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[pbp] 13th Age- The Grand Hunt (Holiday One-Shot Adventure)
Grunt's Ghosts
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The Grand Hunt
Excerpt from Ailgus the Seer's book "The Life and Times of the Dragon Empire and Her People"
"In the small villages outside the Queen's Woods, life is much more simple then the rest of Empire. Small halfling towns and human villages spawn frequently along the roads and weary travelers can find unique sort of kindness that seems to lack within the larger cities. But while most travelers stay only for a night before moving on to their businesses, not one person that I've ever had a discussion with ever left during the last week of summer, during the Great Harvest and the Grand Hunt. During this time, the quiet villages embark on a tradition that could spark a war, should the Elf Queen ever turn her head towards her eastern boarders.
Within the Queen's Woods is a creature created by twisted magics and considered endangered and protected by the Queen's Word. The Dire Turkey is a massive beast, a missing link between the days when lizards were first sprouting feathers and becoming the birds of today. Reports say that the bird is the size of a horse and weighing almost as much. The Dire Turkey can't fly as it's wings still act as legs, complete with razor sharp talons. While a normal turkey is thought to be just a wild beast, locals of the area claim that the Dire Turkey is intelligent and has been known to use basic magic spells, although these reports have never been proven. But each year a group of young men and women from the villages or even strangers wishing to be part of the Grand Hunt, go into the Queen's Woods and deliberately break her laws and hunt down the Dire Turkey. For the villagers, it's a rite of passage, a sign of adulthood. For strangers, it's about the thrill of the hunt. And it's part of the life and times of these quint folks."
So with Halloween just around the corner and Thanksgiving coming soon after that, I want to give to the people of Penny Arcade a gaming tradition I once shared with good friends so many years ago. The Grand Hunt! Each Thanksgiving, my friends and I would roll out our best characters or create new ones to go into the Dark Woods and slay this terrible beast. And each year, things wouldn't go as planned. From worshiping kobolds to Dire Turkey Liches, each hunt became a grand adventure. So now the Hunt is yours.
Characters
Standard 1st Level Characters, any race except Dwarf Forged because they don't care about eating Turkey. Any class including those found in the core book along with the Stalwart, Vanguard, Elementalist, and Eldritch classes. I'll allow any from the ICON Magazines and those from the 13th Age Vault will be allowed case by case.
A very useful reference for most things 13th Age: http://www.13thagesrd.com
13 Facts about 13th Age (describes the one unique thing, icon relationships, and backgrounds, among others): http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=8583
13th Age Resources (player game aid, 13th Age character sheets): http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=8764
Summary of the icons: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=7790
Some Generally helpful word docs: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=13316
STALWART Class: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=13622
VANGUARD Class: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=13618
ELEMENTALIST Class: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=13118
ELDRITCH KNIGHT Class: http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=11922
I'll pick 4 characters who I like the most, even if it's 4 wizards. All characters must be in by October 8th, although if no more submissions come in before that time, I'll roll sooner. This is for fun so wild, crazy characters are ok as long as they aren't disruptive to play (the second hunt had a wizard who was allergic to turkey feathers and sneezed whenever the Dire Turkey was near.)
Warning
Not all fights are winnable. Just a heads up. Some "encounters" will be more about thinking outside the box then about drawing swords. Running away is always an option. Because of the one-shot nature of this story, dying is also more of a possibility.
+1
Posts
Backgrounds:
Follow Your Nose (Tracking) - 5
Culinary Archeology - 5
Inedible Flora and Fauna - 2
Quicktime Reactions - 1
Icons:
-2 Negative with The Emperor
Lauren's father was the head chef for the emperor until he made his greatest creation - 13-Alarm Ankheg Chili, and the Emperor was ill for three weeks. Her father has been exiled ever since and the empire knows that Lauren follows in her father's experimental cooking footsteps.
+1 Positive with The Great Gold Wyrm
Lauren enjoys some support within the order for retrieving the Griddle of True Bacon.
Class: Ranger (+2 Wis)
Race: Human (+2 Dex, Quick to Fight: Roll Init. twice and choose your result)
Level: 1
Str. 13 +1
Con. 14 +2
Dex. 18 +4
Int. 13 +1
Wis. 16 +3
Cha. 8 -1
AC: 18
PD: 14
MD: 12
Initiative: +5
HP: 27/27
Recoveries: 8/8
Recovery Dice: 1d8+2 (6)
Basic Attacks:
Melee: +5 vs. AC. 1d8+1. Miss: 1
Ranged: +5 vs. AC. 1d8+5. Miss: 1
Talents:
Tracking - 5 Background Points to put in tracking (Follow Your Nose). Terrain Stunt Power.
Archery - Once per battle, re-roll a missed ranged attack. Adventurer Feat: The Re-roll gets a +2 attack bonus and expanded crit range by 1.
Favored Enemy (Beast) - Crit range vs. favored enemy increases by 2. Adventurer Feat: Change enemy types by meditating at a full heal-up.
Powers and Spells:
Terrain Stunt - Roll 1d6 at start of battle. When Escalation die is that number or higher, can use a quick action to improvise an environmental attack.
Gear:
Composite Long Bow, Over-sized One-handed Pick, Cooking Knives, Padded Frock and Reinforced Toque, Climbing Gear (Rope, Pitons, etc.), Backpack, Cast-iron skillet, Small Chopping Board, Spice Pouches (full), 5 days rations (Kuo-toa Caviar, Dried Shrieking Fungus, etc.), 3 torches, Tinderbox, 20 arrows, Quiver
Lauren never wanted to be an adventuring culinary archeologist like her disgraced father. She wished to be an academic archeologist, studying ancient Umber Hulk omelets and Witch-blessed Foie Gras recipes from afar. A ship wreck during a routine field expedition in the Iron Sea left her and a small crew of survivors stranded on an island for one week. The coast was a perfectly safe place to wait for rescue, but she only had access to coconuts. Lauren braved the ruins, forts, and caverns in the heart of the island to save herself and all of her friends from dull food.
Realizing that she was far more capable than she had ever imagined, Lauren dedicated herself to tracking down legendary ingredients and (edible) exotic monsters and plants, following in her missing father's footsteps.
Lauren is 5'9", brunette, and possesses an almost impossible hourglass figure (especially considering how much she eats). She prefers to work alone and can be distant and stand-offish, though she understands the value of working with others.
Tabletop:13th Age (mm-mmm), D&D 4e
Occasional words about games: my site
I don't have either but I'll allow it.
I'll be playing the twygzog occultist, Toph Erki.
Hailing from a clan of cannibalistic funguspeople, Toph had a vision of a solution to its clan's woes.
It was "meat". This "meat" would come from "animals" which are like plants, but dumber. They eat and sleep, and require oxygen to survive! How barbaric!
There would be no moral dilemma of whom to sacrifice for the annual festival of "Fertilising the Fields". "Meat" could instead be killed, guiltlessly, since "animals" only live a few decades at best.
Toph awoke from its vision, and headed off to meet these meatanimals.
Clambering out of a cave, Toph arrived above ground for the first time.
"Now... to find some meat."
OUT: Toph is the prophesied seer of the twygzog people, able to determine future and past events. It, and it alone, can uplift its society from infighting and cannibalism.
Icon Relationships:
-1 Elf Queen
-1 Dwarf King
~1 High Druid
The twygzog underempire territory is vast and expanding. Twygzog do not understand the concept of meat creature borders, and view meatbeings as inherently inferior. This has caused friction between the more established meat "empires" and the sovereign nationstate of Sporetopia.
Stats
Dex 13 (+1)
Con 14 (racial bonus) (+2)
Int 17 (class bonus) (+3)
Wis 15 (+2)
Cha 13 (+1)
AC: 14
PD: 12
MD: 14
Backgrounds
The Promised Fungal Seer (5)
Journeyman Hunter (2)
Charcuterie Intern (1)
Talents:
Unwinding the Soul (Those meatcreatures I hunt bare their meatsouls to me, and to my attacks.) - Targets the lower of PD/MD. If spell targets PD, the damage is force. Adv Feat: When you cast a spell that twists, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Hewer of Truth (I carry a cleaver made of force of will (one handed, d8, Int for melee attacks, Wis for melee damage).)
Superior Rebuke (I have seen futures where twygzog rule every corner of this sunlit realm. I do not suffer meat's inferiority lightly.)
Known spells:
Close-quarters spell Interrupt action to cast; expend focus At-Will
Trigger: One of your allies hits, but does not crit, a nearby enemy with an attack.
Target: The enemy hit by the attack
Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. MD
Hit: The target takes 2d6 + Wisdom extra damage from the hit.
(If your attack crits, double the damage you are adding to your ally’s attack, but not their base damage.)
Miss: The target takes extra damage from the hit equal to the spell level.
Retain Focus: 1–5.
Bitter Lessons
Close-quarters spell Interrupt action to cast; expend focus
Recharge 16+ after battle
Trigger: A nearby enemy misses with an attack.
Target: The attacking enemy
Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. MD
Hit: 2d6 + Wisdom psychic damage, and the ally the target missed gains the same amount of temporary hit points.
Miss: Half damage, and you take the other half of the damage.
Retain Focus: 1–15.
Moment of Karma
Close-quarters spell Interrupt action to cast; expend focus
At-Will
Trigger: A nearby enemy hits you with an attack.
Target: The attacking enemy
Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. MD
Hit: 3d6 + Wisdom psychic damage.
Miss: Damage equal to spell level.
Retain Focus: 1–5.
Timely Mistake
Close-quarters spell Interrupt action to cast; expend focus
Recharge 6+ after battle
Trigger: A nearby enemy hits you or an ally with a natural odd attack roll.
Target: The attacking enemy
Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. MD
Hit: 1d6 + Wisdom psychic damage, and the target rerolls the attack and must use the lower result.
Miss: Damage equal to spell level.
A red dragon spawn, born in the wastes and the wilds to a barbarian tribe, Derrox had always been hungry. As a babe he drank until his mother cried out she had nothing wet left within her. As a boy he often snuck into the rations to help himself to more. Each night his stomach growled, and each day he felt emptier and emptier. No bread nor meat could fill him, it was as if it all disappeared the moment it touched his lips. Derrox needed something, something special, something to hit the spot and let him finally have the sensation of fullness.
He became a big game guide, as many wanted to pay a wildman to help them catch and kill the great beasts they had only heard of in their cities. For Derrox, he was always searching for the beast whose meat would finally let him rest. He has tried so many, deer and owlbear and Minotaur, yet nothing has filled his gullet. Maybe this next hunt, it could be the item he is looking for.
One unique thing: Until Derrox finds the one thing that will make him full, he will never feel a full stomach. He can devour pounds upon pounds of food but it never is enough and never seems to remove the hunger. A curse from his birth, the reason unknown, makes everything disappear before it reaches his stomach, but he never suffers starvation from this problem. (Though it feels like he's starving).
Stats and Defenses
Dex 14 (+2)
Con 16 (class bonus) (+3)
Int 12 (+1)
Wis 11 (+0)
Cha 10 (+0)
Initiative: 3 (lvl +Dex)
AC: 15 (12+Dex) +1lvl
PD: 15 (12+Dex)+1lvl
MD: 11 (10 +Wis)+1lvl
HP: 30
Recoveries: 8 w/ d10+3
backgrounds
Big Game Hunter: 4
Trophy craft: 2
Live in the woods: 2
Icon relationships
1 Negative Druid (always on the hunt, he kills for sport and thus earned the ire of many who vow protection for the forest)
Talents
Race Power:
Once per battle, make a close-quarters breath weapon attack as a quick action using your highest ability score against one nearby enemy's Physical Defense. On a hit, the attack deals 1d6 damage per your level of an energy type that makes sense for your character.
Class power:
Once per day, use a quick action to start raging. A rage lasts until the end of battle, or about 5 minutes.
While raging, you roll 2d20 to hit with your barbarian melee and thrown weapon attacks instead of 1d20. Use the higher roll for the attack. If you roll a natural 11+ with both dice and your highest attack roll is a hit, the attack is a critical hit!
Recharge 16+: After a battle in which you rage, roll a d20 and add your Constitution modifier. On a 16+, you can use Barbarian Rage again later in the day.
Talent 1:
Once per battle, declare you're using Unstoppable before making a barbarian melee attack. If your attack hits at least one target, you can heal using a recovery.
Talent 2:
You can make a Whirlwind attack as the first action of your turn when you are engaged by two or more enemies.
You take a –4 penalty to your AC and PD until the start of your next turn. Then roll a separate melee attack against each enemy you are engaged with. You deal no miss damage with these attacks.
Adventurer Feat
You now deal normal miss damage with missed Whirlwind attacks.
Talent 3:
While raging, you have resist damage 12+ (when an attack targets you, the attacker must roll a natural 12 or higher on the attack roll or it only deals half damage).
But I didn't know about adding level to defense, thank you for the double check!
Yea, sorry work has been busy the past couple days and I keep getting distracted by all the toys in the Druid class.
I'm thinking of Pemlo, a halfling druid who is on a quest to taste the ferocity of the world's legendary creatures to improve his own strength.
Probably a shifter adept/healer initiate even if I think shifter is a melee class that is gonna get beaten down all the time.
Hopefully I should be able to steal some time tomorrow to translate all that into stats if I can resist the siren call of Terrain Magic.
But what? Hmmmm...
The sun rose across the tree tops of the Queen's Woods and down the valleys and fields of the town of Grimhollow. And like many days before, the sun found a few people awake and moving around the streets and farms but today, the sun found the place decorated in colors of browns, oranges, reds, and whites. Tables as long as three houses dotted the square and wagons carried families, friends, and food from nearby villages and towns in the Harvestland. Somewhere among the people, bards are playing tunes, both new and old, causing some to stop their work to dance in the autumn weather. By the time the sun has cleared the top of the Woods and started it morning climb, visitors from across the Empire begin to arrive for the event. From dusty, old wizards who have brought various magical trinkets, to sellswords looking for something that reminds them of the home they left behind, and a multitude of groups, creatures, and people from outside the Empire. They set up their tents in fields that once had crops in them not days before and soon join the locals cooking their signature dishes from their homelands. And of course, it doesn't take long for the dwarves of Forge to break out their wines and ales.
From here, introduce your character, what they are doing, seeing, and what brought them here. Don't be afraid to include some off the wall stuff like Goblins and Dwarves drinking and eating together as past grievances are known to be put aside for the Great Harvest and the Grand Hunt. That doesn't mean all things are hunky dory either...
Also, roll 3#1d6 for Icon Relationships before you start... Make sure to say which order your icons are in...
EDIT: Mmmmm, yessss. Drama.
5 on my negative. That'll be fun.
Heh...I also got a 5 on my negative. Things are about to get complicated.
Oats: -Elf Queen 5, -Dwarf King 5
zekebeau: -Druid 5
astrobstrd: -Emperor 5
I predict bad things...
The round, short one - not an elf... a gnome? no dwarf! a dwarf! - nearly walked right in to Toph during its daily meditation on the Great Mushroom at the Heart of All Things Good and Pure and Righteous.
"Oi! Watch where in the bloody hell you're going!" The dwarf splattered his words on the ground with ample froth. The dwarf's compatriot, an elf thing, spat in the general direction of Toph.
In a voice emanating from no obvious mouth, Toph simply replied "Meatbeing, I was immobile. Kindly attempt not to walk in to things, you terrible, shameful drunk."
The dwarf threw a punch. The elf called the town guard.
Toph languished in a cell for two days. 'Causin' a ruckus. When rumour of the dire turkey surfaced, Toph threw his cap in the ring, so to speak.
Maybe a hunting party would get him the respect he deserved.
Lauren mostly kept to herself in Grimhollow, but soon came face to face with a dire fact; she could not accomplish this task alone. A group of capable warriors would allow her to cover more ground and to keep pace with the other hunters that moved in packs. So Lauren set about making allies the only way that she knew how, by staging a large feast that drained her remaining funds and interviewing the potential candidates that showed up in her no nonsense manner.
"You hope to devour the beast raw to siphon its power? Blasphemy! Go on your way, savage!"
"You don't think basil compliments my Dire Eel Bisque? I don't think you get dessert or my aid in this hunt, simpleton..."
"I'm sorry, did you just drink my mead without having the paired entree? Begone..."
As her food supply dwindled, Lauren held out hope that she would meet adventurers that met her high standards, but soon started to accept the hard truth that she may have to start settling...
Lauren is spending all of her money on this feast in one of the dining halls set up for the holiday...any of you folks or interesting NPCs who wish to show up may...or Lauren will simply fail here and have to find companions another way
Derrox quickly emptied his (sadly too light) purse to get the chilies and any other part of the deepcrow the dwarf could fry up. With his bounty before him, the dragon blooded warrior tears into the food, each bite hopeful but ending in disappointment. Dejected and poor, Derrox was almost ready to simply leave the town, when he saw a friend.
Well, friend of a friend. Clanmate of a friend. Whatever the terminology, a halfling with a sign "Jimes Furfoot" was selling fine jewelry. Having helped Grumman Furfoot hunt and kill a terrible were-ferret that was decimating his chicken farm, all the Furfoot halfling had heard of Derrox. Jimes was no exception, offering Derrox a cot for some stories that night. He also revealed that he could put in a good word to get Derrox on a strong team for the great hunt.
Derrox could almost taste the dire Turkey. Now, he just needed to make a bit of money until the hunt.
"What's this? A pie eating contest with a cash prize? Maybe this town is good luck after all."
What brought these men so far north? Were they looking for her or perhaps...her father? Lauren hadn't committed any crimes in the Empire, but she knew that she was certainly not favored in the imperial court. Participation in The Hunt would be the justification needed to put her way for good.
Loose cobblestone. Swift kick. Loose footing. Unconscious thug.
Precognition into preparation into execution.
Toph shifts the cobblestone the dwarf will step on next. The dwarf slips falling to the ground harshly.
"Do you see him?"
"No, but we know he's back in the Empire. And this is one of the biggest cooking events of the year, no way the old man would not be here."
"What about that daughter of his? Do you think she would be here?"
"I don't know what she looks like, do you?"
One of the guardsmen points to a woman who doesn't look anything close to resembling Lauren.
"She's the mayor's wife. And she's a least 20 years older then Sogan's daughter. She's closer to being his sister. Now keep an eye out, if you see him, let me know."
And with that, the two guardsmen separated.
Derrox, with some coin in his purse after the pie eating contest, decides to find some other distraction while waiting for the time of the hunt. A few games of chance, several bards singing ballads of varying quality, and a few flirtations with the local ladies all help the day to pass by more quickly.
Her attire hid her well from meateyes, sure, but Toph was all too familiar with varying shades of green and brown. Proper soil choice and lichen diets are key to longevity.
From behind Lauren, a raspy and distant voice "Human... might you know where I could hunt some meat?"
Toph adjusted his pileus, as the ranger turner around, once again having room to do so.