Another scene in my solo Hell’s Rebels campaign.

[GM] Intro

With the Fights in Tight Spaces experiment done and a success, we need to get our party back together so we can continue our adventure. My initial impulse is to just say they weren’t all that far away from each other, so they could all meet up shortly after the fights. Then Rexus would talk to them as written.

But let’s first say if Mythic something funny to say about this. I roll 1d10 and get a 10, so nothing unexpected happens, since our chaos factor is 5.

Chaos Factor: 5

Threads

The Path *
Find Shensen (Rosalia, Arcturus)
Contacting Ms. Docur (Jania)
Reunite!
Get Organized (Jade)

Character

The Dottari
The Chelish Citizens Group
The Red Jills
The Asmodeans
Rexus Victocora

[Player] Scene 03: A New Friend in Need

After the riot started, Thrune’s officials used communication magic to call a larger force of dottari to the region around Aria Park. They’re coordinating to “contain” the protesters in the area and prevent them from escaping, so that the guards can properly brutalize/arrest the whole lot. A small host of CCG thugs and other opportunists have arrived along with them, intent on getting their violence on. The guards let them into the cordon because they think it’s funny.

Most of the group ran into these opportunists, but Arthur and Jania ran into the actual cordon, and poked a hole in it by defeating the dottari who attacked them. The rest of the group soon discovers that breach is the only way out, so they all end up meeting near that point as they escape. The dottari eventually close off the exit, but by then all of the PCs plus a good number of protesters have managed to escape.

Urist is glad they met up again, because he recognized Jade! She’s all grown up and badass now, but her description still matches pretty closely with that of the child who several of his order’s documents said was often seen with the Ravens when they were out in public. From her story and actions, he’s sure that she will be willing to help him.

He’s had some time to talk to Rexus while on the run, so Rexus knows he’s a friend of the family. They’ve already agreed to go to the nearby Three-Legged Devil tavern to talk, so he proposes that to the group as well. His primary argument is that it will be a nice place to wait out the tumult, and Rexus mentions he wants to talk to them about an important matter as well.

The group agrees. Almost all of them are interested in this important matter. Jania isn’t, not particularly, but she isn’t about to argue the point when she could be having a drink on someone else’s dime instead.

[GM] Is the tavern full? It's the middle of the day but other people might
have had the same idea to shelter there. 50/50. Result is 63: No.

The tavern is open but nearly empty at this time of day. Only a few customers sit there. Some bits of conversation reach Rosalia’s ears - people complaining about Thrune and wondering what the racket is near the park.

The group pushes a couple of tables together away from the other customers, orders some drinks, and begins to talk. This is where Rexus explains his story and makes his impassoned plea for the party to join him in rebellion.

Jade is immediately all in on this, as are Rosalia and Urist. Arthur likes the idea, but is open about being in town to find a missing friend, and that he might leave to pursue that goal if he finds a lead. Jania is less open, since she figures she can’t tell these people about the not-thieve’s-guild right away. She just says her circumstances are similar to Arthur’s instead.

In my head this kinda starts a trend of Arthur thinking the two of them are much more alike than they are in reality. He gets even happier when the other three promise to help if at all possible. What a brave band of souls this is! Fighting for justice! “Like some kind of league!”, adds Rosalia. She probably realizes Jania is a little more selfish than the others but hey, but she won’t pass an opportunity to have a litte fun and break the fourth wall.

Rexus gives details about his history, telling them how he was contacted by Laria Longroad a few days back and how he discovered that his mother Portia was an Archivist. He shows them her letter, which points them to the ancient hideout under the Fair Fortune Livery.

Urist shows his own letter - it was hidden amongst his belongings when he left on that Archivist expedition, and it asked him to stand by Rexus and protect his life should something happen with Portia. Not long after a dire presentment caused him to speed his return to Kintargo.

With the party committing themselves to rebellion for the long haul, Jade reveals herself to them as the lost Sixth Raven, and vows to see Thrune deposed. Rosalia and Arthur have those little stars of fascination in their eyes; Urist would too except he already knows; and Jania is a bit more calculating but mostly in a non-treacherous way. The Sixth Raven is just about the best asset you can have if your goal is to oppose Thrune.

Everyone is now set to bring the Silver Ravens back. “That’s a much better name than Justice League!”, says Rosalia.

Laria Longroad gave Rexus a box of valuables left to him by his mother, and he gifts most of them to the party. That’s $750 in coins (1 gold, 17 silver, 10 copper), a signet ring worth another $750, two sheets of Blessed Paper, and a folded silk undershirt enchanted with Fortify 1.

If he had all of that on him, no wonder the CCG singled him out for a mugging!

[Player] OOC: Loot distribution

The shirt gives DR 1 to the body, is worth $470 and weights 0.1kg. Jania gets it because she needs armor. Only $120 of that is “mundane” value, so she’s not gonna turn it into a Power Item.

[GM] Scene Notes

Looks like the book named a bookstore with a secure backroom as the place where this discussion happened, but I wasn’t looking closely when I played through this and moved the discussion to a tavern instead. I’ll let it stand, as there wasn’t much difference from the original. And this is indeed the authentic experience of having me as a GM!

My original plan for the next scene was to transplant the underground level of the Fair Fortune Livery under the Salix Salt Works. The party would then go straight from the riot to the Long Roads Coffee House, and from there do both the Prisoners of Salt raid and the document recovery delve.

Mechanically, it works, but story-wise there are a couple of wrinkles here. The Salt Works are located on the docks outside the walls, which is a really bad place for a Silver Ravens hideout. And the livery ruins are located all the way across Kintargo, in a place that’s really inconvenient for a salt factory. Plus I think the demons in the basement would probably manage to make themselves known to the assholes running the factory, even if said assholes are not competent enough to notice by themselves.

So I’m gonna run the Livery next, with the same kind of changes I made in a PBP attempt, and Prisoners of Salt later on.

[GM] Treasure Conversion Notes

I imagine Pathfinder wants this to be the reward associated with the Aria Park riot and his rescue scene. The money and signet ring are fine, following the wealth conversion guidelines I wrote, but the knife and the Bracers of Armor from the original treasure are a bit weirder.

All devils in Pathfinder 1 have a degree of supernatural resistance that can be bypassed with silver weapons. The dagger in the original reward is mean to be the first such weapon the PCs get in the campaign, and would let them fight the devils that appear under the Livery a bit more easily.

In our game, that won’t work, as there’s no universal silver weakness. If I want to give them a short-term boost, I’ll need something different. How about “Blessed Papers”, Bloodborne-style? Rub this against your weapon’s striking surface (a Ready action), and it gains the Holy property for a minute. $400, negligible weight, consumable. Of course, Fire Paper and Lightning Paper also exist and have the same stats. A large silver knife is $800, so we give them two sheets of Blessed Paper.

The Bracers of Armor +1 are meant to give a small defensive boost to wizards, monks, and other unarmored characters. They give +1 to AC but don’t stack with armor. As a player I’d want Jania to have them, as she’s the least-armored party member.

There’s actually an equivalent item in GURPS DF6, the Bracers of Force, but they’re a bit too heavy for Jania. So I’m going to replace them with a light silk undershirt enchanted with Fortify +1. So that’s gonna provide 1 DR to the torso, and it can be worn under regular clothing. The enchantment is $1000 for a full suit, but only $350 for armor that covers only the body. Total value $470, weight 0.4lbs/0.2kg.