Sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to pull Neisen from the Council
Of Thieves game. Good luck with it and have fun.
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This is Neisen Kurch, a war drummer skald. He's built around non-lethal damage and the Enforcer feat to inflict lots of shaken debuffs.
This is a character I made for another WotR game that fizzled fairly quickly. I would obviously have to rework him to fit your creation guidelines and switch his trait to Chance Encounter. Let me know what you think.
Whoops. Wrong alias. Still here.
"Going to the right looks like it goes towards the surface, at least, for a little ways."
After thinking it over for a moment, Niesen scratches out the twisty bits on his map, labels them "Twisty Tunnel", then turns to a fresh page and starts anew, with a little arrow that says, "Twisty Tunnel that way". "We're here!" he says, pointing to his new map with a thick finger.
Survival: Niesen starts drawing all the little bends and twists on his map, but soon gives up. "Any of you know where we are?" he asks the others, holding out his notebook and pencil.
Niesen watches with bemused curiosity as Dolok is schooled by his new scroll case.
"I wonder if we could get back to the surface that way. There's no light, but the fissure could lead up to an underground cavern system that has an exit, or it could lead into somebody's root cellar."
"Could they have fallen down the fissure?"
"I have a grappling hook and rope," Niesen says. "I don't know why I just felt that I should bring it with me to go to the gathering, but I did, and now I'm glad." Niesen is also skilled in climbing, so maybe he should make the ascent. Climb:
Smiling, Neisen moves to accept Tamaell's offer of a boost. He won't make him go through with it, though. "Maybe I should boost you up?"
"Statue? This doesn's look like a natural cave, so we might have arrived in some old underground city or lair."
Niesen heads a short distance towards the eastern exit, peering into the gloom. "Looks safe." Perception:
Okay, so I misunderstood. You still get to apply all your attack bonuses when determining if a crit threat is a crit. In that case, the only time a crit would not be confirmed is with a range 20 only weapon where you could never hit a target except for the automatic hit rule of rolling a 20.
It also means that anything with an AC above 20 is immune to criticals.
Niesen pokes at another roach. Attack: (might hit if it's still prone)
Also, just in case it provokes when it stands up.
Initiative: Niesen also moves up and pokes at one with his staff. Non-lethal sneak attack against ff:
POKE!!!
"What's with all the giant bugs? Or did that dragon just shrink us when she saved us from the fall?" "My plan is to squish the bugs until they stop moving."
Perception: "How giant is giant?"
Well, if we were CE, we'd send the NPC with the broken leg 40 feet ahead of us...with torches...and bells... But we're not, so we won't. The first option looks fine to me.
Niesen takes out a piece of chalk and puts an X on the west passage, indicating they already explored that tunnel.
If we do put the dark vision people out front, Niesen will be at the front of the non-dark vision group. Putting the light source at the back means the dark vision folks don't have to be as far away.
I assume you mean 8 characters dead. Killing the players is an extreme game!!
It's there.
Niesen's eyes widen at Tessara's transformation, but he says nothing as the scale floods him with the power to...
Niesen steps away from the remains of the maggots, pausing to coup de grace the one he just knocked unconscious, then regrets it as the end of his staff goes right through the disgusting creature. He looks around for something on which to clean his staff. He starts to use a bit of cloth from the ground until he realizes it was a shirt still attached to a towns person and stops. He considers his own boot for a moment, then gives up and stands there looking helpless as maggot gore drips from his weapon.
Niesen moves if he has to, 5-foot step maximum, trying to stay flanking with a maggot? Attack: +2 if flanking
If it helps get a flank, he's also willing to delay until after somebody else moves, directing them with his staff as he concentrates on the maggots in front of him. Even better, he can ready a step and swing for when somebody moves into a flank, so that both of them get the flank. Whichever strategy works best, depending on the layout of people and maggots.
AoO vs flat-footed (moving through grease spell):
Niesen moves to whichever maggot is threatening one of his allies and with which he can flank. Attack:
Init: Attack: Niesen moves up, attempting to hit the thing with his staff, but alas, the shadows fool him and the shock of hitting the wall reverberates up his arm and into his shoulder.
"Not a statue," Niesen says. "Got any more arrows. That seems like a good plan to me."
Well, playing a character who depends on tactical positioning, having a map would help. Otherwise, I'm going to be doing a lot of asking, "Can Niesen get into a flank?" You could assume that, if Niesen can get a flanking position, he would automatically attempt to do such a thing, so when I say he moves up to attack, just automatically give him the flank if its doable, but then you'll have to add the sneak attack damage yourself. Have you ever tried MapTool? You can just post screen shots. Also, one of my games uses somethig called "ditzie", which works very nicely, if you can upload a sketch of a map. It allows players to move their tokens themselves, then link screenshots in the game thread.
"In the dark like this, it could be a giant statue! Or, it could just be waiting for us to walk over and get eaten. It's kinda chubby, maybe doesn't get much exercise. Could be a lazy gigantic spider."
"I'm more worried about what it'll do to our fronts. How do we do this, just charge it?"
Up to DM... Can the others assist Niesen in this (a.k.a., a bunch of people checking over his should backseat drawing)? He tends to be fairly absent-minded with his note-taking, so he might not even tell the others what he's doing, but if they notice...
Could have been worse...
Profession cartographer:
"Is that a good idea?" Niesen asks Horgus. "Wouldn't going around be safer?"
Niesen twirls his staff and comes to stand next to Dolok. "I'll help you cover our flank."
Seeing that those buried are all dead, Niesen pushes himself to his feet, pulls out his lantern and lights it from some of the burning debris. "My name is Niesen Kurch," the big man says by way of introduction. "I think we should get out of here as well. Demons came from down here, and I don't wanna fight any demons on their terms. Course, I'm not looking forward to fighting giant spiders, either."
"What was that?" the big man asks, voice booming. Seeing the source, he adds, "Oh. Thanks." He massages a now not bruised shoulder and turns his attentions back to the dead child at his feet. "Doesn't fix you though does it?"
I assume there's light enough to see? Perhaps something burning, so they can see these people? Niesen takes a moment to check himself for injuries, and his gear. He hauls his quarterstaff out from under a bit of rubble, then moves to check nearby bodies for signs of life.
"I think so," Niesen says, scratching his head with a thick finger and gazing up, trying to estimate the time until noon.
"Can I help you find someone?" Niesen asks, noting the wandering eyes, though not their intent. He grins. "If you describe her to me, I might be able to spot her for you?"
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