DM Carbide's The Dragon's Demand (Inactive)

Game Master John Woodford

Nope, you're right--I'd forgotten. And I'd even written a little song about it in my Emerald Spire game.

Master Temperance to go!

In his absence and to keep things moving, Master Temperance holds.

Round 5 (ongoing):

Initiative Order
Not-a-Raven-acted
Arien-
Huc-
Oranna-
Master Temperance-

The creature stabs Fynn with its tail for 1 HP, and DC 13 Fort save or take 1 point DEX damage.

Party up! Oranna, another DC 13 Fort save or take 1 point DEX damage.

Not-a-Raven: AC 17 T 16 FF 13 -3 HP

Arien tests for an opening, probing with her elven blade, wary of her enemy’s proximity to Oranna.

Stow Sap
Elven Curve Blade: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Round 5 (ongoing):

Initiative Order
Not-a-Raven-acted
Arien-acted
Huc-
Oranna-
Master Temperance-

Arien cuts at the creature and hits it, but her blade is unable to make an impression in its flesh.

Huc pulls out his morningstar, once again swinging it in tandem with Fynn before stepping around to give Arien better positioning.

"We gotta find a way to end this."

Move to draw cold iron morningstar, then attack.
cold iron morningstar: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
.
Fynn bites (but loses flank)
bite: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (10) + 4 - 1 = 13
damage: 1d4 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 3 = 11

Fynn, fort, DC 13: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Don't forget that Fynn has to make a save vs. poison.

Round 5 (ongoing):

Initiative Order
Not-a-Raven-acted
Arien-acted
Huc-acted
Oranna-
Master Temperance-

Huc and Fynn are unable to hit the elusive little pest.

"What is this trickery?" the investigator exclaims. "Where are those daggers we found?"

I fear we are ill-equipped to fight something that may be immune to our attacks.

Huc tucked them into his pack. Standard action to retrieve.

Touch Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

Master Temperance's hand glows with strange power, but he fails to connect with the little creature.

Going for Chill Touch. Darn!

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

Oranna's energy seems more and more drained from her as the effects of the venom drain her movement, "I think we may need to retreat from this conflict," she says backing up a little. She quickly casts the same spell from earlier again.

Using Guidance again on Huc.

The creature cackles evilly as it escapes being hit again.

Round 6 (ongoing):

Initiative Order
Not-a-Raven-acted
Arien-
Huc-
Oranna-
Master Temperance-

The creature stings Arien with its tail for 2 HP, plus DC 13 Fort save or take 1 point DEX damage.

Party up! Oranna, another DC 13 Fort save or take 2 points DEX damage.

Not-a-Raven: AC 17 T 16 FF 13 -1 HP

”Grab it outta my backpack!” Huc yells, frustration turning to downright anger at the little piss-ant creature. ”If we need to fall back, do it! I’ll cover the retreat!”

He swings again, mirrored by Fynn after the pup shifts to maintain his flank.

Huc attacks again. (including flank, Guidance — i don’t know if Temp’s Inspire is still running; if so, add +1 to attacks and damages)
cold iron morningstar: 1d20 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 2 + 1 = 24
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
.
And Fynn 5’ steps to flank with Temp, then bites (includes Flank & Power Attack)
bite: 1d20 + 4 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 2 - 1 = 25 <— crit?
damage: 1d4 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 3 = 11
— confirm: 1d20 + 4 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 2 - 1 = 18
— add'l damage: 1d4 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 3 = 9

EDIT: finally, some decent rolls. Hopefully it does the trick. :/

The creature's flesh resists some of the damage from Huc's morningstar, but enough gets through to discomfit it a bit. It's knocked back by the blow, and Fynn is able to get hold of it and tear out its throat. It wails and vanishes in a sulfurous cloud.

Out of combat! Make some saves vs. poison.

Who needs to make how many of what kind of saves against what DC? :D

Same Fort DC 13 from before?

Huc glowers as the thing finally dies. He kneels down to check Fynn's hide where the little retch stung him. "Atta-boy, Fynn. Good job."

Yes, DC 13. Fynn, Oranna, and Arien are all currently needing to make saves.

After a bit of searching you find the secret door that the creature mentioned.

Cool. I'll make a block of them. Let me know if any more damage is taken by the pup.

Oh, sure, here's all the good rolls. AFTER the little elusive punk is destroyed.

Huc, still fuming about the last opponent, nods when Arien finds the door. "Trapped?" he mutters as he watches her work, ready for whatever lies beyond.

Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

"Son of a..." Oranna stammers, "I'm good for a nother heal, then I'm out."

Fort: 1d20 ⇒ 11    -2 Dex
Fort: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Ability damage is the most vile thing in this game. Now I have to do math.

Perception vs. trapped: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Arien grumbles to herself as she examines the wound on her arm. Her muffled protests continue as she probes the door for traps.

The door is untrapped and unlocked. Opening it reveals a hallway leading north and almost immediately turning west. It is empty--at least, the parts of it you can see are. Following the hallway, it turns south again after 60 feet or so, then east after another 60 feet.

At the point that the hallway turns east, the floor slopes down into a trough filled with thick, foul-smelling, green sludge. The walls have been smoothed well, apparently to make them more difficult to climb. There's a narrow ledge continuing past the sludge on the south wall.

Prior to heading out, Arien takes the corpse of the irritating creature that attacked them, and lobs it onto the spiked chair. “You wanted blood… well there it is.”

Sadly, the corpse vanished when it was killed.

We may need to make a withdrawal from this. Arien, Huc, and I have suffered from what is some sort of venom and it has drained much of our strength. I can only cast as well another healing spell."

With over half the party down some DEX, navigating the ledge is going to be tricky. What would you like to do?

Huc considers their situation and dwindling resources, then points forward to the turn in the sludge-filled corridor. ”I hate to turn back without getting a peek at what’s around that corner, but at the same time, Oranna’s right. We’re pretty beat up and worn out.”

He shrugs, ”Some rest before we hit this again might be smart.” He looks to Arien, ”Unless you and me wanna try that ledge to get a peek first? I have some rope to tie one of us off. They could be reeled in should they fall. Though if anyone gets seriously hurt trying it, we could be in a bad way.”

He looks to Arien and Temperance, seeing if they have any thoughts.

Oranna votes to go back and rest.
Huc's on the fence.
Anyone else?

Incidentally, when searching for the secret door in the torture chamber you found that the bronze plaque, although heavy, was removable and in pretty decent shape.

Incidentally, when searching for the secret door in the torture chamber you found that the bronze plaque, although heavy, was removable and in pretty decent shape.

Yoink! Arien pries the plaque from the wall, examining the etchings until Huc’s words stir her from her study. “What? Oh, sure, I’m game to go a little further, I suppose. Hmm, hang on a tick…”

Retrieving a vial from her bandolier, she breaks the seal and sniffs the contents, before imbibing.

Elixir of CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

“Woa-oah!” she barks through a fit of gasping, “…that was a really good batch! I’ll have to check my notes on that one. Anyway, I don’t mind moving on a bit, but that venom really packs a punch. I’ll leave it to Oranna to decide if she can push on, or not.”
 
 
 
 
 
As a player, I’m torn here. We haven’t been in here that long, have we? Resources run out pretty quick at early levels, and couldn’t buy/find anything to help in that regard. I’m generally less-inclined to play it safe, but Oranna has taken some serious hits, and we just ran into DR and ability damage in a level 1 mission. Caution is not warrantless.
 
Oh! Above I listed 2 dex damage, but it was supposed to be 1.

I already used most of my 1st lvl spells. I got one CLW left, but that means I lose out on my other spells like Murderous Command and Cause Fear.

As well, I've got -4 point of Dex damage.

Kn(History)-Untrained: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

“Hey, isn’t this the crest of the Canteclures? Yeah, they ruled this area, long ago.” the half-elf announces, turning the plaque over in her hands. Curiosity apparently sated, she tucks it away in Huc’s pack.

“You don’t mind carrying that, do ya? My last pack went into a crevasse… along with Jorm, the clumsy lout.”

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Is Arien acting suspicious or underhanded when she takes it out? I'm just trying to figure out if Huc should respond accordingly? (Though I'm not inclined to have him do so)

"Uh, sure," Huc grunts as the plaque goes into his pack, though his eyes linger on Arien's hand questioningly when she withdraws.

"Anyway, I have a bit of healing I can give, too, but I'm still wearing some bruises from earlier. Plus, Fynn is run a bit ragged, as well."

I'm down 4 HP and have 5 nonlethal. Fynn also still has 5 nonlethal. I could likely (hopefully) take care of one of those with a CLW, but that leaves the other of us, and only one spell slot from Oranna, which—as she pointed out—leaves her without any resources to contribute if we continue. I hate to call it an early day, but I hate it less than getting someone killed.

That nonlethal damage really took a lot out of my spells.

Yep. And still puts Huc and Fynn in a bad spot should we get into even a decent fight. :/

It is kind of the death of a thousand cuts--I rolled very well on the NL damage, and the imp held up longer than I thought it would against you. Incidentally, it's been an hour--anyone who still has nonlethal damage can recover a point.

I vote to head back sadly, just the luck of the d20.

I'll support that. Rule of 2?

We rest up, recover, and head back in at full strength.

Maybe see if we could gather any better supplies to not put stress on my magics. Save it for the nice big fights.

The group retreats out of the tower without incident. The two deputies have remained outside to keep gawkers out of the area, and one sends a messenger to the baroness. She meets you at the inn, where Talia is providing a somewhat more filling meal. "What did you find?"

Huc gives Talia an uncomfortable smile and the Baroness an equally uncomfortable nod. ”Uh. A lot of stuff. And not what you were hoping, I think.”

He scratches his red, shaggy hair—looking like nothing so much as a dog worrying at a flea—trying to gather his thoughts. ”We didn’t find anything to explain the collapse.” He makes sure no one is close, and drops his voice, ”Or anything that looked like it was related to your husband.” He shrugs, digging through his pack to pull out the plaque, ”Though we did find …”

He goes on to recount, as best he can and getting as much help from his fellow explorers as is necessary to get all the details out, about everything they’ve seen and experienced. Finally, the report done, he leans back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes.

”Between that ghost-thing and the little bite-me, we’re beat, though. A few hours off our feet might do us some good, but Oranna looks pretty worn out, and I don’t like the idea of continuing on in there without her … skills.”

TIME WARP!

"Uh, sure," Huc grunts as the plaque goes into his pack, though his eyes linger on Arien's hand questioningly when she withdraws.

Arien tucks away the dagger shamelessly. Even obscured by the goggles as they are, her eye-rolling is still painfully obvious, punctuated with a exaggerated sigh. “What? I obviously need the practice…”

TIME WARP!

It's just a jump to the left....

The baroness eyes the plaque with interest. "My son would pay you well for this, I think."

Arien looks at the crest peeking from the bag, then questionly at the others. Appraise: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Arien, the market value for this could be as high as 100 gp. As it happens, that's what Arnholde offers you for it.

The night passes uneventfully. Everyone recovers from their nonlethal damage, and can take back one point of DEX damage.

Before sleeping...
CLW on self: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
That puts Huc back up to 11/13, which becomes 12/13 after a full night’s rest, I think.

And I’ll let Arien make the call on selling the plaque or not. Huc won’t complain about splitting some gold from our efforts. :)

After their debrief with the Baroness, Huc had spent the balance of the day just watching the ruins. He didn’t seem interested in talking to anyone, or doing anything else, really. Just watching. And when he found Talia early that afternoon—insisting like always that he pay for his room—he had fallen asleep quickly, and easily.

He’d always found sleep easy. Maybe a trick of an unburdened conscience … or maybe an unburdened mind. Either way, he slept until he couldn’t sleep any more. Which, because of how early he’d crashed, was actually pretty early the next morning.

So when the rest of the group came to find him, leaning on the same wall he’d spent much of the afternoon the day before just watching the ruins … they found him doing just that, Fynn lying lazily at his feet.

”So,” he says evenly, with a hint of a joke, ”y’all ready to go piss off some more ghosts and sh!t?”

If we sell that plaque for 100g, can we pick up a few Scrolls of CLW in town?

There's a temple of Abadar in town, and a shrine to Shelyn nearby.

"It seems like we could use a potion of restoration, if we could afford it," says Temperance, rubbing his beardless gnomish chin.

"Or perhaps some antitoxin..."

It would be less expensive to pay someone for 8 hours of long-term care for the afflicted party members; you'd recover 2 points of DEX in that case, if they make a DC 15 Heal check.

It would be less expensive to pay someone for 8 hours of long-term care for the afflicted party members; you'd recover 2 points of DEX in that case, if they make a DC 15 Heal check.

Sounds like a plan. Not sure of the cost associated, but we could buy CLW scrolls with the balance. I have 2 extract slots, which I can use for CLW, shield, Identify, or a few others(but they only work on me.)

Yes, let's spend the one or two days doing that.

The next morning, the baroness has sent word asking when you're going to continue--she's still worried about the possibility of kobold activity, and the wizard Hunclay still hasn't shown up yet.