DM script
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Setpiece 1: The Desert, the Caravan, the Bandits
When you become aware of your surroundings, it appears to be night time. You all appear to be lying on the ground, on somewhat ragged blankets, around a sizable camp fire. It gives off just enough light that you're able to make out the shapes of at least six canvas-topped wagons, large enough to effectively be rooms in their own right, complete with tent-flap doorways on the sides. Beyond the wagons, there is almost nothing but sand. The covered wagons are circled tightly around the fire. They're spaced apart enough that a man on a horse could file in between them with utmost ease, but not two horses at once.
A man stands nearby, somewhere in his late 20s, wearing a smart vest made from tanned hides and a bandana with an unusual colored pattern. At his hip is a leather bullwhip. He notices at least one of the party stirring awake. [Who does he speak to?]
"Ah, finally," he sighs. "It's lucky that we were nearby to find you. The way the sands have been blowing lately, I'm amazed anybody saw you unconscious out there before it got too late. I guess you have Nestor to thank, though."
QUESTIONS for Brenick
[Who are you?] The man introduces himself as Wagonmaster Brenick, or Bren for short; self-described as being as much a wagon driver as a mayor, anymore.
[What is this place?] You're in the middle of what's only called The Wagontrain, a caravan of traveling merchants, performers, and other hired talent. They travel from city to country to city, setting up the wagons as a sort of miniature town of their own, with shops, dancers, even a blacksmith.
If you meant where are the wagons set up, well, you're in the middle of the northwest Caynean desert, only a day's travel away from the oasis. It's pretty empty out here, save for the occasional bandit or errant patrol.
[if players are confused about that] He starts to offer to show you a map, but says that there might not be time for that yet.
[How did we get here?] "I don't rightly know," says the Wagonmaster. "My physicker says you probably haven't been out here for very long, though. You at least look as if you're well fed and watered, so I don't think you've come from the city. But you don't look like bandits or barbarians, so you probably haven't come from the oasis, either. But it shouldn't be my business to pry. You haven't tried to kill us yet, that's good enough for most of us...except for Nestor, anyway."
[Who's Nestor?] "I suppose you haven't met him yet. He's my captain of the Wagonsguard. You might see him past the wagons on his horse...then again, you might not. He does rather prefer the darkness...must be an elven thing, and I confess I don't quite understand elven things just yet."
[Where are you headed?] "We're passing through the oasis towards the Rigan plains up north; a few of the farming villages requested some aid against bandits. It's been tough for them lately, especially after their king ordered the whole nation to disarm."
[Disarm?] "I guess news hasn't spread that far yet. The Rigan King Dimitrius must have been tired of the constant fighting and skirmishing and ordered most of his kingdom to melt down their weapons into farming tools. I didn't think they'd listen, myself; Riga's always been a country of mercenaries, nomads, and warriors, never farmers or homesteaders. But maybe they're just as tired of fighting as their king is."
[If it's night time, and this is a desert, why aren't we moving?] "Well, really, I agree with that, I'd much rather we kept moving through the night so the sun doesn't beat us down." He leans in a little closer and lowers his voice. "Actually, though, Helena insisted. Uh, that's my physicker. She wanted to make sure you lot had the chance to rest and recover...you might not have gotten a sand-borne fever or the like, but when she says we'd be better off staying put, I feel better if I don't disregard her."
A tall and slender elven man on a horse gallops through one of the gaps between wagons and clears his throat quietly. Brenick turns away from you to greet him. "Nestor. Is something the matter?"
"Ill news, Wagonmaster. There's a party of raiders approaching from the direction of the oasis. They had torches lit until about a mile out. I suspect they're trying not to be seen. They may mean to attack us while we're sleeping."
"How far out are they?"
"They might be here in minutes, Wagonmaster. If you mean for us to defend ourselves, I suggest you awaken the rest of the Wagonsguard. I'll go assume the spearhead, meanwhile." Nestor gallops off.
Brenick curses quietly. "I might not have time to get the rest of them awake...listen, you lot look as if you can handle yourselves, do you think you'd mind assisting the Wagonsguard? I'll see about arranging you a place to stay with us, since I imagine you'll want to ride to the city afterwards..."
You hear Nestor in the distance, shouting "Go no further!"
Brenick curses slightly less quietly. "Shite! No time to rouse the others, come on!"
ENCOUNTER - FIVE OF THESE GUYS
- Name Bandit
- Human CR 1
- XP 400
- Any Medium Humanoid
- Fighter level 2 (skill points 10) Fighter/Thief
- (Fighter )
- Init +2; Senses ; Perception +0
DEFENSE
- AC 14, Touch 12, flat footed 12 ( Leather, Shield, none)
- (+2 Dex, +2 armour)
- hp 17 (0d8+2d10+2);
- Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0
OFFENSE
- Speed 30
- Melee
- Sword, short +5 (1d6+2/19-20)
- Space 5ft.; Reach 5
STATISTICS
- Str 15, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 8
- Base Attack 2 CMB 4 ; CMD 16
Feats
- Agile Maneuvers: Use DEX bonus when calculating CMB,
- Intimidating Prowess: Add STR mod to CHA mod for intimidation check,
- Armour Prof Heavy,
- Armour Prof Light,
- Armour Prof Medium,
- Combat Expertise: You can choose to take a -1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. Every +4 base attack penalty increase by -1 and dodge by +1 ,
- Martial Weap Prof,
- Shield Proficiency: Can use shields,
- Simple Weapon Proficiency,
- Tower Shield Proficiency: Can use the tower shield and suffer only normal shield skill penalties,
- Weapon Focus: +1 to attack rolls
- Skills Acrobatics 4, Climb 7, Handle Animal -1, Intimidate 6, Know Arch & Eng 6, Know Dungeon 6, Perception 0, Ride 7, Survival 0, Swim 2
- Languages Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
- Bravery Save vs fear + 1
The last of the bandits taken care of, Brenick and Nestor put their weapons away. Nestor's eyes remain fixed to the horizon. [perception 15: you notice his irises are very wide, like a cat's, and that he has what appears to be a blindfold hanging from his neck.] Brenick finishes coiling up his bullwhip and looks at you as if to speak, but before he can say a word, Nestor interrupts him, his gaze never leaving the horizon. "Wagonmaster, what happened to the rest of the Wagonsguard?"
"Er...they're all still sleeping, Nestor." Despite ostensibly being in charge, Brenick is careful with his words around Nestor. "I didn't see the sense in waking them when [the party] seemed just as capable of handling a few errant bandits on their own."
"I've no wish to discount your leadership skills, Wagonmaster, but next time, I might suggest that we stick with the 'known quantities.' You've been wrong with your judgments before."
[Before?] Brenick, still staggered by his captain's criticism, sputters a bit. "I--Nestor, was it worth bringing that up again? I know I made a mistake, I don't need to be reminded of what it cost us." He turns to [whoever asked]. "Look, you've already been a big help to us [especially if nobody died], but let's save the deep questions for the morning, alright? I'm going to take my captain aside for a while. You lot feel free to sort yourselves out for now."
Bren and Nestor walk just beyond your line of sight; you suspect they might be a while. The camp fire is still glowing, needing only a small prodding to burn bright once again. At this point, you may spend some time looking around, managing your items, curing any wounds you might have, etc.
[Eavesdrop? Perception 10, Stealth 10, adjust inverse-proportional to how close they dare get] Bren and Nestor seem to be talking about your identities. No matter how Bren tries to placate him, Nestor admits he hasn't the slightest idea who any of you are, or even what country you're all from. Not even Independents look or behave like you. But this time it's Bren's turn to pull an unexpected line: he suggests to Nestor that you all become hired mercenaries in the Wagontrain's employ. He doesn't like the idea - “I need to know that I can trust them, and I have no such guarantee thus far” - but confesses he isn't in any position to say "no" if the Wagonmaster has already had his say.
“You’d said you trusted them because they hadn’t yet tried to kill us in our sleep,” he says. “I argue that they still very well could, they just weren’t strong enough when they first awoke.”
“But they were clearly strong enough to fight off the bandits,” Bren argues.
“They didn’t have the same discipline I expect a Wagonsguard to follow.”
“Discipline? Ha! Listen to yourself, Nestor! We’re not an army, we’re not an honor guard. You’re living in the past.”
“I’d thank you to never bring up my past within earshot of the others.”
“Exactly, Nestor. Remember, *I* hold the cards in this relationship. If you’re so concerned over trust, then you ought to be more concerned that we trust each other, not whether *you* trust these strangers. We could do just as much damage to each other’s reputation. It’s all down to who makes the first move.”
“Mutually assured discrediting?”
“I may not necessarily be the first to reveal all, but if one word gets out, you can be certain that mine will as well.”
Nestor growls.
“Go rest, Nestor. I’ll debrief the new folk and take over your watch. Or you can go wake Francis, if you want, but remember that he sleeps with his bow-gun.”
“I’m beginning to see what you mean about trust.” You see Nestor rounding the corner, leading his horse. He shoots you a glance at anybody that isn’t hiding [stealth DC 20] but says nothing. He hitches up his horse to the wagon’s wheel and disappears into the tent flap door.
About a minute later, Bren comes around the corner as well. [anybody that is hiding, bluff DC 10 to make it appear that you weren’t just eavesdropping]
[if players aren’t caught] He motions for all of you to gather around the campfire again. “So I’ve had words with the captain. I’ve proposed to him the idea of making you all Wagonsguard, but he doesn’t seem to like the idea that much himself. So as an alternative, I’ll grant you the opportunity to act as mercenaries in the employ of the Wagontrain. I’ll still afford you the same perks - you’ll get a place to sleep, your party gets one cart with privacy and free use of the other carts for services. And I’ll be paying you. Not on a salary, though. I don’t know exactly what yet, but I’ll find work for you. We’re due to reach one of those Rigan farming villages in just a few days. I’ll see about getting you some work doing investigations, fighting, the sorts of things I’d rather entrust to someone who wasn’t directly responsible for protecting my people.”
[Directly responsible?] “The thing is, Nestor and his men are good at what they do. but what they do is very much limited to guarding the wagons. They’re the best at holding their ground, not necessarily for full-on engagements and assault tactics. You lot, though? You have the look of professional adventurers to me. You’ve probably done everything. You’d be useful assets. Let’s get you situated in a cart, and we’ll discuss your first contract once daybreak arrives.”
You can choose to take care of last-minute things, spell preparation, tinkering, whatever; the rest of the Wagontrain isn't going to wake up for a few hours, so you'll have plenty of time to sleep. Brenick assures you the Wagontrain won't leave without everybody being ready and the cart interiors all being strapped down.
