ISSUE: XLii

Tradetown adventures #4 deals with the truly horrifyingrelatives!

in a family way
A family connection to the PCs is looking for a way out of a business deal and maybe the PCs can help. The PCs get involved because either one of them is related to the problem or its a friendofafriend situation.

when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy

The PCs encounter a business savvy halfling matron who wont take no for an answer. Theyll do it and like it (or regret it to the ends of their days). If one of the PCs is Phillip of Tradetown, this is an especially good scenario, as it will force some family business down his throat for the first time. Peter (Phillips brother) made a mistakehe signed a contract that will cost the Happy Halfling Mining Cooperative LOTS. And Mama dont like that. Hell come to the PCs to get them to help him out. Peter; Halfling; Alignment: Lawful; Armor Class 7; Hit Dice: 1d8; Hit Points: 4; Attack: dagger (1d4); Save: H1; morale: 8; Languages: Common.

meeting mama
The PCs show up at a nice Halfling home in the Riverside ward of Tradetown. A young halfling escorts them into a parlor where an elderly halfling matron sits. She kindly greets them and with a smile on her face, she explains the situation. Mama; Halfling; Alignment: Neutral; Armor Class 9; Hit Dice: 1d8; Hit Points: 4; Attack: none; Save: H1; morale: 10; Languages: Common, Elvish, Dwarvish, Orcish; Special abilities: financial genius, expert negotiator. Mama is the president and CEO of the Happy Halfling Mining Cooperative, a large company that deals in ore, both the raw and finished product. Its the biggest mining concern in Tradetown and pulls a lot of weight. And Mama has no problem using that weight to push the PCs around. Unfortunately for the PCs, Mama is used to getting her way. Shell haggle like a pro, offering less than they want and negotiating to the copper piece. Shell bluster, threaten, rant and rave, hinting that she can make life easy or hard for them in Tradetown. Shell be merciless, using every trick. Assuming the PCs play ball, they find out the contract is with a local prospector dwarf named Binder. The contract stipulated that Binder could store his ore on company property without paying storage fees. This could cost the company because it doesnt have any sort of timelimitthe dwarf could keep storing ore there forever and doesnt have to sell it to the company. Peter wants to go straight to Binder to renegotiate the contact but Mama wont have that. Its bad if the dwarf realizes the leverage hes got over them. The contract, however, is void if Binder fails to deliver his ore within three days. A clever PC may

want to read the contract. The wording is actually three business days (and there is a holy day between the 2nd and 3rd business day that doesnt count, so that means delay for four days, not three). Binder usually hires some local guards to help get his ore from the Rolling Hils to Tradetown and Mama has arranged for the PCs to take those guards places. They need to delay the dwarf long enough for the three (business) days to lapse then a new contract can be drawn up correcting the problem. But they mustnt harm Binder or let him know that theyve been hired by the Happy Halfling Mining Cooperative, as that could damage relations to the other prospectors. If they say no, they find that when they return to their quarters theyve been turned out. No tavern or other lodgings in town will accept them. They will be frequently stopped by the watch, to check them out. People will not sell them anything; their money is no good. It will be fairly obvious to the PCs, though. No mention of Mama or the Happy Halfling Mining Cooperative will occur and they will deny that theyve been told to shun the PCs. The town shuts down for them. Their only choice is to play ball with Mama (shell drop the fee, though) or leave town and never come back.

Issue: xlIi

The real story

Binder is a nice, honest prospector. He has no idea that the contract gives him an advantage over the Cooperative and if he did, hed be the first to tear it up as dishonest. He is, however, a dwarf and he has his pride. If he finds out what Mama is doing instead of coming straight to him, he wont be pleased. Binder; Dwarf; Alignment: Lawful; Armor Class 4; Hit Dice: 1d8; Hit Points: 5; Attack: hammer (1d6) and heavy crossbow (1d8); Save: D1; morale: 8; Languages: Common, Dwarvish, Draconic; Special abilities: miner. It takes the PCs a day to ride (or walk) out to Binders place. He welcomes them warmly and lets them sleep in the house. The next morning, he makes breakfast for them and makes sure they get plenty to eat (and hes a good cook, too). Throughout the day, hell be friendly and nice. The GM should make Binder seem the nicest person youd ever met, someone who youd feel really crappy about tricking. Now, the PCs could come clean with Binder, that theyre here to negotiate a new contract because the old one is bad. Hed willingly do that on a verbal. Or they could tell him about Mamas plan. Thatll piss him off but hell offer them some scratch in order to get something out of the deal for his pride. Between them, they could come up with a very believable oneact play in order to pay back Mama (Im sure those players who got the short end of the stick dealing with Mama would want that). As a GM, a bunch of events can occur to spice up the trip (in addition to anything the PCs choose to do), including running into some brigands, a wild boar, another prospector that needs help (maybe his house is on fire) or one of the necromancers undead patrols.