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[D&D 4e][pbp] The Wilds of Aladrion

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Posts

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Yona moves over to H9, and on the off chance the spider isn't dead yet she summons a gust of icy wind to push it one square back out of the woods.

    Geth, roll 1d20+7 for Chill Wind vs. Fort
    Geth, roll 1d6+1 for Chill Wind damage

    Unfortunately it seems unfazed by the gust and holds tight, not shifting.

    @captaink @Elvenshae whichever wants to go next

    Chill Wind vs. Fort:
    1d20+7 12 [1d20=5]
    Chill Wind damage:
    1d6+1 7 [1d6=6]

    BahamutZERO on
    BahamutZERO.gif
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    After you, @captaink !

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    The spider is teetering on its last legs.

    Well, seven legs.

    But you get it.

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Sinnder moves to finish off the spider.

    Move to D5, which I believe is flanking and thus CA?

    Geth roll 1d20+12 for Frigid Blade vs. AC
    Geth roll 1d8+5 cold damage

    Spider remains marked. I will have some kind of reaction no matter who it tries to hit.

    @Elvenshae @Kelor

    Frigid Blade vs. AC:
    1d20+12 28 [1d20=16]
    cold damage:
    1d8+5 7 [1d8=2]

    captaink on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Seeing the spider teetering, and unsure if it is down for the count, Ellandryn follow's Sinnder and Lex's leads. He quickly repositions, and again the golden light of his magic seeks out the mind of the beast.
    Move to G2. Use Beguiling Strands at-will; +7 vs. Will defense and on a hit, deal 4 psychic damage and push the spider from D4 to C6.

    Geth, roll 1d20+7 for Spider Will

    Spider Will:
    1d20+7 13 [1d20=6]

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    @Kelor Back to you! Our turns are done. :)

    Elvenshae on
  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    The frost surrounding Sinnder's blade cuts deep into the giant arachnid's abdomen. It shudders for a moment, then slumps to the ground.

    Moments later as the force of his magic sweeps into it Ellandryn determines that there is no conciousness left in the beast. It is dead.

    Annnd we're out of combat!

    Kelor on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    "Everyone okay? You look a bit beat up, Bos."

  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    "All clear over here." Lexan'dar replied, before heading towards the trapdoor the spider emerged from.

    "Lets just make sure nothing else is going to pop out at us before we let our guard down."


    Lex will examine the trapdoor the spider came from before moving on to check out the slain monsters.
    Geth roll 1d20+7 for checkin' things out

    checkin' things out:
    1d20+7 20 [1d20=13]

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    Lex, you make your way over to the spider's burrow. The entrance is circular, almost eight feet wide. With the lid on it becomes almost indistinguishable from a worn down tree stump.

    Looking inside, the hole is almost perfectly cylindrical, webbing forming solid, sticky walls up and down which smaller spiders the size of your fist swarm up and down. Some crawl off into the forest at the disturbance, others further down the burrow to escape the afternoon light. The burrow descends a dozen feet before twisting and cutting off from view. In the faint light at the bottom you can see the end of what appears to be a silken wrapped package.

    Inspecting the skull creatures reveals an elastic body, as you saw during the battle. Long claws at the base provide stability, the muscular torso and arms ending with sharp claws. The head is hard to observe, but seems to form some sort of attachment to the skulls, allowing them to manipulate them. The are slightly deeper than the six foot tall beasts. A cursory examination of them reveals false walls in the sides of two, and a false floor in a third.

    Each has a collection of gems, meticulously sorted by colour, size and lustre. A small collection of jewellry, a thin sealed circular container gilded in gold, a suit of furs, a roughly forged belt of chained links and a set of dusty clothing in surprisiingly good condition.

    First combat is down! You'll each receive 200xp for your success.

    In the trio of holes you find the following:

    340gp in various gems.
    A decorative silver ring with an embossed rune.
    xcrs7qch4xzi.png
    Belt of Vigor (+1 To Healing Surge Value)
    Cloth Armor +1 (+1AC)
    Periapt of Health (+1 Fort/Refl/Will)
    Hide Armour of Thunder Resistance +1 (+1AC, Resist 5 Thunder)

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    Is the sealed circular container the Periapt? If not, I'd like to investigate it. I'll roll Arcana but let me know if it should be another skill.

    Geth roll 1d20+10 for Arcana.

    Does anyone else want the hide armor? I'd take that.

    We could split the gems or give all/more to whoever ends up without an item

    Is that rune the same one that's stamped around here? Does it mean anything?

    Arcana:
    1d20+10 18 [1d20=8]

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Regarding combat posting efficiency

    I think the various defense scores could be revealed once we attack a certain score once. That prevents any cheesiness of knowing right away that it has a bad Will save and targeting exclusively that, while keeping things moving.

    For HP, I might just reveal it immediately. Or you could follow the same rule and reveal it once it has been damaged. Or when it reaches bloodied.

    Personally, I had to refer to the map frequently. Once we move to a new page, that gets fiddly. We don't want to redraw it each post, but maybe we could quote it and add your position at the end of your turn to the bottom? I had issues going last, and the map being a bit different by the time I got my turn.

    I'd love to use something like owlbear.rodeo but it says it refreshes after 24 hours, so I don't think it would work?

    Do people get my @'s when I edit them in? I don't think I ever remembered when first posting.

    captaink on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    @captaink Edited @s don't trigger a notification; only new posts.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    I also had to refer to both the map and the initiative table frequently, not to mention a few trips to the first couple pages to keep straight who's playing which character, but it being on the same page is only slightly less cumbersome than having a second tab scrolled to the relevant info for me

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    So, because I'm a nerd, I usually work something like this up for each game I'm playing. Not because the specific amounts are important, but because it works as a good record for who's been missing out on getting cool toys. :D
    8vlm6w8kcmtu.png

    ixo0f8wy1bwm.png

    The items marked as claimed treasure above is for development purpose only, just to check the math is working. Basic assumption is that anything unclaimed gets converted to cash / residuum and shared out among people who didn't get a "fair share" of toys. Items marked as "Party" treasure are usually "puzzle pieces," potions that get used by whoever needs them, etc., and their value comes off the top before shares are calculated.

    Re: Combat Optimizations: I love the "gradually uncovering your opponents' stats" thing that was going on, even if it added a bit of a delay while we waited for initial or potential hits to be adjudicated. I can see it becoming a little more cumbersome as the complexity of the battles escalates, but I'd hate to see it go away entirely. Similar to others, I had to flip back and forth a lot between the map (which I ended up just having open in a separate window most of the time), the initiative list, and the first page for character names / players. Probably could be resolved by just having "Elvenshae / Ellandryn," "CaptainK / Sinnder," etc. in the initiative list (and some time as we become more familiar with people's characters). The other trick was the skull-enemies were numbered on the map, but referred to by their skulls, so I had to keep checking if 2 was the Stag or the Cat, etc.

    The other thing I ended up doing with the map was dropping it into Powerpoint so I could easily move around circles to represent characters' current locations. Here's the last turn, for instance:
    z7dy4u5l53jk.png

    But, for a game as movement- and positioning-intensive as 4E, I think this first combat went really, really well.

    I assume the ring isn't magical? And that the "thin sealed circular container gilded in gold" isn't in the treasure list? Is it radiating magic?


    "Lex - are you okay down there? Please don't run into another of those things."

  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    I'm going to echo the comments above about the slowly revealed defenses. I really like that as well and dig captaink's suggestion about hiding until that defense is attacked. Revealing HP upon bloodied also feels like a good idea. Could also do something like "bosses are hidden but mooks start revealed or partially revealed".

    I dig Elvenshae's spreadsheet action! I am fine splitting up things however, but we probably don't need to do it until we get back to civilization. And i'm totally on board with giving first dibs on the cash to those getting the short end of the loot stick while adventuring. Good way to keep us balanced.

    Elvenshae wrote: »
    But, for a game as movement- and positioning-intensive as 4E, I think this first combat went really, really well.
    Couldn't have said it better myself!

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Sinnder examines the container. It looks the right size to hold a scroll or rolled up paper.

    There is a magical seal on it with a combination of what you think is warding and destructive spellwork. The mechanics are unfamiliar to you, but you suspect that if you spent some time with it you may be able to parse it's workings. (Whenever you take a short rest, you may make an arcana check to advance your understandings of the protection on the container. A long rest, you can make an arcana check with 2d20 plus your arcana modifier. Others can help you, but given this is unfamiliar magic they must have an understanding of magical theory that is the result of being trained in Arcana. I've included your first check you made just now.

    Thanks for all of the feedback. Even if you weren't involved, feel free to comment with your thoughts. I also enjoy the mystery of revealing stats as Elvenshae mentioned, but I think a few times it delayed events as people were waiting to see if the rider effects of their attacks hit to inform them of later actions, or people waiting to see if they hit or not. I think it's probably going to make things smoother if I post defensive blocks. I can spoiler them the first round, you can make your attack and then check the spoiler. It'll just be honor system.

    To make up for the advantage of having the stats, I'll tweak the difficulty up slightly. Not in terms of their defenses, because missing constantly is not fun but it's something I'll keep in mind.

    With regards to initiative order, how were people feeling about that? I think eventually got into a good rythym of tagging in the next person, and most of the delays were waiting to hear on whether you hit or missed from me. I think that having the stat blocks being open should fix that hopefully.

    On stat blocks/initiative order, going forward I'll put with user handles and character names in blocks to save having to double check who is who. Same for monsters, they'll simply be numbered to match their token and an identifier if they have one. I have to admit I got mixed up at one stage too.

    With regards to the map, I checked out Owlbear.radio that CaptainK mentioned, and it looks like it's for disposable single session maps. It'd be perfect, but the refreshes kills us.

    Google Slides I think could work, was that what you were using when you said Powerpoint Shae?

    Regardless, I think it might be a good idea to keep a very brief single line log at the end of your turn so that people can check what the previous movements at a glance. The next person quotes it and adds their own.

    Even if it's just
    Bos to G1, hit monster 2 for 8 damage. Heal Yona for 9.
    Bos to G1, hit monster 2 for 8 damage. Heal Yona for 9.
    Ellandryn hits monsters 2 and 4 for 8 damage, knocks them prone. Move to E3.

    It's a little more work would save people having to run through all the older posts. It will reset at the end of each round and everyone can just quote that log and add their movements to it.

    Kelor on
  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    Kelor wrote: »
    Looking inside, the hole is almost perfectly cylindrical, webbing forming solid, sticky walls up and down which smaller spiders the size of your fist swarm up and down. Some crawl off into the forest at the disturbance, others further down the burrow to escape the afternoon light. The burrow descends a dozen feet before twisting and cutting off from view. In the faint light at the bottom you can see the end of what appears to be a silken wrapped package.

    Not wanting to descend into the spider tube crawling with spiders if at ALL possible, Lex calls out to Ellandryn, "I got something down there but i'm not exactly keen on climbing down. Got any tricks up your sleeve, wizard?"

    As for the loot, i think all the items would be better off with other folks, possibly excepting the ring once we determine what it does (if anything). I think Elvenshae has the worst defenses and could use the periapt.

    For the map, my plan was to just take a screen snip, draw my path, and paste it back at the end of my post, but I like the log idea as well. Plus drawing paths might get cluttered by the end of a turn if we all piggyback like that.

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    Oh, and just getting a bit metagamey but it was already alluded to in the OP, the reason Yona despite a solid Nature roll was unable to identify the creatures you fought is that you've literally never seen nor heard of them on Theleos. There are monsters you're going to encounter that are entirely new to your characters. It'll be up to you to name or catalogue them. A good check will potentially give some information on what they may be susceptible to, but that part will require some trial and error.

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    "So these were, what, skullfeet? This world is already quite strange"

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    JPants wrote: »
    Kelor wrote: »
    Looking inside, the hole is almost perfectly cylindrical, webbing forming solid, sticky walls up and down which smaller spiders the size of your fist swarm up and down. Some crawl off into the forest at the disturbance, others further down the burrow to escape the afternoon light. The burrow descends a dozen feet before twisting and cutting off from view. In the faint light at the bottom you can see the end of what appears to be a silken wrapped package.

    Not wanting to descend into the spider tube crawling with spiders if at ALL possible, Lex calls out to Ellandryn, "I got something down there but i'm not exactly keen on climbing down. Got any tricks up your sleeve, wizard?"

    "If it's not too heavy, I can pull it out somewhat easily. And if that doesn't work, I can at least blow away all the smaller spiders so that they don't crawl all over you while you retrieve it." Ellandryn conjures up a hand made of swirling wind and smoke, and sends it down into the spider's hole, trying to lift the silk-wrapped package out and into the light. If that fails to work, Ellandryn will quickly light a torch (with magic) and send it down held in the Mage Hand, while slamming nigh-solid walls of air down the tunnel to brush away the spiders. Then he'll let Lex go down and get it, because "Nuh-uh."

    While that's going on, Ellandryn offers to help Sinnder examine the ... scrollcase? ... should she need any assistance later on.

    Also, before too much time passes, Ellandryn checks out the remains of the spider. He wonders if, perhaps, some of its weakening venom might be harvested before it loses potency; such a thing might be useful in creating, if not poison for use, then antitoxins to protect against similar effects.

    Alchemist training to the fore! Any particular roll you'd like me to make, @Kelor ?

    Re: treasure allocation: I think I'm the only one in Cloth armor, so it makes sense for me to take that one. There's a good chance that other people are going to be taking more attacks, though, so maybe one of our more front-line types would need the Periapt instead? If not, I won't say no to more defenses in the meantime, and we can worry about who keeps it permanently later. Yona's the only one wearing Hide, and is using a lot of Thunder powers to boot, so that fits too well with her thematically for her not to take the Hide. :D The Belt of Vigor is +1 to the amount healed, not 1 additional surge, right? In any case, I think that belongs best on one of our tanks or healers.

    Oh, and just getting a bit metagamey but it was already alluded to in the OP, the reason Yona despite a solid Nature roll was unable to identify the creatures you fought is that you've literally never seen nor heard of them on Theleos.

    Neat! I figured all such checks will come with an additional degree of difficulty.

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    Ellandryn's construct tugs at the base of the silk, but it is either anchored too heavily by the web or too heavy to lift. The wind blast slams dozens of spiders against the walls of the burrow, matting surfaces with ichor and legs.

    Make me an arcana check to assist Sinnder with the container if you like.

    No need to make a roll, anti-venom is a fairly basic draught to make. You're able to harvest enough venom to make two vials of anti-venom.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    Kelor wrote: »
    Oh, and just getting a bit metagamey but it was already alluded to in the OP, the reason Yona despite a solid Nature roll was unable to identify the creatures you fought is that you've literally never seen nor heard of them on Theleos. There are monsters you're going to encounter that are entirely new to your characters. It'll be up to you to name or catalogue them. A good check will potentially give some information on what they may be susceptible to, but that part will require some trial and error.

    I figured as much!
    captaink wrote: »
    "So these were, what, skullfeet? This world is already quite strange"

    Yona looks thoughtful as she examines one of the skullfoot corpses. "Indeed. I have never seen or heard of any creature like this, and yet I can feel that they are indeed natural creatures of this world. We have now seen both familiar animals and quite alien ones, very interesting. The people back in the city will undoubtedly be interested in this."

    Yona will use the hide armor, certainly.

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    Also Yona tries to assist with Sinnder's scroll case or whatever.
    Geth, roll 1d20+6 for Arcana

    Arcana:
    1d20+6 17 [1d20=11]

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    "Welp, that looks about as good as it's gonna get! Make sure y'all haul me up if things go sideways here

    Lex will take the rope from his adventurer's kit and tie one end securely around a nearby tree and the other around his waist (with just enough slack to get to the package and little more). Then he will descend into the pit to examine the package and retrieve it if it appears safe, taking care to not get stuck to any webbing and also as quietly as possible. If he makes the bottom without incident he will also see what he can see further down the burrow (but will not advance beyond what is needed to get the package). Once the package is in hand he will climb the rope back up.

    @Kelor Let me know i need any rolls. Speaking of, would you rather us put in a roll whenever we think we might need it, or have us wait for you to call for one? For example here I could see rolling Stealth and/or Athletics. or even a perception. but maybe that seems excessive.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    As Lex is preparing to rappel down the web hole, Yona glances up from studying the scroll case for a moment and flicks her hand in the general direction of the object and summons a minor air spirit that flies down the hole, forms a little vortex under the package and attempts to levitate it gently back out, if it is less than 20 pounds.

    BahamutZERO on
    BahamutZERO.gif
  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    If you have one you'd like to make you can feel free to make a roll. I'll request one where appropriate, but in this case assisted by the rope it's fine. If you were rushing or trying to scale the wall generally I might ask, but you know how to climb up and down a rope.

    Yona's whirlwind also fails to shift the package, for reasons that will become apparent shortly.


    Descending down into the silence of the burrow, Lex finds it surprisingly and almost uncomfortably warm. Perhaps the result of the friction of dozens of spiders brushing up against each other. The walls are carnage, what had been slightly yellowed webbing is now pasted with spiderflesh and the occasional twitching limbs. The silk wrapped package observable from the top was only partially visible. Elven eyes pierce the darkness and reveals that it is one of several carcasses cocooned in web strewn across the walls of the tunnel. Two look humanoid, one of which was viewable from above. Another is some sort of game. All look quite thin.

    The burrow continues roughly downwards, twisting at points to the side before resuming it's downward path.

  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Shuffling through his duffel, Bos moves toward the group, "I have implements for scaling."

    A ten foot pole slides out of the duffel and pangs against the ground, pitons spill, and someone can get +2 to athletics checks for climbing.

    "I would suggest tying off to something before a commit to descent."

    Edit: redundant

    joshgotro on
  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    Lex will haul himself back up to the surface and report his findings, seeking input.

    I'm down if we want to keep exploring the tunnel or trying to recover/search the corpses, but this is becoming a pretty big digression at this point. We still have a stag that might need our help and this tunnel ain't going anywhere. Either way Lex will go along with whatever the group decides.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    Yona voices her mind: "I think we should make all haste to aid the stag, but I was expecting this to be a long trip anyway and I suppose the city would be interested in those remains, if you lot wish to recover them."

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    "It might make more sense to recover those bodies when we are heading back towards the city, rather than hauling them all around the woods with us."

  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Bos shambles as he gathers his implements.

    @Elvenshae
    "If it's not too much, could you remove one of those fangs Ellandryn?

    @BahamutZERO
    "Which way little one?"

    joshgotro on
  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    "Aye, corpse duty is for the end of the campaign. To this stag, let's see how it fares"

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    Yona refreshes her memory on where they were heading. Giant redwood towering over the forest, visible above the treeline, was it?

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    Dueling maps!
    vea9s32a0x1b.png

    Found the map.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    And we are in the darkness area I take it? or on the path north of it? Alright, Yona will pathfind her way in the direction of the big redwood. If you want a check or anything lemme know.

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    We found the clearing by heading west from Eriphise, I believe. Not sure if that is in the darkness or not. Our goal was to head to the redwood and/or the river as that was our best chance of finding the Stag.

    Kelor, will you let us know if our map ends up out of whack? or are we on our own there?

  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    You can still see the redwood, no matter where you are in the forest it dominates the treeline.

    Yona judges it to be south and slightly east of your position. You have traveled a mile west of where you met Eriphise.

    With regards to the map, it's just like the good old days, you're on your own!

    Currently from the clearing the game trail returns back to Eriphise, or exits the clearing to the west where it looks like the forest starts to thin.

    Kelor on
  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Do we want to try following the trail to a river or something, or cut straight through the dangerous area to the tree? I have no idea.

    BahamutZERO on
    BahamutZERO.gif
  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    Circumvent that rage and pain.

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