Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Follow the Way of the Wicked, the award-winning AP from Fire Mountain games.

The wickedness continues in Way of the Wicked Part II: The Dark Tower!


7,501 to 7,550 of 12,164 << first < prev | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | next > last >>

Dren of the Dark Tapestry wrote:
We look at the ship from a distance, are there any crew members on guard?

Yes -- Erik and Stupid Sven are on watch. They are armed and seem reasonably alert.

The trees come down near the water, so there is just a bit of muddy beach about 20' wide. With its heavy cargo offloaded, the Frosthamar is light in the water now. So it's anchored just offshore. You have to wade out to it, crossing 40' of water, which reaches a maximum depth of 3' -- say, half movement throughout. Climbing on board without help would require a DC 11 Climb check.


M DEAD KILLED BY DMDM Lore Warden 2/Arcane Duelist 3
Stats:
HP 4/45; AC 20(25 w def/CE)/16(21)/14; CMD 19; Init +5; Perception +4; Fort +7 (8 vs Poison), Ref +9, Will +3; Fire Res 1; BP 10/12; Spells Lvl 1 3/4 Initiative +5

are the boats gone?


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Zimu's plan it is then. Disguised as the captain we will return to the ship.
I think that only 4 can be in a boat so there should 2 boats on the shore?

What do you mean by creepy? I was just stating the facts as they are. When I cut off a living creatures head with my new dagger it speaks to me...I would like to know what it is saying. he says as if he were talking about a new toy he had found but wasn't sure how it worked.


The Captain wasn't going to get in a boat for a 40' wade to shore through shallow water. The boats are with the Frosthamar.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Anyway, I'll assume that you spend half an hour disposing of the bodies, in this case dragging them a hundred yards or so inside the treeline and then burying them in shallow graves.

With these additions please, DM please read.

Wait a FULL TWO HOURS doing the most boring things imaginable, discussing tactics if we must. Asking the Judge about his childhood, having Xen do interpretative dance if he wants, boring stuff in case the Bard is still watching.

Onto the bodies, after two hours - First offer Grumble and Ragnar any choice bits he may want and thank him again for killing the captian. Drain the blood of the captain for use as ink for scrolls. Will Blood Transcription be of use here?

Severe the head of each of the bodies, the captain's in particular. I am sure either Dren or Edmin will have no trouble with these. Remove each right foot and lower leg just below the knee and bury them separately. We don't want the captain coming back to haunt us.

Bury the bodies nowhere near each other, several yards away so there is no concentration of burial mounds.

The graves will NOT be shallow DM, bury the bad boys deep.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Xenfal wrote:
i dont see your plan zimu, but i am sure it is great. xen is in

Here is the plan in OOC please.

I am writing this in OOC because I mentioned this plan before and I do not want the bard to overhear this now, even with Message up. I mentioned this a few weeks ago so please consider this a reminder.

First we rest up and heal up and retrieve spells.

I am not worried about the crew. I AM worried of what we may encounter after we deal with the crew.

I say we rest up first in case we encounter a patrol or the local monsters in the area. Can we do that? Deal with the crew the next day.

Taking on the crew, my suggestion.

Cуровую will cast Alter Self followed by Disguise Self and pretend to be the captain.

We board the Frosthammer and go below decks. As the captain I will bellow out in anger for the loss of the halfling and blame those on watch.

I will order the crew to tie up the three or four responsible and have the executed, most likely by Edmin, but maybe by the members of the crew themselves.

We then deal with the remaining crew members.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)

Overly cautious? Maybe. Have you seen how DM intelligently runs this game for us?


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

I am more worried about something waiting in the water for us to take revenge on us for killing the captain when we try to get to the ship. We did just piss off a devil squid queen from the Abyss. I agree on the caution, just maybe not the direction of it :].
Dren is eyeing the water with a lot of doubt for the next couple of years...


Male Vampire(former Dhampir) Bard(Negotiator) 13/Anti-Paladin/2 - [HP 209/231; AC43,FF36,T22; CMD32; DR/10 magic+silver; F+28,R+29,W+26; Per+31; Init +12]

The Judge looks to the others:
Cy, as we are wading out, call out that we were attacked. I will then summon an air elemental to attack the guards. We rush to the rescue . . . The rescue of the elemental,

Burying the bodies deep is easy. That is what earth Elementals are for.

Sorry for the short post, on my phone.


I'm not sure what "intelligently runs this game for us" means, but I'll take it as a compliment.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Dren of the Dark Tapestry wrote:

We look at the ship from a distance, are there any crew members on guard?

Dren looks at Zimu, Do you even want to bother wasting your magic for 5 crew members? Just let the ones with swords take care of them.

Hm. Thought there were seven left. Go figure.


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Keep an eye out for that water, I don't like the look of it.

Perception 1d20 ⇒ 20


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Judge Tohram Quasangi wrote:

The Judge looks to the others:

Cy, as we are wading out, call out that we were attacked. I will then summon an air elemental to attack the guards. We rush to the rescue . . . The rescue of the elemental,

Burying the bodies deep is easy. That is what earth Elementals are for.

Sorry for the short post, on my phone.

I will try to summon one of the guards to us.


Quote:


Wait a FULL TWO HOURS doing the most boring things imaginable, discussing tactics if we must. Asking the Judge about his childhood, having Xen do interpretative dance if he wants, boring stuff in case the Bard is still watching.

Got you spooked a little, has he? The big guys with axes are scary, but the little sneaky dudes who can lurk... ah.

Quote:

Onto the bodies, after two hours - First offer Grumble and Ragnar any choice bits he may want and thank him again for killing the captian. Drain the blood of the captain for use as ink for scrolls. Will Blood Transcription be of use here?

Blood Transcription only works on spellcasters. Was the Captain a spellcaster?

Grumblejack views the hacked-up mess that Sir Edmin has made of the Captain and shakes his head. After a careful examination of the other two bodies, he pulls out a knife and carefully cuts Haakon's liver out. He impales it on a stick and spends the next few minutes eating it, raw, one bite at a time.

Quote:


Severe the head of each of the bodies, the captain's in particular. I am sure either Dren or Edmin will have no trouble with these. Remove each right foot and lower leg just below the knee and bury them separately. We don't want the captain coming back to haunt us.

aw.

Quote:

The graves will NOT be shallow DM, bury the bad boys deep.

You can totally use an earth elemental for that, but it raises the question -- will you spend the next eight hours here, resting up and regaining spells? (He said, reaching for the dice suggestively.)


Dren, waste of a good nat 20! There's nothing in the water.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
I'm not sure what "intelligently runs this game for us" means, but I'll take it as a compliment.

Keeps us on our toes. Even when we get a hard fought 'win' we still don't get to steamroll through with fanfare, and rightly so.


And a spoiler for Jax.

Jax only:

Your sword is now muttering to itself in three different languages. The good news is, one of them is common Talirean! You can understand some of what it's saying!

The less good news is, none of it makes sense. It's odd words and phrases, never more than a single sentence. The humming sword-voice is sometimes higher pitched, sometimes low; the intonation varies from quizzical to merry to a hiss of rage. But none of it connects together.

The still less good news is, you realize with a sudden shock that while you don't understand one of the other languages, you recognize it. It's Norspik, the tongue of the Captain and the rest of the crew of Frosthamar.

Options:

(1) Well, this is interesting... I think I'll sit here alone in the woods for an hour or two. I'll try talking to the sword, see if I can get a response, or maybe spot a pattern in its babbling.

(2) On second thought, maybe I'll wait a bit until a more convenient time when I'm in a safe place and have more leisure.

(3) On third thought, I'll just sheathe the sword and pay it no heed. As long as it works, I don't really care what sorts of noises it's making.


So, you are waiting the eight hours then. Okay...


M Tiefling Magus/Rogue;
Statistics:
HP 169/169; AC:37/21/29; Saves: +22/+23/+20; Init +10; Per +28(See Invisibility), CMD 42
Misc:
Effects: Resist Cold 30, Fly 30', Telepathic Bond

Wait no! I don't think we're waiting 8 hours, unless everyone overrules. Jax is not okay with camping in the woods with a perfectly good ship nearby. We can spend two hours doing what Cimu said, Jax approves of every bit of it.

After we clear the ship, before we set fire to it, let's spend the night aboard. I claim the Captain's room.

As for the digging..well..you have pets for that, right, Judge? I'm going to read a bit on a stump..over here.

Disguise self to get aboard sounds good. Then we can butcher the five easily. I bet it'll take one melee attack each to kill them.

DM:

Jax is going to spend the time the others are digging to try noticing a pattern in the things babbling. That said, I don't know if he grabbed a new language with his last rank of linguistics... Hmm I'm going to check that. If he didn't could he have gotten Norspik from overhearing the Captain?

DM Edit:

He didn't! He only has 8 languages atm (Common + infernal to start, 3 from Int, 3 from rank 3 linguistics) and none selected for his rank 4 of linguistics :D. I think I intended to ask the party what he should pick up next and completely forgot.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
So, you are waiting the eight hours then. Okay...

Actually how about we wait on the boat after we deal with the crew? Sound good?

Cуровую will use a spell and go as the captain, what can she do to add to the disguise? Carry the axe? Glower?

edit ninja'd by Jax.


Okay. You didn't put ranks in Disguise, so they do get a chance to see through you -- but it's modified by the distance, and the fact that they're seeing what they expect (viz., the Captain coming back).

1d20 ⇒ 6
1d20 ⇒ 18


nope, not quite.

So you wade out to the ship and they hastily throw a rope ladder overboard. Erik Halt-Speech vaguely wonders why the Captain is walking funny, and they both would really like to know what happened to Haakon and Bald Sven and why some of you look like you've been in a fight... but nobody asks questions of Captain Odenkirk.


Male Vampire(former Dhampir) Bard(Negotiator) 13/Anti-Paladin/2 - [HP 209/231; AC43,FF36,T22; CMD32; DR/10 magic+silver; F+28,R+29,W+26; Per+31; Init +12]

No need to rest, I can summon 8 earth Elementals for 4 minutes each, figure 2-3 should more than do the job.

I will send Morsum home to rest for a bit while I bury the bodes.


And you're all on board! Slightly wet, but otherwise fine.

Erik Halt-Speech knuckles his brow to Captain Zimu. "Welcome b-b-b-back, Sir," he stammers. "N-n-nothing to re, report." Stupid Sven, goggling openly at your bloodstains, nods dumbly.

Both sailors are armed and are wearing hide armor. Nobody else is on deck. It's the middle of the night, but a couple of small oil lamps provide low-light conditions on deck.


Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Okay. You didn't put ranks in Disguise, so they do get a chance to see through you -- but it's modified by the distance, and the fact that they're seeing what they expect (viz., the Captain coming back).

Actually I have Disguise 1 +3 for Cha modified by a good Bluff and Disguise Self.


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Dren wonders if he can get the two sailors to kill each other by confusing them a lot...but then looks at Cimu and decides to wait.


'Fetch me water. Now!'

The 'captain' will take the water roughly with no word of thanks and head below deck, ordering the men to keep the watch.

-

A few minutes later the 'captain' will scream with all 'his' lungs.

'AGGGHH! WHERE IS THE HALFLING! WHERE IS THE DAMNED HALFLING! ALL HANDS REPORT TO ME NOW!'

'You FOOLS! You let the bastard escape!'

Bluff 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

Time to pay.


Oh, no! Erik and Stupid Sven rush below. The other three sailors tumble out of their bunks and stand trembling.

(Everyone has grabbed a weapon, but the three sailors who were sleeping have no armor. The five of them are standing in a group, looking very, very nervous.)


M DEAD KILLED BY DMDM Lore Warden 2/Arcane Duelist 3
Stats:
HP 4/45; AC 20(25 w def/CE)/16(21)/14; CMD 19; Init +5; Perception +4; Fort +7 (8 vs Poison), Ref +9, Will +3; Fire Res 1; BP 10/12; Spells Lvl 1 3/4 Initiative +5

You fools, you really think it is a good idea to bring weapons to speak to the captain when he is angry! Put them down you idiots. Xen shouts at them as they come back up the stairs

Intimidate 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19


The 'captain' gestures gravely to the once halfling filled cage.

'Tell me Sven, what do you see!'

The captain's face carries a shade of threatening red that looks quite unique and distinct, one not seen in the natural world. His temple's brow is pulsing a little to quickly to be healthy. And the noises that come from his cracking his neck are not unlike the sound of the strain of an ancient coffin lid being pried open.


Xenfal wrote:

You fools, you really think it is a good idea to bring weapons to speak to the captain when he is angry! Put them down you idiots. Xen shouts at them as they come back up the stairs

Intimidate 1d20+11

The sailors are unnerved (shaken!), but they're not putting the weapons down. Grabbing a weapon when the Captain yells is SOP, and nobody questions SOP on the Frosthamar.


Stupid Sven's brow furrows. His face twists with the effort of concentrated thought. Then slowly and hesitatingly he says, "Captain... Sir... I see... the rat-man's cage? Sir?"


Captain Odenkirk shows some surprising patience with his 'beloved' crew.

'And where is the prisoner then Sven?'

The captain's angry neck twisting has taken a rather dangerous turn, the angles he is making with his head are rather alarming.

Maintaining the Bluff 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25


"Uh..." Stupid Sven is literally sweating with the effort of concentration. "The prisoner is... uhhhh... not... in the cage?"


'Are you certain Sven? Are you sure?'

The captain stands to his full height.

'Why don't you make certain - go Sven, NOW! Get inside the cage and make sure the halfling in not hiding or under the cover of some spell. Go into the cage and make sure he is not there.'


After Sven gets on all fours to search the cage a few moments,

'Stay in the cage Sven, make sure each inch is searched.'

The captain turns his gaze to the other crew member.

'Erik, you were on watch as well ... get inside the cage and help Sven search. NOW!'


It's physically impossible for both Erik and Sven to get in the halfling-sized cage. They try, though.

The rest of the crew are visibly cringing. Obviously they are expecting something horrible to happen.


The captain shakes his head, truly not pleased with the effort.

'It appears our prisoner did not enjoy our hospitality. Pity.'

The captain releases a deep breath and stares down at the remaining crew members, his eyes filled with fury.

'I for one would not want to waste such a useful a cage, Olaf, Sverker ... Olaf, help Sven and Erik better fit into the cage.'

The captain nods towards the three sailors bearing arms, indicating that they had better make use of them. Quickly.


1d20 ⇒ 10
1d20 ⇒ 12
1d20 ⇒ 15


Okay, all three sailors are convinced.

1d20 ⇒ 7
1d20 ⇒ 3


The three sailors rush forward to attack. The two in the cage are flat-footed and cramped (-2 AC).

1d20 ⇒ 9
1d20 ⇒ 5
1d20 ⇒ 7


Pfft, only one hit. 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7 damage on Erik, which won't be enough to kill him.

Interestingly, the two sailors don't counterattack! They scramble out of the cage, tipping it over with a crash. But instead of fighting their about-to-be-former colleagues, they're screaming and begging for mercy.

"Nuh, no, Captain! Puh-p-p-please!"

"We'll find him, Sir! We'll catch him and bring him back!"


So, murdering the sailors in this awful way is a pretty evil action. On the other hand, the sailors are evil too; they've done all sorts of horrible stuff (as Nimpy could attest, were he still around), so they arguably deserve it.

Just some hot evil-on-evil action here, I guess.


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Dren begins to smile. It is not often that he is amused by the suffering of others, but this is one such case. He decides to join in the fun...

Tendrils of the dark energy reach out into Erik's mind
Gift of Madness DC 19 willpower save or confused for 1 round


M Tiefling Magus/Rogue;
Statistics:
HP 169/169; AC:37/21/29; Saves: +22/+23/+20; Init +10; Per +28(See Invisibility), CMD 42
Misc:
Effects: Resist Cold 30, Fly 30', Telepathic Bond

...Dren is twisted.

Jax mumbles to himself, fingering the hilt of his blade. Can we finish this now? Its beneath us to play with such weak prey.


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Sometimes you have to savor the evilness...


Male Vampire(former Dhampir) Bard(Negotiator) 13/Anti-Paladin/2 - [HP 209/231; AC43,FF36,T22; CMD32; DR/10 magic+silver; F+28,R+29,W+26; Per+31; Init +12]

The Judge watches the spectacle licking his lips in anticipation.
So easy to twist their little minds. So much tasty blood to be spilled.


Saving throw for the unfortunate Erik: 1d20 ⇒ 13


1d100 ⇒ 7

I need to memorize that Confusion table. That's, um "act normally"? [checks] Yes it is.


Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'

Dren frowns, If there is time I hit him again and possibly again.I will add the table to my posts, do you care if I roll it as part of my post? Will only occur if the creature fails the save...

Gift of Madness DC 19 willpower save or confused for 1 round

7,501 to 7,550 of 12,164 << first < prev | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Play-by-Post / Doug M's Way of the Wicked Campaign All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.