Little Ben PBP's page

No worries. It just ran it's course. That happens with almost all groups, not just RPGs. The important thing is we finished amicably and had fun and, heck, there is always another game out there cuing up.

Agreed. You guys are awesome and I'm sure we will bump into each other again, though with different faces.

It does seem to have run its course.

That would be great.

"Looks like we may need them. What do you have in mind?

Is the terrain snow covered?

"I have to say, that fellow hit REALLY hard. I need to do something about protecting myself or I'm doomed if we meet more than one of these guys at a time. Hey Blix, can you help me out here?"

In any case we attempt to shepherd the folks to the new hiding place as Ben realizes that there is no way to cover the tracks.

"Uh, guys, what are we going to do about that?"

He says while gesturing to the swath of destruction the mob is leaving behind them.

heal to see how close it is to death: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Trying to figure out whether to beat it or not.

Bam, bam, and bam and yet Ben remains standing. Barely.

I forgot to update my combat rolls with vital strike. Ben does an extra 5d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 5, 3, 3) = 18 damage.

I'm going to assume the silence spell is placed on Little Buddy, and Ben casts Atavism on him, and the pair rush in on the poor hapless fellow, Ben in troll form.

to hit great axe: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
damage, whetstone: 5d6 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 1, 3) + 18 + 1 = 35

No such luck.

"We just have to make sure ne does not call for backup."

Ben suggests we ask our ghostly cleric to cast silence on Little Buddy, then bum rush the fellow.

Scaling cliffs is not going to happen without magical aid so south it is.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

"We even have a nice safe snug hidey hole with lots of food set up for you. You guys sure look like you could use a rest."

Then again a bunch of disembodied voices leading the prisoners is a recipe for fun.

Ben joins Lidia soon after her statement, not able to see Lidia, and announces.

"Come with us if you want to escape this place, but make it quick before the guard returns."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Lidia is invisible, right?

Fun with Druids.

stealth, invisible: 1d20 - 2 + 20 ⇒ (14) - 2 + 20 = 32

Naturally, Ben is trying to remain unseen while infiltrating. He leaves Little Buddy outside where he can join them once the prisoners are freed and moved. As soon as he sees action happening with the guards he will lay down a DC 18 Thirsting Entanglement covering the platform and the stairs or whatever goes from the platform to the ground.

Ben leaves the gate to Thyste and moves into position. Before they set off, everyone gets the benefit of a Hunter's Blessing. Naturally that will be for giants and the town.

"So, to summarize out plan so far...
1) Thyste goes in and disables the paper tube things with a string.
2) Gandma tries to incapacitate the guards.
3) I lurk there and throw up an entangle spell and insect plague if grandma fails.
4) The rest of you rescue the prisoners."

"Grandma, can you cast a silence spell if they resist whatever you plan on casting on them to incapacitate them? If not I can cast silence on something that you can drop on the platform. Or maybe Thyste, you can drop it off after disabling the devices?"

"Sounds like we have a plan. So...

1) Thyste goes in and disables the paper tube things with a string.
2) Gandma tries to incapacitate the guards.
3) I lurk there and throw up an entangle spell and insect plague if grandma fails.
4) The rest of you rescue the prisoners."

"Grandma, can you cast a silence spell if they resist whatever you plan on casting on them to incapacitate them? If not I can cast silence on something that you can drop on the platform. Or maybe Thyste, you can drop it off after disabling the devices?"

...reposting in in gameplay where this belongs.

"Sounds like we have a plan. So...
1) Thyste goes in and disables the paper tube things with a string.
2) Gandma tries to incapacitate the guards.
3) I lurk there and throw up an entangle spell and insect plague if grandma fails.
4) The rest of you rescue the prisoners."

"Grandma, can you cast a silence spell if they resist whatever you plan on casting on them to incapacitate them? If not I can cast silence on something that you can drop on the platform. Or maybe Thyste, you can drop it off after disabling the devices?"

Ben jumps at the chance to delay a showdown.

[b}"There! How does that sound Ulretha? First we free the slaves, dragons included, then we grab the orb, THEN you can fight the rabbit."[/b]

After a short delay, Lidia's question registers. "That is a good question. How did you know we were here, Naximarra, and does anyone else know?"

With a groan, Ben rubs his head, at a complete loss for words, though his mouth does open and close a few times.

He is going to be the death of us yet.

Normally in tune with nature, Ben startles.

"A red dragon you say? I can see why you would be concerned. What kind of help can you offer, besides the obvious of course."

"Uh, sorry to disappoint you all but we sold that thing, and the amulet too. "

"Mmmh. I like that. If you can knock them out we can try to get the prisoners out quietly, or at least quietly enough so that there is no rush to interfere. And I can have a couple of entanglement spells all ready to go in case there is pursuit. If there are dragons, that might be a problem unless we can fly. Grandma, can you make that happen if dragons, or something else that flies shows up?"

I'm assuming this is a new day and I can pick and choose spells for the mission. Do you think an insect plague on the tower is a bit obvious? Probably no worse than sneaking up and attacking them. And it would get them to come down. I really, really want to use that spell :) And I could combine it with an entanglement spell. Nasty, nasty combo.

"Sounds good."

Ben chuckles and says, "You know, Lidia, if we want to have some fun I could just send some Mephits over to light their little alarms on fire and laugh at them. maybe someone could start another fire somewhere else and do the whole distraction thing again. Nut I like your plan too."

Sounds good.

"No argument there. You should go take a look and make sure. It might be that the alarm is affixed to the tower and you could not move it, but if you can without being noticed and can get it done on both towers, that would help a lot. Either way we should try sneaking them out without notice under the cover of night. I don't mind fighting a bunch of giants, but I do mind doing it while trying to corral a bunch of half starved people to safety."

Probably not. I figure out only bet is to capture a provisions cart. But it does look like we have all the tools we need to provision the slaves and make this work.

"Excellent! Then as soon as we capture a decent cart we can go ahead and free the slaves. Shall we start in on the details of doint that now, or wait until after we have the food they will need?"

So do you want to actually do the raid combat or hand wave it? And can we find a source of food, like a farm.

"Right. No buffet. And I think I can help with the shelter thing too. I'd prefer for them to have something non-magical though, in case we get tied up or something." Ben is actually thinking about how dangerous this all is and that they might get killed, but he is trying to be diplomatic. And then there is Ulretha who might get excited by the prospect in a bloody death and try to make it happen.

"Actually, if we were able to capture at least one provision cart and you were able to provide shelter, they should do quite well. There are about 30 of them that we will need to deal with. Can yu make enough shelter for that many? Then we should free the slaves and mess with their ability to get food themselves. We leave the camp full of hungry giants and no slaves and I think the place will fall apart all by itself. I'm liking the way this plan is shaping up."

Ben raises his eyebrows in consideration.

"That is a really good point. I can provide a huge amount of food using he goodberry spell, well as long as we have fresh berries to use. And if they have no slaves, they will probably quit. But I would still prefer we get provisions for them first. It's not just food, but shelter they will need to have. Remember how fatigued we all have been since coming here, and they don't have magic to help them. Between the thin air and the cold, I'm telling you most of them will die."

How many slaves did you say there are?

survival: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30, to estimate their chances at survival.

"I'm still concerned that if we free them now, they will all die. Not just a couple of them, but all of them. We really need to provide provisions for them before we do this. I agree about preventing any additional slaves from arriving though."

perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19
survival/tracking: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (16) + 17 = 33

Note:
Signature skill with 10 Ranks: You can track creatures that leave no tracks, including flying and swimming creatures and creatures using trackless step or pass without trace, taking a –20 penalty on your Survival check.

Ben nods along with every comment.

"A scouting mission would do me good. As an Archaeopteryx I doubt very much I would be seen. And don't worry, Lidia, it might take a little while but we will free them. I dislike the caging of any creature."

Once this conversation is over, Ben will shift and start a high altitude reconnaissance.

"And in the mean time we can scout the area for farms and supply routes and schedules."

With a slight smile, knowing what motivates the gnoll, he says "Nobody is asking you to farm. Just suggesting some looting is all."

Of course the new, improved Ulretha has changed a lot. Looting might not be on the top of his list any longer.

Ben grimaces and interjects.

"Before we release the prisoners we need a plan to get them to safety. These mountains are inhospitable and a group of ill-equipped and half starved ex-slaves would not last long. Their only chance at survival would be to be rounded up by the giants and put back in their pen, probably after a good beating. Now, if we were to set up a cache with food and clothing and weapons to defend themselves with, that might help. Which brings us back to our first mission, the farms and supply wagons. Instead of just destroying everything I think we should stockpile necessities so that when we do free the slaves, they have a chance."

Happy with the results so far, Ben grins an overly wide lip stretcher.
"They will be none the wiser if I sic some more mephits or fire elementals on the grain store and have them rant about fire giants. Frost and fire giants don't seem like they would get along and I'm hoping they will pin the blame on the wrong group. If, that is, we do not cut them down with our weapons. That would be hard to pin on mephits. What do you think?"

Ben fastidiously avoids the giant's beer and waits to see hat the others think of it.

Oooh. I have an idea.

Ben summons 1d3 ⇒ 1 fire mephit and commands it to go and dance around in the big fire, but do not let anyone know it came from here, shouting "A present from the fire giants!".

A pity we do not have anything that might scream fire giant. Then again we really donot want them to notice anything unusual.

I'm ready to just slip away without being seen unless Thyste has any bright ideas

Ben moves towards the vat and starts unloading his cargo into the vats (well, into ones that are filled) while flying and still invisible.

fly, spell bonus: 1d20 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 5 = 30

Ben jerks around looking for horrible nipples, grateful that he is still invisible to save him embarrassment.

Obviously Thyste will make the main roll.

bluff aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

"Good idea."

Ben stays out of sight, invisible, but opens the door and yells out "Fire!" from outside the open door, then noisily moves away.