The Bogshark Fiasco

Game Master Lord Grey

Con Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"Looks like a hatch. I see no other rats besides this!"

Cavell says quickly to Ozz: "They didn't all follow--and Triss is stuck, we gotta kill them."

He stabs at the rat that Ozz hit, hoping to finish it.

Atk: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Dmg: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

She turns her gaze toward the guardsmen and gestures toward where Adrien and Ozz got off to. "That way! With haste!"

Con save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Trissae yelps in pain as the creature nibbles on her ankle. She hisses back in a thick drow dialect in elvish "To the maw of Lolth with you, VERMIN!"

She then casts Cure Wounds on herself in hopes of keeping conscious. (0/2 slots left)

Healing: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Adrien: The rat attacking Ozz is in total darkness (sorry, I thought I had made that clear). You can follow the rope up to Ozz and attack the beastie if you wish, but it'll be at disadvantage as you suffer from the blinded condition while you can't see your enemy(just roll me another attack roll). Or instead, if you want to attack a creature you can see, you can shift the attack you already made onto the one attacking Triss, which is in the Dim light.

Oh ok my bad, yeah attacking the one on Triss

Adrien moves to help Triss, pulling Ozz slightly off balance and killing the rat at her feet.

Ozz tries to finish the rat near him and the doorway.
Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Killing the rat, and assuming Adrien moves with him again (Adrien: you've got 10 feet of space left after killing Trissae's rat. Do you enter the dark with Ozz?), he heads up the stairs to try and push open the hatch.

"Hang in there Triss!" he shouts as he stabs the rat attacking her--straight in the eye.

"Sorry, someone had to say it," he grins at her.

As Ozz yanks on the rope towards the hatch, Cavell says, "Damn it Ozz, I said we kill them all! Cut the rope if you're going to go chasing rats in the dark, I can't see a godsdamned thing that way!"

He'll stand his ground unless Ozz drags him forcibly.

"There! It's dead!" Ozz growls, impatient to follow Trissae's directions, turning back in time to see...

... the final rat emerge from the darkness by the food pile, and bites at the guard's back as he looks around for additional threats to his wards. The rat pounces, bites into his shoulder and knocks the man down, once more at death's door.

The dwarf from above, holding his action, cries out and tosses his spear at the rat, but misses. "Hold on! I'll help get the hatch open!" he says, and vanishes.

"Gods damn ye! Don't follow thuh f*@!ing dwarf, hold onto me!" Tease cries, probably at another guard out of view.

You all hear a slight commotion from Ozz's direction, as if something is being moved behind a door.

Back to the top. Map updated
No guards are in view. The pins are currently hidden. One rat is still alive. One guard is dying/dead. The pins are both still out of reach (though one you know which square it is in, will take a perception check to spot amongst the broken floor.

Trissae finally exasperated turns toward the last rat. She begins to wiggle her arms and legs to imply she some sort of large insect or spider. Hissing like the spiders back home and swinging aggressively at the rat trying to intimidate it to scare it off.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Intimidate: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Flicking the knife in front of her face as though a gleaming maw of teeth.

F+%*ing Inspired, Triss. Gain 1 inspiration point

The rat shrieks a terrified shriek and scuttles back into the darkness (Disengaging to do so).

"Ozz, f+&$ing get over here now," he finally orders.

Cavell flashes a grin to Triss when the rat scurries off. Once he's got both their attention, he mimes a lockpicking motion in front of his manacles, then points at the floor around, to his eyes, then to the floor around again.

Not having anything else to do but wait for Ozz to give him more leash, he saws through the rope, trying to scan the darkness for any slight sparkle that might be a pin but not having much luck this far away.

Trissae let's out an exasperated sigh, then while supporting her weight she cuts the rope free and hops to the ground. She then goes to check on the injured guard. As she does so she glances around for the missing lockpick.

Perception check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

If she spots it she'll quickly palm it, otherwise she'll give up and focus on the guard. She cuts away a length of her drab linen shirt with the knife before discarding it, then using the linen rag she'll cover the poor man's wound.

"Don't worry friend, you will be okay..." she says in a comforting tone. She keeps a hand on him as she looks back to the others.

Ozz gives a look back at the hatch, the sounds still coming from it, and then "hurries" back to Adrien and Triss into the light.

Trissae finds the manacle pick, and quickly palms it. All that is left is the silver hairpin. Adrien, the only one who knows about it, cannot see even his bag that he lost grip of in the darkness by where the rat fled. Maybe the pin is still in his bag, maybe it came out as some items scattered out.

"There's one more," Cavell whispers harshly, frustrated.

He gags a little as he wipes the pick off on his uniform and pops it in his mouth, then searches the area for the silver pin.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Trissae looks up at the hole and yells. "Bring a healer, your man is injured!"

She looks back to Adrien. She whispers back, "Sorry Addie, I can't leave his side. That last one really did a number to him. Maybe after they get the door open and some light we can look for it."

She gives him a sympathetic look before continuing to focus on the guard.

Blindly groping in the darkness, Adrien is able to find his sack, but can't tell by feel which small item of the ground is the silver hairpin.

Consider ourselves out of initiative, but from the sounds of it there will only be time for one or two more actions before they door is opened and your rescue team comes out

Ozz follows Adrien into the dark, mainly to keep an eye on the final rat, in case it tries to attack his blinded companion.

"Yes... One more. But Triss scared it off well, it's scurrying behind cover in the corner." He says, not getting it.

Cavell curses under his breath and shoots a glare at the injured guard. He always assumed ulterior motives when he saw a good deed. Helping a stranger for the sake of it was an alien concept to him. He turns on Trissae, fuming for a second, trying not to snap at her. He speaks low and forcibly steady, but gradually loses that restraint.

"While I appreciate your sense of self-preservation, Triss, when you stop helping us survive this and start putting your own life above ours, I start to think I misjudged you. In case you missed the look Wen gave us--they're going to f$~*ing hang Ozz. If earning good-will with the shields is more important than trying to save him, then you can f$&@ing stay with them for all I care. Play them songs and suck their cocks, but I want to save my godsdamned friends!"

He clenches his fists, throwing himself back to the floor and patting around trying to find the other pin. After a moment of searching he glances over his shoulder towards the hatch, trying to ignore wounds that would have killed a weaker-willed man, frantic to find the pin before the guards came.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

1 inspiration point! ozz! LOL

"Gods, Cavell", Ozz mutters after his rant. As if another group of people intending him harm isn't anything to get so angry over.

"... What are you doing?"

You're blinded, so give me that roll at disadvantage, Adrien. Unless you wanted to use that inspiration you've got banked.
Triss, you can roll me a medicine check if you are trying to stabilize the guard.
Hah, if you guys think Ozz deserves an inspiration point for that, I'll give him one. It more ties into his being dumb then any of his traits though... Maybe...

Trissae sits there quiet, stunned, unable to say anything in retort. She just sits there holding the injured/dying man's hand and watching Adrien and Ozz in the dark. Her eyes welling with tears.

Perception, disadvantage roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Lol nice adrien!

Medicine: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12

Kick-ass! Also, love the drama! *pop corn*

Adrien's hands deftly prove the floor, searching for objects that match the brief image of the hairpin he saw in the kitchen. After about a dozen such objects his fingers close around what feels like the perfect match. Wide of the back, the shown decorative wooden plate, and a couple thin bars of metal held tightly against the plate to seat it in someone hair.

Trissae is able to successfully tend to the twice critically injured guard, keeping him from bleeding out in the rat infested cellar. Though still unconscious, his life has been saved.

The sounds from the door stop for a moment, before there is a brief, loud cursing heard muffled through it. Following that is a sound of hammering metal on wood, then metal on metal, then metal on wood again.

"Still alive, ya?! Hey! What be going on down there?!"

"Ozz and Adrien are keeping the beasts at bay while I tend to your injured comrade." Trissae calls up in a cracking voice. Quickly losing her composure again she covers her mouth to stifle the sounds of weeping.

Fingers moving rapidly, Cavell uses the knife to pry the wooden plate off the hairpin, constantly glancing up at the banging hatch. He tries to ignore Trissae as he works, burying guilt under anger and urgency. Carefully he slides the pin into the hem of his prison uniform (opening a hole with the knife if the pin is too dull).

"Comrade?! Thuh bloody f*%! are ye talkin' about?!" The voice answers, followed by the sounds of rising, no longer being pulled down by his rope.

Another voice pipes up. "He'll live?" The halfling, from the sounds of it, concerned and thankful.

The ringing blows crack against the door a few more times while this occurs, and another new voice rings from above with an accompanying shadow.

"Hey!" She calls down. "The cellar hatch is locked! They're trying to smash through it! Are the rats all dead?"

"One more, it's hiding somewhere. It's bloody dark though I hope they brought torches!"

He scans the darkness uselessly, knife held out in front of him, then motions to Ozz. "I'm fine. Let them in if you want," he says, voice weary.

"Lock isn't inside." He mutters, staring off into the dark (not that Adrien can see). He guides Adrien back toward the light.

Seeing the severed end of the rope Trissae cut herself free from, Ozz jumps up to the grab it, trying to climb out of the hole.

Athletics Check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

NAILED IT!

As Ozz jumps up to grab the rope, his weight pulls it somewhat through the wedge it's caught in. A another slam is heard followed by dwarvern swearing. The human woman guard looks over at something out of sight in surprise, and as Ozz drifts downward as the rope pulls toward the hole, in horror. She dives out of sight, apparently trying to stop Tease's sliding. Ozz starts climbing out of the hole, noticing or caring about none of this, getting to the lip and finally noticing he barely has enough slack to get out entirely.

As Adrien works on the hairpin, prying the wooden plate off with some difficulty (though eventual success, the plate separating from the metal), he notices a strange feeling from the silver pin. Almost as if the metal has an inexplicable weight to it, or maybe that it is warmer than he would expect.

Cavell watches Ozz climb with interest before turning his attention back to the pin. He's curious about the strange feeling, but focuses on properly smuggling it.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Triss's pride finally overwhelms her grief as she grows silent while the other two sharks go about their activities. After Ozz finishes climbing she finally speaks in a dry tone.

"By the gods.... A cellar door made of iron and a floor made of paper. No wonder they moved out."

She stares out in the direction the rat scurried off to, in case she need call out to Adrien but otherwise remains motionless while she waits for the guards to finally break through.

"Cavell", Ozz says, shaking his rope down at him. "Cut me loose."

"Not having anything else to do but wait for Ozz to give him more leash, he saws through the rope". few posts back. Didnt have anything else i could do on my turn

Jeeze DM, that's two now! lol

woops! Ignore that last post.

Ozz disappears from sight. "H-hey! Where are you-" comes the woman's voice, strained slightly from keeping Tease still. Several pairs of feet leave the room.

A few moments later, the sounds at the door abruptly stops.

KLANG! KLANG! KL-ERRRNG! ... Creeeeeeek

Light slants across the darkened basement and three guards rush in, leading Ozz, the dwarf taking a watch against the dark while the other two run up to you. They check the downed guard, and look over your wounds.

Trissae sits up quickly and steps away from the injured man so that his comrades may better tend to him. She only momentarily glances at Adrien before heading up the stairs, or at least wait by the stairs to be lead up by the guard.

"Thanks Ozz,..." She says, fairly confident it was only when he assisted that they finally were able to breach the door.

Cavell chuckles as Ozz enters, "What a man. I might swoon." He claps him on the shoulder as he heads up the stairs--not waiting for the guards.

Once back above-ground he trudges his way out into daylight, waving off-handedly at Tease as he passes. He slumps down against the building outside, leaning his head back against the wall and shutting his eyes, letting the sunlight warm his face and breathing fresh air.

To no one in particular he says with his eyes still closed, "What a way to go, eaten by rats in the dark. Always hoped I'd be killed by a courtesan-assassin mid-act, stabbed in the heart with her atop me. That's a death. Or killed in a frantic duel, taking my opponent with me."

His voice fades to muttering, listing other ways he'd rather die, trying to take his mind off that dark cellar of rats gnawing pieces out of him.

Ozz follows Cavell outside, giving the guards who had failed to open the door for so long a derisive snort as he passes them.

"Too much cherryfire", Ozz adds his own to the list. "Or in my sleep, after getting everyone together again." He thinks about how long it has been since he has seen a few of the more worldly of the Bogsharks.

"Sometime after I finally see the Moor's unicorn anyway..."

Cavell smirks, brought back from the edge of dark thoughts by Ozz. He opens his eyes.

"I bet there was wine or something in that cellar. I could use it right about now. Doubt they'll let us have any though."

He toasts upward at Ozz with an invisible cup.

"To the Unicorn of the Moor."

He throws his head back, downing the imaginary alcohol and pretending to wince. "Strong," he mutters.

"No wine that I saw... Bunch of barrels. Ale, maybe spirits... Lots of it though."

A door of iron indeed. Adrien and Ozz pass by a heavy, iron hatch as they leave the building and into the afternoon sun. A shattered lock lies on the ground at the foot of the hatch.

Adrien, take advantage on this roll

A couple of the guards follow you out, and moments later Sargent Silvers comes running out into the building's backyard from the rear exit, silver sword in hand, a look of apprehension and resolve on her face. She stops as she sees you, slightly battered and resting.

"Triad's mercy, what happened this time?!"

int: 1d20 ⇒ 81d20 ⇒ 10

"Rats."

Hey folks, check in once you've got your account and alias set up

Got it

Got my Ozz Alias up. Here is the current format I'm using for my profile, if you guys would like to copy it. It isn't perfect yet though. For example, I don't have spells for Ozz yet, so if you have spells on your character sheet you'll have to find a spot to put them. Should be easy enough, just don't forget to add them

Template

Also, I'd like both of you to roll me a 1d100 here, (do the roll command) and take the appropriate item from the trinkets on pages 160-161

trinket: 1d100 ⇒ 52 two toy soldiers, one with a missing head

Trinket: 1d100 ⇒ 28

A dragon's bony talon hanging from a plain leather necklace.

Testing Testing 1,2,3

Okay I updated my profile to have the character info, but I don't know how to get like.... initiated as being apart of the campagange

I believe you simply post in Gameplay and it will give me the ability to add you to the campaign proper. Feel free to jump in

Adrien don't forget you have proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves (I'm dumb I see you've factored that into the numbers already)

heh, oh you. Im liking the setup so far! Also, i think I might have a couple other Interested people in the game once thee is a good time f9r them to join, which will be a little while at least.

I was thinking that as part uniform and part disguise that the bogsharks would wear a half-mask over their mouths while on a raid. Something like a sharp toothy grin, so it looks something like this But more medieval. Each would be custom, but probably with the theme of pointed teeth (You are sharks after all). Thoughts?

bad link, but i think i get what you mean and i like it

Really? Hmm, it works for me.

Also doesn't work for me x_X

The important part is just having a disguise of some sort during a raid (Something that I don't think Trissae will have an issue fulfilling). Unless your issue isn't a your PC specific thing, and you just don't like the idea for the group beyond her.

I think he meant the link, if that's what you were talking about.

Anyway, I like the idea. for style reasons and also practicality. Of course covering your face is good, but having something recognizable is gonna make people surrender when they see us comin'

It's the bogsharks! S&$#!

Try this one

It's a different mask, isn't being worn. Basically just a sharp tooth looking mask that covers the lower face.

that worked, neat!

Hey Skeletor, what you think about Adrien having trained Trissae with the rapier?

I'm down with that. She's gonna focus on hand crossbows later at some point not preferring close quarters but it makes sense that somebody would have trained her for the worse case scenarios (and explain her rapier proficiency in an interesting way)

I like the background stuff we got going on. Feel free (as long as its not too crazy) to make up background stuff with my character and yours.

Two points, guys. First, Adrien. Look into the "Hiding" box on page 177. You would use the same stealth check until you are no longer hiding, so the reroll you did just before sneaking out to attack was unnecessary. Additionally, when you are no longer concealed/incover it is generally Stealth breaking. I decided to rule that everyone was currently too distracted to really notice you going through open ground (Though it is true your target couldn't see your approach) to call out.

This might change in the future as the rules are kind of unclear about other people alerting you to an enemy. I think what I'll do, and let me know if this sounds fair to you guys, if an ally sees a stealthing enemy and calls out, this gives advantage (+5) to the passive perception of the other people. Granted, in this situation, Adrien's second stealth check was high enough to still allow him advantage (Which is how I played things out).

Secondly, Trissae. Since the dwarf had already pulled his weapon out, I believe you would have needed a disengage either way to avoid provoking since you left his threatened area.

Any questions/comments?

Oooh, thinking about it, if either of you have any reactionary powers/spells that you ever might want to you, declare in your main post that if something were to happen that you'd want to use it.

Example: Protection fighters can impose disadvantage on an attack roll against an adjacent ally, so long as they are wielding a shield. Declare that if the situation were to present itself, that you would be using that.

You only get one reaction per round, and this includes attacks of opportunity, so make sure you specify. If an enemy leaves your threatened range, I will default to allowing you to make an attack, but if you choose to pass, make sure you say as much so I know what's going on and that you are saving your reaction for something else.

Adrien, I'm gonna doodle our characters. Any special requests?

Nice! No special requests

Got Triss down, gonna start on Adrien

Excited to see, thanks for that

woo!got Adrien whipped up. I'll see about getting it scanned tomorrow

Christ, looking at some of the previous posts, I am the king of typos/mixed-wording-sentences.

I also just realized that I gave double-disadvantage for filing down the pin, once because you are using a poor file and the other for doing it in low-light. Since the effects of multiple (dis)advantages don't stack, and if you are getting help from an ally (which grants advantage), you would be working at an even roll even if there are multiple sources of disadvantage.

So, friday, friday I'll scan. You guys want me to email it to you?

sure, or post here, either way

Ditto

Sent via emails folks

Oh nice work, I like the personality in them both, and ty for the faithful rendering, that's how I imagined Cavell

Oh phew, I was using your description and crossed fingers. I'm glad you like it.

Captain Wen: "You should wear these pup-pups we're going to the most power happy place on planet globes..."

Hah!

HEY FOOLS! The map has been updated with locations! ALL THE LOCATIONS

I also put information about to manacles up on the front page, so you can take these points into account in your posts.

I noticed with Cavell's bowl toss that you guys might not have a decent expectation of what DCs some tasks could be. I posted a table from the DMG to the info page, so if you wanted to ad-lib some inconsequential actions in your post like that bowl toss, you can reference that and realistically dictate the success of the action yourselves.

I would have allowed the 12 dex check to have been a success for an easy task, Cavell, though I'm fine with how you did it. :)

Ah cool. I was thinking it was pretty far away, so landing it right in the barrel would have been impressive, but getting it with the other dishes was the target area too. So kind of... DC 10, but if 15 or higher = lands directly in the barrel.

Sorry for the wait guys, the next post is going to require some solid writing time. I haven't forgotten about ya!

S@&!, I just realized how much the placement of the shield tower on the map differs from the actually canonically described place. Ah f*@! it, we're doing this differently I suppose!

You are god, make it so

Also, (Captain Wen: "You should wear these pup-pups we're going to the most power happy place on planet globes...")

I get that reference! ty sheldon

Ha ha epic!

Hi, guys. just wanted to say, I've been spectating and really enjoying it! Love the interactions and characterization, and I love how good you guys are at playing off of each other's (and Grey's) cues.

I've had the privilege to have played(well, be playing, I should say) under Grey's GMing, so I expect good things from the campaign. :D

Ah thank you very much :] been having a lot of fun

Susano-wo here is the prospective recruit that I have been... TEASING (HAH)! He has so far pitched an idea of an Eldritch Knight path fighter bugbear. Hopefully this is distinct enough from you two as to be interesting and not redundant. I am not too familiar with the differences in spells from bard/eldritch knight, and an El-knight seems different enough from a finesse fighter to not be too similar there either. With the bugbear, I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. Maybe customize, maybe use half-orc stats, I'll have to play with it.

Anyway, since you two started the campaign from an open conversation, I wanted to give susano to same opportunity. The idea is that he'd be one of the elites or another side member who happened to be away and is now back in time to help out with the shiz going down in Yartar. Feel free to pitch ideas.

He won't be active for some time; there is quite a bit I'd like to have happen still before I'd be ready to write in another character, including some amount of leveling on your side.

Soo... YEAH! Discuss.

Some random thoughts. Bugbear according to http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bugbear.htm

But translated into 5th and simplified... some ideas:

*5th ed seems to have removed any -1, -2s to abilities. So only positive bonuses.

*The highest racial bonus is +2 for any one thing, and at most the total points is +3 (except humans).

*Bugbears main trait seems to be strength. Compared to half-orcs that get +2 str from that source (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/races.htm#halfOrcs), I'd presume bugbears would get more. So maybe +3 str, standing out as the strongest race but still matching the total of the other races (+3).

*They're f-ing huge, "A typical bugbear stands 7 feet in height and weighs 400 pounds.", so they should probably get some ability related to that. Advantage on str saving throws vs. being pushed back?

*They normally get +3 natural ac. So +1 to AC instead?

(Rough summary)
+3 Str
Dark Vision
Languages: Common, Goblin
Bulk: Advantage on str saving throws to resist being pushed back.
Tough Hide: +1 AC

(Compared to half-orc)
+2 str, +1 con
Dark Vision
Languages: Common, Orc
Menacing: Prof in Intimidate
Relentless: When reduced to 0 hp, can drop to 1 hp instead
Savage: When you crit, gain an extra x1 to the damage.

Also, I know breaking stereotypes is a Bogshark thing (the friendly Drow and Hobgoblin), but 1) Bugbears are the most evil bastards of goblins, so there's that. 2) I see mention of cleric and shaman bugbear, but not studious wizards.

Eldrich Knight Bugbear doesn't seem like a good fit. Warlock/Dragon-blood-Sorcerer/Druid/Cleric seem like more natural casters for bugbear.

So I'd say stick to breaking one stereotype. Either he's a bugbear that actually isn't evil, or he's a bugbear that's remarkably studious and book-learned. I think if you try to do both you'll only be bugbear in appearance and lose most of the impact, no matter how good the backstory is.

IMO.