Sunday, February 16, 2014

8 Wagons to Chemfoldshire - ASE travelling traders.

My Anomalous Subsurface Environment game continues on G+, and the adventurers have finally figured out some of the basic mysteries of the first level beneath Mt. Rendon.  It's been a few months of game time though and the little mold farming hamlet of Chemfoldshire is growing into a boom town a rowdy boom town from the fortune hunters flocking to Mt. Rendon's various entrances.  Below is a table of traveling merchants, some of whom have flocked to Chemfoldshire (though I've changed the details in my own game).  This isn't perhaps the most useful of tables - but with all the OSR competitions going on right now I'm trying to work on some things for Dyson, Tenkar and the One Page Dungeon contest.




D8
Traveling Merchants like of interest to Adventurers
1
Dr. Professor Blumly.  A grizzled man in a stained buckskins and a beaded headband with a doctor’s mirror attached, the Dr. Professor drives an odd caravan, pulled by a old docile cave bear (Don the Bear).  The caravan itself is mostly wood, but sports a giant tin cupola shaped like an alchemist’s retort and painted a peeling blue.  Blumy offers “alchemy of the wild”, selling herbs (wolfsbane etc) and tinctures that sometimes work.  His prices are 100GP per vial and he sells 1D4 of each of the following potions: 1- Healing, 2-Neutralize Poison, 3- Water Breathing 4-Sleep 5- Poison.   These potions have the following effects (D6) 1-poisonous,  2 - Sickening for 1D8 turns,  3-4 A drink of strong booze (1HP healing) 5 – ½ effect 6- As potion or spell advertised. Blumly does not provide refund and his bottles all have tiny warning labels.
Dr. Professor Blumly (F0 INT 16), Don the Bear, 6HD Grizzly Bear
2
The Strumpini Family.  A garish caravan, pulled by a pair of protoceratops, painted in elven style, though colors more pleasing to the human eye (vibrant reds and oranges not orange, chartreuse and purple).  When parked the wagon is almost concealed by a ragged but colorful pavilion.  The Strumpini’s are a group of players, courtesans and information mongers who travel between the more civilized areas of the Land of 1,000 towers and perform plays for soldiers, adventurers and even bandits at a price of 1GP a show.  Other services are negotiated between individual Strumpinis and customers.  The Strumpinis’ shows are bawdy and generally mock current events, focusing on rulers disliked by the government of their current venue.   The family (all unrelated) as made up of a variety of good looking individuals in their 20’s thorugh 40’s who all have a certain hard cast around their eyes.  Current family members consist of Ringo (M-Human), Diomede (F-Human), Ximz (F-Elf), Bandini (M-Human), Biscutter (M-Halfling), Scandal (F-Halfling), Blintz (f-Halfling).  The Strumpinis always seek new information from travelers and adventurers, and will trade it for rumors about other areas.  
Ringo (F2 STR 13 DEX 15), Diomede (F3 DEX 13, CON 16, CHR 14), Ximz (E1 INT 14, DEX 13, CHR 13: sleep, charm or dancing lights), Bandini (TH2 DEX 14 CHR 17), Biscutter (H1 STR 14, DEX 13, CHR 13), Scandal (H1 DEX 15, INT 14, CHR 15), Blintz (H2 DEX 16, CHR 16)
3
Scouser’s Supply.  A covered, utilitarian wagon drawn by several beleaguered looking mules and pulling a small cart loaded with a battered portable forge and anvil.  Scouser is a Burly 50ish man wearing a studded black leather apron and black leather pants, a black mesh shirt and a fierce moustache.  He’s a reliable and competent blacksmith and armorer who generally parks himself in Denethix’s bazaar, and sells mostly to private guardsmen in need of simple sturdy equipment. He is aided by an orphan apprentice named Juice.  Scouser’s stock contains several suits of black leather and studded leather armor which he will fit to order and 3 suits of medium armor (scale or chain).  He also carries a selection of hand weapons, mostly the Certopsian sabers popular in Denethix.  Scouser doesn’t work in wood, so he won’t have bows, or pole arms.  Occassionaly (1 in 6) Scouser will have odd or silver weapons for sale that he’s picked up in trade.  His prices are 10-25% higher than list when he’s on the road and he can make most repairs.  Scouser will take special orders for anything up to banded mail, as long as it’s in his simple style, and is generally an affable fellow who will treat return customers well and throw in additional items such as studded belts with a large purchase.
Scouser (F3 STR 16, INT 13, CHR 15), Juice (F0 STR 14, CON 15)
[Scouser is borrowed from this excellent ASE campaign]
4
The Thirsty Knife.  A veritable keg on wheels, three large and verminous looking fellows man this wagon, pulled by a team of huge horses.  The Thirsty Knife is the best thing to come out of the bandit town of Harold's Knife, a traveling bar that usally provides an opportunity for the residents of isolated logging camps, garrisons, and hideouts. Staffed by 'Old' Stuck, 'Young' Stuck and 'Other' Stuck, all of whom look vaguely alike the bar will sell strong drink at 1 GP a drink, and beer for 1 GP a pint.  It's all of decent quality, but not spectacular.  The Stucks keep the peace rigorously, and are adept at calming violent drunks. The Stuck may have left Harold's Knife long ago, but they still do some scouting for bandit groups, and if troubled can call upon a horde of gap toothed hatchet-men from the family 'estate'.
Stuck Brother x3 (F2 STR 14 DEX 13)
5
Lonzo’s Soft Goods. A air of gentile dinginess floats around this simple whitewashed caravan, pulled by a pair of nags.  It's owner, Lonzo, "purveyor to the great" sells 'fancy' clothing, mostly garish cheap things - red silk shirts, lace up breeches or flamboyant blazers that badly ape the style of Denethix's wealthy.  His prices are reasonable, but the quality is so poor that none of his clothes will last more then a single session of adventuring or wilderness travel, and most won't last a single night of peacefully sitting. Lonzo is a thin, rakish man gone to seed, with a pencil mustache and thinning greased hair.  Lonzo's secret is that he's a thief, a rather good one, never too greedy, and very adept at sneaking into the rooms of well off travelers, wanderers and adventurers and taking most of their coin.  He is discrete and careful, marking his targets based on their purchases from himself and other vendors while always burying his loot after theft and only grabbing it again on the way out of town in case he is accused.
Lonzo (TH5 INT 15, DEX 16, CHR 13)
6
The Hodo Brothers.  A dour band of dour men, all of whom are perfectly average looking, except for a similar weak jaw.  The have a large wagon, painted an unimpressive maroon, drawn by a team of docile protoceratops and sell supplies such as lamp oil, torches, rope, iron spikes, picks and shovels.  The Hodo Brothers prices are odd without any standardization (roll a D6 each time something is purchased 1- 1/2 list price, 2- 25% below list, 3- list price, 4 - 125% list price, twice list, 6- 5x list price). The equipment stocked by the Hodo's is average quality and most Certopsian in make.  The Hodos have a secret, they are spies, and not remotely human.  Each Hodo Brother is an independent body of the Bruised Enormity, a protean entity of great power, which rules a few mountain villages between the Southern Certopsian and the Livid Fens from a decadent pleasure dome.  The Hodos seek information, but will take an opportunity to assassinate and steal the identity of anyone who will help them in this goal.
Hodo Brothers x6  - Doppelgangers
7
Shem’s Lapidary.  Perched in a howdah atop a huge placid Sauropod, Shem's Lapidary is less a traveling merchant then a physical representation of the wealth of the Southern jungles.  Shem himself is a banker and merchant prince, specializing in the gem trade and hailing from the jungle spires of Druid Hill or another of the mercantile other city states beyond the Livid Fens.  His business is banking the wealth of travelers, mercenaries, adventurers and high risk merchants and he can convert bulky plunder to highly portable gems (mostly colorful river pearls) or letters of credit good at the banking houses of the local capitals (principally Denethix, Druid Hill and the Fen Queen's city of Bone) for a flat 20%. Shem is a small, neat man, in a white linen suit and gem studded top hat. He's a decent duelist as well, but has developed a thick skin from trading amongst the barbarians outside the Emerald Jungles.  Shem has two jewelers on staff in the train of three stout wagons that follow his howdah, as well as a platoon of well trained private guards. He is also well liked by and well appreciated by elite of Denethix, the Fens and Druid Hill.
Shem Revanche (F3 STR 13, DEX 15, CHR 16), Guards (F2 x10)
8
Lucky Milton.  A pitiful man, gangly and wild haired, Lucky Milton is the son of a mid sized Denethix merchant house who entirely lacks any mercantile skill.  He purchased his colorful wagon, team of nags and its stock second hand for three times its value with the goal of getting rich off to the Mt. Rendon boom.  Unfortunately for Milton he has no idea how to do that beyond "Sell things to adventurers for ancient treasures".  Milton's stock is currently standard adventuring and homesteading gear, but it's slowly being replaced by junk and curiosity "traded" to him by his clients.  While there is a small chance that Milton will have something truly interesting on hand, most of this new stock is items like "lucky goblin scalps" (odd as goblins are hairless) and "dehydrated fire beetle glades" (Ground ants most likely).  Milton's old stock is not especially good either, being low quality items that will often break when used (Roll 1D6 each time item is used, on a 1 it breaks).  Milton himself is both honest and oblivious to these goods' defects which he sells at list price.
Lucky Milton (MU1 INT 14, WIS 5) light, sleep, floating disc

2 comments:

  1. Hi Gus, I'm glad you enjoyed The Scouser.

    'Juice' though? I suspect that might be a nod to one of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's more notorious songs yeah? Pure filth, I like it. I'm counter-borrowing that sticky little sucker for if my PCs ever run into The Scouser again.

    Great list, I especially like the Doppelgangers. It almost makes me want to use the megadungeon but I'm not so sure, I think it is a bit too gonzo compared to what we've been doing so far.

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  2. I think the megadungeon, even the cave juggalos is far less gonzo then the stuff I add to it. Its got some weirdness that one may have to graft internal logic onto (my Morlock have some strange taboos and my goblins love purple stuff) but its easy to run and really very good if played with a straight face.

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