line.  The last griffon in this group attacks the next knight, greatly destroying him and wounding his horse very badly. 

Some yards back, where the horse archers wait, the three next griffons have come. The first, though means extraordinary, his leather armor holds back fangs and claws.  The next killed and his horse savaged so that it runs.  The last griffon bites through leather and draws blood in other places, but the archer remains in his seat.  The 22 living horse archers then return attacks, 7 to a beast 8 on the third.  Or at least the first group tries, but the others let their horses try to step on their foes, as that seems more effective.  None are killed, but the hoofs of even light warhorses prove terrifying in their damage. (Note; horses are better at fighting than 0th level fighters, so it is not a bad scheme.)

Round 3. (Below are the current combat effectives and initiative.)

8 Griffons. 3

22 horse archers 4 

4 medium cavalry 5

Charles of Bramshire. (Busted Knee) 6

Bradford of Rice Manor. 4 

Tilly the Kid Mage. 5

Charles Bramshire, having no room to shoot, rides his horse up to the first rank and tries to have his horse attack a Griffon.  Tilly, still entrapped in his magical shield, follows doing the same, but his horse shies back at the last moment.  Then the knights and their mounts begin to strike back at their targets.  One is lanced through the eye and perishes, but otherwise the knights and horses both seem to be flagging achieving no other hits (battlefield note; eeek).  Bradford the Cleric cannot hit anyone, but his horse does some damage.  The horse archers work hard to finish their targets, now having ranged around they slash and let their horses fight steadily, until all three are killed.  (Amusingly, since I was rolling all the horses at once, per group, two of the griffons were killed exclusively by hoofs, and the last only needed two of its damage done by scimitars).  The four remaining griffons prepare to fight. Tilly is torn off his horse and sorely used, his shield sparking ineffectually as he is brought down to -11 damage.  His horse is killed, before the griffon kills one of the knights and savages its horse.  The next attacks that horse and does some damage to it.  The third griffon goes for the 3rd knight and shreds both him and then his horse, before attacking and wounding the 4th knight.  The 4th griffon goes for Charles of Bramshire and he is brought exactly to zero.  It then brings claws and jaws against the cleric, but only scratches him (badly) 1 hit remaining.  

Round 4.  

4 Griffons. 6 

22 horse archers 6

Bradford of Rice. 1 

The Griffon attacking at Bradford continues and brings him down to -1 hit points.  Then it savages the horse badly.  The remaining three Griffons with growls and rage race at the remaining horse archers.  The first kills 4 men and 3 horses, hitting its max cleaves in moments.  The second manages to get 7 cleaves as well (4 men, 3 riders), while the third wounds a loose horse, before it bolts.  The remaining forces have their horses ride and fight against them. (2 +11 hits d4s is better than 1 +10 d6s).  They greatly batter two of the nearer Griffons.   

Round 5.

4 Griffons 1

16 Horse archers 2.

The remaining horse archers

The horse archers and their horses beat and stab two more griffons to death.  The remaining two then attack.  The first gets its full seven cleaves (3 men 4 horses.). The second flies over and attacks as well, killing 3 men and 2 horses.  

Round 6.  

2 Griffons 4 

10 horse archers 1 

4 guys and 3 horses go down to the first.  The second kills 2 men and three horses.  They lash back heavily but they do not succeed.  The griffons win.  

Battle Conclusion.

The 4 remaining mercenaries, the two henchmen, the mules and all that they have are killed.  

 

Reflections. 

Wow I did not expect that result.  Lesson, flying lions are terrifying and armor is really good.  I really liked this party and am sad to see them killed, but the road to advancement is paved in the bodies of the slain 1st and 2nd level characters.  

Solo (Sorta) Session 16; Union, Sailing and Financing.

 Solo Session; From November 1st to November 4th/11th 2023

Having waited and rested over the 30th and 31st Bede finally rouses up the party on the monthly ship ride over to Reward.  Why?  Punishment does not have a deep supply of mercenaries or henchmen and the wilderness of Cosoricalta is teaming with threats.  These threats must be met with force and so Bede goes to the more successful force of the Green Mountain Company (or at least the one’s who are not on down time actions) and suggests that they joint hire the ship’s service for the carrying of mercenaries.  Bede is somewhat upset to be outranked by the Bradford of Rice Manor and one of the explorers, but such are the fortunes of explorers. 

Green Mountain Party Representatives. 

Jonathan Bower.

Outrider 2nd Level.

Bradford of Rice Manor.

Acoylte 2nd Level.  

Bede’s Party.

Lexius of No Last Name.

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Synope the Spiteful.

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Lorenzo the Luminous. 

Arcanist. 1st Level.

Bede. 

Catechist 1st Level.

Henches.

‘Tan’ Suggs. (Thief)

Before setting out, Bradford goes to the Legate and tries to get a written promise that the legate will cover one of half of the shipping costs of men hired to serve in the clearing of Cosoricalta. With an effective roll of 8 due to Bradford’s subpar charisma, the Legate says that is a fascinating idea that he will consider in the next year, once his budget finds a new and healthier balance. So with that failure, I consult the price of buying berths on a ship and working things out.  The price is an absolute skinning of fortunes, with Bede’s party paying 100 gp for the five of them, while the Green Mountain Representatives pay 40 gold.  (This was done incorrectly, but we follow a policy of not undoing mistakes that harm the party’s.)

For those curious we are riding the regular monthly visitor to Punishment, a small sailing ship, named The Holy Twins.  With ’very strong’ southerly winds, they cannot leave port on the first day.  After a miserable day waiting in the Punishment harbor, in the night the wind changes and the harsh winds off the mountains push them sharply east. 6 bull sharks bump against the ship in the night, but given that bull sharks cannot realistically fight a sailing ship, the encounter does not develop further.  To avoid drawing more dangerous creatures or monsters, Jonathan Bower is kept from shooting one from the boat.  Thus with comparatively little excitement they arrive at the city of Reward.  The captain, following his schedule will not be returning until the 28th or 29th of November.  This presents a problem.  Either they will need to live here for the month or hire a ship for their own usage.  

Bede and his party have 800 gold and need to spend 100 gold to get back.  They will further have to workout the costs of a hotel or location to spend time at while waiting for the return ship.  They will need at least 2 henchmen of fighting quality and perhaps some other valuables for increased combat power.  A +1 mace perhaps, for example. (Editor’s note; there is basically no way they could find a weapon that powerful in the city for the amount of money they actually have.)

First they (Bede’s party) go to the Deep Chairs Tavern, and attempt to arrange accommodation.  Lexius attempts to bargain and it goes badly.  His friendly classicist banter is misunderstood (an unmodified 2 was rolled) and the owner decides to attack him. 

Denarius Clipper, owner of the Tavern. (For those who wish to reattempt this) (1 hp)

7 strength -1

9 intelligence 0

8 wisdom -1

7 dexterity -1

12 constitution 0

9 charisma 0.  

Helper 1, 'Sirenius the Singer.’ 3 hp.

12 strength 0

13 intelligence +1

9 wisdom 0

7 dexterity -1

8 constitution -1

14 charisma +2

Helper 2 'Chub the Sweeper.’ 6 hp

11 strength 0

13 intelligence +1

11 wisdom 0

12 dexterity 0

5 constitution -2

7 charisma -1

Lexius, once the words leave his mouth realize he has made an enemy for life and grips his staff to guard himself, while the tavern owner draws a sword. Lexius tries to disarm, but fails to do so.  Tavern owner strikes back viciously with an oath and made a great cut into Lexius’ front, letting the blood freely stain his robes.  His two helpers then begin to step forward, with clubs in their large hands, but Bede is having none of this.  He attempts to non-lethally put the man down, with his mace. With an extra firm tap, he places the man on the ground and unconscious.  ’Tan’ Suggs, ever ready for a scrum, tries to incapacitate the singer, but instead trips and falls on his face (natural 1.). Lorzeno the Luminescent tries to knock another down with an incapacitating blow and with a mighty blow crushes Chub the Sweeper to the ground (Natural 20 with a two-handed staff… why must the good rolls ever be wasted in tavern brawls?). Synope the Spiteful misses his swing, and the singer has a chair leg ready for violence.  He swings and hits the prone ’Tan’ Suggs for a 3 damage with his improvised club. Tan groans, but he is a tough cookie and is not out for the count.  

Naturally, seeing how he is out-numbered, his leader has fallen and his own blow has done nothing, Sirenius the Singer lays down his club.  No guards come during this time, and after Bede looks the room over in disgust, he instructs the party to leave, once Lorenzo does some naturalistic healing to his fellow Arcanist. 

They next go to the Lone Star Tavern.  Lexius, being in poor humors after his stabbing, does not take the lead, but rather lets the worthy Bede try to organize the accommodations for the majority of the month. Basically usual rates of food and lodging are agreed to per person and they settle into wait and enjoy the slightly superior lifestyle of a city inn to a village inn and the massively superior life style to sleeping in a dungeon. We shall leave them thus employed until later in November. 

Green Mountain Representatives. 

They leave the boat and find a better class of tavern at which to lodge, being rejected at two of these as unpopular Cosoricalta adventurers instead of bravely fighting in the major war on the eastern part of the empire. A third tavern is approached and with a bit of regret they try to offer a slightly higher rate, but once more they are turned away.  It seems that Reward, despite being a bustling city is not friendly to adventurers.  The sad and tired pair retire to temple and request to spend the night there, until they can clean up a bit and pass themselves off as ordinary persons. Bradford’s holy symbol is enough for this good treatment to be extended to them and in the morning they make a donation of 100 gold before going about their goals.  They next set off to find advantages for themselves. 

For the record 16 000 gp worth of resources is a significant amount of money, but it is not nearly enough to do everything in the book.  (Having run out of mental energy due to ongoing malaria/other unknown sickness I return 24 hours later).  Given this reality, it seems that the best option is to collect a force of mounted troops and prepare for a combat patrol. 

We will therefore spend 100 gold on hiring for papers to be spread throughout the town for an advantage to finding mercenaries.  We specifically want mounted mercenaries and a few henchmen for greater combat power in hitting dungeons.  We will also need horses for the main party, given the high percentage of ruined legs involved. 

Reward is a class 1 city and therefore there should be an abundance of mercenaries available, even if there is a war to the East. 

Of the category of mercenaries rolled up they are as follows; 

31 light cavalry

45 horse archers

13 medium cavalry

Per ACKs rules we can meet half of these individuals over the first week, then a quarter over the second week and a quarter still of the third week of the search. 

Jonathan Bower as a very capable and charismatic man (+2 naturally +diplomacy (further reading suggests that diplomacy should not apply in this situation, but I could be wrong.)) will handle this much more important duty, while the somewhat less personable cleric (-1) will be handling the collection of henchmen for the direct fighting in dungeons and other such mad cap schemes. 

In the first week, Jonathan gets a meeting with the leader for 16 light cavalry and lays out a somewhat better than standard terms for a deal of this sort (This will work out to 720 gold per month+an appropriate share of treasures collected on the field of battle or in the raiding of a village + cost of shipping to Cosoricalta + some degree of rations while out on campaign/patrol).  With a roll of 5+2 they are only interested due to Jonathan’s personal gravitas.  He likes the look of the men and suggests that they come over with a signing bonus of 1000 gold for the first month. With a roll of 7 they are reluctant to accept this, but his personal gravitas is too persuading and the 16 light horse agree to join the Green Mountain Company.  (Note, if you check the costs you will notice I made a mistake here.  Light cavalry are worth 30 gp, per month, so they are being massively overpaid.  However, I dislike retroactive collections and we shall understand their negotiator to be an especially canny operator.)

After his meeting with those he finds a group of 23 horses archers and gives them a very similar looking contract (This will work out to 1035 gold per month+an appropriate share of treasures collected on the field of battle or in the raiding of a village + cost of shipping to Cosoricalta + some degree of rations while out on campaign/patrol).  With some persuasion he gets them to sign on and firmly insists that they think of themselves as separate unit and not speak with the light cavalry, especially as their leader is a shrewd man who cheats at gambling and contracts. 

The meeting with the 7 medium cavalry is similar.  They hired on a similar basis and the force grows.  Jonathan thus has organized the combat patrol duties with the following costs.

23 horse archers (owed 1035 for this first month.)

16 light cavalry (owed 1000 gold for this first month.)

7 medium cavalry (owed 315 gold for this first month.)

Having assembled this force, Jonathan goes to the criers and tells them to keep the change (he is a generous man after all)

Bradford needs to hire 2 henchmen to his personal service.  Specifically for deeds of violence (fighters) and men who are willing to face monsters.  Given his low charisma, he will only be hiring 0th level characters, as I would rather him not get cut down over a mispronounced name.  

First fellow comes in and is wearing a full hood (I will roll up stats once they are hired, for efficiency) He hear’s the cleric out, but refuses to commit.  Bradford scowling terribly, gestures for him to leave and goes back to contemplating the Lawful Deities.  The next comes in but will not even hear the pitch out, before turning and leaving. The next tries to bargain, but the cleric knows that there are scores of men eager to serve and he is willing to wait for someone to accept a ‘fair price.’  Two more fail to meet his standards before someone agrees to the terms as stated.  He reveals his face and Bradford gets a look at him.

Unhealthy Causarius. 

4 strength -2

12 intelligence 0

16 wisdom +2

14 dexterity +2

3 constitution -3

17 charisma +2

The cleric sighs, but not too loudly as he has no wish for the hiring to die on the spot.  Truly those who come to Cosoricalta are cursed above all other men!

Over the next few days the cleric tries again. He receives three abrupt refusals, before another man decides the terms are good.

Sturdy Robustus. 

9 strength 0

10 intelligence 0

8 wisdom -1

10 dexterity 0

15 constitution +2

10 charisma 0

The cleric then looks for an armorer.  Out of the 11 in the city, he meets with 8, before one of them is so personally offended he begins a slander campaign against the priest and all ventures in Cosoricalta and they are forced to decide that an armorer will not be able to collected at this time.  

A further 1750 gold is spent on 7 more medium horses. 

Now for shipping costs.. 

According to the internet  (surprisingly, ACKs, as of my current reading doesn’t give horse weights) we may take the average horse weight as something over 1100 pounds, which for the ACKs weights purposes means we are trying to ship 5830 stone worth of horses, and their riders.  This is a significant amount of horse to be travelled with.  And this is a significant amount of money to spend.  

The ratio given is 1 gp per every 10 stone over every 500 miles. Going the full 500 miles would be a move would require  have to be measured in multiple dragons hoards and probably worth more than will ever be dug out of Cosoricalta.  Luckily we only need to sail between 12 to 36 miles (assuming contrary winds.) To simplify things the terms we will be contracting for are for a fixed twenty mile stretch, regardless of time spent or actual distance covered.    Further we will need to supply ourselves with provisions for this journey and future work.  Therefore we spend 90 gold on 150 water-skins in preparations.  A further 30 gold is spent on 1 week’s rations for every man in the force.   A further 900 gold is spent on 3 weeks iron rations for each mans. (These supplies, by my reckoning weigh 55 stone.)

(After much mathematical introspection, calling a friend and more deep thinking we come to an answer.).  We are therefore paying 4 copper per 10 stone to 20 miles.  This works out to, assuming my poor mind is griping things well, 233.2 gold pieces for the privilege.  Further for the rate of shipping passengers (using the state formulae (200 stone per passenger)).  We will also need to work out the rate of our rations+water.  And the total is 635 gold for renting a ship for a one way trip.  Given that the town of punishment is literally a horrible abomination of a town (Class 7 with a good garrison,) we must pay their return trip as well.  We therefore must pay 1270 gold for the use of a large sailing ship for a two way trip. 

5390 gold, by my estimation, is being spent on this force, and that only in its first month of existence!  

The ship will begin trying to leave from the 10th or 11th of November.  

Reflections.

My math on malaria/malaria medication is absolutely atrocious and embarrassing, but it is really fun trying to fit what amounts to being a small army together for future work.  I really wanted to get a few wands or something together, but the closest to my range of affordability (had the town even had some in stock) were just very expensive.  Perhaps I will regret this.  Finally feel like I know how to ship things though.  One future goal for the island will be the establishment of a ship building base.  Those are very cool rules and it would be nice to own a ship and let other people pay significant amounts of copper to transport mounts and livestock.  

I am also intending to set up a third party, as the goal is to have three going on at once, but flavor this one a bit different and do a full party of thieves, assassins and blade dancers.