GM Sphen Rise of the Runelords: (Clever Subtitle)

Game Master Sphen86

Estella gets into position against the wall, out of range from Ceven's blast but ready to move right against the wall next to the door to surprise anyone who walks out with a spear to the ribs.

Rickety steps crawl up to a porch covered by a huge eave held aloft by thick pillars of pine. These timbers are decorated with crude carvings of manticores impaling children with their tail spikes and women being ripped apart by wolves. The carvings look like a child's work, but the subject matter grows more gruesome and depraved from one depiction to the next. An unsettlingly large rocking chair of lashed wood and bone sways erratically in the breeze at the far end of the porch under a vast menagerie of wind chimes composed of decidedly humanoid bones. The house's windows have all been boarded up with thick timbers, although it's unclear whether this was done to keep intruders out or imprison whatever things make their home within.

Estella puts her back to the door, spear held against her body, ready to quickly bring it to bear on anyone who rushes out the door without seeing her.
Ceven stands back, the rest of the group behind him to witness what will happen. He charges his energy into his hand and sends it hurtling into the door, that opens with a loud crash, blown off its hinges and collapsing to the floor inside....

...which causes large, circular saw blades to spring up between the floor boards of the porch while a heavy scythe blade snaps down to impale anyone standing in the doorway.
Trap Attack vs Estella: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (15) + 14 = 29
Damage: 2d6 + 7 ⇒ (2, 1) + 7 = 10
(Great hit, bad damage)

The saw blades come up, cutting into Estella's shins, then retract back beneath the porch. The scythe blade stays where it is, quivering slightly from the sudden stop against the door frame.
No sound comes from the house. No shouts of alarm, or questions of 'what was that noise?'.

Tarphrex’ eyes are huge in his tiny face.

He gulps audibly, ”Maybe Tarphrex and Elisani make trap-looking first…”

The door is still accessiable, you'll just have to squeeze through to get past the triggered trap.

"AUGH!" Estella cries out in pain and jumps away from the trap.

She mumbles some frustrated curses, takes a deep breath to collect herself and rejoins the others. "Clearly we've underestimated those living here somewhat. Seems like anyone inside wants to face us on their own terms."

"AUGH!" Estella cries out in pain and jumps away from the trap.

She mumbles some frustrated curses, takes a deep breath to collect herself and rejoins the others. "Clearly we've underestimated those living here somewhat. Seems like anyone inside wants to face us on their own terms."

"or wanted maybe? Do you hear anything? I don't. I love sleeping, but even I could not sleep through that."

Sorry not to ask before ... are there upstairs windows or anything?

Tarphrex will creep up to the stairs very carefully - not on them, up to them, and starts studying them for pressure points, prodding with his tiny spear.

Trapfinding: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Sherman's mystical powers leech the scythe wounds from Estella, giving his own life force in return. The reverend doesn't even flinch as the wounds appear on his own body.

Nonetheless, he uses his healing magic on himself - who know what dangers this house hides.

Unless we're in initiative rounds, life link heals Estella fully. Then Sherman casts CLW

CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

@Ceven: There are a few upstairs windows, they are boarded up like the ones downstairs.

@Tarphrex: You do not detect any traps on the stairs or on the porch.

@Sherman: We are not in Inititive rounds, heal as you wish.

Apologies again, I feel like I am having trouble following; so did Ceven destroy the front door? Can we see inside at least a little? I am happy to have Cevv fly up to the second floor and start ripping away boards also.

Opinion: We (players) are getting bad about out-of-character in this thread. Do the thing or say the thing. Part of our paralysis is too much “what do you think” instead of acting. We are past planning, time for doing. For me, I think entering through an above-ground window is less likely to encounter a trap. But it’s not zero chance, so be prepared. And since I’m talking too much:

Tarphrex takes a deep breath and tentatively walks up the stairs, testing each placement of a taloned foot with a held breath. If/when he reaches the door, he examines it very very carefully, having seen the effect of the assault on the door. The scythe stuck in the doorframe does nothing to calm his nerves.

Trapfinding: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Opinion: We (players) are getting bad about out-of-character in this thread. Do the thing or say the thing. Part of our paralysis is too much “what do you think” instead of acting. We are past planning, time for doing. For me, I think entering through an above-ground window is less likely to encounter a trap. But it’s not zero chance, so be prepared. And since I’m talking too much:

Tarphrex takes a deep breath and tentatively walks up the stairs, testing each placement of a taloned foot with a held breath. If/when he reaches the door, he examines it very very carefully, having seen the effect of the assault on the door. The scythe stuck in the doorframe does nothing to calm his nerves.

[dice=Trapfinding]1d20 + 7

I agree. So the front door is in place, and we will move forward from there.

Cev will fly up to an upper window and begin ripping boards off of it (telekinetically, not with his hands).

Elisani carefully squeezes past the trap, examining the area around her for signs of more traps as she makes her way toward the stairs.

Perception + Trapfinding + heroism + heightened awareness: 1d20 + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 36

As Elisani takes the lead, keeping traps in mind, Estella follows close behind, careful not to trigger anything herself.

@Ceven: The front door is destroyed, knocked off its hinges and into the house. That's what triggered the traps.

@Ceven 2: You fly up and start ripping off boards. You reveal a room cramped with large, filthy beds. (More description if/when you rip more boards or otherwise enter the room.)

@Tarphrex: (A wonderful way of putting it.)
Also, you find no traps.

@Elisani: You step onto the porch, noticing no additional traps.
Also, what stairs? The steps leading onto the porch? Or are you entering the building and looking for an interior staircase?

Peering in through the window, Ceven does NOT understand what is afoot. They have made a LOT of noise and set off traps that were clearly meant to be more than a deterant, but there seems to be no one here ... or no one interested.

Cev reaches out, aetherically grasping and then lifting and then shaking and dropping several beds, after which he continues to clear the window so that the team could possibly enter the bedroom.

My mistake, I must have confused this with another game. Is slide 5 the map we're on? If so, Elisani is on the porch (A1) and heading into A2.

I took the liberty of placing Elisani, Tarphrex, and Estella on the porch.

Tarphrex defers to the sharp-eyed half-elf when she starts searching for traps, but he continues to do so, even if Estella moves ahead of him - as he hopes she will.

Estella follows Elisani and moves alongside her, giving Tarphrex the space to follow right behind. Though not nearly as skilled a trapseeker, she tries to stay alert as well.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

@Ceven: The beds shake out blankets and bedding heavy with filth. Bits of food and other things you're not likely to want to look to closely at fall with them, and more than a few clumps of insects that scatter across the room.

@Elisani: Yes, slide 5.
Also, applying the earlier perception check to the living room before you head in; you notice there is another trap in this room. If you put any pressure on the couch (ie sitting on it), it will flip and dump someone into a hole.

Ain is following, quiet. Keeping his eyes open

perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26

"Stay off of the couch. It's a trap." Not that anyone would want to touch that thing. Elisani swears she saw bedbugs skittering away as she entered the room. But if they get into a fight, the group should know so that they can try to avoid getting thrown that direction by an angry ogrekin.

There only appears to be one door into the rest of the house. The investigator examines the handle for more traps. If it looks safe, she tries to open it.

Perception + Trapfinding + heroism + heightened awareness: 1d20 + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 40

Trapfinding aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Bless his scaly little heart, he wants to help.

Estella sticks to Elisani like glue, ready to offer backup and cover when needed.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Cev will open up the window enough to enter ... and then enter.

@Those in the first floor: Beside the trap in the couch, the room otherwise seems clear. The funiture was likely high quality at some point, but the layer of dust shows that this room is rarely used. There is only one other door, leading further in.

@Ceven: Official description of the room:
This room is filled with large, filthy beds. Human skulls with antlers fixed to them are mounted on the bedposts and headboards.
There is one door in the northern corner of the room that leads out of this room.

Elisani wasn't looking at the room, she was looking for traps on the door.

Elisani wasn't looking at the room, she was looking for traps on the door.

The door into the rest of the house has no additional traps.

With the way in seemingly clear, Sherman follows the others and enter the building.

Are we in any map? (ie. do I need to move a token somewhere..). Also, are the furniture here Ogre-sized?

We're on slide 5 of the maps, with your token in the void to the left

When Elisani opens the door and goes through, Estella follows and looks around, though not necessarily expecting to find as much as Elisani will.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

No traps on the door, good. After the front door and the couch, though, Elisani is looking for more traps with every step. She carefully opens the door to find an L-shaped hallway. Turning right, the detective slowly makes her way to another door.

Perception + Trapfinding + heroism + heightened awareness: 1d20 + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 17 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 39

Checking both the hallway and the door into A8 for traps.

Whispering, ”Tarphrex feels like going into bear cave and not know if bear inside. Tarphrex not happy to be here.”

@Elisani: Your allies at your back, you carefully progress through the hall. The floors have dust in the corners, and the air feels ... musty. You reach the door at the end of the hall, and pause to check it. It appears untrapped, and scrawled on the wood in colored wax is the word "MaMA" .

You don't detect any traps, but you do hear the sound of off-tune humming coming from inside.

@Estella: Taking up Elisani's back, you also do not detect any traps. You do hear Tarphrex's whisper about his concerens.

Everyone can hear the loud thumping of furniture from upstairs where Ceven flew through a window.

Elisani winces at the sound of Ceven's less than stealthy entrance. Well, if he screams we'll know to go help him. Turning to the others behind her, the half-elf whispers, "There's someone in this room. Are you ready?"

Ceven looks around, trying to find stairs downward to join everyone else.

Sherman gives a thumbs-up to Elisani, but keeps otherwise silent.

Tarphrex offers a timid nod.

Estella nods, and gestures with her spear as if to ask if Elisani wants her to take point.

Ceven looks around, trying to find stairs downward to join everyone else.

From the room you're in, no immediate steps down. But there's nothing blocking the window to just make a U-turn. Even if you did find stairs, no way of knowing if they'd lead straight to your friends or to something else.

Ceven Valdemar wrote:

Ceven looks around, trying to find stairs downward to join everyone else.

From the room you're in, no immediate steps down. But there's nothing blocking the window to just make a U-turn. Even if you did find stairs, no way of knowing if they'd lead straight to your friends or to something else.

U-Turn, smart, done.

EDIT: and if we could adjust the layering on the sheet, Ceven will show up on the other side of the square marked A1, 5' from Tarphex

GM Sphen wrote:

Ceven Valdemar wrote:

Ceven looks around, trying to find stairs downward to join everyone else.

From the room you're in, no immediate steps down. But there's nothing blocking the window to just make a U-turn. Even if you did find stairs, no way of knowing if they'd lead straight to your friends or to something else.

U-Turn, smart, done.

EDIT: and if we could adjust the layering on the sheet, Ceven will show up on the other side of the square marked A1, 5' from Tarphex

Adjusted.

Every please remember to move your pieces on the map (or specify exactly where you'd like to be if you need someone else to move it for you).

I'll assume Ain is ready to roll, poor guy is probably swamped at work right now IRL.

Elisani nods to Estella, stepping back to let her take point. "Let's go."

Sorry, I haven't been updating the map, but I have been describing Tarphrex as accompanying the front line attempting to assist in searching for traps. (He doesn't know that Elisani can beat his best with a natural one on the die.)

Ain indicated that he was following and watching, presumably for threats. I think he and Sherman are probably behind Tarphrex in the hall, but I don't want to put them in harm's way without confirmation. That said, Tarphrex looks back at the rest of the party, fixing in his mind where they are and making sure they are within range. He waves the stragglers up so they can benefit from his buff when he casts it. I need everyone within 30' of each other for haste.

Estella opens the door, spear at the ready, and looks around to find the "someone" Elisani mentioned.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

The "someone" is very easy to find.
The cloying stink of this room is nearly overwhelming. Buckets of filth are stacked against the walls, fat ravenous flies lazily circling their rims. The room itself is dominated by an immense bed, its ratty sheets stained beyond hope. A huge easel sits next to the bed with a palette of various shades of brown and red paint. The sources of these morbid pigments-several crushed organs and ragged stumps of flesh-sit in receptacles next to the easel. A set of brushes made with human hair jut from a broken skull by the easel, while a comb made from a human mandible sits on a small oak bedside table nearby, its teeth clotted with thick strands of greasy black hair. The bodies of three horribly deformed men dressed in ragged finery are propped up in huge open coffins against the far wall, their mouths sewn tightly shut with lengths of hair.

Sitting/lounging on the bed is a corpulent figure of an ogre(?) woman, her thin hair shoulder length and greasy. A red tapestry is wrapped around her to form a sort of dress, though one that is not covering as much of her pale, pustulant flesh as you'd wish.
Three other ogre-kins stand in the room, silent and still.
One has three black arrows jutting from his chest.
The other has the gaping wound of an axe blow cleaving his skull open.
The third seems more like a sack of skin holding a broken mess together.
Neither of the three react to the door opening, but the woman does. She speaks to Estella.
"Ah, the noisy nosey trouble makers. Here to cause trouble. Your hair is very pretty girl. It will make a fine brush. Kunkle, Hadge, kill them. Benk, bring Mammy her cleanning stick." Two of the ogre kin turn vacant eyes in your direction, shambling forward...
(Map has been updated with the bad guys. Estella, I moved you back out of the room.)

INITIATIVE!
Ain Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Ceven Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Elisani Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Estella Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Sherman Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Tarphrex Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Enemy Initiative: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (16) - 3 = 13

INITIATIVE!
Estella Initiative: 22
Tarphrex Initiative: 21
Enemy Initiative: 13
Ceven Initiative: 12
Ain Initiative: 8
Sherman Initiative: 8
Elisani Initiative: 6

Estella and Tarphrex are up first.
Tarphrex did declare his intention (as far as I'm concerned), if Estella wants to wait on a haste spell.

Tarphrex is definitely casting haste. The only question is who is within 30' of Estella because he will include her and Elisani and whoever else is within 30' range of whoever is in the lead. Our positioning makes it difficult to see both Ain and Estella, so I think Tarphrex will have to forgo buffing Ain. It's less valuable for a spellcaster, anyway, right?

I'll post assuming I get the Haste; if things turn out otherwise anyway, I'll redo it

Estella manages to simultaneously smirk and grimace at Mammy's compliment. "Thanks. Taking care of it is a process."

She looks at Mammy to the left of her and the ogrekin zombies(?) on the right, and chooses to step closer to Mammy and keep the way free for her companions.

"Maybe we could exchange tips!" she quips, before pushing the tip of her spear Mammy's way.

Haste and Flagbearer

Impaler of Thorns: 1d20 + 9 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 1 + 1 = 29
Damage: 1d8 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 10

Tarphrex targets his allies, a feeling of power and strength fills you, like that of the mighty true dragons.

Estella thrusts with her spear, the tip piercing through layers of fat to draw blood. Mammy screams in shock and pain, looking at the beautiful warrior with vitrol pouring from her alongside the blood.
"You little b!t(h. I'll peel your skin from your body to wear as a thong."

She pulls a wand hidden in the rolls of fat (move action) and then waves it surprisingly quickly (swift action for quickened spell), her image splitting into...
Mirror Image: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 images. (Mirror Image spell for all further target attacks.)
And then moves more cautiously to try and cast another spell...
Defensive Casting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23
...then reaches out a hand towards Estella....
Will Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
....who pushes the magic away with ease, leaving Mammy sputtering with rage that her spell failed.

----Kunkle, Hadge, Benk---
One of the ogre-kin moves to the table and picks up a long stick with a ratty cloth wrapped around one end.
The other two shamble toward Estella, bodies moving jerkily as they move forward.
(This would provoke Attacks of Opportunity from both of them from Estella if she wants to take them. Or save them for your bodyguard.)