Outlaw Shizzle - The Pilot Episode

This past Sunday saw the reboot of my D&D campaign with my old play group.  To recap, I had my players roll their race, class, background and specialty all randomly and they were given a random wrestler name from one of the many wrestler name apps out there.

Here's what Outlaw Shizzle ended up being.

• The Rage - Stout Halfling Cleric Guardian Noble
• Grudge Jr. - Hill Dwarf Warlock Bounty Hunter Healer
• Slater Jr. - Human Fighter Thief Acolyte
• Angel Ripper the Third - Wood Elf Sorcerer Thug Necromancer
• Pretty Boy Ray - Halfling Lightfoot Rogue Blacksmith Jack of all Trades
• Anvil - Human Wizard Knight Lurker (was originally a High Elf but I had a cooler looking human wizard model so I changed him to a Human)

How the party came together was quite interesting.  I used the strategy of having one player connect their character with the player to their left or right and then go around the table (I think it's from one of the 4th edition Dungeon Master Guides) and this is what we came up with:

• The Rage is a cleric of war who comes from a prominant noble family in the city the campaign is based out of (name of the city is Babel Gilga).  He knows Grudge Jr. because Grudge happens to be his family's groundskeeper/personal security (sort of like Higgins from Magnum, P.I.).
• Grudge knows Angel Ripper as one of his underground contacts for finding bounties or getting new contracts.  Grudge may or may not know about Angel Ripper's ties to the Masons (one of the two major organized crime groups in the region) mostly because I forgot to ask the two players to clarify that part of their relationship.
• Angel Ripper knows Slater Jr. because they are both in the Masons.  Angel's thug-like attitude allowed him to get into the criminal organization and the two are often deployed together.  Slater as muscle while Angel Ripper as the diplomat (whopping 18 charisma)
• Slater Jr. is a trained thief for the Masons who has also become a devoted follower of the Church of War.  He knows The Rage because they are part of the same religious group and Slater is studying as an acolyte under The Rage and will smite the foes of his church.

The players for Pretty Boy Ray and Anvil weren't around so we just made up a story for them that would fit well.

• Pretty Boy Ray runs a blacksmith for the Masons which is sometimes used as a safe house, hideout or even to launder money.  Being a rogue it made sense for this character to have ties to the Masons.
• Anvil is a vigilante in the lawless parts of southern Babel Gilga keeping the peace as best as he can.  The group will meet up with him later as they continue to adventure in Babel Gilga.

Running an organized crime adventure group is kind of out of the norm as most adventurer groups operate on the other side of the law.  However, I envisioned the Masons not so much as evil organized crime but more of a keeping the status quo type of organized crime.  They maintain order in their parts and as long as the regular authorities keep out of their way, the Masons will keep their activities under the radar.  Of course this will change when the Syndicate (the other major crime group in the area) wants to change the balance of power in their favour.

I'll post a little more about the setting in a future post so some of these names, places and organizations make more sense.

Anyways on to their first adventure in which they are introduced to one of the Syndicate's capos.


So the campaign started up with the Rage, Grudge, Slater and Angel Ripper at Pretty Boy Ray's smithy which is situated in the marshy area just outside Babel Gilga.  Grudge and Angel Ripper were discussing new bounties which is when the group found out the Syndicate sent a new capo to try and gain a foothold in Babel Gilga (where the crime is predominantly controlled by the Masons).  Unfortunately the Masons only knew this new capo by a symbol.  At this point Slater noticed something in the marshes and they concluded their meeting but not before a gang of skeletons emerged from the marsh and attacked the group.

The skeletons proved no match for the group and Grudge quickly noticed that the skulls had been branded by the symbol of the Syndicate's new capo.  After some investigative work by Grudge, he found an old grizzled man who had more info about the new capo and agreed to meet with them at the Church of War.  At the same time, Slater and Angel Ripper asked their superiors about this new capo and were tasked with finding this upstart and disposing of him.  The Masons would not tolerate someone else muscling in on their territory.

Later that evening at the church, Grudge and Rage met up with his new contact but found he had been attacked and his legs sheared off by what looked like a beast.  Before his contact lost consciousness he told Grudge that the Syndicate's man in Babel Gilga was known to some as 'The Fox'.  It was fortunate that Slater arrived just as this happened and managed to stabilize the dying man.  At this point The Fox made his appearance but only as a voice and attempted, once again, to kill the group with a group of skeletons.  Outlaw Shizzle showed their mettle and disposed of The Fox's minions.

Afterwards, they brought the old man to the Temple of Healing and using Angel Ripper's influence (bad reputation as a Thug) managed a free healing service and limb reattachment (they found the sheared off legs elsewhere in the church).  The old man divulged all he knew in return for the group hiding him from the Syndicate.  Rage obliged the old man and his family gained another servant to work their lands.

The old man's information pointed the group to a tavern called the Red Herron in the lawless south district of Babel Gilga.  If the Syndicate wanted a fight, Outlaw Shizzle seems happy to oblige.

To be continued...