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City Slices 1: Marketplace Fun30 encounters, vendors, stalls, and challenges for 4e

Written and Created byWilliam C. Pfaff

Editing and LayoutWilliam H. Moran III

PlaytestingWilliam H. Moran, Adam “Rhino” Morgan, Edward Pfaff

And John Horrell

IllustrationsWilliam C. Pfaff, Jamie Pfaff

Other Art Courtesy of Public Domain, VectorStock.com, and Karen’s Whimsy

City Slices 1 by Escape Velocity Gaming © 2010

Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. City Slices, Escape Velocity

Gaming, and the Escape Velocity Logo are trademarks of William C. Pfaff.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Compatibility Logo, D&D, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK 2, DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE,

MONSTER MANUAL, MONSTER MANUAL 2, and ADVENTURER’S VAULT are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries and are used with

permission. Certain materials, including 4E References in this publication, D&D core rules mechanics, and all D&D characters and their distinctive likenesses, are property of

Wizards of the Coast, and are used with permission under the Dungeons & Dragons 4thEdition Game System License. All 4E References are listed in the 4E System Reference

Document, available at www.wizards.com/d20. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4th

Edition PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, written by Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt; DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE, written by James Wyatt; and MONSTER MANUAL, written by Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert and James Wyatt; PLAYER’S HANDBOOK 2, written by Jeremy Crawford, Mike Mearls, and James Wyatt; MONSTER MANUAL 2, written by Rob Heinsoo, and Chris Sims; Adventurer’s Vault,

written by Logan Bonner, Eytan Bernstein, and Chris Sims. © 2008, 2009 Wizards of the Coast. All rights reserved.

Roleplaying GameRequires the use of the D&D Player’s Handbook,® Monster Manual ,® and

Dungeon Master’s Guide® Player’s Handbook® 2, Monster Manual® 2, Adventurer’s Vault™core rulebooks, available from Wizards of the Coast, LLC

For use with the 4th EditionSample

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Intro (designer’s notes, format for the skill challenges, how to use this book) 1

Five Interesting Encounters Runaway Carriage 2 Rounding Up the Ragamuffins 3 Frogs ‘n Flies 4 The Emperor’s New Armor 5 Poison Dealer 6

Six Skill Challenges Haggling the Haggler 8 The Shabby Stall 9 Wheat from the Chaff 10 Lost in the Crowd 11 Dust to Dust 12 Tent on Fire 13

Twelve Unusual Stalls Selfry’s Smokes 14 Duly Noted 15 Leisure Gear 16 Potent Portraits 17 Slime Time 18 Fab Furs 19 Web Wares 19 Tribal Tints 20 Mud-n-Muck 21 Makes Scents 21 Succulent Shellfish 22 Holy Writs 23

Seven Food Vendors Rat-on-a-Stick 24 Muffins 24 Pasties 24 Cheeses 25 Wild Boar 25 Snake Stew 25 Peppers 25

Index of People & Items 26

Table of Contents

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1

Welcome to City Slices 1: Markeplace Fun! This is the first in a series of bits, pieces, and snippets that you, as a GM, can plug directly into your campaign world. This book takes you through all the fun parts of a mar-ketplace with stalls selling interesting items, food vendors hawking their edibles, and miscellaneous mayhem (thieves, a scavenger hunt, wayward urchins, an oyster-based lottery, and so much more!). With the help of this book, you will be able to entertain your players for hours with the following sections.

Section 1 – Five Interesting Encounters. These are for when the pace of the game needs quickened. If the pcs are wandering around and haven’t latched onto a particular npc, stall, or diversion it’s time to trot one of these out. The Runaway Carriage Scenario is an excellent way for the pcs to look heroic in the eyes of the masses. It’s an easy next step after this encounter to have people flocking to the party seeking their help. Herding the Urchins makes for some interesting decision-making. If the urchins were instead thieves’ guild members the tactics would be simple. But capturing thieves who are ten years old? That requires a quick but delicate hand. The Poison Dealer gives pcs a chance to boost their power against a particularly difficult foe. Of course your city might have very tough laws against poison use and the magistrate may not care that the pcs were using poison for the ‘greater good’.

Section 2 – Six Skill Challenges. These are designed to let the player’s non-combat abilities shine. Many people feel that 4e doesn’t support role-playing and that skill challenges feel ‘clunky and contrived’. I don’t think it has to be that way at all! Each of the six skill challenges features primary and secondary skills. I have detailed exactly how to run the challenge (the benefits and drawbacks to each skill). I have also included sample dialogue that a pc might say (if you watch for verbal cues from your players you can usually match their statements up with the appropriate skill). The resolution is included (as each challenge ends in varying degrees of success as opposed to a simple pass/fail option). And I have helped you get even more mileage out of each challenge by presenting ways to ‘tweak’ each one and get more uses out of the framework later in your campaign.

Section 3- Twelve Unusual Stalls. Each of these stalls can help make a marketplace trip memorable. Every stall has the proprietor listed, some sample products for sale (with prices) and the last section is the most important. The Paths to Adventure section details why this stall may serve as more than a simple source of equipment. This section details how the characters can interact with the npc to a greater degree and perhaps find themselves embroiled in the middle of an escapade fueled by proprietor and his product. Also, note that the names of the stalls are included only as a way to identify the stall. It is unlikely and unrealistic that a sign would be hanging above or beside the stall with a name labeling the stall. Without such signs customers are forced to actually look the products over and hear the sales pitch!

Section 4- Seven Food Vendors. Simply listing a proprietor and foods isn’t enough to qualify as marketplace fun! I’ve listed each vendor, a brief description, sample wares and prices, and the final section is key. The In the Know section details frequent customer types and contacts of the vendor. So each vendor has an area in which they know of people, gossip, and rumors. So if the party needs to find an alchemist? Why the pepper vendor is the one to chat with, of course!

Introduction

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