I'll just drag them as far as I can then. This is not a safe place to stay.

Can Mouse keep shooting while Eryn is dragging?

Also, how badly would calling Eryn "mom" go over?

There's only one way to find out... :>

You are certainly welcome to try.

I want a melon. I want the biggest damn melon he has. If you can look at it and go 'that's a damn big melon!': that's the one I want. I wish to take it to the fair and win the 'biggest damn melon' award. I wish to roll it down a hill and damage the road more than the melon. I need a horse and cart to move it. I need piercing 5+ on my weapon to be able to scratch its surface. It whispers to me at night. That's right. I want a demonic melon more suitable for launching from siege equipment than for eating. Can this fruit shop owner grant me such a melon?

If not I guess I'll take... an orange or whatever. :P

What kind of trinkets are the other vendors offering? I could use something simple like a spare shirt (darn saltwater), a lockbox, or a knife.

Haha, sorry, there are no monstrous demonic siege melons at his humble fruit stand. All of the types of trinkets you mentioned are available. You can name specific items, and/or be vague and select uses of rations and adventuring gear instead. There are a dozen stands offering items, so you may each select up to 12 items/uses. Feel free to be creative. Clothing, foods, medicines, pets, small livestock, tools, charms, jewelry, books, services, etc. They are all fair game.

A bath and lunch sounds like the kinds of things that are on Mouse's list of priorities. Some new arrows wouldn't be a bad bonus. But mostly bath and lunch and maybe Eryn not being too mad when she remembers where she met them

If any of you are inclined to think of Ilura who led off 3/4 of the horde, some armor would be lovely.  Fresh fruit is welcome too. :>

Thomas is probably fine.  He'll be happy gorging on the former queen's eyes...

I'd like to refill my Adventuring Gear to 5 uses, so that's 2 items. A simple knife and a lockbox/tin to keep miscellaneous items in, that's 2 more. Siege melon Some fruit to munch on, some replacement clothes after repeatedly soaking and brutalizing my current ones (shirt/trousers/underwear/pair of gloves, though I guess my new armo covers the latter) adds up to 8 or 9 total.

The adventuring gear will cover my other needs, so I'll just offer the remaining 4 up for pooling with Ilura if it's possible for her to get some armor instead of individual items from that. If not I'll share the rest of the money I have so we can buy some.

Oh, and I would go help you with the birds, Ilura, but as mentioned you are rather far away and also above sea. :P

Mouse: There's probably not any anger or frustration left after that event in Eryn's mind, so don't worry, it's unlikely that she'll be excessively mad about it. ^^

Don't know if you guys have already seen this, but figured it might be of interest: https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...-documentary-on-gary

Sounds like a case of mythical and never-before-seen Double Leather Armor! It probably has a "custom item from a blacksmith" attached though. :P

Chainmail would be an option, although it doesn't provide a better bonus than leather. The change would mostly be for flavor. You could also grab a shield instead, but that wouldn't work so well with a bow. There are other options out there for armor without a Clumsy tag, but they would be expensive or rare magic or both.

Ilura, if you go back to where the others are, you will be offered the same 12-item deal, since Eryn seems to be waiting for your return and can vouch for you.

Hurrying back as quickly as I can... :)

Let me know if I missed any info. I feel like I missed something, but don't know what.

I'm seeing the current thread as being marked "closed".  Was that intentional?

Not intentional, no. It isn't showing it as closed on my computer. Let me know if you are unable to post. It might just be a glitch or something. It wouldn't be the worst time to start a new thread though, if this one is being buggy. Or if we exceeded the maximum number of posts...

Edit: The OOC thread has more posts, so that shouldn't be it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:23, Tue 20 Nov 2018.

Nope.  I'm just a moron.  Was trying to post to the previous thread for some reason.  Sorry!

I'm ok with hirelings in principle, I'm just not clear on how useful they'll be.

Like items, hirelings can be extremely useful, or they can be dead weight. It depends on how you use them. For instance, if Eryn or Ilura casts a spell with the aid of an Adept, the spell will be more potent than normal, and effects of a failed roll will be applied to the Adept instead of the PC.

Having a Priest along at your camp improves all healing, and they can provide emergency healing as well, for the cost of a temporary penalty. A Minstrel makes sure your party is welcome at most establishments, and they provide a discount to anything you might buy. Burglars help the team avoid traps and can even disarm them if given enough time. Protectors are like added armor, and they can help ensure that a Defy Danger does not fail completely when it is essential that you get at least a partial success on something. Trackers can help navigate you safely through the wilderness if it isn't one of the party's strengths. Warriors boost your damage when they help you attack, and take on the drawbacks of a failed attack instead of the PC.

In a lot of ways, Hirelings are like airbags for the party. They don't keep bad things from happening, but they lessen the impact that the bad things might have. In the end it doesn't matter much to me if you decide to hire people or not. That is your group's decision to make. You do always have the option of turning down anyone who answers your call though, so don't feel bad about scrounging up some recruits and promptly sending some or all of them on their way. In a big city like Markhain you are more likely to find the exact type of people you seek though, so keep that in mind too.

My concern is that airbags or only really effective if you don't care about what happens to the airbag.  And Ilura is likely to care.  On the other hand, airbags could be useful.  I'll go with whatever the others prefer.

Ah, a valid concern. Of course the PCs end up taking hits themselves quite often, because it is what they do. Likewise, taking hits is what hirelings do. They usually know what they are getting into as well as the PCs do. They aren't innocent bystanders like most NPCs.

I do not plan to use them as meat shields (that's my job). But I figure that any person that wants to help us stop the overlord - even if it's only by handing us a free ration when we return to town - is a relationship we should nurture.

This Westley guy just wants fame and glory - he's likely to kill himself by walking off the pier with a barrel in tow again unless he gets some direction in his life. I envision Eryn like someone who wants to get people to live up to their potential, and I can see Westley becoming a daring swashbuckler or at least a nice bard if he finds a better purpose than impressing goons in the local tavern. While he won't be allowed to fight any demons I don't think it'll harm him to stick around and observe some true heroes fight for what's right.

Also: Westley = room to carry more weight. ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Wed 21 Nov 2018.

If Westley decides to become a daring swashbuckler on this ocean adventure can we convince him to call himself the Dread Pirate Roberts?

Side note: Mouse is currently perfectly okay with using everyone else as a meat shield. They aren't really emotionally attached yet (It's been like an hour or two. Eryn is currently "mom" and Ilura is "Lady who wanted to shoot me".)

Just a heads up that I'm going to be largely disconnected from the 28th to the 8th.  Probably totally of line from the 30th to the 7th.

Sounds good Ilura. Thanks for the heads up.

I will try to move us forward in the story tomorrow. Maybe even introduce some of Mouse's potential new meat shields if I get that Recruit roll. ;-) Whoever went to the bathhouse can heal half of their HP as if they rested. Nobody has to mark off a ration though, since they recently ate chowder at the bazaar and/or swallowed a pelican whole. Feel free to Level Up too if you have enough XP.