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GM note: I've hidden your individual results in a spoiler, but that's only to save space,
not to hide them from each other. Feel free to read my, uh, five pages in Word full of results for everyone. This way you'll learn the whole story. The only one truly hidden . . . is
Sir Lootington. Where could he be?
Like I said, for each third-of-a-day you'll earn 1d6+1 opal. However, I also do a roll for a bonus each time. Bonus table:
1: Fail
2: Fail
3: Succeed weakly
4: Succeed
5: Succeed greatly
6: Fail by succeeding
Then there's drinking and/or gambling to excess in a tavern. I roll on the usual table (which includes "Fail terribly"), then translate the results by my GM information.
Payment from local work (two payments of 1d6+1): 6+1 + 6+1 = 14 opal!
Work bonus: 1, 1 = Fail, Fail!
Why do things have to be so difficult? At least it's simple to find work as a doctor. There haven't been too many recent incidents of rampaging monsters, but it turns out powerful families throw around money when it keeps their clumsy kids from getting facial scars.
You don't earn any special favors this time, but you earn your cash. Perhaps next time they'll remember you and you can really get places. Day turns to night, you're granted a comfortable place to sleep, and that's that.
Tavern results (all day PLUS normal drinking hours at night): 6, 5, 5, 2+1=3 (carousing boost) = Fail by succeeding, Succeed greatly, Succeed greatly, Succeed weakly!
The first thing you do is get in a fight. The first thing.
Frank's combat table, workstone knife:
1: Fail terribly
2: Fail
3: Succeed weakly
4: Succeed
5: Succeed
6: Succeed greatly
7: Fail by succeeding
Frank attack roll: 3, Succeed weakly!
Tavern opponent attack roll: 4, Succeed!
Damage roll (1d6+1): 4+1 = 5!
Frank, HP: 4/15
You inflict damage on the opponent who dared to imply things about your gambling, but he brings some serious pain before you wrench the weapon out of his hand. You are escorted immediately out the back door of the premises, which is convenient, because it means you dodge Dustan this morning as he looks for you.
You hurry to another tavern. You lost your stake gambling, but you came away with his iron knife, and you escaped detection. Bouyed, you gamble the rest of the day away in an Aegir family tavern, holding your own. You feel ready for anything.
Frank now has +1 to the next roll that needs it! And you blow this boost immediately as you roll for the night.
At night, when it matters most, it turns out you had significantly more to drink than you should have, and gambling does not go well. At least you fill your spare waterskin with ale before calling it a night. Oh, but since you didn't do any work for the locals, you have to pay for a warm place to sleep. After the whole day, you're down 20 opal.
Frank, HP: 8/15
Payment from local work (two payments of 1d6+1): 3+1 + 2+1 = 7 opal!
Work bonus: 2, 2 = Fail, Fail!
You were tipped off that there's some form of salt mining operation. Indeed, these people hire exiles/miners/adventurers like you every day to handle the rock salt. It's one of the big families in Rock Bottom that handles it, named, appropriately enough, Salt: their wheelbarrows all say SALT, engraved on every surface so there's no running away with one.
They don't send you out of the city for the work, but they have you hauling existing slabs from their warehouses to salt grinders to butchers, all of them also Salt. You're paid nominally for your work.
You get confirmation, though, that they did lose a shipment including two wheelbarrows to some ugly mugs recently. The Salt family wants it returned. Good thing you asked earlier, because they'll let brave adventurers like you keep the rock salt in the shipment, even: just get them back their wheelbarrows!
Payment from local work (three payments of 1d6+1): 4+1 + 2+1 + 4+1 = 13 opal!
Work bonus: 6, 2, 1 = Fail by succeeding, Fail, Fail!
The Aegir family runs half the taverns, selling their two flagship creations, Almost Ale and Barely Ale. Turns out that the grains of cavereed can be brewed just fine, but they struggle to get something people would enjoy. Drinkers usually mix the two varieties to get the best flavor and alcohol content.
Seeing as you know what you're doing, they invite you to spend the morning on batches of ale, including one for your own profit. They have malt ready from previous days so you prepare it for fermentation. While waiting between steps, you malt more grain. Your work cools overnight, then you return first thing in the morning to close it into fermenters. Survive to come back in two or three days and one of these batches of ale is yours!
You also get a waterskin full of "A & B" Ale and inquire about a portable distillery setup so you can concentrate alcohol. This . . . manages to offend them. Several frowns later, you get an offer at 45 opal. Weird. Do these people think you're competition now?
Payment from local work (three payments of 1d6+1): 5+1 + 6+1 + 6+1 = 20 opal!
Work bonus: 6, 4, 6 = Fail by succeeding, Succeed, Fail by succeeding!
The major families--Aegir, Hlaf, Salt, and the rest--already control Rock Bottom. To gain power, you must become an invaluable alternative: give a service they cannot, champion a cause they do not.
It's clear that the cavereed, which grows naturally along bodies of water down here, is a fundamental resource for the community. Not merely food, its fibers are the only available substitute for thread (a weak one, unfortunately), wicks for candles, and bedding or thatching. Yet it has no market value. The families sieze complete control and distribute cavereed by their household requirements. But is it efficient?
You work your way among the group harvesting cavereed, trying to find out schedules, leadership, anything. It turns out that an outsider is far from welcome and you nearly get thrown out. Twice. But in the end you come up with a time-effective pattern of harvest that ought to help reduce the backbreaking strain of the workers. You get paid for your consultation and a really nice young couple gives you a balloon of packaged vitality in thanks.
Now. You sleep until morning. Though these people somewhat like you, you can't help but think your prospects for advancement here are limited. Somebody in town must need you even more. But who?
This is all the time you get. The city guard
will evict all non-residents this morning, sending you out to earn more resources to sell to the good people of Rock Bottom. Look at your remaining salable goods (listed below), look at
the shop listings, and tell me what you buy and what you leave behind in your personal 40 kg lockbox. (And any other actions you needed to fit in before leaving.)
Dustan (Dustan Hache)
Now has:
Tunic (wall tiger leather)
Knife (workstone)
Food, four days (it had been "eight," but this is the mathematical result after everyone except Frank and Sir Lootington eats food for the day)
Low-quality bandages (surface fabric)
14 opal from being paid
Lockbox contains:
Etherstone, 1x 2 kg rough stone: 8 opal each
Is still carrying:
Glowstone, 1x 4 kg rough stone: 16 opal each
Frank (Coolrune206)
Now has:
Knife (iron)
A & B Ale in one waterskin
50 opal from selling goods, with gambling expenses taken out
Is still carrying:
Food, two days (in this case, you ate at the tavern)
John (ziizo)
Now has:
4x splitter wand (sparkstone, scaled turkey bone)
4x coke (that's 3 kg each, or 12 kg total)
7 opal from being paid
Durenadal (HugeNerdAndProudOfIt)
Now has:
2x waterskin (standing jellyfish leather) (and you still own your existing one made of surface leather)
A & B Ale in one waterskin
Food, three days (or technically four since you already had one left)
59 opal left over, including pay (at least until you make a distillatory purchase)
Is still carrying:
Glowstone, 2x 4 kg rough stone: 16 opal each
Overseer (FallacyofUrist)
Now has:
Packaged vitality (healthstone, etherstone, standing jellyfish leather)
55 opal, including pay
Is still carrying:
Glowstone, 1x 4 kg rough stone: 16 opal each
The first group's wheelbarrow
Still has:
Hematite, 2x 10 kg rough stone: 8 opal each
Workstone, 3x 6 kg rough stone: 12 opal each
The second group's wheelbarrow
Is now empty after the sale of the wall tiger carcass
Now that the whole team has completed at least one adventure and you all have "level-up HP," I remind you of the
soulshine lantern for sale.
Soulshine lantern (etherstone): 50 opal, weight 1 kg
Everyone who shares the light of this lantern has a chance to siphon the level-up HP of a recently-deceased person; one use
Because
Frank (Coolrune206) sold them three pieces of
etherstone, you can buy some. Funny how I created all these systems around life and death.
Author
Topic: Magical ASCII Mine-diving Adventure, Day 20 - At Rest (Read 237807 times)