[DnD 4E] A Point of Light - Act IV: The New World

daniant

"Hmm, I didn't know kobolds could sweat. But I, too, would welcome some shade and water. Bless you, Pelor, but sometimes enough is enough."

El Skid

Aurora looked back at her companions and saw their weary faces. Shrugging, she pointed back the way they had come and whispered: "Let's make sure they aren't able to hear us from where we set up camp though- Let's refill our water supplies and head back- there was a clearing a ways back that we can use, if nothing else."

Steelhawk

"Agreed." Sighs Sir Vashtak, plopping down and fiddling with the straps of his armour to get some air in his covered parts.

susan

Girlfriend kidnapped me to her parents for Thanksgiving; unsure of posting availability for next couple days.

El Skid

No worries, Susan. Happy (American) Thanksgiving!

susan

OK, back !

Your party refills water skins and doubles back to where you remember a nearby shady grove to rest and relax for a few moments to reassess and plan your next action. Dixon and his companions follow you silently, occasionally glancing backwards towards where the voices came from, worry clear on their faces.

You climb over a hills and under a few hanging trees, spot the grove, and walk towards it while stretching your stiff limbs and taking slow sips of water from the skin you pass around each other. Vashtak and Messat are half out of their armor already, Una is on the sidelines scanning the trees for any interesting wildlife, Kardak is trying to tell himself that lizards have no sweat glands, and Aurora is smugly marching in the middle of them all and enjoying the breeze. Then, as soon as you step into the shade of the grove, the ground falls away in a clatter with several of your members.

Aurora, Messat, Kardak, and Vashtak all take a headlong tumble into the newly discovered pit, while Unamorra manages to throw herself to the ground and keep her balance. Dixon is quickly to her side and helps her up just as the other four of you impact hard on the cold muddy ground (15 Damage). Your training kicks in and you take in the scene around you in an instant: Clearly dug muddy walls, a clean 20ft hole in the dirt, patchwork wood and leaf coverage. It's a trap. A pretty good one, too, very well made and exceptionally well hidden, likely to capture large game or perhaps humanoids.

And worse. Underneath the hole cover, a series of bells, clackers, and noisemakers were woven into the construction. The noise they made on the way down could be heard for miles...

El Skid

You rolled 19, 1, 19, 17, 20? ...wow. Apparently the dice like Una >_<

Aurora leaps to her feet and starts climbing out almost immediately, sinking her hands powerfully into the muddy soil for better grip, and hopefully to make handholds for the others to follow.

Athletics check to climb out of the pit: 1d20+13 24

dresdenphile

Kardak, too, tries to scale the walls of the diabolical trap.

Athletics: 1d20+1 17/Acrobatics: 1d20+11 16

Steelhawk

Sir Vashtak curses the entire jungle and everything in it as he finishes putting on his armor. That racket the trap caused was sure to bring predators. Either on two legs or four (or more!). Once he is secure, Sir Vashtak also tries to make his way out of the pit. The extra weight of his full plate armour does not help though and he slides back down into the muck.

"Lady Una?" Sir Vashtak calls up, "Could you tie a rope off to help us out of the pit?"

Athletics = 6

susan

Aurora leaps against the wall of the pit, her powerful hands and feet punching purchases into the slimy and unstable surface as she struggles to pull herself up towards the edge. And climb she does; one foot after the other, one hand above the last, until she's halfway up the wall and almost smelling freedom.

Kardak too tries to ascend the wall, trying to nimbly hop up towards the edge and getting up a few feet before sliding back down to his starting position. Vashtak attempts the wall, but his massive bulk just pulls a clump of mud down that splashes across his face and doubtless makes him smell terrible.

[DC to move up 10ft on the wall = 25 Athletics/Acrobatics. DC to avoid falling back down the wall = 15. These are numbers without a rope, which would make things considerably simpler.]

Up top, Una has collected herself and is beginning to root through her things for a rope, before Dixon madly grabs at her clothes and starts to point back towards the direction you came. "Do you hear that???"

El Skid

Feeling more confident now, Aurora's muscles strain and she finishes her climb, rolling up over the lip of the pit.

Athletics check FOR FREEDOM!: 1d20+13 28

dresdenphile

I'm gonna need a rope...

susan

Aurora successfully scrambles to the surface, and after catching her breath can assist Unamorra with any roping duties she wished to take part in. But it appears that your rescue may have to be cut short or sped up considerably: In the brush back towards the river, you can hear the sound of... something coming towards you. Something... big.

Perception Check time .

El Skid

First athletics and now perception! You're picking all of Aurora's...good...skills...shit.

Perception check time!: 1d20+12 18

Steelhawk

Tie off the rope first! Tie off the rope!!!

"Quickly! Throw down a rope!" Sir Vashtak calls, scrabbling up the side of the pit to no avail. "Somthing big is coming!!!"

Perception = Damnit, I shoulda rolled Athletics instead = Natural 20!!

Athletics = 18

daniant

Una whisks her two friends out the hole they have fallen in next to her. She then turns towards the giant sound, immediately sensing what it is.

I'm using Divine Call to pull two allies adjacent to me.
Also:Perception: 1d20+13 32
Don't get used to this, folks. You know I'm paying for this greatness now with ones soon. D:

susan

Dangit, you weren't supposed to pull everyone out like that and make me miss my fun...

Perception 20+:

Spoiler:

There's definitely a large... thing crunching very quickly through the forest directly towards you. Sounds feral, bestial, with grunting and wheezing, and growling. Very loud growling. And it's getting quite close.

Perception 25+:

Spoiler:

It sounds less than 30 seconds away (3 rounds to react before rolling initiative, effectively), and coming on extremely fast. It's also a 'Them'; it sounds like there's one really big thing and a couple smaller things with slightly higer pitched but quieter yipping, quite possibly younger and smaller of the first beast. As for identifying it, you don't recognize it's call as anything from your homeland, but it sounds almost... reptilian? Definitely hissing like a reptile between the wheezes. And you're not sure how you know this, but it sounds hungry.

dresdenphile

I don't want to be that guy, but what are we going to do about our current lack of Leader situation?

susan

I was trying to give Farangu some time to come back, but... time has been given...

Recruitment time if we want to push forward?

daniant

If susan will let me, I'll take the the multi-class cleric heal feat and then we'll have two people who can heal (sort-of).
E- or getting another healer would be good, too.

Steelhawk

We could always try to kill them before they kill us, but that rarely works out.

Vashtak has his Lay on Hands, but thats it. Do two sort-of healers equal a proper one? I don't know.

Does we need to be in actual combat before lighting off a daily? I'd like to use Bless Weapon before combat starts.

El Skid

The way I see it we have 3 options:

1) find a new player who wants to come in and play a healer
2) let Una and Vashtak rejig themselves to be able to heal competently
3) Have the party healer carry on for a bit as an NPC until we can get the right combination of feats an items to allow 2) to happen properly.

I'm good with any of these.

dresdenphile

El Skid wrote:

The way I see it we have 3 options:

1) find a new player who wants to come in and play a healer
2) let Una and Vashtak rejig themselves to be able to heal competently
3) Have the party healer carry on for a bit as an NPC until we can get the right combination of feats an items to allow 2) to happen properly.

I'm good with any of these.

With the way events have been unfolding, we're probably best off finding a new player. I don't know "the maths" on healing prowess of multiclassed dudes vs. full leaders, but my gut tells me another warm body would do us good.

susan

I am certainly open to #2, though it sounds like #1 is the better long-term solution. Not that taking #1 precludes #2, of course.

daniant

Having a real healer would be the best, but if we can't do that, I'm open to helping out. I might just take the feat next time regardless. Being able to heal as a minor could help me out a bunch too.

susan

Should I start up a recruitment drive as you start taking care of this combat/friendly negotiation?

daniant

Sure.

Steelhawk

Ditto.

dresdenphile

Yeah, go ahead and put out feelers for a Leader.

susan

Did you want to keep moving forward with the fight or take a pause to let the Recruitment drive work its way through?

dresdenphile

I say we move forward, only with you piloting Messat so we aren't completely Leader-less. Then, he meets an unfortunate end in this battle, which segues into our new recruit(s).

susan

*nods* M'kay. In that case, you have a couple rounds to get yourselves ready that I was hoping you'd be spending madly scrambling aganist a muddy pit wall, but nothing's perfect, right? So, any prep?

Steelhawk

Bless Weapon! Using it now will save me a minor in the first round.

What does Messat have that can buff us up before combat? Might as well use everything we can while we can!

El Skid

Aurora will refrain from turning into an ice cube and growing plants. Just in case we don't get to rest after this

dresdenphile

Most of Messat's stuff looks like attacks that have buff secondary effects, other than the +2 to Initiative checks for all of us. I don't know if I've ever factored that bonus in...

susan

No more prep? A'ight, I'll get this started in a bit, with your crew in a defensible position...

susan

I hate to say this, but I'm not going to be able to continue DMing this game. Life, work, new schedules and responsibilities, moving, and family duties are all conspiring against me, and I just don't have the time and concentration to continue with this game as a DM.

I'm sorry .

Where you go from here is completely up to y'all; if anyone out there wants to take up the reigns and push forward, I give whatever consent is required to make that happen. Hope y'all forgive me, and that you have good gaming from here on in wherever you find it!

daniant

Thanks so much for running it susan! I had a blast. I would take the reigns, but I'm a little over-extended myself.

El Skid

Thanks for running this, susan- it was a great game!

Sorry you aren't able to continue running this, but if that ever changes please give me a shout!

Steelhawk

That is a bummer, this game was fun!

Thanks for the good times everyone!