Getting to Know Baldur's Gate

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Baldur's Bones

Baldur's Bones dice.jpg (24.75 KiB) Viewed 1034 times

Baldur’s Bones is a popular dice game in taverns. Each player requires several six-sided dice. The rules are as follows:
1/ Each player puts the agreed ante in the pot
2/ Each player rolls three dice. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table, with the host of the game going last
3/ On their turn, a player can choose to "stand" or "roll." If the player stands, the next player can take a turn. A player who rolls takes an additional die and rolls it. If the total of their dice exceeds 21, they "bust" and are out of the game. Otherwise, they can keep rolling additional dice until they either stand or break
4/ After everyone has had a turn, the highest point total (excluding players who busted) wins the game and takes the pot

[hedgeknight]

Neighborhood Kingpins in Baldur's Gate

Some of this information is from published sources and others are 3rd party, but I really like them...and it saves me a lot of work and time. If you are a local of the city, you know a lot of this information already...Yarl probably the most of all.

Leader of the Guild: Nine-Fingers Keene

Seatower Neighborhood Kingpin: Genamine Kopali > leads the Sewerkeepers Crew; runs Sewer Keep.

Manorborn Neighborhood Kingpin: The Whiskey Lady

Bloomridge Neighborhood Kingpin: Goblin Behnie > not a goblin; a tall, polished-looking gentlemen, early 30's. His foragers are the best for illicit Watch tokens, docking permits, and visitors licenses.

Temples Neighborhood Kingpin: Lubanias the Pathfinder > a Minotaur who runs the Sunken Labyrinth.

Steeps Neighborhood Kingpin: Rakath Glitterbeard (Dwarf); proprietor of the Counting House and treasurer of the Honorable Order of Moneylenders.

The Wide/Undercellar Kingpin: Heltur "Ribbons" Ribbond

Heapside Neighborhood Kingpin: The Earless Earl

Eastway Neighborhood Kingpin: The Clergy Man (Halfling); perhaps a defunct priest...

Brampton & Tumbledown Neighborhood Kingpin: Diamond Urchin (Dwarf); ex-husband is Straightsticks of Twin Songs. Bad blood between them.

Stonyeyes Neighborhood Kingpin: Horseshoe (Dragonborn)

Norchapel Neighborhood Kingpin: The Bloodhound > made his name as a tracker.

Little Calimshan: Rilsa Rael > said to be in war with the Right Pashas, a Calishite gang within Little Calimshan.

Whitkeep Neighborhood Kingpin: The Bagmaker (Gnome) - has a high-end clientele for her handmade pouches, purses, saddlebags.

Sow's Foot Neighborhood: No kingpin has been established here. This neighborhood is home to a variety of humans from distant lands and races such as Lizardfolk, Svirfneblin, Drow, Yuan-ti, Orcs, Goblinoids, Ogres, and even Kenku!

Twin Songs Neighborhood Kingpin: Straightsticks > the aged leader of the Faithless is sharp and dangerous, and has been brooding against Diamond Urchin (his ex-wife) for a long time. Straightsticks was killed in an attempted coup of Brampton and Tumbledown. Yarl Blacktongue and Diamond Urchin are now co-rulers of Twin Songs.

Wyrm's Crossing Kingpin: The Hangman (Halfling); controls the Crossers, local gang who oversee those coming into the Outer City via the bridge.

Rivington Neighborhood Kingpin: Sylmorn - leader of the Rivington Rats. Was recently killed in a fight with a subordinate, Yarl Blacktongue.

[hedgeknight]

Commoners & Crews

Baldur's Gate can be a rough place for ordinary folk. Among the twisting streets of the Lower City, commoners have significantly fewer rights than patriars, with only the Flaming Fist to keep them safe. Even worse off are the poor of the Outer City, many of whom aren't even recognized as citizens. With the Flaming Fist too eager to punish criminal behavior by drubbing both accuser and accused, it's important that common folk have someone to watch their backs. That's why the people of Baldur's Gate created crews - collections of likeminded folk who band together for mutual protection. Depending on the crew, this protection can range from taking someone's side in a tavern brawl or guarding each other's shops to price fixing or inter-crew loans.
Crews were the first to institute the common practice of burl. Under this system, anyone seeking shelter and safety - usually those fleeing from the Flaming Fist or some other danger - can approach a house or shop and give three sharp knocks followed by a heavier one. The residents are then obligated to take that person in and hide them. This applies even to members of opposing crews, though anyone requesting sanctuary from a crew other than their own incurs a debt, both personally and on behalf of their crew. Abusing someone who's granted burl is grounds for immediate expulsion from one's crew, and such "drowners" are universally shunned.
The dozens of crews calling Baldur's Gate home are as different in attitude and approach as the city's residents. For instance, everyone in the Lower City knows that if you need cheap muscle, you hire members of the burly Porter's Union or Stonemason's Guild, and not even the Flaming Fist would willingly pick a fight with the blood-spattered Butchers' Block or the mercenaries and "security consultants" of the Bannerless Legion. Other crews, such as the Scribes and Sages or the Honorable Order of Moneylenders, would never dream of getting their hands dirty, while the Apothecary Alliance and Brethren of Barbers don't need to throw a punch to strike fear into rivals. From carpenters to grocers, the Forgeworkers' Lodge to the Wisewoman Weavers, nearly every profession offers some access to a crew. And not just legal professions, either; the Revelers' Union, made up of night-workers who sell drugs, companionship, and other recreations, is one of the most powerful in the city, thanks to the information it gathers from its clients.
Some crews are simply neighborhood-based, their association based on territory rather than trade, such as the Right Pashas of Little Calimshan, the Crossed of Wyrm's Crossing, the Gravemakers of Tumbledown, or the Bloomridge Dandies.
By far the most important crew to travelers, however, is the Gateguides. Made up primarily of teenage lantern bearers, the Gateguides earn a living hiring themselves out to newcomers to show them the ropes of the city, help make connections with other crews, and offer some degree of collective protection.

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Rivington Rats

Gang of thieves and ne'er do wells under the leadership of a 'kingpin' who control most of the underhanded business going on in the outer city of Rivington. Ranging from smuggling stolen goods to pick pocketing to extortion to out right robbery and sometimes murder, the Rats live hard lives and fight and claw their way of living. Sometimes by literal tooth and claw as several of their members are infected with lycanthropy. Their previous kingpin was a vicious wererat named Sylmorn...who was killed in a duel with Yarl Blacktongue.
As the new kingpin, Blacktongue has made a deal with the kingpin of the Faithless from the Twin Songs neighborhood, Straightsticks, or Ol' Sticks as many call him. It is yet to be determined exactly how this deal will play out.
Edit: the deal went south as Straightsticks led Yarl and the Rats into a trap and then burned down the Den. Retribution was served when Straightsticks was killed in the Low Lantern.

Membership of the Rats numbers about 40 in all. Most are young and inexperienced, but a handful have been in the ranks for at least a couple of years or more. Here is a current roster of the Rats:
Yarl Blacktongue > Kingpin
Eston > Blacktongue's mentor and confidant; killed by the Faithless.
Judas > the most outspoken Rat against Blacktongue's leadership; possibly a wererat
Crying Cyrus > young, whiny Rat who is constantly eating, usually cheese; possibly a wererat
Trueshot > 1/2 Elf archer and supporter of Blacktongue
Slick Will > young Rat and loyal to Judas; possibly a wererat
Skipper > 14 yr-old who got his name skipping rocks across the river; loyal to Blacktongue.
Dancer > 16 yr-old Rat who loves to "dance" = duel with his rapier; his chest and forearms bear the scars of his challenges.
Skye > young girl, about 12-13 yrs-old; close friends with Cookie.
Cookie > about 10 yrs-old, if that; got arrested pinching cookies from a roadside stall, but the some of the Rats took pity and rescued her from the Flaming Fist mercs who caught her; she's been with them ever since. Close friends with Skye and a 1/2 Elf named Oak.
Brand > an older Rat, about 20, shock white hair, with a taste for Jopalin's tea.
Fingers > one of the oldest of the gang at age 26; many run ins with the Fist; thus he's missing three fingers on his left hand; no one has seen him in nearly a month.
Jepson > a drunk and a Ransom addict; she can usually be found somewhere in the Underground; loyal to Judas.
Bobbi > a curly-headed Rat who loves to dance; she and Skye often party in the Steeps; she carries a poisoned dagger strapped to her thigh.
Mouse > a young Rat who can slip into just about any locked establishment...very quiet, very good at what he does.
Wormy > 13 and loves to fish; provides a lot of food for the Rats; swears she once hooked Ol' Cholms!
Skeez > as the name implies, Skeez is a ladies man...or at least he thinks he is; wears a snake skin vest.
Buster > muscle and sinew and not much else; he is who you want beside you in a fight; loyal to himself.
Money > a 15 yr-old rat who has never lost at knives; her aim is almost supernatural; loyal to Judas.
Pax - an older Rat and a loud mouth; does a lot of talking, but fearless in a fight.