The Cat Man of Brant

Longman's hex-based exploration PBP campaign

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Longman
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Longman »

"Let's talk numbers. 20 gold a man who goes with you now. 20 more when you find its lair, although you've given me no indication of how you'd do that. And another 20 when the job is done. Injuries, you can leave to us, but were-guild would be another matter. You might be up for a thousand if that happened!

You'd have to prove you are good for all that before we proceed."

The two candidates are a 3rd level fighter and a 4th level thief and are Bruce's relatives and friends.
Woe
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Woe »

Is that high or low? That seemed high to me but when I looked at the book I then can't decide. Heavy dwarf foot is 6gp, but those are F1 not F4. And thousands for weregeld? That'd be a non-starter. I'm not asking to roleplay this part. I'm just curious whether that's reasonable for the world price or a bit high. I'm not exactly frivolous with my IRL geld either. :)
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Longman »

Absolutely no point at all looking at the mercenary prices. Those are per month, based on guarding your stronghold, not for following you to kill a monster on one night. Specialist prices are also useless for the same reason.

Based on the idea that it (60gp) represents 15% of what might be gained in treasure for killing a pretty high level monster, it seems pretty cheap to me.

Except the weregild. You offered one, he asked for 1000gp. :P

Also - you don't know what your reaction roll was.

You can haggle if you like.
Woe
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Woe »

Oh, I'm going to haggle. 1000gp is a deal-ender.

"Here's the gold, and you can see by my gear that I'm well-funded. Your rates are good, but the wergeld is... is... one thousand?" Freya pauses, to remove the incredulity from her voice. "Thanks for your time boys, but risking a price that high for warriors whose mettle I only know of from Bruce here... that's an awfully tough choice. I'm going to need to think about it. What am I getting for this? What have they taken down already similar to this panther? In short, am I getting dragon hunters or daisy planters?"

A little bit of fun for you if you want it: dwarves were once renowned dragon killers, and a somewhat derogatory dwarvish term for elf is 'daily planter'. :)
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Longman
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Longman »

You're getting a MacAllan and a Dalgleish. The MacAllan is trained by me, and if you think you can find a better man for getting in and out of places without being seen, you are welcome to try. As for young Dalgleish, he is well trained with shield and hammer and will be stalwart by your side. We still keep up our fighting ways, you know, even though we do not often have cause to use them.

There are no daisy-planters here, and no need for dragon hunting heroics by our kind any longer. That's for your friend Stonemettle. How he has managed to persuade our young Bruce to go along with all of that, i will never know. To go into that forest for weeks on end. Plain madness, is what it is.

The weregild stands. If you don't want to pay it, don't get my boys killed.

(That's over. You've rolled just well enough to get those 2 at that deal. If you push harder you'll lose out. Take it or leave it.)
Woe
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Woe »

It's a great deal. Aside from the wergeld, it's a steal. I'm just worried that if one -- or worse -- both die, I'm going to be so in the hole that I'm not sure how I'd pay off the debt. The last thing I want is a mercenary band chasing me on top of panthers!
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Longman
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Longman »

Cross off 40 gold for the time being, and another 80 later.

Where do you all go? Back to reunite with Tiana at the Inn? Or some other place?
Woe
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Woe »

Whoops! Italics usually mean "talking to Longman" instead of "talking", and I usually don't OOC anymore. Sorry, I thought you had figured out my convention.

That passage was meant for you, Longman, not dwarf guy. I can't figure out whether the 2000gp risk is worth it. I'm thinking instead offering them a cut of the treasure, dead or alive. I just hadn't posted that yet because I haven't figured out how to structure that deal so it's fair to both sides.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

Red Oak map
Red Oak loot
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Longman
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Longman »

OK, I thought you had accepted the deal.

I'm thinking instead offering them a cut of the treasure, dead or alive. I just hadn't posted that yet because I haven't figured out how to structure that deal so it's fair to both sides.

As I explained, there is no point doing that.

The thing you can't see is the reaction rolls. You can't keep negotiating or making other offers because you simply haven't rolled well enough. It's only part role-play, the rest is plain old roll-play.

So, if you want these mercenaries, that's the deal you have to take.

Incidentally, Brant is not really well-stocked with taverns full of seedy mercenary types looking for quick cash. It's actually very lawful and orderly. If there's a thieves guild here, you know nothing about it.
Woe
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Re: The Cat Man of Brant

Post by Woe »

Yep. I'm just not sure whether 1000gp is reasonable or not. I have no idea whether the five of them can survive one or two panther attacks. I'm not sure I have 1000gp (x2?) collateral. Lefty can argue "don't let them die" but NPCs can be pretty stupid sometimes, like running into an open field while being all alone as two wyverns are swooping down. :roll: PC thinking time required here.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

Red Oak map
Red Oak loot
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