Let me clarify a bit where I currently stand, and perhaps I can find something to work out.
I still love PbP. What has been harder and harder is to keep things challenging, and dealing with the gazillion number of options now available. IMO, the game has reached for me a breaking point. I get a headache when it's time to design a character or an encounter.
Also, I find the AP format to be necessarily railroady. Now, this gets old at some point, and I find the players can get into the: "ok, let's get the clues from this guy that will lead us to the next stage of the module..." That's just not fun.
So more sandboxy, more story-driven, less rule clutter... That's what I'm looking for. If you give me some time to think things through, I might come up with a suggestion. It will still be the epic fight against the demon incursion, but it won't be Mythic 20 levels of fighting. I don't want that. I might come up with something less AP-driven and more player driven, low-level, therefore trickier, and more sandboxy as to what you guys can do or not do.
Let me know what you're thinking about that possibility. That will help my own thinking. I'm not promising anything. I'm struggling with what the game is becoming, or has always been, but I hadn't really lived through.
Eamch, Zoresk, Dalmien and Barek can act now, then it's them, then Kord.
Climbing down will take all your actions, or you can fall 10 feet, which will leave you a standard action.
Kord makes him down the ladder, clumsily holding his sword while he climbs down for light. There is a room below, with what looks like another barricade similar to the first one, with a set of low walls to control access.
Before you have time to react though, two bullets fly at you. One catches you in the shoulder, and the other one catches you square in the forehead!
-16 hp to Kord. It's your turn. You can climb up or down.
Eamch, we're now in another room altogether. To be clear, there was the rope going down to a very small flooded area. Now, in another room there is a ladder going down in darkness.
Eamch and Darkvision:
You can make that there is a room below you, with what looks like another barricade similar to the first one, with a set of low walls to control access.
You scan the room but find nothing of interest, except perhaps that you spot the amoeba and stay well clear of it.
A giant amorba is a form of ooze; a mutated version of a microscopic predator. It moves slowly while things stick to its surface and are then absorbed.
The door opens to a wide enough common room. In the southwestern part, stout stone chairs surround a block of larger stone that serves as a table. The table’s top strewn with bone dice and cracked clay jugs. Stained canvas pillows rest on the chairs. A copper bowl filled with coals hangs from the ceiling, filling the room with warmth and an orange glow.
To your left, a small passage leads to some kind of trash pit where you spot a giant amoeba feasting on rotten eggs.
To your right, a hole in the ground in the corner of the room drops down into darkness. A rope ladder hangs down the shaft—the ladder looks rickety.
The rope leads down to a small chamber where water from some underground river pools before emptying again further. You can make a small sandy area where people can stay and sit. From the equipment left there, it seems to be used to collect water and for fishing.
You can see where the water is coming from and where it is leaving, but the entrances are below the surface and would require diving to further explore.
Do you get on the sand or stay dangling on the rope like a juicy worm?
The door reveals a short hallway. A muted roar echoes down the walls of this hallway. Near the eastern end, the worked stone give way to natural cave walls, just before the hall ends at an open shaft. Hanging over the edge of the shaft is a knotted rope—the other end tied to an iron spike driven into the ground.
From where you are, there is a door (a) in the northernmost chamber with water rushing sound beyond, a tunnel going down (b), a door leading, you can tell from the distinctive smell, to latrines, and another door (c), this one in the main room where the battle started.
Zoresk delivers the fatal blow, and the man collapses on his cestus, gargling some infamy at you.
On the two men are clear signs of worship. (Knowledge (religion))
Around you, the room sports numerous shelves on which diverse macabre trophies of killed underground creatures are laid. In a corner are two sleeping cots.
In a recess, a tunnel climbs down vertically through a ladder. Behind the door at the end of the trophy room, you can hear the rumble of running water.
Found:
potions of cure light wounds (4)
wand of longstrider (10 charges)
mwk chain shirt (3)
mwk longbow with 20 arrows
obsidian unholy symbol worth 20 gp (3)
50 gp (10 each)
scroll of cause fear
scroll of comprehend languages
unholy water (2)
mwk glaive
mwk scythe
daggers (2)
unholy symbol
The Traitor’s Den - The Turned Ambush
Round 7 - The Righteous Underdogs
"We have them cornered! Narrow their numbers!”
Eamch steps forward and grabs at the archer, hoping to neutralize his deadly arrows.
//The nimble archer slips between Eamch's fingers.
Kord moves next to Zoresk and attacks: "By the will of Gorum, bow before my great sword!"
//The blade sinks deep and a great arc of blood traces through the air as Kord removes his blade, but the man still has some fight in him.
"Don't let him slip away!" says Dalmien as he sends a ball of freezing energy, while his curse still claws at the two.
//The ball explodes on the cavern wall behind, missing its target, but the hunger finally brings down the archer, who collapses from thirst.
Grunting in pain from the impact of the arrow, Zoresk grits his teeth as he grasps the arrows shaft and breaks it off to prevent it snagging.
//Unable to resist the compulsion, he throws his flail to the ground, but nevertheless steps closer to the men and swings viciously with his cestus, trying to end the threat. The swing is parried though and the man sneers at him.
Barek then charges in, blade flashing as he dashes forward, hoping to catch the man off guard while he fends off Zoresk.
1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 281d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4 Confirm:1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 291d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 = 3
//The blade arcs against the man’s throat and slips under his protection. Blood gushes down on his plate and he falls on his knees, then to his side.
Round 7 - The Traitor
Cornered, the glaive-wielding human snarls and you and shouts: ”You won’t get me alive! You’re all snails to the weaker instincts of mankind. You may kill me, but your fate is sealed. The city is destroyed!!!”
The man carefully aims his blow at the bloodiest (and scariest) target he can find.
Eamch closes with the polearm wielder, trying to grab him to make it hard for him to engage his friends. ”We have to take the room. Don’t let the archer pick us off!”
//The man moves out of the dwarf’s strong arms.
Kord retrieves his great sword and then moves up behind Eamch.
//He only manages to make it to Zoresk’s position.
Maintaining his cautious defensive stance, Zoresk steps into the room and swings his flail at the archer in an attempt to even the odds. If we can't finish at least one of them soon, this is going to get ugly.
//The flail impacts loudly on the archer’s shoulder and he grunts from the blow.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Barek moves along the wall to get behind the man with the glaive. From this position, he tries to slip his blade under the man’s armour.
1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 231d4 + 1 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 1 + (1) = 6
//The blade sinks in and blood drips on the floor.
Round 6 - The Traitors
The man at the back of the room stares at Zoresk with an evil smile and shouts: ”Drop your weapon!” before closing in.
Zoresk feels the compulsion trying to override his muscles... (Will save DC 14)
The archer, badly injured, moves back and away from Eamch and Zoresk, letting fly another arrow at Zoresk.
//The arrow is well placed, and Zoesk can’t escape its path. It sinks deeply in his shoulder. (-9 hp to Zoresk)
The man caught between a dwarf and a thief stares in disbelief as his carefully laid plan is turning against him. He just runs for it, hoping to get in a better position, but opening himself to Barek (1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 111d4 + 1 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 + (3) = 7), who manages to miss, and Eamch.
//AoO for Eamch.
Status
Advice ability, All Allies, +1 competence bonus to hit and damage, round 2.
The Traitor’s Den - The Turned Ambush
Round 5 - The Righteous Underdogs
Recovering his dodging, Zoresk steps closer to the doorway and swings his flail, hoping to end the archers threat quickly.
//The mongrel easily escapes the swing.
Taking a moment, he pulls a potion from his pack and gestures with it to Barek. "Take this and revive Kord, I've a feeling we'll need him."
"Press the advantage! Don't let anyone escape!" Eamch moves up alongside Zoresk and lashes out at the archer with a kick.
//With the door frame in the way, there is little the dwarf can do, and his kick is short.
"Barek, stay in the fight!" says Dalmien as he rushes back to Kord with a potion.
//The potion revives Kord enough to ask for Gorum to heal him further. Then Kord cautiously stands, looking around for his weapons.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 41d6 ⇒ 1
//Dalmien’s hunger spell punches through, and the mongrel seems in pain.
Barek moves alongside Zoresk and stabs at the archer.
1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 2 + 1 = 201d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6
//The stab is perfect, but the door frame provides an easy cover for the archer and he slips beside the blade.
Round 5 - The Traitors
Not liking his odds, the mongrel archer steps back again and fires at Zoresk.
The Traitor’s Den - The Turned Ambush
Round 4 - The Righteous Underdogs
Despite his miss, Dalmien gains confidence from moving in the room.
Time to see if I still got it! "What fight? We came in peace!”
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 141d6 ⇒ 2
//Dalmien’s spell is shrugged off by the human. and once more, the mongrel archer manages to fight the hunger.
Watching in grim satisfaction as the mongrel is incapacitated, Zoresk turns in time to see the door open. Taken aback by the wickedly armed humans, Zoresk studies them for a moment, curious to see if Dalmien's tactics work, but it doesn’t seem to.
Moving up next to the archer and swinging viciously with his flail, Zoresk maintains his evasive fighting stance in preparation for the impending rush of fighters.
//His flail connects again, almost taking out the archer’s leg, who yells in pain.
Glancing up at the new combatants, Eamch tells his friends "Don't be intimidated by their theatrics. They've chosen weapons that take both hands; we can use that to our advantage!"
//All of you feel bolstered by Eamch’s advice.
Seeing no other option, Barek moves through the room to stand with Zoresk. 1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 2 + 1 = 131d4 + 1 + 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (4) + 1 = 8
//Unfortunately, his blade is seen and evaded.
Round 4 - The Traitors
The mongrel archer steps through the door then turns and fires at Zoresk.
//The shaft is a little high, and Zoresk dips under it.
The two humans step back in the room and growl dark syllables of power as they raise their weapons high, ready to cut down anyone going through the doorway.
Status
Advice ability, All Allies, +1 competence bonus to hit and damage, round 1.
The Traitor’s Den - The Turned Ambush
Round 3 - The Righteous Underdogs
With the fallen Kord out of the line of fire, Eamch charges into action. He runs through the door, giving a tumbling roll as he tries to reach the archer.
//His acrobatics catch the mongrel unaware and he strikes but too late at the rolling dwarf.
Seeing Eamch burst through the doorway and go tumbling nimbly up to the archer, Zoresk commits to entering the room as well. Stepping nimbly through the door, he dances lightly on the balls of his feat as he swings his flail in a glittering overhand arc at the mongrel in front of him.
//His flail catches the mongrel in the guts and he grunts loudly from the pain.
Come on! They need your help! Toughen up, it's time to expose yourself a little! Dalmien finally decides to step up.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 221d6 ⇒ 1
//His ray misses completely, and the other mongrel doesn’t seem affected this time.
Catching the opportunity created by Eamch, Barek slips in the room and gets behind the mongrel. 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 4 + 2 = 201d4 + 1 + 1d8 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (4) = 7
//Steel flashes in his hand and slips in the mongrel’s liver. With a groan, the difform humanoid slips to the floor.
Round 3 - The Traitors
Cursing as the situation has suddenly turned, the mongrel archer bolts for the door "Damn! Come on you two! You’ll have to join the fight!!" Eamch gets an AoO.
He makes it to the door and pushes it open, revealing two humans dressed in armour. Of note is their horned helmets and the wicked glaives they carry.
The Traitor’s Den - The Turned Ambush
Round 2 - The Righteous Underdogs
Eamch lets go of his caltrops and drags Kord out of the doorway.
Dalmien steps in and inflicts severe hunger to the mongrel archer.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 61d6 ⇒ 4
//He can make the mongrel grabbing his stomach and bending from the pain.
Cursing as Kord drops under the onslaught coming through the door, Zoresk drops his fauchard and draws his flail as he moves nimbly through the door. He shouts at the mongrels as he advances, "Your guards are alive and well for now. If you'll hold your attack, we'll talk, but if you're fighting to kill, then don't expect any quarter." Pausing the barest of moments to see how they react, Zoresk steps nimbly into the doorway, making as great a use of the swirl of melee and the cover of the door to make himself difficult to hit.
//The mongrelmen don’t stop their attack and Zoresk smashes the one to his left with a well aimed blow to the head.
Knives out, Barek looks to Zoresk: ”I’ll move in right after you Zoresk. Let’s keep to keep them between us!”
Round 2 - The Traitors
The mongrel to Zoresk’s right presses on: "Fools! You all want to taste Wenduag’s shafts?! Then do so!!"
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 131d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
//His blow hits the door frame though, and he hisses in anger.
Behind him, the mongrel known as Wenduag gets another arrow and lets it fly at his new target.
Mongrels are wrapped in tight ropes and you get into position just in time to see the door open.
Eamch, the square in front of the door is where Kord is. Let me know if you drop the caltrop in his square. You can also drop them in the next one, once the door is opened.
Beyond the door, your weak lighting lets you see a wide cavern. On each side of the door are two mongrels, armed with clubs. The first one opened it, but the second takes a shot at Kord.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 151d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
The club slams into Gorum's servant's ribs, cracking one. (-7 hp to Kord)
From beyond them is a dark mongrel shrouded in a purple cloak. He is kneeling and raising a longbow. With calm, he releases a shaft.
The Traitor’s Den - The Entrance
Round 2 and 3 - The Righteous Underdogs
Clicking his tongue in exasperation as the mongrel sidesteps his tripping strike, Zoresk tries the same maneuver again. If we don't end this quickly we'll be fighting the entire pack soon. Bringing his blade to the downed mongrel's throat, Zoresk hisses at the guard through gritted teeth, "Be quiet and talk to us and we may not need to fight anymore. If we wanted you dead, it would be trivial at this point."
Kord maintains the grapple, "We only wish to talk to you. Surrender and we will not hurt you."Grapple:1d20 + 5 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 5 = 11
//The mongrel slips out of the priest's grip as he speaks. (You have to roll to maintain a grapple (+5 on the roll).)
Eamch steps and attempts to take down the second mongrel, or at least knock him senseless.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
//The blow connects with the mongrel lying on his back, stunning him. He drops his sword and mumbles something unintelligible.
Barek moves in while the two mongrels are either out or grappled, to try to knock the first senseless, using the blunt end of his knife.
//His blow catches the mongrel who grunts in pain.
Dalmien tries yet again to cast his spell, this time on the first mongrel.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 5 = 17
//The mongrel seems unaffected. (Keep in mind they get +5 on their saves in combat.)
Round 3 - The Traitors’ Sentinels
The free mongrel turns to Kord, defiant: ”Talk?! Talk?! Then why am I bleeding? You pig, I’ll kill you!” he snarls as he stabs Kord again.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 171d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
//Again, the blade sinks deep, this time catching the unarmed priest under the arm. (-7 hp to Kord. Please keep your status updated. It should now read 5/22 hp.)
The Traitor’s Den - The Entrance
Round 1 and 2 - The Righteous Underdogs
Cursing as the mongrel manages to ring the alarm bell, Zoresk steps into position, trying to get clear of the barricade. Reaching out and trying to snag the foot the mongrel fighting Kord, Zoresk finds it difficult to maneuver his unwieldy weapon in the narrow confines of the passage.
//The mongrel lifts his leg at the last second and spoils Zoresk’s attempt.
Barek finds a spot where he can provide support if needed, unsure of where this is all going.
Eamch moves and tries to silence one of the traitors with a precisely placed blow. Unarmed strike with Stunning Fist.
//His blow can’t find the mongrel. He has cover from the barricade.
Kord attempts to grapple the mongrel again.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 121d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
//The mongrel raises his blade in defense, but the tip misses by a hair as Kord moves in and wraps his arms around the guard.
"We're trying to avoid conflict! Call out and say it was a false alarm!" says Dalmien as he tries to charm the other guard again.
Secret Rolls:
1d20 + 4 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 5 = 28
Round 2 - The Traitors’ Sentinels
The mongrel looks at Dalmien, obviously unaffected: "You think I'm an idiot!? UPLANDEEEEEERS!!!" he screams as he tries to get his sword inside Kord.
