Yep. Moving on to training works for me.
Gwrrr'rrr can be meatshield now.
Ok, we'll be moving on to training. Nothing else exciting will be happening before classes start, so Lorth, yes, you'll have plenty of time to shop. Also, for you crafters, you have two days to make whatever. Materials are readily available. You just need to pay for anything exotic.
I'll get on with the class intro scene tomorrow evening to give you all a chance to finish updating your sheets and making necessary crafting rolls.
Any posting you'd like to do describing some of the highlights of the next two days, go right ahead.
So you're in an anti-magic field and you're without your equipment. All you have are your academy clothes, your brains and natural abilities, and a job to do.
This is an exercise in group problem solving, which given the group makeup, is probably going to be very interesting :)
The pit is 20 feet across and looks to be about 15 feet down to the floor below.
On south side of the floor below is a small round hole going further down.
The map will be coming soon.
We will not be using Initiative in this encounter, but we are still going to act in rounds. Once you've acted just put your X on the initiative tracker on the map. You're free to act in whatever order you'd like.
More map will be revealed as you move.
Begin when you're ready.
For clarity - does Lorth have the services of Magnus available to him?
Yep. That's why he's on the map :)
Blind halfling controller is blind... Didn't stop to think what Ro meant...
HP:
HP Magnus:
Skills all increment and Magnus picks up Endurance as a feat.
Gwrr, I use the "tens place" as the number of D6, so 15 feet is still 1d6.
Everyone feel free to move yourselves around on the map. Don't wait for me to move you.
OK, just the one damage for me then, thanks. Went ahead and moved.
What are the rules for throwing PC's? :)
OK, maybe I missed something, but the 15' pit doesn't contain the idol, its somewhere down the hole in this pit, yes? If not I completely mis-read it.
Yeah, with nothing but a hole visible in the pit, I sort of imagined this as the start of a whole path we would have to take to get to the idol, platformer-like. :)
I was also sort of thinking if we found the idol right inside the second hole, I would just hand it to a small character and throw them to the surface...
Gwrr is correct. It's a pit with a hole in it. The idol is somewhere down there.
Ok, so to recap-
The 1st level floor has begun to rotate, spinning downward on the threaded bolt. (On the map I've adjusted the height level)}
Also, the threaded bolt is full of spring-loaded traps that are going off as the are revealed, this is spitting nasty little caltrops all over the place.
The 2nd floor looks identical to the first, but the light is dimmer.
Ryujin, please give me a DC10 reflex save to avoid falling down the pit when the floor lurches.
Also-
Looks like you all get missed.
I'd like to try to run to the middle and climb on top of the threaded axle before it gets any higher. Should I make any rolls for that?
That would be fine. It's only about a foot in radius, so a dc 12 balance check will be required to stand on it. Complex actions may increase the difficulty.
Please wait until next round to act though.
Have fun guys - looks like Lorth's sitting this one out.
I wondered about that. Just not enjoying the premise?
Ryujin now you get to give me an acro check to reduce falling damage.
I wondered about that. Just not enjoying the premise?
Spoilered for length and so as to not distract any others...
In this case despite the statement that teamwork would be part of the premise - we had a bunch of PCs just charge straight ahead without considering any sort of discussion and initiate the spinning trap platform thingy. The other ones that are above have similarly not engaged in discussion - but turned to either barking orders or referring to him (OOC I know) as a hopping fop and slinging insults.
I don't get a sense that Lorth the character can really impact anything here. The same as with the Door St scene - if you removed all of the posts from Lorth absolutely nothing would have changed in terms of outcome.
Either he stays up top where it's safe and or leaps onto the uncontrollable metal spitting platform where he's got no visible options apart from just sitting tight and hoping to not die. Hence the taking of what he sees as the more reasonable option of not engaging with it.
There are quite a few characters who don't exactly play well with others in this group.
My hope was that through the academy training courses, we'd see some character growth and cooperation.
The Door Street encounter was designed to make the characters feel way out of their league, but still helpful in small ways. Personally, I feel like it accomplished that goal extremely well.
This encounter is a puzzle. The characters are going to have to figure out how the whole thing works and then work together to win.
Staying up top, watching, and yelling suggestions and observations is definitely an option. In fact, it might be needed. Lorth, you can still rejoin the group under the guise of getting frustrated with watching them not work together and trying to facilitate that.
So Lorth, to discuss your central point, yes, in the Door Street encounter feeling like a Passenger was a perfectly reasonable feeling. In this one though, you're exactly as much of a passenger as you make yourself. You don't need gear or magic to beat this one. It's designed to be a series of skill tests. All it's really going to take is one or two smart people to figure it out and take advantage of the group's various strengths.
Personally, if you can get other people to listen to you, I think Lorth is uniquely suited to that role.
So I know that you believe that it went extremely well... and it may have for other characters... but for Lorth it most definitely did not.
I think that the time constraint was a stumbling block here - PCs have assumed that since they are being timed, there's no need to talk or discuss anything - must charge blindly on!
Plus why would a hulking orc or a big guy like Karlov actually listen to a small curious halfling who is strangely protective of his now non-existent mustache?
On my part, I'm sorry. I had intended to have a quick transition into bonding with the group. (and thought that a teamwork premise would be a good time for an accelerated character arc of that type) I read it again after you bowed out, and thought I might have pushed to hard trying to be part of the dynamic.
Go ahead and give me a post for your fall with a d6 damage.
I usually check these board 3 times a day, hardly anything happens for a while, I'm AFK for 1,5 day and BOOM we're all over the place!
And worse of all, Lorth is bailing! NOoooooooooooooooo! You had some very bad luck/rolls, I agree. But still your character's great! Lorn will happily help Lorth with repairing his mustache. He'll take a detour when retrieving the Staff of the Magi to aprehend a potion of facial hair growth (very common in the dwarven district I heard).
Now I'm going to see what's going on IC, because reading this thread and watching the map doesn't make any sense (pit? caltrops? what? WHAT?)
For clarity - Lorth is not bailing on the Campaign - just sitting out this Task...
As for the event, time is a factor, but it's definitely not the only one, nor the point of the exercise. Someone to be the voice of reason would be really handy, and if you look at the makeup of the group, reason isn't a strong point with many of the characters. The things you're bringing up are things they might overlook unless someone points them out.
You'd think Lorth and Lorn would be best friends.
Who'dda thunk I'd be in a game where two PC's would be obsessed with facial hair.
and ears, don't forget Lorn loves to cut ears too. Too bad those stupid slaad just popped out of existence or he'd have a whole bunch of chaos-ears stitched to the inside of his apron.
It's a challenge and a trap. Of course Gwrrr'rrr is going to blunder blindly into it and try to take himself out. He's an evil Orc with 6 int, 5 wis, and 5 cha. If I didn't stumble into every trap, I'd be a terrible role player. :)
Now he will tree himself, and then smarter heads will have to take over and win, hopefully finding a way to use him.
Regarding this challenge: It seems to me that you're letting your disappointment from the Door Street encounter bleed over into this one. You could definitely still have an impact in this, especially now that the people down there might need help getting back out.
As to your point about people "barking orders", which I assume was referring to me--yes, after our companions rashly jumped into the pit, Melashara started shouting orders. But look at it from my (her) perspective--time is of the essence, she has an idea, she's going to try to implement it. She certainly doesn't think that she can "command" anyone, but it's more of a "Hey, they need our help, come help me with this," kind of thing. And if she comes off as brash and bossy, well, when I made this character I thought she was going to be a gladiator who fought all the other characters, so I made her a loner who very rarely (if ever) trusts anyone. I think that background comes across in the way I played her. I suspect that some of the difficulties with teamwork may stem from that--usually when people make characters, they try to see how they can fit in, and benefit, the party (at least I do). All of these characters were made to be self-sustaining and, many of them, not to work with others. Anyway, just my two cents. I hope Lorth comes back, because Mel sure can't lift people by herself. And Lorn--yes, Mel can't lift you, but if Magnus and Muscle Wizard both have the rope, they can surely lower you down safely. ;-)
The floor below looks just about identical to this one.
The threads of the center screw look quite sharp and potentially dangerous. The outer wall is very smooth.
Finally, there is a small circle set into the wall of the pit (about the circumference of a gold coin). It was about 5 feet off the ground when the floor started to move. Now it's about 7 feet up.
Looks like D3's got it's hooks in Karlov again. Everyone go ahead and take your next round of actions.
Karlov, I'll assume you just watch the others in round 1.
and say something impressive
Sorry for a lack of posting but I have actually no idea what to do. Anyone got a suggestion (besides jumping in?)? If not I'll go with Melashara's idea.
Well, with Magnus leaving I'm considering tying the rope around Big Blue. :-)
Magnus was never a good option - I'm not sure if you checked his stats... but he has a Strength of 12.
Hmm, really? That's surprising
rope is "gear" Mel. not allowed for this challenge.
guys, feel free to ask questions. so far joboo's the only one who's been actively looking around (and he hasn't shared much info).
this puzzle will require communication and coordination of talents.
But I'm not actually using a rope. I took my clothes off and want to use that as a rope. Is that disallowed?
...I don't think it's specifically covered. it's sort of one of those things that's against the spirit of the rules, but not the letter.
so go ahead. :)
1) The ground is spinning and lowering on the central screw, but it increases it's speed as you and Mel touch down. The speed of the rotation seems to be based on weight.
2) The threads of the center screw look quite sharp and potentially dangerous. The outer wall is very smooth and would be difficult to climb
Lorn
Gwrr
Lucky you, you're both missed.
Everyone
This is where things start to get interesting.
These are the effects of the lowering floor:
It's now 20 feet from ground level to the 1st floor of the pit.
The circle that Joboo has found is now two feet above his head.
The ceiling above Ryujin is dropping.
Just a note, if you go back and read my turn, I didn't go down into the pit. I moved next to Karlov and tied the makeshift rope around his waist. Then I LOOKED down into the pit. Definitely did not climb down. :-)
You're right. That changes things slightly. Edited.
Thank you kind sir
I'll be offline for two days. I'm staying up top with Karlov to help hold rope.