GMTrex's Kingmaker Campaign

Game Master Andrew Trexler

Would you entertain a Linquistics check to come up with basic words like "stop" "friend" "help"? Zed, you're the best equipped here. Actually, Zed! Summon a Lantern Archon and have it talk. We won't have long, but we'll have a few moments!

Zed moves quickly and summons forth a Lantern Archon. Quickly he instructs it to speak with the giant. "Tell it that we mean him no harm. We want to help if he's willing to BE helped. Now, quickly find out what he needs."

The giant tightens his grip on his club as the archon appears. That changes slightly to a confused grunt once the archon begins speaking to him, and he lowers the club a few inches. He gives a gnashing, guttural reply with halting words.

The archon translates. "Munguk has depleted his supply of moonshine and is looking for blue wolfberries to make more. He also asks if you are edible and whether you have seen any suitable mates for him."

"We are NOT edible. Poison. No mates, happy to look."

Nature: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 Taranis thinks about whether or not he's seen blue wolfberries.

The giant simply grunts at the translation.

"Quick, the berries come when the weather turns. We'll help him when its time. Remember, we don't taste good."

Munguk grunts again, not moving from his stand athwart the path.

"I am seeing someone at the moment. Is nobody else interested in being his mate? Unrak, in the short time I have known Munguk, I feel like the two of you would get along well. Are you not interested?" Augrym says, completely straight faced without a hint of humour. He is genuinely interested in making a match.

Speaking quickly before the archon winks out, "We promise to help. Remember our faces. If you let us past, we'll find a mate and berries as soon as possible."

The archon disappears after translating. The giant still does not move, but there is nothing stopping you from going around.

Maintaining a friendly and non-threatening posture, the party moves past:
"Zed, if you know any words, tell him that we will help him when next we find him."
Zed guesses: Linguistics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

The giant watches you circle around and eventually goes back to licking his broken jar.

What now?

WEST

3d100 ⇒ (19, 2, 54) = 75

The Huntsmen give the giant a wide berth and proceed west, making camp a couple of miles away. On [color=teal]17th Gozran[/color] they continue, eventually reaching the edges of the southern Narlmarches and entering the shade of the trees.

Not long afterwards, there is a curious moment when the whole world suddenly becomes dark, but only for an instant. And then there is the strange, beating rhythm of the wind. Augrym gasps and gives a sudden shout, pointing at a massive winged beast bearing down on you from the sky!

Arcana to identify.

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym, Marc
2. ???
3. Unrak, Taranis

Arcana: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

”I know this beast! It is a...”Trex to fill in this blank and then surprise us with some helpful info.

Study the new opponent, activate my Stag Helm and ready an action to shoot it when it gets within 50ft.

attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 251d4 + 3 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 3 + (6, 5) = 16

Augrym readily identifies the creature as a manticore, a great magical beast with a lion's body and a dragon's wings. Manticores have spiked tails; these spikes can be flung great distances and regrow over time.

The half-orc readies his bow.

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym (readied), Marc
2. ???
3. Unrak, Taranis

Round the First
• Current HPs: Max

Zed casts Glitterdust with a flourish and an almost imperceptible crunching sound as he crushes a few small flakes of micah and spreads the remnants in an arc towards the manticore!

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 18 SUCCESS

Gilded but otherwise unaffected, the manticore continues its course.

Round I
1. Zed, Augrym (readied), Marc
2. Manticore
3. Unrak, Taranis

Is there a way to cast Glitterdust without a flourish?

Unicorns can fart glitterdust.

Is there a way to cast Glitterdust without a flourish?

Only with the Still Spell feat.

Augrym Ko’Charr wrote:

Is there a way to cast Glitterdust without a flourish?

Only with the Still Spell feat.

Or a unicorn butt.

Marc unslings his long bow says a quick prayer to Eastil and lets the arrow fly on the beast

draw weapon, using fervor to cast divine favor, attack with composite longbow

attack!: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
damage?: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Marc's shot goes well wide. The manticore swings north and flicks its spiked tail at the party!

Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Spike @ Unrak: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Spike @ Marc: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 MISS
Spike @ Zed: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 THREAT Confirm: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25 CONFIRMED Damage: 2d6 + 14 ⇒ (1, 1) + 14 = 16

Augrym fires off a reply that sticks in the manticore's hide!

Round I
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (16 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Round II
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (16 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

"Zed, Augrym, can it keep doing that?!" Taranis awaits an answer.

If yes, he'll cast Barkskin on himself.

If no or no answer, he'll cast it on Toth.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

Taranis spots many more spikes in the manticore's tail, and a few missing, but does not get a good enough look to count.

Round I
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (16 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Round II
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (16 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Unrak pulls out his crossbow and fires

attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
damage: 1d10 ⇒ 1 <--MOST impressive...

The manticore barely even notices the bolt...

Round II
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (17 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Augrym, pulling a spike from his shoulder...
"Yes, good leader brother friend Taranis. It can most certainly shoot more spikes."

He takes aim and repeats his previous attack but adds Bane to his weapon.
attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 231d4 + 5 + 2d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 5 + (2, 6) + (3, 1) = 18

Augrym sinks another arrow in the manticore's flank.

Round II
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (35 dmg)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Zed keeps things focused, and launches a trio of magic missiles at the foe! MM: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4, 1) + 3 = 9

Zed's bolts punch into the manticore.

Round II
1. Zed (11/27 hp), Marc, Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (40 dmg) (minor correction from Augrym's damage)
3. Unrak (56/65 hp), Taranis

Marc takes aim at the manticore and lets loss:
attack!: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
damage?: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Marc adds another arrow to the mix! The manticore continues northeast and flicks its tail again! Zed takes a spike in the chest and crumples to the ground.

Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13 MISS
Spike @ Marc: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Spike @ Unrak: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Spike @ Zed: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 THREAT Confirm: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 CONFIRMED Damage: 2d6 + 14 ⇒ (3, 1) + 14 = 18

Round II
1. Zed (-7/27 hp, prone, unconscious, dying), Marc (29/38 hp), Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (48 dmg)
3. Unrak (44/65 hp), Taranis

Round III
1. Zed (-7/27 hp, prone, unconscious, dying), Marc (29/38 hp), Augrym (38/50 hp)
2. Manticore (48 dmg)
3. Unrak (44/65 hp), Taranis

Marc sees zeb goes down and does his best to heal the group...

channel positive: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6

at least zeb stops bleeding out

Zed has 33 HP max... I forgot to update the header when we leveled up to 5. Just fixed it.
So round 1 was 33 - 16 = 17
Round 2 was 17 - 18 = -1
Plus healing: -1 + 6 = 5
...And stop rolling 20s dude!

attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 281d4 + 5 + 2d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (4, 2) = 15

Augrym fires another bolt that finds its way home.

"I do not care for this creature. He does not fight in a way that shows courage. Fighting at range is for wizards and for weak willed rangers. No offence, magical friend Zed. You should find a safe spot."

Augryms steps closer to the now prone wizard hoping to take a spike for his fallen friend.

Taranis begins a complex spell to summon an ally from Nature herself! He orders Toth to guard Zed.

@ Zed: thanks! Stabilize: 1d20 ⇒ 13 Stable

Marc comes to Zed's aid while Taranis summons help. Augrym tries to take care of business, lodging yet another arrow in the manticore.

Round II
3. Unrak (50/65 hp), Taranis

Round III
1. Zed (5/33 hp, prone), Marc (35/38 hp), Augrym (44/50 hp)
2. Manticore (63 dmg)
3. Unrak (50/65 hp), Taranis

Sorry for the delay for such a stupid action, but...

Unrak reloads his gigantic crossbow. FRA

The manticore swings east, hurling another volley -- all at Augrym, hoping to take out the one threat to it getting a meal.

Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 MISS
Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 MISS
Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Spike @ Augrym: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 HIT Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

But the beast only scores a pair of hits. It looks to flee from the Huntsmen's hail of arrows!

Round III
3. Unrak (50/65 hp), Taranis

Round IV
1. Zed (5/33 hp, prone), Marc (35/38 hp), Augrym (18/50 hp)
2. Manticore (63 dmg)
3. Unrak (50/65 hp), Taranis

Taranis finishes his spell, summoning forth a dire bat! The bat appears right next to the manticore and bites at the beast that thing has to be close to death.

Bite: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 for DMG: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Taranis and Toth holding for status check.

Indeed, the conjured chiropteran bites hard enough that the rain of blood from the manticore is too much. The great beast crashes to the earth.

For slaying the powerful manticore, each Huntsman earns 480 XP!

After catching your breath, you press on for another hour or so before deciding to make camp. Nothing bothers you in the night, and the morning of [color=teal]18th Gozran[/color] greets you with the melodic cacophony of birdsong. What now?

Let's map!

Augrym prepares his mapping equipment.

”I am, again, in need of healing. I am a drain on our resources. As we fight more and more powerful beasts, I am needing to improve on my defences. I shall work on this Huntsmen. To be less of a bane and more of a boon.”

The Huntsmen take the next two days to map this section of the Narlmarches. As you gather to discuss your next move on the morning of [color=teal]20th Gozran[/color], a sudden shout interrupts you.

"Oh, you there!" The cry is desperate. A couple burst into your campsite, both dressed in simple, homespun clothes and bearing no weapons of any kind. A tumble of pleas erupt from the pair.

"Help us!" the woman cries.

"We can't find 'im!" the man shouts.

"Our son!"

"Have ye seen 'im? Have ye? Please!"

"He's been missin' three days!"

"Can't find 'im anywhere!"

"Help us!"

"Please!"

"Yes. Yes we can help. Calm yourselves and give us details. What has happened?" Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

"Alright, alright..." the couple each take a deep breath... then continue at the same frantic pace.

"Our son!"

"Tig!"

"He's missing!"

"Three days!"

"We live by the Candlemere!" the woman explains.

"Our little farm! Carrots, mostly," the man adds.

"Our Tig loves finding snakes!"

"And bugs!"

"And frogs!"

"But he's always home fer dinner!"

"But now he's gone!"

"Three days!"

"We have to find him!"

"Please!"

"Come, let us help. Do you have anything of his on you? We may have some magical assistance we can lend. It will also help Toth her track."

Beyond agreeing to help, what mechanical choices would you need from us GM?