Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
Sterling had asked in Game for Mahb to place mark on map of military outpost, or at least an approximation. Sterling has 1 free formulae slot, used the other three for clw. Mythic power 5/5. Following Harry, as he scouts. I would like to stay in as much cover as possible(Trees and such). Should we get to an open area, we should discuss how to negotiate
'Kong' Groder |
...following...
mdt |
Mahb couldn't mark the map, she'd never left her own village before, nor even seen a map. But she did point down the road away from Demonreach. "Dey always come from dat way, up de road. Dey talked like de road leads dere."
The road is still there, maintained, if not pristine. Sterling and Kong can stay in the trees if they like, it'll slow their movement to half normal. Harry as well.
How far ahead of the group is Harry scouting? And give me perception and stealth checks
Harry Hudson |
I should clarify: A scouting I will go in my clanky heavy armor
perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
He will be maybe 20' ahead. Nothing too far to be outside of help.
mdt |
Only 20 foot ahead, it wouldn't matter all that much, with the other two following behind
Harry leads the way, about 15 feet off the road. The first day, they don't see anything. The night goes by relatively quietly. The next morning, as they start off again, Harry notices a smudge in the sky and pulls everyone off the road. I'm assuming he pushes the other two completely out of sight another 30 or 40 feet back.
You wait behind a bush in the warm air, and about 30 minutes later, a small column of men go marching past, about a dozen plus a leader. They are all grim with shields and breastplate or full plate, most with shield and sword, but some with heavy two-handed axes. The lead is a man on a palfrey, with a massive lance. All of them have the odd triple scythe symbol on their chest and shields and livery.
Harry Hudson |
Harry will keep quiet and out of sight as best he can until the force passes. When they do go by he will confer with his compatriots.
'OK, that was a pretty big patrol. Don't know that I'd want to tangle with that many of them. We'd need more forces to stand a chance. I'm rather at a loss for what to do now. We can, of course, keep on scouting. "
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
Assuming Harry give a few visual details when prompted
They sound like a highly disciplined unit...Heavily armed and armored. You're right we could not take them alone, but we do know where their going.
I can only see three choices: Push further towards the military base.
Follow them and maybe raid their camp at night.
Or push hard to get in front of them and set up near the village to spy on them and see how they work. Maybe even help the apostate still there should they resist.
What do you guys think?
'Kong' Groder |
A dozen men in heavy armor, vith big weapons. I sink I mentioned zat ve veren't ready for ziss yet. It iss goot zat ve know, zough.
Harry Hudson |
"Well our best chance of getting help is if we aide the apostates. Given their seeming level of discipline, I'm not sure I much want to try a raid or at least one more than just some hit and run. I'm leery of heading closer to the base though. They seem a bit too competent for my happiness. "
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
Seems reasonable to me. The peace keeper seem to be ready to lay down and die. Hopefully the others have a stronger survival instinct.
We would move faster on the road then the armored military. We can keep our distance, then race past them once they camp. Once we get to the village area, we can decide whether to stay hidden, or rally them. It will carry risk either way. We'll let circumstance be our guide.
'Kong' Groder |
Ve assume zey vill go to ze village. Zey might not. Vith time, ve could lay traps...
Harry Hudson |
"True enough, we can't be certain where they're going but it seems a good a bet as any. I've got some experience setting snares, but I've never been hunting humans before. It's a bit different with beavers and bears. "
mdt |
Just a note, you were only 3.5 hours from the village when you camped, then you went south 3 hours, to let people out, and came back. Then you went west 2 hours when you saw these guys. It's close to sundown now. That puts them, at their pace, which was your pace on the road, about 5 hours from the village. You're all at end of your normal 8 hours travel time for the day, and will need to make fort saves to go another hour. It's about two hours till dark. If they started later than you did, then they could be moving for two or three more hours. They can't reach the village before sundown, but will reach it in the morning. The place you camped looked like a standard camping area, a clearing on the side of the road kept clear, so it's probably likely they are headed there to camp.
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
I do. Only because that's where this road leads. We could just tag behind, but we would lose an opportunity to set up a coordinated resistance. I would consider the assumption, minimum risk
Harry Hudson |
"The village isn't far enough off that we have a lot of time. We're going have to beat feet if we expect to beat them there. "
'Kong' Groder |
I am vondering if it vould be zuch a goot idea to be in ze village vhen zey arrife. Ze villagers cannot ztand against heafy armor and veapons, and are more likely to turn on us. It's not like zey lofe us.
'Kong' Groder |
Jes. A goot distance.
'Kong' Groder |
So...I have my usual spells back...would have used all the healing before sleep. Sorry if this is after the fact, but I missed us actually sleeping.
'Kong' Groder |
Doesn't look good
Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Ve're slogging. Ziss iss no goot.
'Kong' Groder |
I vould zuggest a change in plans. Let's get far enough avay, und make camp. Ve can zee vat has happened tomorrow.
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
We can sleep after we get an hour past their camp. I don't want to give up, just because I'm a little tired.
Fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 LOL!
mdt |
A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour) is required. If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. It's possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself too hard.
So, it seems you made the first check, so only fatigued Sterling. Harry is fine. I thought the DC was 12 to start with.
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
if you allow it, i'll use a mythic surge for the second check
surge: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
I was starting to think Sterling would need a Hoveround to travel in this world :P
'Kong' Groder |
Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Everybody is counting their +1, right? Guidance is free.
mdt |
I hesitate to move forward with Harry gone, so we're likely down until monday. I know he said bot him, but depending on what you all do, this could turn nasty, and I don't want to bot someone into something.
'Kong' Groder |
Kong will follow Harry's lead so long as the idea is to get us away from the road and safely hidden. He's convinced we can't afford a confrontation, and need rest.
Let's get zomewhere zafe. As zoon as possible.
Harry Hudson |
If it seems pretty unlikely that they can get ahead of the soldiers and be of any potential use to the village, he will simply get some somewhere deeper into the woods to keep to cover and then check out the village after the likely massacre.
mdt |
Ok, now that you're back
The trio manages to keep up with the soldiers until they camp for the night, indeed they do camp at the clearing that the group used just the night before. Sentries are set up, and the camp has a cold camp, with soldiers eating dried meat, cheese, and water.
You are 4 hours from the village. You can continue on, making more Fort saves (you've done two each so far, so the DC would go up to 14 next). Or you can make camp near the soldiers and sleep and continue following in the morning. Or, you can go to sleep and try to get up early and beat them there. Or some combination, or you can go off the board and pick something different.
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
Sterling follows the others lead. He still wanted to push foreword, but would defer to Harry and Kong's survival instincts. He was tired, and he didn't want to make himself sick.
Harry Hudson |
"I think we should get some rest and then try to beat them there early in the morning. A group that large probably takes a while to get going. " so he will find a good place to camp clear of the road and do a simple camp without a fire, eating cold rations as well.
Sterling "lumpy" Lumpkin |
Early to bed, early to rise. Hopefully we can get there early enough to find a hidden vantage point that will let us see and hear everything.
'Kong' Groder |
Following along, helping to make sure we get to somewhere safe. Kong's not very good at that, so he mostly leaves it to Harry.
mdt |
Survival, Harry: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Harry finds a decent place to sleep about a quarter mile from the army folks. Then the night passes in tense silence with a cold camp.
The next morning, before dawn (which by the way, is harder to figure than normal, with the shimmering wall offering enough light to qualify for a full moon lit night), the trio heads out again, with the bare 8 hours sleep. I'm assuming the spellcasters stick with the previously memorized spells, for those who memorize them, without taking the hour to memorize new ones
Sneaking up on the town Again, assuming it's only Harry, and with his armor off to make less noise Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7, Harry manages to step on several limbs and snap off a sappling.
Perception, town: 1d20 - 10 ⇒ (15) - 10 = 5
Fortunately, nobody in the town seems to notice him crashing through the woods like a wounded boar. Mostly due to cover and distance combined with distraction more than anything else.
Harry doesn't have a great view (as he is afraid to get much closer the way he's smashing things). But it looks as if the town has set up some barricades across the road, and between buildings to form up a defense. It looks terribly makeshift, mostly tables and chairs piled up. There are people in the central square walking around, looking defeated as they shuffle around and wait for the inevitable attack.
Harry Hudson |
to his companions in a whisper (which given his stealth rolling sounds like a shout)
"Looks like they are at least going to put up a fight. Think we should see if we can rally them? They seem a bit lacking in motivation. "