The Eighth Adventure

Mushgnome's Hobbet-centric PBP

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Post by coffee » Wed May 18, 2022 12:50 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Wilbur, likewise, draws his sword but does not initiate any action.
[f=4]Karl the Fighter (M 9", AC 4/6, HD 1+2, FC Man+1, hp 9/9) mail+shield[/f]

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Post by mushgnome » Wed May 18, 2022 4:19 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

NPC Douglas is new to this Fellowship and eager to prove himself (especially having failed so spectacularly on his own First Adventure, a near-TPK). He scoffs at the party's mysterious lack of go-gettem. "There's one of it and like, twenty of us, ya wusses!"

The creature's big blue head is just such an easy target. It turns and stares at Douglas with a stunned expression on its face. The glow of life drains from its orange eyes and its little body crumples to the ground under the weight of its head.

"Woo hoo! Nice shot, Douglas." Fiona runs over and paws through the humanoid's pockets. "Seven silver pieces! Finders, keepers." (She pockets the money.)

Douglas pulls his dagger out of the dead xvart's head and uses a puffball to wipe the blade clean.
Douglas to hit 1d20 = 19, hit for 3hp damage, kill!
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by mgtremaine » Thu May 19, 2022 11:36 am

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Kiplyn shakes his head. "That didn't seem right, somehow."
[f=4]Wen the Pale, Elf Hero/Spellbinder (MV 12", AC 9, HD 4/2, hp 11/11, FC Hero, L) helm, bow[/f]
[f=47]Kiplyn Sorefoot, Hobbet Thief (Lv: 4 AC: 5 Hp 12) Leather+Shield+Dagger, Sling[/f]
[f=59]Tass Purrfoot (Agile Hobbet Varlet, MV 9′′, AC 7, HD 2, hp 8, FC 2 men, SV T7, N)[/f]

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Post by kipper » Thu May 19, 2022 2:15 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Dame Simonetta nods in agreement with Kiplyn, somewhat shocked by NPC Douglas' bloodthirsty act. She is no stranger to violence herself, but she likes to think she has the decency to at least give the benefit of the doubt until aggressive intentions are clearly displayed.

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Post by mushgnome » Thu May 19, 2022 2:51 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Dame Simonetta, Willie, Dougal, Kiplyn, and Wilbur experience a very odd sensation: they feel ever so slightly more experienced, like Douglas' violent act has rubbed off on them and indirectly made them better adventurers. Furthermore they feel their experience award is disproportionate to the danger level, like they have somehow "gamed" or cheated the system, and gotten more than they deserve.

Has bloodthirsty Douglas discovered a loophole in the Rules? Does this change everything we know about Adventure Club??
What those 5 PCs have in common, is that they are 2nd level or higher. Ordinarily, PCs higher than 1st level receive fractional xp for monster kills. The ratio is the dungeon level divided by the PC's level (2nd level PC on the 1st dungeon level gets 1/2xp, 3rd level PC gets 1/3xp, and so forth).

In this case, your PCs are unexpectedly getting the full xp award (as though you were on a deeper dungeon level). We're talking about a tiny, insignificant fraction of an experience point (xvarts are worth a whopping 7xp according to Fiend Folio) but still, it's weird.

It's almost like, on a subtle meta-gamey level, Dungeon Level One is more dangerous than it should be (with proportionately greater reward).

Out of character DM's note, I hope this will give some future "replayability" to Level One. It won't just be something boring we hurry through, to get to Level Two. I've tweaked the wandering monster table for variety, and this xvart was your first random encounter on the new table.

tl;dr Starting now, dungeon level 1 wandering monsters are tougher, but you get full xp for defeating them.
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by mushgnome » Thu May 19, 2022 3:26 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

OOC: Just a quick recap of how Douglas and Fiona fit into the story. They've danced in and out of a couple different plotlines in 4 years of non-linear storytelling, that's a little hard to follow. Let me set the story straight:

The first PC to meet Douglas and Fiona was Robur. They were all part of the same adventuring party, a disastrous near-TPK. For Robur, this was 0-level backstory that happened off-camera, a month ago in-game (December 2nd). Robur was left behind (presumed dead), Fiona scorched off her eyebrows, and Douglas broke his arm and lost all his teeth.

Douglas and Fiona next crossed paths with Dougal, Willie, and Dame Simonetta way back in the Prologue (hard to believe that was back in 2018!). This was later in the same day (Dec 2) as their failed Adventure. (That's right: Robur was asleep for over a month! The whole time our Heroes have been exploring the dungeon, Robur was webbed up in the spider goat's pantry, in some kind of venom-induced suspended animation.)

Douglas and Fiona rode the turnip wagon Home for some well deserved R&R. Douglas got a fancy new set of moose teeth from the Dentist. Now a month later, they are back in Hornpipe and have agreed to join the party as hirelings (due to their lack of self-confidence after their previous failures) rather than lead their own party.

They are NPCs (not DM PCs) and you should feel free to interact with them as you see fit. It won't hurt my feelings.

The other NPC, Ginger, has her own separate agenda apart from Douglas and Fiona. You haven't seen the three of them interact or show any signs they know each other, outside this context. Ginger seems to have a more calm and disciplined demeanor.
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by acodispo » Thu May 19, 2022 9:36 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Willie hardly has time to notice his strange experience gain. He's quite upset with Douglas' actions, and doesn't mind saying so!

"Hey, Douglas! Listen up. That's the first thing we saw down here that looks like it might've been able to talk -- well, that's not quite true, but I don't want to give away too many Spoilers -- anyway, I've got a Rule: if it looks like it can talk, try talking first before clobbering! ... unless it tries clobbering first, and then of course clobber away, -- or if you've already tried talking to a similar creature and it tried to clobber you, then you should also clobber. Anyway, there are some Exceptions, but it's a Rule none the less.

"And as for you, Fiona! Another Rule! In this Club we share the spoils. We're all down here risking our lives together, we all share the risk and we all share the prize!

"You both gonna be okay with these Rules? or are we going to have a problem?"


Willie remembers when Douglas & Fiona seemed pretty cool, back before Willie was even in Adventure Club. But now Willie's got a bunch of Adventures under his belt, and he knows a thing or two, or thinks he does. He's got seniority of experience on these two, that's for sure, even if they did get to the dungeon first by a day or two!
[f=47]Wilibald "Willie" Whitfoot, F1/T1 (M 12", AC 6, HD 1+2, hp 9/9, L) gambeson+helm, shield+warhammer[/f]
[f=59]Witherun [Agile Hero, MV 12′′, AC 6, HD 4, hp 16, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L] hide+helm, shield+dagger or bow[/f]

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Post by dtspurrier » Thu May 19, 2022 10:29 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Bilfur is quiet and lowers his sling. He does comment, " this could be a scout as there might be more of them."

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Post by Bastet1002 » Thu May 19, 2022 11:52 pm

Re: The Eighth Adventure

Robur comes out his hiding place looking cross, though likely it is half out of secret jealously because he had been ready to attack the little blue man. "Douglas!" says Robur waving his finger in Douglas' face. "What are you doing? You don't have to kill everything you see! Even little blue men could be a friend. Use your head, and try to remember what happened last time! Also, try to remember who hired you and Fiona this time!"
Robur Boulderhill, Hobbit Fighter 1 / Druid 1 / Thief 1 (MV 12", AC 6 - w/ shield, , HP 7) leather, wood shield, cudgel, sling, Hobbit stiletto, boots high hard, hooded cloak, backpack, scroll cure lit. wound + wat breath, Background: Mead maker

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Post by mgtremaine » Fri May 20, 2022 11:40 am

Re: The Eighth Adventure

"You wonder why their party got wiped out." Kiplyn comments quietly before speaking up louder. "Maybe we better move the body out of the path and get a move on."
[f=4]Wen the Pale, Elf Hero/Spellbinder (MV 12", AC 9, HD 4/2, hp 11/11, FC Hero, L) helm, bow[/f]
[f=47]Kiplyn Sorefoot, Hobbet Thief (Lv: 4 AC: 5 Hp 12) Leather+Shield+Dagger, Sling[/f]
[f=59]Tass Purrfoot (Agile Hobbet Varlet, MV 9′′, AC 7, HD 2, hp 8, FC 2 men, SV T7, N)[/f]

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