Re: Act 1, Scene 2: "Taking Care of Business" (Game Thread)

[Nocturno]

When the music and dancing is done Pyros will walk Elsa to her room, then go collapse on his bed, intending to check his pockets in the morning...

Those pockets collect such wonderful things!

[Jenara]

(Closing song, talk to Guilliam and the others about the apprentices playing when she isn't. Then bed.)

[Rivi]

OCC: cross will read some have a bed time snack the head to bed

[spyguy1503]

Cal smiles at Senne, then pats his belly. He goes to bed when the music ends, after complimenting Mira.

[Jenara]

"I have one more song.. Do you have dreams? I do.. I hope do too." Mira fixes her gaze on Marie for a short moment. "Dreams are important, hold onto them."

She starts to play softly at first, then slowly builds up the pace.

"Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It's only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat...drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost...
And what you had...
And what you lost

Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say...Women...they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean...you'll know

Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions
I keep my visions to myself
It's only me
Who wants to wrap around your dreams and...
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Dreams of loneliness...
Like a heartbeat...drives you mad...
In the stillness of remembering what you had...
And what you lost
What you had...
And what you lost

Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say...Women...they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean...you'll know.. You'll know.."

Holding the last note for a brief moment she lowers her head, as the stage around her darkens slightly. (Cantrip Cantrips [1d20] = 10 pass)

"Good night, thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoyed yourselves." She collects her lute and the cup and heads to find Guilliam, passing Marie as she does so.

"Thank you for coming. Everyone loves the outfit." She giggles.

[Chris1234]

Jerry claps, "She's great!"and then takes Merrick by the hand and leads him upstairs.

[TristenC]

[OOC: I’d like to gloss over the next game day a bit to get us to the day Yasir is (hopefully) released and the party ready to head to Skald. I know there are a few things the party has scheduled for that day (Monday Feb 26th Barovian Calendar year 736; and an official Full Moon): picking up Pyros’ armor, visiting Yasir, perhaps dropping by some shops, commission more silver weps, Merrick showing Jerry about town, etc. If you can each give me a general outline of anything you’d like your characters to do that would help. There will be time the day after (Tuesday) for any RP interactions you’d rather flesh-out more thoroughly, and there are always private threads as well.]

Mira’s final song dies out and the light around the stage dims, prompting generous applause; some polite and thoughtful, some quite enthusiastic. Mira waits for it to die down before collecting her tips and walking towards Guilliam, purposefully passing Marie. The proprietor of the Blue bolt wipes stray tears away with the back of one and as she claps, and pats the bards arm in silent thanks as the redhead passes. Guilliam and Erris recline cozily together behind the bar against one counter. He passes the bard her salary, Excellent as always. It will be a shame to lose you, even for a few days. Mira divides her earnings up and finds she has made a tidy sum for one evening, even accounting for the Bard College dues.

Jerry claps enthusiastically, then takes Merrick’s hand and leads him away up the stairs. He opens his mouth as if to protest but says nothing, following curiously. Once to the upper hallway he again moves as if to speak, but instead watches her; the question plain in his eyes.

Pyros walks Elsa to her room as well. She glances once at the half-elves a few paces away, but speaks quietly so only the Kender can easily hear. You may have saved our lives tonight, and I’m grateful. You’re insane, but you’re brave and loyal too I think. She forestalls any comment on his part, and her demeanor changes from slightly nervous to calm as if she had decided something important and was determined to see it through. I enjoy dancing with you and spending time with you. I don’t believe in playing games with people’s feelings, and I don’t want someone doing that with me. I’m no city girl, and I’m not usually this forward but this place is dangerous and I might not get another chance. She takes a measured breath and continues. I like you. A lot. You’re fun and cheerful and fearless and I wanted you to know that. And before you get any odd notions about what I mean when I say I like you, She cuts off her own sentence by planting a decidedly non-platonic kiss on him. Warm, moist lips meet his and the faintest scent of flowers fills his senses. His mind and body tingle in a way he has not felt since Tendrow’s final embrace so long ago. He feels Elsa’s fingers lightly touch his sides just before she pulls back. She looks at him, half-smiling half-sad, before turning with a murmured Goodnight as she enters her room and closes the door.

Downstairs Serath watches his ‘cousin’ ascend with the new acquaintance. Hmmm… He remains seated, apparently content to wait a bit while seated with the Ranger. Senne smiles again at Cal and rubs his back with one hand, passing him a small lemon-tart with her other. Cross makes his way to the kitchen for a quick snack as well.

-----
Mira plays for 3 hours and takes a break for dinner.
Mira earns 6 sp(salary)+ 6 sp 16 cp (tips)= subtotal: 12 sp 16cp (136 cp value)
Subtotal -25% (Hall fees)= 102 cp total earnings: 9 sp, 12 cp

[Chris1234]

When they're alone outside her room Jerry opens the door and says to Merrick, "My Goddess teaches that I should seize the moment ere death finds me."
She smiles and kisses him on the lips. "If you spoke true earlier, follow me now," and goes into her room, leaving the door invitingly open.

[spyguy1503]

He smiles at Senne, taking the lemon tart. "Man, I wish you could understand me." he says. He takes a bite of the tart, enjoying the back rub.

[Nocturno]

Pyros will stand staring at the closed door for a good minute. Very confused.

"That is something I will need to sleep on." he says outloud.

"Need to remember to feed the mice in the morning, and see what else I have picked up."

[OoC: Did Pyros grab enough gold while dancing to afford his armour? lol]

[kerap]

Artanis quips to Serath, "Well, unlike your "cousin" I'm off to bed for some sleep. It was quite an entertaining evening. Thank you for the conversation. Perhaps we shall meet again on the morrow. Until then, good evening."

Artanis takes his leave and makes his way to his room. He will quickly and quietly prepare himself for bed and get some shut eye.

As usual the ranger has nothing in particular on his schedule for the next day other than to check on Yasir's release.

[TristenC]

Mira speaks quietly with the inkeeper and gets a drink at the bar, then over to some of the young apprentices from the Hall. Serath bids Artanis goodnight as the ranger heads to bed for the night. Sanne returns to her duties, beginning to clean the kitchen. The other small folk have already retired upstairs. Other patrons come by to congratulate the bard. Two young male servers remove the bar on the door and customers begin heading home in large clusters of half a dozen or more. Others head upstairs to their rooms in the inn. Soon only the staff, Cal, Cross, Mira and the apprentices remain downstairs.

[TristenC]

Well, here we are again at the end of the scene. This one went loosely as expected but the details were a bit unpredictable. Frankly, I love that and I am glad to have players that enjoy just exploring. It is much easier to handle in pbp than in a normal tabletop game. The party accomplished some story goals I had, as well as drummed up and pursued some personal agendas. I'll start a running 'task list' for mid/long term things, which should make stuff easier to track.

Story XP applies to the entire party whether or not they had a great deal of involvement in acquiring/achieving it. Those who play a more active role get individual xp as well (Pyros unlocking the Book of Legends, mira translating, fight xp, etc).

In a pm or private thread I would like to get an idea of what your characters think about this new world in general. do they want to explore, get home, right wrongs or even merely survive?

Alright, enough of that crap, XP TIME!

XP and Rewards
Tasks/Jobs:
Party: Meet Akriel in Skald at The Old Kartakan Inn in 7 days (Barovian Calendar: Sunday March 2nd, year 736)
Artanis: Gather supplies for Rautant (listed)
Mira: Play at Broken Wheel

Group Rewards:
Story XP:
Book of Legends: 200 each (had to ask about, track down, unlock, buy spell, cast)
Stopped a Jail-break: 250 (+50 escaped/released +25 xp Devon survived!)
=> 325 xp each [whole party]
Party Agreed to help Akriel: 100 xp each

Total Group Reward: 625 xp

Combat XP:
Jail Fight (Wolfman Jac): [Artanis, Cal, Cross, Elsa, Mira, Pyros, Yasir]
2,000 xp/ 7 characters = 286 xp each

Wolves on Loop: [Artanis, Cal, Cross, Elsa, Jerry, Merrick, Mira, Pyros]
6 Dire Wolves @ 175= 1050 xp
1050/ 8 characters = 131 xp each

Loot:
Bakki’s shortsword

HD:
Wolfman Jac: 5HD+4hps => 6 HD
6 Dire Wolves: [Wolves 6 (4HD+4 hps) = 6x5 = 30 HD)


Individual XP:
Artanis [Kerap] Male Half-Elven Ranger/Druid (2/2)
[Current 2,815/2,815 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 417 xp (286 Jail fight + 131 Wolves on loop)
“Deadly Hunter”: 720 xp (Ranger only) (10 xp per lvl per HD creatures defeated [10*Rgr lvl 2* 36hd])
Entangle: 100 xp (Druid only)
Cure Light Wounds: 200 xp (2x100)(Druid only)
“Of two minds about it”: 50 xp (conflicting mindsets and ‘voices’ in his head having conversations on several occasions)
“Fishin’ Expedition”: 100 xp (Guided trip, talks about fishing/philosophy, gear, find bait, set poles, let pyros land his fish)
“Fish Tails”: 75 xp (encouraging Yasir’s tales adding a few of his own, wandering with Yasir, waterdeep refs, consort/Sune)
“Just between us guys…”: 100 xp (Talks with John, Yasir, Serath, argument w/Devon but returned food, challenged him)
“Self Sufficient”: 75 xp (Pays his own tab, own agenda, practice dual LS, stoic search in jail, undaunted by opposition)
Breakdown: General 1,442 = (721/721) + (720/300)
Subtotal: 1,441/1,021
Total: 4,256/3,836 (4500/4000 TNL)


Cal [Spyguy1503] Male Gnome Thief/Illusionist (3/2) Custom “Improvisationalist” kit
[Current 2,931/2,978 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 417 xp (286 Jail fight + 131 Wolves on loop)
“That’s Mr McWhiskers to you”: 50 xp (keeping him involved, showing him to cross, catching bait, feeding)
“Girl Crazy” 100 xp (w/elsa at inn, focuses on helping Elsa in Jail/wolf fight, Sanne at lunch, sad seeing Elsa dance w/Pyros,
“Gone Fishin’”: 75 xp (fishing trip “…nature stuff isn’t so bad after all”, unsure what to do, show off his catch, had it cooked)
Magic as a tool: 75 xp (Cautions Cross on how/when to use it, “Magic… was my ticket out of poverty”, discussion at Toad
Sleep: 50 xp (illusionist only)
Phantasmal Force: 50 xp (illusionist only)
Inspired: 50 xp (ghost sounds, sliding dropped weapons cantrip ideas)
Casting Cantrips: 30 xp (Illusionist only)(5/ea: ghost sounds 2x, images 2x, drag wep 1 success, clean Akriel)
Breakdown: General 1,392 = (696/696) + (0/130)
Subtotal: 696/826 (+10% for high Int and Dex) = 766/909
Total: 3,697/3,887 (5,000/5,000 TNL)


Cross [Rivi] Male Elf Mage (3)
[Current 5,429 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 417 xp (286 Jail fight + 131 Wolves on loop)
Invisibility: 100 xp (on Cal in wolf fight)
“Magic in my soul”: 125 xp (int focus on magic, talk w/Elsa, w/Mira, PhantForce in public, discussion at Toad)
A ‘Familiar’ discussion: 50 xp (consistently looking for a familiar scroll, asking about them, meeting McWhiskers, Garibald
“Thoughts of Home”: 50 xp (Talk w/Serath about Krynn, thinking about the woman hunting him, shared story past on Krynn
“Running Errands”: 75 xp (Top hat & custom cape, shopping/errands w/the girls, talk w/Elsa about her home and his past
“Foodie”: 50 xp (constantly eating, eats twice as much as everyone else, food is often on his mind)
“Mad Science”: 25 xp (idea about using wolfsbane on the bite)
Subtotal: 1,517 (+10% for high Int) = 1,669
Total: 7,098 (10,000 TNL)


Jerry [Chris1234] Female Half-Elf Cleric/Mage(Dweomerkeeper) (2/2) Undead Slayer kit
[Current 2,500/2,500 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 131 xp (131 Wolves on loop)
Cure Light Wounds: 300 xp (3x100)(Cleric only)
“Changing Planes”: 100 xp (Honesty, RP w/gypsy spirit, oath to stop undead father, Transition to Ravenloft)
“Of the Faith”: 50 xp (lots of references and prayers to Mystra, big focus of character development)
“Getting to Know you”: 75 xp (RP with Merrick, talk about magic, priesthoods, language, locals, locations)
“…on the first date”: 50 xp (drink, dance, defend party together and did… other stuff…)
“Party time!”: 100 xp (Meet up with the party)
Casting Cantrips: 25 xp (Mage only)(5/ea: direction, time, clean, red flare 2x)
“Cantrip Chantry”: 25 xp (Little poems for the cantrips)
“Lay of the land”: 50 xp (asking Erris about area, people, Check stars, look for landmarks, practice lang/ask for help w/it)
Inspired: 25 xp (flare cantrip idea to lead party to window)
Breakdown: General 1231 = (615/616) + (300/25)
Subtotal: 915/641 (+10% for high Int) = 915/705
Total: 3,415/3,205 (4,000/5,000 TNL)


Mira [Jenara] Female Human Bard (4)
[Current 6,410 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 417 xp (286 Jail fight + 131 Wolves on loop)
‘The Warrior and the Bard’ Part 2: 75 xp (morning injury, moments through day, arguing about staying in jail
“Music in my Soul”: 150 (Well-planned bardic performance w/ new outfit, music, personal invitations, discussion at Toad)
“The Next Gig”: 50 xp (arranging to play at Erris’ inn in Skald, others to cover at Wayfarer, asking about her music in Skald
“Girl Talk” 75 xp (several chats with Elsa of a personal nature, chats w/comfort Marie after ‘incident’, Azais/Laisa, )
Running Errands: 75 xp (buy/ordering clothes, return Merrick’s coat, visiting the hall, helping negotiate for pyros’ armor
Inquisitive nature: 30 xp (Asked about the last performer, inspected her belongings, checked out the Jail before the trouble)
“Fiery Spirit”: 75 xp (gets Emotional sometimes, Angry/shaken up/distracted/ in love, arguing with Devon
Comprehend Languages: 25 xp (on Book of Legends)
Web: 50 xp (vs Wolves on Loop)
“Tough Crowd”: 50 xp (successfully used influence reactions during performance. Lower xp b/c not necessary/in danger)
Bardic Inspiration: 200 xp (Morale boost for party vs Jaconos. A little extra for the song as well)
Inspired: 25 xp (combining cantrips w/cal idea)
Casting Cantrips: 35 xp (5/ea: flame at toad toe, cleaning at Lambrey’s, wolf fight 3x, performance, bed)
“Cantrip Chantry”: 25 xp (Little poems for the cantrips)
Subtotal: 1,982
Total: 8,392 (10,000 TNL)


Pyros [Nocturno] Male Kender “Handler”[Theif] (4)
[Current 6,204 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 417 xp (286 Jail fight + 131 Wolves on loop)
“Mischief in my Soul”: 150 xp (Just. Can’t. Sit. Still. Fidgety Kender, coffee , fishing/shop antics, juggling, wanderlust,
“Reverse Thievery”: 50 xp (payed for others often, planted money on the waitress to cover everyone’s tabs at lunch)
“Gone Fishin’”: 50 xp (guys went on the fishing trip, prep and rp, nervous habits, attacking fish )
“Fish Tails”: 50 xp (Telling stories about fishing, fictional wolf attack, egging on Yasir’s stories)
Puzzle swap: 25 xp (traded out for the next blacksmith puzzle and made attempts to solve)
“A New Suit”: 50 xp (Find armor in his size, directions in harmonian, Haggling for armor/repairs)
Kender Taunt: 100 xp (use of special ability, several attempts w/Jac, w/wolves, using regular stones, funny as hell)
“Brave Lad”: 50 xp (for valor/insanity in battle and saving Mira/Elsa from almost certain KO)
“Dancing the night away”: 25 xp (Dancing w/Elsa at inn)
Subtotal: 1,592 (+10% for Dex) = 1,751
Total: 7,955 (10,000 TNL)


Yasir [Namenlos] Male Human Fighter (3)
[Current 6,228 xp]
Group Reward: 625 xp
Combat xp: 286 xp (286 Jail fight)
“King Wolfslayer”: 180 xp (10 xp per lvl per HD creatures defeated [10*Ftr lvl 3*6 hd])
‘The Warrior and the Bard’ Part 2: 30 xp (morning injury/fear of infection, other asides)
“Tales of Daring-do!” 25 xp (Entertaining stories ii
Need a shave 20 xp (consistent)
“Out of the loop”: 25 xp (Frustration at not understanding (doesn’t speak elven like the entire rest of the party )
“Gone Fishin’”: 50 xp (rp, ‘fiddling w/his pole’, offer help with the fish ‘you want me to kill it?”, ‘marking’ comrades)
Subtotal: 1,241 (+10% for high Str) = 1,365
Total: 7,593 (8,000 TNL)