>>13592149

I say discussed, but due to the nature of the group it was closer to a verbal brawl. the Blackguard actually seemed fairly eager to turn it into a physical
brawl. Basically, everyone had their own idea of what to do next. The Druid wanted to head back to the grove. She hadn't been able to meet her contact after all, and felt that this should be reported to her superiors as soon as possible. The Tiefling wanted to head to a nearby city and set up shop there and the Blackguard didn't seem to care what we did, but wanted us to do it together. Apparently, he taken a shine to us, which was odd, considering that he'd either
tried to kill or threatened to kill, each and every one of us. Within the last two hours. My Wizard, meanwhile, was wondering where he could get a drink.

And possibly a snack.

Eventually, with the help of some mediation from my Wizard, we struck upon a plan. We'd head towards the city of Ramtbramft, and there purchase passage on a boat downriver.
This would get us closer to the Druid Grove, allow the Tiefling to investigate the criminal network of Ramtbramft and give time for the riots to calm down, allowing
my wizards friends and relatives to arrange for his innocence to be proven.

With a plan in mind, the group headed out through the Thievesgate (A tunnel leading to a small, hidden hatch a mile out from the city).
First though, we had to deal with
the fact that our escapades through the city, and subsequent decision-making, had levelled us up. We all just took another level in the classes we'd levelled in so far, as most of us were single-classed. The only exception
was the Tiefling, who'd multiclassed Rogue/Warlock. He decided to take another level of Warlock.

The only way to improve this adventure is if your party refuses to disguise themselves before they reach the next city

>>13592162

The journey was fairly uneventful. There were a few basic combat encounters, some wolves, a group of goblins, nothing too exciting. We stopped off in a few small town to pick up supplies, but they were fairly quiet. Then we found a treasure map.

It came from a small group of bandits that had attacked us. This was a poor decision on their part, given that I'd memorised Haste and the Blackguard is a fucking machine even completely unbuffed. After we'd picked
the bandit specks out of our hair, we looted the bodies and found a suprisingly large amount of gold and a rough map, leading to what we assumed was their camp. We were rather strapped for cash, having been forced to leave the city rapidly for obvious reasons. We also suspected that the Blackguard wouldn't be getting his backpay from his guard duties anytime soon.

A quick discussion later and we were overwhelmingly in favour of searching for the bandits camp. The Tiefling because he saw no reason to turn down free money, the Blackguard
because he saw no reason to turn down potential free killing, the Druid because she saw no reason to turn down either of those and the Wizard, because he was the only one who'd brought his wallet and didn't want to have to pay for the entire parties supplies anymore.

>The only way to improve this thread is if you write the whole thing up beforehand and post it in copy/pasted sections before you continue.

>>13592197

The Tiefling was scouting ahead, mainly because he's the only one with anything approaching a decent Hide/Move Silently score. We're a little worried when the DM suddenly leaned over and whispered in his ear, and a little more worried when he declared that he was hurrying back towards the group.

So apparently, their camp? Less a camp, more a large fort.

We all proceed to follow the Tiefling, with the exception of the Blackguard for obvious reasons, using our respective talents to render ourselves hidden. As it turns out, the Tiefling wasn't exaggerating. It's a big encampment, surrounded by palisades, spiked walls and regular patrols moving around the perimeter.

We decided that maybe we'd put the treasure hunting off for a bit.

>>13592211

Now I'm obliged to give a little backstory here, to help you understand how a fuckhuge bandit fort was allowed to be built near a major highway. The area that we are currently in is called the Shattered Plains, not because of the landscape or anything like that, but instead because of the rather unstable political status of the area. In short, there are numerous cities, Felbramdt being the home of my Wizard, each with it's own form of rulership. Some have councils, others are led by single rulers. The thing is, because there's no unified goverment, the area between the cities (and the smaller towns within that area) is completely unpatrolled, making travel risky.
Thus, Bandit Town was allowed to form.

Meanwhile, we'd headed back to the Blackguard and explained the situation to him. He insists that we can take them. My Wizard insists we can't. The Blackguard wants to know to know why. My Wizard gives him a brief explanation of basic mathematics. However, My Wizard was a little worried. A force this large could do far more than just simple banditry. If their leader was smart, and had any kind of magical support, he could effectively hold the surrounding highways to ransom. No individual city would send out an army, not if they thought it would leave them vulnerable to an opportunistic neighbour. They'd simply try to pay him off, and he'd still be able to pick off any caravan he wanted. Both prices and taxes would rise to compensate, and as ever, it would be the lower and middle classes that would suffer the most. Something had to be done.

But something more subtle than CRUSH, KILL, DESTROY. At least to begin with.

>>13592231

Not everyone agreed though. The Tiefling thought that this was far too high a risk, for far too small a profit and the Druid was also reluctant to get involved, believing that frankly,
this was none of our business. After a short discussion, the Tiefling agreed to take part in the attack on the camp, but only if we came up with a satisfactory plan. The Druid was still reluctant, but she seemed to think she owed me somewhat for my impromptu rescue back at Felbramdt and so agreed to help, just this once.

We eventually agreed on a plan. We would pretend to be mercenaries seeking employment, with the Wizard acting as our face and leader, due to being the only capable of restraining himself from insulting/taunting/stabbing people who annoyed him. Once inside, we'd investigate a possible means of breaking up the bandits, and maybe even a method of destroying the fort itself. The fact that two of us were from races that were often evil would probably give us a hand convincing them that that we weren't NOBLEBRIGHT adventurers. Then again, with the exception of my Wizard, we really weren't. So we approached the camp, making ourselves as obvious as possible to make sure that weren't being perceived as attackers.
As we neared the gate, seven guards piled out and those on the wall aimed at us. They were definitely well organised and relatively disciplined.

>>13592255

The leader of the group addressed us, demanding that we explain our presence. The discussion went fairly quickly, the bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy from my Wizard's Affable trait and some good rolls persuading him that we were who we said we were. A quick demonstration of my magical abilities then proved our value as mercenaries, and we were told to report to the large tent in the centre of the camp for billeting.
Before we were allowed in though, he asked that we hand over the map our recruiters had given us. It appeared that the bandits we'd killed earlier had been out searching for mercenaries, which made their earlier attack on us even more stupid.

We travelled through the fort, the DM describing the activities of the bandits. Sparring and Drill training seemed to be the most common features, with a general background bustle of activity going on simultaneously. It was then that we nearly brought our adventure to a brutal end.

To be fair, it wasn't really our fault.

>>13592264

Apparently, a few of the bandits had recognised us as newbies, or rather hadn't recognise us, and decided to put us in our place a little. They didn't really do that much, other than the verbal equivalent of beating their chests, but this was very nearly too much provocation for the Blackguard and Druid. The Druid wanted to put the arrogant monkeys in their place, and the Blackguard was just twitchy from lack of murder. Apparently, the bandits earlier didn't count. My Wizard stepped in, and would have diffused the situation at that very moment, if not for the fact that one of the bandits decided to try and shove the Blackguard from behind.
I say 'try', because the Blackguards Properly Paranoid trait meant that all he got for his efforts was a casual backhand.

That critted.

Exploding his skull.

This wasn't the best start.

>>13592278

Now, this didn't look good. The bandits were a little shocked at the HEADPLOSION, but were rapidly moving out of shock and into murderous rage. Somehow, I doubted that we'd be able to take the entire camp. My party wasn't exactly helping things either. The Blackguard found this funny as all fuck, the Druid was giving an arrogant smirk and the Tiefling had apparently hidden.

I didn't even want to think what our DM would make the diplomacy check to get out of this situation be, but it was pretty much our only shot at getting out of here alive. The Wizard stepped forward, mouth opening to speak, when
the small crowd of angry bandits parted, allowing a small, elderly and gaudily dressed man through. From the description the DM gave, it was fairly obvious that this guy was a Wizard or Sorcerer. Which meant our chances of survival in combat pretty much just hit zilch.

>>13592294


The newcomer eyed us with some interest, before asking who we were and what the hell we thought we were doing. My wizard spoke up, introducing the party first and ending with himself, under false names of course. When I introduced myself as a Wizard, he became quite interested and asked me what level of magic I was currently capable of. I responded that, at this moment in time, I was only capable of utilising up 3rd level magic by my own efforts. Apparently, the fact that I was capable of that kind of magic at my age quite impressed him, and he suggested that I come visit him later, as intelligent and cultured conversation was a rarity among bandits. I agreed that that sounded like an excellent idea, as I hadn't had much opportunity for intelligent discourse for the last few days myself and furthermore, I apologised for this incident, explaining that the Blackguard had psycopathic tendencies. It seemed that were now friends as the old wizard just waved away the bandits, before suggesting that we first meet the quartermaster. That had been our original plan, so we just agreed with him and took our leave.

Crisis averted. Until the Druid mauled the Quartermaster.

>>13592300
Is your mercenary group name the Deathwish Squadron perhaps?

>>13592300

So as it turns out, the Quartermaster is the bandits 'That Guy'. He basically treats us like shit, and endlessly hits on the Druid. Which, given the DM's quite detailed description of his collection of warts, is pretty horrifying.
The Druid pretty much just ignores him, and we eventually get a space near the outskirts of the encampment. Then, as we leave, the Quartermaster suggests that the Druid stay in his tent and proceeds to grope her.

The Druid proceeds to wildshape and brutally savage the quartermaster.

The Wizard quickly shouts out orders to the Blackguard, who grapples a BEAR with ease, while My wizard approaches the shivering wreck of the Quartermaster.

Apparently, he's got a few class levels under his belt, allowing him to soak up that damage and still be screaming bloody murder. I act fast, hitting him a Charm spell, it's close but even with the bonus from being recently attacked, he flunks it and is now convinced that I'm his best friend EVAH. My Wizard picks him up from the ground and chastises him, telling him what a horrible person he is for touching someone when they don't want to be touched, how everyone hates him because of him doing things like that, how really he even hates himself for being that kind of person.

I repeat this until the DM describes him breaking down into tears of shame, and apologising repeatedly to the Druid. My character gives him a reassuring pat on the back, and tells hims that if he'll keep this incident to himself, then so will we.
He thanks us profusely, blood still running down his head from the brutal mauling and asks us if there's anything he can do to make up for what he's done.

>>13592313

He didn't have a choice as to whether he launched that attack or not, regrettably. It's a trait he got assigned at the neginning of the game.

>>13592318

It's at this point My Wizard realises that he's just brainwashed a sentient being into a shambling wreck of complexes and nerves. He immediately feels horrified by this, and quickly tells the Quartermaster that it's all right and that he's not such a bad guy. The Quartermaster burst into tears, telling my Wizard that he's too nice to someone like him. At this point the guilt trip becomes a little too much and we leave quicky.

When we leave, the Blackguard expresses admiration at how efficient my Wizard can be at breaking someone down, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the party. Their approval filled me with shame.

>>13592337

We moved through the camp, but apart from a few minor events (A shipment of captured brandy being brought into the fort, a few bandits repairing a damaged section of the wall etc) it was fairly quiet.

So we settled down in our spot by the wall, and we're all doing little things, like checking our equipment and sharpening our weapons.
My Wizard is doing a little bit of soulsearching, trying to convince himself that what he did was for the best. Eventually, he comes to a resolution. The action was necessary to maintain their presence in the camp. If they didn't do something to deal with the
bandits, then people would suffer. Thus, by ensuring that they had the opportunity to deal with the bandits they could save innocents. This meant the action was needed. Not nice and not pleasant, but necessary.

Now all we needed to do was destroy the camp and then my Wizard could rest easy, and everyone else could utterly loot it. And we already had a plan for that. But first, I had a meeting with a fellow Wizard.

>how efficient my Wizard can be at breaking someone down, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the party
Well, you can't blame them!
>Their approval filled me with shame.
Look, you can even do it to yourself instantly!

>>13592349

The conversation with the Bandit Wizard was actually done quite interestingly, as we talked, my DM had me roll both Diplomacy checks and Knowledge checks, based on what topic the conversation was on. And apart from a flunk on Knowledge (Nobility), My Wizard did rather well, impressing the Bandit once again. He was basically singing my praises at his point and offered to take me on as an apprentice. He's apparently capable of casting 4th level spells, which means he's at least level 7 and more probably level 8. I turn him down politely though, as I don't really want him to ask me about my backstory. My Wizard suggests that he would prefer self-study, at least for now. Bandit Wizard nods his head, apparently understanding of that, but insists that I at least take a few scrolls to read over. He then proceeds to hand me a small selection of scrolls, which given my rather limited repertoire so far is pretty damn appreciated. I almost feel bad that we're going to have to kill this guy.

>>13592375

When I returned, I found that the Blackguard and Tiefling had set up a betting ring. Armwrestle the Blackguard and win, get your money back quadruple. So far they'd made the best part of 300 gold and showed no signs of stopping.

Then the She-Hulk came out of the crowd. This is not an exaggeration. The DM went into creepy, creepy detail about the sheer size of the muscles on this girl. We're talking Powerthirst levels here.

She bet 300 gold on the match. We didn't have 1200 gold. There was only one option. We were going to cheat.

>>13592386

The match began, and like all the matched so far, consisted of several strength checks over a few rounds. A large enough success meant an instant win however, and the Strength bonus counted for double in the rolls. Which gave She-Hulk and her 18 strength a slight advantage over our 16 strength Blackguard.

At least until the Rogue used Alchemist's fire to set off an explosion. While everyone was distracted by that, My Wizard shot her with a Ray of Exhaustion. She had both a fairly good constitution score and an item that buffed her fortitude save though, and so passed, leaving her only fatigued. That still evened the odds though, and as the crowd turned back to watch the still ongoing competition, the Blackguard rolled an 18, followed by a 17, gaining a decisive win, but he was now pretty fatigued.

The Tiefling was quick to end the game before any more takers could come out, and a quick intimidate check from the Druid (Pretty much her just pulling back her cowl and revealing she was a Drow) silenced any complainers. I then realised that this had been our best example of teamwork so far, and we'd used it to cheat at gambling.

Pretty much sums up the group dynamic actually.

And with that, the session ended.

>>13592402
>coolstorybro
So did you get any backstory out of the wizard? Why was he there? Why banditry? Was he the leader? Any plans on tackling the entire fortress? Thinking of cutting and running?

Same time tomorrow onlysaneman this story is getting epic

>>13592402
you and your friends are awesome, this campaign is going places.

>>13592430

He kept out personal lives out of it, and since I didn't really want to have to roll a half-dozen bluff checks, I didn't take any issue with it.

He isn't the leader, but he is his right hand man, thus the bandits obeying him. We haven't met the actual leader yet, and the Dm's being fairly sketchy on the details.

>>13592437

I'm sorry to say that the next session isn't till Sunday, so maybe I'll get the next one out on Tuesday?

Archieved.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13592149/

>>13592477
I don't think you ever mentioned what school your Wizard specialized in, what spells he preferred, feats he has, ect.

>I then realised that this had been our best example of teamwork so far, and we'd used it to cheat at gambling.
Adventurers good and true.

This is your group, OP

Know that you are awesome.

Is this a web or IRL game OP?

>>13592538
Well, I've been keeping the flat stats out of it for narrative flow, but he's a Generalist, with a slight favour for Necromancy.

>>13592657

This is IRL.

Meant to say this earlier. Critique from fellow writefags would be appreciated. Thanks.

Your story is excellent, OP. My compliments. Well-written and entertaining.