GM Samy's Humble Bundle Game (Inactive)

Game Master Samy

The sun is setting, the daylight is drawing to a close and twilight is starting to set. It's drizzling, like it often does in these parts. The sea coast is right next to you, you can hear the churn of the surf a little ways distant. You are sitting in a chariot traveling a coastal dirt road southward. In addition to the churn of the surf, you can hear the clacking of the horses' hooves and the squeaking of the chariot's structure. Inside, you're safe and dry from the drizzle. The quarters are cramped, and you are forced fairly close together. The chariot should hopefully be approaching its destination soon -- you had originally been told that you should arrive before sunset, but there had been some delays on the way, and that is why it's getting dark before your journey ends.

Six people are too many for a cart. I wish I could've just ridden a horse instead. Markas shifted to try and give his sore backside some respite from the hard wood of his seat. I cannot even breath deep else this confounded box may burst at the seams.

How did I get roped into this mess. This chariot is liable to snap an axle under the weight of this group. There is most certainly an odor that has been building in this cramped space.

I can usually catch some rest on long journey's but something about this trip has my stomach tying itself into knots. Perhaps its just that smell. I might as well break the tension in the air.

It seems like we have been traveling quietly for far too long. We might as well get to know each other. I'm Tulle Falk, former militiaman, now serving as a hired hand. How about the rest of you?

Tomak smiles weakly at the party embarrassed of the close quarters.

Well this is uncomfortable.

I listen for the sound of the horses. I am trying to determine how the horses are feeling right now. Easy or scared? Bored or excited?

handle animal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Well met. I am called Tomak Bluehorn. As a newly inducted acolyte of Genara I have been dispatched to this realm to assist the community in any troubles it may have. What business brings us all together here in this dubious carriage?

Adokul has been sitting silent, eyes closed for the majority of the journey. He is wearing a clean, but clearly not new monk's outfit and has various weapons about his person. Opening his eyes he introduces himself in a clear, but slightly accented voice.

I am Adokul. I seek opportunities to help those in need. I heard that I may be of service by joining this group.

As the sound of the waves rolling and the rain pattering on the roof of the chariot continue Adokul goes back to his meditation.

Axlem is large, for a dwarf, has also been quietly keeping to himself, sizing up the situation.

I'm Axlem.

Petian leans out of the shadows.

I'm Petian Runehouse and I heard that I might make a few gold on this adventure. Any idea where this infernal thing is taking us?

NO!

A little after the sun has set, there's a gradual change in the carriage's pace. Little by little, it starts accelerating, picking up speed, hitting little stones and jostling, until eventually it feels like it's going fully out of control. From within the carriage itself, it is difficult to see what's going on, as there is no line of sight to the driver on the outside.

Those who wish may attempt Climb checks in order to open a carriage door and climb to a better vantage point to see what's going on. There are two vantage points available, one on either side of the carriage.

The DC (Difficulty Class) of the Climb check is 15, which means you will need to roll 15 or more on your Climb check in order to get into position. If you fail, you are just thrown back inside the carriage by the careening and jostling but take no damage.

So here is what you do: you describe your action in your post, and then underneath the description you put (dice=Climb)1d20+4(/dice), except with square brackets, and replace the 4 with whatever your final Climb modifier is. That includes any points put into it, the relevant ability modifier (Strength) and +3 if a) it is a class skill *and* b) you have put points into it. You don't get the +3 class skill bonus if it's a class skill if you haven't put any points into the skill.

If you don't have any points in Climb, then it is just a plain Strength check instead, 1d20+ your Strength modifier, and you can write (dice=Strength) instead.

If I left anything unclear, feel free to ask questions about the mechanics in the discussion thread.

You may only attempt once for now. After everyone has tried, you can try a second time if no one has gotten into position, but you have to wait until everyone has tried before we go for those second tries.

If two people succeed, no one else may try after that, as there are only two "slots" available to climb, one on either side.

Adokul springs from where he is seated on the floor of the chariot and up onto the ledge.

Let us see what we can see

climb: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Adokul makes it to the right side vantage point. I'm going to give other players a little while to make their own attempts as well if they desire, before describing what is seen.

Markas opens the other door and grips the roof of the carriage.
Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
His hands slip and he falls back on his rump, quite unhappy with himself.

Petain seeing what is going on follows Markas out of his door

Let us see if I can do any better then Markas

climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

As Petian opens the door and starts to climb, the carriage rattles and he falls back inside.

Might I suggest using the other door

Axlem makes his attempt following the advice:

Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Well, that did not work any better!

Tulle scrambles past the fumbling and slipping bodies to grab ahold of the frame of the carriage door and hoist himself into a vantage point.

Move aside and make room!

Climb: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Tomak attempts to haul himself up.

What is going on?

*Dont we include armor check penalty?*

1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

MCCL and Sickles, please post in your aliases for the gameplay tab.

Sickles, yes you apply your AC penalty to climb checks. However there were only 2 vantage points and it looks like Adokul and myself made the first 2 successful rolls

After Tulle has secured his hands and feet to peer out to see what is happening with the carriage Tomak attempts to squeeze past.

There is not enough room for the 2 of us!

For fun I'll roll to see if I successfully push Tomak back. GM let me know if I messed this part up

Strength Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Tulle does not need to push Tomak back, there just isn't any room or available handholds for him to make the attempt.

Adokul and Tulle climb to the two sides of the carriage as it races along on the coastal road, some trees on both sides shading the path and the crash of the surf off to the distance.

When Adokul and Tulle climb up, they notice that the carriage's driver is gone, and there is no one in front driving the vehicle. The horses are running wild.

The next moment, they see three small green humanoid creatures, about the size of a human child, with big heads and toothy grins, on top of the carriage. (Image) Two of them acrobatically vault inside carriage, crashing among the four of you remaining inside, while one of them stays on top of the carriage. They cackle maniacally and pull out nasty looking serrated little swords in order to attack you.

Enemy Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Normally you would roll your own initiative here, to see which of you get to act before the enemies, but since none of you have an initiative modifier high enough to beat them, I'm going to go ahead and just have them act first. (Adokul has +5, which could theoretically match them if he rolled a 20, but in case of a tie, the higher modifier wins, so he would still lose in that case.)

The creature on top of the carriage swings its small sword at Adokul, while the two inside the carriage attack Petian and Tomak.

Sword vs Adokul: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 possible critical Critical Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17 critical Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

Sword vs Petian: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16 hit Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Sword vs Tomak: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 hit Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Adokul and Petian get struck solidly by the swords, taking 4hp of damage each. Tomak is grazed by the sword attacking him, only taking 1hp of damage.

What sort of creatures are these enemies? For that, you need to roll the skill Knowledge (local). You do not need to have put points into it. If you haven't, then it is just 1d20 + your Intelligence modifier. Information that you only have access to if you beat a certain skill roll if often in PbP presented in the following manner. Now note, you may only access the following spoilered information if you roll Knowledge (local) or Intelligence and get at least 5 as a result.

Everyone may now post their own actions. You may take one move action and one standard action (such as an attack), or one full-round action. List of actions is on the PRD, here. Most notably for this situation, drawing a weapon is a move action and making a single melee attack is a standard action. Neither of them provokes what's called an "Attack of Opportunity", which is allows the enemy to make an extra attack against you.

Up top: Adokul, Tulle, one enemy
In carriage: Axlem, Petian, Tomak, Markas, two enemies

You don't need to worry about positioning for now, other than whether you are up top or in carriage -- in those regards, consider the two as two separate fights. You may attack the enemies in the same place as you without needing to worry about whether you are close enough to reach them.

And yes, do remember to post as your aliases in the gameplay tab.

Adokul attacks the enemy in front to him with a flurry of unarmed blows. He attacks first with a straight kick then a hard elbow.

attack one: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
attack two: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Do I damage rolls here then if I don't hit then we ignore them?

attack one damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
attack two damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Yes, do damage rolls at the same time as attack rolls. Then we just ignore them if they don't hit. That works out faster than separately calling out for damage rolls and waiting for a second post.

knowledge(local): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Does anybody know what these blasted creatures are?
Petian quickly pulls his dagger from its sheath and attacks the nearest creature.
attack: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19
critical confirm: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

attack damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Tulle draws his warhammer and attacks the creature in front of him yelling Damn Goblins!

Warhammer Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Critical Confirm: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

If I dont know if I hit when I do a critical confirm should I just leave it like that and let you add the multiplier?

It's fine like that, since sometimes as a player you don't know if it confirms or not. That 20 is pretty safe to know that it confirms since it's so high, but sometimes it can be more iffy. Either way in this situation it doesn't matter because even the minimum damage is enough to kill your enemy. :)

Adokul misses the creature on top of the carriage, but his attacks distract it enough for Tulle to deliver a mighty blow to the enemy's back, sending it flying right off the carriage and into the trees, dead.

Downstairs, Petian manages to graze one of the attackers.

We'll wait for Axlem, Tomak and Markas to get their turns in.

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Yep, they be GOBLINS!!!

Wielding his axe at the unscathed Goblin:
Dwarven Axe Attack:: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Axe Damage:: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

It is too crowded in here...

Markas hacks at the remaining goblin with his handaxe.
Handaxe: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4
There should alreaady be enough damage to kill one right? Eh.

Would I be right in assuming that to move back inside on my turn to help my compatriots would be a move action and I would still be able to make an attack?

Nope, not enough damage to kill one (downstairs) yet, since Petian is the only one whose attack roll was high enough to actually hit so far. :)

Adokul, with everyone moving around and two goblins in there as well, it's now too crowded to move back in -- you'll have to hang outside the door. However, you can still attack, punching and kicking through the open door or window or whatnot, so you won't be disadvantaged. You'll just be attacking from the outside in.

Tomak draws his hammer and shield and swings at the nearest foe

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

*Lol the botch*

Summary of round 1:

Goblin hits Adokul for 4hp
Goblin hits Petian for 4hp
Goblin hits Tomak for 1hp
Adokul misses goblin
Tulle hits goblin for 12hp and kills
Petian hits goblin for 2hp
Axlem misses
Markas misses
Tomak misses

The two remaining goblins act, remaining singlemindedly focused on their initially chosen targets, Petian and Tomak, making slobbering and gobbling noises as they try to jump all over the two of them, trying to munch on their arms at the same time as they're hacking at them with their small serrated swords.

Sword vs Petian: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9 miss
Sword vs Tomak: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 miss

Everyone may act again. Everyone is in attack range, including Adokul and Tulle who are hanging just outside the carriage. The goblins are close enough to the carriage doors that they can be reached even from the outside. The horses keep galloping wildly out of control.

Lets see if this will do any more damage to you!
attack 1: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12
attack 1 damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

attack 2: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19
attack 2 damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

If that is two weapon fighting you take some additional penalties to hit - if you are attacking with just a single weapon, you don't actually get two attacks. The move action cannor be replaced with a second attack. The details for two weapon fighting can be found for example under the same named feat.

These horses are going to run us off a cliff, we have to get them under control

Tulle pulls himself into the driver seat of the chariot. Grabs the reigns and attempts to control the horses to stop them.

Woa, easy girls

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

If that is two weapon fighting you take some additional penalties to hit - if you are attacking with just a single weapon, you don't actually get two attacks. The move action cannor be replaced with a second attack. The details for two weapon fighting can be found for example under the same named feat.

Ok, I am using a single weapon. I guess that second attack is null and void then.

Adokul swings down making a flurry of kicks through a window at one of the goblins.

flurry of blows attack one: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
flurry of blows attack two: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

flurry of blows attack one damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
flurry of blows attack two damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Lets try this again!

Axe Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Axe Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

SNAKEEYES!

At least I did better than the attack of Petian that did not happen :)

I want to throw a goblin out of the carriage. How do you want to do this boss?

The simplest way to model that would be using the Bull Rush combat maneuver. You roll your base attack bonus (+1) plus your strength modifier plus 1d20 versus the target's CMD -- if it succeeds, you can push the enemy back 5 feet, which is enough to push it out of the carriage. Another option would be using the Grapple rules, but those are one of the most complicated and annoying rules in the game so I would avoid that route.

Bull Rush linky

Yeah, I knew grappling was bad so I was hoping you would have a different method. Let's go for a bull rush.
Markas roars with anger and rams his shoulder into the goblin.
Bull rush: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Everyone except Tomak has acted this round?

Right, just waiting on Tomak now.

I'm going to move us to the next round. Tomak may post his action for the ending round retroactively, and if it kills the last goblin, then it will negate the next round.

Recap of round 2:
Goblin misses Petian
Goblin misses Tomak
Petian misses goblin
Tulle succeeds at Handle Animal
Adokul misses goblin
Axlem misses goblin
Markas bull rushes goblin

By and large neither side manages to do much damage to the other during this round, perhaps due to the confined quarters which make fighting more difficult as the participants have to struggle against the environment as much as their opponents. However, Markas slams against one of the goblins, knocking it clear out of the carriage and sending it crashing to the ground outside, quickly left behind by the racing vehicle. At the same time, Tulle takes control of the reins and begins to get the carriage under control. You can feel the ride start to become smoother, and while the panicked horses can't be pulled to an altogether halt in the six seconds that a round represents, Tulle's assuming the rider position makes sure that the carriage won't be riding off a cliff or crashing into an obstacle anytime soon. Tulle can start to slow down the carriage, but it will take a few rounds of being up there to pull the horses to a full halt.

The last goblin remaining tries to strike Markas in retaliation for knocking the other goblin out.

Sword vs Markas: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12 miss

Everyone may act again.

lets see if this works this time

Adokul tries again to strike through the window at the goblin.

flurry of blows attack one: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
flurry of blows attack two: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

flurry of blows attack one damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
flurry of blows attack two damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

These horses are very nervous and for good reason, it appears we are not in friendly territory. I need to find out where we are and how far we are from the nearest settlement.

Knowledge(Geography): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

For now I guess I will just continue down the road until there is an appropriate area I can pull off.

"Are those damn goblins taken care of yet?!"

Petian hears Tulle call and replies, right before commencing with another attack from his dagger
We're trying here, mate! You just make sure that those bloody horses do not run us off a cliff!
attack: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (7) - 1 = 6
damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

sorry for the delay

(retroactive attack) 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 damage 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

attack this round

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20 damage 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

You succeed where we have failed Tomak. Well struck

Here, Here

well, I had to regain my dignity for missing the first swing. Done and done.

The nature of battle is chaotic. I have yet to deliver a true blow myself.