[GameDay IX] GM Hawthwile's Ungrounded, but Unbroken (Inactive)

Game Master Hawthwile

Wait, I thought I posted already...
Hmmm... now I've confused myself. I distinctly remember it. Maybe I missed the submit button.

Damhán scowls at the next obstacle as if trying to decide whether to just tear the whole thing apart with his mind, and scatter it across the field.

Eventually though, he gives an annoyed sigh, and gets down to make the attempt. Slowing every now and then to mentally push up on any particularly low sections of wire.

GM: He is going to use his telikinetic ability to try to push the wires and such upwards as he goes, so he has a little more clearance... and perhaps a bonus on his escape artist rolls =)

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Hrmm.. definitely not as good a rolls as the post I lost somewhere! Ah, the vagaries of fate!

Alrik scowls at the crawl, looks back at the log he just crossed & scowls again, before returning his attention once more to the crawl.

"I'm not well suited to these tasks..."

Getting down on his hands and knees, he begins...

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

If the telikinetic trick provided some advantage, Damhán will use it when others attempt that obstacle as well... tough won't mention he's doing so.

Escape Artist, fatigued: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 - 2 = 4
Escape Artist, fatigued: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 - 2 = 16

Conig's tired muscles fail him on part of the bear crawl.

@Damhán - I like it! However, the captain might not approve of your tricks, and Basic Telekinesis is a spell-like ability which has a visual manifestation. Thankfully, there's a very easy place where you could keep that from being seen easily - and what's even better is that you're already there!

Damhán gets stuck in the glass-encrusted wires, but eventually finds a passageway and gets halfway through the obstacle. Connig joins him there, having had a bad run-in with some bricks earlier.

Since Alrik already posted, we'll resolve his actions too.

Alrik struggles to fit his stout form into the slender crawlspace without tearing his clothes, but doesn't have much luck until Damhán discretely moves a bit of wire out of the way and helps open a path forward. Ahead, Taariik looks up at the climbing wall - made all the bigger by his current state of shrunkenness. 2 Climb checks to pass.

The Obstacle Course
Turn 3! Bold may act!
Alrik (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ayo (Balancing Act or Bear Crawl, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Bear Crawl - halfway, Fatigued)
Damhán (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ebonfeather (Bear Crawl)
Taariik (Climbing Wall)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)

What do you do?

Ayo hangs her head low in shame as the instructor tells her to move on. She shuffles along as best she can, though her armor and fatigue still wear her down.

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 14
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 9

Taariik takes some time to regain his strength.

1 minute fatigued after ending the spirit dance. Increasing influence to 2/4 to regain spirit dance rounds back to 5/6 rounds.

When he sees that he needs to climb, Taariik dismisses the spell that reduced his size!

He starts climbing.

Climb : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

climb, immediate action to reroll check with a free action to use ‘archmage’ spirit to cast ‘grasp’, -2 to Check: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 8 - 2 = 20

-

Climb : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

climb, immediate action to reroll check with a free action to use ‘archmage’ spirit to cast ‘grasp’, -4 to Check : 1d20 + 8 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 8 - 2 - 2 = 23

GM, how many rounds should I deduct for spirit dance?

escape artist, fatigued: 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 - 2 = 16

Conig pushes through the web to hopefully get on the other end.

Escape Artist 1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Escape Artist 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Once Ebonfeather got his arms in place, he found it much easier to shimmy through the obstacle,

Damhán is not overly concerned if the captain approves. =) He doubts she'll recognize what he's doing anyway.
Will continue to help if others are close to getting stuck.

@Damhán - Captain Othis might not know how Damhán is doing his telekinesis, but she would certainly recognize that he is using magic. And even given what little you've seen of her, she would not likely respond well to what she sees as "cheating". Perhaps Damhán has heard of the concept of "demerits", and might recognize them as the opposite of his mission?

Ayo gets halfway through the bear crawl before her muscles give out and she gets stuck. She looks ahead, seeing Ebonfeather deftly wriggling through to join Conig at the climbing wall. Taariik slips and nearly falls twice as he slowly ascends the wall, though he only makes it up partway.

@Taariik - let's say 1 round of Spirit Dance per Climb check, so 2 rounds used climbing so far.

The Obstacle Course
Turn 4! Bold may act!
Alrik (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall, Fatigued)
Damhán (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ebonfeather (Climbing Wall)
Taariik (Climbing Wall - halfway)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)

What do you do?

Hi GM, Ok, so DC is above 20. Then I will continue until I make it?

Taariik continues to climb.

Climb : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

climb, immediate action to reroll check with a free action to use ‘archmage’ spirit to cast ‘grasp’, -6 to Check: 1d20 + 8 - 6 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 6 = 13

Taariik slips but tries again!

Climb : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

"Come on, team work!" Ebonfeather said "Conig, catch your breath and help the others up when they get here. Taariik, when you get up there, the same. he said.

Do I have to start over with 2 checks, or just 1 more to get through? Going to assume just the 1

Damhán continues to push his way through the crawling obstacle, unsure what the point of such a ridiculous trial is.

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

"Is this stupid thing over yet." He mutters.

Alrik continues to shuffle crawl under wire...

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Correct - "halfway" in the turn tracker indicates only one more successful check is required to complete that obstacle.

Damhán emerges from the tangle of broken glass and bricks, leaving Alrik and Ayo to fend for themselves underneath. Alrik promptly gets stuck, barely able to move without cutting himself. "If I wanted to see a wet noodle flop around I'd be at the cantina!" Captain Othis comments loudly. "Stop wasting everyone's time and either give up or get out. And you!" She turns her attention to Ebonfeather at the base of the climbing wall. "Stop lazing around and get to work! I'm sure you are used to taking things easy back home, but here in the trenches-"

The captain's observations are cut short as part of the climbing wall breaks under Taariik's hand, unleashing a barrage of rocks and pebbles!

Rockfall vs Taariik FF AC 8: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19
Bludgeoning damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 5) = 16
Taariik Climb: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

The stones hit the ifrit repeatedly, but he maintains his grip and pulls himself up over the top of the wall. Below, Conig and Ebonfeather easily dodge the debris.

"AND STOP WRECKING MY EQUIPMENT!" Captain Othis bellows furiously. "IDIOTS!"

The Obstacle Course
Turn 4! Bold may act!
Alrik (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall, Fatigued)
Damhán (Climbing Wall)
Ebonfeather (Climbing Wall)
Taariik (Sink or Swim, -16)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)

What do you do?

“Arghhh ... “ he shouts when the rocks hit him.

Taariik is glad he made it to the other side.

He tries to relax and takes deep breaths.

Need a minute to not be fatigued. Spend 1 more influence to regain 4 rounds of spirit dance.

Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Ebonfeather got a good start but had a hard time getting a grip half way up the wall.

"I will do as you command, Captain."

Ayo does her best to maintain her cool. She really wishes that somebody had told her not to bring her armor today.

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 - 4 - 1 = -2
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 8

Conig tries the climb with his short, weak arms.

climb, fatigued: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (13) - 2 = 11

Apologies for the delay in posting - life caught up with me for a bit.

Ebonfeather gets halfway up the climbing wall before finding himself stuck without any handholds above. Conig struggles to even reach the first handhold on the wall, and Ayo gets herself more and more stuck in the tangled wires of the bear crawl.

"Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to finish this?" Captain Othis bellows at Taariik as the ifrit catches his breath. "Or are you just afraid of getting your hair wet?"

We'll say that Taariik's turn is to rest for that minute - give everyone else a chance to catch up.

The Obstacle Course
Turn 5! Bold may act!
Alrik (Bear Crawl - halfway)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall, Fatigued)
Damhán (Climbing Wall)
Ebonfeather (Climbing Wall - halfway)
Taariik (Sink or Swim, -16, resting 1 minute)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)

What do you do?

Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Digging a claw into a gap in the wall, Ebonfeather was able to make his way up it and on to the top.

Alrik shrugs of his lack of progress and alters his technique to try again.

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Alrik pushes through the tangled mass of wires and looks up at the climbing wall, seeing Ebonfeather disappearing over the top. "About time," Captain Othis observes, making a note on her clipboard.

The Obstacle Course
Turn 5! Bold may act!
Alrik (Climbing Wall)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall, Fatigued)
Damhán (Climbing Wall)
Ebonfeather (Sink or Swim)
Taariik (Sink or Swim, -16, resting 1 minute)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)

What do you do?

Having already failed one task, Ayo won't rest until she completes this one. She gets more and more frustrated as she keeps trying to push on to no avail.

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 0
Escape Artist: 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 5

Damnán stares at the wall with almost the same animosity he gives to Captain Othis.

Eventually he sighs, and at least tries... though can barely find hand holds to grip onto, much less have the strength to pull himself up on.

Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

As mentioned, there's no way for me to make this check! I could cheat... but that apparently is frowned upon =) I want to be able to telekineses myself!

"Yes, that's an excellent demonstration of your capabilities," Captain Othis observes dryly as Ayo collapses face-first into the mud underneath the bear crawl. "Would you like to show us how well you climb next?"

Ayo can skip the Bear Crawl and proceed to the Climbing Wall if she decides to.

Botting Conig

Conig Climb, Fatigued: 1d20 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 - 1 = 4
Conig Climb, Fatigued: 1d20 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 - 1 = 1

"And you two." The captain turns her attention to Damhán and Conig. "I told you to climb the wall, not rub your faces all over the base of it. Now climb like your lives depend on it - because they very well might one day!" She pauses, brow furrowed. "Or if you would like to rub your incompetence off on your teammates, ratfolk, you can walk around like a complete failure."

Taariik and Ebonfeather gaze out over what looks to have once been an abandoned quarry, now filled with muddy water. The surface of the water is calm, but the sediment obscures its depth. 2 Swim checks to pass

The Obstacle Course
Turn 6! Bold may act!
Alrik (Climbing Wall)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway or Climbing Wall, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall or Sink or Swim, Fatigued)
Damhán (Climbing Wall)
Ebonfeather (Sink or Swim)
Taariik (Sink or Swim, -16)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)
- Sink or Swim: Swim (2)

What do you do?

Swim: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Swim: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Ebonfeather dove into the water and tried to make his way across to the other side.

Ahhh, I exchanged swim with profession soldier so I cannot use it now. :-(

Taariik is now feeling better and starts swimming.

Swim : 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Swim : 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Pleased to be out from under the crawl, Alril jogs over to the wall. His head moves side to side as he takes in the entirety of the upcoming climb. Picking out the best route, he gets started.

Climb: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Climb: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Conig tries his darndest again.

climb, fatigued: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 = 17
climb, fatigued: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (9) - 2 = 7

As much as Ayo would like to skip the rest of this challenge, she's already halfway through, and she's going to have to squeeze out anyways, so might as well keep trying.

Escape Artist (ACP, fatigue): 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 - 4 - 1 = -3
Escape Artist (ACP, fatigue): 1d20 + 1 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 - 4 - 1 = 0

G@~%**n these rolls! Wow

Ebonfeather easily makes his way through the murky water to emerge on the other side. Taariik struggles at first, but eventually stops thrashing around wildly and starts making progress across the flooded quarry with powerful strokes. "Well at least one of you isn't utterly incompetent," Captain Othis observes loudly.

Botting Damhán

Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19
Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Damhán thinks he's got a solid grasp on the climbing wall, but he can't pull himself up and collapses back down to the ground with Conig and Alrik. Behind them, Ayo continues to push herself deeper into the bear crawl. "Had enough, you two?" Captain Othis asks, looking pointedly at Conig and Damhán. "There's one more way for you to fail if you're in that much of a hurry to flunk yourselves out - don't let me keep you waiting. And you!" She turns to address the bear crawl. "You might think you're being clever by acting stubborn as a rock, but that'll only get you dead on the battlefield! Now move!"

The Obstacle Course
Turn 7! Bold may act!
Alrik (Climbing Wall)
Ayo (Bear Crawl - halfway or Climbing Wall, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Climbing Wall or Sink or Swim, Fatigued)
Damhán (Climbing Wall or Sink or Swim)
Ebonfeather (Done!)
Taariik (Sink or Swim - halfway, -16)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)
- Sink or Swim: Swim (2)

What do you do?

Damhán has no intention of vainly attempting to do something he knows he can not do.
So he is not going to continue to try to climb the wall, no matter how much Othis yells.

What does the or mean on the obstacle list?

The captain has kindly offered Damhán the option to voluntarily accept failure on the Climbing Wall obstacle, allowing him to proceed to the Sink or Swim obstacle instead. Does that help clarify?

Taariik continues swimming!!

Swim : 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Swim : 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Ah.. ok, that makes sense... well... except the 'kindly' part =)

Damhán manages to refrain from sending things lobbing at the Captain, as she continues to berate everyone.

Knowing the climbing to be a lost cause, he doesn't dwell on it, instead bypassing the obstacle entirely... only to met by a new one.

He frowns at the muddy water... but in the end realizes its just that, muddy water. Back home, they'd be tossing you into a fast flowing frozen river. This had to be a step up from that.

With a sigh, he jumps in, and starts a slow, but steady paddle, across the flooded quarry

Swim: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15
Swim: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Growling away his displeasure at his previous unsuccessful attempt, Alrik tries to climb once more.

Climb: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Climb: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Oh, dear. I'll fair worse with a swim than a climb. Damhan, save our reputation. and Conig hops in to try to swim a bit.

swim, fatigued: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8
swim, fatigued: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13

Ayo bows her head in shame as she continues to the next challenge, not wanting to further anger the officer.

Climb (ACP, fatigue): 1d20 + 7 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 7 - 4 - 1 = 17
Climb (ACP, fatigue): 1d20 + 7 - 4 - 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 - 4 - 1 = 4

Climbing is much more her speed, but her luck is not with her today, as she has difficulty even getting a handhold.

Ayo... I have to say, you've had some of the worst RNG luck, over the course of this, that I have ever seen.

Damhán paddles steadily across the muddy water, catching up with Taariik and Ebonfeather on the other side. As the three Pathfinders dry themselves off, they watch as Alrik scales the wall and approaches Conig, who flounders uselessly at the far end of the flooded quarry.

Ayo struggles with the wall, painstakingly making her way upward only to come crashing back down under the weight of her armor. Captain Othis taps her foot impatiently as she jots something down on her clipboard, but doesn't say anything as she watches.

Yeah, all these challenges are made that much worse for Ayo because of that hefty armor check penalty. Would she be willing to remove it if one of her companions suggested she do so? She's seen Alrik and Taariik both remove their armor.

The Obstacle Course
Turn 8! Bold may act!
Alrik (Sink or Swim)
Ayo (Climbing Wall, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Sink or Swim, Fatigued)
Damhán (Done!)
Ebonfeather (Done!)
Taariik (-16, Done!)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)
- Sink or Swim: Swim (2)

What do you do?

Ayo... I have to say, you've had some of the worst RNG luck, over the course of this, that I have ever seen.

This is just the way my dice luck is. I'm either rolling four 1's in a row or four 20's

Having no desire to make this embarassment go on any longer, Ayo finally begins the long and arduous process of removing her armor.

It's full plate so gonna be a while :/

Damhán will go back to help Ayo with the armor.

Should now be half of 'a while' =)

If having more help shortens the time further, then Alrik will do that otherwise....

Setting his sights on the new task, he jumps into the water and sets off flounders around not really making much progress...

Swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Botting Conig

Swim, Fatigued: 1d20 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 - 1 = 10
Swim, Fatigued: 1d20 - 1 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 - 1 = 3

Alrik flounders alongside Conig before the ratfolk abruptly starts sinking below the surface of the murky water. Captain Othis points at Ebonfeather and Taariik. "Don't just stand there like imbeciles!" she barks, pointing next at the churning water next to the dwarf. "Go drag him out. His incompetence shouldn't kill him yet."

The Obstacle Course
Turn 9! Bold may act!
Alrik (Sink or Swim)
Ayo (Climbing Wall, Fatigued, -6)
Conig (Sink or Swim - underwater, Fatigued)
Damhán (Done!)
Ebonfeather (Done!)
Taariik (-16, Done!)

Obstacles:
- Balancing Act: Acrobatics (1)
- Bear Crawl: Escape Artist (2)
- Climbing Wall: Climb (2)
- Sink or Swim: Swim (2)

What do you do?

Reaching into his pack, Ebonfeather pulled out a length of rope and threw it towards Conig to pull them towards shore.

With her armor divested, Ayo begins to try climbing again, though she has difficulty finding a good place to start.

Climb: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 7 - 1 = 10
Climb: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 1 = 15

More bad rolls :(

Bubbles float from the water over Conig

swim: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6

Alrik tried to improve his stroke, and while it does look better, he doesn’t make any real progress...

Swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11