Castle Amber

Game Master waynemarkstubbs

"Two!" Lucia yells, deciding that 57,250 looks like a perfectly wonderful number for some reason.

Two! Two!, Borden cries out.

Grinning man milks the tension.

"You said 'two', Borden - the actual price is..."

...

...

*Ding*

"57250 - you got it spot on! Wow! Is that your wife in the audience helping you?"

Grinning Man puts his arm around Borden conspiratorially.

"Now, you've won the decanter of endless whisky, and a selection of ioun stones, and you've hardly lost any lifeforce at all. Do you want to go for today's SUPER BONUS PRIZE - a silver key!"

A fourth pedistal appears, with a strange key sitting on a velvet cushion - it looks as though it has been carved out of a strange silvery crystal.

To play for the key, roll 1d4d4 (i.e. roll 1d4, and then roll that many d4. You will lose that many hp permanently.

I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead,Borden says while grinning inanely.

"Your choice Borden - thanks for being such a great contestant!" oozes Grinning Man. "Stay with us, up next, Survivor from the Isle of Dread - who survives the Council and who gets eaten by the Tyrannosaur?..."

Grinning Man, the audience and the stage slowly fade away, leaving only two pedistals, one with a decanter, the other with a small casket of oddly-shaped gems. The compulsion effect on Borden also fades.

The door back into the hallway opens, and a grey-haired man pokes his head round. "I just wanted to tell you all - good luck, we're all counting on you." he says, and closes the door again.

Corlan gets a little heated at Borden's manifest lack of grit. "Through the gates of the silver key, anyone? Damnit, man, that might have been our ticket out of here!"

Throwing his swords on one of the pedestals, Corlan calls to the air, "Hey, Grinning Guy! I'll play for the damned key!"

1d4 ⇒ 4 Grrr!
4d4 ⇒ (3, 1, 3, 2) = 9

Nothing happens to Corlan at first. Then, a chill breeze wafts through the room, bearing with it, out of nowhere, a slip of paper. The paper settles on the pedestal where Corlan placed his sword.

"Madam Zara D'Ambreville requests the presence of Corlan of Greyhawk and companions to draw from the Deck. Many Things are possible."

Oh, hell, yeah!

To the note: "I'll take two!"
To his companions: "Any thoughts on where to find Madame Zara?"

Crap! I forgot!

Borden shrugs then helps himself to the decanter, taking a mouthful before plugging it, wrapping it VERY carefully in his dirty clothes and putting it in his pack.

He takes the casket of ioun stones and attempts to work out what they do individually.

Anyone know how to work out which stone has which effect?

I'll farm some of these around as soon as I can work out which is which... if anyone can help with that it would be great

"Any thoughts on where to find Madame Zara?"

"In her parlor, I would assume," Lucia drawls. "As to where that might be...(the warrior woman gives an exaggerated shrug)...your guess is as good as mine."

"In her parlor, I would assume," Lucia drawls. "As to where that might be...(the warrior woman gives an exaggerated shrug)...your guess is as good as mine."

Corlan collects his swords and offers his arm to Lucia.

Lucia gazes upon Corlan with a hint of amusement dancing in her hazel eyes. Then she smirks, shrugs, and takes his arm.

"You seem keen on getting out of here or at least getting to the bottom of this madness--I can appreciate that. What do you suspect of the silver key?"

Draw from the deck? Oh joy...

Celeste shivers and manages to focus again."We need to be careful." She tell the others. "Something changed in the house. Before it was letting us go as we wanted. Now it seeks to direct us for it's own purposes. Whatever they are?"

She drifts out again. "Ask the butler where Madame Zara is I guess?"

Borden, hand Celeste the Ioun stones, she can use Spellcraft to identify what they do.

The door back into the hallway opens, and a grey-haired man pokes his head round. "I just wanted to tell you all - good luck, we're all counting on you." he says, and closes the door again.

Mordan will run to the door and shout after the man, "Hey? Who are you, all of you? You're counting on us to do what?"

There is no sign of the man in the hallway. There is, however, a large group of rotting corpses shuffling slowly down the hallway.

You already have one silver key, of course. Jean-Louis gave it to you as a prize for winning the wrestling.

Mordan will stare at the walking dead for a moment then quietly step back into the room, closing the door behind him, "Um, guys? There's some dead people walking down the hall."

Oh crap...

Knowledge (Religion) +1 (+6) : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Looks Smells like zombies.

Just how 'large a group are we talking? Is it 4-5 or are we talking a 'tide' of the walking dead, i.e. 'RUN' numbers?

Borden finds himself singing, all the while wondering what the hell prompted the words...

In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie
Hey, hey
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie
Hey, hey, hey, oh
Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou

What's your name? Who's your daddy? Is he rich like me?

Corlan draws his swords and steps into the hall, hoping that he and Borden or Lucia can create a choke-point to keep them from getting to the rest.

Lucia disengages her arm from Corlan's with a wry smile. "Sorry, but it appears I'll be needing my arm to cut down some shamblers...." She draws her longsword and takes her place at Corlan's side, ready to stem the zombie tide.

The crowd of zombie advance slowly down the hallway, heading east, almost 20 strong. They don’t seem to be coming towards the room where the group are huddled – there is no indication that they have noticed them yet.

“Brains! Brains!” chorus the zombies as they approach.

"Well Borden's safe then." Celeste mutters as she joins the others in the hallway. Making sure she's behind Lucia. She holds off on using her Cloak of darkness for now.

Forget niceties! RUN! We can't fight this many!

Sorry I've had a busy weekend. Hope yours was good. I'll update later.

The zombies continue to shuffle down the hallway, until they draw level with the door to the room where the group are. They are dressed strangely, wearing workmen's overalls, boots and caps.

"Brains! Brains!" they cry.

One turns to look at the door to the room. "Brains?" it asks curiously.

Its interest is taken up by several others, and suddenly the whole group begins to rush for the door.

Borden Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
CelesteInit: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
MordanInit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Sister: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Lucia Init: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Corlan Init: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Rotation:

Lucia - can post
Sister - can post
Zombie Group 1
Borden
Celeste
Zombie Group 2
Corlan
Mordan
Zombie Group 3

Map is at the top of the page

Lucia delays, waiting until one of the horde moves to within slashing range. "Brains they're after, is it?" she comments wryly to Corlan. "Poor things must be starved if they've been stalking the regular inhabitants of this madhouse."

Sister will move to Lucia's flank and likewise wait for the horde to approach.

Claw: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 7 - 1 = 18 (power attack)
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10
claw: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 7 - 1 = 22
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 = 12

"Ouch!" Celeste remarks on seeing Sister clawing Zombies to pieces. "You must have some amazing scars on your back Mordan?"

"Hey! She's my sister!"

"Your Sister? How very Chelaxian of you."

"I don't know what a Chelaxian is, but I don't sleep with my sister!"

I'm sure we can agree on a house-rule custom evolution.

EDIT - also, how does he know she's ill equipped? :)

The horde of zombies presses against the doorway, and Lucia swings her blade, cutting the arm off one, while Sister rips another apart with her claws.

"Brains! Brains!" moan the zombies.

Rotation:

Lucia
Sister
Zombie Group 1
Borden - can post
Celeste - can post
Zombie Group 2
Corlan
Mordan
Zombie Group 3

I'm sure we can agree on a house-rule custom evolution.

EDIT - also, how does he know she's ill equipped? :)

because she said so :-)

Celeste shrugs, watching Mordan flounder was fun, but it was time to get to work. Unslinging her crossbow she lined up a free Zombie.

Crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 5

You're shooting into melee, and they have soft cover from your comrages, but you still hit.

Everyone please check out the map and feel free to move your icons around.

Celeste's shot skims over Lucia's shoulder, inches from her face, and skewers the zombie she already 'disarmed' through the forehead. It falls backwards in a floppy mess.

Borden stands behind Coran and uses his longspear.

Attack 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 for 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

The moaning horde of zombies press in against the doorway, raking and biting with their putrid claws.

Attacks on Lucia

Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

The noblewoman's thick armour repels all blows.

Attacks on Sister

Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Sister takes a long ragged wound down her flank (10hp damage)

Attacks on Corlan

Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 for Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Corlan is pummeled from several directions, taking several deep wounds (15hp damage)

More actions from everyone please, and those in the doorway need to make Strength checks to hold back the horde and prevent them from breaking through. Others can Aid Another with the Strength check by running forward and bracing them in the door, but this will expose you to sombie attacks

"Cure coming now Corlan." Celeste steps up behind Corlan and casts Cure light wounds on him. Cure light: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Corlan grunts his thanks to Celeste while shoving back at the shambling horde.
STR check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Assuming this takes up the move action I'd normally use to call out a studied target :(

If he can gain a bit of room that way, he brings his swords into play as well:
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 181d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 151d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

And this is why we run from Zombie hordes and not fight them...

did Mordan cast mage armor on sister already? If so her AC is 21 (and the zombie would have missed), if not that's what he's doing now.

Sister will attack
claw: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 7 - 1 = 22 (power attack)
damage: 1d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 2 = 11

claw: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 7 - 1 = 7 (power attack)
(Don't really need to roll damage for this one, do I :-(

No witty quips come from Lucia as the warrior woman grits her teeth and tries to hold and beat back the zombie horde.

Str Check (Hold Back Horde): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
mwk longsword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 for slashing damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Corlan stumbles, losing his footing as the press of zombies begins to overwhelm him. He slashes ineffectively, and is forced to give ground. Between them, Lucia and Sister manage to put down two more of the walking corpses, but they are sorely pressed, and Lucia has to take another step back from the door.

"Brains! Brains" chorus the zombies, their overalls stained with ichor and their boots heavy on the floor.

Attacks on Lucia

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Attacks on Sister

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Attacks on Corlan

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Confirmation on Lucia
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Confirmation on Sister
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Lucia and Corlan each take 8hp damage, Sister takes 10hp damage

There is the crack of a whip and an angry cry - "Just what do you putrid-brained fools think you are doing?"

The zombies freeze instantly in their tracks, and stare vacantly into space. An angry-looking man, tall with a full beard and smartly-dressed in a noble's doublet and hose pushes his way through throng of corpses. "Terribly sorry about this" he remarks to the group, while he pushes the zombies away, and helps Corlan to his feet.

Turning to one of the zombies, he points an accusing finger. "What is the meaning this assault on our houseguests?"

"Brains?" queries the zombie.

"No, no, you idiots." sighs the man, rolling his eyes and giving a 'what can you do?' look to the group. "Not brains. I sent you to clean out the drains!"

"Drains! Drains!" chorus the zombies, before turning and shuffling out of the room into the hallway.

The bearded man turns to the group. "So sorry about that. Everyone all right?"

"NO--no, we're not all right!" Lucia barks at the latest Amber weirdo, flexing and rubbing the shoulder where the zombie bashed her. "Your...plumbies...zombers...zombie plumbers--they attacked us without provocation and inflicted some pretty serious wounds on me and my friends! Please--can you tell us where we can find Stephen or at least his laboratory?"