Chapter 2: Comrades

Urukubarr parted ways with the noble, as it was mutually understood that they were best not seen together. It was late at night and the tavern was filled with many patrons. The raucous crowd consisted largely of festive commoners, but there were some capable-looking folk as well. The half-orc decided that now was the time to make some friends for the next adventure.

We ended the last chapter with Urukubarr getting a nice payday. What Urukubarr needs now is gear and new comrades. I will not be using the retainer system as it is not good for solo play. However, I'll keep the hiring system it proposes, so Urukubarr is going have a hard time with his shitty CHA. Let's roll up some potential party members.
List of generated characters:

Level 1 Male Bard
Armour Class 6 [13] (chainmail)
Hit Points 4
Attacks 1 × staff (1d4)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D13 W14 P13 B16 S15
Alignment Lawful
STR 11 INT 14 WIS 14
DEX 7 CON 9 CHA 17
Items None

Level 1 Female Acrobat
Armour Class 6 [13] (leather armour)
Hit Points 1
Attacks 1 × sling (1d4)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D13 W14 P13 B16 S15
Alignment Lawful
STR 12 INT 10 WIS 12
DEX 14 CON 3 CHA 10
Items None

Level 1 Female Elf
Armour Class 6 [13] (leather armour + shield)
Hit Points 3
Attacks 1 × sword (1d8) or 1 × spell
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D12 W13 P13 B15 S15
Alignment Neutral
STR 9 INT 9 WIS 10
DEX 12 CON 12 CHA 7
Spells hold portal
Items None

Level 1 Female Cleric
Armour Class 3 [16] (chainmail + shield)
Hit Points 1
Attacks 1 × sling (1d4)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D11 W12 P14 B16 S15
Alignment Neutral
STR 12 INT 14 WIS 17
DEX 13 CON 8 CHA 13
Items None

The acrobat and cleric will die to a stiff breeze so I'm not hiring them. I want the bard and the elf.
Elf appearance and personality: Slumped and sallow. Cautious nature.

Urukubarr spotted a rather dreary-looking elf in a dark corner of the tavern. As he started to wade through the crowd to reach her, she looked at him suspiciously.

"You there! Care for a drink?" Urukubarr shouted before even reaching her table.

Elf hire: Roll again
Elf hire: Refused

The elf scoffed, nose upturned. "I've no business with your kind."

"Your loss," the half-orc replied with a false smile.

"...Bitch."

Fine, I didn't need you anyway (I did). Moving on to the bard...
Bard's appearance and personality: A fat menace with an artistically scarred left arm.
Now that's a colorful character.

The thief was further annoyed by a particularly loud and boisterous voice singing a song in Elvish at the bar, punctuated by the rhythm of mugs pounding on wood. He was surprised when he saw who sang the tune: A fat man with peculiar scars upon his left arm and an steel-capped staff at his side. Urukubarr never heard of a fat elf before, so he surmised that the singer was human.

"You there!" he called out to the bard when the song was over, "Do you have a moment?"

"Sure do," the man replied with booze on his breath and a wicked grin. "What can I do for ya?"

"I seek gold of the dangerous kind, friend, and you seem capable in a fight. Care to band together?"

Bard hire: Accepted
It was a max roll too, so they become fast friends.

"You're talking my language, toothy! You know, I knew this other half-orc back in the day... Skalt was his name, I think. We did some mercenary work together. He was a beast, man."

"I'm glad to meet someone who is familiar with my kind," the thief sighed. "Here, a round on me."

I'll call him Juho. Let's get some more info on him.
Info on Juho: He's influential among the bards of Cama. He wants to convince the nobility of Cama to create new laws that will benefit bards.
Neat. Let's give him some starting gold and gear him up.
Juho's starting gold: 80g
Time to find some work. Is the escort job still available?
OPSE: No, but a new job took its place.
Job type: Communicate energy
The local mages have a monster infestation in one of their mana relays outside the city. They need someone to clear it out.
How big is the reward?
OPSE: Surprisingly lacking.
Not worth my time. How about a pacing roll to shake things up?
OPSE: Random Event
OPSE: Protect future plans DH

The gruff-looking pair exchanged stories while they discussed what their next move should be. They checked out a fresh bounty poster for the securing of a mana relay, but the pay was far too meager for their taste.

"So," Juho began, "I'm trying to impress the nobles around here. I got a friend among that crowd, his name's Muimo. Likes my music, you know."

Urukubarr suddenly found his drink to be very interesting and stared into it for a moment.

"...But I think gold is what it takes to get a noble's respect, yeah?"

"Agreed," the thief grunted.

Something might come of that.
Does Juho know of any dungeons? Yes, and he knows of more than one.
Excellent. I had an itch to run some dungeons.
How many? Just two.
Let's flesh one out right now.

"And I know just the place to get some. There's an old academy in the inner city, it went outta business not long ago. Apparently some deranged professor got pissed about somethin' and unleashed some nasty spell in there. I bet we'll find some nice treasure in there."

"I'm up for that," Urukubarr declared, sticking out his chest confidently. "But we're going to need more men."

I have decided that unskilled commoners are always available for hire. By OSE rules, they become level 1 in a class as soon as they get XP. That's when they get ability scores and a new HD, so you can't know in advance how strong or weak they'll be. Fun! I won't be detailing them much until they level up, since they're likely to die. A race and gender for each will do.
Commoner races and genders: 2 male humans, 1 female human, 1 male dwarf.
A dwarf! I love dwarves.

Over the next few days, a party of 6 was formed. Lured in by the promise of wealth, a foolhardy crew of misfits was ready to plunder the academy.

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Pub: 30 Aug 2022 19:21 UTC

Edit: 30 Aug 2022 20:03 UTC

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