The City of Arch: Arch Academy (Inactive)

Game Master Doomed Hero

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 2

Sighing to herself, Ariela begins swimming toward the goal.

Swim: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Round 12

Talas keeps kickin'! Swimming for the orb.

Full round swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

If a 14 does it, that puts him dead above the orb, but I haven't moved his letter on the map since I'm not sure how difficult the water is.

Just another full round of straddle climbing across the beams for Eythil.

If a 14 does it, that puts him dead above the orb, but I haven't moved his letter on the map since I'm not sure how difficult the water is.

Standard swim rules apply. It's DC 10 water. You are able to swim 1/2 your move speed as a full round action. So, 15 feet.

Ariela swims to the next platform, keeping an eye on the movement of the orb

Garridan pulls himself onto the next platform and starts getting to his feet to a better look of the next series of obstacles. "C'mon folks, you can do this! We survived the Abyss!"

Has everyone moved themselves on the map?

Garridan stood up and took a look around. From he previous platform he hadn't been able to get a good look at the wall he now stood in front of. It was a wooden door. It stood in the center of a wall barring entry to the rest of the course.

Talas swam to the orb at the bottom of the pool. It sat in a shallow indentation in the floor. It had a small symbol engraved in it's glass surface.

ROUND 14

(I'm where I'm supposed to be re: map)

Talas squints down at the orb in the clear water, surprised to see a language he recognizes engraved into its surface. The tongue of the spirits of the Varisian woods... here in this city that's so far away from Varisia. Well, he's not complaining. Of course, knowing what it means doesn't mean it's safe... Talas kicks his legs a little bit as he stays on the bottom, thinking fast.

Well, hopefully he won't turn into a block of ice. Nothing happened when he'd touched the other one, after all. Talas moves to snatch up the orb, and, then, barring any terrible thing happeing to him, starts swimming back to the surface, cutting diagonally through the water back towards the others.

Move to pick up orb, move to start swimming back- the blue T reflects Talas's position after the turn if he doesn't get frozen solid or anything

Swim: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

I'm a mild dumbass. Would you permit a retconned 'check for traps' since that's something the ROGUE should maybe do before he picks things up? If so:

Per vs traps: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

Since it's a move action to actively perceive, he'll be in the original square still

Sure. There is a trap of some kind. It looks like it will trigger when the orb is moved.

Disable Device, DC 14

In that case, instead of picking it up this turn, he'll try a disable device

Talas grits his teeth underwater as he notices the trap. And, of course, the rules of the blasted course have left him without any of his equipment for dealing with such things. Well, time to try and improvise. He still has his shirt, tied around his waist now after his earlier idea to try to use it as a rope. He sets to trying to wad it up to ease the orb off the indentation, sliding in the shirt after it to try and keep any pressure plates or the like depressed.

Disable device, penalty for no tools, trapfinding: 1d20 + 8 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 8 - 2 + 1 = 22

Disable Device Time: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

Using round 14 to search for traps, that puts your disable attempt starting on round 15 and finishing on round 21. I'll tell you what you see as far as the trap goes. You can spend the 6 rounds incrementally describing how you disable the trap. Since we know your role, we'll assume whatever you describe works.

Talas started to pull the orb up out of it's shallow indentation and noticed that the orb was plugging a hole. when he lifted it a small wisp of dark blue liquid started to cloud the water. He quickly put the orb back and started thinking of how to defeat the trap...

Everyone else, can I get your Round 14 actions?

Eythil contiued to make his way across the beams and behind Garridan.

"Almost there." he said to himself trying not to look down.

Eythil is just trying to get across the current set of beams 5 ft crawl all the way.

Reaching up to pull herself up onto the platform, Ariela forces her tired muscles to drag her body out of the water.

Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

How did I get back to the start? Eythil's immediate goal is to crawl along this awful overhang and once he's on the other side to see if he can't use Talas's suggestion with the rope to help Ariela out of the water.

I have no idea how that happened. Guardian was on the map twice also. I've fixed things.

From where he hung not he rope, Eythil took a look at how it was attached to the two platforms.

There was a two-pronged metal "fork" attached to the side of the wooden platform, it's curved tines pointing upward. The rope was knotted at both ends. Each knot sat in the notch of the fork. It looked like it could be easily pulled up out of the fork, but he couldn't do it while he was hanging from it.

It would also be a problem to detach the rope from the platform Garridan was on. If he wanted the rope to lead up to the right side of the platform, the rope would have to be attached at the opposite side, and then the person who detached the rope would need to be able to jump the twenty foot gap, or jump into the water and climb up the rope themselves.

All that make sense? Mage Hand could also work to detach the knot on the opposite side.

Talas squints down at the hole in the dimness of underwater, and tries to see if he can wedge the shirt into the hole.

Per the OOC discussion, he'll try and spend a few seconds on the hole, but his plan after that is to return to the group, preferably around the 4 on the map if there's a way to climb up there.

Round 15

Eythil looked at the rope and called down to Ariela. "Hold on, I'm going to try to lower this!"

Ari treaded water for a while as Eythil pulled himself back the way he'd come on the rope. Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 Turning around was tricky. he nearly fell.

Meanwhile, Garridan examined the door in front of him. Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 he noticed something odd about the entire handle mechanism. He wasn't sure what it did, but he was pretty sure it was dangerous. Where the heck was Talas?

Beneath the water, Talas pulled his shirt off and twisted it up.

Round 16

Ariela watched from below as Eythil continued his battle with the rope, but was still recovering from nearly falling. Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Talas grabbed the orb and stuffed his shirt down the hole beneath it, then kicked off the bottom to surface.

Garridan, I'd like you to post a Round 16 action, or tell me what you'd like to do now that you've found the trap on the door. I'll continue the montage once I have that info.

Does it look mechanical in nature? Or more of a magical-based trap? Can Garridan even tell the difference? lol

Looks mechanical. Pretty sure Garridan can't even detect magical traps.

He wouldn't be able to unless it was all glowy-glowy. Can he see any obvious triggering mechanism? Wait... do we have any equipment currently? I cannot recall...

No equipment. The door's handle is slightly seperated from the door. It looks like it might come free if pulled. You aren't sure what would happen after that.

Garridan ponders reaching for the door handle, but then pauses. 'Best to wait for Talas. He'll never stop chiding me if I get zapped or knocked into the water due to my impatience. Speaking of...where is he?' He glances back towards the water, looking for his friend and alarming the others to what he located. "Everyone, we've got a trapped doorway up here! Talas, your skills are required!"

Glub, glub!

Talas breaks the surface (in fuzzy wuzzy montage time), hearing his name called. "I'm coming!" he gasps. "Missing me already?"

(just a flavor response to Garridan's call, if allowed)

Of course. Lets keep moving.

Round 17

Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 Eythil finally managed to turn all the way back around and scurry back to the narrow beam opposite Garridan's platform. He pulled himself onto it and reached down for the knot.

Ariela and Talas treaded water down below, waiting for their way up.

Round 18

Eythil worked the rope clear and dropped it. It swung down, splashing near the two swimmers, hanging from the middle of the platform above. Garridan knelt down next to the rope, reaching down to help grab the climbers as they came up.

Talas was needed up top so he went first. Ariela held the rope to steady it.

Climb, Aid Another x2, DC 15: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 12

The rope wasn't knotted, and he didn't have anything to brace his feet on, so he didn't get far at first.

Eythil, would you like to try to jump the gap, drop down into the water to wait your turn climbing the rope, or something else?

Would have been much easier if Eythil still had his old skills but he'll try to jump the gap. He doesn't feel like jumping in the water again.

Round 19

Talas steadied himself and scurried up the rope nearly to the top. Climb, Aid x2: 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 16 Garridan called down to Ariela to let go and then hauled Talas the rest of the way up by simply heaving on the rope Garridan's 'lift off ground' is enough to cover Talas' weight. Talas pulled himself up the rest of the way and came to rest sitting on the edge of the platform. The rope splashed down to Ariela and she was halfway up it before the others had a chance to look down. Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Eythil took a few steps down the narrow beam to try to get some momentum for his jump. Jump!: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10. Instead of clearing the distance he ended up canonball-flailing down into the drink.

"Not bad." Darian said from the viewing balcony. "Good splash."

Vedic scoffed and Thedra shook her head. "That kid has the worst luck when it comes to trying to jump over water..."

Round 20

Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 Ariela hauled herself to the top of the platform, helped to her feet by Garridan as Talas took a look at the door. Garridan pointed out the faint seem around the handle's fitting. It was definitely a mechanical trap.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

"The whole thing is designed to come free." he said. "The hinges aren't real, look. The door doesn't actually open this direction. It's a push door disguised as a pull door."

Talas clicked the latch without pulling on the handle and gave the door a shove. It swung open easily.

Eythil pushed off the bottom and surfaced with a gasp. He was right next to the rope so he grabbed it and hung on, willing his heart to slow down. Awful fragments of memory started seeping in, so he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled on the rope. Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 The water did not want to let him free. The rope slipped out of his hands. He grabbed it again.

"You sure it was a good idea having them go through this before doing something about that one's memory issues?" Vedic asked, clearly concerned. "He just came out of the Styx."

"We can't just cram any old skills into his head. We have to know what his aptitudes are first. This is an aptitude test." Darian said, as though that were self-evident.

"So what are his aptitudes?" Vedic asked dryly.

"So far, he pays attention to how things are put together, prioritizes helping his companions above making things easier on himself, and keeps pushing forward even when he knows he can't succeed." Darian said.

"Also falling. Let's not forget that." Vedic sighed.

"That too." Darian smiled.

Back on the platform, Talas, Ari and Garridan looked through the door. The walkway on the other side had a series of arches along it that they would need to pass though to get to the other side. On each arch was an array of spring-and-rope powered spinning clubs that ratcheted up and then fired off to swing down at anything under the arch in an incomprehensible pattern.

The gauntlet of spinning clubs is essentially a series of Attacks of Opportunity if you move through their squares. The corridor is 35 feet long. You will take 1 AoO for each 5 feet you move. The Gauntlet has a CMD of 20 for the purposes of Acrobatics checks, and it will take 1d3-1 attacks against you on it's turn no matter where you are along the path. If you choose to 5' adjust, you can avoid AoOs, but you cannot avoid the attacks. There are 7 club-arches and they are each are made of fairly sturdy wood and a rope-based gear system. They could be sundered or disabled but I'm not going to give away the difficulty without some further rolls.

Intentions? Feel free to talk to each other.

Just trying to climb out of the water, this round.
As for getting through the next obstacle, Full defense and moving through would be the most straight forward route, and you'd be very near the end with just one round of being hit. Just double moving would get you through in one round but you'd likely be smacked to near unconscious. Although, the fact they are a series of arches gives rise to the possibility of climbing on top of them and jumping from one to the other in an assassins creed roof running style.

So would it be a single acrobatics check per move action?

Talas looks with concern down at Eythil in the drink. "Anything we can do to help him? Pull up the rope maybe?"

He cranes his head back and studies the arches.

Amusingly enough I had the same thought about trying to jump on top them before I even saw your post, Eythil, so Talas will suggest it ICly if I'm not stealing your thunder.

"Right, so, the lesson of that game with the ball was to try and think outside the box, right friends?" (Talas has actually given some thought to just trying to swim for the end of the course, but with Eythil's justifiable panic over the water it doesn't seem fesasible.) "So maybe we can break the 'rules' a little here as well. Garridan, cup hands and give me a boost, will you?"

Talas tries to hoist himself atop the archways, preparing to attempt to leap between each and run along the top.

If remotely feasible, here's the attempted Acro check:

Leap: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11 My dice. Meht. Well, probably he won't even manage the first jump with that since has no running start, but I'll wait to see GM results.

The clubs are essentially spinning and wrapping around the arches, so being on top of them wouldn't save you from being swung at. It would just mean you'd be jumping from 3 inch rounded beam to three inch rounded beam while being swung at. It's possible, but it wouldn't really make things easier.

Ari, yes. A single acro check per move action. Note that acro checks for AoOs are made at 1/2 movement.

Talas, the arches are only 5 feet apart, so that roll is enough to make a standing jump, but they are only 3 inches wide. That's a very hard balance check, especially when being swung at. I'll allow it, but you'll need to give me a Balance check for landing on the second beam.

Ah nutter butters. I was afraid of that being the case but the description wasn't absolute so I had hoped otherwise.

Okay, I'll probably be returning to ground after this whether or not I fall then since there's no advantage to doing it this way. Well, I'll certainly be returning to ground if I fall, haha, and will mostly return to ground afterwards even if I don't. That said though: is there any obvious propulsion system powering the swinging clubs that Talas can see from atop the arch (gears, etc)? Or does it look to be magical?

Acro to balance: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

It is a series of springs and ropes with pulleys. You're betting it's probably enchanted to keep up the movement without any loss of energy over time, or something like that.

Talas studies the ropes and springs briefly from his dangerously elevated position, but decides an in-depth attempt to jam up the mechanisms is not something feasible under the circumstances. He tries to turn his forward wobble into a drop down into the actual 'corridor' made by the arches, having realized he's no safer here than down in there.

Acro if needed: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Garridan will adopt a very defensive stance as he begins to move through the obstacle...

Total Defense!

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Round 21

Talas landed in a crouch just after Garridan made his way though weaving as the barrage of spinning clubs began.

Both of you avoided the AoOs from moving, but it still gets it's own attacks against you.

Attacks vs Garridan: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2
Attacks vs Talas: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Club vs. Garridan: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Club vs. Garridan: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The anchor pin in one of the pulleys snapped sending one of the clubs careening off into the water. The second to last square of the gauntlet now has one less club. It's a good place to stop if you have to.

Eythil continued his Climb with Ariela hauling at the top: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 2 = 15. He made it nearly to the top of the rope, close enough for Ariela to pull him the rest of the way up. Eythil panted on his back on the platform for a moment.

Ok, new intentions from Ari and Eythil.

"I.. am going... to have to... pay you back... at some point." Eythil said, starting to catch his breath.

Start keeping a running tally on how many times Ariela has saved Eythil from drowning in the water, then standing up and moving over to where Garridan is shown on the map.

"I'll have to think of something." Ariela says with a smile.

Looking forward at the gauntlet she takes a deep breath "Wish me luck." With a wink, she turns and dashes across the gauntlet, nimbly ducking and dodging, narrowly avoiding the multiple spinning clubs trying to pummel her.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Double move at 1/2 speed = 30 ft covered