GM Raltus' Demon Hunting

Game Master Raltus

Ah, ok.

Carson isn't sure entirely what's going on, but the dwarf continues to be an imminent danger until proving otherwise, and there are injured civilians to get out. Carson directs another spear at the dwarf.

1d20 + 0 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 0 + 5 + 1 = 19 to hit spear
1d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 1 = 11 damage spear +1 bleed

that spear is crazy at first level

The Dwarf takes another spear of wood, looking at everyone before turning to flee.

Are we the good guys here? A crazy dwarf has dangerous pets...but all he did was cast a disabling spell at the people who killed said pets. We responded with lethal force. It’s the equivalent of getting bit by someone’s guard dog, and when the owner finds us over the dead dog, tries to pepper spray us. So we shoot him with guns.

No, he's pretty unambiguously bad. He has "pets" that eat people, and he lets them, presumably to fatten them up so that he can then eat said "pets" himself? It's hard to find a real-life analogy where that would be okay. Anyways...

Instead of chasing the fleeing dwarf, Lorena backs away and turns her attention upwards again, looking for the darkmantle that escaped.

perception: 1d20 ⇒ 8 oops, no ranged ability at all...

The Good Guys? Don't know, but, really, his "pets" tried to eat us AND he attempted to disable us so that we couldn't protect ourselves while they did. If this is just a misunderstanding, it STARTED as a lethal one.

With "the master" out of sight, Terry turns his attention back to the darkmantle thingie.

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Not seeing it off-hand, Terry decides to pot for the better part of valor. "I lost it in the ceiling. I suggest we move past the hunting ground . . .."

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 The Dark Mantle tries to hide in the ceiling, the Dwarf is long gone.

End Combat

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Firinn looks carefully but cannot make out the final darkmantle. "I can't see it - but ambush predators don't usually attack when outnumbered and lacking surprise. We should be safe to move on."

Waking up, Khaz sat upright. Looking about wildly he yelled Dwarven”We mean you no harm!” Then, realizing that the dwarf was gone, he got up and looked at his companions with concern.

”Is everyone alright? Where is the dwarf? Did he hurt anyone? Did ye kill him?”

"He left. Felt kind of unwanted after we responded to him trying to remove our ability to defend ourselves from his pets."

”I’m glad ye didn’t murder him.” Khaz said bluntly. ”How long has he been stuck down here? What did he know of the temple we saw? Perhaps he even knew a way out!” He sighed. ”Anyways. Let’s keep moving.”

The Tunnel leads up into what looks like another camp site, this one was probably used by the Dwarf that the group just drove off. Rummaging through the site you find.

A ratty bedroll,
a small pack filled with dried meat, preserved
fruit, and some moldy cheese (6 days of rations),
a chipped 6-inch-tall marble statuette of a
humanoid throwing a spear

There is yet another tunnel that you can see slopes upward, is this the way out? There are Pitons and hand holds dug into the stone work, the tunnel appears to be abou 60' up.

”It feels wrong to steal from him. I already have five days worth of rations, which I am more than happy to share with all of you. And we should hopefully leave these tunnels today. Let us not injure him more than we already have.”

"We didn't know what he meant with us, but we have people we've promised to take care of. We didn't do anything worse to him than what he called pets planned to do to us. I agree we should leave his things, but let's just get out of here before he comes back."

Carson helps get people up the slope as best he can.

Khaz nods. "Now...to get the injured up there. It doesn't look particularly easy. The last thing that we'd want is for someone's injury to be worsened. Perhaps one of the scales that we found earlier?"

"Cloudwalking: Three times per day as a standard action,
a scale can be used to cast levitate. A pillar of roiling clouds
rises below the levitating object or creature, growing and
shrinking with the target’s altitude. This pillar is 5 feet in
diameter (regardless of the target’s size) and provides
concealment (20% miss chance) to any creature or object
wholly contained within."

Put some stone down. Use the cloudwalking scale. The stone rises up, bringing 1 or more people with it. The injured are thus brought safely up.

That only works if it's a straight rise up, as levitate doesn't move laterally at all. It says sloped, so I assumed it wouldn't work. I would love to be wrong, though.

Levitate: "You cannot move the recipient horizontally, but the recipient could clamber along the face of a cliff, for example, or push against a ceiling to move laterally (generally at half its base land speed)."

So...maybe it could work?

If this item works as the actual levitate spell and not the up and down platform it seems to be, that can work.

You can use levitate basically to hover in a spot, someone could put you along with a rope or you could as Khaz said clamber along

Lorena shrugs as they go through the campsite, not seeing anything of worth to take from the fleeing dwarf. She then approaches the slope, peering up to see if there's anything on top.

more perception: 1d20 ⇒ 12
need climb checks?

No climb checkes needed

"I don't get it. He tried to feed us to those things! Survive now. Feel bad about it later if you want, but leave nothing behind we might be able to use or might need."

Put the injured on a platform, levitate the platform, give them a rope or strap of a backpack where one of us has the other side, and they don't have to try to navigate the slope.

”Ye don’t know that! He didn’t ambush us, we walked into his beasties. He found us, called out to us, and did somethin’ non-violent. An’ only after he was attacked! Now maybe ye be right. But ye could well be wrong. An’ I’ll nay taint me soul by thievin’ just because it be expedient. Nor will I lie to meself jus’ to bloody feel better. Remember.” He growled ”We only control our own actions. Never that of others.”

Sorry for so strongly advocating for leaving loot and resources behind. My characters tend to take on personalities as I write them. And Khaz is both lawful good, and very stubborn. OOC I think you are probably right, and I don’t mean to be disruptive. But Khaz would be a pretty poor paladin to back down. If you loot it I won’t stop you, don’t want to hold up the campaign. But Khaz will leave behind something of his own to make up for it. Again...stubborn paladin.

"While his food was trying to eat us, he tried to make us all helpless. He tried to feed us to his critters! Don't let your good wishes get us killed."

Sorry, posted that from my phone last night. No stress on PC "engagement". I don't mind stubborn do-gooders as long as you don't go the lawful stupid version. Refusing to treat somebody who greeted you by trying to kill you as a threat is dangerously close. Refusing to harm someone who is not currently a threat is not remotely close. Sticking to any of the alignments without a lot of give and take is actually pretty hard. That's part of the reason the system claims to describe the "normal" behavior choices for the individuals described.

"I agree with Terry, take his stuff since he wanted his pets to eat your faces." Horgus is a bit red faced from climbing the wall.

”And don’t let your anger lead ye to theft from one who could well be innocent! I’d rather do what me heart says is right than what is expedient. Now I’ve said me peace, an’ I’m gettin’ to the surface. Ye comin’?”

How noisy are you guys being when walking?

Take 10 on the perception check.

Firinn has little to contribute to the discussion on the dwarf's possessions and busies himself with testing all the hand and foot holds to make sure Avarashnial and Anevia can make it up the slope. He climbs up and down repeatedly, helping to guide the blind elf as much as he can before taking his accustomed place at the front of the group for the next section of cave.

Although he personally is quiet, the rest of the party are less so and Firinn accordingly steps straight out into the open when he sees the humanoids digging.

"Greetings. Can I help you here?" He asks, much louder than needed, trying to give the rest of the party some warning.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

”Aye! We come in peace. Who’re ye?” Khaz called out, his voice loud and confident.

Oh, forgot, Lorena would have expended the guidance spell +1 on that perception check up there, bumping an 8 to a 9 and having zero overall impact on anything. Anyways, +0 stealth modifier = not very quietly moving, even if she wanted to.

perception again: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Unlike "Feathers", Lorena goes straight to the top, ignoring anyone else who needs help. "Keeping watch so we aren't ambushed while you all struggle", she says if asked about it - and she's mostly serious, though she's clearly starting to get a little impatient travelling with the group. In any case, they move on, arriving in another cave, this time with more signs of life in the form of two digging figures. As the others call out, Lorena stays silent and wary.

Terry will help the injured work their way up the slope, seeing the new group well after the others have attempted to start a conversation.

The two humanoids turn around to face the group, they drop into a defensive posture, standing guard over whoever is under the rubble.

One of the Humanoids is a hunchbacked woman, her face so warped by tumors that she’s incapable of intelligible speech. The other is a tall, thin creature with a face that melds the features of an attractive elven man, a goat, and a lizardfolk. His oversized fingers end in dull, spadelike talons.

The man speaks in a thin raspy voice, his accent odd but his speech is Eloquent “If your intentions are ill, we ask you to move on and
leave us in peace. If they are good, then perhaps you can help. As you can see, misfortune has befallen us.”

Detect Evil

Diplomacy to come across friendly even with detect evil: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Damn...second 19 in a row for diplomacy here

Khaz saw the deformities, and his eyes flashed with divine light. "I am Khaz Cloudbreaker. Paladin, crusader, and devoted to the clan which is the dwarven pantheon. My intentions are never ill. How can my companions and I be of help?"

"Crusaders?" The male asks, "Our friend is stuck under the rubble, something happened above and caused this tower to collapse. Can you assist us quickly?"

DC 25 Str check, 6 people can help with 1 doing the roll. DC 15 K. Engi or Prof. Miner if someone has that, you could try to dig him out but you have to beat those DCs on either.

Str: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

19...19...1. That's the dice roller...

"Someone is hurt? Where?" Khaz ran over to help left the rubble, only to put his foot on a loose rock. The rock came out, and with it the dwarf tumbled to the ground.

Can he try again, or does that fumble take him out of the lifting game?

I will allow you 1 more roll, once everyone agrees to how they want to do it

Thank you. That fall already hurt his dignity after that entrance. Glad he has another shot at helping. I’d say either we pick the character with the highest Str modifier to do the first roll...which runs the risk of rolling low and thus this being impossible. Or we all roll, and have heighest he the main roll and others be aiding. If the latter you could do all the rolls in one post to save time, so long as nobody objects to helping them.

You can take a 20

Ok...take 20 would be a 24 then. With one assist that’ll get us over the threshold.

Having gotten to his feet, but not having recovered his lost dignity, Khaz went to work moving the rubble. No longer did he rush, now he moved with diligence and purpose.

Carson makes sure that the lights remain on as the group uses the scale to get the injured up the slope, and into the next room.

Carson Whitaker, Mage at your service.

He nods to the group as he flicks his wand up and around, bringing the lights in.

Khaz, I could make you much larger for just a moment, long enough to move these boulders, if you can't already. I can only improv one spell a day, though, so it needs to be a last resort.

"I should be able to help." Firinn offers, slinging his bow across his back and moving forward to take a good grip under the edge of the largest rock. "On three?"

I'll take 10 on the Str check which gives me 11 and Khaz gets the +2 AA bonus! :)

Lorena stays silent, but she feels a sort of kinship with these people. Whether it's just their strange deformities, not unlike her own, or something deeper, she isn't sure. In any case, she goes to work digging alongside the others.

Horgus and the others come around the final bed with Aerleth, upon seeing the new comers "Who are these freaks? Why are we helping them? We just need to get to the surface."

All further diplomacy checks are at a -2

"I don't know who they are or what they are doing, for that matter. But they are talking to us instead of trying to feed us to their pets, and they seem to know where they are. We can use that kind of help right now, or did you want to wander around aimlessly for a while, yet?"

"What is he talking about? Freaks how? What do they look like?" Aravashnial has now learned to control his voice slightly better.

"They are deformed, they could be the people you were talking about in that other room the descendants of the first crusaders." Aniva fills Aravashnial in.

Horgus huffs at Terry, his face going red at being called out on his rudeness.

As she digs, Lorena responds to Horgus, calmly but with her voice betraying just a tiny bit of annoyance: "We're going to need all the help we can get just to make it to the surface - including yours. If you listen to us and let us keep you alive and not lost, I'm sure you'll discover something you can do to help us in return." Then, to the new folks that they're helping: "Sorry about him, he's still a bit confused from the fall. I'm sure he meant no offense."

If needed, some diplomacy checks: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20, 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25, possible +1 for charming. Use them as you wish.

"If we're going to dig, then we ought to work together. There's nothing wrong with you, Horgus, get up here and help me clear away what the others have worked loose."

The Group talks about digging and about just lifing, eventually settling on a bit of both. Khaz and Firinn do some lifting while Terry helps dig out with Lorena helping to Drag out the wounded man. Once the wounded Mongrel man is out, the 2 who you talked to see to the mans wounds and help him to a standing position.

"Thank you strangers, you didn't have to help but you did. If you wish we can offer you some respite at our village just a bit further along from there. I am Lann"