GM Bret’s What Lurks in the Woods (Inactive)

Game Master BretI

Not having located any goblins by sight, Gaius waits to see where the foes are located.

@GM: Delay until he can see any enemies.

"Did I mention that the fort appeared empty?" quips John as he moves further into the wood with his staff in hand.
Move
Perception: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 - 2 = 17

"Either we scared them off," suggests the half-orc, "or they are sneakier than I would have given them credit for."

Azalmak goes a slingin'!

Sling: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Bah I knew anyone except me should've done it. :(

Gaius waits, in hopes of a target presenting itself.

John gives his report on the fort and then moves in the direction that Azalmak had indicated but doesn’t see any goblins.

Azalmak decides the best way to show everyone where they are is to hit one with his sling. Unfortunately he misses.

You all see an arrow fly from the tree branches. This is enough to give away the goblin archer’s position as it fires the bow. The arrow hits John,
Short bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Piercing damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Round 1:

The goblins are 15’ up in the tree branches.
Although I have put them on the map, not all of them are visible to everyone.
Move closer and those who don’t see any of them may attempt a DC 20 Perception to spot goblins. Remember the -1 penalty for each 10’ distance.
Those not confident in their perception can delay until after a goblin has acted.

Cracking John 4 damage
Azalmak
Yellow Goblin
Gaius
Evelyn
Blue Goblin (unseen by all)
Orange Goblin (unseen by all)
Cara

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Evelyn ties to spot the goblins while sheating her rapier to prepare her crossbow.

if possible, she will points out the foes to her companions

Even after moving 30 feet, I've checked and I'm too far from the goblins to see anything, sorry

The Lemon Loser, having revealed himself with his aggression against John, becomes Gaius's primary target!

@GM: Gaius will move 20' and fire one cold iron arrow in case the goblins here are also infected with Demon Bile. Actually assume all the arrows Gaius will use in the future will be cold iron.

MW Composite Longbow (+1 Str) with Point Blank Shot: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 1 = 251d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 + 1 = 7

Evelyn switches to her crossbow as she moves up and looks for more goblins. Unfortunately goblins are sneaky creatures, very adept as hiding.

While she is doing that, Gaius takes aim and shoots down the one goblin that had revealed itself by shooting at Cracking John. The dead body falls from the tree branches and makes a sickening sound as it hits the ground.

With yellow dead, two arrows come flying towards the one who killed them — Gaius.
Since you can’t see them, this will be against FF AC
Blue Short bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Piercing damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Blue Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
“Ahhhh!”

Orange Short bow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Piercing damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Orange Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Neither of the arrows hits, but Blue does fall out of the tree badly hurting themself. They do manage to stand up after their fall.
Falling damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Having fired their bows, all goblins on the map are visible.

Round 1:

Blue Goblin 3 damage
Orange Goblin still 15’ up in a tree
Cara

Round 2:

Cracking John 4 damage
Azalmak
Yellow Goblin 7 damage
Gaius
Evelyn

Cara moves up, crossbow at the ready.

double move

"Cracking" John releases a sigh. "Sneaky it is, then."

"Let us see what can be harvested by a shaking a few trees," he suggests. the half-orc rushes through the woods to the base of the nearest tree holding a goblin. Upon reaching the base, he tries to discern how many goblins hide above him and whether he should start climbing or simply try to give the plant a good shake.

Assuming the "green" spaces on the map are difficult terrain...
Double Move

Gaius moves forward a bit and fires 2 arrows at the Blue Mook!

MW Composite Longbow (+1 Str) with Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 1 = 261d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 + 1 = 9

MW Composite Longbow (+1 Str) with Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 1 = 211d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 = 8

Crit Threat?

MW Composite Longbow (+1 Str) with Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 1 = 211d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6

If the 21 confirms, extra damage is:

MW Composite Longbow (+1 Str) with Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot: 1d8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 + 1 = 10

Azalmak advances, firing his sling again at Orange

Sling: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 for bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Cara moves forward through the cleared area near the base of the cliff.

John rushes up to the base of the tree. Looking at it, he thinks he could probably shake the goblin out of it. Only one is visible up in the tree branches.

Just as he is thinking this, Gaius’s arrows pierce the goblin. If falls right next to John, obviously very dead.

Then Azalmak ends the life of the other goblin, hitting it in the head and knocking it out.

Combat over.

Other than their leather armor, dogslicers, short bows and arrows the goblins don’t have anything of note on them.

Gaius thinks he hears noises from the fortress, but the distance is too great to make anything out clearly.

"We may have stirred the hornet's nest; we should prepare for battle."

Can Cara heal John? If not Gaius can do it but his wand is in his wrist sheath.

Just as he is thinking this, Gaius’s arrows pierce the goblin. If falls right next to John, obviously very dead.

Aww man with that crit damage I was hoping it pinned his ugly little corpse to the tree! We'd have our own scarecrow! 8)

Cara says a quick prayer as she looks at John's wound.

clw: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

There...good as new...not even a scar...can't say the same about your armour though... she says with a grin.

"Much obliged." John nods to the cleric.

He grabs hold of his mace and swings it around a few times for good measure. "If they know we're here, no need for hiding."

"Race you to the top!" he shouts, as he rushes to the stairway and begins climbing.

John goes running up the stairs. As he is running, he spots a heavily scarred goblin on the roof of one of the buildings peeking down at the stairs. Evelyn can also just barely see the goblin.

Going to give John a chance to react!
Moved others to follow him.

"Now we know they're here too!" shouts John as he tries to quicken his pace to make it to the top as soon as possible.

"And that they're UGLY! There's a scarred one, up and to my left!"

As John continues rushing forward, the boards shift under his feet and he hears a twang! sound followed by the sight of three jars launching into the air above him and then swinging down to smash into the cliff face. Some sort of gunk gets splattered on the cliff face and the area suddenly becomes very cold.

Non-Lethal Cold damage: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 5) = 11 DC 16 Reflex to avoid

On the good side, it isn’t Demon Bile. Kn: Nature to know what it is

The goblin gives a fierce laugh and tosses a vial of what you quickly realize is Alchemist’s Fire down on the stairs causing the gunk to spread!
Alchemist’s Fire: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Round 1:

Leeza
Azalmak
Gaius
Cracking John DC 16 Reflex vs 11 NL Cold damage
Evelyn
Cara

Cara flings a small ball of fire at the goblin.

touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 221d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
crit?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 71d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

will move after the others go up the stairs...i'll bring up the rear...

Azalmak scales the stairs and fires his sling at the goblin.

Sling: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18 for bludgeoning: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Cara’s fire doesn’t hit anything. It is chill enough even where she is that she doesn’t like the look of that gunk on the wall.

The gunk on the wall is freezing cold and Azalmak feels it to their bones. Even before he got along side it, it was dangerously cold.
NL cold damage: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 5) = 13

Leeza has cover from the building, making them a difficult target. Even without that, Azalmak thinks he might have missed the goblin.

Round 1:

Round 1:
Leeza
Azalmak 13 NL
Gaius
Cracking John DC 16 Reflex vs 11 NL Cold damage
Evelyn
Cara

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 6 + 2 = 23

@GM: Deduct 2 from the Nature check if it isn't a creature. And Cara rolled a natural 20 and it didn't hit?

Reflex: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

John groans as he quickly wipes his face with his free hand, then contineus up the steps.
Double move
30 foot movement, presumably steps are difficult terrain, so John still has 10 feet left to move. He will move toward nearest foe.

I misread Cara’s attack. I red the 1 rolled for damage as the attack.
Redoing that section.

Cara hits with her fire spell, doing minimal damage. Seems at least this goblin isn’t resistant to fire.

Gaius recognizes the gunk as Brown Mold. It is a hazard that causes all heat to be drained from an area around it. Fire causes it to grow. It can be killed by cold damage. Usually being within 30’ would be dangerous, but this doesn’t seem to reach beyond about 10’.

John gets hurt by the gunk but is able to quickly move out of the area after those first jars.

John, I don’t know how you got to where your avatar is. I assumed you were going up the stairs which would be towards the front gates.
If you went up the stairs, you should be near the front gate.
You would have had to climb the cliff and over the wall to get where you are.

Round 1:

Round 1:
Leeza 2 damage
Azalmak 13 NL
Gaius
Cracking John 11 NL Need to adjust your location
Evelyn
Cara

I misread Cara’s attack. I red the 1 rolled for damage as the attack.

Redoing that section.

@GM: No problem I just wanted to make sure what happened before Gaius took his action.

"The 'gunk' is brown mold; kill it with cold and it absorbs heat."

Gaius, recognizing the difficulty of hitting the target, deploys his Wand of Divine Favor from his spring-loaded wrist sheath and activates it!

@GM #2: Using his standard to activate; is there a skill check to determine a spot which might give Gaius a more favorable aim point to hit the enemy?

Gaius, you are aiming up more than distance. Where you are isn’t bad — no mechanical penalties other than the cover that Leeza is going to get from anyone not on the roof with her.

Gaius, you are aiming up more than distance. Where you are isn’t bad — no mechanical penalties other than the cover that Leeza is going to get from anyone not on the roof with her.

@GM: Thanks, was just checking if there was anything more I could do to improve Gaius's odds of hitting. :)

Can I use a rope and climbing hook to cimb to the roof?

I'll cover you guys as you go...at least I'll keep her head down. Cara tells the others as she quickly loads her crossbow and snaps off a bolt.

twang: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 171d8 ⇒ 3

The stone shelf upon which the fort sits is 30’ up. You move at 1/4 your speed climbing, so even spending full round actions it would take you 2 full rounds to climb up the cliff.
The climb is difficult, especially for people with no ranks in climbing.
The fort hasn’t got convenient places to hook a grapnel. Your best bet is probably aim for the fence and hope it holds.
From the base of the cliff, that would mean throwing grapnel 40’ almost straight up.

@Cara, you have already acted this round.

whoops...my bad...thought it was a new round...ignore my idoicy...

Evelyn has lost a few seconds to weight her options, then she dashes to the stairs, rapier in hand

double move

John, I don’t know how you got to where your avatar is. I assumed you were going up the stairs which would be towards the front gates.

If you went up the stairs, you should be near the front gate.
You would have had to climb the cliff and over the wall to get where you are.

Sorry, I misunderstood which direction the steps were ascending. Position readjusted. Double move gets John to the front gate, which is presumably closed.

Evelyn rushes up the stairs as quickly as she can. It isn’t quite quickly enough to avoid the cold of the Briown Mold.
NL Cold: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 5) = 14

Sorry about the confusion John. Your new location is where I expected you to be.

Repeating the description of the front gate.

A piecemeal steel and iron fence runs between two wooden buildings. A seven-foot-tall wooden gate constructed from fragments of tower shields blocks a crudely cut hole in the fence, while wooden stairs lead down the side of the rock face.

Round 1:

Round 1:
Leeza 2 damage
Azalmak 13 NL
Gaius
Cracking John 11 NL
Evelyn 14 NL
Cara

No Reflex save for me?

As I understand it, the reflex save is only against the trap. Now that it is just Brown Mold hazard there is no reflex save.

As I understand it, the reflex save is only against the trap. Now that it is just Brown Mold hazard there is no reflex save.

@GM: I think you're correct that's how hazards work; unless it has a save listed (brown mold doesn't), there isn't one. Also Gaius used a swift to retrieve his Wand of DF and his standard to activate the spell on himself. I asked about the move action and, since you said he was in a good spot, his round 1 actions are done.

I had missed that you had used all your actions, Gaius.

Leeza ducks down and then disappears.

We can drop out of combat actions now.

I’m going to assume Azalmak spends his round double moving to getting up to the top before getting affected by the Brown Mold again.

Now that someone is at the top, it wouldn’t be difficult to attach a rope to the gate or hook a grapnel somewhere. Then you could lower the rope to the two people that still need it.

Let me know who is doing what. Don’t go more than three rounds please.

Azalmak 13 NL
Gaius
Cracking John 11 NL
Evelyn 14 NL
Cara

@GM: Will that allow the PCs who haven't been hit by it to avoid the brown mold? That NL damage is stout.

Cara sees to the bruises on the others.

channel: 1d6 ⇒ 6

i have channels to burn...

No one has dropped you a rope. You and Gaius are still at the bottom of the cliff, uninjured, while the rest of the group is at the gate 30’ up.
Someone should drop a rope or something so the two of you can climb up without going through the area of brown mold.
That or someone should come up with a way to do cold damage to destroy the mold.
Looking over the character sheets, I didn’t see an obvious way for your group to do cold damage.

No one has dropped you a rope. You and Gaius are still at the bottom of the cliff, uninjured, while the rest of the group is at the gate 30’ up.

Someone should drop a rope or something so the two of you can climb up without going through the area of brown mold.
That or someone should come up with a way to do cold damage to destroy the mold.
Looking over the character sheets, I didn’t see an obvious way for your group to do cold damage.

Gaius has Alchemist's Fire but not the cold version of it.

Speaking to the others by the gate, "Do any of you have a rope to lower to Cara and myself? If not I can throw the end of one of mine up to you."

I do have some rope, and a grappling hook too.

make some knots in it...make it easier to climb. I'm not a spider... Cara says as she looks around, trying to think of way to kill the mold.

Evelyn ties her rope to the fence and begins knotting it as she lowers it. Azalmak and Cracking John stand around on the lookout for any eminent attacks.

Eventually the rope gets lowered to Gaius and Cara. With only one person helping with the rope, it takes a few minutes to get both of them up the rope.

Evelyn, are you leaving the rope here or retrieving it?

It is getting a little crowded outside the gate.

Maybe I should leave the rope there, for an easier escape, if needs to be.

Leaving the rope attached

Checking the gate, it seems to be barred on the inside. You could try to break it down or try to climb over the fence. The climb looks easier than climbing the cliff would have been.