Welcome to new readers who’ve joined up from Reddit, the Indie RPG Newsletter, and elsewhere! Feel free to comment or email me directly if you’ve got any questions, comments or feedback. The best place to start is at the beginning, but if you want to catch up quickly, there’s a story-so-far in the Session 2 planning post, and Sessions Zero for all our characters in the sidebar of the main site.
GM Notes: Setting the Scene
In our last installment, Vahid convinced Padrig to collaborate on something of an engineering scheme: To create a system of channels, roofs, and gutters that will allow Stonetop’s cistern, a vital source of water during dry seasons, to remain full of rainwater and snowmelt without requiring villagers to painstakingly fill it bucket by bucket.
This storyline represents us completing this improvement in Stonetop’s playbook:
Source: Jeremy Strandberg // Stonetop
So our next step is going to be finding a supply of slate or terra cotta. Terra Cotta is made in quantity in Marshedge, which has a ready supply of clay nearby, and dovetails neatly with the other storyline we’re following: Padrig’s old bandit chief, Brennan, ordered his crew to split up and regroup in Marshedge come Spring. Spring is here, and the crew (especially Ozbeg) is eager to rejoin their comrades. Padrig is worried that Brennan’s scheming will be the death of them all, and hates to go into situations blind, so he’s going to try to get the lay of the land when the next trader from Marshedge shows up.
Using Ironsworn’s character Oracles, we’ll generate some details for the trader — a descriptor and a goal. We’ll give him a good Marshedger name: Kiran. His randomized descriptor is Wary, natural for someone who spends his days on dangerous roads and dealing with strangers. His randomized goal is to restore a relationship. We’ll posit that he has had a falling out with one of the Old Familes that rule Marshedge — Ferrier, Hawtrey, Tricklebank and Eldershaw — and is looking to get back into their good graces.
This session will have a good amount of worldbuilding that’s drawn from the great setting that’s been created for Stonetop, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest you check it out on Kickstarter.
Vahid’s vision: Freely flowing water for the village // Image Credit: McKay Savage
Scene 2: The Public House
It’s a cool spring evening, and every long bench in the Public House is packed with bone-tired villagers, come in from the fields to rest and sip Stonetop whiskey. The long hearth fire in the center of the house burns low and warm, casting an orange glow on weary grimaces and friendly grins alike.
Padrig and Ozbeg enter and shoulder their way through the crush until they reach the end of the fire, where a rust-haired Marshedger sits alone, sipping goat’s milk. It is Kiran, one of the few traders willing to make the weeklong trek from his home to Stonetop. His rice-straw cloak is drawn around him, and his eyes dart to every laugh and shout the crowd lets loose. He looks up with a start when Padrig takes the seat across the hearth from him.
“Ho, friend. Welcome to Stonetop. I hope your journey here was a swift and safe one,” Padrig says.
Kiran squints at the two of them and puts his goat’s milk down beside the hearth fire. “The Maker-Roads are safe enough. Do I know you, sir?”
Padrig smiles warmly. “Not yet. But I hope our meeting can be profitable. I’m Padrig; this is my brother-in-arms, Ozbeg.” Ozbeg nods, as welcomingly as he can muster. “We’re interested in trade.” Padrig turns over an empty cup from the side of the hearth and fills it with whiskey from his skin, then reaches across the fire and places it in front of the trader.
The trader takes up the whiskey and sniffs it before drinking. “Kiran is my name, and I don’t deal in weapons,” the trader replies, his eyes now darting to the fighting knives at Ozbeg’s hip. “Nor armor, nor anything of interest to a warrior. And even if I did, there’s none to be had in Marshedge. Not for your bottom bezant. My apologies.” A glance passes between Padrig and Ozbeg, Padrig holds his hand up placatingly.
Ozbeg, undeterred, opens his mouth to press on this topic, but Padrig replies first, cutting him off. “We’re not in the market for armaments. We’re looking for building material, terra cotta. In quantity. Could be some fine coin in it for the trader who finds it for us.”
The trader leans back, stroking his patchy beard thoughtfully. “Hunh. I hadn’t figured you two for builders. That, I might be able to help with. In what quantity, exactly?”
Padrig cites Vahid’s precise figures: “Three thousand, five hundred and eighty tiles, each measuring one hand by two.”
Kiran lets out a low whistle and leans forward, his attention peaked. “You have my interest. But that quantity will occupy the clay cutters and fenwalkers for some weeks. I would likely need at least 30 golden bezants to make the purchase, 15 more for taxes to the honored Eldershaw family, and five more for my fee. Do you have the coin?”
Here, Padrig is on the lookout for signs that the trader is hiding something, cheating him, or otherwise double-dealing. He activates the Seek Insight move and rolls an 11, giving him the answers to up three questions from the Seek Insight list. Padrig uses this move quite a bit, so it might be worth looking at the text:
Source: Jeremy Strandberg // Stonetop
He’ll start by asking “What should I be on the lookout for?” which will let of course him know that the trader has featherbedded the price a quite bit — specifically, the taxes to the Eldershaws. This is the relationship Kiran is hoping to repair, but Padrig doesn’t know that. He’ll keep the other two questions in his back pocket for later in the conversation, since he doesn’t really have great fictional positioning to ask the other questions he wants the answers to.
“Fifteen to the Eldershaw? That’s a heavy hand in your purse,” Padrig replies.
“The Old Families will have their share, friend. It’s the price of doing business in Marshedge. Do you have the coin or no?”
“We’ll get it. We can travel to Marshedge once the spring rains have passed. Can you have it ready by then?”1
“Aye, a few weeks should be plenty. Be in Marshedge with the gold, and you’ll have your tile. Maybe at last I’ll be able to spend a night in Stonetop without feeling the rain on my head.” He holds out his hand, and Padrig shakes it firmly. Ozbeg clears his throat and nudges Padrig gently.
“You mentioned there are no weapons to be bought for good coin in your town. Bandit trouble, again? Folk arming themselves?” Padrig asks, gently leading.
Kiran shakes his head. “The opposite. The arms are going into the hands of the new recruits to the town watch, and the banditry is on the run, may The Things Below take them!”
Padrig conceals his concern behind a smile of relief. “That’s welcome news. What drove them off?”
“Grandfather Hawtrey hit on a clever scheme — pay the bandits to kill one another. He hired one of the bandit chiefs hiding out in the Fen as a mercenary, and within a fortnight he put some of the worst of the worst in the ground. Made such quick work of it, the Old Families made him captain of the guard.”
Padrig nods appreciatively. “Clever indeed. I’ll remember not to cross the Old Families.”
Kiran grins and toasts with his whiskey as Padrig rises to take his leave. “To your wisdom, sir. I’ll see you in Marshedge, with coin in hand.”
Outside the Public House, Ozbeg and Padrig confer in the cool spring air. “The new captain of the guard — it has to be Brennan, eh?” Ozbeg asks.
Padrig nods. “Doubtless. And doubtless, the bandits he put in the ground thought he was their staunchest ally until they felt the knife tickle between their shoulders.”2
Ozbeg frowns. “Brennan never turned his cloak on anyone who didn’t turn against us.”
“Aye, that’s what he says. He’s got a keen nose for treachery; Some he turned on didn’t even know they were betrayers yet themselves.” Padrig says.
Ozbeg huffs and jabs a finger in Padrig’s face. “That’s shit, and you know it. Ain’t Brennan been good to us? Open-handed with the coin? Struck back at anyone who struck at us, twice as hard? You should know better than anyone, it ain’t easy being chief. You think you can do better than him?”
“Maybe you’re getting old, Oz. Have you forgotten how we left Gordin’s Delve? Chased out at swordpoint? Leaving our mates behind, to get their throats slit or die in chains in the mines?”
“That weren’t Brennan’s fault! Jahalim sold us out to the other Delve bosses!” Ozbeg says, a bit more weakly than he intends.
“When you’re chief you own it all, for weal or woe. That’s what Brennan said when he strung up Ulrike and took the gang from him. Old Ulrike, who pulled you out of the Dread River when your boat was foundering and your armor was dragging you down to the Things Below!”
Ozbeg’s voice goes quiet now. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”
“Might be I have, for myself. But I don’t decide just for myself, there’s our crew to think about. We lost half of them getting out of the Delve, and you and I swore to each other we’d keep the rest alive as best we could. I’m not leading them to Marshedge unless I’m damn sure Brennan’s let go of his mad schemes to become boss of this or king of that,” Padrig says.
“Maybe he has? Captain of the Guard could be honest warrior’s work.” Ozbeg suggests.
“We’ll see for ourselves. After the next big Spring storm, we’ll set out for Marshedge. If things seem right, we’ll come back with Vahid’s clay, and put the question to the crew. Any that want to rejoin Brennan and the Claws can go with you to Marshedge. If not, we’ll have to find another way. Are you with me?” Padrig holds his hand out to Ozbeg. Ozbeg clasps it firmly.3
“Through the dust and blood, aye. Now we just need to find out how Vahid plans to come up with 50 golden bezants.” Padrig says.
Ozbeg guffaws. “If I’d known the skinny bastard had that kind of coin, I’d have turned him upside down and shook months ago.”
GM Notes & Housekeeping
I’m a little disappointed all of Padrig’s rolls hit — there were some interesting opportunities for reversals if the Seek Insight roll early in the session had missed, or if he failed to persuade the trader. In either of those cases, we could advance a threat against Padrig by having the trader be an agent of Brennan’s, thereby taking the initiative away from Padrig and putting him on his back foot. But the dice fall where they fall, so Padrig remains in control — for now. Once Brennan is actually in the picture and more aware of Padrig and Stonetop, he’ll be able to be proactive and make harder moves against Padrig (and the other PCs, if and when Padrig pulls them into this conflict). Here’s how the Stonetop setting guide describes Brennan, narratively and mechanically:
From what I’ve seen in other Stonetop play reports, Brennan plays an outsized role in players’ and GM’s imaginations. He reminds me a lot of this guy:
Dutch van der Linde, from Red Dead Redemption
i.e., a manipulative psychopath with delusions of grandeur, backed by a loyal gang to whom he’s constantly promising, and nearly delivering, a better life. He should be a fun addition to the threats facing our heroes.
My apologies that this one is on the shorter side, with just one scene, and that we skipped last Thursday. I’m catching up a bit from the Thanksgiving holiday and juggling a small freelance project. We should have another installment on Thursday. We’ll find out how Vahid plans to get his hands on a stack of gold coins in this dirt-poor village, and we’ll get Anwen in the mix as well. Thanks for reading!
Padrig rolls Persuade here, and gets a 12. The trader won’t demand any money or considerations upfront and will make the arrangements back at Marshedge.
Padrig uses his second question from Seek Insight, asking “Who or what is really in control?” From what the trader told him, and what he personally knows of Brennan, it’s a safe bet that his old chief is now the captain of the guard in Marshedge.
"we could advance a threat against Padrig by having the trader be an agent of Brennan’s"
Oh shit that would have been fun!
“Aye, that’s what he says. He’s got a keen nose for treachery; Some he turned on didn’t even know they were betrayers yet themselves.” Padrig says.
That's a great summation