Aardvark's "Nothing Venture Captained, Nothing Gained" Shattered Star Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Troy Malovich

I didn't mention it, but I updated the map. Typically, during exploration here, I will post when I DON'T update it. So feel free to check the link whenever I describe a room. So, is anyone doing anything?

"Well, it's to the platform and up into the tunnel, right?"Tanjvats whispered nervously. He was hoping so hard that they didn't make him go first that his hand was shaking.

"I'd head in first if you folks wanted. It's not likely that some cornered rats can get in through my armor." Dareon whispers, crouched with his weapons out.

"Sounds fine to me. Dareon can take point, Oz how about you follow him? Then Uriah, then Tanjvats, and I can bring up the rear. Unless Oz would prefer to be rearguard and he and I can switch, it makes little difference to me. But regardless, let's move onward." Faedrin offers his thoughts as he hauls the rope back up, returning the coiled rope to the place and position he and Dareon had found it.

Faedrin will send his dancing lights on ahead of Dareon, generally keeping them 10-15 feet in front of him and up by the ceiling.

The first step in finding the hidden door in the ceiling is getting out to the small rope held wooden platform. Currently, there looks to be only two ways to get across to it. Either a phenomenal jump over what appears to be a twenty to thirty foot gap, or crossing the ropes that hang from the opening as some sort of very crude bridge. The 'bridge' is just one rope tied high, and the other tied low, so that the crosser hangs from one while walking on the other like some kind of acrobat.

M&+*&*%~&@$~.

"Fade, Oz, looks like you two are up." Dareon says wryly as he turns back to look at his companions. "I'm not doing myself any favors, all decked out like this, am I?"

"Looks like more ring-sharing is in order," whispered Tanjvats

Aard, would having a third rope in place lower the DC to cross? If it's feasible and it'd help the others cross more easily, Faedrin can cross holding one end of his rope and we can either have someone on this side hold the other or we can anchor it with the piton.

It seems like it possibly could, but all the same, with a two rope bridge, I'm not sure how a third rope would be employed. Trying to do so, makes me think it would make it harder. You either have a hand on each rope and both feet on one, or one foot on each and both hands on one. It seems the third rope would produce an even worse spreading effect. In the end I would say no better no worse. For what it may add, it also detracts. It's really up to you guys how you would want to incorporate it, that may make a difference.

I was thinking a rope for each hand but if it's basically a wash then I'll scrap it.

"You might want to consider removing some of that bulky armor, Dareon. We can help you suit back up once we're across. I'll test the ropes first though, make sure they're sturdy and taught."

With that, Faedrin begins to slowly edge his way across the ropes.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

The rig that the Tower Girls have set up looks rickety, but it's actually quite stable. Using the twin ropes, Fade makes it across quite easily. Despite the limited room, possibly not holding much more than Fade, the platform itself is sturdy and solid. Now that you're standing on it you see a long wooden boat hook sitting on the platform, the other end of it is tied to one of the ropes holding the platform.

As the others start to make their respective ways across, Faedrin busies himself by clearing room on the platform by presumably opening the hatch overhead. As he does so, he situates his dancing lights midway across the span so the humans can see clearly while crossing.

Dareon stows his shield on his back before he attempts to make his way across the rope bridge.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Tanjvats takes out some of his own rope and flings an end over to Faedrin. He motions to the elf to tie the rope off on the platform. Leaving just enough slack to cross the distance of the rope bridge, he ties the remainder under his arms to act as a harness.

Just in case you show your true colors and stumble like an idiot! he curses to himself.

Once Faedrin is done, Tanjvats starts to breath fast and heavy. He shakes his head and then gives himself two quick slaps across the face. "Filth! Do it!" he hisses harshly.

use Vision of Madness to give myself a +1 to skill checks, -1 to attacks and saves for a round

Acro: 1d20 - 3 + 1 ⇒ (15) - 3 + 1 = 13

Faedrin gets to the platform, and tries to prepare it for the others, which will edge him off soon if he doesn't get up into the hatch. Only one problem. Faedrin doesn't see a hatch, a trapdoor, handle, knob, or anything of the sort to indicate an opening.

Knowing it will be easier to keep his balance, Uriah removes his pack,securing his buckler to it and begins tying one end of his rope to it. Walking carefully across the rigging, Uriah stops every 15 feet or so to drag his pack up to his location.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 I am unable to check my acrobatics skill (unencumbered) until I get home.

Faedrin hisses across the span to the others. "Hold it! The hatch is hidden! Give me a moment to find it before you all cross over and we spill over the edge!"

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Uriah nods his head in acknowledgement and stops all movement.

Realizing that nothing about this is as easy as Natalya may have made it sound, Fade thoroughly examines the ceiling as the others wait along their way across the great span. With scrutiny, he just notices a light glint of metal poking out. It seems there is the loop of a piton wedged into a minor crevice in the ceiling ten feet above the platform. Conveniently enough, there is a boat hook tied to the platform, with just enough reach to grab the piton. With a tug it opens up a small square of stone that, when hanging down, releases a ladder mechanism climbing up into a small dark passageway above.

Shaking his head at the outrageous complexity of it all, Faedrin waves the others over as he slips up the ladder and out of their way.
Well, they certainly aren't going to expect visitors from this entry. That's some consolation, I suppose.
He pokes his head through first, giving the chamber above a silent view by the dim light of his cantrip before daring to pull himself up all the way and off the ladder.
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

The space above isn't much more than a small hallway, odd actually for the immense size of everything else. It is just a simple hall, about five feet to a side, which extends only ten feet west before turning and heading south for another fifty feet. There it comes to a dead-end. From the shadows offered by the light with him, Fade can just make out another trapdoor in the floor there.

Dareon follows after Fade, crossing the rope carefully, one hand on the rope above him and the other out to the side to aid with balancing. Then he climbs the ladder after Fade and finds the elf peeking down a hallway's curve. "Anything?" he asks, as he pulls himself up into the hallway.

Faedrin shakes his head, "Another long stretch of hall and what looks like another hatch set in the floor. Once the others are all safely across we can get ourselves situated before going through, I think."

Looking at the assortment, oz merely scoffs. Everyone was worried about this? He took his time across it but not more than he usually did. Looking down he realized the height was quite bad, but his ring was most certainly doing it's job of keeping him ever the less worried about heights...

"Careful. Worry not, seems stable. Tread lightly." he says as he gets across with a rather large amount of ease, making it look somewhat easy. The ropes weren't that bad honestly. Part of him even made him think he could have jumped across.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Once everyone has gathered and lines up at the next opening, doing so reveals the end of a hallway heading to the west. The drop is ten feet down, but with assistance of being lowered, and those below helping the rest down, the climb isn't a big deal. The hallway goes for about thirty feet, before opening up into a room thirty foot to a side, and beyond it the hallway continues. The walls along this passage and within the room bear murals showing strangely dressed Thassilonian priests placing bodies into crypts. Several niches in the walls may have once been burial crypts themselves, but today, the hall is strewn with bones and the niches lay empty. The hallway continues west on into darkness.

No map update, posting from work

Once Tanjvats was back on the floor and in line, he adjusted his gear to make sure everything was ready. Pulling out his crossbow, he loaded it and held it ready.

Trying his best to move quietly, he nonetheless kept scanning the walls and floors all around for danger.

Dareon looks around the ancient chambers, wide-eyed. "Wow. Creepy." he says, while continuing on in the hallway. His shield and sword are readied, and he took the lead of the group, forging ahead into the darkness, looking for any sign of the Tower Girls.

Knowledge (history): Engravings' significance?: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 2 = 28
Perception: Wererats: 1d20 - 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) - 1 + 2 = 4

As the group organizes itself after descending through yet another ceiling hatch, Faedrin rummages in his pack briefly. After a few moments he draws out the sketched map Natalya made several days before. "Ok... so I think this puts us here. So far so good." He tucks the crude map into an inner pocket of his tunic, then nods to Dareon. "Alright. Let's see if we can get the drop on at least the first of these thuggish Tower Girls." Keeping one hand free, he slips a scroll of silence into his other hand as the group begins to advance.

"Creepy indeed. Creepy and strange. Why inter the dead within the piling of a massive bridge? Now Natalya said there could be hidden rooms anywhere within the structure, right? Might as well start our searching here."

Faedrin moves over to the alcoves and examines the empty spaces, being careful to sweep bones out of his way rather than step on them.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
I miss the secret-door sense elves used to have =P

As Faedrin sends the light a little ways ahead of the other, Dareon and Oz lead as per the generally agreed upon formation. Creeping up the hallway nice and slowly to maintain surprise, Dareon is distracted by the artwork along the walls. The art appears to be the interring of the dead by those of the ancient Thassilonian methods. As Dareon stares at them, Faedrin looks ahead to the edge of his vision, and just manages to notice an ankle high length of twine stretched across the end of the passage. It looks like it could possibly be a tripwire of sorts. Just beyond it, the hallway begins to open up to the right.

"Watch your step up ahead. Looks like there's a trip wire of sorts stretched across the hall." Faedrin then directs his lights to descend briefly and float just above the trip wire so it's clearly visible to the group. "Anyone good at dismantling devices like that or do we just step over it and move on?"

"Anyone got chalk? Mark it." Dareon grimaces, angry that he wasn't the one to remember the chalk - what a useful dungeon-crawling item, and he had forgotten it!

As Oz approaches, he notices the tripwire as well, seeing as how a lights literally been shone upon it. Looking at it closely, he analyzes it, curious about it's workings. First and foremost, he can't help but be remarkable perplexed as to why a trap would be this high up, as if they would have been expecting someone to come in through the roof.

"Why here? Why this place? Expecting thieves? A good sign, it isn't..." and with that, he promptly twiddles a finger at the wire, poking it as gently as humanly possible.

"Useful.. Unlikely to be used, but useful. Risk. Not worth, no?" Retrieving a small, strange tool from inside his cloak, an odd pair of what appeared to be pliars, he held the string in one, perfectly still, while he placed another finger on the edge of the string.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

Slowly but surely he let go, letting out a somewhat reserved, hopeful sigh that whatever it was wouldn't go off the moment he'd let go. Slowly and carefully he let the string slowly go towards the pressured triggers on the sides.

Sorry I didn't get this in right after Fade posted

As Fade spots and recognizes the twine for what it is, he sends his floating ball of light forward to highlight it. While the light nears the end of the hallway, to float above the tripwire there, a voice calls out from somewhere ahead around the corner, "Who goes there? Sasha, is that you?"

Tanjvats held up a hand to signal "stop" to Uriah. It was shaking slightly.

Just so it's clear, The voice called out before either Dareon or Oz acted. As soon as the light moved up to the tripwire.

Dareon immediately raises a single finger to his mouth, turning around to his compatriots to signal silence. Sword in hand, he maneuvers to a spot beside the door so that he can be ready to assault any that come through the door.

Readying an action to slice whomever comes through the door first (assuming that Dareon doesn't know them).

Readied Longsword: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Sneak Attack?: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Faedrin freezes at the sound of the voice and Dareon's gesture. Hoping to maintain cover for a little longer, he intones a quick spell. A moment later, the sounds of a woman inarticulately complaining and grumbling begins to gradually grow in volume. (ghost sound)

Basically hoping to trick whomever's in the room ahead into assuming the light is, indeed, from Sasha. The ghost sound will increase in volume and sound like a solitary woman grumbling loudly (presumably to herself). The sounds continues for one round after this one. Will Save DC 14 to disbelieve upon hearing it for the first time.

As Fade presents his best version of an affirmative, without committing a voice to it, there is the sound of movement from around the corner. No answer, just movement. As Dareon waits to strike from around the corner, that movement turns into footsteps, running in the opposite direction.

F~%!.

Looking around rather hastily as the footsteps get farther away, Oz looks to Faedrin, holding his daggers in his hands and looking around the corner as stealthily as he can. "Take out?" he whispers.

Disappointment clouds Faedrin's face as he realizes his ruse didn't trick the Tower Girl in the adjacent room. He nods to Dareon and Oz, "If possible, yeah. Quickly and quietly before the whole den is stirred up."

Nodding his head, Oz darts around the corner, somewhat abandoning his stealth if necessary, and promptly triggers the daggers into his wrists with his sheathes. He thinks back to the moment, rather recently, where he couldn't touch a man that had been that vulnerable prior, and somewhat cringes. He'd definitely injured people before, but he was somewhat... Hmm. Regardless, with a complete twirl he turns the corner and slings 2 of his lesser daggers, on call from their sheathes, as far as they'll possibly go if the woman is in reach.

Dagger 1 Toss: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Dagger 2 Toss: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Dagger 1 Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Dagger 2 Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Dagger 1 Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Dagger 2 Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Sorry, Oz, but once again your actions don't go off as planned. First, there needs to be initiative, because although she doesn't know who or what is there, she knows someone or something is and therefor no surprise round. Secondly, to even see her you would need to be in columns 4-7 to even see to target her. Third, anywhere you could attack from is dim light and beyond 30', and neither conditions allow Sneak attack. You're up first, feel free to change your action.

Round 1:
Oz -
Uriah -
Tanjvats -
Dareon -
Tower Girl -
Faedrin -

The tripwire can easily be stepped over. I showed the light up to as far as Oz and Dareon can see with it. The woman will be visible when lined up with her because she has a bullseye lantern silhouetting her.

Oz, expecting to be able to turn the corner and throw, is flabbergasted by the actual scene. As such he tries to think of a new plan.

Oz delays. Uriah, Tanjvats and Dareon, feel free to act.

Dareon, sword and shield drawn, moves to intercept and catch the woman he knows is running from them to warn the rest of the Tower Girls. "Don't let her just get away, Oz, you sloth!" he yells at the still and indecisive knife fighter.

Taking a run action to run 80ft. at her. Also, for the record Oz, when you two-weapon fight, your attack bonus should be +3 (+5 for Dex and -2 for the TWF penalty).

Dareon, I thought there was a rule about not being able to run unless it was a straight line, but it may not have been carried over from 3.5. Another rule, which I did find, is that movement costs double in 'poor visibility'. So you can move normal up until you leave the Fade's light source, then each square cost you double. That ends up with you in M6.

Okay! Just put me however far I can go, then :)

"Desna weeps", Tanjvats sighed as chaos erupted. Running forward to provide what help he could, he shook a butterfly pendant by it's chain.

"Goddess grant us better fortune!"

Move forward 20ft, cast bless...avoid tripwire.

I'm confused, given the map. How does Faedrin hear Oz's whisper 35 feet away?

light source: ioun torch.

Seeing Dareon take off down the hall, Uriah takes hold of his light crossbow slung across his torso Drawing a weapon counts as a move action, correct? and moves to V10.

Smiling and chuckling to himself...

So h'much h'for doing this the h'easy h'way.

Uriah, if you have a Base attack of +1 or more you can draw a weapon while moving. So you could not only draw it during your first move, but move again and load it (given that your rapid reload lets you load it as a free).

Sorry for the delay, my computer the last three weeks has decided that it would go all screwy on Saturdays. Hopefully, tomorrow I can update the map. Oz, last call to act before the enemy goes.

In that case, Uriah would have dropped his pack and moved to S5 drawing his crossbow. Loading it as a free action.