Geoff

Rule of Three thread for Geoff and his characters.

Sigh.

You find yourself standing outside of the Sorgi Pawnshop because someone was making threats against the owner, Sorgi, and the Sons of Temel wanted to help the small business in the Temel Ward. The job was simple; stand here and look menacing. Easy work.

A kid you recognize comes running up to you and stops to catch his breath, “Dok-Dokanor! Come-Come quick!”

As easy as this job is, it is a little boring so you dash after the kid and he leads you to the Red Tankard. The kid holds his sides, “Aldi wants to see you, out back.”

You duck into the back alley and right as you do, Aldi Averson, the owner of the bar comes outside, smoking a pipe. Without saying a word he pulls a paper out of his pocket and starts drawing lines and boxes on it.

It’s a map. Aldi points to one box in particular and looks at you . You recognize the building and nod silently. Aldi picks up the paper and light it on fire and watches it go up in flames before he stomps it out on the ground.

Typical mode of operation by the Sons. Very secretive and protective. Aldi motions you toward the backdoor which he opens slightly. He points at his eyes and points to a table. There seated are a dwarf, a halfling, and female drow and a human man that some would consider huge.

You not sure what Aldi wants, so you make the throat slashing sign and Aldi shakes his head. Apparently he doesn’t want them dead.

Aldi waves you off as he goes back in to work.

You head to the location and find a door leading to a basement from the back alley. Once inside you find your mentor (and real non-adventuring character) “Three Coins” Banks.

“Your time to serve the Sons is at hand. Are you ready Dokanor?”

Three-Coins shakes his head at your silence, “Good enough. Now, we must move quickly.”

Three-Coins hastily draws a map, “This warehouse, Squiggly, is not far from here. In the back alley is a nearly hidden door. We need you to go there, wait for the signal, bust in, and start attacking the Black Talons.”

“Now, there is going to be quite of few of them,” Three-Coins silently counts to himself, “Eight, no nine of them. You just need to hold them off for a bit. Now, at some point in the fight, probably when you first burst in, you need to drop these pamphlets I’m going to give you. They are designed to make the Black Talons look like they are really Sons of Temel.”

“Did Aldi point out the adventuring group in the Red Tankard? Good. Shortly after you begin your attack, those guys are going to bust in the front door and they are going to be here to attack the “Sons of Temel”. Aid them and kill ALL of the Black Talons. We can’t afford to have even ONE of them survive.”

Three-Coins takes a long hard look at you, almost as if he is sizing you up trying to figure out if you are capable of this.

“Here is where things get dicey. You need to end up joining this group, they call themselves “The Brigade”. You may have heard of them, they won that “Heroes of Adventure” contest a few weeks ago.”

Three-Coins stares you dead in the eyes, “And we need to be represented in that group.”

“If they ask you why you attacked, you tell them that you have seen them exploit the good people of the Temel Ward and you could not stand idly by. You came to the warehouse on your own to see justice prevail.”

Once you have memorized the map Three-Coins wads it up and throws it in a fire, “After that, you and I cannot talk in public. We will get word to you. If you need to get word to us, you can leave it with Aldi at the Red Tankard.

You pause for a moment trying to take everything in, “What about Denat?” you ask. He is your best friend and the person you most trust in all of Rock Hammer. He is also your low-level character.

Three-Coins shakes his head, “No. We have other plans for him. You just do your job” Three-Coins smiles, “You’ll do great, just follow your orders.”

You throw the pamphlets in your pocket and head out to the Squiggly warehouse and wait. The rest of the Sons of Temel take you for a big loaf but you quickly put things together.

The Sons of Temel face a situation; they have a feeling that this “Brigade” might turn into some formidable adventuring group here in Rock Hammer and they obviously fear a group that could garner some degree of power that lacks any regard to the interests of the Sons of Temel. They most likely would fear that this Brigade could become associated with rivals of the Sons of Temel, that being the Rock Hammer Trade Coalition and the City Watch.

Secondly, the Black Talons recently came to Rock Hammer and are trying to muscle their way in on the turf of the Sons of Temel in the Temel ward. This is a perfect opportunity to solve both problems; removal of the Black Talons while placing a member of the Sons of Temel in the Brigade.

You have to admit, it’s a pretty slick plan.

The signal comes and you take a deep breath. Your whole life changes here in a few seconds. The bash the door in, drop the pamphlets and in a loud booming voice you shout, “Black Talons, your time has come!”

I survey the layout of the room and get ready to position myself to take best advantage of the arrival of the adventuring group.

Ok, Ready, Set, Start Rolling!

For your new level!

You should be gaining a new feat and a utility power and each one requires 6 successes each to acquire (for a total of 12). It's a d20 roll and the DC is 11. You get a +4 bonus to all of your rolls since you'll be working with your trainer, *Shagold. You get to make three rolls per D&D day so start rolling and let me know how many days it takes for you to get 12 successes. Also, post up what you'd like to do with the rest of this week burnoff to level up.

*I think you also joined the League of Fighters? If not, then you can easily join. Wil, Jordan, and MF's characters already joined.

Rolls, including bonus: 12, 17, 14, 24, 22, 13, 10, 17, 14, 8, 15, 21, 6, 20, 23 - 5 Days

After joining the League of Fighters, I would like to check in with Three Coins.

"I don't know how heroic this group is. From what I could tell, they didn't know much about why they were going to kill the group in the warehouse. It would seem, if you had a man inside the local government, they could be ordered to kill pretty much anyone. Just tell them the right lie, promise a reward and they would happily go off and spill blood. They didn't even seem to flinch in inviting me in. I took a suspicious stance with them, so they were too busy explaining themselves to ask much about me. Easy to infiltrate, easy to manipulate"

“Really?”

Three Coins stares off into the night sky, thinking about this for some time, you can almost see the gears turning in his head.

“It’s true, and they have already proven it. More so than you know.”

Three Coins goes on to ask you a series of questions in order for him to get a better idea of the members that make up The Brigade. At first you think he is looking for weaknesses in each of them, but he seems to be just gathering information, almost to make a report.

But who could he be reporting to? The Sons of Temel operate in secrecy, except for Three Coins as it is widely believed that he is the man in charge of the organization.

You shrug your shoulder and pass it off. Three Coins is the only person you know, along with your friend (and low level character) Denat. You have some suspicions about some other members, but Three Coins seems to hire out a lot of small, mundane work to confuse the authorities. You do know of sympathizers; first and foremost being Aldi Averson of the Red Tankard. But for now, you will keep plugging away and meeting in secret with Three Coins when you have time.

You wrap up your week of training when Three Coins catches up to you, “You joined that League of Fighters, right? Good. You are going to be getting a mission from Shagold here shortly. Just follow your orders, and bring that damnable halfling to justice. He acts on behalf of the Rock Hammer Trade Coalition against the Sons of Temel. And now he will pay for his actions. See to it.”

Three Coins smiles when he sees you, “My boy! You were right about that group of yours. They followed through with no questions. I’m glad that damn dragonborn Shagold was no the wiser either. What fools!”

Three Coins waves you over, “Come here, I want to show you something.” Three Coins leads you into a back room where you see Jamven tied down to a chair and blindfolded. Dried blood cakes his face, obviously the Sons of Temel have been exacting their revenge on him.

“This is justice, my friend. The days of the Sons of Temel taking a back seat in Rock Hammer are quickly coming to an end, all thanks to you. Here, I have something for you. Think of it as a reward.”

Three Coins reaches into a chest and pulls forth a new warhammer that seems to somehow be heavier as it swings.

Weapon: Flail, Hammer, Mace
Enhancement: +1 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d10 force damage
Power (Daily * Augmentable): Free Action. Trigger: You push or slide an enemy with an attack using this weapon. Effect: You push each enemy adjacent to you, other than the enemy you pushed or slid, 1 square.

Augment 2 (Force): Your attack deals 1d10 extra force damage.

Your will, my hands. Thank you for your gift. This is a fine weapon.

As for the group, I do not take them for fools. I see now that it is their thirst for adventure, combat and treasure that aligns their path with ours. It may not be consciously chosen, but it is chosen. This works to our advantage. Let us not call them fools, but... tools!

Leveling up from 3rd to 4th level

• The DC for each roll is 13
  
  
• You get a +4 bonus for working with a trainer
  
  
• You need six success for your new feat
  
  
• You need eight success for each ability score going up
  

If you want to sell magical equipment you may do so at 50% exchange rate.

The following rolls include the +4 bonus:
18, 22, 14, 20, 13, 18, 13, 18, 15, 13, 13, 15, 16, 15, 16, 19, 15, 15, 13, 20, 15, 13
12, 11, 10, 6, 11, 8, 9, 8, 11, 8, 8, 8,

It took 34 tries to hit my 22 successes, so I think that is eleven and a half days. I also want to check in with Three Coins and see if there are any side missions he needs me for.

P.S. My percentage was much better when I just went to 8 successes. I was 8 for 10 on those. 14 for 24 on the remainder. And yes, those last 3 fails with an 8 were consecutive.

During some down time you find yourself hanging out at the Red Tankard in the Temel Ward. Aldi, the owner, smiles and brings you another ale on the house.

“Three-Coins wants to talk to you. In the alley. Now.”

You slam your beer and head out. You see Three-Coins shuffling down the alley with a beggar’s cup in his hand. He dumps the coins into his hands and gives them to you. “Give these to the widow Glamtree. Her late husband was a good Son.”

Three-Coins pats you on the back, “Come over here. We need to talk.” He leads you behind some boxes for more privacy.

“You once said how easy it is to manipulate this Brigade group. Is that true? We understand the dwarf considers claiming Rock Hammer as his kingdom. We also understand that he, personally, has butted heads with the Rock Hammer Trade Coalition. Hmmmm, excellent news.”

Three-Coins thinks to himself for a minute, and you do the same. However, you spend the time wondering who this “we” part of the Sons of Temel hierarchy is.

“If these are all truths, then your ‘king’ will have the support of the Temel Ward.”

“Oh, one other thing. This dwarf is considering putting together another adventuring group, most likely headed to the Underdark. Suggest Denat (your low level character) for this group. We have…a need for him in that group.”