Adventures in Oakstead

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

-2 for the second range increment. But still not bad....

Pierce scoffs with the other kids. "It can't be that hard." He tries to nock an arrow but he's clearly never done this before.

Attack (longbow): BAB+Dex+size, nonproficiency: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 4 = 19

Somehow his shot bullseyes the closest target. He looks surprised for a brief second and then narrows his eyes and throws his head back as if to say he meant to do that.

Clara shoots at the target that is at the largest distance.

Bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
After hitting the general area she boasts "See, it's not that hard.

How big and detailed are the targets?

I figured small, straw, man shaped things with three legs like a tripod so they'd be easier to stand. So humanoid about 18" tall?

"Pretty good shooting. I can move some farther away. But remember that we need to find the arrows if we can. And the farther away the target is the easier it is to miss by a lot and make the arrows hard to find.... Unless you've developed some magic that we don't know about yet Clara? Something to help creating arrows or finding them?"

Accio arrows? Somehow, I think it could turn out... Bad

Tarjun snickers at the thought of a spell specifically made to create arrows out of thin air. "It would save some time, not gonna lie!"

He helps Jewel move the straw men a little further away, then takes his aim again.

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19 Not sure what the malus would be

"Yes!" he punches the air in excitement when the arrow finds its mark.

Any reasonable persons here, who object to shooting while Jewel is out there in the field?

Bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

"Those targets are unreasonably small. Are we training for a midget fight?" Clara complains despite her still hitting the figure.

Any reasonable persons here, who object to shooting while Jewel is out there in the field?

I assumed he would shoot after Jewel has already come back.

"You don't wanna pick on someone your own size?" Tarjun teases. "It ain't like we've fought a lot of grown-ups."

Just as whe was aiming at the next target, Clara turns with the drawn out bow, and using her right hand to point a finger at Tarjun she angrily replies "You be careful what you say! I'm not that small!"

Taking the hand off the string of course releases the arrow, which almost nails Tarjun's foot to the floor of the tree house.

Bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 171d6 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5
Bluff - This was totally not an intentional act of rage: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

Jewel climbs up to the treehouse platform just in time to see Clara almost hit her brother. She steps over and pulls the arrow from the wood, "Now you've dulled the tip. Bad enough that we have to sharpen them back up after hitting the targets or dirt. But this wood is hard."

She hands the arrow back to Clara. "If you want to make bigger straw men feel free. Smaller targets makes it harder to hit and hopefully makes you focus more on the target. Tarjun and Pierce haven't complained!"

Rofl. Almost shot the brother -> Hey be careful with the arrows!

Tarjun yelps, and narrowly gets out of the arrow's way. "Hey! Careful with that, you psycho -that's my own good leg!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's not like we couldn't patch you up if something went wrong." Clara brushes away Tarjun's concerns. But you can see that she'd rather be called a psycho than short.

"Ain't no reason for maiming me!"

Obviously Jewel wasn't happy with Clara's carelessness, but.... "It would just be a minor wound, not maiming. And between Erastil's graces and the healing that Clara's witch magic grants.... And the healing scepter if we needed it? If she had accidentally hit you the pain and the wound would be gone really quick."

"But I think that counts as Clara's turn. Want to try one of the farthest targets? They're pretty hard to hit."

"It definitely wasn't accidental," Tarjun grumbles. Still, he reluctantly lets the incident go.

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15 "Pretty decent shot!"

Pierce watches Clara and Tarjun squabble and shoot, and fidgets. "Why we've gotta shoot arrows? Can't we learn more about swordfighting? I took down that pirate with a sword."

"I dunno, stabbing a straw figure seems useless to me. How would you miss that?"

"We'd hafta fight each other, with sticks so we don't stab anybody. That's how I learned it."

Jewel accepts Pierce's idea, but frowns. "I've never tried anything like a sword. Maybe we should check with Mrs Johnson. Some sort of protection on the end of the stick might be good to keep it from stabbing might be better than just a plain stick. Don't want to accidentally poke an eye out...."

Jewel actually has a small size mace and spear. She just doesn't carry them around when we aren't planning for melee. Since we were teleported away by surprise I figured that she didn't have them on our 'adventure'.

"Who needs a sword? You can do decent damage with just a club." For once, it doesn't feel like empty boasting.

Pierce purses his lips. "Maybe," he says, dubiously. He draws his rapier as if to compare it with a club and inspects the point. "I'd rather have this than a club, if I had to fight."

Jewel moves up to examine the sword. "But we weren't trained to fight like you. Other than a couple of upset animals we didn't have anything to fight until recently. And most animals are so surprised when I talk to them that they stop fighting." She touches the tip, then pulls back impressed. "Sharp. That would be dangerous to practice with!"

"I guess you don't have to hit as hard as with a club if it's sharp."

"You're only saying that 'cause you've never fought with a club," Tarjun looks a bit vexed. "It's easier than a sword! You don't have to worry about the pointy bit."

"I thought if you don't mix up the ends of it, only the others need to be worried about the pointy end."

"No way a club is as good as a sword," Pierce sneers flatly. "You wanna bet? You an' a club against me an' my sword?"

Tarjun shrugs. "Sure. Magic or no magic?"

Pierce blinks. "You have a magic club?" he asks suspiciously. "Blood-drinker isn't magic."

"Of course I've got a magic club," Tarjun doesn't say "duh"[/b, but amazingly, Pierce can still hear it. [b]"I can switch to the staff if you're scared it'd make you lose," he grins.

Jewel glances back and forth at her brother and Pierce. "Really? You need to fight with real weapons? And here I thought only the lumberjacks were THAT stupid! What happens if either of you gets wounded in a way that a simple cure spell won't fix? Broken bones, an eye or ear destroyed, or something like that? And how will you get the blood out of your clothes? Mom won't buy the 'Well, I felt like swimming' story again!"

"I like the idea." Clara encourages the boys.

Pierce glares at Tarjun. "I'm not scared!" he protests. "What's your magic club called? Magic weapons have to have a special name. And even if it's magical, my sword is still better!"

"We'll be careful!" Tarjun protests. "We'll stop if we get hurt."

"They have to? This one doesn't. Hits all the same."

Fight Non-lethally, first one to take 10 damage loses? :P

"Yay, a fight! Who draws first blood wins!"

Jewel considers using her magic to protect her brother, then hears his words.... his protest about being 'careful'! Maybe she should use her protective luck hex to help Pierce? No!

She takes several steps away from the boys, shaking her head. "And Clara can heal whoever gets hurt."

Pierce narrows his eyes, and suddenly lunges at Tarjun, hoping to catch the bigger boy off-guard.

Attack (rapier), nonlethal: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 8 - 4 = 10
Damage (piercing), nonlethal: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

I won't even roll the sneak attack damage, since I doubt that hits. Interestingly, from everything I can find, sneak attack damage is only nonlethal if it is struck with a nonlethal weapon like a sap. Even if the weapon is used nonlethally, sneak attack damage is still lethal damage.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Tarjun protests, parrying the rapier.

He counterattacks, but his swing is too slow and clumsy to hit.

Nonlethal Attack: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 = 10
Damage: 1d4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 1 = 7

"It's not cheating, you've got a magic club!" Pierce crows. He presses his attack, maneuvering nimbly around Tarjun's slow and powerful swings. Despite his bravado, he is shaking slightly with either enthusiasm or nervousness.

Attack (rapier), nonlethal: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 8 - 4 = 12
Damage (piercing), nonlethal: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

"Yeah, and I know how to use it too!" Tarjun retorts - though it seems more like empty boasting when his attack flies way off again.

He's distantly aware that one of them is going to have to hit something eventually before this 'duel' gets called off on the grounds of boredom.

Non lethal Attack: 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 7 - 4 = 10
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 = 7

After a couple of rounds of two boys ineffectually swatting at each other, Tarjun is the first one to take a step back. "Call it a draw?" he suggests. "It's starting to get boring."

Pierce wrinkles his nose while maintaining his stare at Tarjun. "I guess," he says reluctantly. He doesn't put his weapon away, though, remaining on guard in case of treachery.

Jewel crosses her arms across her chest and sighs in obvious relief. "Good. 'Cause I was seriously considering vomiting a swarm of spiders on which ever of you actually drew blood first! And then using Protective Luck to make the bleeder almost impossible to hit, especially the way you were fighting."

She pauses for a moment thinking. "Maybe we need practice. We could ask Dwayne for a man-sized target that we could hang from the trees here by our tree house?" She glances at Clara, "Unless anyone has a better idea?"

"Lame." Clara comments on the draw.

"Why would you ask Dwayne for anything? He is just a big meanie. Or are you suggesting to hang him from teh tree, and beat him with sticks?"

"We could get a man-sized target, and give it Dwayne's hat," Tarjun suggests.

"That would be fun! How do we separate Dwayne from his hat?" Clara inquires. "We could summon a monkey to steal it. O rcan someone cast wind? Invisibility? Or are we stealing it at night from his house?"

"The 'man-sized target' is why I suggested we ask Dwayne. When they cut down a tree they cut take a piece out of the trunk of the tree that would be about the size of a man's torso. They cut the trees up for sale so I thought that would be easier than cutting one ourselves."

"Why would we want to put Dwayne's hat on it? Just draw any face you'd like on it. Maybe something nasty like a goblin? Or an ogre.... if anyone would know what an ogre's face would look like?"

"'Cos he's a douche," Tarjun retorts playfully. "And I bet we can find a trunk somewhere," he gestures at the woods. "If we just need something like a big log..."

Jewel smiles at Tarjun's assessment.... "Dwayne's not really that bad. He's just used to dealing with the morons that spend all day cutting the trees down and loading them on the big wagons. And that's why I thought of getting a short piece of trunk from him. He could direct a couple of the guys to bring it over here. If we go search out one in the woods we have to move it over here by ourselves. It would be really heavy and hard work, even if we got Wookie and Paddington to help!"

"I don't think he'll be pleased to see us again, but if you think you can convince him..." Tarjun caves in reluctantly.

"To Dwayne then?"