GM West's DCC Adventure - Hole in the Sky (Inactive)

Game Master Stiehle

How does healing work in this system?

but a 0 level character at 0 hp dies. No chance of recovery

Other brother Daryl sighs. Well we might as well do this. The Goddess said we need to step off into the porthole.

He gives each of his kin a bro-hug and turns to face the end of the bridge. Taking a running start, Other Brother Daryl leaps off.

After Other Brother Daryl takes his leap of faith off the bridge-end, Charmy slowly makes his way to the front. "So I's just drop the rock to where he went?", pointing to where the man just leapt off of. If not dissuaded by the others, he'll proceed to do just that in short order.

Berry and Stormy are unsure of how they should proceed with the latter muttering aloud, "If there is a hole to someplace else, shouldn't we be able to spot it real easy?"

Chopper watches but keeps his distance from the edge. Invisible makes it too easy to accidentally step over the edge.... "Spot it? We're standing on a bridge that we can't see.... Maybe the hole is invisible too?"

Tossing his odd rock downward from the very end of the unseen bridge, Charmy waits to see what happens to the rock.

Chopper watches but keeps his distance from the edge. Invisible makes it too easy to accidentally step over the edge.... "Spot it? We're standing on a bridge that we can't see.... Maybe the hole is invisible too?"

Giving off a helpless shrug in response, Berry replys to Chopper with, "If it is unseeable, we'll just have to poke all around at the air until we find this hidden hole then?"

Chopper keeps scanning the area but replies, "If it's a hole, a portal to another world.... shouldn't we see the other world through the hole?"

Walking along an invisible, seemingly endless bridge over the vast ocean around mid-spring or thereabouts.

Early evening of the third day.

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As dusk approaches, the party founds that indeed the bridge seems to end here. Older Brother Daryl, trusting that there must certainly be a portal at the end of the bridge, leaps off and finds.... nothing but empty air. His long scream as he plummets to the sea unfurls behind him like a sail until his body smashes into the water a half mile or so below. It seems highly unlikely that there is a portal to be found here. Continuing to poke and prod at the air around them, the party finds something disturbing. The invisible solidity of the bridge abruptly ends a short distance behind them now, making the platform on which they now stand about sixty feet in length and twenty feet wide. But for all their exploration, there is no sign of an invisible portal that swallows the poles or thrown rocks. Chopper suggests that if the portal they are expecting opens into some kind of a prison realm, wouldn’t they see that world through the gate?

The mood as grim as the sun slowly sinks below the horizon and stars begin to appear on the eastern horizon, followed by the moon. The night is still cold, but those gathered have suffered much already. Surely, they can survive another night?

Any other actions? Sleeping tonight or doing anything else until morning? Those who are sick can roll another STA saving thrown. Syrus, you are absolutely correct, your characters are all healthy. Thanks again for your patience, folks!

Map

Attack Roll Modifiers/Dice Chain

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Chopper keeps scanning the area but replies, "If it's a hole, a portal to another world.... shouldn't we see the other world through the hole?"

GM West wrote:

Older Brother Daryl, trusting that there must certainly be a portal at the end of the bridge, leaps off and finds.... nothing but empty air. His long scream as he plummets to the sea unfurls behind him like a sail until his body smashes into the water a half mile or so below. It seems highly unlikely that there is a portal to be found here. Continuing to poke and prod at the air around them, the party finds something disturbing. The invisible solidity of the bridge abruptly ends a short distance behind them now, making the platform on which they now stand about sixty feet in length and twenty feet wide. But for all their exploration, there is no sign of an invisible portal that swallows the poles or thrown rocks. Chopper suggests that if the portal they are expecting opens into some kind of a prison realm, wouldn’t they see that world through the gate?

The mood as grim as the sun slowly sinks below the horizon and stars begin to appear on the eastern horizon, followed by the moon. The night is still cold, but those gathered have suffered much already. Surely, they can survive another night?

As both Older Brother Daryl and Charmy's odd rock dissappear into the waters below, Stormy- after finishing up a hastily quick and quiet prayer for Older Brother Daryl- mutters aloud, "Maybe if we're lucky, the light in this supposed prison portal will be visible against the night sky...", in response to Chopper's query.

Charmy stares forlornly after where the rock was thrown at but doesn't really say anything else. Berry will try to 'feel' out at any irregularities in the air at various intervals during the night with his wooden pole.

Berry and Charmy will attempt their Stamina/fort? saves:

Berry: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (14) - 2 = 12.

Charmy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (7) - 1 = 6.

Disturbed that the way back seems to have been cut off, Bucks glances around quietly. "Well, obviously we're missing something. However, those of us that ate are still feeling Okay. Maybe this was as far as we were intended to get today. Before anyone else dives I suggest that we all sit down, or lay down, and rest for the night. Maybe we'll see something different in the morning."

The remaining brothers sob manly tears and bro-hug.

Comrade Bukharina grabs a rope, fixes it to her hand, and flings the other end around to see if here is, perhaps, just a "hole" in the invisible bridge.

Chopper looks around at the approaching darkness, a little bit of panic is in his voice. "What if the road continues to disappear during the night? Or maybe the hole we're supposed to step through is under us and a hole will form in this invisible road? What if it's already there and we can't see it? Feel around!!!"

Stinky sits, then lays down flat looking up into the sky. "Relax then! There's nothing we can do. And this dream.... Well, it was better than my life. At least I had a dream."

Marco turns to the group.

"Should we set up watches? Isn't that what heroes do?"

Stave, teeth gritted against the pain of his wounded arm, lowers himself onto the invisible cobbles near the path's middle. Godsblighted birds! First time I've ever been hen-pecked. With a bit of assistance, he loosens the ropes lashing his trusty barrel onto his back. I think having some of us watch in turns tonight is a good idea, but I'm sure I'm going to have trouble staying alert.

Tater kneels next to the cooper and peers at Stave's shoulder and upper arm. Ah might'n be able t' he'p a bit wi'that, feller, though O'Dweeds there prob'ly more collie-fied . . . . The farmhand twists his head toward the herbalist. Got ennythan' thet could he'p make a pole-tice fer this arm o' his? 'Cuz we all knows them filthy birds is lie-bull t' pass on a sickness, an' Stave's little good fer us hurt s'bad.

Surprised to be addressed at all, O'Dweeds gawks at Stave and Tater for several seconds before stammering, Um . . . yes . . . well . . . maybe? And he begins digging through his bundle of herbs. With a pause and a half-accusing glare, he interjects, But did you not just see another one of us simply jump straight off sure footing and into death? Doesn't that mean anything to you??!!

Tater sighs in exasperation, loudly, and bows his head for a moment before looking at the place where Older Brother Daryl made his final leap. Yep. Ah seent it. His baleful, weathered stare settles again on the young herbalist. Y'wan' me ta talk 'bout it? Is that it? Y'sure?

So, what about that, West? Would I need to make some rolls for Tater and O'Dweeds to collaborate on some sort of remedy that might help Stave recover more quickly?

Also -- does the act of eating regularly have any bearing on recovery checks and natural healing? Because I'm pretty sure that Stave is going to tear into a ration pack before he sleeps . . . .

Larry wipes his nose on his sleeve.I'll take first watch with anyone else that wants to.

Franhk moans and sits down, depressed, rubbing his stomach and just plain feeling awful. "I'm just gonna lay down for a bit...", he mutters.

STA saving throw: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19

For himself, Burke helps the others in searching the edges of the apparently shrinking-and-invisible-bridge-in-the-sky. "I'll take a watch as well..."

Knowing now that the way back to the cliffs has also dwindled mysteriously away, Berry nervously pipes in with, "I don't think that I could sleep all that soundly when there's a chance of having more of our invisible bridge disappear without our knowing.", as he uses up another ration pack of his. "I'd feel much more better checking up on this bridge every now and then..."

Charmy immediately settles down to sleep if he's not feeling hungry after partaking of the initial feast.

Stormy offers to take a later watch if there's a need to do so. He too will check up on both ends of the unseen bridge when he can. "Anything turns up on my watch, I'll be sure to holler loud enough."

It takes a total of three days waiting on the invisible bridge, perched in the middle of the sky before anything of note happens. During this time, only those who never partook of the feast grow hungry, but fortunately there are enough rations to satisfy them and the occasional rain gives them succor from thirst.

It is late on the third day when the portal first appears, and at first it just looks like an odd shimmer of air on the horizon to the west. As it gets closer though, the group sees it as a window of sorts, about fifteen feet in diameter and surrounded by crackling blue fingers of energy. At it draws within an handsbreadth of the end of the bridge, slowing down to a stop, another world with a strange, magenta sky can clear be seen through the breach.

As you step through the hole in the sky, your ears pop and the sudden warmth of this place makes you momentarily dizzy. You are in what must be an entirely different world. The air is heavy, with a strange and oppressively heavy scent that tastes both bitter and vaguely metallic. The atmosphere here is, as you saw from the other side, a strange hue of reddish violet with no clouds, no sun and no moon. The magenta sky bathes the landscape in an exotic light, and you appear to be standing in a clearing partially obscured by mist and surrounded by a forest of thin, flat trees that have no branches - almost like impossibly tall blades of grass that seem to be a shade of deep purple. Looking back behind you, the portal is nowhere to be seen, and those of your companions that arrive after the first brave soul that stepped through seem to be appearing out of thin air. Besides the razor-thin 'trees' that rise up all around the clearing, the party can see a dark structure rising out of the mists far ahead, though without any sense of scale or bearings it is impossible to know how large it is, or how far away.

Again folks, thank you for your patience in waiting for me! Those of you that are wounded each regain two HP (one for each night of rest) and I'm handwaving those saves and moving us on to the adventure without further ado.

Seeing something other than.... well, the nothing that they've been standing on, Chopper runs through the portal. He skids to a stop, but then realizes that he'll be in the way and quickly steps to the side and starts examining the purple blades. Grass? He carefully touches one with the tip of a finger, checking for sharpness or any oil or liquid that might be dangerous. If it seems safe he tries to cut it with his axe.

Banker tries to stride through with dignity, until the horde joins and starts pushing. "Leave off gentlemen. The portal seems to be stable. Now who's good at scouting? Fighting? Those with strong hand-to-hand weapons and skills should take lead. Those with missiles stay behind so they can be used. We don't know what we're going to.... Where's the sun?"

Stinky steps through quietly. He takes a deep breath of the strange new air. He immediately decides that it smells much better than his day-to-day in his previous life! "Ah. I wonder how much longer that magical meal will last."

The remaining brothers shamble through the hole. Seems both of them are still in shock over what happened to their kin.

Welcome back, GM West. Berry's ration supply has long since been depleted during the 3-day wait- and to make things more simpler to keep track of, both Charmy and Stormy give up a days worth of rations each to help keep Berry fed during the wait.

Looking to and fro amidst their newly respective arrival upon this decidedly alien plane of existence, Berry, Charmy, and Stormy anxiously look about as they try to spy out any other local presence apart from their other fellow travelers.

In response to Banker's suggestions, Berry reluctantly admits, "I can do a bit of scouting and such but I'm not that much useful in a long, drawn-out fight..." to which Stormy pipes in with, "Neither am I but if you need something dugout or buried, I'm your man."

Charmy gives a helpless shrug and says, "I's can stays outta the way- us slaves' do real good at that."

Larry speaks up. I'm a hunter and can try to trap some game if there is any about.

Stave, O'Dweeds, and Tater all examine the "trees" closely, but make no attempt to touch the strange growths -- not yet.

Stave rather quickly loses interest in the purple blades, convinced that there's little use of the things in barrel-making. So he meanders around the area, peering at the ground to see if anything else draws his attention.

Stave's Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Tater tries to accept this changed reality at speed, and gazes toward the distant tower, watching and listening for any signs of movement beyond the group.

Tater's Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

O'Dweeds takes far more interest in the state of things close at hand, examining the violet "bladebarks" for signs of seeding, growth rate, and position in a food chain. He also wracks his memory of the herbs and fungi he's studied to see if he can make a tentative connection between what he knows and his experience of this eerie air about them.

O'Dweeds' Nature: 1d20 ⇒ 18
O'Dweeds' Recall -- bitter, metallic air: 1d20 ⇒ 9

Onwards comrades, to new shores!

Maybe I can get an idea? Bukharina motor mouths.

Bukharina intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Engels farmland?: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Marx mining?: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Assuming things are based of intelligence.

If any rolls will be required from Berry, Stormy, or Charmy...

Berry roll: 1d20 ⇒ 14.

Charmy roll: 1d20 ⇒ 18.

Stormy roll: 1d20 ⇒ 19.

Other than the distant structure rising from the mists, there is nothing to be seen beyond the strange, purple flat 'trees'. Emgels determines that the ground seems normal at least, probably quite fertile enough for farmland. The strange taste of the air in unidentifiable, but at least it doesn't seem harmful - at least not at the moment. Tater sees no sign of movement anywhere. Chopper does what he does best and cuts one of the trees down, which is remarkably easy to accomplish - the 'trunk' doesn't seem to resist the blade at all, at least not like the usual kinds of trees he is used to cutting down.

All remains silent, and after a moment the party realizes that there are no sounds of insects or birds - nor any other kind of flora and fauna one might expect. Just the endless purple trees that resemble gigantic stalks of grass more than anything else, the mist and the distant structure...

Larry sighs. I guess we are supposed to just head to the structure. Larry and his remaining brother are ready to go.

Stormy shrugs before saying, "There's no helping fer it now, that there structure's our best hope of finding any answers about this place..." as he starts to move off towards it's direction.

Berry reluctantly follows close by the gravedigger but Charmy- being more comfortable with being part of the crowd- seems to wait to see what all the others will do [or most of the others, at the very least] before making a move on his own.

Chopper examines the "tree" that he had cut down. Would the material have any use? Any parts sturdy enough for weapons? Staff? Arrows? Could he make a walking stick? Do any parts of it seem ;like they could be edible?

The 'tree' is awfully thin and flimsy - broad, though. Several would make a nice lean-to or the like. Neither does it look particularly edible. In all, its utility seems very limited.

Marco chimes in. "Yeah lets head for the structure"

Walking along an invisible, seemingly endless bridge over the vast ocean around mid-spring or thereabouts.
Weather is clear and cold with moderate winds.
Early evening of the third day.

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The party makes directly for the structure and as they get closer and closer, the structure begins to take form through the strange haze. After about four hours of travel they arrive without incident - it almost seems as though this entire world might be uninhabited! In any case, the structure itself turns out to be an enormous monolith some three hundred feet tall and about sixty feet or so in diameter, apparently covered with curvy thorns that range between thirty and fifty feet in length. The place seems not so much to be built by hand, but rather grown - resembling some kind of massive seed pod. There is an entrance directly ahead, and even from a distance of a hundred yards or so you can easily determine that the door is about sixty feet tall, with a giant latch at about the midway point.

Random Encounter: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Random Encounter: 1d6 ⇒ 5

You're all about three hundred feet away from the structure, facing what appears to be the front entrance. The 'forest' of purple-hued trees that more resemble giant blades of grass has formed, more or less, an easily navigated path straight up to the great door you can see clearly from your current position. I'm using more or less your marching order from the Bridge, but feel free to rearrange however you'd like. The 'front' of your marching order is to the right (closest to the picture of the structure on the 'Map' link below) and the back of the order is on the left side of the screen, furthest away from the picture. We won't be using battlemaps per se, but it's good for me to have a good idea of roughly who is where in the formation.

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Larry looks doubtfully at the door. I don't think we can get that door open, maybe if we can climb up and tie a rope to it, then we can all pull on the rope.

Moved Berry, Stormy, and Charmy's icons so that Berry is closest to the tower in front, Stormy's back by the secondary line and Charmy's faffing about in the middle back. ;)

Leaning back to take in the entirety of the 60 foot door, Berry says, "It's pretty high up there to the latch- not sure if I'd be able to climb all the way up there...", with some amount of doubt creeping into his voice as he continues on. "... at least, not without a lot of assistance."

Stormy pipes up with, "We even got enough rope to pull that off?", as he stands idly nearby.

Daryl holds up and iron spike. You could stand on this.

Looking up at the latch, 30' above, Bucks shrugs. "I suggest that we knock. If we don't get a reply, well, the structure looks grown. Maybe Chopper can cut steps up the side of the door so someone can climb up to the handle. But lets knock first before we do actual damage...."

The party approaches the door cautiously, thinking of ways to reach the latch, but it quickly becomes apparent that there is an alternative. As you are roughly the size of bugs compared to the massive door, you see that there is a sizable gap running along the length of the bottom. Enough room to squeeze underneath the door for certain...

Bukharina cautiously peeks through before squeezing!

Larry peeks as well

Those peering up through the crack can see that this appears to be a huge room. Natural light seems to filter in from above, but there are also green lights that move around in errant patterns. Suddenly, a loud, rattling noise absolutely shatters the silence for the span of a couple heartbeats, then all is still again. Several seconds later, the same sound again rattles your heart in your chest. Is that... snoring?

After a minute or two of watching and listening, not much more is learned. You'll have to crawl under the door to get a better idea of what lies beyond...

Looks like someone is sleeping. Larry whispers.

Sleeping? O'Dweeds asks. The herbalist looks down at the brace around his knee and gestures hesitantly. I'm not going in there. This thing creaks the wrong way, at the wrong time . . . . I'll, ummmm, guard the door??

Stave creeps forward on the balls of his feet, trying not to scuff his heels on the flooring. Moving under the door's vast bulk, he pauses and lets his eyes adjust to the lighting within, hoping to get the lay of the land.

Tater peers up along the "thorny" exterior of the tower, wondering if there's a possibility of making the climb upward.

Larry wiggles under as well.

Bukharina tries to wriggle under.

Bucks stands guard outside.
Chopper glances at the coward(s) and wriggles under. Stinky also wriggles under....

Marcus tries to wriggle under too.

"I'm glad I skipped all those apple tarts!"

Walking along an invisible, seemingly endless bridge over the vast ocean around mid-spring or thereabouts.
Weather is clear and cold with moderate winds.
Early evening of the third day.

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Those that wriggle under the door through the gap find themselves in an enormous room with a vaguely organic shape, like the inside of some colossal hive. Lights shine down from holes within the ceiling some two hundred feet up or so. Strange, glowing creatures resembling giant flies buzz around the expanse, their bodies throwing strange green lights across the floor and walls. Reclining against the far wall is a massive creature, which looks like it would be sixty feet tall if it stood up. At the moment though, it appears to be fast asleep, and the creature is definitely the source of the booming snores you heard on the far side of the door. It has red-brown fur covering most of its body, with twisted horns, yellowed tusks and black claws giving it the look of a terrifying, giant predatory beast. Hanging far above it, about two thirds of the way up toward the ceiling from what appears to be a massive tree branch growing from the inside of the wall, is a large domed cage of woven wood. The bottom of it hangs more than a hundred feet off the ground and it appears to be some sixty feet in diameter and roughly the same length in height. From this angle you can’t see inside the cage, and getting up there seems a daunting task.

The walls on the inside of the enormous hive resemble a natural cave, being irregular in appearance - though it is clearly not stone. The texture seems almost pulpy in appearance, like a carved out gourd. The floor is littered with detrius, broken branches (though none as massive as the one far above suspending the cage), large bones, chunks of the wall that have fallen over the years (and appear to have petrified into dry, rock-like formations) and a generally unhealthy-looking layer of waste product coats most of the ground. The huge monster continues to snore as though deeply asleep as the would-be rescuers take a long look around at the disgusting environs surrounding them...

Looks like a good number of you are inside, while others remaing outside for now. Let me know how you proceed!

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Larry eyeballs the flies. [b]I reckon they would see us as lunch.[/n]

Berry and Charmy wriggle under the door to go inside the structure while Stormy opts to stay outside with the other would-be guards.

Larry eyeballs the flies. I reckon they would see us as lunch.[/n]

[b]"Dunno if they'd eat us but those flies do seem to be the lighting around this... dwelling."

Berry will try to spot any obvious path up the massive tree to the hanging cage.

spotting a path up the tree: 1d20 ⇒ 15.

The flies are large - about the size of grapefruits - but not quite big enough to eat a human. Berry doesn't spot a path up to the cage (there is no tree, the massive branch is jutting out from the wall a couple hundred feet up), but he does see something that looks like a breach in the wall on the left-hand side of the chamber, almost halfway toward the sleeping titan - though at least its not right under its head or anything...

Cut-Away Map of Room