With the heart of the Stolen Lands explored and the bandits who ruled there scattered, the long-contested realm finally lies open for pioneers and settlers to stake their claims.:
Amid the rush of opportunistic travelers, the PCs find themselves stewards over a new domain, tasked with the responsibility of guiding and guarding a fledgling nation struggling to grow upon a treacherous borderland. Yet the threats to this new nation quickly prove themselves greater than mere bandits and wild beasts, as the monstrous natives of the hills and forests rampage forth to slaughter all who have trespassed upon their territory. Can the PCs hold the land they’ve fought so hard to explore and tame? Or will their legend be just one more lost to the fangs of the Stolen Lands?
Celyne tries to direct her cart in the right direction, following Alia.
Technically you need to make your own roll to figure out how to get to where Alia is. There are a lot of tracks. Other folks from other nearby carts could aid you though, but a perception roll of 20 (+ your skill modifier) is enough to do that. Success.
Celyne, also your cart is currently being driven by either Mikmek or Luna. You can't make Dirve checks from the backseat because you can't reach the front-mounted breaks. "Luna, drive!"
Mikmek's eyes grow wide as they approach the fork ahead one marked: "Silver Mine", and the other more crudely marked: "Pit Fiends Ahead" with lots of skulls and crossbones as if trying to make some sort of point.
He let's go of the breaks hoping that Luna can break if needed. Okay not really.
Something thuds into the back of Illthir's cart, right behind her.
Nakpik looks back up the rail. Distantly he can see Mikmek white-knuckling the break lever of his cart, and a small crossbow under one of the cat Luna's big paws.
Mikmek smiles sheepishly.
Nakpik's eyes narrow.
There's still time for Luna to throw a paw, albeit at a -4 for being squeezed if she stays where she's at.
Nakpik turns around and looks ahead. The tracks this deep have converged down to one "The Silver Road". Further down ahead Nakpik can barely make out the sound of maniacal laughter. He shivers.
hp 21/21 AC 19, 16, 14 saves F 4, R 7, W 3, bab 2, init +3, spd 40, cmb 4, cmd 17 tiger
skills:
acro 8, climb 1, perc 6, stealth 7/11, swim 1
not sure exactly what Luna can do... but if she try to activate thebrakes, she'll do so at Celyne's gesture.
to hit brakes?:1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 - 4 = 19
just as a side note, I have no idea how to level up an animal companion, so Luna is still operating at bab +1.... if that should be higher since Celyne is 3rd lvl, let me know, and adjust the above roll by that amount... and maybe direct me to instructions on how to level up an animal companion too...
Well, yeah, I suppose you can have Luna pull back on the breaks if you want but that would be a ride check from Luma after Celyne's handle animal check to push Luna into doing some un-catlike behaviour.
Alternatively Celyne could direct her to reach out and bat the big rail switch as you pass it. That will put the cart on a rail that fianally hooks up with Alia's rather than stopping or discovering what 'Pit Fiends Ahead' means.
Luna bats the lever playfully for a tiger, playfully enough to have snapped its neck had it been a man, hard enough that after the cart past the turning it snapped back into its starting position.
The pair (Numalar and Zokon) loop again as a giant-sized Scarlet zooms by making whooping noises and punching the air.
They barrel down into a tunnel marked with a sign: "Pit Fiends Ahead"
The tunnel looks completely ordinary until.... Suddenly there's a lot of mechanical noise.
Spiky Whirling Blades of Death! v Numalar:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22slashing and piercing trap damage:3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 6) = 12
Spiky Whirling Blades of Death! v Zokon:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23slashing and piercing trap damage:3d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 5) = 12
Looking the worse for wear their cart exits the side tunnel, and joins up with the others along the straightaway falling in line behind Scarlet's cart.
The tracks ahead look relatively open and free of immediate danger--aside from flying off of them.
Scarlet for your purposes you can consider them contiguous rounds. Also, remember that while you are enlarged in the cart you are squeezed.
Non-contiguous Round 7ish! (Theme ♬)
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Illthir -2 hp
__ Numalar -12 hp
__ Alia (still has round 6ish actions)
__ Zokon -20 hp
__ Scarlet -12 hp, 1 nonlethal
__ Celyne
__ Luna -5 hp
__ Mikmek
__ Nakpik
__ Tartuk
__ kobold cultists
if there's nothing proactive that Celyne has to do right now... she'll just hang on tight with one hand on the side of the cart, the other arm around Luna.
I have not done an action since Illthir managed to whack the target back then. There was no new prompt for anything needing to be done, and I waited for something we should be rolling? So I guess this is all I can do-
Alia makes sure the brakes are all disengaged properly, so nothing will slow down their pursuit of the purple menace.
"Machine room, more coal! We're losing speed!" Ride:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 Ride more:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Illthir hunkers down in the cart and lights a sunrod. At the speed they were going they would soon outpace her Dancing Lights and she didn't want to deprive the others of Alia's Light spell.
Numalar tries to summon the magic to protect himself from the trap.
GGGM: If I am allowed I will use draconic defense against the trap. If I am flat-footed though I will not be able to.
Zokon Santyev wrote:
Zokon studies the attack on the lever and attempts to hit it on the next pass
Don't need to, you passed it for the toll of 12 hp. Numalar had a coupon for 10 hp off the regular price of admission.
Alia of the Blade wrote:
I have not done an action since Illthir managed to whack the target back then. There was no new prompt for anything needing to be done, and I waited for something we should be rolling? So I guess this is all I can do-
Alia makes sure the brakes are all disengaged properly, so nothing will slow down their pursuit of the purple menace.
"Machine room, more coal! We're losing speed!"
"Hoch HoD Suq ghaH nganvaD jIH! ghaH pagh tlhap Huch law' puS!" Shouts Nakpik from his side of the cart.
Draconic:
"I'm givin' 'er all she's got Capt'n! She canna take much muire!"
Alia leaves off the breaks and shoves everyone in the cart down eliminating drag. By the unseen blessing of Gamera friend to all adventurers the cart shoots ahead. Yes, I know I'm mixing my turtle metaphors but I'm a much bigger kaiju fan than I am a Mario-kart fan.
Soon they are with in visual range of the cart with maniacal-looking violet kobold!
I assume the next card is try to spot them, if you fail to spot them, duck in time? Or is it if you SEE them you get to duck, otherwise you get showered with bolts from above(with the second track allowing to use the cart for total cover via ducking)? If the latter, can one who sees them shout out a warning? so everybody gets to duck? => How close are the carts, I expect you can't yell forward very efficiently, but how about warning those behind us, maybe lower the DC for the following cart by shouting?
"...Wait..." It took a moment for Illthir to process what she saw. They couldn't be that obvious could they? Sure looks like it! she decided and curled into a ball as deep into the cart as she could. "Duck!"
When Ilthir calls out, Alia pulls a handle to make the cart switch to a side track, then cowers down.
...I haven't seen anything, but if Illthir really saw a Duck down here, we'd best hide... Still no knowledge nature...*sigh*
I assume the next card is try to spot them, if you fail to spot them, duck in time? Or is it if you SEE them you get to duck, otherwise you get showered with bolts from above(with the second track allowing to use the cart for total cover via ducking)? If the latter, can one who sees them shout out a warning? so everybody gets to duck? => How close are the carts, I expect you can't yell forward very efficiently, but how about warning those behind us, maybe lower the DC for the following cart by shouting?
You know what happens when you assume don't you? ;)
Chase Rules wrote:
Using the base assumption of 30-foot cards, [in our case, it is 300 feet not 30,] it takes a move action to move through a single card. When a character exits from a card, he must choose one of that card’s two obstacles to face as a standard action before moving to the next card [in our case, there are times when only the driver can make certain rolls--i.e. drive checks]. Success means the character moves to the next card, while failure means the character must face the obstacle again on the next round. Instead of exiting a card, a character can choose to take another action not directly related to navigating the chase’s course, such as casting a spell or drawing a weapon.
A character who wants to attempt to move three cards during his turn can do so by taking a full-round action. That character must overcome both obstacles on the card he is leaving. In this case, if a character fails either obstacle check by 5 or less, he only moves one card forward and his turn ends. If a character fails either obstacle check by more than 5, he cannot move at all that turn. A character unfortunate enough to fail two obstacle checks in a turn becomes mired in his current square (he might have fallen from a ledge, gotten a foot stuck amid roots, or got caught in a crowd, for example). A character who is mired must spend another full-round action becoming unmired and effectively loses his next turn in the chase. In some cases, becoming mired might impart additional penalties (such as falling damage). FULL CHASE RULES
Chases are all highly abstract things, like movie training montages. Bare bones: you have to succeed at at least one challenge to move on. How you describe your success (or failure) is up to you.
Carts are spaced arbitrarily throughout the area of the card they are currently in (so somewhere in an area stretching 300 feet). To keep things simple, assume the carts are each 60 feet apart in the order they appear to be in on the map unless someone takes a drive action (standard action, DC 15) to move up 30 feet (+5 feet for every 5 points by which they exceed the DC). Failure by 5 or more does the opposite.
You could yell if you like (currently you are all on one narrow track). There are windstorm-like penalties (and distance ones) for being heard though. That goes for bard-like abilities as well.
Just for the protocol: I read this section Actions: Because it is that cart that is moving the characters aboard are free to make use of their move and standard actions as they like. Controlling the cart requires a standard action drive check made with Profession (driver), Profession (miner), or Ride. Other crew members can aid the driver's check (by shifting their weight, helping pull the break, adding drag, ducking, etc...) as usual. as the standard action drive check being necessary to keep it under control. So I did make Ride checks every round, with results of 15, 17, 17 and 22 - I think we should be catching up to purple! Perception:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 Reflex:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 Ride:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 That's another 22 ride to add to those above. Since no assumptions, I provided my spot and duck as well, if they are still relevant despite Illthirs success-
You only need to make ride checks when required to to meet specific card challenges or if you are doing something evasive (stopping suddenly for instance). Rolling forward is the given state.
Carts are spaced arbitrarily throughout the area of the card they are currently in (so somewhere in an area stretching 300 feet). To keep things simple, assume the carts are each 60 feet apart in the order they appear to be in on the map unless someone takes a drive action (standard action, DC 15) to move up 30 feet (+5 feet for every 5 points by which they exceed the DC). Failure by 5 or more does the opposite.
I was referring to this part...I figured I was taking 5 successful drives, for 160 feet of catching up on purple...even if they never fail a check, we cannot hope to overtake them/crash into their back without some means of getting closer...are drive checks not the way to do that, after all?
Should add "During a chase" to the beginning of the above post. Yeah, you can make checks to pull closer, but then you can't make the challenge checks (which are standard or full-round). The full-round one will (and has) gotten you closer.
Alia and Ilthir's cart closes on the cart ahead of them with Celyne's close on behind.
The strange vivid purple kobold looks back and in surprise to see who is chasing him.
He shouts something lost to the tunnel to his compatriots and pulls a small wand as he does so they pull crossbows.
gray lt crossbow v Alia (v cover, squeezed):1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 6 - 4 = 11damage:1d6 ⇒ 5
red lt crossbow v Alia (v cover, squeezed):1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 4 = 6damage:1d6 ⇒ 1
The bolts ricochet dangerously around Alia.
Tartuk aims his wand and out streak two bolts of silvery energy that seem to home in upon Alia.
force damage:2d4 + 2 ⇒ (1, 3) + 2 = 6
Alia, I see shield marked off your sheet, but I did a quick search didn't see it activated anywhere in the kobold lair. Was that from the battle with the boggards earlier in the day? If it's up the missiles splash off of it - no damage. If not - damage.
Yes, I cast it in the kobold lair, when I expected trouble, right after the Statue Smash. Here. Things seemed to move pretty quickly so I did not pull it down yet. If the 3 minutes are close to ending, I would refresh via Pearl. "Ha, your petty magics are no match for my superior elven arcane-powers!", Alia comments the magic projectiles fizzling against her ward.
