Seeker's 5e Reign of Winter (Inactive)

Game Master seekerofshadowlight

Vic grabs Jack and pulls him away.

Easy there fella'. Don't you want to know what yer stickin'?

No, but I find it hard to believe an innocent survivor survived an overturned wagon several hours ago here in the cold. I suspect a trick, an evil mage, waiting to ambush us as we rescue him, or worse yet, the undead.

Jack tried to push his sword into a crack in the door, but does not go very well before Vic and Helen set upon him asking what he is doing. Another sound comes from inside and a gentle movement of the carriage can be seen.

Or ya know, it could be handmaidens as ya see no female bodies. Also, what was the d100 for? Attacking an unseen target is a disadvantage and has you can not see the person or what have you inside the carriage and they can not see you, they have total cover and no attack is possible.

Barl walks casually up to the "statue" with a wide grin. "Oh cool! The was a woman in my town that used to carve statues out of ice all the.. OH GODS, WHAT IN THE..?!?!?!" The Boulder suppresses a gag and turns away from the frozen corpse.

Seeing the ruckus at the carriage, the big man moves quickly over to see what's going on. Eager to put the frozen man out of his mind. "What's all the hubbub over here? Someone alive in there?"

Kat was rumaging through the overturned carriage and rolling up a couple of the expensive looking cloths and stuffing them in her bag. You never know when you might need a rainy day fund!

She looks over at the commotion at the other carriage, ignoring the gruesome statue and shaking her head. "If that was a mage, you'd be dead already, I 'spect."

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Helen replies to Jack, shaking her head. She then pulls the spear from the handles to release the upright wagon's door and says, "Don't worry, we're here to help."

Vic lets go of Jack and simply shakes his head. He approaches the wagon with Helen.

"It could also be a trapped animal. Still - better to be cautious."

Tursk moves over to the carriage. He grabs the spear and looks at the others meaningfully. He then pulls out the spear and backs away quickly.

stands back from the wagon from a 15 foot distance, waiting for a sleep spell to hit him.

Helen pulls the spear from the door, opening the door to get a good view o what is inside. The carriage is cold and two forms can be seen in dirty and blood stained dresses. They look cold, very gold and glare up at Helen with glassy, dead eyes. Their mouths are gagged with dirty rags. The dead things reach for Helen, vic or anyone close.

Helen, Vic and Tursk are all within arms reach of the maidens. Barl and Kat are 8 to 10 feet from the carriage and Jack is 15 feet from the carriage

Init Order:
Vic, Tursk , Helen, Jack, Kat, Barl (any order)
The Maidens

You have 24 hours to post actions or I will NPC them. As I rolled a 0( fantastic roll right?) it really does not matter in which order any of you go as you are all acting first. To be clear, there are two dead things who used to be hand maidens, who are gagged and attacking anyone within reach

Round 1, Sneak Attack

Vic lunges forward with his Rapier.

Rapier Att: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Rapier Dam: 1d8 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 3 + (1) = 11

Barl circles off to the front of the carriage and attempts to leap/ climb to the top. With the high ground, he'll try to plant Ulga right in the top of one the creatures heads.

Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

If he can attack still: Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 3) + 3 = 10

Tursk grabs for the holy symbol hanging from his neck, and says a word of power. A shaft of golden fire bursts out to the nearest undead maiden.

Sacred Flame (radiant damage): 1d8 ⇒ 8

DM, roll a DC 13 Dexterity Save. No damage if successful.

"Well, they're not mages," Helen says with a sideways glance at Jack and a slightly defensive tone to her voice. Seeing the stabbymen jumping to action, Helen decides not to be hasty with her magic.

Helen will wait until everyone but her has gone, then if the threats remain, let loose a magic missile.

For once, Kat seems to take her cue from Helen and holds her ground as the men charge forward. She waits an opportunity to strike should she be needed.

Also holding. If the creatures are still standing after the men have swung at them, she will shoot an eldritch blast at the nearest: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 121d10 ⇒ 4. I don't have my book on me atm and don't remember, but if there is a modifier for shooting into melee like the old -4 in 3.5, please apply. I'll have to look that up later.

There is no negative for shooting into melee in 5E.

There is no negative for shooting into melee in 5E.

Ok good. That's what I thought, but couldn't remember for sure.

Round 1

Vic lunges forward, stabbing the first maiden with his rapier. Barl scrambles atop the carriage to bring Ulga down upon the head of the second maiden as it climbs for the door, carving much of its head in an sending bone and gore flying, but seeming not to slow the maiden all that much. Turk still close uses the power of his god to burn the first maiden, its skin blackens and its cloths smolder, but still it comes. Kat holding back from the Melee, fires off an eldritch blast at the first maiden, it crumbles under the flames and burns as it falls back into the carriage. Helen steps back and casts magic missile and three darts of energy slam into the last Maiden, it keeps coming.

The Maiden, missing half its head, and with most its chest blown away lunges at Vic, but off balance and climbing from the carriage it fails to connect.

Meanwhile jack stands well behind the others fumbling with his bow, trying to ready an attack.

start of round 2
One of the maidens is down and slowy burning in the carriage, likely lighting the fine upholstery a flame. Barl stands on the roof of the carriage, Maiden number two, with its head caved in and most of its chest missing stands outside the carriage in easy reach of Vic and Tursk. Both Helen and Kat stand a way off, and jack stands 15 feet back digging his bow out.

Init Order: WIP
Vic, Tursk , Helen, Jack, Kat, Barl (any order)
The Maiden

Yes, ranged attacks in 5e seem to have no negative for shooting into melee, but they do take a disadvantage if the target is within melee reach. Also, what does your blast look like?

Ah, I thought I was in melee, or I'd have used Fire Bolt instead of Magic Missile. Oh well, no biggie.

Helen's eyes go wide at the approaching horror, and she fires off a stream of magical fire.

Fire Bolt: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24, Fire Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 4

Round 2, Sneak Att

Again, Vic looks for an opening and attempts to end the maiden.

Rapier Att: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Rapier Dam: 1d8 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 3 + (5) = 15

round 2
I fire an arrow at the Maiden
hit: 5 + 1d20 ⇒ 5 + (18) = 23
dmg: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Jack, you get an extra d6 for sneak attack because you have allies within 5 feet.

Tursk draws his mace, moves in and attempts to smash the undead monster.

Mace: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Begone, wretch. You have no place here!"

oh, that is right, 5 feet within the enemy, not 5 feet within me, which what I was thinking
sneak attack: 1d6 ⇒ 4

If all of that doesn't drop it..
Barl can't believe this thing is still moving! Is that it's brain on it's cheek?!
Determined to end the thing, Barl takes another swing with ulga.
Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Damage: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 6) + 3 = 11

Helen shots off a bolt of fire, engulfing the Maiden and sending it crumbling and burning into the melting snow. Vic,Jack, Tursk and Barl pummel the still moving thing until is is a burning, messy pulp.The fire in the carriage has spread to the upholstery and now is slowly starts to burn.

Well the dice do not love me at all. The best roll I got this whole fight was 10, and that got taken to 8. So, yeah the dice gods dislike undead

"Stop the fire!" Helen barks. "There could be clues in there!" She then extends a hand and speaks words of minor arcane power, wilting the flames in an instant.

Prestidigitation can instantly snuff flames up to campfire size, so from your description I imagine this should do the trick in a casting or two.

Tursk calm recites a few words and helps Helen to tame the flames.

Thaumaturgy can make flames flicker and dim. Not quite the same as prestidigitation, but I'm hoping it can be seen as an Aid.

With a little use of Magic Helen and Tursk put out the fire within the carriage, leaving the smell of ash, smoke and burned meat heavy in the air.

"Well!" Kat exclaims a little breathlessly. "That was different." She moves forward to the now dead corpses and peers down at what's left of their faces, though she keeps just out of reach of grasping fingers in case one should still decide it wasn't quite ready to be dead yet. "Think one of these was da one we 'ere lookin' for?"

Oh, to answer the earlier question, I think I'll have the eldritch blast look like a ball of energy, about the size of two of Barl's fists held together with a longish tail trailing behind it, like a comet. Her patron is the Winter Hag, so it will be wintery colors, swirling whites and blues the color of arctic ocean ice.

I am doubting it..

Vic toes the remains, and spits on the one at his feet.

Did anyone see a trail? I am thinking she got carried off.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

The trail is not hard to spot, as with any trail though snow, it only fades if fresh snow completely covers it. While some snow has indeed filled in the trail, not enough snow has fallen for it to be obliterated. You would have no problem following the trail deeper into the woods when you feel like doing so.

Tursk looks for clues in the carriage that could help to identify if one of the corpses was the noblewoman. Perhaps an insignia?

Intelligence (Investigation): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Derp. This is, in fact, the third natural 1, I've rolled with the dicebot since yesterday. ::sigh::

***

Afterwards, Tursk begins to pick out the trail.

Wisdom (Survival): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

As the party begins to settle from the attack by the two Maidens, Olybrius finally ambles in behind them, a thick cloak pulled around his shoulders. Even so, his breath can be seen before his mouth. Looking at the scene around him, he raises an eyebrow and walks over towards Helen.

"I apologize for being late to the party, dear Helen. I had to take care of the last of my business in Heldren and by the time I was in order, I learn from the Apothecary you all left before me." Chuckling, he scratches the back of his head. "Not the best start for a proud noble, yes?" Looking about, he sees the fight scene, the place where the fire had been and then sees a statue.

"Curious... What is this?" He walks over, wanting to inspect it more closely. Intelligence (Investigation): 1d20 ⇒ 13

Welcome, Oly. It appears as if he was frozen solid. We did pick up a trail though, and we should probably complete our investigation here and then step to it.

"Ah, Olybrius, glad you were able to catch up with us. Sorry for the rapid departure. To catch you up, we've encountered some restless dead and then put them back down, and we've located a trail. We're just looking for any helpful clues before moving on."

Investigation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Jack follows along in the front with a rapier in hand.

Due to the heavy snow, there is no need to make checks, there is no way shy of magic to cover ones tracks though heavy snow.

You take off after the trail, though the snow filled woods, your breath leaving clouds of frozen breath behind you and anyone who did not take warmer clothing is chilled though the bone with numbing fingers like ice. After some time you enter the full expanse of the border woods and the trail leads you to a clearing among the taller trees before continuing up a hill and out of sight. Near the trail you can see a large chest,laying half buried in the snow, seemingly dropped or discarded by those who passed though here in some haste.

Vic calls a halt by raising his fist. He looks to Jack and leans over to his ear an says in a low voice that all can hear, though.

This could be a trap. Let's circle around the clearing, one of us in each direction and scope out the area.

Vic moves to the right, as silently as possible, alert to any trap.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

"Glad you decided to come along Oly!! You missed out on some of the action, but I'm sure you'll catch up!" Barl casually cleans the brain and ichor off of Ulga with the snow.

Once on the trail..

Seeing the Rogue types skulking off of the trail, Barl hangs back but tries to keep an eye out for danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Back at the battle site:
Helen speaks up, "I do hate to be insensitive to the dead, but this poor frozen man has some rather nice arms and armor; it might help keep us from sharing his fate if one of you burly types were to make use of it."

Later, on the trail:
Helen furrows her brow at Vic's suggestion. "I agree it's possible this is a trap," she says, "But is splitting up one by one really the best way to address that possibility? Makes it pretty easy to pick us off..."

Before heading into the shadows...

Not splitting off, just sneaking up on a potential threat...now, keep alert for a moment, eh.

I start digging out the chest to unbury it.

So, Jack, does this mean you are totally ignoring my suggestion to circle around and scout the area before approaching the chest? Should you maybe at least search for traps before going headlong into potential danger?

we already have enough people looking for traps and ambushes, a trap or an ambush would be spotted, so I'm doing something else to make myself useful,. I won't open the chest just yet, as opening the chest in itself could be the trap. Helen wants us to stay close together.

Not splitting off, just sneaking up on a potential threat...now, keep alert for a moment, eh.

"I'm not very stealthy in this chainmail," Tursk admitted. "But I will try."

Dex (stealth), w/ Disadvantage: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 13
Dex (stealth), w/ Disadvantage: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 = 9 <--

Tursk lumbers clumsily behind the others.

Vic, after circling into the trees to the right, stops to watch Jack approach the chest. He simply shakes his head in disbelief and peers around the woods for a threat.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

After making sure there is no threat, Vic will step out into the clearing to approach the others.

The others ignore Vic and walk into the clearing, Jack starts to dig around the chest. No one sees any danger, no trails in the snow can be seen nearby and Vic sees no evidence that anyone is waiting near by. The chest itself is a large travelling chest of fine make. Or used to be anyhow, someone hacked it nicely removing the lock and it has scuff marks and scratches from rough use all over its sides.

As he approaches, he stops dead in his tracks.

STOP DIGGING!

He points to the chest.

Jack, you are going to need to disarm that trap before continuing. There is a buried rope extending from the chest to the trees nearby.

Regarding the Ambush site: Barl was way to freaked out by the frozen guy to take anything from him.

The big man freezes when he hears Vic's shouted warning. Glad I hung back. he thinks, and continues to hold his ground, waiting for the roguey types to do their thing.