GM Bret’s Outpost II Doom comes to Dustpawn! (Inactive)

Game Master BretI

Mongo looks to everyone and shrugs, drawing his sword. If no one stealthy is scouting then Mongo will go in at the front of the pack.

No darkvision, which has just suddenly occurred to me I can learn the spell as an easy fix later.

If you have the spell in your spellbook, I will allow you to swap since it is the beginning of the day and your character knew they were going underground today.

@Everyone: Follow the left hand side or right for branches in the passages? Move full speed or searching?

left; searching / taking 10 on perception as we go?

arpac waves wildly at the impish Leeara, trying to get her to be quiet to no avail.

Hopefully the spell covered enough area so that her caterwauling did not penetrate down the shaft.

Left as we go sounds good. SOP is to cast Detect Poison at likely areas of ambush or traps (only scans a small area at a time) when the party pauses.

Tim can shift to earth elemental and scout the passages if we want. For him to see anything he'd have to poke his head out, which with his stealth will alert anyone to intrusion. Either way works for me.

Not in my book, made a note to myself to add it though.

You start moving through the mine tunnels, searching as you go. Most of the tunnels are only wide enough for a single person. Whoever the Nesher’s are, they don’t have darkvision. There are hooks on the support beams for lanterns.

The passageway widens into a larger cavern. Remnants of a mine cart track lean against the wall to the north, while a tunnel slopes down deeper into the ground at the west side of the room. The cave floor is cleared of debris, save for a few drifts of dust and dirt, while the ceiling above is obscured by a thick tangle of cobwebs.

Warpac stops Mongo before he enters the chamber, indicating there is a trap. As the group stops, Timtenzekil indicates there are actually two traps ahead. Theodric also notices that there is a trap when he can see it through the people ahead of him.

Timtenzekil tells the group that both of the traps appear to be mechanical. The first trap pushes people into the second trap, which evidently causes spikes to come up through the floor.

Theodric will pull a couple of tools from his vest and motions for others to step aside before disabling the traps.

Making sure to deal with the nearby pushing trap first.

disable device take 10: 10 + 23 = 33

disable device take 10: 10 + 23 = 33

taking 10 on perception as we go?

Since I have a cut & paste bot set up, I didn’t have you take 10. If you really want that, I can do that. Had I done it here using the marching order from Slide 2, people would have found the trap by walking into it.

Theodric is able to disable both of the traps. Neither trap looks like it will automatically reset.

There doesn’t appear to be anything other than the traps of interest in this chamber.

Continue with same marching order?

Sounds good!

These winding tunnels have relatively fresh signs of mining activity. They are otherwise unremarkable.

Timtenzekil is the first to hear a strange song echoing through the tunnels. The voice sound feminine, breathy and serene. You would guess it is someone or something singing to itself. You think the singing is coming from the right branch.

“Each world is just a bouncing ball
And I’m not really here at all

Above, the eye, it watches all
It sees us change, it sees us fall
And soon the eye will gather all”

"Huh?"

Warpac finds the song silly and incongruous, but not all that dangerous. So he heads towards the sound.

I wonder if it is someone like Leesha, all warped in mind and body. Sure hope I don't end up like that. Not befitting a dwarf. Not at all.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

You hear some humming which suddenly stops as the group moves forward.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:

Tycho
Warpac
Melody
Theodric
Mango
Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

"Squawk?"

Guidance for Warpac.

With no enemies in sight Theodric whispers "going dark" as he casts greater invisibility on himself and sneaks forward into the caves at full speed.

stealth + invis - speed: 1d20 + 17 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (9) + 17 + 20 - 5 = 41

Mango helps Warpac with a peck.

Theodric quietly tells everyone he will disappear just before he does.

As Theodric finishes casting his spell, he gets a queasy feeling in his stomach.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric Sickened
Mango
Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

Melody isn't quite sure what's going on, but she does an interpretive dance of inspiration!

She looks around carefully, trying to spot anything.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Melody does a little dance and tries her best to figure out what is going on. She has no idea where Theodric is but does hear a very faint rustling ahead. She suspects the person who was singing is not in the immediate area, but can’t be more than about 90’ away.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric
Mango
Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

Warpac moves forward rounding the corner (anyone that wants to keep up with a dwarf, can).

"Hello!? I'd knock but as you know there are no doors here. Please don't attack me, I'd rather talk. Or sing and dance. Like you and my friend Melody here."

Though if you do you are in for an ass whooping. Which may happen anyway if she tries to make me actually sing or dance - likely to provoke. Perhaps I should make that my new self-improvement project?

Double move while NOT singing - or dancing.

Warpac moves forward, giving warning as he goes.

He hears a reply. “ငါအဲဒီဘာသာစကားနားမလည်နိုင်သည်! ယခုသင်ကသိသင့်!”

Theodric and Warpac are guessing it came from the left passage.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric
Mango
Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

Tycho casts a spell silent.

Rubble, as if from a cave-in fills the passageway the party just came through. that should prevent the old pincer attack, haha!

Major image DC 23, concentration+ 3 rounds. Marked with grey square on map.

They then move 30’ forward, ending near Mongo.

Tycho casts a spell and rubble suddenly appears in the passageway behind you, cutting off your retreat.

Are you going to give your own team an indication this is an illusion?

You hear the sound of someone casting a spell.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

Round 2:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric
Mango

Additional note:

There are scratch marks suggesting some sort of crude pictures on the walls of the passage north of where you first heard the singing. They are crude enough that it isn’t immediately obvious what they depict although there seem to be a lot of eyes.

"Penny, guard Mongo." Tim directs quietly, before his stony form begins to swell and shift. A massive pile of earth now rolls through the tunnel around the team, shifting seamlessly through the walls. Penny follows orders, moving to be beside Mongo and readying to attack.

Wild Shape to large earth elemental and moving ahead.

Yeah. I think Tycho would have set up a code word, like “Lemonade” for illusions. Maybe next time. They can also dismiss the spell if needed. Retreat… What!? :)

Edit: Didn't realize we were up again in initiative…

Tycho, disguised in the garb and face of the dead cultist back at Leeara's cave, ceases concentrating on the rubble and moves up next to Timtenzekil. double move.

Rubble 2/3 rounds left

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Theodric looks into the future
prescience: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Hearing something Theodric pushes past Warpac invisibly, whispering Theodric in the dwarf's ear as he passes.

fast invisible stealth: 1d20 + 17 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 17 + 20 - 5 = 50

Waiting on my standard for what I see.

"Squawk!"

Mongo gets a guidance as Mango moves up.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Hearing the sounds of spellcasting, Mongo moves forward, sword in hand, and readies to strike any hostile creature that comes close.

Warpac calls out "Anyone know what the fellow is saying?" and moves into the room with his shield lowered and his empty weapon arm held up in a gesture of peace.

Warpac has a standard action left to use depending on what he sees. He's probably going to cast Beacon of Luck.

Waiting on my standard for what I see.

I don’t think you can see anything. No light source. Warpac has Darkvision and doesn’t carry a light source. No one with a light source is up there.

Timtenzekil has Penny guard Mongo and then shifts into the form of an elemental and starts moving towards the mysterious singer.

Tycho moves forwards the sound as well.

Theodric moves up and is ready to act as soon as he can see.

Mango gives Mongo Guidance.

Mongo moves up and is ready to strike out at any creature they detect.

Warpac makes it up to where he hoped to see it but there are rock walls in the way.
Kn: Local to Identify the creature

Bolded may act.

Round 1:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Readied Attack

Round 2:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance, Standard action left
Melody
Theodric Standard action left
Mango

Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Kn Local untrained: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Warpack finishes up his turn with a second move action and halts just outside of melee range. Again, he is making peaceful gestures.

"Let's try not to scare the poor fellow."

He points at the creature and makes the universal sign of peace, which may not be so universal since he does not know sign language or anything.

"Anyone have a translating spell or something? I have a scroll of comprehend languages if I can get it to cast it on itself."

He or she or is it not obvious. Pronouns are a pain. Then again it might just attack - or a PC might.

Warpac can finally clearly see the creature using his Darkvision. He may not know what color the creature is, but it does have a bow. He calls out to the group, asking if anyone can understand the strange creature’s language.

Bolded may act.

Round 1:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo

Round 2:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric Standard action left
Mango

He or she or is it not obvious. Pronouns are a pain. Then again it might just attack - or a PC might.

It looks mammalian and female. The voice also sounds feminine. As for actual gender, you can’t be sure.

Melody dances in further to find out what's happening. The lights dance along with her.

Double move, continuing bardic performance

Not yet sure what's going on Theodric will cast true strike, likely giving away his position.

As Melody dances forward, her lights dance ahead of her.

This allows Theodric to finally see the creature looking back and forth between him and Warpac. He casts his spell and immediately gets that same Sickened feeling as he casts.
NPC Spellcraft: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

The creature casts a spell.

With the light, you can now see the tunnel walls where the creature is and the tunnels to either side are covered in pictures scratched into the wall.

She says “ငါ့ကိုစိတ်ပျက်ကြပါစို့ Leave သို့မဟုတ်ငါသည်သင့်ကိုထိခိုက်မည်!”

Bolded may act.

Round 2:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 3:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric Sickened until start of turn, True Strike, Invisible
Mango

Gliding forward, Timtenzekil gets a look at the creature, leaning out of the wall opposite the narrow passage. "Ya want us ta leave, mebbe ye kin answers us some questions first." he rumbles back.

Penny continues to follow Mongo forward.

She gives Timtenzekil a puzzled look as he rumbles out of the wall.

Bolded may act.

Round 2:
Inspire Courage +2 for all who can see Melody
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 3:

Tycho
Warpac Guidance
Melody
Theodric Sickened, True Strike
Mango

Tycho moves forward. They ready an action to cast Barbed chains on any threat. They wonder what all the commotion ahead is about, as they can't hear anything. i.e. no idea an NPC is trying to communicate in a strange language.

Melody stops her dancing and casts tongues.

In Aklo, ”We won’t leave until we find out what’s going on.”

She also moves to where she can see the creature.

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Melody comes up behind Warpac and tries to engage her in conversation.

Sonarisa looks directly at her with exasperation and says “ဒါကမေးရန်ကောင်းတစ်ဦးမေးခွန်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ သင့်ရဲ့ညစ်မြှောင်ကိုမေးသွားပါ။

ငါ၏အတာဝန်ဖို့ကျွန်မကိုချန်ထားပါ။ ဒီလိုမှမဟုတ်ရင်ငါ၏အဆွေသင်သည်အရသာတွေ့ပါလိမ့်မည်!”

Bolded may act.

Round 2:
Inspire Courage +2 lingers until Round 6.
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 3:

Tycho Readied spell
Warpac Guidance
Melody Tongues
Theodric Sickened until start of his turn, True Strike
Mango

Theodric shuffles back into the shadows and lets his true strike go as Melody tries the diplomatic route.

stealth: 1d20 + 17 + 20 ⇒ (16) + 17 + 20 = 53

Mango double moves to catch up with the rapidly moving party.

The creature watches as Theodric sneaks away.

Mango catches up with Penny.

Bolded may act.

Round 2:
Inspire Courage +2 lingers until Round 6.
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 3:

Tycho Readied spell
Warpac Guidance
Melody Tongues
Theodric Invisible
Mango

Well, so far all talkin' and no fightin', so that's good. Wish I knew what anyone was saying...

Sense Motive. Is she about to attack, or willing to talk?: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Mongo moves up next to Melody and readies to attack if anyone comes close with obviously hostile intent.

Mondo gets into position to protect Melody.

Bolded may act.

Round 2:
Inspire Courage +2 lingers until Round 6.
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 3:

Tycho Readied spell
Warpac Guidance
Melody Tongues
Theodric Invisible
Mango

Warpac is happy to hold his position and operate as a buffer in case things go sideways, but he is not making any threatening actions or actions that may be construed as threatening like cast a spell or activate a special ability.

Warpac holds, hoping it will listen to Melody.

Sonarisa starts casting another spell, it seems to be a long one.

Bolded may act.

Round 3:
Inspire Courage +2 lingers until Round 6.
Illusionary rubble until round 5.

Sonarisa
Timtenzekil
Penny
Mongo Guidance

Round 4:

Tycho Readied spell
Warpac Guidance
Melody Tongues
Theodric Invisible
Mango