[IC] Mike's Campaign, Part I: Into the Mists (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Kimmel

*GAH!* ate my post too
Seeing the ape-men approach, she turns bashfully away. Turning her head back she smiles encouragement and shakes her behind invitingly. She begins to head south down the path, turning every now and then to ensure that the handsome ape-men are following and to offer encouragement.

edit: I'm going to keep the illusion on the west side of the path, to direct their attention away from us bad-hiders

Noting the reluctant ape-man, Ku'ada whispers to Ceer, "Can you try encouraging that one with your sound?"

The apes continue following the illusion down the path... though the ape who spotted her is starting to call out more insistently to her, in broken Polyglot, "Come here! Come over here, beautiful! What you doing far from home?"

"Follow my lead." Ceer answers, "I'll whisper what your ape-ess should say...make the illusion follow along like she is saying the words."

Come on boys...if you can keep up

Speaking in polyglot. I am a native of the area, so I think I should know it.

Come on boys...if you can keep up, the ape-ess trills, beckoning them hither, still making suggestive motions with her rump.

She's going to start heading into the jungle, K42

Anyone native to the area speaks polyglot as well as common

The apes continue following the ape-ess, becoming more excited as she speaks. However, as she steps off into the path and the apes are about to follow, the one in front suddenly turns his head towards Ceer, Ku'ada, and Mo'butu. His eyes widen with surprise, and his expression quickly changes to one of rage. He shouts, in polyglot, "Hunters in bushes! Protect woman!"

Surprise round begins. The ape in front is not surprised, but the others are. Each of you gets one action. I'll roll initiative:

Ceer: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Mo'butu: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Ku'ada: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Nu'mara: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Rheed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Apes: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Corvus: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Initiative Order:
Corvus (after the surprise round)
Ku'ada
Mo'butu
Nu'mara
Rheed
Ceer
Apes

Corvus, you can hop in immediately after the surprise round, if you wish, or at any time after that. Your place in the initiative order will be set at whatever point you initially jump in.

Sorry guys, been in depositions all day. Looks like you all have had a bunch of fun, though! Love the illusion. IS there any way that I could have used my cure light spell on Bwenge while we were travelling? If I would have been around, I would have mentioned it. If its cool, let me know and I will roll it.

Mo'butu, prepared for the ambush, has both his shield and scimitar pulled and ready for battle. He keeps Bwenge close and plans to use her to help the team flank the apemen.

IS there any way that I could have used my cure light spell on Bwenge while we were travelling? If I would have been around, I would have mentioned it. If its cool, let me know and I will roll it.

That's fine, and that reminds me that I need to place Bwenge on the map.

Ku'ada is going to maintain the illusion for later use

The ape-ess seems stunned, then approaches one ape-man and attempts to hang on its arm and distract it. DC 16 to disbelieve

Here is Bwenge's CLW spell info.

CLW 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Oops! Sorry, I wasn't very specific. The illusion is going to try and distract the Ape-man at L40

As Corvus closes in on Malgri's camp, she is aware of movement ahead. She spots a group of ape-men along the path and is aware of movement in the bushes adjacent to the path.

She stands still, so as not to make any noise and considers her next move. "Best not to act until something actually happens," she muses.

At that point, she hears one of the ape-men shout, "Hunters in bushes! Protect woman!"

"I think it's about to kick off," she thinks - as she draws her two-handed greatsword, "and I might just be needed."

I'll be away from my computer for a while, so I'll post now to avoid slowing things down if I'm not back before it get's round to me.

GM rolls a will save: 1d20 ⇒ 5

The ape appears to believe that the illusion is real.

If that's all of Ku'ada's action, it's Mo'butu's turn to take an action next. Feel free to "post early" as Rheed did though. It might speed things along a little. I've also placed Corvus on the map.

Though her hate for the ape-men begs her to jump at the nearest one, Nu'mara knows that waiting for the right moment can make things that much easier. Nu'mara stays hidden in the bush waiting for the right time to pounce.

Delay till Round 1

Ceer watches the ape give the ape-ess a strange look as the ape-ess puts her arm around him. Now is my chance while they are still distracted, he thinks. Ceer stands up, utters an incantation, and points to the group of apes.

Ceer casts Sleep (DC 17). The burst is centered at the intersection of L,M x 38,39

Will saves for apes at:

L38 1d20 ⇒ 17 success
L40 1d20 ⇒ 15 failure
M38 1d20 ⇒ 4 failure
M39 1d20 ⇒ 12 failure

Three of the apes fall to the ground, asleep: the apes left standing howl in rage and both turn to run back to the camp.

Mo'butu still hasn't acted in the surprise round. He may do so.

We'll assume Rheed attacks the ape closest to him at K36. His attack hits, dealing 10 damage.

The ape struck by Rheed's axe stumbles heavily, but does not fall: the axe is embedded deeply in one of his shoulders.

The apes don't get to act in the surprise round.

Mo'butu moves closer to the fleeing apes, preparing to attack same, before they can get back to their camp. He also spurs on Bwenge to attack a fleeing opponent, hoping that she could bring it down before it got back towards camp.

Just taking move actions to close on the apes for both of us. In the future, DM, if I am away, please feel free to autopilot Mo. I don't want to slow things down for everyone.

Here is an initiative roll for us as well.

Init. 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Corvus gets an extra 10' to movement at the moment as she has Fast Movement (Class Feature) and is only wearing medium armour and has light encumbrance

Corvus moves forward, preparing to enter 'the zone.'

She advances to L42

Sorry for the early post, but I may not be able to post when you start round 1

Seeing the ape-man with the axe stuck in his shoulder start to retreat toward the camp, Nu'mara moves quickly up to him and lashes out with her axe in a fit of rage.

Move to K37 and Attack 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19 Damage 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 the ape-man in K36

Ku'ada maintains the illusion, trying to delay the ape-men as much as possible.

As the ape-man she was hanging on to falls to the ground, she appears dismayed and runs to the next unharmed ape-man and begins to hang onto its arm.

She runs to the unharmed ape-man @ L38. DC 16 again.

Ku'ada is too focused on maintaining the illusion and doesn't notice the newcomer just yet :D

Hey Mike. I'm a little confused in regards to who's turn it is. Can you give us a refresh on that and which apes are dead/asleep? Thanks.

I believe the ape-men in pink on the map are asleep. That can at least answer that one :)

Coming soon. I'm also brainstorming alternatives to the standard initiative system which wouldn't be too weird and which might be better for message board play. Suggestions welcome.

will save: 1d20 ⇒ 19

The shaded squares on the path mark sleeping apes. (I removed the A on those squares because other people can stand in them.) The ape at L38 seems to have seen through Ku'ada's illusion and looks very displeased (and confused).

It's Mo'butu's turn, but Gerald seems a little busy right now so we'll assume he and Bwenge attack. They attack the ape at L38.

Mo's attack 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 miss
Bw's attack 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 hit, 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 damage, trip roll 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 failure

Then Nu'mara acts, killing the ape at K36 (removed from the map).

It is now Rheed's turn.

Rheed rushes forward, swinging his longsword in a high arc bringing it down at the last remaining ape-man.

move to K38 and attack the ape-man at L38.
Longsword 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19, 1d8 + 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + (2) + 3 = 6

The ape-man yelps in pain as Rheed and Bwenge attack, but he doesn't go down yet....

Ceer's turn

Ceer steps out of the jungle, so he standing by the young barbarian. He flashes a grin and says, "Nice armor. I hope that dragon isn't looking for it around here."

"Now if you will excuse me..." he speaks an incantation and gestures towards the last apeman.

Ceer casts Daze (DC 16) at the apeman and is now standing at M42.

1d20 ⇒ 16

The ape-man growls in anger but seems unaffected by the spell. He begins to run back towards the camp...

He provokes attacks of opportunity from Rheed and Mo'butu. Bwenge too. I'll roll them:

Rh: 1d20 ⇒ 12, hit for 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 damage
Mo: 1d20 ⇒ 14, hit for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 damage
Bw: 1d20 ⇒ 15, hit for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 damage

The ape begins to run, only to be cut down on the path.

GM rolls a die: 1d20 ⇒ 20. Unfortunately, it seems as if the ape at the camp's entrance has noticed that something is amiss with his companions, and shouts a warning back towards the camp. He is joined by several other apes, and they begin shouting and pointing down the path, but they do not leave the camp. You can see some humans in the camp as well. Unlike the apes, they do not appear armed.

They can see those of you in the path, but if you move further back or into the woods, you will probably be hidden. End combat, for now: The apes are rallying but not pursuing. Don't forget that the sleeping apes will wake up in a couple minutes.

Three of us can coup de grace an ape each in one round and the rest can ready for others. Unless you guys want to move up?

I'll be tracking time in terms of rounds right now, but I'm not worried about folks acting in order until combat is once again imminent.

"As distasteful as it may be," Rheed speaks gravely, pulling his axe from the shoulder of a fallen ape-man, "we should probably dispatch them before they wake and rejoin the fight."

He looks at the latest arrival appraisingly, but says nothing more.

Moves to J36 and picks up throwing axe.

The druid joins Rheed in the unpleasant act of disposing of the apemen. He has Bwenge join in to end the job as quickly and quietly as possible.

Nu'mara sheathes her axes and readies her bow for their trip into the camp. She moves as close to the path as possible to stay hidden.

Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10. Looks like I'm screwed on that one.

"Let's move up towards the tents on the left side of the camp. I might have a trick or two to distract them. Maybe the sound of a wounded ape or rustling tree branches away from where we are." Ceer says.

Corvus is aware that she's attracted the attention of at least two of the group by now.

"I followed you along the ruby trail," she offers. "I thought you might need some help with the lost Pathfinders."

She lowers her sword as a sign of servility. "If you'll accept me of course." As she finishes speaking, she casts her eyes at the apes ahead.

Rheed glances between Corvus and the camp for a moment, then grins back at her, "I have a suspicion this is about to turn ugly, if you're sure you want to get involved, then personally I'd welcome your help."

"Our left or their left?" he asks Ceer with a forced smile as he tries to keep his mind off his grisly work.

I won't make you roll to kill the apes. They're dead.

Ku'ada keeps an eye on the camp, waiting for a plan to form.

"Our left, since you are already on that side." Ceer replies. "Maybe we can distract them enough, so we can climb over the wall of the camp."

Can I attempt another stealth check if I move into the jungle or am I spotted?

He says to Corvus, "Follow me." He glances at her sword and says, "and bring that with you if you don't mind."

Ceer enters the jungle and makes his way to where Rheed and Nu'mara are standing.

Moving to J37 at half speed using stealth. 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Mo'butu greets the newcomer as well, then quickly moves off the observed path.

"Think we could lure a couple more of them away before we have to take on the main force," he asks the group, hoping for yet another distraction to help them.

The apes have definitely spotted you. They seem to be trying to figure out what to do... or waiting for orders. If you want to hide from them, moving deeper into the jungle is your best bet. I'll allow new stealth checks if you move at least 20 feet from your current location. Moving towards the apes is okay, but moving along or beside the path is a sure way to be spotted- that's where their attention is focused. I took the liberty of moving you all on to the west side of the path for now.

GM rolls a die - 1d20 ⇒ 15

Is Ku'ada's app-ess still around? That's what the pink square is, right?

Is Ku'ada's app-ess still around? That's what the pink square is, right?

Yes.

Nu'mara moves deeper into the jungle, trying to gain better cover.

Move 20ft west into jungle and Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

He says to Corvus, "Follow me." He glances at her sword and says, "and bring that with you if you don't mind."

Corvus follows Ceer wordlessly, her face showing no emotion.

"Ku'ada, can you make the ape-ess start walking up the trail? Maybe that will draw some of them out." Ceer says. "We can move up closer to the camp while the ape-ess is walking up the trail."

"Can you keep the ape-ess going if we are little farther back in the jungle?"

Assuming Ku'ada agrees, then please move us up to H30. Not sure how close we have to be, so the ape-ess can be maintained on the path.

Silent image is a long-range spell. You can be very far away and still have it work... but it will be less effective if Ku'ada can't see it.

Ku'ada goes with Ceer and Corvus so they can coordinate their spells more easily. The apes don't seem to have noticed the three of them yet.

As the ape-ess walks up the trail, one of the apes calls out, "You! What you doing here?!"

Rheed quietly creeps after the others, gripping his weapons tightly and keeping his eyes fixed towards to camp.

Move to I33, Stealth 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12