"Should we prepare to be boarded?" Shakur adds.
Seeing the creature lash out with claws this time, Shakur throws up a Shield spell and expands his bless as well.
Kolgradd barks out his response in between workman-like overhead swings with his maul, as if he were working at the forge.
"It was a way off-"
◆ Strike
"a quarter mile or so-"
◆ Strike
"through the fog."
◆ Strike
"Red Sails!"
◆ Strike
Jevar moves and throws flame at the monster, missing it.
Boodiddly moves and sings.
Shakur slices with the force dagger, hitting the smoke monster, and then protects himself.
Kolgradd swings twice at the monster, and on the second swing downs it.
The remaining creature lashes out at Kolgradd!
Round 4 —> 5
==============
Boodiddly
Shakur
Blue
Jevar (-10)
Kolgradd (-32)
==============
I guess we'd better finish these off then if we're getting more visitors. The wizard sighs as he finishes the next spell, sending a sizeable dart of acid at the blue cloud.
With a flick of his hand and forearm he conjures another arcane shield.
Boodiddly trots across the deck and watches from a safe distance - drawing his translucent shield just in case.
Kolgradd takes a couple of slashes and grunts in response.
"This one's got teeth!"
He conjures his shield, then swings his Maul around it.
◆ Cast Shield
◆ Strike
◆ Advantageous Assault
◆ Advantageous Assault
He brings the maul up high over his head and down with such force that the captain might be concerned for her boat, but he loses a lot in accuracy. He's clearly glad for a chance to stretch his legs after a few days of research.
Shakur runs just behind Jevar, expands his bless (20 feet now, so Kolgradd is in it again), and swipes with the spiritual weapon.
Jevar shoots an arrow of acid that strikes true.
Boodiddly continues his music.
Kolgradd slams his maul into the remaining creature, hitting HARD as he knocks it to the ground! His follow-ups, however, are not as successful as the creature dodges away.
Shakur’s spiritual weapon slices into the creature and he expands his aura.
The monster stands up.
It then continues to claw into the dwarf!
Kolgradd once more knocks the creature overboard!
With the last of the creatures taken care of, Skywin’s frantic stabilization of the ship in the fog grows calmer.
As the amnesiacs are bandaging their wounds , Skywin glances behind the ship with a spyglass, the approaches the amnesiacs. ”I’m not sure what you’ve been smoking, Kolgradd, but there ain’t no ship back there—definitely not one with red sails.”
She hands over the spyglass for the amnesiacs to look through, and sure enough there isn’t any kind of ship following the Sellen Starling.
*
*
(The following is just a summation of what you can read here, but only as it pertains to this ritual:) In this case, I need one PC to act as the primary caster and make a DC 28 Occultism or Arcana check.The primary caster must be an expert in Occultism if they are rolling that skill, or a master in Arcana if they are rolling that one. The rest of you will be the secondary casters, two of you will attempt a DC 23 skill check, one in Occultism, and one in Arcana. The fourth person still participates in the ritual, but doesn’t attempt a check.
For this first time, I’ll let you guys roll the skill checks for casting the ritual, but you’re going to be casting it A LOT during Book 3, so after now I’m very likely going to just expedite it by rolling that stuff myself. Reminder that, as a house rule of mine, you CAN use Hero Points to reroll these checks (despite them technically being downtime stuff).
Finally, because Boodiddly has the ritualist background, he gets a +2 circumstance bonus to perform the primary checks for rituals.
Here are the skill modifiers to consider:
Boodiddly
Occultism (e) +14+2
Jevar
Arcana (m) +18
Occultism (t) +13
Kolgradd
Arcana (t) +12
Occultism (e) +14
Shakur
Occultism (t) +9
That night after the battle...
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After discussing with the others, Kolgradd agrees to take on the more arcane parts of the incantations to assist Jevar, looking to Boodiddly to provide his more occult expertise. He hands Boodiddly his new pendant to help with the ritual.
Shakur hums a little pharasmin tune while waiting for Boodiddly to help out.
Boodiddly carefully begins to hum and pull the bow across his violin, summoning an eerie sound from the strings that hangs in the air. What new emotions will we add to this? he wonders as he pushes the ivory staircase along to Shakur. And were any of those already on it from us?
The amnesiacs perform the ritual, growing more and more groggy as they pass around the staircase. They drop the staircase onto the floor, and a wave of drowsiness washes over them, and in the figurine’s place is a literal staircase that descends downwards. Their eyelids heavy and their bodies mostly in autopilot, the amnesiacs descend down the staircase.
*
*
Hot.
Everything is hot.
The amnesiacs don’t fully recall when the transition between the waking world and the Dreamlands occurred, but they now find themselves walking toward a building. This stone building is the same pale tan color as the sun-bleached desert that extends to the horizon in every direction. A single, wide entrance, large enough to admit laden mounts, pierces the north wall of the structure and opens into a central courtyard. The northeast corner of the building is wholly collapsed. Drifts of sand and tufts of weeds indicate that the building is long abandoned.
Feeling overwhelmed and unprepared, the amnesiacs open the first door they find—or more accurately half of one. A wide doorway contains only the lower half of a door topped with a wide shelf, beyond which a cool, comfortable passageway leads into the caravanserai. A tattered curtain dangles from the lintel. The room beyond contains only a few bare tables and a narrow, barred door to some kind of small jail cell. Inside the jail cell, a rusty scimitar leans against the wall.
In here, the amnesiacs hunker down and make their daily preparations, and wait out the number that the Dreamlands excursion did on their minds.
As they begin to get going, Jevar (upon detecting magic like usual) notices that the rusty scimitar in the cell radiates evocation magic.
Boodiddly, Kolgradd, and Shakur believe the sword to be a +1 striking holy scimitar (though certainly of shoddy make), Jevar isn’t so sure, though. He corroborates that it’s etched with +1 striking runes, but he’s certain that the extraneous runes are NOT the runes consistent with a holy weapon. He’s fairly sure that something will happen on a deadly hit with the weapon upon the wielder’s will, but he’s unsure what.
This courtyard contains several stalls for animals as well as two low stone posts bearing empty circular bins. Across from the wide passageway stand two small doors flanking a long trough.
As they explore, they find nothing of note save for the two flanking doorways have concealed doors at the back.
Through here is a single, dried-up fountain as well as a wall of rubble.
These doors open into a long hallway. As the amnesiacs move forward, they hear some muttering coming from behind a passageway to their right that’s hidden slightly by a curtain.
The walls of this room are lined with shelves, and a long wooden table stretches through the room’s center. Although it obviously was once a shop, only dust and a few piles of rags remain on display.
As the amnesiacs enter, the room’s sole occupant—a robed, bearded, gaunt man with sunken cheeks—straightens up and puts on a wide smile. ”Customers!” He approaches Kolgradd, and is slightly disturbed by the dwarf’s massive hammer. He makes a gesture with his hand for Kolgradd to lower the maul. ”Please, don’t wave that in my face, it’s making me nervous…”
At this point it becomes clear that the man’s robes seem to trail off at the edges into smoke. He clasps his hands together and smiles warmly. ”Did you have a good journey? Are you in need of any supplies? I can help as much as I can! Though…my poor wares have certainly seen better days…”
Jevar's expression lights up, as he realizes this person is aware they are in the dreamland.
Say friend, has anyone else passed through here in recent weeks, or months? A stately looking man with a skunk beard and dark tinted spectacles?
”That’s…quite specific. I don’t recall seeing any such person in recent days—truth be told I haven’t seen anyone for some time.”
The amnesiacs (sans Jevar) get the sense that this shopkeeper isn’t being wholly truthful.
"Oh I'm sorry."
Kolgradd switches from holding his maul in both hands to resting the head on the ground so the haft is vertical. He ignores the man's clear dissembling and changes the subject.
"Indeed. Your shop here looks like it's been picked clean, what happened to it, to this whole place?"
"I don't know; I don't really go out much. People just stopped coming, including supplies to put back into my stock."
Boodiddly clears his throat. “We’re also looking for someone by the name of ‘The Poet’ - does that ring any bells? And if someone has come through here recently, there’s no need to worry about hiding that from us. We’re simple travelers, that’s all.” He sniffs the air and glances about the empty shelves. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what do you sell? When it’s in stock, I mean.”
The shopkeep looks at Boodiddly with piqued interest. Poet? The Mad Poet? Now what business would you have with that desert hermit? And you are right, you are simple travelers in an abandoned building; no one will notice if you…disappear.”
The shopkeep’s form dissolves, the hair on his beard falling out and dissipating into smoke. His robe melts off his form, revealing a gaunt, purple body beneath. The hair on his head rises and floats in a wicked mess of hair. His fingers elongate into tendril-like digits. He smiles wickedly and the corners of his mouth stretch back in a disturbing display.
No madness for you.
Round 1
==============
Boodiddly
Shakur
Jevar
Shopkeep
Kolgradd
==============
Oh, but we won't disappear. However, I have a bad feeling that we could have repeat dreams and you'll be right back here in this bare shop...
The wizard grumbles as he prepares a bolt of acid to send at the gaunt shopkeep.
If we let you live will you tell us more about the Mad Poet? he asks from behind his arcane shield.
Boodiddly begins to hum and clap as the apparition rises into the air.
Shakur just rolls his eyes. "Of course the first thing we run into here wants to eat us." He lazily picks a piece of rubble from the ground to throw. But first, he steadies himself.
[A] True Strike
[AA] Telekinetic Projectile
Boodiddly harmonizes.
Jevar sends an arrow at the shopkeep, but as it connects it passes through the creature’s form as it dissipates into smoke.
Shakur uses his magic and launches rubble, which passes straight through the creature as its body dissipates into smoke, but it nevertheless seems to hurt it.
The shopkeep glances up and smiles an unnaturally-wide smile. ”Now, now children. You must be so cranky!” The creature begins uttering words of magic in the tune of a lullaby as smoke surrounds Kolgradd, Shakur, and Boodiddly.
Boodiddly and Kolgradd start feeling very groggy as they inhale the shopkeep’s composite smoke. Shakur, on the other hand, immediately conks out as he falls straight to the floor asleep (despite already being asleep???). Seeing his magic not as effective as he’d wished—particularly on Kolgradd—the shopkeep flies backwards, further into the shop.
The acid does nothing.
Round 1 —> 2
==============
Boodiddly
Shakur {prone; unconscious: Round 0 of 1}
Jevar
Shopkeep (-33 from “2” attacks [before resistances]) {1d6 persistent acid}
Kolgradd
==============
Jevar sighs and looks at the ground as his acid arrow passes through the shopkeep.
Yes, of course he grumbles before quickly moving on.
Spinning a spell with his hands and gathering a ball of force energy, he swings his hand in a wide arc in front of him, proclaiming try THESE!
Three force darts exit the arc of his hand and speed towards the shopkeep.
Kolgradd puts his boot on Shakur's sleeping shoulder and rocks him awake.
"No double dreaming!"
As he does so he grasps his maul and looks at it intently, willing it to be surrounded in a nimbus of blue force.
"Ghost killing maul, ghost killing maul"
Shakur's eyes shoot open as he looks around. He seems oddly relieved, though also terrified, that he's still in the dreamlands. "Thanks. I'm not sure dreaming in the dreamlands is a great idea."
Shakur intends to chuckle a little under his breath, but instead a small cackle comes out, directed towards the creature.
[A] Cast Jealous Hex (DC 23)
Shakur then conjures a dagger of force behind the creature and attempts to puncture through the creature.
[AA] Spiritual Weapon L2
Boodiddly continues to hum and clap.
Jevar sends magic missiles at the shopkeep.
Kolgradd wakes up Shakur and uses his imagination to try to get a ghost-killing maul. He watches as new runes start to etch onto the hammer, but they eventually puff out as he fails to Create that Impossibility.
Concentrate, Dream, Flourish
The power of dreams is limitless, and by utilizing the power of sheer imagination, anything is possible. You attempt to temporarily morph the power of the Dreamlands to your benefit to perform feats you could never achieve while awake, such as gain the effects of a feat you don’t have, increase your proficiency in one statistic, summon an item, create the effects of a spell, or whatever else you could possibly imagine! This effect is known as an Impossibility. Attempt a Will save or Occultism check. The GM sets the DC based on the complexity and power of the Impossibility you wish to create, but the DC is generally a very hard DC for the level of the spell, item, effect, etc. that you are trying to generate. If you increase the number of actions to Create an Impossibility you make the Impossibility easier to manifest. Increasing the actions to 2 reduces the DC to a hard DC of that level (rather than very hard), and three actions reduces it to a standard DC of that level.
Critical Success You create the effect. If it is non-instantaneous, the effect lasts for 1 minute, after which the Impossibility’s effects disappear.
Success as a critical success, except non-instantaneous effects last for 3 rounds.
Failure You fail to sufficiently morph the Dreamlands to your will.
Critical Failure Your efforts did not have the effect you expected and manifested as an annoying and minor penalty or embarrassment, such as your pants suddenly falling down or your head tripling in size. The exact effect and penalties of this annoyance is up to the GM, but it can always be undone with a single action (no check required). The GM may rule that this action has one or more specific traits to undo the annoyance, such as the manipulate trait to pull your pants back up.
The way I wrote Create Impossibility is using a lot of boilerplate language that 2e has established that can be a bit hard to follow for those inexperience with GMing the system where most of this particular language comes up, so I’ll try to walk y’all through it for clarity.
“Standard DC” mean the DC number given on this table for a given effect’s level.
“Hard DC” means the DC from the table above but increased by 2.
“Very hard DC” means the DC from the table above but increased by 5.
“Incredibly hard DC” (which doesn’t apply here, but I’m mentioning for clarity) means the DC from the table above but increased by 10.
These DC adjustments are better summarized here. This, plus the DCs by Level table above are the two central resources used for setting DCs as the GM.
Kolgradd wanted to manifest a ghost touch rune on his maul. Ghost touch is a 4th-level item, and the corresponding DC for a level 4 whatever is 19. Since Kolgradd used two actions for Create Impossibility, this DC became a hard DC of that level, increasing it by +2, making the final DC he had to roll against DC 21, meaning Kolgradd failed by 1.
I hope this gives some insight into how I set the DC for various ad hoc checks like Recall Knowledge.
Shakur wakes up and hexes the shopkeep.
Shakur then summons a dagger of force to attack the ghostly shopkeep.
Boodiddly harmonizes.
The shopkeep is accosted by various force effects, but the creature continues to smile. It looks over at Kolgradd as its words worm their way into the dwarf’s mind telepathically.
The creature scoffs as the brave Kolgradd stands his ground, so the creature waves its arms as it becomes surrounded in magic that slowly envelops Kolgradd and intrudes into his mind.
Failure
Kolgradd starts looking very woozy and mumbling gibberish to himself, which causes the shopkeep to smile widely.
No damage done.
Kolgradd turns around and swings his maul at each of the other amnesiacs!
The dwarf then immediately snaps back to reality as the shopkeep’s hold over him subsides.
Round 3
==============
Boodiddly (-21)
Shakur (-25) {prone}
Jevar (-21)
Shopkeep (-54 from “2” attacks [before resistances]) {1d6 persistent acid}
Kolgradd
==============
Jevar's eyes widen as he recognizes the spell directed at Kolgradd, and he yells out to the party.
Kolgradd has been dominated! He will soon act as the shopkeep wishes!
Of course it's too late and just after Jevar takes a beating from the dwarf.
Kolgradd... please, snap out of it!
He begrudgingly repeats the last incantation and flings a trio of force missiles at it again.
"It's alright, I'm in control again. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
He gives the deviant clown a dark look and tightens his grip on his maul.
"And now I'm angry"
Shakur looks to Kolgradd with a bit of suspicion as he stands up. Ready to be assaulted again, he casts shield before focusing on his Spiritual Weapon.
*2 = 14 (16 if Boodiddly continues to Harmonize)
[A]Stand
[A]Shield
[A]Sustain Spiritual Weapon
Boodiddly does indeed continue to harmonize with himself.
Jevar once more pelts the shopkeep with missiles.
Shakur slices hard at the shopkeep with his spiritual weapon.
Boodiddly harmonizes.
The shopkeep glares over at Shakur as its words seep into the Pharasmin’s mind.
It then turns its attention to Jevar.
It waves its arms as it mutters a magical incantation once more.
Suddenly, the shopkeep’s smoke coalesces in front of Jevar as the most horrifying being he’s ever seen—though only Jevar can see it.
Failure
plus frightened 2
Jevar’s face pales—more than his already pale skin—and his eyes roll back as he faints from fright.
No damage
Round 4
==============
Boodiddly (-21)
Shakur (-25)
Jevar (-50) {frightened 2; prone; unconscious; dying 1}
Shopkeep (-84 from “2” attacks [before resistances])
Kolgradd
==============
Round 4
==============
Boodiddly (-21)
Shakur (-25)
Jevar (-37) {frightened 1}
Shopkeep (-84 from “2” attacks [before resistances])
Kolgradd
==============
"I'll show you something to be frightened of!"
Koglradd rushes up to the murderous merchant, gathering momentum as he goes like a rock rolling down a mountain.
"You're. Just. A. Bad. DREAM!"
◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Strike
Is it undead? Here's hoping not.
Yes, I believe we can bring the nightmares too... Jevar says as he transitions into a different, lower incantation. In his own head though, he's shaking a little. As he begins this he glides along the wall to get a clearer view of the shopkeep.
For several moments the rumble of his voice causes Oreb to flit up off of his shoulder, clearly irritated at the disturbance. When he finishes a thick beam of negative catches the shopkeep in its path.
Success The creature takes 2d8 persistent negative damage.
Failure The creature takes 4d8 persistent negative damage and becomes drained 1.
Critical Failure The creature takes 4d8 persistent negative damage and becomes drained 2 and doomed 1.
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Boodiddly pauses the clapping for a moment and focuses on Jevar. A blossom of notes takes shape around the taller man, lifting an increasingly-irate Oreb off her master’s shoulder for a moment.
Kolgradd charges at the shopkeep, but utterly misses the creature.
Jevar moves forward and unleashes a line of negative energy.
Boodiddly sings and heals Jevar.
Shakur casts fear on the shopkeep then Sustains his spiritual weapon.
The shopkeep is horrified at the Pharasmin’s magic, and that terror is enough for Shakur to get a blow in.
"I'll show you something to be frightened of!"
The shopkeep snaps his tentacular fingers. ”Now that’s a wonderful idea!” He then once more begins Casting a Spell, this one being very familiar to Shakur: a 3rd-level fear. But unfortunately for the shopkeep, Kolgradd is first to react.
In an almost comedic fashion, Kolgradd slams his maul against the shopkeep, causing the insubstantial creature to dissipate into smoke, but just as quickly reappear, though floating upside-down this time. ”Wait…that’s not right…” The shopkeep then rights his orientation.
No damage goes through.
Round 5
==============
Boodiddly (-21)
Shakur (-25)
Jevar (-5)
Shopkeep (-121 from “3” attacks [before resistances]) {2d8 persistent negative; frightened 1}
Kolgradd
==============
Jevar turns back and nods at the gnome.
Thank you. He focuses on Oreb for a moment, and she glows softly releasing a bit of energy.
Before he opens his eyes again, another barrage of magic missiles assault the shopkeep.
Somewhat more contented after Boodiddly's healing, Jevar cracks a wry smile at the shopkeep.
So, when we kill you here, do you wake up?
The shopkeep stares down the incoming magic missiles and mutters ”Oh son of a bi—“ and then dissipates into smoke as the missiles hit.
Kolgradd apologises profusely while their wounds are being tended to, and wonders about the nature of that creature. Is it dead or merely inconvenienced?
The amnesiacs search through the shop, they find a very strange sight: behind one of the jars is a hummingbird pecking at what remains of a stale cupcake. Upon being found, the hummingbird grabs at a nearby crimson spring and chucks it. With the amnesiacs distracted, the hummingbird grabs the wrapping of the cupcake with its beak and flies off! Unfortunately, the cupcake proves too heavy and falls to the ground, leaving the hummingbird with an empty cupcake wrapper with a few stray crumbs. The hummingbird looks down at the fallen cupcake in dismay, then quickly departs with the wrapper.
Upon examination of the crimson spring, Jevar determines it to be a greater binding coil.
This room has three elegant wooden tables and stools of varying sizes, all lacquered in a rich black. A few plates and a pitcher are stacked on a sideboard, covered in dust.
As the amnesiacs enter, they are violently bombarded with visions and hallucinations of this room, but in a much better state of repair. A weathy woman with fiendish features and an elaborately coiffed hairdo making imperious demands to human servants; three surly, turbaned humanoids conferring over a detailed image of the moon; and a group of hooded figures with green skin and dog-like features examining a human head made of terra cotta. Their voices echo in an overlapping, unintelligible cacophony.
Success
Fail
Fail
Fail
And just as swiftly as it appeared, the visions vanish.
The amnesiacs recognize some of the figures in those visions: the turbaned humanoids were denizens of Leng ; while the hooded dog-faced creatures were also residents of the Plateau of Leng, but these ones are Leng ghouls, who are far more erudite than their Material Plane counterparts, and are generally less hungrily violent, but are still dangerous for their appetite for flesh, which allows them to tap into the memories of the person whose flesh they consume. None of the amnesiacs have any idea who or what the fiendish woman was.
On the table is a decanter of endless water
Decorative tiles with irregular geometric shapes cover the walls of this room, distorting perspective and obscuring the room’s size. Three deep baths, empty of water, are separated by narrow walkways and hanging curtains of tattered fabric.
Perched right in front of one of the empty tubs is the hummingbird from before, picking crumbs off of the cupcake wrapper.
Jevar and Shakur recognize the hummingbird as a harmona, a capricious fey that uses its rapidly beating wings to generate magical sonic booms. They are also very keen on confections.
With this information, Boodiddly produces some small sweets that he had on his person (for some reason) and made previously. He offers it to the harmona while speaking in Sylvan. The harmona flies forward and eats the confection offered.
The harmona is initially weary, but eventually devours the confection given to it. It flies right next to Boodiddly’s face.
”Chan eil dona. Thoir beagan a bharrachd de sin ma thig thu a-steach nas fhaide air adhart.”
The harmona then flies off to do who-knows-what.
This room appears to be some kind of bookkeeper’s office, filled with various notes and ledgers, though they are written in an entirely indecipherable script.
This room is a surprisingly tidy office that is sparse, but decorated with some framed landscape paintings of strange locations..
Seated behind the table is a very…interesting-looking man. He sports a set of gaudy yellow attire that seems to have once been a set of window drapes, and his face has a familiar beard reminiscent of a skunk’s tail. The man is so engrossed with reading through a book and writing in a notebook next to him.
Oreb watches the hummingbird curiously.
That snack is bigger than you! But go off. Whoops, she dropped in. Okay thanks!
The raven drops to the ground and begins pecking at the stale cupcake (until the party moves on).
Jevar nudges Boodiddly.
Is that... Lowls without the spectacles?
He squints, impossibly focused on the extravagant man.
“Could be, but I doubt it…” Boodiddly whispers back before clearing his throat. “Um, hello there!”
”Hmm?”
The man looks up from his work when Boodiddly calls out to him. Surprise washes over his face when he sees the amnesiacs. There is a moment of pause before he smiles widely. ”Gentlemen! What blissful serendipity!” The man stands up, completely forgetting about the book he was previously studying, and moves over to the amnesiacs and shakes each of their hands in turn. ”I did not surmise to make acquaintanceship with you four once more, particularly in this ramshackle structure. I see that your current excursion has concluded with resounding success! What turn of events led to your ostentatious arrival?”
Jevar eyes the man suspiciously but goes ahead and answers.
Um... a dream ritual and then a violent shopkeep.
He continues to watch him carefully.
“Name’s Bubz,” Boodiddly answers glibly. “And I didn’t catch your name…?”