LOVE the new character, can’t wait for more of this show going forward. What’s it like as a gm to draw the curtains on a quest and move on after its resolution? Did you have any idea that you’d be presenting the party with a story hook based on cleaning up crime in a neighborhood?
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That was a very cool episode; Considering there wasn’t an objective or any mission underway a lot of stuff happened! Fucking love JP’s new character, I enjoy the concept of Kenku and JP is killin’ it. Dan continuing to be a really consistently great D&D player and Max’s feels moments with Berg today were some of the best roleplaying on the show so far!
I’m interested in seeing what happens with Hassan in the future if he finds Azure’s orb in the cave…
Oh, and JP, since Fairlight is on for Dropped Frames, maybe ask him behind the scenes if he’s willing & has time to maybe join the Court of Swords as a guest? 
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JP did Kenku pretty well, maybe the best character that has has done on The Court of Swords so far.
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Just curious why the players decided to buy an apartment when Dan said they were only going to stay for the week and just leave town kinda seems like a lot of wasted money there.
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Here are the phrases I wrote down from the first episode:
Azriel
- unspeakable horrors
- hello stranger
- death lurks in there
- someplace where we can unload all this stuff
- i serve the fountain
- Sir!
- Be Silent!
- this will save your divine soul
- is it worth your life?
- WAIT!
- YES!
- is there somewhere we can do for you?
- that is evil
hazan
- new beginning
- anything born can die
tea shop owner
- (orcish) sharpened jaw at door
- grasping hands come looking for you in the dark
- fuck your mother
child
- do your people study under the tower?
berg
- why are you here
- i dont know what part he plays
- if the armor is poor, i will know
- and they will die as well
- he seems happy
- perhaps we booby trap the door
- that was not me
- i will not become a slave for him
- probably wise
blacksmith
- you three look like the start of a joke
- we all have masters
- I thought I was the only angel in town
5 guard captain
- we own this place
laugh like a child
fortune teller
- perhaps you’re getting married?
- we take the hand we are dealt
- this is my favorite part
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JP, this is so smart and cool. I’m super impressed.
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Yeah they sort of created an opportunity to give themselves a lot more trouble than it’s worth it seems. I also don’t really understand other than “creating plot” why theyre magically expected to pay this person’s debt instead of just being hassled for being the new people or offerered “protection” like the old man is. Seems kind of horseshit. Though to be fair the player’s didn’t exactly challenge it either (and haven’t been able to be given a chance since they haven’t talked to the “boss” directly).
On the other hand this group doesn’t really have a direction at the moment so trying to get them into something isn’t a bad thing, though intercity gang situation doesn’t…I don’t know. Everything else so far seems like some giant branches off of Mara influence and various evil plots; corruption in a monk fortress city just…I don’t want to make a judgement on it because the rollplaying is great and Adam has certainly earned my trust in his direction but I’m not sure where this is going.
But again the group is a mishmash of people without a real purpose at the moment.
I do wish they had gotten some sort of tier system to gague how much money to give Sean and the gnomes. It’s hard to guess without having an actual grasp of “power” in the area but just being able to reference how much money would go how far (ex: to build an encampment vs sending merencaries to search for more gnomes etc…) and what sort of effects that could have would have been a good discussion I think.
Also it was kind of surprising how much of a fuck dan just does not give about these people in the town beyond getting his armor (which frankly is kind of smart). Also thought the development with Hassan was very interesting, and whether he was going for the orb or something else down there.
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The RP this episode has been amazing. JP as Gale was 
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It felt great! Nothing is ever really over but I do like an act break as much as the next schlub. Super excited to see what comes next.
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I can’t wait for combo phrases in multiple voices… 
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I LOVE JPs new character, great job man, it really shows. Hassan is super interesting, when I heard he was going into that cave it really cements the whole Brass Dragon thing. Dan and Max were awesome as well.
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this is seriously fucking fantastic btw. You have taken on something so tricky here but it brings a freshness and uniqueness to everything the character does.
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Or the orb. Or the guardian. Or the guardian’s heart.
Personally I’m cheering for brass dragon. Poor lonely vulnerable brass dragon. Which also begs the question: just how powerful and scary is Hassan that a brass dragon is something he could hunt for himself?
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Ah you’re thinking different than me. I think Hassan IS the brass dragon. He’s just using the change shape ability to polymorph into a human.
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I really liked how the show has transitioned between arcs. It felt nice to have an episode without a guest so that you all had some time to breathe, introduce new characters 1 at a time, and settle into the new party’s dynamic. Great storytelling all around.
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As far as the money for Snidge goes, I think this made perfect sense. After all Berg is a raging Barbarian who is a slave (even if at the moment he is ‘free’); he’s not the type that would know about building costs or anything of that nature. Likewise Azriel is an angel descended from the heavens. He was in the mortal world purely to help Raziel, so it’s unlikely he’s spent a lot of time learning about mortal architecture and building practices.
That, and realistically the amount of gold they had wouldn’t actually accomplish all that much if he tried to be that realistic. For example, in the DMG to build a simple outpost or fort is 15k gp, and a simple trading post is 5k gp. So even if they’d given all the money to Snidge, by the rules of the DMG (and they are trying to stay relatively by the rules in CoS) the money was chump change. So by keeping it vague and open ended, Adam has the freedom to do more with less.
As for the gang situation, we seem to have understood it differently. From what I remember (and it is the next day, so maybe I’m remembering it wrong) but the thugs that showed up didn’t know the house was sold and weren’t the brains of the outfit. They were sent to get the money, demanded it, and when they realised they were in over their heads, they left, saying they’d bother the Blacksmith’s family instead. So as far as I’m aware the party isn’t expected to pay her debt. They’re mainly involved in this issue now because they want their armour, and the thugs fucking with the blacksmiths puts their investment at risk.
As for why the gang corruption thing is going on, that’s just Adam making his world breathing and real. He could have just hand waved a week of their lives and said ‘Yeah, you wait for your armour and then it’s done; now what?’ but instead he’s letting them live out that time and in doing so making the npc’s and the city matter. They now know more about who these smiths are, how worshipper’s of The Lover’s behave, and it also tested the morals of the party. I certainly didn’t know if any of them would just try to murder the thugs, or if they’d try to talk their way out of it. I didn’t know if they’d try to protect the smith’s, raid the thug’s base, or simply gamble and hope for the best.
That’s part of what I love about Adam’s style. The world grows and lives beyond the scope of the party, and not everything they see or encounter has to have some grand quest hidden inside of it. Sometimes it’s just the lives of the pc’s and some npc’s crossing paths, and it’s entirely up to them whether or not they get invested in that or not.
So to answer your question I don’t think Adam really has a plan for this gang situation. He’ll end up making one now I’m sure, but I assume it came up because the party asked for immediate housing with no questions asked, and someone trying to escape debt collectors certainly would fit that bill.
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All of this. I totally agree, well put.
It’s a testament to Adam’s ability to craft story on a whim. I doubt he had much of the gang interaction planned ahead of time. All around great session
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one thing i will say is i am super surprised how chill everyone was with the blacksmith basically seeming to intentionally foist the pc’s (and her very well paying customer pc’s ) into this situation with yee olde mob. I would have some serious words for her.
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It feels so good to be understood. Like, seriously thank you.
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Yeah, if I were the PCs I would wonder about why the blacksmith didn’t tell me about this whole situation.
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