The Moar Core Tour (Inactive)

Game Master BretI

Pain in my ass fee? Will of the Living God? They sound more like thugs than any government official! Unless the whole government work via bribery and extortion? Really should have read up more on this place before we left Absalom!

Iovo waits for any signal from either side of an attack.

"Hey, look, there's no need to be cranky. We're happy to pay your fee. Does 100gp cover the Pain in the Posterior surcharge?"

There's a loud screech and a thump as the baboon leaps across from the rigging of the other ship. It begins to run around the Abacus, climbing and knocking things over.

"Good boy, Kangor!" says the thug, then turning to Phinellippa, adds "I don't know yet, depends on what you got down below." She moves to the top of the stairs, aiming her crossbow down the stairs and shouting "Come on up and say hello!"

Her partner at the foot of the plank gestures to Verrix with his crossbow and says "Back away from her. I won't ask again."

To clarify, only the three outlined people (red, blue, green) have crossbows. The other people on the deck of the barge look like unarmed sailors.

Intimidate : 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10 He's scary, but only on a geological time scale.

Rees studies the government officials thoughtfully, wondering what they're after. Can he get an idea of what kind of approach might work?

Sense Motive (favored enemy): 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 2 = 11

No, I suppose not, with a roll like that...

The greed and the power-trip are obvious. It's hard to tell beyond that.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14

Damiar looks them over. These thugs ignored our bribe money. They are thriving on intimidating and bullying. I bet they don't care what we have. They just want to bully, have a fight, and scare people.

She yawns, stretching. "I don't care if they look in that dusty hold of ours. Honestly, this is BORING. Let's let them poke around in the smelly fish that we hauled in, and see what they find."

Bluff Secret Message: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

She saunters over to the thug in charge. "What's your name, anyway? I'm Damiar. I bet you've seen just about everything coming down this river, am I right?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Damiar is stalling a bit and trying to distract head thug, letting the group position.

Garif’s eyes widen briefly as he grasps Damiar’s meaning, but he can’t help but agree with her. There’s only one way I see this ending, might as well be ready for it. He moves as if getting out of the way, not trusting himself to fool anyone if he tries to speak. At the same time, he nudges Nico away from the stairs, coincidentally getting the cat closer to one of the thugs.

A couple of five-foot steps, not much else I can do.

Seeing Damiar approaching the thug by the plank (blue) shouts "I said back off!", steps away, and fires his crossbow at her, striking her squarely! He quickly reloads his crossbow.

attack, flat footed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Seeing that, the thug at the top of the plank fires his own crossbow at Nico, his bolt striking the plank in front of Nico's paw with a loud Thwack!, before he too quickly reloads.

attack, flat footed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Not a surprise round, they just rolled high initiatives.

As the firing starts, you see the sailors on both ships scatter, not wanting to be involved.

It's easy to collect taxes from dead folks! Round 1:

Garif draws and loads his sling, while urging Nico into the fight. "Get that monkey, Nico!" he says, pointing at the baboon. "He looks like trouble!"

I think the baboon is at ground level, so I'm attacking on that assumption. If he's up the mast, Nico will instead move to the blue thug and bite him, using only the first attack roll.

Nico bounds at the baboon, biting with his great jaws and scratching ferociously with his claws!

Full attack on baboon!

Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

"The price has gotten steep indeed, infidels!" the thug in red exclaims, as she steps away from Verrix and fires at him.

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

The baboon screeches in pain as Nico's powerful jaws pierce his hide. He manages to dodge the cats claws, then desperately snaps at him, trying to drive the predator away.

bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
damage: 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Initiative, round 1:

Iovo swings her mace at the back of Red's head as the thug takes it's shot at Verrix.

AoO, mace: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Melee Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Seeing no way to flank with anyone, she takes a second swing with the mace.

Attack w/ mace: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Melee Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Unfortunately, all she manages to do is alert Red to the weapon.

"Oh no you don't!" Verrix says, as he takes a step towards the red-bordered crossbowman. He readies his warhammer, and takes a two-handed power swing at the man.

Power attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage if hits: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Rees frowns. "You should have taken the offer and gone," he notes, taking aim at the green-fringed foe with his bow.

Pew (favored enemy, PBS): 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 2 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 1 = 6

Rees hits the thug in green, who cries out in pain but does not fall.

Phinellippa moves a little further away from the action. What hooligans! They should have just taken the money.

She points a finger, and a ray of light suddenly goes right over the baboon's head. The lurching of the ship is detrimental to my aim!

blinding ray: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

She also pulls out a wand.

I'm getting out of here!

CoCo flies to the fore of the boat, dipping down below the edge to have cover from the action.

"Ow!" Damiar clutches her stomach, takes a five foot step back and starts to sing.

♫ We sailed downriver you see
Six friends, one cat and me
Round the faith barges we did roam
The holy thugs got uptight
We got into a fight
Well I feel so cut up
Help me, sweet gnome!

So hoist up our barge's sail
See how the main sail sets
Throw all the thugs ashore
Garif of stone, you're never alone
Let's get into the zone, yeah yeah
Tell your cat Nico
Gnaw that ape to the bone ♫

Inspire Courage +1 to attack and damage

Phinellippa attempts to disable one thug, but her shot goes wide. Seeing her allies struggling to connect, Damiar raises their spirits with a song.

The enemy in green returns fire at Rees

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8 Ouch. The dice are not happy with you guys right now.

The blue thug fires at Verrix, trying to defend his compatriot.

attack, firing into melee: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 - 4 = 3
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Initiative, round 2:

Garif spins up his sling and releases, sending a stone high over the head of thug in the blue jacket! He mutters a moment, then loads another stone into his sling, taking a moment to check the stone to make sure he's willing to part with this particular specimen.

Fire and load sling.

Sling at blue, cover: 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 2 - 4 = 8
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Nico continues to bite and claw at the baboon!

Full attack.

Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Claw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Remembering the power of their bite, the baboon is focused on Nico's jaws. Unfortunately for him, his evasive movements didn't account for the two sets of claws which sent it spinning, unconscious, to the deck.

Garif sends one of his lesser samples at the thug, wincing as it bounces off the railing and into the water.

Aware of Iovo and here mace after two errant swings, the talkative extortionist steps away from Iovo and Verrix, firing at Iovo as she does, then quickly reloading.

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Round 2:

Damiar shoots at Green, who looks way too cocky on the other side of the boarding plank...

Longbow+IC+PBS: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 1 + 1 = 13
Damage+IC+PBS: 1d8 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5

...however the wounds in her side are throwing off her aim!

Damiar aims for the thug's center mass, but her wounds throw off her aim. Instead, the arrow clips his arm, sending him spinning to the deck, unconscious! Green is down.

Rees switches targets, smoothly unleashing an arrow at one of the remaining enemies even as he grits his teeth against the pain of the arrow in his thigh.

Pew vs Blue! (favored enemy, PBS, inspire): 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 1 + 1 = 5

Following Rees's lead, Phinellippa hits the one in blue with a magic missile from her wand.

magic missile!: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

An arrow from Rees' bow and a bead of force from Phinellippa's wand strike the blue thug nearly simultaneously, knocking him to the deck, unmoving. Blue is down.

Iovo runs along the stern of the boat and comes up on one side of Red.

She then calls out "Flank with me!" while threatening Red with her mace.

Move, Ready to attack when she gets a flanking partner -- hopefully from Verrix!

Since blue is down, someone should be able to step over the body to provide flanking.

Yep. I've removed them from the map so they're out of the way.

With the blue and green foes down, Garif may now act as well.

Round 2/3:

"Nico, get him!" Garif cries out, pointing at the last thug standing. He keeps an eye on the sailors on the nearby boat, ready to hurl a sling stone if they seem likely to cause trouble.

Nico bounds across the deck, landing next to the red-shirted thug and biting at him!

Bound and bite! (Move action and standard action).

Bite, Flank: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 + 2 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

The thug turns around at the cat's approaching growl, trying unsuccessfully to avoid his bite. The force of his impact knocks her back, right into the path of Iovo's waiting blade. As the three bodies separate, the extortionist's body slumps unconscious to the deck.

After a moment's quiet, a timid sailor pokes her head above the railing, then quickly ducks down again as she sees Garif's ready sling. She raises her hands this time before her head and quickly exclaims "Please, don't hurt us!"

Out of combat. You have three humans and a baboon bleeding on the deck, and a ship full of sailors have surrendered to you aboard the adjacent faith barge.

Iovo goes over and tries to prevent the baboon from bleeding out.

I’m not sure if I should save the thugs, but the animal doesn’t deserve this.

Untrained Heal to stabilize: 1d20 ⇒ 12

They're all enough points away from death that you can eventually stabilize whichever of them you want to. What are you going to do with whichever you decide to save?

Seeing that you haven't attacked the first sailor to speak up, another one musters enough courage to join her. "Thank you for killing those brutes! They pressed us into service on this horrible boat, forcing us to work as crew for months now. Now we're finally free again!" His voice seems to strengthen as he speaks, almost as if he's realizing what he's saying as the words come out. He hops up and runs over to a rope securing a small rowboat and begins to prepare it to row to shore. The words take a moment to sink in to the rest of the crew, and suddenly they too begin running around preparing to leave the boat.

If you allow them to, all of the crew will leave via small rowboats. In that case, what would you like to do with the Faith Barge currently hooked to the Abacus?

"Do you want to take a boat and a baboon?" Damiar asks. She heals the baboon with her Cure Light Wounds wand. "You can take the barge if you'd like, once we search it."

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Damiar wants to see if there are any useful papers or information on the Faith Barge.

The baboon's eyes fly open, wide with fear. Its gaze darts around, and when its eyes land on Nico it lets out a loud screech and quickly leaps back over to the faith barge, where it cowers in one of the rowboats.

"Aw, poor thing" says the sailor. "My friend Jera over there always had a way with this poor beastie. I'm sure she'll make sure he's ok. As for the barge, pardon me but f$%$ no. I don't want to spend another moment on this damn thing than I have to. Its not too good for the bottom of the river, if you don't mind me saying so."

A search of the barge turns up nothing of interest, though a search of the thugs' pockets turns up three potions.

Temel and Metella appear to be arguing as they emerge onto the deck with Amauhak. As they survey the situation and hear your account of the action, Temel says "We ought to scuttle that barge and be away from here. It's too big for our crew to manage, and who knows what attention it will bring."

Metella rolls her eyes and says "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Passad is right. The sooner that thing's behind us, the better."

"That seems like a fine solution to me," Garif says in reply to the sailor. "Perhaps you could leave these thugs on the bank somewhere, and we'll see to sinking the barge? And I'm glad to hear you'll be able to care for the baboon, I was sorry to have my cat friend attack it."

Damiar nods to Jera and waves goodbye to the rowboats! "Good luck then!"

She turns to the others. "Shall we identify some potions and go scuttle a barge?"

Damiar's take ten Spellcraft is an 18. If that doesn't identify the first potion, I'll roll for the rest.

When the baboon regains consciousness, Nico lifts the corner of one lip to reveal a great, white tooth and makes a brief, deep rumbling sound in his chest, reminding the baboon of how things turned out last time. When the frightened creature darts away, Nico curls up on the deck and begins licking a massive paw, using it to tidy his whiskers and clean a spot of blood of his snout, not at all interested in the conversations of the two-legs.

Waving, Iovo says “Good luck!” to the sailors as they prepare to depart.

After the searching is complete, she asks Temel “Where is the best place to sink the barge? I don’t want to create a navigation hazard.”

Iovo will take 10 on Disable Device to rig something so the barge sinks.

As Phinellippa has the same Take 10, she'll roll for them!

identify potion 1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
identify potion 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
identify potion 3: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

"Yes, let us be rid of the barge. And leaving the fates of our attackers in the hands of their prisoners seems....poetic, doesn't it?"

Damiar and Phinellippa study the potions found in the thugs' pockets for a moment before agreeing that they are potions of cure light wounds.

Most of the newly liberated crew row the unconscious forms of the thugs, as well as the wounded baboon, to shore while a few stay behind to help you scuttle the ship. With their aid you move the barge into the mouth of a small, unused tributary, out of the path of the usual river traffic. Meanwhile, Iovo rigs a mechanism to drop the boat's anchor through a weak spot in the hull at the pull of a rope. Once the boat is positioned and no one is left aboard, she gives the rope a tug from the safety of a nearby rowboat causing a loud crash from within. After a few moments, the boat begins to sink, its hold filling with water, and quickly comes to rest on the bottom of the river.

You bid the sailors adieu and sail on upriver and out of sight. After a quiet hour of travel you are approached by Amauhak; you can see Temel and Metella within earshot, debating something or other. ”Tell me, friends” Amauhak asks, ”have you thought about how you are going to perform the rescue? Namely, how do you plan to gain access to the Inn without raising undue suspicion?”

You can tell that, even as Metella and Temel argue, they too are keeping an ear cocked toward you to hear your plan.

Healing time!

Iovo gives her sister a wand and asks that it be used on her.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 48 charges remaining

When it comes to plans to infiltrate the inn, Iovo thinks a moment before asking "How about traveling entertainers? I could do the game with the three cups or minor legerdemain -- pulling coins out from behind ears or picking cards."

She looks to the others, to see if they have anything that would work with that.

Sleight of hand skill

Healing time -- using wand!

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"Oh, we could be a traveling circus! We have animal acts, sleight of hand, and acrobats!"

"And I could set up a display of particularly exciting mineral specimens!" Garif chimes in. When the others fail to react with enthusiasm correspondent to his own, he slips a hand into his belt pouch and the clatter of small stones tumbling against each other can be heard as he says, "Or I can have Nico do tricks..."

Phinellippa looks uneasy at having to entertain people.

"I suppose Coquelicot could do tricks too?"