[DnD 4e PBP] God is dead. (Lorrum (un)Death March!)

hippofant

The major remarks gruffly, "None that are up to date."

Seeing your continued expectant look, he continues "While we've had scouts get close enough to ascertain that it's still there, I don't know that we've actually been in the town since I've been alive. It should be a fairly plain town, not more than maybe twelve buildings in the town proper. Can't say much else about it though... Lorrum's located smack dab in the middle of farming land, flat fields as far as the eye can see.

Goddammit Aegis, I haven't laid out the town in Maptools yet.

Aegis

*cracks whip* ...What? I'm a drow, I get one for free on char creation.

deadonthestreet

Whoops I apparently cannot read. I blame the 100 degree heat. Lets just pretend I said "angels" and not "gods" and my internal monologue never happened.

"So...how are we going to get the people back from the town? I don't see much of a problem in getting there, and even springing them should be doable. But getting a couple hundred people through a three day march in the undead territory? I'm not sure how we are going to pull that one off. Any ideas?"

ironzerg

"So let's get this straight, before we put ourselves out several days from any help. Iados has good point. With such a deadly march back to Dalequan, we have to understand not everyone who can be rescued should be rescued."

Caleb's face turns grim, "I've seen this before. Trust me. It does us no good to free prisoners, only to have them torn apart on the march home. Our best bet is to rescue those able, and hope we can bolster our forces to eventually liberate the town. Our best hope is to pack some extra rations and some medical provisions, but no one here should be under any illusion that we're not going to see people die"

"And you said Lorrum, right? Sounds vaguely familiar..."

I'd like to try a History check to see if I know anything advantageous about the geography of the area that might help us quickly move a large number of people back to Dalequan. History check of 21

BTW, with the skill discussion, I switched out Diplomacy for Heal. Since my wisdom score is pretty terrible, the stat isn't great, but it's something. It was the only option I had to cover a little bit of the skill gap. Hope that's not a problem.

adventfalls

Azael nods as she adds, "Agreed. See if we can't find arms for those we rescue as well. It's not going to be pretty on the way back."

Aegis

"It is not particularly encouraging that we are thrown into this relatively blind, but this is war and in part should be expected. What we plan to do will depend entirely on the circumstances we find at the town, so I see little point in devising any plan that will be immediately discarded upon arrival."

I am otherwise !Ready but will keep talking ICly in any event.

deadonthestreet

"For all we know, there is no one left there alive, so this entire trip could be an exercise in futility. I suspect you're right-no way of knowing what we can do until we see the situation on the ground."

!ready

adventfalls

!Ready!

hippofant

The Lieutenant Commander chuckles, "Huh. I suppose you're the hero of the bunch, eh? I just told you not to try and liberate the whole damn town. Tall and grim back there is right. If they can't move faster than a skeleton, it's probably best they don't move at all, and if they can't defend themselves... well, truth is we won't have much use for them."

Perhaps realising the meaning of his own words, he's quick to add, "We'll come back for them, of course, but for now, with a head start, a quick pace, and a bit of luck, you shouldn't have to deal with anything more than maybe a wandering patrol or two. It ain't like Shoshin himself is gonna jump you as soon as you cross the border. Didn't mean to scare you at all, just trying to keep you firebrands from getting yourselves killed. Stay sharp, stay smart, stay quick on your feet and you'll be fine.

At that, though, he lowers his voice to a conspiratorial stage whisper, "Oh also, you really don't want to be late. When word gets back of what's happening at the border, I don't expect it'll stay quiet out there much longer."

Oh goddammit. Well, I wrote this whole thing out, so you're gonna read it anyways even if the question's moot now!

For Caleb:

History: Lorrum ain't a particularly noteworthy place. Just another dot on the map on the road to somewhere else. While Dalequan is mostly forest and hills though, other regions of Tassinor, including Falance, had significantly more farming land, all flat and grassy and such. The old road will cross a small river on the way there, but nothing much else of note.

Kay

Despite being in the midst of a bout of what appears to be religious ecstasy, Lyssa is still aware of her surroundings, and the instructions she is given. She wipes the tears from her face with the edge of her cloak, and nods along at appropriate times, glancing around at her new compatriots to see how they appear to be taking the news.

"We should take arms for those we liberate - shortswords, daggers and crossbows, I would suggest," the small half-elven girl says. "If the men of the town have weapons, I feel their confidence would be greater, and they would be more likely to survive the journey back to Dalequan. Do you not agree?"

!Ready

I'm thinking of dropping Lyssa's CON and CHA to 17, allowing her to boost INT to 14 and WIS to 12, but there's not a great deal I can do about the skill gap. I took Bluff as I figured Lyssa would need to be adept at lying in order to convince others about the return of the Gods, but if she's telling the truth as she sees it, I could drop the skill for one that we lack and she could use Diplomacy to convince people of her convictions. If someone else has Bluff, that is. Picking up Religion would be perfectly in character, though I think she should keep Streetwise to show that she knows how the rumour-mill works, and how to manipulate it.

I am planning on taking a MC Leader feat at some point, either Warlord or Cleric would make the most sense if I fulfill the prereqs, and I could pick up a related skill there. I have no idea how I could get, say, Dungeoneering or Nature though, and I don't think it fits her background. Any thoughts?

ironzerg

"Good point, Commander. Perhaps we should set off at once, so we can cover as much ground, there AND back before the pot starts to boil over. We'll have plenty of time on the road to plan and re-plan. As long as we can all agree now, when we get to Lorrom things could be pretty grim, then I'm !Ready.

adventfalls

I may take an MC if we need to; I have all the face skills except for Streetwise. And with an 18 in CHA, we may want to consider diversifying. Ready!

hippofant

Carrying a small allotment of mundane arms - you know, greatbows, kukris, mordenkrads and such, things of no interest to you - you set off from the citadel, walking in almost lockstep with others on similar tasks for much of the first day. As you begin to approach the border of Dalequan's secured lands, various groups peel off in different directions. Consulting a roughly drawn map, you find a narrow path through the woodlands and upon clearing your camp on the second morning, you follow what was once a dirt trade road now slowly being reclaimed by the forest.

That afternoon, nearing a sharp bend in the road, you each hear a rustling in the trees to your right.

Map:

Zomg, my first PbP encounter as a DM!

Let's all pretend that it's normal for the grid to start at C.

Aegis

Sticking to the rear of the group to keep an eye on anything that might be following them, as they proceed along the path within the reclaimed forest Zarryna's eyes and ears try and attune themselves to the source of the rustling as her arm instinctively slides down to the sword at her hip. Distracted by the sounds of birds and other fauna as the sun also provides a distracting glare, she's able to spot not much of anything.

Perception: 1d20=5

Kay

Lyssa stops, and holds out a hand towards the others. She tilts her head slightly, and strays to the right of the road, attempting to ascertain the direction the sounds are coming from. Slowly, the Paladin of the Stars slides her shield into her left forearm, while her right palm rests on the pommel of her sword.

"Do you hear that?" she asks, as quietly as she can manage.

Perception: 1d20+0 17

hippofant

For Lyssa:

Perception: You are aware of creatures specifically in J11 and H13, as well as several others in the trees closer to you. They sound as though slowly, and barely, moving towards you.

Aegis

Still trying to look down the road for any signs of anything more she might have missed after Lyssa's question, Zarryna replies in a similarly hushed voice without looking back, "The birds or our feet as they step on twigs?"

Kay

Lyssa points off to the right, into the trees ahead. She raises her shield-arm in the universal signal for 'Halt'.

"Many creatures approach from that direction," the diminutive half-elf whispers. "I cannot tell what they are," she goes on to say, before looking towards the rest of the group in askance, while indicating the bushes on the other side of the path. "Should we retreat, or approach?"

ironzerg

Heeding Lyssa's warnings, Caleb draws his longsword and readies his shield. His eyes dart over the terrain, quickly assessing what, if anything will be of tactical advantage.

hippofant

For Caleb:

The trees offer a decent amount of cover, and currently shield the creatures within from your view. Exposed as you are on the open road, your previous experiences suggest that this may be the site of a well-placed ambush.

The 3x3 trees have a trunk at the center, making that square impassible and granting cover. The squares within the 2x2 trees are fully passable, but the trunk grants cover when attacking from one side of the tree to the other. (Note that this means you can attack between trees with no cover.)

Aegis

Are the 2x2 trees considered difficult terrain? Also since there is no initiative as of yet are we able to do some actions like moving?

ironzerg

"Damn it! I can't see anything through these trees. This is the perfect spot for an ambush. Ready you weapons friends. At least these trees will cover us as much as they cover our enemies."

I'll try a perception check if I can. It's at a negative 1 though. Perception to detect the ambushers 18! That's all I got until we roll initiative.

deadonthestreet

Iados freezes as he hears rustling in the bushes nearby. He closes his eyes and stretches out with his senses, feeling for nearby creatures.


Perception=22

Also I swapped one of my powers out last night, because I was looking at my character sheet and realized that I was a fey warlock without a curse, quite literally. Memory Hole is Eyebite and Mind Thrust is Eldritch Blast. So I swapped Mind Thrust out for Dishearten because, while the augmented power is less good, unaugmented it is a much more controllery power. I can switch it back if you prefer, though!

hippofant

You're free to move. No initiative yet until either you or "they" decide to burst through the trees.

Nah, no difficult terrain. Or concealment for that matter, once we enter combat. Gonna keep things simpler for now.

With an 18 perception, ironzerg, you get the same results as Lyssa above.

With a 22 perception, same thing deadonthestreet plus

creatures at J14 and K16. The creature at K16 seems to be moving back and forth a bit.

Aegis

In hushed tones while drawing her notched and serrated blade from her hip to her hand, "I would prefer to be in a position where they are the ones having to be wary of an ambush as opposed to us." With that in mind Zarryna slowly moves herself closer to the line of trees from her position in the back.

Ah, well, without concealment I cannot stealth then! Probably for the best as the roll would have been with a -2 penalty.

Moving to P23.

deadonthestreet

"There's four of them, at least, not far ahead and to the right," Iados says quietly, as he draws his orb. "We should not let them ambush us in the road. I say we take to the woods."

hippofant

You know what Aegis, if you want to stealth now, go ahead. They attempted to, anyways. I just meant that once the combat starts, I'm going to drop the pretense of concealment and trying to figure out who has concealment from whom with the -2 penalty and such.

Aegis

Zarryna nods at Iados' warning, spending one last moment to peer down the road to see if she can spot them (unsuccessfully to her irritation) before dropping into a crouch and slowly creeping forward.

Move to N21 (2 squares from P23, no penalty). Provided I don't move into LoS of what we're chasing then:
Stealth: 1d20+3=21

Kay

As Zarryna moves forwards, so does Lyssa, though without the grace and silence that the Drow manages to muster. However, with a plate-wearing Paladin nearby, the silent Swordmage may completely evade their notice. The small half-elf has a more direct line of sight towards the sounds she can hear than Zarryna does in this position, and she draws her highly-polished Longsword in her free hand.

Lyssa moves to O20, near Zarryna, hopefully distracting them from the sneaky drow. I'm not going to bother rolling Stealth. I have a -5 check.

Aegis

You'd end up having a -10 actually since moving more than 2 squares while making a stealth check gives a -5 penalty of its own.

Kay

All the more distraction to take the heat of Zarryna!

I need to go back to Stealth school.

hippofant

Well, YOU're most definitely seen.

ROLL INITIATIVE!

deadonthestreet

Got a 7

Aegis

Zarryna wonders idly if a few tin cans attached on strings to the holy lady might have made her less noticeable.

Initiative: 1d20+1=19

hippofant

Map:

The 3x3 trees have a trunk at the center, making that square impassible and granting cover. The squares within the 2x2 trees are fully passable, but the trunk grants cover when attacking from one side of the tree to the other. (Note that this means you can attack between trees with no cover.)

Status:

Gravehound - HP 54/54; AC 14; F 14; R 12; W 11
Rot Hound 4 - HP 1/1; AC 15; F 11; R 17; W 11

Azael - HP 23/23; AC 13; F 15; R 13; W 18 [AP: 1; HS: 0/6]
Caleb - HP 24/24; AC 20; F 17; R 17; W 14 [AP: 1; HS: 0/9]
Iados - HP 24/24; AC 17; F 12; R 15; W 17 [AP: 1; HS: 0/7]
Lyssa - HP 31/31; AC 21; F 14; R 15; W 14 [AP: 1; HS: 0/12]
Azael - HP 29/29; AC 19; F 13; R 14; W 15 [AP: 1; HS: 0/10]

Waiting on initiative rolls.

Aegis

I believe I am in N21, not N22.

ironzerg

Initiative: 16!

Battlefront Shift: Triggers on initiative roll: Zarryna can shift half her speed

Aegis

Warlords

Shift to M19. Not sure if I'm still hidden but no loss if not.

hippofant

You'd have to Stealth check again, I believe.

Actually... hmm.

Stealth: The check is usually at the end of a move action, but it can be at the end of any of the creature’s actions that involve the creature moving.
...
Remaining Hidden: You remain hidden as long as you meet these requirements.
...
Keep Still: If you move more than 2 squares during an action, you must make a new Stealth check with a –5 penalty. If you run, the penalty is –10. If any enemy’s passive Perception check beats your check result, you don’t remain hidden from that enemy.

You have not kept still, but it doesn't say anything about requiring a new Stealth check if you move fewer than 2 squares. Or maybe that statement's just about the -5 penalty though and a Stealth check is required either way. But this is a No Action, so it's not an action? Gaaaah.

Aegis

It's more that not sure if I'm in LoS of the Gravehound (if I am, I am no longer hidden). Fairly sure I'm still still hidden against the Rothound given the cover provided by the 3x3 tree.