Saga of the Taighean Dubha - a Reign of Winter PbP (Inactive)

Game Master Mark Sweetman

Katherson holds his crossbow warily.

"And was he followed back? Might be something tried to eat him."

Kettu paws the ground to indicate a yes to the presence of a man, while shaking his coat to indicate a no to the question of whether it was something else - and to whether he could spy any traps or snares.

He also does not think that he was followed.

Rikka continues stroking the fox. "Was the man circling the building? Was he the only man you saw?"

After a few moments pause, Kettu confirms no to both questions.

"Good boy. Were the men hiding in the woods? Were they up the trees?"

Skäne taps pommel of his langsword impatiently;

"Perhaps you should beiða (ask) the fox what they had for breakfast? Or perhaps the litklæði (colour of clothes) worn in the tower..."

The vikingr rises, cracking his neck and pulling his fearsome yeti hood into place o'er his helm;

"Let them gaze upon minn Ægishjálmr (Helm of Awe/Terror) as we slātr (slaughter/butcher) them!"

Rikka keeps her focus on the fox. "If I thought knowing their breakfast would bring down that tower... you can bet your frosty grapes I'd ask for an accounting of every crust they ate." She eyes the vikingr as he readies himself for action. "Planning to lift your kilt before looking again?"

She returns her attention to the small, furry predator. "Little one, can you lead us to the tower by a path where we won't cross those men you saw before? Or by a path where we might catch one unaware?"

Kló raises his eyebrows at Rikka’s fox-surprise, waiting with mute patience while the fox scouts and does its unique brand of reporting. He watches the exchange between witch and animal with obvious interest, then smiles at the exchange between her and Skäne.

When there’s a break in their strange little conversation, Kló taps her on the shoulder. ”That’s a fantastic trick.” He looks between the fox and Rikka, ”If you’re interested, I might be able to find some scrolls to allow you to speak your friend’s language for short periods. Would certainly simplify the debriefs…. not that you’re doing a bad job.” He adds hastily.

Otherwise, he seems happy for the animal’s input, keeping his eyes peeled for observers during the strange interview.

The fox doesn't affirm the query of men in trees or the woods... and similarly doesn't affirm that you could be led to the tower without encountering the men that he saw.

Rikka nods but keeps her focus on the fox, "My skills with speaking with him will get better over time... but I wish I had one of your scrolls right now. Were the men near the building?"

VoV - I'm taking your last statement to mean that Kettu didn't see the men hiding in the forest or in the trees. Also, I assume the second bit means the fox cannot guarantee a path that would let us sneak up to the building. Yes?

Kettu confirms that the men are near the tower.

Mostly yes, with a little bit of *shrug* and casual nonchalant whistling.
The fox is answering based on it's limited understanding and interpretation of the questions being asked.

Fair enough. An INT 7 only goes so far. :)

Rikka pulls out some dried meat, bites off a chunk for herself and offers the rest to Kettu. "Good work. Follow us and stay wary, I may need your help."

She looks at the rest of the group, "How do you want to play it?"

To aid in discussion - if you're trying to get close without being seen, that will require stealth.
If you're trying to get to a point where you can see them but they can't see you - that will need Perception checks.
If you're aiming to just walk up - then let me know and the nearness you can achieve will be goverened by their perception.
Combination of any, all and nothing can also be done.

”Let’s have your friend lead us in. Close enough to get a look at the place, far enough to stay unseen.” He readies his shield and mutters a quick prayer to the Old Spirits.

Rikka nods, "Kettu, take us near the tower but stay clear of any people or dangers. Use your nose and eyes. Go slow and cautious."

Rikka sneaks after the fox, hoping the small animal understands its mission.

Kettu Stealth 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Kettu Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Rikka Stealth 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Rikka Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Stealth 1d20 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 2 - 1 = 16
Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Kló takes up a position behind Rikka, splitting his attention between the forests around them and the snows around their feet.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26
Stealth: 1d20 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 1 - 5 = 9
Survival (looking for trails/tracks): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

-5 Armour Pen on Stealth so nei chance o' that lol

Skäne moves slowly and purposely, keeping well back from the group and trusting the eyes and softer feet of the rest of the group to discern information from the pale tower.

The menace and anticipation of violence from the yeti-pelted vikingr however, is culpable...

And Katherson takes up his customary position in the middle, ready to shoot or run as the group commands.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Stealth: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (11) - 2 = 9

Apologies for the slight delay - visitors and a brief net outage at home... anyhoo

Partially led by the cautious Rikku, and partially using your own skill at woodscraft and tracking - you move towards the tower. Under cover of the treeline you move through branch and snow... towards the tower itself. Through the foilage you catch glimpses of the structure. The main tower is roughly 70 feet from base to crest, and there is a second squat circular wall that likely hides a courtyard or the like within just before the main tower.

Breaking through the treeline yet still a good hundred feet from the tower walls ahead you spy a trampled path of snow, heavily tracked by footprints and sled trails. The trail ends abruptly at an opaque wall of ice set into the 25 feet high walls of frost covered stone. Carvings and ancient glyphs depict only the semblance of a gateway on its surface. Standing ready guard just outside the gate of the tower proper are a quartet of guardsmen - armed with chain, crossbow, blade and shield. The keen eyes of Rikka and Klo pick out a further three guards upon the battlements, one of which bears a more ornate helm upon his head.

Now that you have drawn close, you realise that there will be no way to cross the expanse of open ground between the tree line and the tower without being spotted... but at least you do not think that your position has yet been given away...

Way to proceed?

Kló looks at the gate, the guards, the wall, and the man with the ornate hat... then he falls back from the treeline a bit to confer with the others, speaking quietly.

"Can't think of a good way to sneak past any of this. If any of those guys has a key or anything, my gold's on the one on the wall with the ornate hat." He looks through the foliage to where the top of the outer-wall is. "With my magic, I think I can lift people up there. Get at that man directly."

VoV, Kló’s 6’10”. So, according to this, his vertical reach is 9’. If we hit him with Enlarge Person, he can reach 18 feet vertical, and (again, Enlarged) can lift over 900 lbs over his head. What checks are we looking at to have Klo boost people up to get on the top of the wall?

Before slinking back into the woods, Rikka leaves Kettu to keep watch on the guards/gate with orders to come running if the guards swing into motion.

Busting that ice door is definitely an issue. Getting onto the wall via the Klo-vator is a good option. VoV, is that 100' killing ground around the entire keep or is it just by the front-gate? We may need to consider a two-prong attack. We send a couple of folks to hopefully get close and assault the front-gate guards and draw all the wall guards to the front, and then we send in Klo and his team onto the back side of the keep so they can get onto the wall safely... and take out Mr. Hat from behind.

Skäne on total defence would keep the busy for a round or 4 methinks (unless they get lucky?) - would give you all enough time to scale the walls and bring the pain?

I'm not a fan of sending you alone against the front-gate. Also, we've got to make sure we get the attention of all the wall guards as well. I'm thinking fire magic would be good for that. :) My thought was Skane and Rikka go in the front. We try to get close, hopefully a small woman beside a hulking warrior will slow their trigger fingers. If we can get close, I lead with Burning Hands and we try to grease them. If we can't get close, I lead with Magic Missile and we charge in. Very Charge of the Light Brigade and worthy of a Norse saga. Then we just try to stay alive long enough for the other team to do their job. If I'm going in the front, I'm going to armor up with Mage Armor and Shield taking my AC to 22 base.

Annalisa could go up with Skane.

Skane seems like a great choice for the gate team, and I can see the argument for Rikka. The wall team, though needs to be able to move fast and hit HARD in order to deal with the leader as fast as possible. I'd suggest Annalísa (as our biggest bruiser) and Kló go top-side. I'm torn on where to send Kath. The wall team is likely to hit the harder target (funny hat man), but the gate team is going to have to endure more extended fire while the wall team makes its way to its objective.

Skäne and Rikka upfront and at the gate sounds a plan... with her enchantments we'd both be packing AC22 and if she stays on my shoulder I can further boost her with minn shield abilities... Spells, throwing axes and intimidation might keep them on their heels initially, and our AC's should give us longevity when melee happens...

As for the wall team - think Annalisa and a jotunn-sized Kló are locks... they should hit very hard and the appearance of a raging Valkyrie and potentially an actual Jotunn (we are in the frozen North after all - first reaction is likely to be "Hel's teeth they have a hrímþurs!" (frost giant) :) - that might buy the wall group some time or at the worst attract their heaviest defences/defenders lol

Regards Katherson - Blessing whomever he accompanies might be prudent (am presuming it'll take longer than the spells duration to get each group into position) -The wall group are more likely to encounter spell casters quicker, so my gut would be for him to accompany them. Either approach he can also be useful with his crossbow...

I'm in favor of Kath and Annalisa taking the wall with Klo for the reasons Skane offered. I'd add a couple of extra reasons: The wall team are the main attack force, have the toughest nut to crack (Shiny Hat and however many forces are waiting to boil out of that keep), and have the worst retreat options. If they fail, the mission fails. Also, the gate team are a distraction. Our best bet at delivering serious hurt and surviving at the gate is to get close to the guards before striking. Two-on-four will seem less threatening than three-on-four. And hopefully these guys are sexist enough to underestimate Rikka and see Skane as the only real threat. Their over-confidence could let us get to point blank range.

As for Rikka's tactics, she will be sticking to Skane like glue. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid. :) I can't take as much of a beating as Skane and I'm not even going to try. I'll only peel away from him to get a good angle for unleashing Burning Hands on multiple guys, if it comes down to it.

Sounds good to me, though I'd love to hear from Kath before we finalize anything. Also, I'd still like to hear from VoV about what checks we'd be looking at to get people up on the wall after being boosted by MegaKló.

Yeah, Plan Apache Chief really hinges on VoV's answers.

Points of Note:
The tower complex is like an overlapping pair of circles from a venn diagram... only the 'rear' is an actual physical tower - and therefore there isn't a wall to climb over.
The only section with a wall is the front section - with the guards and ice wall. So you'd be in direct view to attempt to approach any of that section.
So there is no 'keep', there is a 70ft tall tower, and then a circular courtyard-type area with 25ft walls.
The 100ft cleared space does indeed extend all the way around the tower - as far as you can see.
For hoiking people up onto the top of the tower - even with an enlarged Klo, you'd still be looking at needing a Climb check from the hoik-ee. From this distance the walls look smooth and ice-covered.

Well, hell. Are there crenelations on the top of the wall - something that Giant Klo could loop rope around so the hoik-ees can more easily scale the wall? As I recall, we don't have any grappling hooks.

Not within easy reach as far as you can see from this distance.

How about tossing? Kló can lift over 900lbs at that size... could he toss people up there?

Oh this idea just keeps getting better and better, lol.

I'll go with the wall group if that's still the plan, but this is looking pretty rough.

Perhaps we could pretend to surrender, then attack when we're close? If they buy it. I see no other approach, none that would hide us."

It's attemptable... you'll just have to use your judgement as to whether it's a good idea or not.
I'll just note that Klo doesn't have Weapon Proficiency (Ulfen) at present...

To get an idea of difficulty, how would you want to make the mechanics of such an attempt work? My best guess is that each person is (like you suggested) a ranged attack with an improvised weapon (so a -1 mod for Klo). At that range, he's within 10 feet of his target (the top of the wall), so I'd assume no additional penalties. And for throwing to hit a square, would it be treated like aiming a splash weapon at a grid intersection (making the AC 5)?

Note to self: pick up Weapon Proficiency (Ulfen) at earliest chance.

What's the point of going out on a limb if you know the odds before hand? :P

But I generally know how thick the limb is in relation to how good I am at balancing. I just want to know if it's completely unlikely to work or if it should be a fairly simple affair. Would Kloó not be able to guess that?

Will you make the throw? - it's plausible.
Will they land elegantly?... it's possible.

Lol. My goal is to get them top-side.. it's on them to stick the landing. ;P

So, if we go this route, I think we need 3 top-side (Klo, Annalisa, and Kath). Klo embiggens, rushes out, hoists Anna and Kath up. Klo de-embiggens, Annalisa and Kath drag Klo up with a rope. (or, if under fire, Annalisa protects Kath as he drags Klo up.) Best i can come up with, cause I don't know that we can tell whether or not an embiggened Klo can be up on the wall (and the logistics of getting him up there are ... difficult).

Would it work better to enlarge Annalisa since she has the Throw Anything feat?

It would be better if this discussion were at least playing out in part in character, rather than through a long list of OOC chat. That would allow your fellow PCs to emote in character whether they really really think that the best approach to storming the final dungeon of the first AP chapter is by running up at the walls and throwing people over the top...
One simple question - do you even know if there is a ledge at the top of the wall outside of near to the ice gate?

Fair enough...

Kló gives a brief outline of his idea, "... and then I'll toss you guys up one at a time." He shrugs as if to say 'easy' as he looks around. "Best way I can think to bypass the gate."

The keen eyes of Rikka and Klo pick out a further three guards upon the battlements, one of which bears a more ornate helm upon his head.

Are these guys not on the walls? are they instead up on top of the tower itself?

Annalisa cocks an eyebrow and bobs her head to the side before shrugging. "Sounds like a horrible idea. Let's do it."

The guardsmen upon the battlements are near to the gate, clearly standing upon the superstructure that supports the wall of ice that serves in lieu of a portcullis.

Kló smiles at Annalísa, then pauses to consider. ”There may be no path on the wall. So two options. I could just toss everyone over the wall, then use a rope to get myself over afterwards, bypassing the gate completely. Or we could stick with a version of this plan. Some of us slaughter the men on this side of the gate while I get the rest of you up with that watch leader. Only problem is that if the device that controls the gate is magical, we’d need someone able to determine how to work it once we’re up there.” (Spellcraft/knowledge: arcana?) He looks at Skane and Rikka, ”Not sure that I could do that.”

"Also, when to start the hunt? Now or when there's less of them ready... right before dawn?"

Annalisa beams back a toothy smile of her own. "They are expecting us, we should assume. Which either means that they are on the alert and have prepared adequate defenses, or, find us to be not worth bothering with and have left things to their usual form. If we don't show up when expected it does give them more time to prepare, but the longer we make them wait, the more their guard will fall due to complacency."