Under the Raging Storm

[David Scott]

My latest adventure is underway with adventurers created in the first week. Last night the adventurers met up with their prospective employer in Geos at Swenstown. Aerison Clackminder is wanting to run a mule train across the wastes to a far off land called Kralorela. So far a centaur has signed up as captain of the guard. His friend who is some kind of Lunar death sorcerer will be his right hand man. Another Issaries cultist has come in as shareholder in the venture and fortunately a Praxian on a high llama has turned up to be the "local guide". They've set up market in the remains of the lunar section of Swenstown and hired some guards using the well known technique of show us how you fight! The centaur easily took on all three and the sorcerer was no slouch with a two-handed spear. After much planning using the sorcerer's writing skills they've decided to take 50 mules with them. Aerision is going to have to leave them at Swenstown to go and get more mules! The trip will last at least a season. So first stop Pavis for some more guards, top up supplies then decide what the detail of the travel plan is - what can go wrong. (My main concern is that I have only 9 mules in my figure collection, I can use my 19 horses but that still leaves me 22 short!).

[M Helsdon]

1 hour ago, David Scott said:

After much planning using the sorcerer's writing skills they've decided to take 50 mules with them. 

Each horse and mule will eat approximately 20-25 lbs. of food (though some horse breeds require another 5 lbs. depending on size) and require between 8-20 gallons of water a day (a gallon of water weighs 8.36 lbs). Each mule can carry approximately 160-300 lbs. (Using old style units).

In the Wastes, you'd probably do better using sables instead of mules as they can sometimes graze there, when mules probably cannot.

The logistics of the expedition look a mite... tight, though of course you can treat pack-animals as meat-on-the-hoof. Even so...

 

[David Scott]

You are correct and they are planing stopovers. Sables present other problems - more desirable than mules 🙂

[M Helsdon]

6 minutes ago, David Scott said:

You are correct and they are planing stopovers. Sables present other problems - more desirable than mules 🙂

Well, good luck!

It just needs one stopover oasis to fail, for an expedition to be lost. I have the impression that large portions of the Wastes are not unlike the Taklamakan Desert - the name of which is often given the popular translation: Once you go in, you'll never come out....

[Roko Joko]

how are they supposed to not be surrounded in the middle of nowhere and outnumbered 100:1 over and over again

[simonh]

1 hour ago, Roko Joko said:

how are they supposed to not be surrounded in the middle of nowhere and outnumbered 100:1 over and over again

It’s a real problem, but good options include missile fire and ranged death magic. The ability to inflict even a handful of casualties should be enough to discourage casual attacks. How many of your family and friends lives would you be prepared to sacrifice for a bit of booty?

Simon Hibbs

Edited May 23, 2018 by simonh

[Psullie]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plastic-animal-Horses-ponies-Horse-full-colour-details-FREE-POST-UK-SELLER-T02-/382078217881

might be a bit big for mules, but cheap!

apart from chaos and occasional night raids by trolls, I'd imagine a common encounter would be praxian times demanding tribute to pass through their bit of of ground. The threat of a encounter would be far better than running skirmishes - this could also direct their journey is a less than shorter route as they find the cheapest route!

[jajagappa]

11 hours ago, David Scott said:

(My main concern is that I have only 9 mules in my figure collection, I can use my 19 horses but that still leaves me 22 short!).

Paper minis.  Perhaps even just silhouettes.  Cheap and make as many as you need.

[jajagappa]

7 hours ago, simonh said:

It’s a real problem, but good options include missile fire and ranged death magic.

Sorcerous defensive effects?  E.g. ring of fire, ring of invisibility, whirling gyre of winds to surround the camp, etc.

[David Scott]

8 hours ago, Roko Joko said:

how are they supposed to not be surrounded in the middle of nowhere and outnumbered 100:1 over and over again

That’s the adventure isn’t it. Sorcerous death magic, issaries merchants, local tribal guards, lightbringer cultists, trade!

[David Scott]

14 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Paper minis.  Perhaps even just silhouettes.  Cheap and make as many as you need.

I forgot I had these, Paper Wars was an excellent product. I don’t know Simon’s alias on here, I wonder if he still has them on sale?

 

[kaydet]

I would be very interested in a line of paper minis for Glorantha.

[g33k]

Hopefully the merchant is savvy enough to pack some low-cost items to offer as tax/levy/tribute/bribe/etc to pass through Nomad country.  Ideally, the Llama-rider could route them through Llama territories (and such costs would presumably be much ower).

Once well-away from Pavis, even cheap trade-goods may be high-enough value to pay their way...

 

[g33k]

13 hours ago, simonh said:

It’s a real problem, but good options include missile fire and ranged death magic. The ability to inflict even a handful of casualties should be enough to discourage casual attacks. How many of your family and friends lives would you be prepared to sacrifice for a bit of booty?

Simon Hibbs

Everything the PC's can do, so can the nomads (except specialized Rune-magic).  Presumably the Issaries merchant can at least ward the camp.
But I would expect any serious attempt on the caravan to be an ambush, that begins with missile fire & ranged death/incapacitation magic.

Again, I point to that HL guide, and routing through friendly territory...

[simonh]

8 hours ago, David Scott said:

I forgot I had these, Paper Wars was an excellent product. I don’t know Simon’s alias on here, I wonder if he still has them on sale?

 

I'm sure I have the CD around somewhere in the attic, but I'd buy it again in a hot second.

Simon Hibbs

[simonh]

3 hours ago, g33k said:

Everything the PC's can do, so can the nomads (except specialized Rune-magic).  Presumably the Issaries merchant can at least ward the camp.
But I would expect any serious attempt on the caravan to be an ambush, that begins with missile fire & ranged death/incapacitation magic.

Again, I point to that HL guide, and routing through friendly territory...

Of course they can, but just because you can 'win' by killing more of them than they can kill of you doesn't automatically make it worthwhile. In other words, some of your people getting killed is always bad, regardless of how many more casualties you can inflict on the enemy, so the payoff has to be clearly worth it relative to just trading or extracting a toll with menaces, or watching their camp for weak or badly guarded spots and doing a sneak-and-grab of you see a chance, or all three.

Simon Hibbs

Edited May 24, 2018 by simonh

[Jim]

9 hours ago, David Scott said:

That’s the adventure isn’t it. Sorcerous death magic, issaries merchants, local tribal guards, lightbringer cultists, trade!

Indeed! I guess the mitigation is:

+ Help from a Dessert Tracker

+ Protection money

+ Enough guards from one of the big 5 tribes, perhaps even changing through the journey

+ Gifting

+ Trading with the locals for goods they cannot get in the wastes

Having such a large caravan means smaller groups of tribal raiders might avoid you, or there are irritating small raids at night that the GM can abstract in some way to avoid tedium. There could be a few big encounters that might be standoffs or outright battles, I suspect these are the scenes that would involve the PCs.

[BWP]

On 5/24/2018 at 5:29 PM, Jim said:

+ Help from a Dessert Tracker

Now there's a mission worth pursuing in Prax!  Mmm ... ice cream ....

 

[David Scott]

13 hours ago, BWP said:

Now there's a mission worth pursuing in Prax!  Mmm ... ice cream ....

Ice cream is already available amongst the Praxians, it’s one of the few reasons to get magic from the White Princess. Most herding clans have a milk herd, except amongst the ostrich & bolo folk, who do a kind of frozen egg custard. Oasis folk do all kinds of exotic fruit sorbets, like date and melon. 

Edited May 25, 2018 by David Scott

[Jim]

On 5/24/2018 at 8:29 AM, Jim said:

+ Help from a Dessert Tracker
 

Ooops. They track down puddings as well as hyena skin!

[jajagappa]

45 minutes ago, Jim said:

They track down puddings as well as hyena skin!

Just blancmanges.

[g33k]

On 5/25/2018 at 4:54 AM, jajagappa said:

Just blancmanges.

Only white ones?  Why not black puddings, and similar trail snacks like gorp?

 

[jajagappa]

4 minutes ago, g33k said:

Only white ones?  Why not black puddings, and similar trail snacks like gorp?

 

Och ... well ... he wasna really a man, d'you ken … He was as strange a thing as ever I saw, or ever I hope to see, [Storm Bull] willing.  He was a strange unearthly creature - a quivering, glistening mass... He wasna so much a man as... a blancmange!

[Tigerwomble]

You know who this needs, a savvy Pavisite who has connections in Pavis and who knows a man who breeds a particular hardy breed of black and white striped mules.

Honest. Hand to Orlanth.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Tigerwomble