I know that advantage is pretty big in this edition. It's not as clear cut as the +2 from 4E, but way back when I did an analysis on it. Over the entire range of dice roll, it it something like a +3.3 (-3.3 for disadvantage). If instead you looked at your likelihood to exceed a certain number (i.e. for success), it makes the benefit even greater (equivalent to a +4.5 if you needed an 8 or above to succeed or a +5 if you needed 10 or above to succeed).
I said all that to say, I think it's a good idea to keep advantage/disadvantage something a bit more rare to start, so that it has meaning when it happens.
Philo sheathes his sword and approaches the Orc, going for the coil of rope strapped to the outside of his pack. "Watch my back," he says, kneeling down and binding the Orc's wrists and ankles.
Ay walks to the other orcs, checking for signs of life and binding any that may still pose a threat. After, he investigates the room the orcs were in, trying to get a feel for how secure the area is.
I'm assuming combat is over, so if any are alive still I'll tie them up. This looks like it could potentially be a "home base," albeit that secret door, but trying to get a feel for how safe the area is in case we need to take a rest.
Assuming we're out of combat and not beholden to initiative:
A ghostly hand appears in the air and begins to gather up the caltrops from the floor around the western door, placing them in a spiky bulging sack Barran is holding out. Once the area is cleared of more obvious threats, he sends the hand exploring into the vents to see if anything nasty is waiting up there.
Cantrip: Mage Hand
The Orcs felt safe enough (or maybe just exhausted enough) to rest here, even though it was so close to the entrance/exit. If we're simply establishing a beachhead, we could certainly do worse, but this halfling isn't ready to call it a day just yet.
Absolutely, not suggesting a long rest. But remember that a short rest in 5E is 1 hour or more, so it'll be good to have someplace safe in the event we need a breather.
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited July 2016
Dural quickly taps his hammer against a nearby obstruction to clear off some of the dust from the previous engagement. "Should probably close the other door, just in case," he offers before moving back through the room towards where they had originally entered.
Salazar quickly scans the room for anything of note.
A futile task, as the first brick Salazar laid his eyes upon already bored him. "Yeah whatever, dungeon room, a fox a dozen."
"Say Ay, see if you can anything useful out of that orc. Try not to ask him out on a date this time!"
Ay walks over towards where the orc was tied up and turns back to Salazar, "It's going to be difficult to talk to him when he's unconscious, but I'll keep in mind your dating advice." Ay then pulls out his waterskin and a small cup, filling the cup and splashing it on the orc in an attempt to wake him.
Salazar's Firebolt blasts away just behind the fleeing Orc, hurling his body into the wall, knocking him unconscious and makes himself an easy bundle for Philo's rope. Soon enough you have the orc well trussed and flopped down before the meagre fire and the remains of the burnt rat. The caltrops are easily collected Barran.
Dural wisely goes to secure the secret door that you entered only to discover that, aside from its clever design, there is built in way to secure it. The door swings both in and out on hidden hinges. There is no lock.
The room itself is rectangular with some vent holes in the ceiling, made obvious by the wafting smoke from the fire drifting up. The walls are covered by old magical writing. Many, many inscriptions. Salazar's attention is not focused enough to make sense of them.
Ay's water does indeed shock the Orc awake. He comes to, sputtering water and shaking his jowls. He growls and curses and struggles against his bonds until the gravity of his situation sinks in. He looks up and sighs. "Why you no kill Thak?" his common is broken and heavily accented. Clearly this Orc is not from around here. His dialect is likely the reason Ay's attempt at speaking orcish failed so badly.
Just look at you.
You drew your weapon only to flee the fight.
Your friends here, they at least died in combat. But you couldn't even get that right.
How would Gruumsh judge you? Let's be honest, a one armed gnome would have gotten more done than you.
No, Orc, you have brought shame upon all Orc kind.
But I offer you a chance to redeem yourself.
You'll take us to this troll.
You'll fight with us.
And, Gruumsh willing, you'll take its head"
Salazar now casts "Create Bonfire" on/over the dead orcs.
"Of course, if you'd rather spend an eternity in the wall, I can arrange that."
I think I'm intimidated by that. What the hells have I gotten myself into this time...?
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited July 2016
Dural looks positively offended when he attempts to close the secret door the party had discovered only to find it swings in and out with no apparent method of fastening shut. As the sounds of "persuasion" make their way down the hall once the orc has woken up, the dwarf spends some time inspecting in and around the door with what he's seen of stonework in the past to try and come up with a temporary solution in making this area a bit more secure and fixing the door. "M'Uncle would have a fit. This is a barely a door at this point! Waste of a good opportunity to have some levers and counterweights keeping the thing flush with the rest of the wall and solidly held."
minion roll 1d20-1+4 for Stonecunning (History) check
Hey guys, just a heads up that I'm about to have a psychotically busy week at work. I should be able to sneak posts in, but sorry in advance if I'm a bit slow at it!
Thak's eyes widen in fear, and then narrow in anger. Salazar touched a nerve questioning the Orc's faith like that, and like anyone who is challenged in such a way, he didn't like it. "Thak say we all die. But fine, give Thak axe and me find Troll...if Troll dead, then Thak eat your eyeballs." Thak is thoroughly defeated and will do as you say...for now.
While Salazar cajoles the Orc into doing your bidding, Dural is busy fiddling with the door. He has it wide open and has one arm jammed as deep into the mechanism as it can go. With a few moments of grunting and cursing. the very tip of his stubby middle finger flicks a very clever switch that the original builders (must have been a dwarf) installed. Turning the two way door into a one way door! Now the door only opens out of the room meaning that anyone out in the hallway, should they even find the door, will not be able to enter the room this way. Well done Dural!
"If you're sure you have him cowed, Salazar, we should follow the Orc to that troll," says Philo, pushing aside his misgivings. Trust them, man. "We likely won't be as strong again as we are now. Stay sharp, everyone."
Salazar laughs heartily at Thak's threat. Engaging it in any other way would be a sign of weakness, he thinks to himself.
Salazar then discreetly wanders over to Philo and Dural. "I'm not entirely convinced the orc fully appreciates the gift I have bestowed upon him.
Keep an eye on him and watch out for tracks."
tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
Dural wipes his hands off from the dust and grime of working on the door, glancing at the pacified Orc briefly before rejoining with the others. "In a pinch we have some place to fall back to here, though I'd agree of getting a move on before anything nearby comes to investigate the noises we've probably made."
Barran rummages through his pack for a moment, then sighs. "Wish I'd thought to bring some parchment and ink. Or at least to buy a map from that fool in the tavern. Or some money to buy a map with..." He trails off unhappily, then takes a seat out of arm's reach of the bound orc, playfully spinning a caltrop on one finger.
"Let me ask you something, Thak, was it? Let me ask you something. There's any number of reasons for any number of people to be down here." He waves an arm at the other members of the party. "Fellas like dwarves and elves, they like honor, or history, or they feel the call of the earth or whatever. Some people we'd otherwise consider smart convince themselves of lost civilizations and wizard treasures in the dark.
"Some of us," he continues with a chuckle, "get in over our heads and end up on what we'll probably be calling 'exciting adventures' forty or fifty years after the fact, if we live that long.
"But you..." Barran levels a finger at the orc. "A band of orcs, this close to one of the biggest human settlements in the land? You wouldn't be here unless you had a very good reason, and I don't think it's to kill some troll. What'd you come here risking all your lives for?"
Minion, roll 1d20ro1 for Friendly Halfling Persuasion!
Bursar on
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
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Salazar cocks his head and looks at you oddly. "If, at any point, you could be serving tea and crumpets during an interaction with an orc, the interaction isn't going as well as you think!"
Thak grunts, finally understanding. "Warband travel near Bloodstone Pass...raided humies for food and [insert crude orcish reference for female sex slaves]. Fun! Sleep in cave. Wake here dungeon. Fight zombie. Run. Fight Drow. Run more. Fire. Holes. Lost. Run. Lost more. Troll. Hide here and rest."
(This actually makes sense. One of more the more widely known and proven rumors regarding Undermountain is that while teleportation into or out of Undermountain is strictly forbidden due to Halaster's ancient wards. He does have a tendency to use one way Gates to lure monsters, etc. into the dungeon and to cast wanderers out. Usually for no better reason than whimsy and random danger. Thak's warband must hail from far, far away and were trapped in Undermountain by one of Halaster's gates. It seems things haven't gone well for the them.)
Pausing a moment to contemplate what the orc said, "Was your entire warband with you when you awoke in this dungeon? How were you planning to get out? And where is this troll located?"
"No plan! Stupid [insert highly derogatory Orcish word for Elf here]!" Thak spits, obviously frustrated by your questions. "Warband no plan stupid dungeon! No plan get out! Thak not know where Thak is!"
He jerks his head towards the door out of the room, and maybe vaguely to the north? "Troll out there. Kill many. We run. Lost. Hide."
Still looking at the orc, Ay speaks to his companions, "It sounds like the orcs weren't here by choice and a lot have already fallen to the dangers of the dungeon. And that the troll might be in the next room." Ay looks up at the door Thak pointed to.
Standing, he turns to the dwarf, "Good to hear you managed to seal the door. If we need a break it'd be good not to have the same happen to us that happened to the orcs. Should we investigate the door leading to the troll?"
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
Dural nods, "Better than wandering around in the dark without a plan. And it ain't good to look the Finder in the eyes and turn down his gifts, when he hands you a trail to follow like this."
"If this is what you call a gift, please don't invite me to your next birthday. But if there's a rampaging troll up ahead, I'm in favor of hunting it down sooner rather than later."
The spectral hand pulls one of the burning logs from the fire and holds it aloft. As makeshift torches go, it's not very bright, but it can float along ahead of the group to provide light up ahead.
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
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I think we are good to move on, yes? Anything else to do in this room? I'll move us forwards later on this morning and if I did miss something we can go back and retcon.
Thak is only at 3HP, btw. Probably should be less after getting blasted into a wall, but that's OK. Are you going to leave him in this wounded state while we go off Troll hunting?/color]
"In for a copper, in for a silver," says Philo, handing Thak a healing potion. "Here. Drink up. It will close your wounds. Damn it, somebody tell the Orc what this is."
Thak (not being entirely stupid and knowing what a potion is) takes the "Fighting Juice" and slams it down, a little amazed at his captors generosity. He does however make a face at the decidedly human taste of the potion (more akin to a blue Freezie rather than the fermented blood of a tree sloth taste that he's used to from his tribe's shaman).
He takes a deep breath and stretches out his considerable muscles before hefting his axe. Ready to Grok.
You slowly move out of the room into the hallway. 20 feet down the hall becomes a 4-way intersection. North, south, you came from the east, and straight on to the west.
North, the hall ends at a T-intersection branching off East and West. South, it moves along for 10' before a short flight of stairs down into what looks like an irregularly shaped room. The western path continues as far as your light/vision can see, you think you can make out that it turns south say, 70' ahead.
Looking at Thak for guidance, he only shrugs. "We come that way." He points to the north east. "Big stone humies. Troll chase. Where Troll now? Me Dunno."
The Map So Far...
The dotted red circle is the opening in the ceiling for the Well from the Yawning Portal. The room you were just in is west of that. You are standing in the intersection just north of that room with the pillars.
I am guessing our marching order is similar to before? Only swap Thak into the front or second row?
Ay keeps an eye on the parties rear as the group moves down the hall. Watching Thak point to the north, "Then we should head north. I'd rather not have a troll pop in on us when we least expect it."
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
Yea I'd imagine the same order unless someone else wants to shuffle around.
The dwarf keeps watch ahead to see if he can't spot any signs of Troll or worse, although his attention continually shifts back to Thok, as if the idea of an orc so near is unsettling. "That way then, " he agrees with, gruffly, and turns thr corner north and east presumably in the direction of the troll while still remaining within eyesight of Thok.
You take the northern path, and the right hand turn ahead. From there you see another T intersection. On your left a door, to your right another path to the east. Thak points at the door with his axe and grunts. Gripping your weapons tight, you breach the door and head into the room.
Three huge stone statues stand on plinths in this room, facing east. They are of noble-featured men in richly fluted plate armor, and they stand as if in contemplation or calm judgement, armed but not threatening. A large room, mostly rectangular about 40' wide and farther than you can see. The ceiling of the room is easily 50' high. The three statues are 16' tall, resting on 5' pedestals. Each statue bears a graven name, Elyndraun, Ruathyndar, and the northern statue has the name Onthalass. A staff or length of wood lies on the floor just east of the central statue.
Posts
I said all that to say, I think it's a good idea to keep advantage/disadvantage something a bit more rare to start, so that it has meaning when it happens.
Dexterity check to tie up the Orc.
Geth, roll 1d20+1 for Use Rope
Orc#2 AC: 13, HP: DEAD
Orc#3 AC: 13, HP: 3, unconscious, tied up
Orc#4 AC: 13, HP: Obliterated
Salazar AC: 14, HP: 23+5 THP
Philo AC: 18, HP: 25+5 THP
Ay AC: 16, HP: 24+5 THP, Inspiration
Barran AC: 15, HP: 20+5 THP
Dural AC: 18, HP: 31+5 THP
@am0n, unless we're out of combat now.
I'm assuming combat is over, so if any are alive still I'll tie them up. This looks like it could potentially be a "home base," albeit that secret door, but trying to get a feel for how safe the area is in case we need to take a rest.
@Bursar
@Steelhawk
A ghostly hand appears in the air and begins to gather up the caltrops from the floor around the western door, placing them in a spiky bulging sack Barran is holding out. Once the area is cleared of more obvious threats, he sends the hand exploring into the vents to see if anything nasty is waiting up there.
Cantrip: Mage Hand
The Orcs felt safe enough (or maybe just exhausted enough) to rest here, even though it was so close to the entrance/exit. If we're simply establishing a beachhead, we could certainly do worse, but this halfling isn't ready to call it a day just yet.
@Aegis ?
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
A futile task, as the first brick Salazar laid his eyes upon already bored him.
"Yeah whatever, dungeon room, a fox a dozen."
"Say Ay, see if you can anything useful out of that orc. Try not to ask him out on a date this time!"
minion roll 1d20+1 for anything in the room?
Dural wisely goes to secure the secret door that you entered only to discover that, aside from its clever design, there is built in way to secure it. The door swings both in and out on hidden hinges. There is no lock.
The room itself is rectangular with some vent holes in the ceiling, made obvious by the wafting smoke from the fire drifting up. The walls are covered by old magical writing. Many, many inscriptions. Salazar's attention is not focused enough to make sense of them.
Ay's water does indeed shock the Orc awake. He comes to, sputtering water and shaking his jowls. He growls and curses and struggles against his bonds until the gravity of his situation sinks in. He looks up and sighs. "Why you no kill Thak?" his common is broken and heavily accented. Clearly this Orc is not from around here. His dialect is likely the reason Ay's attempt at speaking orcish failed so badly.
"Pity.
Just look at you.
You drew your weapon only to flee the fight.
Your friends here, they at least died in combat. But you couldn't even get that right.
How would Gruumsh judge you? Let's be honest, a one armed gnome would have gotten more done than you.
No, Orc, you have brought shame upon all Orc kind.
But I offer you a chance to redeem yourself.
You'll take us to this troll.
You'll fight with us.
And, Gruumsh willing, you'll take its head"
Salazar now casts "Create Bonfire" on/over the dead orcs.
"Of course, if you'd rather spend an eternity in the wall, I can arrange that."
Minion, roll 1d20+6 for Intimiception?
edit:
OH YES. BOOM.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
minion roll 1d20-1+4 for Stonecunning (History) check
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
While Salazar cajoles the Orc into doing your bidding, Dural is busy fiddling with the door. He has it wide open and has one arm jammed as deep into the mechanism as it can go. With a few moments of grunting and cursing. the very tip of his stubby middle finger flicks a very clever switch that the original builders (must have been a dwarf) installed. Turning the two way door into a one way door! Now the door only opens out of the room meaning that anyone out in the hallway, should they even find the door, will not be able to enter the room this way. Well done Dural!
Nice job guys! What's the plan from here?
Salazar then discreetly wanders over to Philo and Dural.
"I'm not entirely convinced the orc fully appreciates the gift I have bestowed upon him.
Keep an eye on him and watch out for tracks."
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
"Let me ask you something, Thak, was it? Let me ask you something. There's any number of reasons for any number of people to be down here." He waves an arm at the other members of the party. "Fellas like dwarves and elves, they like honor, or history, or they feel the call of the earth or whatever. Some people we'd otherwise consider smart convince themselves of lost civilizations and wizard treasures in the dark.
"Some of us," he continues with a chuckle, "get in over our heads and end up on what we'll probably be calling 'exciting adventures' forty or fifty years after the fact, if we live that long.
"But you..." Barran levels a finger at the orc. "A band of orcs, this close to one of the biggest human settlements in the land? You wouldn't be here unless you had a very good reason, and I don't think it's to kill some troll. What'd you come here risking all your lives for?"
Minion, roll 1d20ro1 for Friendly Halfling Persuasion!
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Geth, roll 1d20 for FHP.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Let's do that again.
Geth roll 1d20 because I'm lucky like that.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
"If, at any point, you could be serving tea and crumpets during an interaction with an orc, the interaction isn't going as well as you think!"
(This actually makes sense. One of more the more widely known and proven rumors regarding Undermountain is that while teleportation into or out of Undermountain is strictly forbidden due to Halaster's ancient wards. He does have a tendency to use one way Gates to lure monsters, etc. into the dungeon and to cast wanderers out. Usually for no better reason than whimsy and random danger. Thak's warband must hail from far, far away and were trapped in Undermountain by one of Halaster's gates. It seems things haven't gone well for the them.)
He jerks his head towards the door out of the room, and maybe vaguely to the north? "Troll out there. Kill many. We run. Lost. Hide."
Standing, he turns to the dwarf, "Good to hear you managed to seal the door. If we need a break it'd be good not to have the same happen to us that happened to the orcs. Should we investigate the door leading to the troll?"
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
The spectral hand pulls one of the burning logs from the fire and holds it aloft. As makeshift torches go, it's not very bright, but it can float along ahead of the group to provide light up ahead.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Going over his gear once more, Salazar's comfortable with proceeding.
"So, how about we go set a troll on fire? I'm curious to see what all the fuss is about."
Thak is only at 3HP, btw. Probably should be less after getting blasted into a wall, but that's OK. Are you going to leave him in this wounded state while we go off Troll hunting?/color]
Salazar punctuates his boisterous sentence with a hearty laugh.
best keep the orc entertained, he thinks to himself.
He takes a deep breath and stretches out his considerable muscles before hefting his axe. Ready to Grok.
North, the hall ends at a T-intersection branching off East and West. South, it moves along for 10' before a short flight of stairs down into what looks like an irregularly shaped room. The western path continues as far as your light/vision can see, you think you can make out that it turns south say, 70' ahead.
Looking at Thak for guidance, he only shrugs. "We come that way." He points to the north east. "Big stone humies. Troll chase. Where Troll now? Me Dunno."
The Map So Far...
The dotted red circle is the opening in the ceiling for the Well from the Yawning Portal. The room you were just in is west of that. You are standing in the intersection just north of that room with the pillars.
Ay keeps an eye on the parties rear as the group moves down the hall. Watching Thak point to the north, "Then we should head north. I'd rather not have a troll pop in on us when we least expect it."
The dwarf keeps watch ahead to see if he can't spot any signs of Troll or worse, although his attention continually shifts back to Thok, as if the idea of an orc so near is unsettling. "That way then, " he agrees with, gruffly, and turns thr corner north and east presumably in the direction of the troll while still remaining within eyesight of Thok.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12