GM Zero/GL's Giantslayer! (Inactive)

Game Master GM_Grandlounge

...we should be able to manage, if you don't mind ghosts..."[/b]

Blix 'walks' through a tree and waves. "Hello. I can heal her next time Lidia."

Hildy says to the old woman and the group "Well... we traded a wizard for a crying baby. A crying baby for a flying old woman in armour. Seem like an upgrade any way you cut it to me."

"You say that now, but wait 'til we have to change her diapers. You'll miss the baby."

"You say that now, but wait 'til we have to change her diapers. You'll miss the baby."

"I hope you brought a can opener."

Sleight of Hand (Well-Prepared): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31

Thyste rummages in her bag for a second and produced one; it’s well-worn by the look of it, but still seems to be in working condition.

”It just so happens, I did!”

That’s a one-per-day trick, so hopefully I didn’t waste it on a gag lmao

The old woman shakes her head.

"I really believe that you are underestimating me. I have killed people for such disrespectful words in the past. This is not a threat but a simple fact so restrain your mouth in the future!" she says with a grim look on her face.

Ben nods at her.

"I for one will reserve my judgment. You will either prove yourself or not. The fact that you are flying around in plate armor is good enough for me to hope for the best. Don't worry about the others. They may b$~++ a lot, or even sound insane at times, but they are lethally effective and that is what we need right now."

The old woman grins at Ben's troll from after his last words.

"Yes, that is what we need to get them! But do not underestimate the giants either! Their forces are getting stronger but I can see that you are resourceful as well! Even a ghost is in your group! Very versatile!" she says with some respect in her voice.

"He was dead when we found him, I swear!"

”It just so happens, I did!”

This makes Lidia giggle gleefully.

The sound is so unusual that two of the hyenas look up and around at her, and Fanzigar even comes over to investigate, head lowered in stalking mode and blood dripping from his whiskers. He gets a good flank rub for his trouble. He also goes for a nip on Lidia's ear, though the agile ranger is able to pull back in time, and then she returns the favor trying to nip his, but he also jumps away in time, cackling at the game.

"Ha! I like her!" Ulretha says as the strange old woman threatens to kill them all if they don't mind their manners.

He glares at Blix when the ghost approaches.

"If your god has given you more magic today, the pack and I could use some healing. If he is not up to the task I understand," he says as though he fully expects the latter to be the case.

While the pack is getting pets, minus Ulretha who does not seem amenable Blixs heals everyone.

[b]"Ah yes. Let's get everyone ready for travel.

Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 1, 1) = 12
Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 5, 1) = 9
Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 2, 2) = 7
Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 1, 2) = 8
Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 5, 6) = 18
Channel: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 5, 5) = 17

Cure Mod: 3d8 + 8 ⇒ (6, 6, 3) + 8 = 23
Cure Mod: 3d8 + 8 ⇒ (4, 2, 8) + 8 = 22

Ulretha, tell me either how many of each were needed or if you need more.

The channels are enough, you can save the cures.

"Praise Gorum your god has power," Ulretha says once he's been healed up.

He looks around at the rest of the group. "Are we just going to stand here all day or are we going to get going?"

I assume the cyclops didn't have anything interesting on it?

Speaking of which, we were headed this direction in search of treasure, right? Which site is that on the map for Minderhall's Valley, and which site are we at currently?

"In a hurry to hunt down the rumored treasure, are you?"

"Praise Gorum your god has power," Ulretha says once he's been healed up.

Lidia smirks at some private thought, and looks off thoughtfully into the distance. This gives Fanzigar an opening and he nips her on the hand.

"Ow!" exclaims the ranger, who picks up a small rock and whizzes it at the hyena, plunking it in the shoulder as her injured hand goes up to her mouth. "Yeah, you win, you got me." she admits as she sucks on her knuckle.

Esmé jumps down from her rock and bounds over to Lidia, her golden eyes fixed on the hyena. Lidia grabs the cat at the neck.

"No, it's ok, he got me fair and square." she says softly.

You guys are at d so it is a good point to decide where to go. Toward e and g is treasure, f unknown, k the giants. But you have a local with you who I will let roll local untrained with a +4 circumstantial bonus if you want to know anything about the valley.

Blix floats over to Lidia, "Does that need healing?

Lidia shakes her head and gives her knuckle one last slurp.

"Nah, it's fine." she says. She rubs her hand thoughtfully for a moment then looks up at the ghost.

"Why do you take all that guff from Ulretha? He should be more respectful of you and Iomedae, especially if he expects healing. You should speak up more. If there's one thing this group needs, it's a moral compass. And I think we can all agree that's not me."

Every man has two hyenas warring inside of him. One represents greed. The other pride. The one that wins is the one that the man feeds.

Ulretha feels that fight acutely as he looks south toward treasure. He looks to the rest of the group who, bafflingly don't seem to care about money or goods at all. And that old lady who is tagging along with them is only going to keep ranting about revenge until she gets some.

So, with a sigh, he pushes away thoughts of piles of gold and jewels and magic so big that they can buy him all the food and females he wants and turns east.

As he does so, he is surprised to find his heart singing inside him, his heartbeat a drumbeat to a song of glory that stirs his soul.

Every man has two hyenas warring inside of him. One represents greed. The other pride. The one that wins is the one that the man feeds.

I love that line. Nicely done.

Ulretha wrote:

Every man has two hyenas warring inside of him. One represents greed. The other pride. The one that wins is the one that the man feeds.

I love that line. Nicely done.

Thank you. I was rather proud if it, myself.

"You guys sure talk a lot! Can we go now?" the old lady says while constantly flying around because she obviously is too encumbered to be able to hover.

Ben shrugs. "Might as well. We are burning daylight here. You know the area - is there a place we can go to take the fight to them?

Lidia groans and stands.

"Ugh. You guys are hopeless." she says, then heads off down the valley to look for tracks and giant footpaths.

Survival: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33

Lidia shakes her head and gives her knuckle one last slurp.

"Nah, it's fine." she says. She rubs her hand thoughtfully for a moment then looks up at the ghost.

"Why do you take all that guff from Ulretha? He should be more respectful of you and Iomedae, especially if he expects healing. You should speak up more. If there's one thing this group needs, it's a moral compass. And I think we can all agree that's not me."

Blix answers Lidia speaking solemnly and thoughtfully, "Well I did a lot of righteous preaching in life and I ended up a dead ghost and everyone I love was eaten...so I'm trying something different. I don't know if it will work."

Lidia as you proceed toward the path to the giants keeps following the tracks you move down a little deeper into the valley when you notice something odd. There are stamps in the dirt. They are 15ft wide. The silhouette of the stamp indicated the creature that made it has two rear legs, two huge wings. Clearly, a flying creature has been pouncing on pry in the area.

Lidia as you proceed toward the path to the giants keeps following the tracks you move down a little deeper into the valley when you notice something odd. There are stamps in the dirt. They are 15ft wide. The silhouette of the stamp indicated the creature that made it has two rear legs, two huge wings. Clearly, a flying creature has been pouncing on pry in the area.

Lidia jogs back to the others.

"Ben, we've got some sort of flying predator up ahead. A really big one. I'm going to see if I can get up into the trees for a better look. Don't let Grandma go soaring off alone or she's liable to get grabbed like a sparrow by a falcon."

Lidia then looks for a good tall tree and begins to climb. Her cat follows, scrabbling up the bark.

Climb: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

"Good idea. Glad I wasn't scouting in pterodactyl form. Azarda, you heard the woman. Keep an eye out and stay safe."

Ben waits patiently for Lidia to do her thing, thinking that she actually saw it from her delivery but hesitant to ask any questions for fear that she will snap at him.

Thyste makes a face.

"So this is kind of a 'bow out' look," she surmises, grabbing hers and teasing the bowstring.

"Good point. If it flies, you may need to adjust your tactics accordingly."

Ben takes out his sling and swings it lazily, hoping it won't come to a ranged battle with him so lightly armed.

Lidia climbs the tree a little less graceful than usual as she is trying to keep her eye out for the constantly flying grandmother windchime but she gets high enough to see a horned muscular dragon with a beaked head, and spikes cover its hide even in places on its winged arms patrolling the skies.

Lidia slides back down the tree and returns to the group.

"It's a dragon. A really unusual one too. Covered with spikes, not like any I've ever seen before. I don't think it's spotted us yet, but it sure will if we keep going forward."

“Yes, that is a great dragon. Do we talk to it or just kill it? I’d kill it! Hmm … what dragon is it?“

Kn arcana to identify dragon : 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22

As usual, Ben would prefer the more social path.

"Kill it? Why? It might be nice. There are nice dragons, you know. We should talk to it before killing it. For all we know it killed the ones we are tracking and it would save us a lot of time if we knew that, right?"

Thyste frowns. "Honestly I'm fifty-fifty on this one. Ben's got a point-- I've heard of good-natured dragons doing all kinds of good stuff. And read a few, uh, pieces of literature of them doing all kinds of other stuff. That said, I'd hate to be wrong and give up the chance to stick it before it sticks us."

"Probably also things you've ready about in those pieces of literature," Ulretha comments to Thyste.

Joking aside, there is a familiar furnace burning in his eyes and he might be fighting a grin.

"Yes, let us talk to it. It's last thoughts can be about how it was slain by the might of Gorum," he says and marches in the direction of the victim.

"Is it weird that I kind of miss him talking about throwing people in stew pots and just general heinous gnoll stuff? I haven't heard this much religion talk since I got stuck in an abbey for a while."

A mischievous grin spreads across her face, but she doesn't say anything further.

"Kill it? Why? It might be nice. There are nice dragons, you know. We should talk to it before killing it. For all we know it killed the ones we are tracking and it would save us a lot of time if we knew that, right?"

Lidia seems skeptical.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. The tracks up ahead suggest that it's hunting here and that it just swoops down and grabs its prey. With its mouth. That doesn't seem like a tea and cookies dragon to me."

"How do you think a friendly dragon should hunt, then?" asks Thyste. "I pounce pretty much the same way."

She tilts her head from one side to another. "Still, we'd better engage it before it does that to us, one way or another."

Lidia shrugs. "We could always take cover and wait for it to leave. Or maybe turn around and explore another part of the valley. I'm not telling anyone what to do, I just think talking to it is most likely not going to end well." She pushes dirt around with the toe of her boot, not making eye contact with anyone.

Thyste's head just keeps tilting. "Mmm. We're probably within its hunting grounds, so I doubt it'll just go away entirely, but maybe we can just avoid its notice until it goes back to its... cave, or whatever."

"Where the frick-frack-snick-snack do dragons even live, actually? I guess it varies? Some do mountains, some do caves, some do big piles of gold in captured dwarven fortresses while attended to by a bevy of hot dwarvish maids?"

Lidia blinks and looks up.

"The troll said there was treasure this way. Maybe he meant the dragon's hoard?" she says.

She glances at Ulretha.

"Oh, that's... actually a very good point."

She looks at Lidia, then follows her gaze to Ulretha.

Ah. I see what you're doing. Very clever!

"This one is going to live on my feet! As a pair of boots! And his dwarvish maids will belong to me!" Ulretha says, loudly, casting a glance at the dwarvish maid in their company, already.

He continues to march in the direction of the tracks, paying little mind to the breaks in the trees except to look up when he is out in the open to ensure he is not ambushed.

Lidia watches Ulretha march off, then peeks down at Thyste and smirks a little.

She turns to Ben. "If you're going to talk to it, you'd better hurry. Gorum seems impatient."

Then she moves to take up a good hidden position to ambush a swooping dragon up near where she saw the tracks.

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (15) + 18 = 33

Thyste tries her best to look exasperated through her smile.

"You know if we die, I'm blaming you, right?" she asks as she follows Lidia.

Stealth: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 20 = 33

Follows her closely, apparently!

Ben grimaces at Lidia. "That was a fair bit of manipulation right there. If it is a good dragon, I'm going to have to try to stop him now."

Ben catches up with Ulretha and matches his pace, making sure he is near by in case he erupts inappropriately.

“Yes, that is a great dragon. Do we talk to it or just kill it? I’d kill it! Hmm … what dragon is it?“

[Dice= Kn arcana to identify dragon ] 1d20+17 + -

You know this is an extraplanar rift drake. It can pounce, fly and has an acid ball breath weapon.

Lidia and Thyste are able to creep within 60ft of the dragon before they reach the end of their cover. The dragon is flitting around 60 to 100ft in the air as it plays belly full from a recent meal.

GM, could I know the typical alignment of this kind of dragon please.

When Ben finds out that it spits acid, he has an open 4th level slot he can convert to something that will help, like a protection from acid, communal.