Fourth Session (9 page pdf) – “Fight Club Raids and Noose Races” – The crew isn’t done with having fun yet, so they continue to cut a swath across Port Shaw. A Dragoon raid and an infamous pirate cause an early end to the fight club for the evening, so they go find the “Noose Races” they have heard so much about. But after a Conan-esque night of debauchery, an old threat appears.
Anyone who refers to time an adventuring party spends in a city as “downtime”, give yourself a big ol’ wedgie and then read on.
Last session went great so I took a chance. In the Razor Coast book there’s a very “Captain Jack Sparrow” type of infamous pirate named Falken Drango. However, I know that Chris (Sindawe’s player) hates Captain Jack Sparrow.
So how do I introduce him without triggering that? I mean, he’s not plot critical, but I wanted to use him as a recurring NPC to introduce them to the local piracy scene, so I wanted to do something where they wouldn’t kill him/avoid him. So instead I had him be in disguise and be Sindawe’s first foe in the Broken Skull fight club ring!
Some background – Sindawe decided he really, really hated a Riddleport NPC called the Splithog Pauper who was always in disguise. They were “frenemies” sometimes on the same side, sometimes opposing, like every character in Sons of Anarchy. The last time they saw him was in 2011 and left it like this:
“Our heroes fail to lure the Splithog Pauper to his death behind the building; he makes a “I am keeping my eyes on you” gesture which is reciprocated with “I am going to kill you” gestures.”
For whatever reason he has become Sindawe’s greatest nemesis (in Sindawe’s mind) and so when the fighter was in disguise he was convinced it must be the Splithog Pauper. When it wasn’t, he was so relieved – and then the Dragoons went after him – and the relief plus their normal “fuck the police” sentiment meant they helped him escape!
As they wandered the active night streets of the Bawd District after that, eating lizards on a stick or whatever, they are clearly ready for more hijinks so it’s time for the noose races!!!
What’s a noose race? Beats the shit out of me, but it’s mentioned in the Bawd District writeup in the Razor Coast book and then never after:
The low-burning, smoky tar lanterns of Bawd call sailors and other visitors to her dark twisting alleys and dock-ways, luring them to experiment with exotic and far-ranging narcotics, to lose their shirts (and occasionally their teeth) at gambling dens, to enjoy Port Shaw’s infamous houses of ill repute and to attend her myriad entertainments: performances from the Speckled Eyes snake charmer’s guild, baboon fights, gourd-gazing seers, legendary scorpion baths, noose races and other wild spectacles.
I had read this to the players at some point and the noose races captured their fancy, so I worked them up as a minigame. They give you a swig of arsenic, tighten a noose around your neck so you can’t breathe, and then loose a greased naked Keleshite you have to catch. As there are no other rules, violence between the runners is encouraged. Used our custom chase rules plus the normal Pathfinder “holding breath” rules and losing 1 “breath” per action.
As this is a pirate campaign, they were way into it, and emerge victorious after a hilarious action sequence romp through the nighttime crowds of the Bawd District.
And then they meet up with their new favorite quartet of hookers from last time, Ophelia, Molly, Feather, and Joy. They had them set up a meeting with a local businessman and john of Joy’s that was looking to join the Lodge, the local ruling council. You need their approval to buy businesses and stuff, so from an organized crime point of view they figure he’s a good guy to talk to.
So they meet their friends in the bar, in comes Joy and the businessman – and cyper glyphs burn. He’s a phantom!!! A sudden, brutal fight breaks out.
This was sobering (in and out of game), they hadn’t come across phantoms in Port Shaw yet. So after all the hilarity it was like throwing a bucket of cold water on them at the end of the session! I love GMing. Definitely wound them up for the next game.