Hal practically shivers with excitement to finally face something...
Good! Then perhaps now is the time to start linking epic sounding music!
Despite his most recent burn by magic, Karek is unable to resist the lure of becoming bigger.
I'd like da be bigger, I dink. Da bedder da keeb da beasd ad lengd.
Hal grins widely and holds back his laughter, "I like the plan, better to smell like crap then end up like crap after Deca Jaws is done with us".
"I also have a few ideas. While in A'Viss I found four potions which I believe will enhance the maneuverability of those of us who are less gifted swimmers. I have also prayed to Angradd for a series of spells which will aid us against Deca Jaws. Once we are ready to begin our journey I will cast these spells. Their duration is somewhat limited but in the heat of a battle I will not be able to get them all off at once".
“I would prefer to be a smaller target but for the purposes of swimming I will probably move faster larger. I will follow Karek’s lead and be larger. Thank you again Orchid and Faren without you both we surely would have perished”.
Aye, an' you'd think it would matter, but it never seems ta work out tha way.
Karek will keep pace with Hal while he is casting his spells. His action will be to ready his spear against a charge.
"Alright boys, we better get movin'. We only become a more likely target the longer we wait here. I plan stayin' as I was when I came inta this world and will go out the same way."
Sounds cool.
Several hundred feet - let's say 700 for the moment - not quite a sprint distance yet. But I don't have the Dune Squad moving forward just yet - I want to make sure everyone is cool and final with their preparations.
I'd also be interested in your 'swimming order'. Space is not an issue so you can fan out parallel, or you can even stack the Dune Quad vertically. How far apart shall you be? Moving at the Speed of your slowest swimmer?
"Wasn't there a bunch of swimming potions or something?"
"I'll take one of your spells there, Jason. I think that we need to stay near each other so I can cover us as best as possible with the cloud. If we spread too far apart it will be impossible to all benefit from the concealment."
"Friend Hurgah, this is indeed a sorry excuse for an oasis, one that would not play host to any gen's conclave. According to wee Schmoosh, though, this here be the lair of some foul Deca-Jaws, no doubt swimming in yonder pool waiting to make chowder of our friends and us.<rumble, rumble> We will need to act fast if there be any hope of savin' us all, though I do know what we can possibly do. I can summon a fierce water elemental, or some sharks, maybe a pair of killer octopi, or even a swarm of tasty shrimp perhaps to tempt its ten jaws." <rumble, rumble>
Moonpate rubs his big belly and looks at the large sack containing their friends gear.
"Gads, I hate waiting to eat, or in our probable case, to be eaten. Maybe we should take stock of our friends gear an' see if their be any weapons or such we could use. Maybe that blasted traitor left behind something useful, or at least tasty."
He then lets his hungry eyes linger for a dazed bit on their summoned mounts when suddenly a crazy idea pops into his prodigious head.
"Hurgah, what if we can lure this Deca-Jaws on to the shore with some bait and then slay the foul beast ourselves, like that pair of ancient heroes Soof and Zan-al Zweeb, the Sand Craw Slayers of Katapesh!"
OOC:
Fun post. I'd love to resolve this issue before I unleash the rest of the Dune Squad. Otherwise the temptation to metagame will be even more brutal.
Will you:
(A) Act now, potentially courting a battle with Deca-Jaws minutes, hours or even days before the rest of the Dune Squad arrives.
(B) Continue to sit on the beach and wait, which may result in you missing the whole encounter if it takes place on the other side of the gate.
Or (C) any other plan. I include this as I've been awesomely surprised a few times now.
The problem you face is you do not know where you synch in time with your allies. The GM knows this, but you do not. The Schmoosh phone would have been handy, but is alas not available - perhaps the fruhgen's off sulking over an unanswered riddle.
"Friend Hurgah, this is indeed a sorry excuse for an oasis, one that would not play host to any gen's conclave.
Moonpate though, has not seen the cool pics of the oasis in the link in the Beetle's profile. Or maybe he's an oasis snob - I can respect that.
"I'll take one of your spells there, Jason. I think that we need to stay near each other so I can cover us as best as possible with the cloud. If we spread too far apart it will be impossible to all benefit from the concealment."
"You got it!"
"Eldritchi Anamarius!"
A soft azure glow flows over the elder dwarf and then quickly vanishes, the magic leaving its invisible protective field in place.
"Can't say I'm looking forward to this Shi!t storm, Shattershield."
----------
Will you:(A) Act now, potentially courting a battle with Deca-Jaws minutes, hours or even days before the rest of the Dune Squad arrives.
(B) Continue to sit on the beach and wait, which may result in you missing the whole encounter if it takes place on the other side of the gate.
Or (C) any other plan. I include this as I've been awesomely surprised a few times now.
The problem you face is you do not know where you synch in time with your allies. The GM knows this, but you do not. The Schmoosh phone would have been handy, but is alas not available - perhaps...
The timing aspect of our actions in relation to our aquatic companions is definitely not lost on me. Moon just hates waiting and doing nothing, especially if there is no booze or grub involved. So, at least he will go through the sack of equipment and see what might be useful while waiting for Hurgah to ruminate (if you can call it that).
Donkor likes Hal's organized method, and will join in.
To add to his 4 potions of swimming, he adds his 5 touch of the sea. He will use one himself, and distribute the others to those who want them.
Additionally he will cast prep buffs as Hal is as follows:
Breach - Bull's Strength
Karek - Bull's Strength
Gandel - Shield of Faith
Sooron - Sanctuary
Will hold the rest in reserve. Additionally, hope I might be able to aid the obfuscation with my water spells. Will Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud have any effect under water? Or do they just fizzle?
Here's a Spellcraft check if I need one:
Hm. Touch of the Sea gives us one minute. Not too much, but it allows us to take the run action underwater, which will hopefully be excellent. One of us will be left out, but that doesn't have to be a problem. I nominate Gandel to be reduced to size tiny, and to ride along with one of the guys going enlarged. He could hang out with Bunky! (Only a problem when Faren's duration expires...)
Give the swimming potions to everybody but me - I can make whatever checks we need on my own. Jason, Gandel and Donkor for sure, probably Hal as the last one. Breach seems capable as well.
Karek wouldn't be opposed to a Blur spell, either, if Jason can manage.
As far as swimming order, beats me. I guess it depends on how many people go big. We should be able to move together, with five of us having TotS, and one of us along for the ride. (Again.)
I guess it's time to reevaluate my stats. Sigh.
"Wohoo! Double fisted! It's like I'm back in my arcane college!"
. . . Additionally, hope I might be able to aid the obfuscation with my water spells. Will Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud have any effect under water? Or do they just fizzle?
Here's a Spellcraft check if I need one: 1d20+6 [=23]
Thanks for the round-by-round casting list. (You too Hal!)
Obscuring mist and fog cloud, unfortunately, do not work underwater. Donkor will know this. I had actually written a lengthy post on how the spells would create a churning effect and potentially interact with Breach's crap cloud, but I now see the spells' descriptions rule this out. Bummer.
Since Sooron would have known this, he can swap them out for his alternate domain spells, if you'd like. Though maybe he would like to keep them regardless in anticipation of use on land. Just let me know what Donkor chooses.
I nominate Gandel to be reduced to size tiny, and to ride along with one of the guys going enlarged. He could hang out with Bunky! (Only a problem when Faren's duration expires...)
The (potential) return of Master Blaster!
Gandel, if you sign-on for this, let me know who you are "riding".
There's a Bunky vs. Binky joke here somewhere, but it's not coalescing for me.
I guess it's time to reevaluate my stats. Sigh.
Oh, you love it!
Yes.
Shield of faith is a deflection bonus (in this case +3).
Mage armor is a +4 armor bonus.
However, Jason has a ring of protection +1, which is also a deflection bonus. So he only gets a further +2 from the shield of faith, which might be what you were thinking of.
If you've got a better use for it, feel free to swap it around, but otherwise Jason will happily take the net +2. Unless someone proposes a 'marching order' he plans to stay at the back of the bus anyway.
Oh, you love it!
This poop flinging scheme has me in stitches when I try to visualize the unfolding scene. Brings a new and positive meaning to the term "craptastic"!.
Will you:(A) Act now, potentially courting a battle with Deca-Jaws minutes, hours or even days before the rest of the Dune Squad arrives.
(B) Continue to sit on the beach and wait, which may result in you missing the whole encounter if it takes place on the other side of the gate.
Or (C) any other plan. I include this as I've been awesomely surprised a few times now.
The problem you face is you do not know where you synch in time with your allies. The GM knows this, but you do not. The Schmoosh phone would have been handy, but is alas not available - perhaps...
The timing aspect of our actions in relation to our aquatic companions is definitely not lost on me. Moon just hates waiting and doing nothing, especially if there is no booze or grub involved. So, at least he will go through the sack of equipment and see what might be useful while waiting for Hurgah to ruminate (if you can call it that).
Thanks for that. I re-read the exchange between Moonpate and Schmoosh. While not perfectly clear, it doesn't read to me that Schmoosh ever communicated the name Deca-Jaws, or anything more than Moonpate's minions were likely to die before reaching the Tumen oasis. He definitely wasn't asked.
With that background, I don't think he can make the check. Moonpate only has a vague sense there's something dangerous involved - he might not even be suspecting a monster at all - perhaps traversing the gate is simply dangerous.
Jason can take it back then. It has his scrolls and wands the like (though I should check what he left at the red tent).
It sounds as though he could put Gandel in the haversack without much trouble.
Though if the plan is to shrink him too, maybe it's better with Karek? Up to you guys.
Yes, you definitely will--
-- unless the GM forgets to take it into account. And this sounds exactly like the kind of obscure bonus that could be forgotten in the sea of flooding variables.
I recommend you guys keep on me for that. I promise I won't take it as a criticism. The best thing to do is keep your PC profiles updated with your buffs, as I try to consult those before posting. (such as Karek has done - head of the class.)
As long as I'm on this topic: at some point, pointing out a GM math error becomes too late - too much stuff has gone by and I won't retcon/rewind it, even if it was my mistake. It's unfair, especially since it was my error, but there's nothing I can do except assure you that at least half of my errors tend to work in the PCs' favor. I'll try to keep em to a minimum.
P.S. Holy smokes. I didn't realize the naturalist ability also applies to attacks as well - that's a serious mega-buff.
No worries - we got some time. We'll finalize the Hurgentate first before the rest of the Dune Squad starts Montezuma's revenge - though everyone feel free to fine tune the details while we do so. There's a number of different ideas floating around and we should pin down which are up for execution.
The Core book puts a human run at 13 mph.
With expeditious retreat this is doubled (30 touch of the sea + 30 expeditious retreat), so assume for the sake of argument 26 miles per hour.
This converts to 41.84 km per hour (Hey! There's Canucks and Europeans here.)
For a comparable this is very close to the highest speed ever recorded by a human (as per my quick and dirty google search):
"1st January 2011: As by end of 2010, the highest speed of human recorded was of 44.72 km/h (27.79 mph), seen during a 100 meters sprint (average speed between the 60th and the 80th meter) by Usain Bolt."
So, with this plan the dwarves will swim just under the top Usain Bolt sprint speed while carrying people on their backs.
You can go from your present position to the rift in just a handful of seconds.
Note, this plan fails if anyone is in heavy armor - it relies on using the run action as a full-round action in order to get the x4 multiplier. As I have it, Karek's got his put away in the handy haversack and possibly shrunk; Breach's is in Hurgah's Santa Claus sack; and Hal doesn't wear heavy armor.
Also, while running, you lose your Dex bonus to AC. I'm going to extend that to the passengers, who won't have anywhere to dodge to. Though, some or all of this will be off-set by their size bonus to AC with their reduced size (+1 for Donkor and Jason at Small, +2 for Gandel at Tiny).
A few more details.
As I have it, all the 1 minute/level spells previously mentioned will be cast before Montezuma's Revenge begins.
The 1/round/level spells are not. The spellcasters may or may not cast them while traveling on the backs of the dwarves. They will need a Concentration check to do so (DC 10 + spell level).
So I have:
Bear's Endurance by Hal (on Hal)
Shield of Faith by Hal (on Jason and Karek) and by Donkor (on Gandel)
Shield Other by Hal (on Breach)
Status by Hal (on up to two persons?)
Bull's Strength by Donkor (on Breach and Karek)
That leaves the only uncasted buff spells as the two sanctuaries. If you like you can cast those too before you start - since there's a 7 round duration which is more than the time it should take to reach the rift. But should anything go wrong, there won't be much time left on the spell after you reach the rift.
Thanks for that. I re-read the exchange between Moonpate and Schmoosh. While not perfectly clear, it doesn't read to me that Schmoosh ever communicated the name Deca-Jaws, or anything more than Moonpate's minions were likely to die before reaching the Tumen oasis. He definitely wasn't asked.
With that background, I don't think he can make the check. Moonpate only has a vague sense there's something dangerous involved - he might not even be suspecting a monster at all - perhaps traversing the gate is simply dangerous.
Plan A: wait and react, or:
Plan B: explore, by sending an "Unseen Servant" to the water's edge to thrash about with a stick or something and see what happens.
So, with this plan the dwarves will swim just under the top Usain Bolt sprint speed while carrying people on their backs.
Also, while running, you lose your Dex bonus to AC. I'm going to extend that to the passengers, who won't have anywhere to dodge to. Though, some or all of this will be off-set by their size bonus to AC with their reduced size (+1 for Donkor and Jason at Small, +2 for Gandel at Tiny).
This just gets funnier to envision with every post. Sprint-swimming giant dwarves carrying wee and very wee folk on their backs blasting through clouds of ever-flowing poo: worth a whole lot of coin. Being chased by a ten-headed hydra who will quickly (hopefully) surmise that the special seasonings accompanying this strange meal will not enhance its gustatory experience: priceless.
In that case:
Plan A: wait and react, or:
Plan B: explore, by sending an "Unseen Servant" to the water's edge to thrash about with a stick or something and see what happens.
[/ooc]
Great - just let me know which it is so I know which half of this encounter to resolve first.
Donkor, Gandel, Hal - if anyone has any alterations or misgivings about the current plan, get em in now or forever hold your peace. Cause I think otherwise, we're about ready to go!
"Thank you for the sacrifice you have made to your work for us. I will pray that Angradd bless you in the dangers you are about to return to".
The janni accept Morgrym's final blessing and the other expressions of gratitude from the Dune Squad.
As a final gift, they alter the Dune Squad's size, as per their requested preferences. At first you find it disorientating as the dimensions of your relationship with your surroundings drastically changes, but you soon find your reflexes adapting.
Faren and Orchid then re-mount the Vonovoxen and wave farewell. The huge manta ray circles around the Dune Squad a final time in a majestic arc, as though it too says goodbye. Then, with a powerful pulse of its wings, it launches away, soaring back the way it came.
For a few moments, you cannot help but watch the creature slowly grow smaller and smaller in the distance until it drops from sight. Then you realize the gravity of the task now before you and you refocus. . .
Or
"Maybe I should play WoW Instead and get a Computer to Do this For Me"
So I have:
Bear's Endurance by Hal (on Hal)
Shield of Faith by Hal (on Jason and Karek) and by Donkor (on Gandel)
Shield Other by Hal (on Breach)
Status by Hal (on up to two persons?)
Bull's Strength by Donkor (on Breach and Karek)
Just updating this list to include the spells from Gandel, Belleson, and the Janni as well as the potions and elixirs.
Bear's Endurance by Hal (on Hal)
Shield of Faith by Hal (on Jason and Karek) and by Donkor (on Gandel)
Shield Other by Hal (on Breach)
Status by Hal (on up to two persons?)
Bull's Strength by Donkor (on Breach and Karek)
expeditious retreat by Gandel (on Breach, Karek and Hal)
mage armor by Jason (on Jason and Breach)
blur by Jason (on Karek and Breach - and he's adding Hal for good measure unless I hear otherwise)
enlarge person by Faren and Orchid (on Hal, Karek and Breach)
reduce person by Faren and Orchid (on Donkor, Jason and Gandel)
(5) touch of the sea potions drank by Karek, Hal, Breach, Gandel, Donkor but not Jason
(4) elixirs of swimming drank by Donkor, Jason, Hal and one other(?)
I see that some of the above was posted as in-character proposals as opposed to a stated action, so don't hesitate to clarify, if you need to. But otherwise this will help cut to the chase and give me a running list.
So, with this plan the dwarves will swim just under the top Usain Bolt sprint speed while carrying people on their backs.
You can go from your present position to the rift in just a handful of seconds.
Another caveat has occurred to me. One of the assumptions in this plan is that you can use the run action with a Swim speed. I think that makes sense.
The wrinkle is this. I don't think you 'Swim-run' without two free hands. You need them to actually perform the strokes. So the dwarves can either do this at 120 feet a round with weapons in their hands, or they focus on the Swim and go 240 feet a round.
Hmmmmmm. In for a penny? Or in for a pound?
Thanks Dennis. Here's a further revised list:
Bear's Endurance by Hal (on Hal)
Shield of Faith by Hal (on Jason and Karek) and by Donkor (on Gandel)
Shield Other by Hal (on Breach)
Status by Hal (on Karek and Breach)
Bull's Strength by Donkor (on Breach and Karek)
expeditious retreat by Gandel (on Breach, Karek and Hal)
mage armor by Jason (on Jason and Breach)
blur by Jason (on Karek, Breach and Halstadt)
enlarge person by Faren and Orchid (on Hal, Karek and Breach)
reduce person by Faren and Orchid (on Donkor, Jason and Gandel)
(5) touch of the sea potions drank by Karek, Hal, Breach, Gandel, Donkor but not Jason
(4) elixirs of swimming drank by Donkor, Jason, Hal and Breach
Good point.
Regrettably, there does not appear to be a way we can put this without unfortunate innuendo--
--But if Jason is "on" Karek, who is 'riding' Hal and who is 'riding' Breach?