Beginner's Game - IC Thread 2

[Savannah]

Yay, new thread! :smallbiggrin: (Old one here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147861).)

Jairus opens the door fairly easily. Looking in, he sees a circular room cobbled with cracked granite, upon which sprawl four goblins, all apparently slain in combat. One stands with its back against the western wall, the killing spear still skewering it and holding it upright. Three wooden doors lead off from this area. Above, a hollow tower of loose masonry reaches 30 feet, but the intervening floors and stairs are gone, except for a couple of crumbled ledges.

It looks something like this (you came in the door to the right):
http://imageshack.us/a/img705/9382/room4.png

[Janus]

Jairus enters the room slowly, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He inspects the bodies (not to mention smell or lack thereof) to get a feel for how long ago they were slain, and if their killers could still be nearby.

So... Spot? Wisdom in general? I dunno.
[roll0]

[Savannah]

Nothing jumps out at Jairus as he carefully explores the room. The goblins have obviously been dead at least a week, but he is unable to determine more accurately when they did die.

Heal is the skill you're looking for.

[Strawberries]

Priya follows Jarius into the room, carefully looking around for possible clues

Search? [roll0]

[Savannah]

Searching the room, Priya finds a hidden door leading south. On the goblins themselves, she doesn't find much -- it looks like they were looted by whoever killed them. The spear pinning one goblin to the wall looks ordinary, aside from its position.

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/7907/room4sd.png

[Janus]

Jairus makes a more thorough inspection of the goblins, hoping that if there's anything unusual about their wounds, he'll find it (but simultaneously hoping there's nothing spectacularly unusual). He makes special note of the unusually positioned spear.
HEAL
[roll0]

[Savannah]

It looks like the goblins have been dead about a month. They were definitely killed in a fight -- looks like mostly swords were used. The bodies have been stripped of anything useful, and look to have been gnawed on by rats after their death. The spear seems to have been the result of a particularly good stab -- it probably killed the goblin near-instantly. Are you going to take it out or leave the goblin pinned?

[Janus]

Jairus braces his foot against the wall and pulls the spear from the goblin's body. Once he does so, he inspects it to see if it bears any sign of who or what made it.
Untrained knowledge check?
[roll0]

[Savannah]

The spear comes out of the wall and the goblin's body slumps to the ground. Looking at the spear....it's a spear. Like any other spear you might find in any blacksmith's shop.

There does seem to be some carving in the wall that the goblin's body had been blocking from sight, however.

[Janus]

Unceremoniously dropping the spear, Jairus inspects the carving.

We talking writing? Drawing?

[Binks]

Marlon, hanging back until the room was fully searched, moves in, suddenly curious about the writing on the wall.

Decipher Script? [roll0]

[Savannah]

The writing appears to be some sort of stylized runes, and quite old.

Marlon
You're pretty sure it's a single word written in Draconic.

[Janus]

Jairus moves out of the wizard's way.
"What do you make of it?"

[Binks]

"Looks Draconic. No spacing, so probably just a single big word. I don't know enough Draconic to know what it means and I'm afraid I don't know any spells that can help figure it out, never got around to learning those. Anyone ever study any Draconic?" Marlon asks, keeping his voice down so it won't carry too far and somewhat hopeful that someone else might be able to decipher the word's meaning.

[Ranger Mattos]

Now that the others are moving out of the doorway, Kelsan jumps into the pit climbs down the rope, climbs up the other side, and enters the room.

Jump: [roll0]
Climb: DC 0

[Savannah]

...not much is happening in the room. Outside a light dusting of snow begins to fall.

[Janus]

"Shall we continue?" Jairus motions towards the hidden door.

[Devmaar]

One moment
Chariam heads to that door and starts checking it carefully

Searching for traps: [roll0]

[Savannah]

Chariam does not find any traps on the door.

[Devmaar]

Ok, I think it's safe. Are we going through?


If there are no dissenting posts in the next 24 hours, Chariam will open the door.

[Binks]

Marlon turns away from the word on the wall with a hint of sadness at leaving a mystery unresolved. He waits for Chariam to open the door, steeling himself for what may be beyond the door.

[Janus]

"Maybe you should copy those runes," Jairus suggests to Marlon. "Then you could look them up when we get back to town."

[Savannah]

Chariam opens the door to find a small pocket chamber. The skeletons of three long-dead archers slump against rubble-filled arrow slits along the east and south wall.

http://imageshack.us/a/img577/5983/room5.png

[Janus]

Jairus slowly steps into the room, his hand on his sword and his gaze resting on the skeletons, almost daring them to stand up and attack.

[Strawberries]

Pryia squeezes past him, inspecting the room and the bodies.

[roll0]

Sorry for the delay. Easter. :smallredface:

[Savannah]

The skeletons rise up and attack! With a single blow, they--

Nah, I'm just messing with you.

The skeletons show no sign of life when Jairus and Priya enter the room. In fact, it looks like they've been dead for a very long time -- possibly since the citadel sunk into the earth.

Pryia does discover a single, finely made crossbow bolt by one of the skeletons, seemingly untouched by age.

[Binks]

Marlon, following Jairus's advice, does his best to copy the runes onto a spare sheet of his spellbook before following into the room. Glancing about he immediately sets his eyes on the crossbow bolt and moves to examine it.

"Very curious..."

Not sure if any kind of check is needed for copying the runes. I do have scribe scroll if that's worth any kind of bonus to copying :). Assuming it's a forgery roll [roll0]

Going to examine the bolt to see if it's magic in any way. Spellcraft or Knowledge (Arcana) (same bonus): [roll1]

[Savannah]

Nah, you can copy the rune without needing any rolls, at least well enough to use the copy later.

To determine if something is magic, you need detect magic. Spellcraft will help you find out what the magic is once you've determined that there is magic.

[Strawberries]

"Strange, isn't it? Doesn't seem old at all" Pryia shrugs, leaving the crossbow bolt to Marlon if he wants it, and moves back to the main room, getting close to the other door.

"Does this look safe to open?" she asks

[Savannah]

Which one? There are two unopened, unhidden doors.

[Strawberries]

Ops. The one on the left, then.

[Savannah]

The door looks safe enough to Pryia, but that's not exactly the best indicator, I suppose.

Also, is Marlon going to cast detect magic or just hang on to the bolt and cast it later when you have more items to check?

[Binks]

Marlon didn't prepare detect magic this morning :smallfrown: :smalltongue:. Just hanging on to it.

[Devmaar]

Chariam will check the door over

Search [roll0]

[Savannah]

Chariam again does not find any traps. I'm assuming he proceeds to open the door, in which case, you find the following room:
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/907/room6n.png
(Your current position will be marked with a star from now on, as the map is just going to get bigger...)

The masonry walls of this 20 foot wide corridor are in poor repair. The far end is especially bad, having collapsed completely, filling the southern section with rubble. The western walls is in much better shape than the other walls, and it holds a stone door with a rearing dragon carved in relief upon it. The door contains a single keyhole, which is situated in the rearing dragon's open mouth.

[Janus]

Jairus cautiously walks in and tries the door. Just because it has a keyhole doesn't mean it's locked, after all.

[Binks]

Marlon follows Jairus into the room, standing near the center and looking around the room to see if anything catches his eye here.

[Savannah]

As Jairus walks into the room, he hears a sudden sound from the rubble near the southern wall. A second later, an enormous dire rat appears, chittering angrily at the adventurers who have dared to enter its lair!

http://imageshack.us/a/img545/9819/room6r1.png

Initiative order:
Telim
Rat
Jairus
Kelsan
Marlon
Chariam
Pryia

[Dada]

As soon as the rat is spotted, Telim runs forward to assist his friends, while drawing his mace. "Look out! Seems like our vermin issues aren't over yet." he warns no one in particular.


Move as far towards the rat as possible (20ft) ending up next to Marlon. Draw my mace.

[Savannah]

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/4255/room6r1b.png

The rat runs forward and snaps at Jairus!
Attack [roll0] for [roll1] damage (if it hits, make a Fortitude save as well).

Everyone, including Telim, can go now (P.S. remember that you can move through your allies' squares without trouble).

[Janus]

Jairus barely deflects the rodent of unusual size and strikes back.

Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

[Strawberries]

Pryia quickly moves inside the room (B1), drawing her bow and shooting at the rat in one single, quick movement

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Binks]

Marlon takes a step back away from the action and draws his crossbow. Unwilling to risk hitting Jairus with a shot at the rat he waits to see if it will survive the other attacks against it.

Move - Go to A1
Standard - Draw Crossbow

I don't have precise shot so any attack I make with my crossbow right now would be at a net -2 atk. If the rat's still alive after 1 round of attacks from everyone I'll missile it to get some damage in.

[Dada]

Telim continues his movement forward, taking up position next to Jarius, he brings down his mace on the rodent... or rather, he tries to.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Devmaar]

Not wanting to shoot into the melee, Chariam moves to A1 and draws his rapier

[Savannah]

The rat's squeal of pain from Jairus' sword blow is quickly cut short by Pryia's arrow. The rat slumps over, dead.

XP: 17 each. (Slowly but surely you make your way towards a level up.)

Looking around, you don't see or hear any more dire rats in the room, although a few normal sized ones skitter around in the rubble, giving you a wide berth.

When Jairus finally gets to try the door, he finds it is locked.

[Devmaar]

Chariam moves over to the door and checks it for traps
Search [roll0]
If he finds any
Disable Device [roll1]

*ignore from this point on if a trap is activated*

The door cleared as safe, he then attempts to open the lock
Open Lock [roll]1d20+10

[Savannah]

Chariam finds no traps. He also finds the door strangely resistant to his lock picks -- almost as if the pins are being held in place magically.

[Devmaar]

Uurrgh, there's something weird going on here. Hold on a minute he takes a particularly careful attempt
(taking 20 for a result of 30)
Pretty sure this won't work but there's no reason for Chariam to realise that

[Savannah]

After a couple of minutes of fiddling, it becomes very clear that Chariam is not going to be able to get this lock open by normal means.

[Devmaar]

Ugh, somethings up with this door. One of you magic-types want to take a look?

[Binks]

Marlon steps up to take a look at the lock.

Not sure what roll, if any, would help here. I don't have detect magic prepared.

[roll0]+6 if know (arcana) or spellcraft

[Savannah]

Spellcraft here. Unfortunately, while you have a vague recollection that there are ways to lock a door by magic, you can't figure out what is in effect here.

[Janus]

"Guess we'll have to come back later."
Jairus makes his way to the remaining unhidden door.

[Devmaar]

Right then.
Search for traps [roll0]
If he finds any
Disable Device [roll1]

*ignore from this point on if a trap is activated*

With the door safe, Chariam attempts to open the lock
Open Lock [roll2]

[Savannah]

The door is neither locked nor trapped. After opening it, you find yourselves in the following hallway:

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/7163/hwh4.png

Two of the doors are plain stone, while the third is a carved stone relief that portrays a dragon-like fish in an aquatic environment.

[Binks]

Marlon enters, cautiously, and heads immediately for the carved door to begin examining it. "Interesting..." is all he says as he looks over the door, being careful not to touch anything before the rogue has cleared it.

Dragon-like? Does that mean I can try a Knowledge (Arcana) check to see if I recognize the creature? Or is it not quite that dragon-like?

Knowledge (Arcana) check on the door: [roll0] (if not arcana, but any other knowledge, then I'm untrained and -4 to the check)

[Savannah]

Marlon
You suspect the creature is a dragon eel, an aquatic cousin of the true dragons known for its territoriality and habit of putting holes in ships.

[Binks]

"I think I read about these once. Dragon Eels, a cousin of the more normal dragons. Very territorial I recall, and dangerous to ships that run into them. Odd that one would be carved here..."

[Janus]

"Must be someone's favorite animal," Jairus remarks with a mildly sarcastic tone.

[Dada]

"Well, let's move on, shall we?" Telim suggests. "Chariam, could you check the doors, please?" he continues.

[Devmaar]

Of course.

Search for traps [roll0]
If he finds any
Disable Device [roll1]


*ignore from this point on if a trap is activated*

And if the door's safe he attempts to open it
[roll2]

[Savannah]

Chariam does not find any traps, and the lock opens, although he can tell it is quite old and the elements are rather dusty.

Beyond, you see a 10 foot square chamber hewn from stone. It contains an upright keg fashioned of rusted iron. Similarly rusted pipes lead from the keg into the floor.

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/7291/pwa7.png

[Binks]

Marlon proceeds into the room when it is safe and attempts a quick examination of the keg, with the goal of figuring out whether it may have contained some reagents, or perhaps just simple beverages.

Not sure what kind of check, if any, would be for trying to figure out what this keg holds/held.

[Savannah]

Given the pipes, it looks like it was holding some sort of liquid that was sent around the citadel. Beyond that, you can't really tell just from looking.

There is an old, rusted bung in the top of the keg -- removing it would let you look inside.

[Binks]

Marlon, being a curious fellow, attempts to remove the stopper on the top of the keg to get a better look inside.

[Savannah]

It's pretty rusty. Make a strength check.

[Binks]

Strength Check: [roll0]

[Savannah]

You struggle with the bung for a bit, think you're making progress...and then it doesn't budge.

[Dada]

Reposting here, since I somehow ended up posting to old thread. I don't even know.

"Let Kelsan or Jarius try, they're probably stronger." Telim suggests. "I'll help."


Aid another:

Strength Check: 15 (see: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15856989&postcount=1473)

[Ranger Mattos]

At Telim's suggestion, Kelsan moves forward to help him.

Strength: [roll0] (including +2 from aid another)

EDIT: Well darn.

[Strawberries]

Priya observes the others' effort with a slightly amused expression "Let me try." she offers, when it becomes clear that they aren't succeeding.

Watch as I fail miserably as well!
Strenght [roll0]

Edit: told you. :smalltongue:

[Janus]

Jairus takes a crack at it, thinking it can't really be all that bad.

Strength
[roll0]

And how wrong the noble paladin turned out to be.

[Janus]

In an attempt to save face, Jairus keeps trying to open the keg.

Taking 20!

[Savannah]

After a few somewhat embarrassing moments, Jairus manages to get a good grip on the bung and pull it out. During this time, you start to notice a sloshing sound from inside the barrel.

Anyone looking inside the opening can make a Spot check.

[Janus]

Jairus finally takes a look inside, feeling that he's kinda earned it after getting the !@#!@#!@# thing open.

SPOT [roll0]

[Binks]

Marlon stands out of Jairus's way as he works to open the container, stepping up when it is finally open to indulge his curiosity by taking a look inside.

Spot: [roll0]

[Savannah]

Jairus only
Looks like there's water inside....wait....the water's LOOKING BACK AT YOU :smalleek:

You get to act in the surprise round (1 standard or move action only)

[Janus]

Jairus quickly shifts back (five foot step) away from the jar, drawing his sword (free action with attack bonus).
"Something's in there," he alerts the others.

[Binks]

Marlon draws his crossbow and furls his brow in confusion, waiting to see what will come out of the keg.

[Dada]

Telim quickly steps forward to the side of Jairus, drawing his mace.

"I guess curiosity did kill the cat after all.. he mutters.

[Strawberries]

Sorry, for some reason I completely skipped this update. :smalleek:

Pryia steps into a ready position, drawing her rapier "What is it, goblin?" she asks.

[Ranger Mattos]

Kelsan shifts on his feet, and slowly draws his longsword.

[Savannah]

http://imageshack.us/a/img43/8694/zr90.png

Before anyone other than Jairus has a chance to do much of anything, a small creature pokes its head up above the edge of the barrel. It looks like a small, winged humanoid made of water droplets.

Initiative order:
PC group 1: Telim, Priya, Marlon, Jairus
Water creature
PC group 2: Chariam, Kelsan

PC group 1 go!

[Dada]

"What.. is that?" Telim mumbles, grabbing his mace tighter and preparing for the worst.

Ready an action to hit the thing as soon as it takes offensive action against a party member.

[roll0]

[Binks]

Marlon raises his crossbow, readying it to shoot the creature if it looks hostile as he tries to identify it.

Move to draw weapon, standard to ready an action to shoot if the creature looks hostile.
Readied attack - [roll0]
Dmg - [roll1]

Try to identify the creature. Knowledge (the planes)?
[roll2]

(if it's arcana +4, if it's any other knowledge same result)

[Strawberries]

On the opposite side of the corridor, Pryia mirrors Marlon's actions

Yes, I'm a copycat. Ready action as well, please.
Readied attack (bow) [roll0], damage[roll1]

[Janus]

Jairus also readies himself to strike if the creature turns hostile.
Readied attack: (longsword) Attack [roll0] Damage: [roll1]

[Savannah]

Unless you have actual ranks in Knowledge (the planes), which I don't think anyone does, you won't be able to identify the creature.

The creature does not share your hesitation in attacking, and spits a cone of caustic liquid at those standing in the doorway, catching Jairus, Telim, Priya, and Kelsan in the spray. Everyone but Telim is able to dodge most of it, taking half of [roll0] damage, while Telim takes the full amount.

At this attack, Telim, Marlon, Priya, and Jairus all attempt to attack the thing. Unfortunately, neither Telim nor Jairus are within melee range of it, and Marlon can't quite see it at its current position. Priya has no excuse, but her shot still goes wide.

PC group 2 (Chariam and Kelsan) go! (Don't forget that you can move through your allies freely.)

[roll1] round reset

[Ranger Mattos]

Kelsan moves past his allies to C3, muttering something about not being able to hit the broad side of a barn, then slashes at the creature.

[roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Sorry about not noticing updates, I've been busy. Applying for colleges takes a bit of time, and I haven't even gotten to the writing sections yet. More fun times ahead.

[Savannah]

Kelsan, fortunately enough given his commentary, manages to hit the creature! Unfortunately, he can tell his weapon didn't do as much damage as it should have -- the creature's watery composition makes it harder to actually hurt it.

Telim, Priya, Marlon, Jairus, go!

I'm guessing Devmaar is no longer interested, so I'm going to skip him until he comes back. Since he may come back (and Chariam is your only trapfinder), Chariam will just kinda trail behind you and not do much unless you ask him to (so if you want someone to check for traps or open locks, let me know and I'll roll it).

[Dada]

Ugh, don't spit at me you disgusting thing. Telim growls, clearly frustrated that the thing evaded his reach. He takes a 5-foot step directly forward and swings at it with his trusty mace.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Janus]

Jairus also slides in (5-foot step) and strikes at the creature.

Attack [roll0] Damage [roll1]

[Binks]

Marlon steps up to the doorway to get a better shot but, seeing how slippery the creature seems to be, elects to cast a spell rather than attack it directly.

If it's still alive (I'm fairly certain it is given the attack rolls before me, but just in case) I'm going to burn my 1 magic missile for the day on it.

[roll0] force damage, auto-hit

[Strawberries]

How did I manage to miss all the updates in ALL my games? :smalleek: Sorry for the delay, everyone.

"Is that thing actually water?" That's new. She's never seen a being made of water before. And of course her bow isn't going to help much, but she hasn't got many other options. She shrugs and prepares to hit it again

Attack [roll0] Damage[roll1]

[Savannah]

OOC: I swear I remember updating this more recently than the last post would suggest :smalleek:

The creature easily dodges the mundane weapons, but clearly felt Marlon's magic. It hisses in pain and leaps into the air, its watery wings apparently quite capable of carrying it in flight. It slips through the doorway and flies over Telim's head before slashing at Marlon with its claw.

The creature provokes attacks of opportunity from Jairus, Priya, Kelsan, and Telim as it moves.

Attack on Marlon [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

http://imageshack.com/a/img835/2330/dqrs.png

All PCs go!

[Dada]

Telim takes a desparate swing at the creature as it flies past.

AoO:
[roll0]
[roll1]

"Look out Marlon, he's after you!"

He shift the weight of the mace in his hand and takes a downwards swing at their flying foe.

Telims turn:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Binks]

Marlon freezes at the sight of the creature taking flight, his expression somewhere between curiosity and terror. It can fly? he thinks as it jets over the others heads, a thought interrupted by the sudden pain he feels as the claw rakes his chest.

"Ahhh...owww!" is as eloquent as Marlon is able to be, under attack like this, and his response to the hit is to drop his crossbow. It's probably the correct move in this close of a fight, but it's done more as a result of shock than planning.

Reaching behind him Marlon grabs his quarterstaff, holding it up more as a means of fending off the creature's claws than hurting it.

Welp...I have few options. Positioning means no withdrawing and all my good attacks are ranged so time to fight defensively and hope for a low roll if it goes after me again.

Free action - Drop crossbow in my square
Move action - Draw quarterstaff
Standard action - Fight defensively (-4 atk, +2 ac) attacking the thing.
Atk: [roll0]
Dmg:[roll1]

[Strawberries]

Hunting instincts kicking into action, Priya shoots the creature as it flies past, and nocks another arrow before she's had the time to properly think. By then, the creature has already dived from Marlon. She scowls, but let her arrow fly all the same.

AOO [roll0] and damage [roll1]
Shooting into melee [roll2] and damage [roll3]

[Ranger Mattos]

With lightning reflexes, Kelsan swings his longsword as the creature flies towards Marlon.

AoO: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Savannah]

For the record, Binks, you can move through an ally (as long as they don't try to block you), so you could withdraw if you wanted to.

(It's, um, it's not going to die from the AoOs unless Janus pulls off something AWESOME, so go ahead and take your regular action if you haven't already and I'll deal with them all at once.)

[Janus]

"Son of a-!" Jairus cries in surprise as he takes another swing.

AoO: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]