Magister Ludi |
The torch reveals that the thicket extends as far as you can see to the right and left, but you think you can make out the opposite edge within the circle of torchlight. There doesn't seem to be any clear path through.
You hear the pitiful cry again, from about 25 feet ahead of you, through the tangle of thorns.
1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 9 - 2 = 27
1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 9 - 2 = 19
Two perception checks from both of you.
Dross the sellsword |
Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11
Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Dross looks the thicket up and down. " Should we try to hack our way through or try to crawl under it? I don't like the idea of being on my belly when we come across this thing. " holding his guisarme in his left hand he makes an experimental hack at the thorny bush with his longsword.
Magister Ludi |
Dross, make two attack rolls with your longsword. (But only one damage roll.)
There are some gaps in the tangle of thorns, so you it would be possible to squeeze through. Doing so requires an acrobatics check. To move carefully, make two acrobatics checks per round to move at 1/4 speed; take -5 to the check to move at 1/2 speed. You may also move at full speed by simply barging through the thorns.
Map is forthcoming.
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 1
We'll start moving by rounds now that you're close, but there's no need to do initiative until you encounter an enemy. Dross is spending the round attempting to trim the vegetation, so Valik is up.
Magister Ludi |
Dross slashes at the vegetation, and manages to cut the beginning of a path. I-11 is now clear; Dross can 5-ft step into it if he wants, or let Valik go ahead.
Just want to confirm my current hp totals... Neither Valik nor Dross were injured in the fight against the gnolls this morning. Valik took 6 damage from the burning wagon. Both have taken 1 hp from thorns. That leaves Valik at 5/12 and Dross at 14/15.
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 2
Dashki favors Dross with several critical glances, while holding up his torch and attempting to see through the brush to determine the location of the sound... or perhaps the pugwampi. The goat cries again; it sounds like it's coming from directly in front of Dross, but beyond the torchlight.
Magister Ludi |
Dross slashes through another few feet of vegetation, penetrating deeper into the thicket. A nest of birds bursts into flight just in front of him as he cuts the branch that was supporting it. Dashki stays back, looking on with satisfaction but not offering any assistance other than to hold up the torch. The flickering light casts shadows through the thicket, making it seem as though the plants themselves were animated.
H-11 is clear. If Valik is just going to watch, (and Dashki is definitely just going to watch), Dross can roll for the next three rounds at once, and we'll get through this.
Dross the sellsword |
Round1:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Round 2:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Round 3:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Dross's sword glitters in the torch light as he swings it back and forth though the scrub clearing a path while keeping an eye out for the goat and the pugwampi.
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 6
Dashki stands at the edge of the thicket holding up the torch for light as Dross hacks his way through the vegetation. After less than a minute, he has cleared a path to the other side of the thicket, where there is a relatively narrow clear ledge before the ground drops off into a ravine. The moonlight reveals large, imposing cactuses growing up from the ravine floor.
More importantly, Dross also sees a very small goat before him, tied with a bit of rope to one of the branches. It is in a state of panic, pulling at the rope and crying plaintively. It is covered with thorns and burrs, and favors one leg as though it is injured.
Valik Roffeson |
"Dashki followed the tracks of something out here, and I know that they weren't goat tracks, more dog-ish. So something brought the goat out here and tied it up. But in the end, even if we don't find the culprit, we will bring the goat back, and that is good. In the darkness, a single spark will illuminate much...and perhaps even be enough to light a torch so you don't bang your toes!" Valiard barks a laugh. "Lets just thank the Lady and take this little traveler back to his family."
Magister Ludi |
Dross tries to get hold of the rope, a tricky proposition in the uneven light. He reaches for it, but just as he is about to grab it, the kid jerks away in fear, and Dross misses the rope. What rotten luck! He tries again, and manages to get hold, but unluckily his fingers slip off the knot. The kid tries to make a run for it, and as Dross tries to keep hold of the rope, Rombard makes a circle around him, wrapping his legs up in the rope. His arms windmill as he tries to keep his balance at the narrow cliff edge... It is an ill-fortuned night indeed!
Now things get interesting... Dross, two Acrobatics checks.
Magister Ludi |
Valik reaches out to steady Dross, but it is too late. The unlucky mercenary pitches over the edge. Rombard is also pulled over the edge by the entangled rope. Dross is given a spin as the rope unwinds from his legs, and lands in a large patch of cactus on the floor of the ravine below, while Rombard is left dangling by the neck halfway down the bank, frantically crying and squirming.
Falling & cactus damage 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 7
You may have already figured this out, but the legends of pugwampis causing bad luck are entirely true; while within their aura of unluck, all d20 rolls must be made twice, taking the lower result.
Dross: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6; 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 => 6
Dashki: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25; 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 => 24a
Pugwampi: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24 => 24b
Initiative order:
Dashki (already went)
Pugwampi
Valik
Dross
Magister Ludi |
As if on cue, a shrill laughing sound emanates from a rock to Valik's left. The source is an ugly creature, like a bipedal lap dog, dressed in rags, which is crouched behind the rock. The piercing sound causes Valik's scimitar to begin to hum and shake in an ominous sympathetic vibration.
The creature's attention is fully focused on Valik's scimitar, allowing Dashki an opening to strike at it. Unfortunately, the wavering shadows produced by the torchlight in the vegetation cause him to misjudge the homely creature's location, and his swing goes wide.
miss chance for concealment (1-30 miss): 1d100 ⇒ 23 => miss!
Valik, if you have a weapon in hand, you also get an attack of opportunity. If not... Will save DC 10, x2 for unluck.
Valik Roffeson |
Valik would have had his scimitar in hand to help with the hacking.
Valik tries to swat at the creature in an attempt to keep it from using magic on his sword.
Scimitar AoA 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Critical Confirm 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Normal dmg 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Will Save 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Will Save 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Uh oh.
Magister Ludi |
Attack rolls are also subject to the unluck aura; I will take the critical confirm roll as the second attack roll.
Valik swings his scimitar expertly at the ugly little creature, but as he does so, a family of grouse bolts from the thicket nearby, causing just enough of a distraction that the blow, instead of decapitating the foul canine, swishes harmlessly through the air over its head. The creature's high pitched whining and cackling reaches a climax, and the blade of Valik's sword cracks in two!
The pugwampi gives one more gleeful chortle and dashes off into the vegetation. Move to F-8.
Valik's turn, then the results for Dross.
Sorin Saldward |
"Blasted birds!", Valik grunts.
So the beastie can move unencumbered through the branches? Essentially there is no way that I can get to it without hacking down this entire patch, right? Or can I move to it somehow?
Magister Ludi |
It is Tiny, so it can move through the space below the plants without having to crawl.
The brush is spiky, but not actually solid. You can move through it if you want; it is difficult terrain and the spines cause damage. You can attempt to avoid the spines with an Acrobatics check, or you can crawl underneath. See the "Relevant Environmental Rules" spoiler.
Alternatively, you use ranged attacks (he has concealment but not cover), or try to come up with something outside-the-box.
Valik Roffeson |
"Grab the goat and lets get out of here. Dashki, I am going to help Dross up. Keep that creature away from us. We don't actually need to kill the creature, just get the goat back, if you can kill it, so much the better. We have all seen it now, and will swear to its existence."
"Dross if you can tie the goat off to yourself, perhaps make a harness, we can get you up, then pull the goat up after."
Magister Ludi |
To clarify, the rope isn't long enough to reach all the way down the bank of the ravine; Dross came free of it while he was falling. It just reaches from the bush it is tied to, down to Rombard. Valik can pull Rombard up if he wants, but it's not long enough to reach Dross.
Dross extricates himself from the cactus and attempts to climb up the bank, but his armor makes the task awkward, and the first few handholds he tries prove to not be sturdy enough to bear his weight, and he makes no progress. Above him, the little goat struggles against the rope around its neck, raining pebbles and sand down on Dross and making an unpleasant choking sound.
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 8
ML: Dashki |
Dashki squints at Valik. "So the mighty northern warrior is going to be the hero and rescue a baby goat? I'm sure your father is proud. Hold this." He hands the torch over to Valik assuming Valik takes it and unslings his bow from his back with practiced speed and ease. He nocks an arrow to the string and fires at the pugwampi. However, his finger slips on the bowstring, and the arrow goes wide. Dashki growls under his breath.
Attack 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Miss chance for concealment (1-30 miss): 1d100 ⇒ 14
Magister Ludi |
The pugwampi snickers malevolently, draws a tiny bow of its own, and fires an arrow of its own. The arrow flies over Dashki's head into the night sky; it's unclear whether the creature was even aiming at Dashki, or anything else. Regardless, it continues its ugly, barking laugh.
Concealment: 1d100 ⇒ 6
Valik is up, then Dross. You didn't really perform an action last round; you can use that action to pull up Rombard and do something else this round if you want.
Magister Ludi |
Valik pulls the struggling baby goat up. It scrabbles to the top of the bank, crying in fear and tugging away from Valik.
Pulling Rombard up took one round; you have one more round worth of actions. Unless you can restrain Rombard or calm him down, he will run away to the extent of the rope.
Magister Ludi |
Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 9
Order of Action:
Dashki
Pugwampi
Rombard
Valik
Dross
ML: Dashki |
Dashki mumbles quietly to Valik, as though he doesn't want the pugwampi to hear, "We can't leave off now. If it lives, it will go up into the hills and tell all its nasty little friends about us." He fires another arrow at the little creature, with similar results.
unluck:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
concealment:1d100 ⇒ 10
damage:1d8 ⇒ 8
ML: Rombard |
Rombard struggles against Valik's grip, but the big Ulfen holds him firmly.
Valik to act (it's a standard action to tie up Rombard, no roll necessary, if that's what you want to do.)
Then Dross. Grappling hook is set for you to climb; Unluck applies.