DM-Camris' WRATH of the RIGHTEOUS Part 1: The Worldwound Gambit (table 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Camris

Jokum will stick out an arm to make sure no one moves past him into the cavern. Those look recently fallen...this cave better be stable.

Perception Check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Now that several party members carry lit torches, Tess is about to put out her lights; she stops suddenly as if struck by a thought, and peers down the eastern passage as the rest go on.

"Suppose there's something else on this side?" she murmurs distractedly, and against her better judgement, pushes her lights further into the passage. She walks slowly over to the mouth of the tunnel, glancing back surreptitiously to see if she's noticed.

Examining where the lights go:

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Sorua's Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

torn bedroll(-)
three candle stubs(-)
bent fishhook(-)
10 feet of badly frayed hemp rope(-)
copper brooch depicting a bat (Xavian)

No interest in those other items.

Ce-Eshna has no interest in the items but will carry them if they are left behind, waste not want not.
Peering into the new chamber the sylph is alert for any hidden foes.Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Pollux takes a look at the walls and ceiling to see if its safe to bring the wounded through the path to the west.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

If so, he has them keep moving.

So tess is exploring the east route?

Xaivan will simply follow Pollux since he seems to have an idea of what he is doing and where he wants to go. He'll take a look around as well.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Yep, she wanted to see how the other tunnel led. I assume her cursory glance saw nothing more than the strap of the backpack on the ledge above, and nothing below it.

Considering the implications of the phrase Curiosity killed the cat as if for the first time, Tess makes a quick note on her slate to connect the tunnel back to their previous location. She then turns and walks quickly to rejoin the group.

"I, ah... Sorua ran behind into the other tunnel and I went to retrieve him, and I saw a backpack strap hanging above me- um, above him- from a cliff. Assuming none of us are missing any straps, there's someone else that fell from the festival running around in the darkness." She shuffles her feet uncertainly, uncomfortable with the fib, and tries to play it off as fear of the unknown wanderer. "So maybe we ought to ask questions before we shoot anything if we can't see what it is?"

Hey, that backpack might have something useful in it! We should go get it. Xaivan suddenly realizes how that might sound and quickly adds, And someone might need our help!

Tess grins at the halfling's sudden.... Heroism. "I'm afraid it was only the strap of a backpack. Someone must've fallen, their backpack got caught by the strap, and the rest tore away with the person."

DM question: the cliff is above Tess, and the only thing dangling is the backpack strap, correct? As in, there's not a backpack dangling above the ground.

And suddenly Karthak finds himself alone in the cavern:"Where are you going! Damnation! Don't split with no good reason like that!!!"

Jokum sighs as the halfling and the girl enthuse over the backpack strap. "Brother Ironbreaker, Pollux," he calls. "Let's investigate this other mystery--there doesn't seem to be anything in here of particular interest, and the cavern doesn't seem liable to collapse at a moment's notice. Not if it withstood the previous cave-in, anyway," he mutters to himself.

So where did you see this backpack... umm, the strap? Xaivan will let Tess lead the way if they party is indeed heading in that direction.

"We are losing time! Valuable time!" grumbles the dwarf while reluctantly following Jokum towards the rest of the group

There is a pack hanging by its strap.

Okay, so pretend Tess said it's a backpack and we're all going to grab it.

When they arrive, Jokum stares glumly up at the backpack.

"So...anyone have any bright ideas on how to get that down?" he asks. "I could shoot it...but I doubt it would do much good. Is anyone a decent climber?"

"I'll do it, it's not so high that I even have to worry about falling." Climb Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Ce-Eshna, nimbly climbs the broken stone but the rock is slick and she makes little progress.

Pollux watches Ce-Eshna try and fail. He reaches into his hair and scratches, as if untangling a curl, his eyes focusing on the backpack. "It does seem like you'd be able to grab it if you had six or so feet extra height. Here..." he walks under the ledge, bends down and cups his hands for her to step in. "I don't know if you have any experience leading cheers, but this shouldn't be too difficult either way." he smiles at her reassuringly.

Grinning slightly she cocks her head, "Throwing an air-born creature to make it airborne? Good plan!" Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Pollux lifts Ce-Eshna with a light grunt and sends the air-born girl airborne to grab the backpack. Strength: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Karthak shakes his head vigorously at his companions:"Really? All this delay just for a backpack?"

"I for one am inclined to get it down. Who knows how long we'll be here--that bag could contain food, water, any number of useful things," Jokum tells the dwarf, as he watches Ce-Eshna scramble up the rock.

Curb your impatience. It won't take hours to retrieve the pack. Comb your beard if you need to pass the time.

With the skillful help of Pollux, Ce-Eshna is able to retrieve the pack.

Treasure: The pack itself is a masterwork backpack that contains 10 days of trail rations, a flint and steel, a set of caltrops, two flasks of oil, a bundle of 12 arrows, a potion of cure light wounds, and a potion of lesser restoration.

Aha! A good find indeed! Xaivan's eyes grow a bit wider once he sees the items inside. Catching himself, he then states, We should look to see if the previous owner of this pack is around here somewhere.

Tess grins widely as item after item is removed from the backpack. "Oh wow! I like the stuff in this tunnel much better!"

When the potions are revealed, her eyes go wide and she takes them for a moment, examining them closely. "I've never actually seen potions before. They... They feel powerful!" She rifles through her backpack to pull out her journal and scribbles a few notes about the potions, then, realizing there's nothing else to keep them in the cavern, stuffs the notebook back in her backpack sheepishly.

Once the equipment is gathered up, Tess and Sorua continue with the group, standing near Aravashnial. "Um... Despite the circumstances, how are you feeling? Do you know anything else interesting about these caverns?"

Nodding at the arrows, "I'll split these with anyone else who needs them."

Xaivan raises his hand. Can never have too many.

"Well that went about as expected." Pollux says, catching Ce-Eshna on her way down. He takes a moment to set her back on her feet, admiring her windswept hair. "That was brilliant." As the bag is handed off to Xaivan he finds a good rock on the ground and lights it once again.

Pollux turns to Karthak. "We're going to be moving at a moseying pace either way considering the injured; so we may as well be smart about it and find whatever we can to help us along the way. My back is bare so I'll carry the backpack. Unfortunately when I left the inn this morning I did not think I'd be in some forsaken hole in the ground so I did not think to bring all of my supplies."

Jokum raises his hand. "I'll take some arrows as well. Good job with the climb."

So I guess that makes four each? Don't think anyone else uses them.

Studying the rest, he adds, "I have some rations in my pack--we could split them up, or pool everything together and store it in one place. Might be easier to track that way. Ce-Eshna, since you're our rearguard, why don't you take the caltrops? Someone in the middle should take the oil--could make a handy torch, or even a bomb in a pinch."

Handing out the arrows and taking the caltrops she tosses the backpack to Tess and Pollux to deal with the rest.

Tess hands the backpack to Pollux, slipping the potions into her own bag.

We're good to go!

As you finish digging through the backpack a chill runs down Pollux's spine. As the group begins to make their way back down the passage, a white serpent lashes out from the rocks. Its fangs biting deep in Pollux's ankle.
Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21 Vs Flat footed ACDamage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 Fort DC 13

Anevia: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Snake: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Aravashnial: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Ce-Eshna: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Hargus: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0
Jokum: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Karthak: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Pollux: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Tesseract: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Xaivan: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Ce-Eshna draws her kurki and dives at the little beast attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
assuming it's still alive on my turn

Gonna post now since I won't be able to post for a good 10 hours, put it in correct order pls

"See what happens when you get distracted?" scoffs Karthak while slashing at the serpent with his axe

Attack roll: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Damage roll: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Initiative 24, mod 6

Tess shrieks in surprise when the snake bites Pollux. She steadies herself and stamps her foot in frustration. "Okay, enough's enough! I am so sick of us getting pounced on by creepy crawly things!" She casts an icy glare at the reptile, and suddenly feels her anger manifesting in her gaze.

Tess is using the hex Evil Eye, targeting the snake's AC for a -2 penalty. This penalty lasts for 7 rounds; a DC 14 or 15 Will save reduces it to just 1 round. ("The save to resist a hex is equal to 10 + 1/2 the witch’s level + the witch’s Intelligence modifier." I'm not sure if that means "1/2 minimum 1" or "1/2 of 1 is 0" in this situation.)

The girl is dumbfounded by this sudden power- What- what was that? I didn't know I could do that!- but attempts to nonchalantly play it off as a spell she cast.

Edit @ 8:07 PM CST:

She reaches for one of her daggers as she tries to identify the power she called upon.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Con Damage: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Pollux suddenly feels sick to his stomach, still he attempts to dive out of the way, as it seems at least two people are heading in his direction with blades at a ready. He five foots out from them and grabs his spear with his standard action. His face becomes visibly pale and he begins to sweat.

As it wont survive those hits and Xaivan is near the bottom i'll just wrap this up.

Tesseract Tess feels a flash of power as she shouts. Unless otherwise noted its always a round down. Since the book doesn't say minimum 1 its a 0 for now.

Snake Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18 The serpent lashes forward continuing its relentless assault.Bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17 Damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0 plus poison DC 13

Ce-Eshna Her blade cuts deep, Crit Extra Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 5 total

AneviaIs caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the snake,
realizing that there's little she can do she waits.

Pollux Grows pale and steps away from the snake drawing his spear.

Karthakputs an end to the serpent's life.
Need to keep track of the rounds for the poison.

Tess stows her dagger absently, mind preoccupied with what had just happened, when she notices the blanched look on the young cleric's face.

"You look awful, Pastor Wardroxian!" the girl exclaims, her mismatched cheeks going pale as well. She helps him sit down for a moment and presses her hand to his burning forehead.

"Poisons are nasty..." she murmurs sympathetically, examining the bite wound. She applies a bandage and wraps the puncture mark itself. "Lie back and be still while you try to fight it off. That's the best we can do without antivenom."

Heal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

For reference: "If your Heal check exceeds the DC of the poison, the character receives a +4 competence bonus on his saving throw against the poison." I'm just posting because I had to look it up; it's not commonly used.

Fort Save (with +4 from Tess): 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 4 = 16

Pollux breaths deeply and shakes off the awful feelings. "I'll be fine. We must keep moving." he staggers up and begins walking, using his spear for leverage. "Thank you little Miss."

Jokum takes the head again. "Back to the other passage, then." I'll have to keep an eye on him; he'll be weaker in this state, not as much help to the pack. We can't afford too many more injuries, or we'll never get out of here.

Still scoffing, Karthak nods:"An no more delays. If we want to stop we warn before doing it. Start wandering down here and we might never find the way back up!", that said the dwarf follows, right behind Jokum

Correct me if I'm wrong but that save is for resisting the poison from the second bite, which takes place before Tess can preform a heal check. Also you've taken 2 con not 1 and so suffer a -1 to your fort save.

Fort Save : 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 - 1 = 11 Failed. DC is now 15 for 3 additional rounds.
Con Damage: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Now Tess heal check applies for your save against the combined poison but as you've taken another two your at a -2.

Alright so I'll roll my new save with Tess's +4 at a -2
Fort Save (with Tess): 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 2 + 4 = 20

"For all your bellyaching one would think you were the snakebit one, Brother Ironbreaker." he says, getting his composure back. He pauses and gags for a moment, as if he's about to vomit. He opens his mouth to continue, but doesn't in case more than words start pouring out. He continues to move through the passage in silence, gesturing for the other injured members of the party to follow.

Walking and without tourning, like he was talking to himself Karthak says loudly:"The point is we need to work togheter. To cohordinate. What happened is a clear display of how things will go if we do not. But I trust you learned your lesson. Bitten once, bitten twice, there's no third bite... as they say"

Still moving forward

Ug, some crusaders can be so touchy... Grinning slightly, "You going to be ok Pollux? Can't have you falling down the next time I need a toss in the air!" Still keeping to the back she splits her attention somewhat now so she can better cover those at the front as well.

Aprox 12:45pm
After traveling the winding route for about 1,900 feet (at a speed of 15 feet through the rough cavern passages, this takes about 25 minutes to navigate), you reach the tunnel's end at a junction. To the north, a 5-footwide opening in the wall leads into a cave filled with soft but nasty-looking green light-the tunnel itself continues south.

Discussion for Wrath of the Righteous Group 2

Xaivan Slingblade
Ce-Eshna Lightfoot
Karthak Ironbreaker
Tesseract Squires
Jokum of the Breakbones
Pollux Wardroxan

...and dotting here too.

dot!

Here I am!

I heard back from everyone. See you all Monday!

I wanted to warn you I decided to change Karthak's equipment a bit: I don't trust reach enough so I would like to change his dwarven longhammer into a Dwarven waraxe if that's ok with you, as for general equipment I'm going to add a inquisitor kit

Ok, please be sure the changes are reflected on your profile.

Darkvision: Don't leave home without it :P

Not if you're planning on falling into a pit opened up by the demonic forces of the underworld, anyway. :P

As a total sidebar before we encounter each other in gameplay: Jokum has no idea about his heritage, and its only physical marker is his golden eyes, so he'll be introduced as a human with weird eyes.

For the record, I keep my list of spells prepared in the spells section of my profile.

I keep basic utility lists: for example, when Tess prepped today, she didn't expect to have an adventure: consequently, she is using the "Not-Killing-People Day" list today.

I'll keep the lists updated when I level, and I'll make sure to mention in game which list is prepared at the start of each day.

I like that the 15-year-old girl implicitly has a "Killing-People-Today" list. Gotta be prepared! :P

It's a tough world out there, and I'd rather have a mace than a can of Mace :p

Isn't it a heal check to set a broken bone? I bet you could do it, Jokum.

It is, and I'll go for it if no one else does. But I have a low Wis score, so if Karthak or Pollux are trained they'd probably be better. Besides, Jokum doesn't want to let his guard (or weapons) down just yet... ;)

Excellent :)

Ce-Eshna is more on the delivery end of injury service :P

Merry christmas everyone!

Happy Crystalhue!

Merry Christmas!

Dibs on sacred weaponry scale. If anyone wants it I'll rochambeau you for it. Though I get to go first.

I'm inclined to desire the Sparking

Mmmh, I'd like the glittering scale, the others don't help me much.

I'd like the Cloudwalking scale! Posted in my other post too; I hadn't checked these yet.

Hmmmmm. As far as the scales go, I would say that Jokum is probably best suited to use the Sacred Weaponry scale. I could also take Sparking (but Ce-Eshna is actually a better archer), or maybe Resistance, since it seems like I'll probably be on the front line a lot. I'm happy with any of these.

GM Striker, a couple of questions for you, when you get a sec! One: what are your thoughts on characters retrieving arrows/ammunition they've shot? I've seen various houserules on this, and I'm good with any, I just want to know what to track. Two: I have a mapmaking kit, which seems like it could be useful as we wander into these caverns ahead. But I'm guessing Jokum will want to have a weapon out while marching. So I'm wondering if we could have someone else keeping a map, and still apply the +2 bonus to Survival checks (if we need to make them)?

Ce-Eshna can map and has +1 bab so can draw a weapon as a free action as part of a move, also a decent survival bonus so I won't mind mapping

GM Striker, a couple of questions for you, when you get a sec! One: what are your thoughts on characters retrieving arrows/ammunition they've shot? I've seen various houserules on this, and I'm good with any, I just want to know what to track. Two: I have a mapmaking kit, which seems like it could be useful as we wander into these caverns ahead. But I'm guessing Jokum will want to have a weapon out while marching. So I'm wondering if we could have someone else keeping a map, and still apply the +2 bonus to Survival checks (if we need to make them)?

Hope this helps.

1. Any arrows that hit successfully are destroyed. Any that miss my be recover 50% of the time if you have time to grab them under normal circumstances. Arrows that go over castle walls, cliffs, into acid, lava ect. are always destroyed.

2. Feel free to share any items as needed. Hard to make a map while walking, especially an accurate one. I would rule you need to stop to actually be making it but since Anevia's leg will slow you down it shouldn't effect your overall speed as a group. Maybe taking the time to befriend the NPCs might help as well ;)

How much more do I need to do for the elf to help him be ambulatory? I think he's standing with a cane (my quarterstaff).

He is good to go. Though like Anevia, he is limited to half speed.

desire to stab more maggots... rising lol

So... We're going north right?

Sounds like it.

Jeez, with rolls like this, no reason for Jokum to quit his day job anytime soon... :P

I finally stop fail rolling and it's probably a pointless perception check :P

I just realized I don't have a cold iron weapon. Some crusader Pollux is.

happy new year!

Happy New Year everyone! :P

I have an idea for future battles. How about we average initiatives for the party and the enemies in future fights. This way we can be a bit better about coordinating in a timely manner and not have to worry about initiative order as much. Another fun thing would be for each round we re-roll initiative so that one side doesn't always have the advantage.

So in a battle I'd see it being something like.

Party average: 1d20 ⇒ 20
Enemy average: 1d20 ⇒ 19

So the party goes on the offensive this round and the enemy's movements are going to be reactionary. We end this round, everyone is still alive so we go to round two.

Party average: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Enemy average: 1d20 ⇒ 10

The enemy goes on the offensive this round and now they have a chance to get out of the bind the PCs have put them in, and maybe even surround and flank one of the PCs before they react.

I feel like this simplifies things in a PbP because the party doesn't have to go in a specific order and make statements like (when my turn comes around...) and if there are any tactics that people want to use then characters can say things like "I flank with Ce-Eshna".

Its something another one of my PbP games uses.

Initiative is not a problem as long as people post often (or the GM posts for them after a day they have not posted), imo, that said I see nothing wrong with what you suggest here besides changing a base rule of the game, but if the group wants to try this system out I've nothing against it.

I don't really like block initiative, but I don't really have a good reason other than that I think it doesn't really "solve" anything. Also I think it would be frustrating to be a player that doesn't check the thread as frequently (because of work, etc) and find out you never got to go first in a battle.

I'm fine with either system; a third I'm trying out in a game I'm GMing is to average the enemies' initiatives (which has the handy bonus of consolidating the GM's work) and then grouping all the PCs who go before and after them. So initiative for the battle (almost) always goes

I'll be attending Space City Con/Winter in Galveston this weekend. The place has wi-fi so I might be able to post each day but I still wanted to give a heads-up while I thought of it.

Wait...which way are we going again?

(Joking, joking. :P)

Who's keeping track of loot? *one, two three, NOT IT*

I know Tess is intelligent, but she's not particularly wise; she's definitely inquisitive.

Up to you guys about the loot, for once its not my problem ;)

Maybe we just decide who's carrying what when we find things and then that person adds to their inventory? Seems like less of a pain than usual since this is PbP...which isn't saying much, I suppose... :P

@Jokum: What other mystery are you talking about? I'd ask IC but I'm not sure if its something obvious or not.

@GM: Is it a backpack or backpack strap?

Sorry, that was meant to be the backpack/strap/possible other person. I'm assuming we can all hear Tess and Xaivan.

I wasn't trying to waste time, I intended for us to keep pushing forward and not shoot the possible person who might be around here if they accidentally jump in front of us.

So...wait. Which way are we going? I'm fine with either.