GM Captain Trips - Kingmaker Exploration Group 1

Game Master Chad Newman

Inside the satchel are six potions. Three potions of cure light wounds, one potion of lesser restoration, one potion of mage armor, and one potion of cure moderate wounds.

Realizing what is in the satchel Dendarial is no longer worried about the group being paid. There is a small fortune of potions here. he says.

800 gold, list price. :)

Will just shakes his head at the oddity that is Bokken. "I think I speak for Winifred's eyes when I say we should pack up and be going south as quickly as we can. Wouldn't want to be here for another explosion."

"I'm going to be sick." Winifred says after the old man leaves, placing her hand on her mouth and not looking very well. It's bad enough he runs off naked, he has to give me a wink too!

Rufus snorts derisively as he sees to breaking down the camp & squaring everything away. "Unless I'm mistaken, there is still a ways East on the Charter. Might be best to see to that before traveling South."
Considering a moment, he adds. "Or was that where the rest of them were going?"
Unfortunately, it has been long enough that I no longer recall precisely where the other team was headed...

The other team headed west from the outpost. If you check the map you will see the hex you are in as well as the actual area you are expected to explore.

Contemplating a moment, Rufus shakes his head. "No, they weren't headed East. We should."

Will shrugs non-commitally, "I figured since we're on the southern edge of this area, we'd just continue south and that will allow us to circle through that area and be near the Post when we are done. If you want to head east, it'll be longer, but I'm fine with that too." says Will.

Can we get some form of alphanumeric indicators on the map hexes so we can more easily indicate which hex we mean?

I'll work on adding a bit of detail to the map to help keep things clear.

Dendarial, his gear stowed, takes point and is ready to move out when the group is ready. He asks Is anyone not ready to move out?

"The sooner we leave here the better." Winifred adds, showing that she is very ready to move out. "Just as long as we know which direction we are going."

"Eastward," Karse says, picking up his gear.

Map has been updated to show the hex coordinate names, which should help a bit. I'm assuming you are heading to A-11 now.

I guess. I had been pushing for B8 to make a nice loop, but seem to have been out voted. :D

Can't log on to see map from work - Den is good with either direction as both need to be explore. He would opt for an optimal route with as little backtracking as possible.

Winifred doesn't even know which way is north, that requires a rank in survival, so she neither cares which direction they are going, nor would she know. Since Dendarial is the only one with survival ranks, he would be the only one knowing the cardinal direction we actually head in, and could actually deceive us into going in a totally different direction.

Will's 0 level spells are a makeshift survival skill. Know Direction and Spark.

Ok, so has there been a decision? Or should we just roll a dice and go with luck and fate? :) Let's push forward!

Karse heads off in a direction that he presumes is eastward, that just so happens to be...

1d4 ⇒ 2

...eastward.

Rufus decided East a while back, and we all agreed.

Good enough for me, it seemed like there was still some discussion on the direction. Moving on!

The party collects their things and heads East, away from Bokken's demolished hut and into the wilds of the stolen lands. The heat of the summer makes things unpleasant and the thought of having horses to ease the strain of so much walking sounds like the best idea in ages, but you each soldier on.

The first day of travel out from Bokken's passes without event, the group finding a scrubby bunch on trees on the open plain to make camp in, and Dendarial sets to work finding some food for the group with Acio. Using the owl's near perfect vision he manages to track and bring down a deer, which he returns to the party with, providing food for the evening.

Assuming you all will be keeping a standard watch, with those with the better nighttime vision taking the middle shifts.

The night passes without event and the party sets forth in the morning, heading slightly northeast with the plan to circle the area and work their way to the interior of the lands they have set out to explore. The heat and humidity continue to beat down upon you, making the travel uncomfortable at best.

But the day is without event and the party once again makes camp for the evening.

The night passes quietly, and the group continues on the next morning. The heat is beginning to wear on the group and the party begins to wonder if there is anything at all out here in this stretch of land. That is, until they come upon a copse of trees surrounding a rocky outcropping in the middle of a field. Taking a closer look the group discovers a sinkhole near the middle of the brush and trees, nearly twenty feet wide. Looking down, they can see what appears to be natural limstone caverns around forty feet down, a swift stream of water passing through beneath their feet.

"Have a care," Karse warns, "We know not what may lair herein."

The ranger will look closely at the ground around the tree and entrance inviting any of the party that can to help him.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

And it seems he needs some help.

Will follows close behind Dendarial, hoping to learn a bit of woodcraft from the elf.

Survival AA: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Karse kneels to study the ground.

Survival (untrained) aid another: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Edit: Forgot the Wisdom bonus, so maybe not so much of a hindrance after all.

"A cave? Curious." Winifred says examining the sinkhole, but not getting too close to it.

Perception or Survival, your pick, either way unmodified wisdom check.: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

As the group inspects the hole, they determine that it appears to be a natural occurrence where water has eroded away the soil level enough to cause a collapse in the ground. The caves below look natural enough, and were likely formed from the flow of water through the area. There appear to be no fresh tracks or signs of disturbance in the area below, but from this distance you cannot make out much detail in the darker area below.

Hmm. About 40' down. Dendarial says as he retrieves a rope and begins to knot it for climbing. He will secure one end to the tree and drop the coil into the hole Shall I go first? he asks the group?

"Allow me," Karse says, taking hold of the rope. "I can see in the dark, so there is less likelihood of being seen, but not seeing."

Dendarial hands Karse a potion bottle from the satchel before he holds the rope to steady it. Here. he says. Carry this with you.

The bottle is clearly marked Cure Light Wounds

Since Karse is at a climb penalty he will need to make four Climb checks, as taking 10 will not cut it. Since you are dropping down on a rope without a wall to brace against the DC would be higher, but I'm making it a DC 10 since the rope is knotted.

I would simply have Karse drop his backpack, but that won't change the Climb check.

Climb check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13
Climb check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8
Climb check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (17) - 2 = 15
Climb check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 = 17

Crap. This is gonna hurt.

Edit: No, wait. Missed it by less than 4, which means simply that he doesn't make progress.

Climb check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (4) - 2 = 2

That will be a fall, but only from 10 feet.

Sir Karse slowly works his way down the pit, taking every effort to keep hold of the rope despite the obvious interference of his armor in the attempt. Just as he is nearing the end of his rope, so to speak, his gauntlets slip against the last few knots and he drops to the ground with a splash, landing in about a foot of ice cold water.

Falling Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

As he picks himself up from the fall and scans the bottom of the hole, he sees that there are tunnels to the east and west which go on further into the darkness. The walls here are slick with moisture and the temperature is much cooler than the summer heat above.

The ranger will climb down next. Taking 10 he has a 12. At the bottom he observes Tunnels. Some of us will need a light. He motions the others to come down carefully.

"Left? Or right?" Karse says quietly, as Dendarial reaches the ground. Waiting for an answer, he swallows the potion of cure light wounds.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Somehow I knew you would need that :)

Rufus decided East a while back, and we all agreed.

.

"Any indication of habitation? By man or beast?" Rufus calls down as he begins examining the area around the sinkhole.
untrained Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1, hah! Whole lot of scrub & plains...

Now that he is down, Dendarial will look for tracks and other signs of activity in the pit/cave, and then report up what he finds.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Other than the normal signs of life, rodents, raccoon, and so forth there are no obvious tracks or signs of activity in the area. It appears that this sinkhole is fairly recent, maybe a month old at best, as erosion has not yet fully claimed all of the earth that fell into the hole.

The elf communicates his findings to Rufus and the others. Seems new and unused. Small animal tracks only. Maybe a new entrance into old tunnels though. Worth exploring.

In essence of saving time, I'm going to flash forward a bit through this part, taking some artistic license. There are actually no encounters to be had with this specific landmark.

Dendarial and Karse spend roughly an hour exploring both sides of the pit, following the natural limestone caverns as they twist in the earth. The rock is sound, worn down by countless years of water running through the smallest of cracks, which eventually gave way to larger and wider passages as nature did her work on the soft stone. Both directions end roughly 100 yards in, their tunnels once again becoming too small to navigate.

On the return trip out Sir Karse spots an irregularity in the stone with his keen vision. Pointing the feature out to Dendarial the ranger's skill with the natural world allows him to identify the true nature of the strange find. Deep within the twisting tunnels of the hole is a cluster of natural malachite, a semi-precious gemstone known to form within limestone. While the true magnitude of the find is unknown, the pair mark the spot for future exploration.

The party has discovered a natural resource within the Stolen Lands. At a point in the not too distant future this hex can support a gemstone mine, which will allow the group to set up a mining operation in the hex which will add to the land's resources.

The caves also lead deeper, to unknown locations that might be explored when the party has the means to bypass the shrinking size of the tunnel openings.

Cool. And I guess it could be used or turned into an underground camp if we needed one. Good to have a source of fresh water.

As long as you don't mind that it might in time fall on you if there was another sinkhole to form while you were camping.

Is there anything additional to explore in this hex, and around what time would it be now?

Will will do his best to assist the spelunker’s climb back to the group. ”So, now that we know what’s here, are we ready to move on?”

Yes. I am enjoying this exploring and cataloging of the land. Let us continue.

This hex is now completely explored, I'll update the map today. Given the time it took to explore the tunnels it would be a few hours after noon. You all could proceed back to the post or you could continue your exploration efforts and head in the direction of another unexplored hex.

Keep exploring, unless we are due back. I have forgotten when we agreed to be back, but it does not seem like much time has passed.

Agreed.

You all are actually one day ahead of the other party right now, so the time stream is a bit off. If you all are continuing to explore, which direction or hex are you heading to?

Which part of the hex are we in? I'd vote for whichever is closest out of SW, SE, and E.