Part 7: Session 5: Running About

Session 5: Running About

Thanks for writing down what you wanted to do last time, guys. It made it easy to get the annoying parts out of the way early. Now, tell me if I’ve got this right:



You rested overnight after you finished with the graveyard,



You sold off a bunch of useless junk along with several of the amulets, which were worth ten gold each, incidentally,

Totally worth it.



Finally, you used the money to buy a few more items, specifically a set of lockpicks for Hal’s character.

Honestly, we should have gotten those much sooner.



So what do you want to do now?

I want to go boozing and whoring. Oh, sorry, I mean “Ah want ta go boozin’ and whoorin’ with ma share o’ tha loot, are ya with meh?!”
“Oh, yah, I could go fer some of that alchyhol and da woman’s touch, yah.”
_{(Oh God.)} Do I have to go with them?

Nothing’s keeping you guys together. As long as you end up at the same inn at the end of the day, I don’t really mind you guys doing whatever you want.


I don’t believe it works between areas, but you are allowed to split the group up into smaller pieces at any time using the button the mouse cursor is on. Groups can be any size from six on down to one, although NPC followers can’t be split off into their own group. After the group gets split, you can use a new button with a yellow slash on it to switch freely between groups. Oh yes, and while I’m describing technical details, I should show off the map


Clicking on the labyrinth with the moving doohickey brings you to this screen. The minimap on the lower right shows green for areas that have been explored, while the larger screen on the left shows the detail of a certain region. It can also show points of interest, marked by the “T” in a box. Sadly, the town map doesn’t come revealed and doesn’t automatically show points of interest, so I’m having to drop them myself. I also drew a white line on the minimap to show where the river passes through the town. This is a decent sized port, after all.


Here’s the gate to the cemetery, along with the only bridge to the south side of town.


This is sort of a secondary central town area, just south of the Market Square. There’s also a mapmaker down here who will sell you a map of the town, one with all the areas revealed and all the houses marked with the name (and occupation, if a shop) of its owner. I didn’t get it, though; fuck her and her 50 gold ducat map (I only just got 100, if you didn’t read the numbers above).


This is the Market Square, the heart of Riva. The large building just north is City Hall, but we don’t have any business there yet.


This unexplored region is the slum of Riva, where all the Holberkians live. The small hut at an angle that’s been fully revealed is where the Seeress lives, and the inn the party was sleeping at the first time is just to the west. Also, Riva Castle is further west, at the end of the long passage that branches off from the docks area, the two blobs on the upper left portion of the minimap.


This is the front gate of Riva.


And this is the back gate area, with the temples of Rahja and Tsa. There’s also a blacksmith here who can fix broken weapons.



So if everyone splits off, where do you all go? William, how about you?

Me? I dunno…

Hmm…I’ve got an idea. So your character wanders around the main area of the city, when he finds a thatched-roof house. You would have left it alone, but you spy a dwarf with his head sticking out of the corner of his door.

I go talk to him?


Should we be out of the room for this?
Nah, that’ll take too long. “Excuse me, mister elf, are you lot adventurers?”
Not nearly Scottish enough.

Did you want me to say something?
That’s sort of the point, yeah.
“Hey. Um, who are you?”
“My name’s Thorgrim, though people ‘round here call me Thorgrim the Strong.”
“Okay.”

*Awkward Silence*

Ask him about what’s going on in town.
“What’s going on in town?”
“It’s unbelievable what’s happened to the mine! I came here with the others at the start, and I’ve worked at the mine for a while, too, until I ‘deserted,’ as Radomil would probably have called it. So what, I’m not part of his entourage, I was just hired on.”
“Okay.”
“So, um, I heard that the Thorwalian who wanted to free the mine joined your group.”
“Yah, you betcha!”
You’re not there!
“Yeah, he’s part of the group.”
“So…maybe you’d like an extra hand?”


“Sure?”
“Hang on, I’ll just grab my trusty axe here!”



Thorgrim is now a follower for you guys.

What are his stats?

Let me just read off his chart here…



Damn, that is strong. And it sounds like he does everything Hal’s character does, but better. How come he’s got such good stats?

Well, he is level 12.

Holy crap! How come he gets to be so good?

6 was only the minimum recommended level for this campaign. It also recommended having you guys meet Thorgrim if I thought you needed the help.

Plus since everything is based on rolling for skill increases, higher levels don’t mean as much in DSA as they do in, say, third edition D&D. No high level abilities to get or anything.
Still, he fucking rocks. Can we bring him with us to the whorehouse?
Ugh.

I, um…actually, it looks like he’d be fine with that.

Sweet!
Hang on, what about me? I think Kara would like to go buy that extra-light bow.

It still costs about half what you guys have pooled together, let alone what your share is by itself.

But Hal and Alex get to go to the red light district?

Whores are cheaper.

Damn. Well, in that case, Kara goes to whatever passes for an archery range around here and spends the day practicing.

Fine. So Hal, you and Alex go down—

Wait a sec, I just remembered. Can we go see that goddess of love and booze first?



Fine. What do you do there?

Can we…you know…do anything there?

You can pray for a blessing.

Aw. Fine, looks like that roll was low enough. What happens? The Viagra effect?



*sigh* No. You get a +1 bonus to Charisma for six hours. That’s it.

Come on, man, let’s just go to the brothel.
Oh, all right.


Booze and whores, booze and whores, we’re gonna get us some booze and whores!




You enter the brothel named “Rapture.” A brown-haired woman with a striking appearance meets you at the door.

“Ach, lassie, we be here fer a goot time.”


Right clicking in the main interface makes the icons show up as text options. Guess what the suggestive leg behind the curtain is called?


28?! But between the two of them—
That’s in silver. Your bow is worth 50 in gold.
We all pay up!

You…er…spend a thoroughly enjoyable time at the brothel. Who’s up next?

I’ll go. William, you want to come with me?
Okay.
I want to go see who in town can sell alchemy ingredients. I know about the seer and the market, but what about the healer’s hut? Where does she live?



She lives along the riverside, next to an inn and a giant barrel statue.

What’s it full of?

…You don’t know. There isn’t a plaque or anything.

I hope it’s full of beer.

I knock on the healer’s door.


Damn. I guess I’ll just head back to the inn now.

Hang on, I forgot to roll for random encounters for everyone. *roll* Ah, here’s something.


“What’s the map lead to?”

“The map gives the way to the hiding place of the legendary throwing axe Star Trail!”

“So? We don’t have enough money for it anyway.”

The man shrugs and walks off.

Well, that was pointless.
Was it another of those callbacks?

I think so. There’s a note in the entry that says, “Don’t be surprised if the players react violently to the huckster.” I don’t think that module ended very well.

Hmm. Well, if I can’t compare prices, I’ll just buy a few tarnele leaves and make some healing potions.
Could I go now?

Sure, sorry to keep you waiting. What do you want to do with your free time?

Can I visit a tavern?




Sure. You find “The Laughing Prickear,” run by an elf. What did you want to do there?

I want to dance and spin for the crowd.
Wait, you what?
I got a bunch of points in the Body skills, like Dance and Acrobatics. Can I get any money by doing those in a tavern?



…Sure.

Why’s everyone so surprised?
Well, you were being kind of prudish about the whoring…
Oh, come on! Dancing isn’t all about that kind of thing!
_{(Acrobatics, on the other hand…)
Shhhh!}
If that’s all, can we please get on to everyone else?

Actually, that’s pretty much everyone. It’s getting a little late now, too, so maybe we should just quit here and explore the countryside next time.

Hang on, is there any other place we could visit?

Not much. There’s the cartographer’s, the other general store, city hall (but you’ve got a quest already, so don’t bother), the tailor’s…

Wait. There’s a tailor in town? Can I go there?



Sure, but why?

I wanna get fitted for a suit.

Looks like that costs more than you’ve got on you, personally. But why the hell do you want to get your measurements taken?

Because I want me some fancy pants.