The Lost City (4e Paragon)

Game Master Rev Rosey

No sooner has one patient recovered than Kevaras acquires a second. Dram lands at the paladin's feet with a resounding thump.

Roll 1d10 damage please, Dram.

I'm having mild hysterics here as this group attempts to climb down a hole.

But it's a paragon-level hole!

All we need is a rope accident and, with apologies to Dirt, hey-ho, Paraursidae.

Come on Bad rolls stay with me for one more roll 1d10 ⇒ 3, wooo :)

Drams stand up with a small bump forming on his forehead.

But it's a paragon-level hole!

Can't stop laughing at this.

No sooner has one patient recovered than Kevaras acquires a second. Dram lands at the paladin's feet with a resounding thump.

Roll 1d10 damage please, Dram.

I'm having mild hysterics here as this group attempts to climb down a hole.

Well, some of us seem to have managed. :)

Dram lands at the paladin's feet with a resounding thump.

Kevaras is forewarned through a vision from his goddess, and a conspiracy(!?) of spectral ravens materialise to steady the druid with their beaks.

If I may use Divine Mettle, Dram would get a +5 to his saving throw and stay on the rope.

@Kevaras - you may.
I also like a crash of rhinocerouses and a prudence of vicars :)

Somewhat to his surprise, Dram finds himself supported by spectral birds.

And can make another attempt to descend.

Greeg watched with a little concern as his companions slipped, fell and generally made a hash of climbing down the rope into the room below. As the last of them finally made it to the ground, he silently hoped they wouldn't have to fight any rope golems or some such.

He unslung his shield and readied his hammer, rolling his shoulders and generally getting ready for whatever danger came their way. After flying over the desert and then having trouble getting into a hole, he was kind of looking forward to the simple act of fighting something.

"Let's get moving folks, before something finds us first."

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
1d20 ⇒ 6

Drams falls flat on his face and bruises his head.

Cronin merely sighs.

As I finish wiping tears of laughter from my eyes, are you heading for the stairs?

Yes

The stairs are amply wide enough for the group to walk in pairs.

Marching order please.

Cronin / Greeg
Kevaras / Guldarin
Andaros / Nayce
Dram / Dirt

Cronin wants to be up front, but will yield to Kevaras, especially if two goliaths are cramped

Cronin wants to be up front, but will yield to Kevaras, especially if two goliaths are cramped

Be my guest!

Looks good to me, dont forget Dirt can give whoever he is near +2 to all of their defenses, so he can make any of the squishies a little better

Perception or Nature checks from Cronin and Greeg please.

1d20 + 18 ⇒ (16) + 18 = 34 Nature

Nature - 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

Advancing cautiously, Greeg comes to some conclusions and looks to Cronin for confirmation. The cleric is in full agreement. The stairs drop away a further 20 feet, but the drifting sand covers a treacherous gap.

This is a bit hard to map, but you're on a spiral staircase dropping 4 squares down. The sand makes the terrain difficult. There is a one square gap ahead where the stairs have crumbled away and been covered in sand.

The pair can see the floor below (dimly). It too is sand-covered and tilts slightly.

Cronin explains the situation to the back ranks. Glancing at Greeg, he says, "You and I could jump -- not sure about the . . . bear."

Guldarin attempts to peer over the goliaths' shoulders, before realising that even being a step higher doesn't really make that practical. "Oh, bears are quite athletic, you know. I'm sure we can all manage it, with a little help. I certainly don't object to being tossed across." Unlike some dwarves.

Presumably Cronin and Greeg can provide assistance, one on each side. One to provide a push, and the other catching and steadying people.

"Bears are surpisingly spry, he should be able to do pretty well on his own. Me not so much."

He has an 11 athletics which is not horrible, do to the bears weight does it help him in the shifting sand be more steady? Also with him being longer length wise than a standad person any kind of bonus to the jump? He would be around 4 feet long to begin with so a running stride would come close to clearing it no problem.

I don't think you can sensibly take a running jump off shifting sand on a staircase to be honest. Greeg and Cronin can certainly help the less able to cross.

Dirt is long enough to be able to step across, but I think Dram will need to make a Nature check to reassure him and somehow communicate the danger of missing.

Greeg looks across the gap with some consideration. "Best make sure the other side is safe afore we start jumping across it. Anyone got a long speaar or pole I can jab at that side?"

Assuming we do and he checks its safe

"Right then, I'll go across first shall. Best tie a rope to me in case things get...interesting. If Cronin and I brace this, the rest of you can use it to assist in crossing, if for nothing more than catching it if you have a little trouble."

Looking down at the little gnome with them, he grins and says "I can throw you across first if you'd like? Would be like flying I reckon, only faster."

Athletics to jump across. Roll 2 choose the best from Powerful Athlete racial abilty. 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31, 2nd roll 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36

Nayce can teleport across, as long as he is not the first or last to go.

Greeg notes that the gap in the stairs causes the accumulated sand to act like quicksand before leaping easily across.

Once on the other side of the hazard, he and Cronin readily construct a sort of rope bridge to help their companions.

Which I'm ruling gives you a +10 to Ath/Acro checks since they're both holding the ends.

Looking down, however, the goliath notes that the sand on the floor beneath is starting to slide, along with the floor of the tower. The movement on the stairs is disturbing the fabric of the building.

"Could you hold the rope this high, please?" Requests the drow, while raising one hand above his head.

Using his shield as a makeshift flying fox, the paladin traverses the gap using the rope as a zip-line.

Acrobatics 1d20 + 6 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 10 = 30 (28, if the shield's armour check penalty counts)

"Erm, is the floor supposed to be doing that." Guldarin looks at it uneasily, then has a look round to see if the stairs look stable.

Dungeoneering check, 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

Nature check 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (12) + 16 = 28 to sooth Dirt
Athletics to jump across myself once I got Dirt going 1d20 + 8 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 10 = 22

Dirt casually leaps the gap as Dram leaps behind the best he can.

Andaros will secure an end of his rope from where he is now and then lower himself down. Once we're done with this he'll use Mage Hand to retreive the tied end.

Assuming Athletics roll is needed for the rope climb, he's going to take 10 to get 16.

Kevaras slides gracefully over the treacherous area, while Guldarin frets about the state of the floor below.

Dram and Dirt both make the crossing, while Andaros jerry-rigs a rope to help himself and the others to pass.

Anyone else making checks on the floor level? Guldarin could use a bit of help. Dungeoneering to aid.

Greeg looked down at teh floor momentarily when Guldarin spoke his concerns out loud. He grunted as he braced for his friends to cross the rope, even as he drew back on his memories of caverns and buildings from his mountian home to see if he could work out what was occuring.

Dungeoneering. 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

Edit - That's two 20's rolled for skill checks so far. You watch those babies dry up when combat starts :)

Cronin concentrates on helping everyone across.

Greeg comes to the conclusion that Guldarin is right. The floor should not be tilting like that. The party settle themselves on the lower half of the staircase.

Map follows this evening - classes all day.

I've positioned you as best I can given the difficulties of getting fractal mapper to play nice with my spiral staircase.

Clustering on the insecure staircase, the companions study the floor. A further staircase leads down, but to reach it, the group must cross a dangerously unstable floor.

Weight will be something of an issue here. The fabric of the building has split badly over time and lack of foundation and you can see the two halves of the floor rocking slightly as the edges grate against each other.

MAP

I'm thinking we want the two goliaths balancing each other until the last moment. If I have to, I can burn an AP to fly for a round, but that's a one-time deal. Other ideas?

Feel free to make any checks you think may help - or indeed ask any questions if something is unclear.

Does the other staircase look solid?
Perception 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
Dungeoneering 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
Guldarin can summon his angelic messenger, if it looks solid. Everyone gets to fly across.

As far as Guldarin can see, the far staircase looks to be in somewhat better condition.

Greeg looked a little dubiously at Guldarin, "More flying?". He sounded a little apprehensive, but couldn't offer a better alternative to getting across without possibly causing the floor to collaps. He had a sneaky suspicion that if he even so much as sneezed in its direction, the entire level would collapse.

I can't offer much better than being flown across. Greeg breaks things just leaning on them, walking on an already broken floor will end less than well I reckon. I have an attack abilty that allows me to teleport 5 squares if push comes to shove. I may be able to use that to get across there assuming Rev lets me burn a daily attack power out of combat. That would be an emergency use though, flying sounds safer.

Just for the record, I'm perfectly OK with you all burning powers if you have good reasons to do so. They're just that. Powers. Use them whenever you want.

My teleport is only 4 squares, which won't quite cut it. I have strong Acrobatics, though, if being light of foot is of any help.

Guldarin mutters some obscure words and gestures, and his angel appears. "Ah, Amy, how nice to see... Have you got yourself a tattoo? Ah, 'Born to Save', I see. Yes, it's very nice. Now we need to get from this staircase to that staircase, and the floor doesn't look terribly safe. No, I know you don't like floors anyway, and this is a particularly bad floor. Though we would prefer it if you didn't beat it. Now, could you start taking us over to... yes, the hairy one too, he's a bear called Dirt and a friend of Dram there. I'm afraid I don't know if he wants a cuddle, but yes I agree he looks lovely and warm. Yes, I'm certain."

Summon Angelic Messenger
Two move actions per turn, one to carry someone across and one to get AM back to our side.

Amy spends a busy few minutes flaunting her new tattoo and ferrying the companions to the other, safer staircase. As she gently deposits her last passenger, her angelic brow is somewhat sweat-marked. Greeg and Dirt have been quite challenging to convey gracefully.

It looks as if this stairwell may descend some way - further than a floor, certainly.

That may be one of the most hilarious uses of a daily power I've seen.

Is Amy sticking around or are you just heading down?

Can I keep her around? We may want to get back across this at some point, and she'd be very useful for that and general mobility.

Depends on the wording of the power. If it's to end encounter, probably not, if it's until you choose to dismiss her, go ahead.

My understanding is that "to the end of encounter" powers used outside of combat expire after 5 minutes.

Seems fair. I'll allow you another 2 minutes of Amy time.