Since it seems to be the consensus, then, I'll go ahead and close this thread down. Thanks for playing guys! It was fun while it lasted!
Search Posts
Looking that way. I apologize for any part I may have had in this, guys. Getting back into teaching after the holidays has had me pretty swamped since my curriculum has been completely changed and I've been having to re-write all of my lesson plans. If everyone is in agreement with Wildir, I'll close the campaign thread. Apologies again for any part that I've played in this.
Drew: Just as you look over the edge of the roof to the other door out of the lodge, the door explodes outward! From within four skeletons come rushing out. Each of them wield a shortsword of a make similar to what you've seen the other bandits wielding.
Something seems a little odd about them, though; they don't seem like the skeletons you fought at the caravan earlier. These all have a slight blue tinge to them and what appears to be icicles hanging from various surfaces of bone.
After the debate with the orc woman is settled and she makes a quick exit, the front door of the lodge rattles loudly as the occupant of the building seeks egress from the building, smoke beginning to billow out from the chimney due to the blockage that clogs it. A few seconds later the loud banging at the door stops abruptly, but the inside of the cabin isn't nearly enough full of smoke for it to be because he had passed out.
"Forget it! I don't owe you guys anything. Be glad I didn't help any of these other goons kill you. Good luck with Rohkar, though!" she offers, then turns and makes a break for the nearest stand of trees at a full run.
The half-orc woman pauses, as if considering the words, before giving a low snort. "Fine. I'm assuming you're here for the Lady. I had nothing to do with her kidnapping and I've no interest in dying for Rohkar." When Wildir emerges, she turns her attention to him, her eyes widening in alarm. "You DIDN'T kill Rohkar yet?! By the hells, what's wrong with you? He's more dangerous than the rest of them combined!"
Wildir:
Inside the house, your second firebomb finds its target, the second skeleton disintegrating in the fire moments before exploding in a wave of unearthly cold just as the first did. Simultaneously, the foes that Trelck and Drew are fighting finally hit the dirt, overcome by the injuries they have sustained in the skirmish even while some of Trelck's injuries knit themselves together as a result of Sondergang's spell. With only one of the original horde of bandits there still standing, the last foe decides that discretion is the better part of valor and turns tail to run away as quickly as his feet can take him, shouting as he goes,"Screw this! I ain't gettin' paid enough fer dyin'!"
The half-orc woman remains of all the original foes, a shortsword exchanged for the hand crossbow she was originally carrying. The weapon is raised in a posture that you recognize as entirely defensive, and she makes no moves to attack any of you that are outside.
Fortunately enough for Trelck, Sondergang had just put himself in a flanking position; the distraction caused by the dwarf who just crushed his comrade's skull proves just enough to allow Trelck to bury his axe in the bandit's gut! He collapses to the ground, blood staining the snow at his feet. Drew's arrow again finds purchase, injuring one of the remaining three bandits further, though even wounded by two arrows, he still manages to keep standing. Inside the house you hear the sound of shattering glass and three cries of pain; one sounds human, but the other two send chills down your spine. The bandits renew their assault, still not giving up on their chances despite the fact that there are only three of them left! DM Screen:
Wildir: Your vial of alchemist's fire finds its target, the skeleton in the middle screeching loudly when the fire begins to dissolve the bones to ash; it takes but a moment, however, for the skeleton to explode in a cloud of ice! The other skeleton in front of it is completely unaffected, but behind him you hear a cry of pain in the empty air and you see frost clinging to an otherwise invisible foe; the clinging frost makes it easy to see what would otherwise be an impossible-to-see enemy. ;
The orc-woman continues to move around the house, making a wide circle around the cluster of bandits at the front of the house before stopping about ten paces behind them parallel to the front door. The bandit facing Sondergang finds his face responding to the shove of the dwarf's hammer by caving in, the sound of bone cracking heard in the chill air as the bandit crumples to the snow, his face a pulp of flesh. Trelck still seems to find it difficult to find his stride, though there is thankfully now one less bandit to take advantage of it. AoOs:
Fortunately, both the attempts miss the dwarf. Drew, seeing the state of the others and the fact that they are in danger of being overwhelmed, turns his attention back to those bandits, nocking arrow to bowstring and letting fly another projectile in the direction of one of the rearmost bandits so as not to risk hurting his allies.
Drew's bolt connects, but unfortunately leaves little more than a flesh wound. And now the bandits press the assault once more! DM Screen:
For once, Lady Luck seems to be on your side! All of the bandits miss and, further, Trelck gets a chance at his own retaliatory strike!
Trelck's strike hits home as well, though like Drew, he doesn't do enough damage to bring his dancing partner down. Trelck, you hear the noise of someone descending the staircase inside the house and, from the corner of your eye, you notice a man in a long white fur-covered cloak and leather armor descend the stairs. In one hand he holds a short sword. Behind him, two skeletons covered in chunks of ice, their eyes glowing a sinister red, follow.
After watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas recently, I have an overwhelming urge to make a Druid character named Thurl Ravenscroft whose companion is eventually a tiger named Tony.
The orc woman continues moving around the corner of the house to where the mass of the fighting is after Wildir disappears into the lodge, looking at the bandits as they gang up on the other three. They notice her and call out for her to come lend them a hand disposing of the trash.
The half-orc woman looks back and forth between Wildir and the sounds of the fighting around the corner, seemingly torn about what she should do. She doesn't make any apparently aggressive moves toward Wildir, however, instead seeming content to presently hold her position.
Sondergang maintains his current position, targeting one of the bandits nearby with a small dart of acid! DM Screen:
The bolt of acid unfortunately flies wide, leaving the bandit untouched as it falls harmlessly to the ground at the extent of it's range, hissing angrily as it melts into the snow. Trelck's clumsy ax swing, meanwhile, prompts retaliatory strikes from the three bandits nearest him! DM Screen:
[ooc]Attack 1:
Again one of the bandits connects, dealing another relatively minor wound to the dwarf. Drew, thankfully, breaks the unfortunate streak of bad luck, his arrow hitting one of the bandits in the side and causing him to momentarily double over in pain! Still convinced of their superior numbers, the bandits add Sondergang to the mix, two the ones that had shot at Drew breaking off to have a swing at Sondergang! DM Screen:
This time it is the others turns to take their licks as both Sondergang and Drew are each hit by an attack!
The half-orc woman makes no overtly aggressive moves despite the attacks against her last round, instead continuing to move further away from the group while also reloading her hand crossbow.
Wildir's attempt at returning the half-orc woman's favor meet with failure as the spear falls short, the snap-throw arcing higher than intended and embedding itself into the ground. The next bandit out the door is also met by Trelck's axe, but unfortunately, he can only swing so many times in the short few seconds he has available. The gap in time allows a half-dozen more bandits to flood out of the cabin, with three of them setting up to nearly surround Trelck's position, each of them taking their own swing in turn while the other three raise shortbows to take shots at Drew.
Attack Rolls:
Trelck takes a grazing wound to his arm from one of the bandits, but the other two miss. A handful of them seem decidedly in worse shape than the others. Their breathing is heavy and uneven, their movement sluggish. Meanwhile, the three taking aim at Drew seem to have forgotten to compensate for the snow or didn't take enough time to aim properly as all the arrows they send toward Drew fail to find a target.
The half-orc woman on the ground, meanwhile, remains entirely unaware of Drew's presence on the roof...that is, until an arrow embeds itself into her shoulder and she cries out in pain, turning her head to look at the halfling on the roof. She says something in a language none of you understand, but the tone of her voice is decidedly unhappy.
Wildir, as you turn the knob on one of the two doors leading outside the western entrance of the building, the opposite door flies open and half-orc woman with a hand crossbow rushes past you! DM Screen:
Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the large druid, turning and firing a hand crossbow in his direction as she continues rushing toward the larger battle! DM Screen:
The bolt flies wide, though, embedding itself into the wood above Wildir's head.
The first bandit out the door is clearly taken by surprise as he comes out the door, Trelck's axe burying itself deep into his belly, spilling blood and ichor all over the porch moments before the bandit collapses onto it. The second bandit fares no better, nearly tripping over the body of his fallen comrade. The moment he takes to recover is all it takes for Drew's arrow to find its mark, the tip entering through the back of his neck. Trelck sees the arrowhead pierce through the bandit's throat before he takes another step or two and falls onto the steps of the back entrance. Lots of shouting is heard in the lodge now, so much that it's hard for you to be sure what's being said, but it's most definitely sure that the jig is up.
You all hear muffled shouting inside the lodge as whoever is inside attempts to mobilize as quickly as they can to strike back against the perceived assault. The sound of many feet can be heard thudding against the floorboards from inside; most of the noise seems to be heading towards you at the back door. Within moments, the back door bursts outward, kicked open by a bandit that quickly follows after, obviously too gung-ho to realize that he's running into the arms of a warrior who is prepared to receive him.
Initiative Rolls:
Wildir: Trelck: Sondergang: Drew: Bandits:
Wildir easily breaks down the door into the stable, his bull-ish strength and sudden entrance startling the five horses within.
DM Screen:
From within the cabin you hear shouts of alarm. It seems obvious that Wildir's shout has drawn the attention of those within. You don't imagine you have more than a few seconds before the bandits inside the cabin come bursting out to find out exactly who is ordering whom to "bolt the back door."
after careful consideration, I have decided that the character that will be joining the rest of the party in the reign of winter campaign is...Elneth! Congratulations, Elneth! Please send me a message to confirm that you are still interested in playing with my group. Thank you all for your submissions and I wish you a luck in getting into the future campaigns you submit a character for.
Apologies for not posting yesterday. The post-holiday shopping mess had me occupied pretty much all day. Will have a decision posted within the hour.
A bit late, but recruitment is now officially closed! My final decision will be made and posted Friday night.
Wildir: You hear no voices from within the stable. You do hear the sound of slight movement, though, and the an occasional equine nicker.
While keeping an eye on Drew to make sure he makes it to the chimney safely, the rest of you make it to the back of the stable without any difficulty.
GM Screen:
Drew scrambles onto the roof of the lodge, the halfling's already light footfalls muffled further by the fresh snow piled atop it. Drew:
You get to the top of the chimney and, after waiting a few moments, hear no sounds of movement from within and the soft murmur of conversation wafting up the chimney. It seems you haven't been noticed.
DM Screen:
You all avoid detection as you approach the cottage; Drew, upon approaching the outhouse, hears no noise from within and confirms it's lack of occupation when all that greets him at the door is a foul odor. As you slink back to the trees, you remain undetected; your halfling companion, as well, approaches all the way to the side of the lodge without a sound from within. It seems clear that, up to this point, no one inside is aware of your presence, obscured as it is by the snowy conditions.
Not at home right now, so I'll have to just dot at the moment; I'll just leave this alias here, as it was drafted up for a RoW game with very unusual and involved creation guidelines. I'm flexible to adjustments of course, but...have a read, see what you think. I like the character build, but the opening post specifically says Core races only. If you'd like to change the character's race to meet that requirement, I'd gladly consider her.
Below is a compilation of all character submissions to this thread thus far. If I've missed any of you, please let me know. Thank you! Character Submissions FULL CASTER Elneth Kyroll, Half-Elf Wizard (Water Elemental)
CASTER/MARTIAL Haruki, Human Magus (Kensai)
UNFINISHED SUBMISSIONS Rikash (Investigator)
Wow. I'm gonna have a lot of submissions to comb through. Given that I've had so much interest so far, I'm going to post a compilation of all submissions thus far in just a few minutes. As a result of the number of characters submitted thus far, I'm going to close the recruitment for this spot on Wednesday at 8:00 PM EST. I will then inform you all of my choice no later than Friday at 8:00 PM EST. Oh! Also, I don't know if I got an answer on being able to purchase wands at 15g a charge? Hmm...that should be fine, Whisper.
I'd allow the Spellslinger.
Dotting with this character. Magus Kensai. I am working on a background right now. Can you tell us where we will be popping in if picked. Geographically, so I can include it in the background? Thanks. Geographically speaking, you'll be popping in in the Border Wood of Taldor.
Rikash: The Investigator from the ACG Playtest document would be fine to make a character submission with.
Would you take an investigator from the Advanced Player's Guide Playtest document? It would fill in your face role well and I think I'd build him as a travelling scholar who happens to have picked up some ability to fight as he has needed to. I'd have good trapfinding (if needed), alchemy, party buffs and knowledge skills. Rikash, it sounds like you're talking about the Archaeologist archetype for the Bard. Or are you referring to the Advanced Class Guide document? EDIT: I see the Investigator in the ACG Playtest document now. I'll give it a read as soon as I can and let you know. Dotting with interest. When would you need the character written up by? I have a pretty busy two weeks or so ahead, but after that I would be able to post pretty regularly (1/day at least). Given where the party is presently, I'm thinking I'll leave Recruitment open for one week. Your character may not enter the game at that exact moment, but we're getting close to the point where you'd be slipped in.
Hello all! I've had a fifth man disappear of a Reign of Winter campaign that I'm running and we're getting to a place where a replacement player is feasible to slip in. We are in Snows of Summer about to go through the High Sentinel Lodge. The party composition presently is a Dwarven Fighter, Dwarven Cleric, Human Druid, and Halfling Ninja. We lost our arcane caster, so someone to fill that role would be ideal. A party face-man wouldn't hurt at all, either. Build rules are as follows: Ability Scores: 20 point buy. Race: Core Races only. Equipment: As a level 2 character, you'll be allowed 1,000 gold with which to purchase equipment. Equipment from CRB and APG allowed without question; anything else requires DM approval Feats: All feats from CRB, APG, UM, and UC allowed. HP: Max at first level, avg+1 each level after. Traits: Two traits, one of which must be a campaign trait. Gameplay thread can be found here and Discussion thread can be found here. Please let me know if you're interested!
There are indeed tracks leading from the lodge to the stable that are entirely fresh. You can see no tracks going to the shed, but given the fact that snow has been a fairly regular occurrence, it wouldn't take much time to cover over any tracks that may've led out there.
You continue on with no sign of any aggression towards you until the trail suddenly turns sharply upward. After climbing at least a hundred feet into the hills, the trail finally levels off again. In a clearing among the trees, a large wooden lodge overlooks a ravine spanned by a long rope bridge. Smoke rises from the lodge's two snow-covered chimneys, and a large woodpile is stacked against the outer wall. A small outbuilding stands east of the lodge, and a stone well nearly blanketed by snow is barely recognizable to the north. Several tracks lead southwest toward a detached stable.
It does indeed continue. Looking ahead, you notice about a mile further along that smoke is rising from above the trees.
Without another word, the bandit scurries off in the direction you came from, first on all fours, then he breaks into a full run, or at least as full a run as he can manage in the snow.
|