GM 7thGate's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master 7thGate

Dav is smashed across the top of his head, taking 3 damage and 4 nonlethal damage. Through the ringing in his head, he manages to offer the guard the manacles; the guard drops her club to take them.

The guard looks intently at the gift she has been given, then drops her torch, takes her key from her belt and shackles herself to one of the cell bars.

From the guard room, an ear splitting trumpet blast shouts out, filling the cell block with its sound. The female guard shakes her head, looking down at her hands as a look of horror creeps over her face.

Than, Aella and Elaine are all up now, feel free to post when ready. I can't access roll20 on mobile, but assume dav moved up next to the guard.

Well, let's see if I can get those keys off of her while she's distracted.
please work please work please work

Steal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Aella steps up and snatches the keys from the guard's manacles! There are 4 keys on the chain. You are holding the one that opens the manacles. One key is much smaller than he others.

Sweet! Added to my inventory. I have an item now!

Than looks over at Aella, "Why don't you go let our friend in the other cell loose? I'm sure he would be more than happy to help us."

"Why don't you come help rather than standing in the corner? Take her club or use your magic or something!

Elaine moves up to the bars across from the guard and smirks. "Well, that's just funny. Nicely done, Dav." She bends down and picks up the guard's club. "I'll be taking that, looks like I might get more use out of it than you will, dearie."

Elaine picks up the guard's club. Than can jump in and do something, otherwise we're back up to Dav.

I think we're waiting on Than still, do you want to move out of the corner or do anything else before we wrap back up to Dav?

Than will move over behind Aella. "If any of you know how to use her longsword, you should take it." He holds out his hand towards Aella. "I'll take the keys if you don't mind, as I figure your hands will be too busy to use them in the upcoming minutes."

Dav makes a dismissive wave at the mention of the sword. "Stabbing isn't my forte... Fortissimo, that's more like my forte..."

Aella will drop the keys into Than's outstretched hand. If that's acceptable out of turn.

That's fine, Than can use his action to take them from you if you let him. And, we're back to Dav.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
?: 8
Than: 8

Dav will offer a diplomatic solution to the guard. If she keeps quiet and doesn't attempt to escape, we will leave her in peace, and optionally, unconsciousness. (I hear it looks better for guards if they are not found to have consciously let prisoners escape without a fight.)

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

The guard, eyes wide with fear, shakes her head and tries to kick Dav in the groin.

"You'll never make it out now that we've sounded the alarm! Jasper, HELP!"

I'm going to count that as an intimidate check, given that there is an implied threat. She isn't really able to reasoned with as long as Jasper is coming back in a round and guards are on the way, but the whole situation does scare her half to death. That would succeed at making her shaken.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 - 4 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 - 4 - 2 - 2 = 4

Her foot swings wildly, getting snagged on the bar and not getting particularly close to her target.

Jasper doesn't get back into sight this round, but you hear a faint horn echoing from somewhere down below you over by the wall you were chained to. The alarm has been raised.

Elaine, Aella, Than, you're all up in whatever order you want to go in.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
?: 8

Than will go over to the door and use the keys to attempt to unlock it.

Than inserts a key, and with a *click* the door lock comes undone and the door swings open. You are free from your prison cell!

"So we have the start of a plan: let our friend across the hall out to serve as a distraction while we get out. Now, which way was the exit?

Would it be survival or perception to figure out/remember the best way out?

I think that is probably closest to the "Keep from getting lost" from Survival.

Survival: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Survival: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Survival: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

You were all brought in blindfolded, but Than and Elaine both kept their bearings well enough to realize that you were brought through a lot of twists and turns in a cart, then unloaded, walked in close to a straight line, then turned around and led up stairs. The direction of the location you were unloaded, at least, is towards the wall you were shackled to (up on the map).

I'm confused - I have the +3 to Survival but didn't make the check?

I made a mistake and gave you a +4. Than has the +3, I remembered your wisdom modifier wrong.

Ah, OK.

"While you let our 'friend' out of his cell, I'm going to see if there's anything useful in this alchemical kit. Maybe I can find something nasty to surprise the guards with on our way out."

Elaine takes a step back, behind Than, and pulls gently at the alchemical kit symbol on the veil. The box materializes and she sets it on the floor of the cell. She examines its contents carefully.

The box is made of cedar, approximately 2 feet wide, a foot tall and a foot deep. It has silver clasps holding the lid in place, and the lid has a table of alchemical symbols burned into it.

When opened, a tray slides up and back to reveal a tightly packed, single use portable alchemical lab. Elaine immediately recognizes the materials she would use to craft her extracts and mutagens, if she had time and a formula book. More importantly, there are 6 nearly complete alchemical bombs, ready to be infused by a skilled alchemist and thrown.

Alchemical bombs work by a combination of chemistry and imbuing the resulting concoction with part of the Alchemist's magical aura. The fact they need to be primed in this way is what makes them relatively safe to keep stored near completion like this vs. a conventional explosive. Elaine can charge 5 bombs per day, and can finish and throw a bomb as a standard action.

I think Aella is up before we wrap back around to Dav. Although she doesn't remember exactly which direction you all came from to get here, everyone does remember that you came up to this floor through the stairs in the guard room, where they took off your blindfolds and branded you in the adjacent meeting room. It is fog of war'ed on the roll20 map, but you can see the layout in the original map link I posted for what info you all know about the floor you are on.

Sorry about the delay!

Aella will move out of the cell, avoiding the guard's reach outside of the bars, and start towards the guard room door. She will ready an action to Punishing Kick prone any guards that enter her threatened range.

No problem!

From the other cell, you hear a deep, rumbling voice.

"Free me, and I will crush these foolish little un's and feast on their flesh."

Aella can see part of a large face peering through the narrow window at the top of the otherwise solid door.

Dav is up, then the guards.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
?: 8

Dav consults quickly with the other prisoners. "If things start getting out of hand, we can let him out. I'm not enthused that our host-" Dav indicates the shackled guard- "is between us and his door. I'm gonna keep these bars between me and her." Dav moves closer to the cell door, but still solidly inside the cell.

"But now, I shall recount a tale of steel and heroism..."

Dav breaks into a famous saga of warriors from cold climates. It's an epic tale of gallant heroism, dastardly witchcraft, and, for some reason, gripping legal proceedings.
Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage: all allies +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls, saves vs charm/fear

Jasper comes running into the room, skidding to a stop about 15 feet away from Aella, brandishing a long sword and carrying a shield in his other hand.

"Gettaway from her, you bastards! I'm a gonna gut you like a fish!"

The female guard awkwardly draws her longsword in two hands and holds it as best she can with her hands shackled, and holds it as defensively as she can in her current situation.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Ok, Elaine/Aella/Than are up now. If Elaine wants to throw a bomb at Jasper before Aella gets in range, she should probably go first.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
?: 8

If I want to throw something? Of course I want to throw something! ;)

Elaine breaks into a wicked smile when she sees the lovely bombs all lined up and ready to go. Thank you, mysterious benefactor, she thinks to herself as she picks one up. She closes the box and latches it, then sets aside the club and grabs the handle of the box in the hand not holding the bomb. She walks out of the cell and stands next to and slightly behind Aella. She sets the box down next to her, then prepares to throw the bomb she took out. She aims for Jasper, winds up, and throws.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 + 1 = 21

*BOOM*!

The bomb strikes Jasper straight in the chest and explodes in a fiery burst. Jasper screams as his skin burns.

Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

Aella and Than are up.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
Ogre: 8

Seeing opportunity while Jasper is distracted by fiery pain, Aella will slide up next to him and slug him in the face.

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Damage (if it hits): 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Jasper whips his shield up, barely interposing it in time to knock Aella's blow aside.

Than's up next. Also, I need to roll a bunch of dice for something.

DM Stuff: 10d4 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 4) = 26

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
Ogre: 8

Than quickly moves around the shackled up guard and makes his way to the door to the ogre's room. "I'll have the door open for you in just a second. I hope you are ready break out of here with us."

"I have nowhere else to go. As small and weak as you are, you are my only hope to escape.

I'm coming for you, Jasper. I hope you enjoyed it when you beat me. I know I'll enjoy killing you."

Dav is up next.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
Ogre: 8

So, there is a good chance that Jasper is going to provoke an Attack of Opportunity from Aella on his next turn. To try and keep things moving, I will assume Aella takes it (unless you respond that you don't want to for some reason).

To reduce the number of back and forth responses needed to run the combat, I will generally assume that characters take AOOs when possible as long as it doesn't potentially hurt them to do so. If you want to do something different with your AOOs, you can mention it as part of your post for the turn (i.e., "I would like to use my punishing kick if the enemy provokes an AOO", "I would like to try and trip any enemy that provokes an AOO", "I'll skip AOOs against the minions, I want to save it to hit the boss if he tries to get past me", etc.)

Dav continues his epic recital of the warrior's saga, within which a battle is fought after a local chieftain declares one island to be sacred to the gods, and that no one is allowed to... relieve themselves... on it. This is a problem, since the island encompasses the only really good ship anchorage and shelter for days of sailing in any direction. The battle itself contains numerous examples of personal bravery, brilliant swordsmanship, and not a few zinging insults. Maintaining Bardic Performance(Oratory): Inspire Courage.

Dav asks for one of the knives from the veil, "... to demonstrate how Jothar-'Fleet-Hand' struck through Magni-'the-Shifty's defense."

If you want to move over to Elaine and use your second action to take a dagger off the veil, I'll allow that. I assume Elaine has the veil visible somewhere, since she didn't escape artist it and is currently lacking in pockets or pouches.

Jasper, seeing an unarmed woman trying to punch him and another woman having just thrown explosives in his face, decides, perhaps fatally, that one of these is more dangerous than the other. He will move straight to Elaine and try and stab her with his sword. Aella gets to take an attack of opportunity, smashing him in the back while he moves past her.

Attack:: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 2 + 1 = 19
Damage:: 1d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 1 = 4

As Jasper turns his back to her, Aella swiftly lashes out with a kick that catches him directly in the kidney, breaking several ribs with a loud *CRUNCH* in the process. Jasper decides that he has had enough, and rather than continuing on towards Elaine, reverses course and flees as rapidly as he can.

The female guard looks absolutely terrified, and stays in her corner panting heavily and holding her sword awkwardly in something that resembles a defensive posture.

"I-I t-think you should get out of here as fast as possible. I'm stuck here, y-you don't need to spend time killing me..."

I removed fog of war for the part of the guard room Aella can see, I should have done it when she moved into position but forgot that door was open. You all remember that room; it has a small table with a large signal horn and an absolutely enormous fireplace, which is what you can see part of right now.

Than, Elaine and Aella are up. Also, Dav, let me know if you want to have taken a dagger off the veil.

Dav: 17
Female Guard: 9
Jasper: 9
Elaine: 8
Aella: 8
Than: 8
Ogre: 8

I've moved my character in Roll20. Will you let me take the veil through the bars?

Sure, that is fine. You can just pull the dagger off the veil if you want, so Elaine can pull stuff off it too on her turn.

During an especially action-filled sequence in the saga, Dav drifts toward the corner of the cell. He snatches at the veil, and pulls off a dagger. Dav acts out the description of the saga actions as he recounts them: "Jothar outstretched his arm as if to strike, but he had thrown his weapon into his off-hand. Magni attempted to block the strike with his sword, which, if he had been successful, would have cut Jothar's forearm. But Jothar was not holding a weapon, so he was able to withdraw his hand! Magni was left open when his block did not meet anything, and again Jothar transferred his weapon into his right hand, and dealt Magni a hideous wound, from which Magni would later die."

Aella will shrug over her shoulder at the female guard. "Fine with me. I'm sure our new friend in the cell over there wouldn't mind keeping you company."

She will then double move up behind Jasper, ready to Punishing Kick him prone if he provokes again.

I removed the fog of war on the guard room since Aella can see in there now. I actually can't really tell how these stairs are supposed to work. Those stairs go down a floor, but it isn't readily apparent to me which part is the top vs. the bottom. I'm going to go with the flat bit towards the bottom part of the room being level with the floor you're on, and the stairs going down from there. That means the part of the stairs closest to you is actually down 10 feet.

After Dav removes a dagger from the veil, Elaine gets another bomb out of the box. She ties the veil around the handle of the box, for easier carrying, then moves down the hallway toward the guard room and stairs. She does not charge the bomb yet, but has it ready in case any other enemies appear.

Than will use the keys to unlock the door to the ogre's room and then look in to see if it is locked up similar to how he was.

As Than opens the door, the Ogre immediately walks through, brushing Than aside. He is huge, standing floor to ceiling, and is wearing a loincloth that appears to have been made out a potato sack. He shows signs of emaciation from lack of food, is covered in severe bruises all over his body, and has a half-healed stab wound in his side.

"Free at last. I am Grumblejack. They beat me and starved me and poisoned me, but were fools not to kill me. Now, I eat."

He strides over the guard who is chained to the wall, who starts screaming, and tries to smash her in the face.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

I'll move Grumblejack on the roll20 map once I get home. As you can see, Grumblejack was not manacled, as they didn't have any sized for him. They just beat him unconscious and dumped him in the highest security cell.