Chronicles of Arcania: B/X Homebrew game.

Game Master Peet

THACO: 16 - 1d20 ⇒ 16 - (7) = 9
Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Initiative: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6

Ana casts sleep on the scorpions.

Fistep gets ready to engage a scorpion when it arrives.

Ana casts sleep on the scorpions.

With a gesture and a few unintelligible words, Ana casts a spell. Sparkling sand seems to coalesce out of the air on the scorpions.

The lead scorpion seems unaffected. The second one slumps to the floor, unmoving. The others are out of the area of beetle-light, and you are not sure if they are affected (though they are in the AoE of the spell).

Botting Talikshim
Talikshim loads his sling and runs up to take a position behind Ana. He still cannot see what is going on but is ready to move in. (He could have moved behind Ferrous and Fistep, but he would move more than 30' and couldn't do anything else. So stopping short gives other characters a chance to use the spot.)

The lead scorpion advances. One other scorpion appears out of the darkness and heads towards the party. Ferrous swings but his sword strikes only a glancing blow.

The first scorpion jabs Fistep with claws and stinger but fails to find a vulnerable spot. The second scorpion manages to sting Ferrous with its tail.

Ferrous: 1 damage. You have also been poisoned. At the start of your next 3 combat rounds, you need to make a health save (your health save is 7 so you need a natural 7 to succeed). Each time you fail you will take 2 damage.

Round 1 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Talikshim, Fistep
Block 2: Scorpions
Block 3: Ferrous, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Ferrous, Talikshim
Block 2: Scorpions
Block 3: Fistep, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Ana, Ferrous, Montague, Talikshim, and Zynazyr are up. Ferrous gets two rounds in a row and may attack twice. I'll do the NPCs after the PCs have had a chance to go. Any scorpions that might have gone later this round are asleep.

Taklishim notes the thick shell on these creatures and knows his talents will not aid much in defeating these foes....

"Ware the stings, but I do have potice to draw out the venom, if we act quickly."

Zynazyr cringes when he sees Ferrous get stung. Hoping to get a better angle at the scorpions, he moves into the corner and throws his shuriken at the one in front of Ferrous.

THAC0: 17 - 1d20 ⇒ 17 - (5) = 12 +1 for range
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Zynazyr's dagger flies wide of the mark.

Round 1 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Talikshim, Fistep
Block 2: Scorpions
Block 3: Ferrous, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Ferrous, Talikshim
Block 2: Scorpions
Block 3: Fistep, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Ana, Ferrous, Montague, and Talikshim are up. Ferrous gets two rounds in a row and may attack twice.

Bah! Nasty buggers! Now feel the sting of me axeblade you beastie.
Ferrous challenged as he swung twice with his axe at the scorpion in front of him.
THAC019: 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (12) = 7
Damage?: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
HealthSavevs7: 1d20 ⇒ 5
THAC019: 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (6) = 13
HealthSavevs7: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Bah! Nasty buggers! Now feel the sting of me axeblade you beastie.

Ferrous challenged as he swung twice with his axe at the scorpion in front of him.

Ferrous' first swing crushes the scorpion's thorax. The second scorpion scuttles out of the way of his second swing.

Round 1 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Talikshim, Fistep
Block 2: Scorpions
Block 3: Ferrous, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Ferrous, Talikshim
Block 2: Scorpion
Block 3: Fistep, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Ana, Montague, and Talikshim are up.

Ana will attack the scorpion around the corner with her battleaxe.

THAC0 16: 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (7) = 12 Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

"What is happening? Are we winning"?

"I know not, I have been unable to crack the shell of any of these things I might as well be throwing slings of water at them."

Talikshim & Montague: Since you both have made posts but did not post any actions, I will assume you are "passing" and not taking any actions for the moment.

Be advised though that if you do not participate in the fight I am not going to award any XP, especially since NPCs are fighting and you are not.

"... I have been unable to crack the shell of any of these things ..."

Talikshim: FYI you have never faced these creatures before in combat and have no idea how "hard" their shells are. You have yet to take a shot at any of them.

Ana is unable to maneuver around the corner effectively and fails to hit the scorpion.

Bruno takes a position behind Fistep and shoots with his crossbow, and Thylla takes a shot with her sling. Bruno's bolt strikes the scorpion is the shoulder. It is clearly a serious wound. Thylla's sling stone ricochets harmlessly off the corner of the wall.

The scorpion snaps at Fistep. None of the Scorpion's attacks get past Fistep's armor.

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Ferrous, Talikshim
Block 2: Scorpion
Block 3: Fistep, Montague, Zynazyr, NPCs

Round 3 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Ferrous, Fistep, Montague, Talikshim, Zynazyr
Block 2: Scorpion
Block 3: NPCs

Everyone is up. Fistep, Montague, and Zynazyr all get double actions.

Ana tries again to hit one of the scorpions from around the corner.

THAC0 16: 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (1) = 18 Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

*SPLAT!*

Ana crushes the last scorpion with her battleaxe.

Advancing down the hall, the party sees that the remaining scorpions are all asleep. The party dispatches them easily.

Ferrous: combat is over, but you still need to make one more health save.

You know the scorpions have a poisonous sting. Do you still want to harvest them for food?

HealthSave: 1d20 ⇒ 19
confused about Ana's hit on a 18 but I'll take it.

confused about Ana's hit on a 18 but I'll take it.

Just realized that I was looking at the wrong number... but whatever - no takebacks. Fistep will attack twice and you will attack once plus missile attacks... it would be a long stream of bad luck if you didn't kill it this round.

"I believe these can be eaten, though the tail need be avoided."

"I have poultice to draw the venom from any swollen wounds the stinger may have made."

"I believe these can be eaten, though the tail need be avoided."

Cutting off the tail will cost one half-meal each, but is probably prudent.

"I have poultice to draw the venom from any swollen wounds the stinger may have made."

The poison that affected Ferrous is fast-acting and has already run its course. A herbal poultice takes too long to apply for most combat poisons.

After defeating the scorpions, the party returns to the work of transporting the food back upstairs. Aside from the scorpions, all that remains is the barrels. While alcoholic beverages won't help much with thirst, they surely will improve morale.

9:50 AM, Day 3

The party has returned to their camp with the newly recovered supplies. The room is a little cramped, but still livable considering the circumstances.

So what now?

Ferrous is pretty seriously wounded, and everyone except Zynazyr is out of spells (Zynazyr has one left).

So, Do you wish to:
* Camp for the night?
* Continue down the main hallway?
* Explore the area beyond the door?
* Something else?

Also there is the question of how much food do you want to eat. You have a lot of food now.

Zynazyr looks around at all of the supplies they have recovered, and smiles at what they have accomplished. "I think we should all have a full meal and get some rest. It looks like Ferrous needs some healing, so I don't think we want to move on with him not 100%," he says looking at the others for affirmation.

"Yeah... I could eat again, and let's let him heal before venturing onward".

Ferrous hops up to sit on one of the many newly claimed barrels of provisions.
I don't feel so well. Can someone bring me a tankard of that mushroom ale.
Ferrous slumps and checks his beard for anything that may be dirtying it up. He opens his mouth wide with a yawn.
Aye I think some rest is in order but first the Ale.

Montague takes the Amphora with the pickled scorpion tails in it, and steps away to empty out the pickling agent, then shaking the remaining tails out a bit in the jar, he attempts to milk the poison from the scorpion tails into the container.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24 Tinker???

"Rest is definitely called for, and a good meal." Ana finds a seat and eats a full meal.

The party decides to call it quits for the rest of the day.

Healing: Anyone who is below max HP heals 2 HP (Montague would have healed 3 but he is at full).

2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

Scroll: Ana and Zynazyr are able to decipher the remaining scroll. It is a scroll of Hold Portal.

Experience: Nobody has earned enough XP to level up. Some of you are very close though.

Ana: 187 + 19 = 206 (+ 2748 = 2954) ... 1046 needed for next level
Ferrous: 187 + 19 = 206 (+ 1883 = 2089) ... 161 needed for next level
Fistep: 187 + 19 = 206 (+ 1748 = 1954) ... 46 needed for next level
Montague: 150 + 23 = 173 (+ 1407 = 1560) ... 940 needed to next level
Talikshim: 150 + 15 = 165 (+ 1318 = 1483) ... 17 needed for next level
Zynazyr: 187 + 28 = 215 (+ 2032 = 2247) ... 253 needed for next level

Food: The party recovered a lot of food today. So it sounds like people want to go off half-rations and have a full portion for today. Fresh food contains some water so having at least half of your rations fresh abates your thirst somewhat, and leaves enough to do the same tomorrow. This leaves you with 39 fresh half-meals and 112 preserved half-meals remaining.

Water: The party did not recover any water today. I am assuming you want to hold what you have left in reserve. You currently have 12 half-pints of fresh water left over. With the water and food you have consumed today, you will wake up and not have a thirst penalty tomorrow.

8:00 AM, Day 4

The party wakes up and prepares for the new day.

First, Ferrous has healed a bit but is still at 7 HP out of 17. Do you want to use any healing on him?

Second, what is the plan for today?
* Return to the third tier and explore the main hallway?
* Explore the door in the storeroom?
* Rest for an extra day?
* Something else?

We need to heal Ferrous more before returning to the storeroom to open the door.

Ferrous mumbles something about ale and no one having ears and hops off his barrel walks over pours his own damn tankard of mushroom ale turns to the group and says.
Aye I may be needing more than a single days rest unless you got some of spells of healing. I'm on my last legs. You could all go on adventuring without me though for a day if you don't want to wait. I'll just sit here and drink some of this ale and eat some of this food. And you all can have a turn getting stab by tails and munched on by the dead.

Montague takes the Amphora with the pickled scorpion tails in it, and steps away to empty out the pickling agent, then shaking the remaining tails out a bit in the jar, he attempts to milk the poison from the scorpion tails into the container.

1d20+6 Tinker???

This would probably be just an intelligence roll (not an INT roll), which would be like:

Eventually Montague gets the venom to squirt out from the scorpion tails and into the jar. There doesn't seem like a lot there, but on the other hand, probably not a lot of the liquid is needed to poison someone.

I assume he cleans his hands afterwards. :)

we still have water, albeit only a little, but we need ferrous able to swing his axe. Chucckles at Ferrous, nah good dwarf, we need to stick together... we are more formidable with your axe at the throat of the enemy!

As the party gets organized, they begin to realize that Montague is missing. Gone longer than a latrine break would justify, they find that a share of the treasure, food, and water is also missing. After a time the group concludes that he is gone for good; perhaps he thought he was better off on his own.

We have a new thief, Savannah. So at this point we can begin to work her in.

We have a new thief, Savannah Brathas. So at this point we can begin to work her him in. :)

A slender man with a bow and leather armor begins to stir. You recognize him from the caravan, he signed on as a scout and archer.
I owe you my life. You didn't have to share your food and water but you did. I am grateful. I'm feeling somewhat better now... Let me know what I can do.

Zynazyr seems deep in thought as if he is trying to remember something. "When was the last time I saw Montegue," he thinks to himself. Realizing the thief is gone, he quickly looks through his things to make sure nothing is missing. Satisfied that his items are still in his pack, he looks up at the man speaking to the group. Giving him a once-over, he says, "Well, it looks like our thief has gone missing. You wouldn't happen to know how to pick a lock or disable a trap, would you?"

The man looks slightly indignant, then composes himself. He speaks formally, and his pronunciation suggests a degree of education.
I work for House Hallonica, a most reputable merchant family. Yes, as part of my duties to protect their goods and investments, I have learned the workings of locks and traps. As well as archery, scouting, negotiation, and writing. But if you need...sigh... a "thief" I suppose I can do such tasks.

If yes be skilled at a bow and have the courage to fire it over me head than you'll be having more use to us than that wretch Montague ever was. the dwarf spat on the ground and offer Brathas a firm handshake. Now speaking of food and water we best be on our ways t'wards finding more. Agreed?
Ferrous walks over to the mushroom always and pours a tankard full and empties it quickly.
But no need to be doing that with an empty belly and a dry mouth. Ferrous said ending with a loud belch.

I am ready to go. I am still somewhat groggy and might be a better shot with a clearer head... How are we on water?
If we could spare 1 cup of water, his thirst penalty would go down to -1 for today. But he can muddle through without if we can't spare it.

Hands over some water to the poor chap, Here, if clearer head lets your arrows fly true then you shall have. Looking sidelong at the dwarf with a grin, Although even without a clear head I'm sure your arrows would find the mark more often than the dwarf's axe!

Guys - unless I hear otherwise I will assume that you will take a "breakfast" of 3 half-meals of fresh food. The fresh food you gathered yesterday needs to be eaten today before it goes bad, though it might last a bit longer. But Fresh food also contains moisture and eating this much counts as 1 cup of water.

Fistep - are you giving him the water in front of the other NPCs? They have not had any water for days.

BTW you still have "Smelldox the Mighty" the goblin prisoner and I assume you are feeding him as well.

Talikshim: Are you using any healing on Ferrous today? He is currently at 7 HP out of 17.

BTW the decisions remain the same as before:

8:00 AM, Day 4

What is the plan for today?
* Return to the third tier and explore the main hallway?
* Explore the door in the storeroom?
* Rest for an extra day?
* Something else?

I would say eat the half-meals, and distribute the rest to the NPCs.

Well no, he can have a fresh meal though.

I say heal Ferrous

Brathas eats his three half-meals of "fresh food," and now is not quite as dehydrated. He tries not to think about what exactly this fresh food is.
Have you found out anything about what this place is? Have you encountered any other inhabitants besides this goblin?
Quietly, to the dwarf: Has the goblin volunteered any information about food and water? Which approach to persuading him did you try?

If you haven't, I'd suggest reading through the last 25 pages... :)

If the party is willing to tell him everything, that's what I'll do.

Ferrous laughs at Brathas's question. The goblin has done what all goblins do offer up nothing but filthy lies. We should kill it the dwarf glares at the goblin before continuing but I suppose keeping him alive until we run out of other food makes sense.
I vote for feeding him just enough to keep him alive. So less than the NPCs

I've read through the story thus far, which I interpret as the party giving him a quick recap... Brathas would like to talk to the party out of earshot of the goblin.
I had thought of approaching the goblin with a conspiracy against you. If he ratted me out, we'd know he was loyal to you. It's a common trap in Darokin, and even there often works to expose disloyalty, so I expect a goblin would fall for it.

Humans live in this pyramid? King Alexander's men, this "Brotherhood," and assorted eccentrics, two of whom are now dead. If Orocrinos was not entirely mad, there is a Governing Council of sorts. The Brotherhood doesn't know me, so perhaps I can find a way to get information from them, but I doubt we'll be able to persuade them to overlook the killing of several of their members.

So with the three half-meals, now at 1 thirst and 0 hunger? The thirst being a -1 to all d20 rolls and also to damage?

All this talk makes my head hurt... I saw we move to action, and go find some water!

So with the three half-meals, now at 1 thirst and 0 hunger? The thirst being a -1 to all d20 rolls and also to damage?

That is correct. Your thirst count will go up by 0.5 tomorrow which means that you will still be at a -1 penalty tomorrow, but drinking more water then could bring you down below 1, which would negate your penalties altogether. If you acquire a LOT of water today you could bring that count below 1 today. It would probably require the party to find a very large or renewable source of water.

If you want to drink some booze the party has plenty of that. This will mitigate your thirst penalty for a time but it will come back worse. The caravan master warned everyone at the start of the journey about the risks of alcohol.

Your Hunger count will go up again by 1 at day end but it is not a problem until it gets to 3. The party currently has a lot of preserved food but is pretty much out of fresh stuff. Time to go kill more things.

At this point the party has basically figured out by trial-and-error that 1 or 2 cups of water a day plus at least 3 half-meals of fresh food is keeping the thirst and hunger issues at bay. The party still feels discomfort but the level of thirst and hunger they are at has no in-game effect.

He tries not to think about what exactly this fresh food is.

Actually you know about most of it... most of what is left is meat from the large scorpions the party encountered yesterday. On the tastes like chicken scale it is maybe a 6. Better than the rat meat you got the second day. But when you're starving... :)

Talikshimbot casts a healing spell on Ferrous.

1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

@ Ferrous: You had gained 2 HP from natural healing so you are now at 13 HP.
@ Everyone else: Pretty sure everyone else is at full HP now.

8:30 AM, Day 4

What is the plan for today?
* Return to the third tier and explore the main hallway?
* Explore the door in the storeroom?
* Interrogate the goblin some more?
* Rest for an extra day?
* Something else?

All this talk makes my head hurt... I saw we move to action, and go find some water!

Fistep seems to be voting for one of the first two options. Anyone else?