Showing posts with label giant rats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giant rats. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Game log 23 January 2022, 6 February 2022, 6 March 2022, 3 April 2022, 1 May 2022: Big log two

Personae dramatis

Tulip, elf bard
Grignok, orc druid
Felcanis, elf cleric
Honsou, bowman

Quid occurrit

Angelista is weirded out by the manner of healing, so she walks off into the night. The night is otherwise uneventful. The next day, they make it to Káddrakos, after finding old caterwaul dung around midday, of which Grignok takes some.

Tulip has taken up a residence in the Winking Friar at Káddrakos. Honsou and Felcanis recognize her. Felcanis chats her up and asks her to come along, and she agrees. She mades 12 copper for the night, short change from the gnomes.

Honsou pickpockets the gnomes for 25 copper. A stooped gnome woman with wooden teeth comes up to him. "Hey, s-s-sonny, you look like my kind of boy." She leans over to his ear and whispers, "I know you have sticky fingers, dearie."

Honsou says, "Okay who doesn't?"

She says, "Who doesn't is right. Don't worry, your secret is s-s-safe with me."

Honsou asks, "Is this going to cost me?"

The woman laughs, and leads him to a booth. "S-s-s-s-sonny, I have a deal you might like. I have a few silver-coated spears that f-f-f-fell off a wagon a few weeks ago. You look like you might be the kind to want them. I think I can part with them for 100 copper each."

Honsou says, "I'll take a look at them first."

She shows off the array of spears. She has six. All the spears have a silver-plated point. One shaft has the word 'BRITNEY' carved into it. He can't get her to lower her price. The gnome woman sells him one of the spears, not the one marked "Britney." "Thank you, b-b-b-b-b-b-sonny."

The next morning they go back the way they came. It's generally clear today, a little bit warmer. Not far from the caterwaul shit, they spy a short person. He's a dwarf with no earlobes, and he scowls at them. "Stay away from my home! Especially you, orc! Watch it! I'm one of the Queen's Men!"

Tulip says, "I don't remember asking you where you work."

Grignok says, "You're a queen? I thought you were a Dwarf."

The dwarf says, "I'm no wet boy, orc!"

Grignok says, "Of course not, you're a dry dwarf. I'm the Casumaorc!"

Honsou tells everyone to calm down, but Grignok says he is calm, and that "NoWetBoy" is the upset one. He asks where the dwarf's home is, so that they can stay away, and the dwarf says that it's an old church to the south. Tulip says they'll steer clear of that. The dwarf says, "You do that, pointy-eared lembas muncher." This bothers Tulip greatly.

Grignok and the dwarf talk about theology. The dwarf says he worships Máhal, and that Grignok is "proof that Máhal has a sense of humor." Grignok says nobody is greater than the mother of the land, the Great Mork, and the dwarf says, "Mork can go back to Orson!" The dwarf storms off.

Honsou and Tulip choose to loot the dwarf's church while Grignok wants to teach him of the overlordship of the goddess Mork. So, Grignok turns into a panther and tracks the dwarf. The dward doesn't make much effort to hide his trail, so they follow him easily. Sure enough, he goes back to what looks like an old church. It looks like the church in Little House on the Prairie, only wrecked. There are a few broken windows. Tulip notices that the church is a no-mana zone, so her spells won't work. This bothers Tulip greatly.

The dwarf stands at the door. "What the hell are you all doing here? Go away, goat turds!" Honsou says they only want to see the church, but the dwarf says it's a wreck. Grignok slinks around to the back side as they talk. Honsou and Tulip ask to go inside, but the dwarf won't let them inside without paying him. Honsou asks how he wants them to pay him, and he shakes his head. "You're so simple that you couldn't sell a pie to a starving hobbit." He looks up. "Coin, how else?" After a few more words, he goes back inside and slams the door, then you hear him slamming something else. "Gah!"

Grignok jumps onto the roof and starts clawing it. Honsou climbs in through a broken window. Honsou can see him sit down on an old pew and sigh. "I so give up." Honsou creeps towards the door. Tulip keeps insulting the "half-shaved owl bear," and the dwarf mutters aloud, "Why is that tree-dweller still out there yelling at me?"

Tulip yells back, "Shut up, you dirt midget!"

Honsou opens the door, and the dwarf notices him, as the door isn't quiet. "Argh! Get out!" Grignok breaks through the roof, then tries to fall on the dwarf. He hears Grignok, then runs past Honsou and into the wild. "They're summoning pumas in my church!"

Tulip yells after him. "Yeah! Run away, you hairy brewery!"

Grignok runs around the church, knocking things over. Honsou searches, and finds seven silver pennies hidden in the lectern. He takes the money. Otherwise, there is just standard camping gear: kettle, wood axe, bedroll, that kind of stuff. Honsou takes that, too.

Grignok turns into an orc again. Honsou and Tulip talk about burning down the church. Felcanis isn't down with that, and neither is Grignok. The dwarf isn't far away, and yells out "No!" as he hears them ransack his home. "What the hell are you doing?" Honsou and Tulip heckle him some more as they tell him truthfully they're ransacking him, and the dwarf sobs. "Please stop! I'm sorry, I really am! How do you make money burning down my home?" Grignok poops on the steps to his church, then gets up, leaving an orc-sized green turd.

The dwarf rushes inside towards the lectern. "Please, I have four silver! I'll give it to you if you leave me alone!" Honsou shows the dwarf the coins, and he looks a little guilty and miffed as he sees the seven silver Honsou took. "Seems you found it." He goes inside, walks to the lectern, and looks. "Damn it!"

Honsou adds, "I also have your survival supplies."

The dwarf slams his open palm against the door frame. "Please, take my money, but leave my supplies!" Honsou asks if the dwarf has any more money, and the dwarf says, "That's it! I hunt pelts and bring them to town, and sometimes get a bounty. And I haven't gotten a bounty in awhile! You even took my bedroll!" Grignok asks him about the wood axe, and he says it's mostly for chopping up downed trees for firewood.

Grignok nods. "Hmm, that pleases Grignok. You are dumb, but wise. Why this place smell so funny?"

The dwarf realizes something. "Oh, I need to dump the honeypot." He goes and gets a big wooden bucket, then takes it outside. A minute or so later, he comes back. "Smell better now?" This doesn't sate Tulip, so he lets her take his bucket.

Grignok punches the dwarf in the arm. "We just picking with you, puny dwarf." Honsou and Tulip, however, still want to take the dwarf's stuff.

The dwarf sits on a broken pew and hangs his head down, sobbing. "I can't believe this. I have to turn to an orc for common sense!"

Grignok says, "Not all orcs are bad."

Tulip taunts, "Good, cry, you lumberfoot."

The dwarf wails, "I don't even know what that means!"

Grignok tells him, "It means your foot is made of wood. Or it's a weird Boy Scout rank." The dwarf throws him atop the stuff the murderhoboes don't take, and the murderhoboes take off.

A few hours later they see a wrecked hut with a wolf tree growing near it. The hut is little better than a thatched teepee, with the roof caved in.

Honsou pokes his head in. It's kinda moldy-smelling, and there's nothing much there.

They hear some buzzing in a hole under the roots of the tree. Tulip goes to check out the buzzing. Some swarms of wasps come out and sting her for several seconds as she runs. Grignok casts Windstorm to make the wasps fly elsewhere, and Felcanis casts Major Healing on her. "Don't do it again." 

As they get near evening, they start to see the dead wood and lack of animals that signals you're near Dībités Rock. Grignok can tell that nature is weak here. Past the trees they spot four men on horseback. Tulip looks at their banners. She thinks these riders are from the land of Dis Knee, and must have singing animals with them.

Honsou walks back by the mule. Grignok hides behind a tree. Felcanis casts Shield on Tulip. The riders move towards them. Honsou aims at the rear rider, Grignok starts casting Animate Plant, and Felcanis casts Armor on Tulip, then Sunbolt as the riders get nearer.

One rider rides up to Felcanis and misses, while another rider rides up to Tulip and misses. Honsou shoots a rider, but the arrow sticks in his mail and doesn't get through. Felcanis steps back and tosses Sunbolt at the rider, burning him. Tulip sings that the nearest rider is a douche, stunning him. She then casts Panic, making the two riders flee. When the other two come near, they bug out, too.

Felcanis casts Lend Energy to help Tulip. Honsou shoots a rider as they bolt.  Grignok finishes casting Animate Plant. "Come to me, servants of the forest!" The riders flee harder as they see the lumbering tree.

It's the evening so they camp for the night, an uneventful night. The next morning, they go into the dungeon, trekking down the tunnel out for an hour until they reach a room.

Grignok dons shiny battle armor. "It would be nice to have warrior woman here." He casts Partial Shapeshifting (Panther Paws); Felcanis casts Continual Light at torchlight level on Honsou's helmet. Grignok is no coward, but understands going first is hurtful.

Grignok checks out the passage. Ahead, there is a cliff that goes down about 10 feet. it has loads of handholds, but isn't mule-friendly. He heads back to group. "Hey, guys, come check out this cliff! It's far!"

Straight ahead Grignok sees a cavern wall. To the left, he sees a big spot with some kind of liquid, and what looks like a pond beyond this. To the right, he sees a cavern with a cliff there, too.

Honsou and Felcanis realize that the clerics led them through the area to the right. There is an empty metal trunk there that was there before. a rusty chain is linked to it, with the nearly-mummified corpse of a lizard of some kind.

They go left and see water. Near the edge of the water is a black glowing liquid in a shallow pit. Honsou jumps in while Tulip and Felcanis touch it, all get black goo on them. It does nothing, but Felcanis thinks this is some kind of alchemical goo. Some wizard was doing something with it eons ago and doesn't seem to have been finished.

Grignok goes up to the water and he casts Body of Slime. His armor falls to the ground and he turns into big green blob of goo, a grabasstic piece of amphibian shit. He jumps in the water and starts swimming.

He goes through the passage at the far end of the pool and into another pool. To the right there is a tunnel of some kind under the water. He swims through that passage, which goes for a bit, then into another cavern. He climbs out, there is a bridge here, and some old remnants of carts. If he pulls one, it will probably fall apart.

While this is going on, Felcanis notices a passage to HER right. Then she sees a big blob of slime walk out of it. Grignok ends his spell and says, "Honsou, bring me warrior armor!"

They go right and see some carts, a stream, some rocks going all the way to the ceiling and blocking the way, and a bridge across the stream. Not much is on the carts. There might have been some food or bags once, but now its dust. Once they get to the bridge, they see the passage on the other side once on it, as well as stairs going down on their bank.

They go athwart the bridge. Many bones of small rodents lie along the floor, as does the shed skin of a small snake. The follow the cavern, and after a bit it turns right, and starts being paved. There is a short flight of stairs down, ending in a door. 

The door is not trapped or locked, so Honsou opens it. The door opens into a room. A rough stone altar sits on its four round legs on a one-step dais. Standing to the left are three skeletons, with grey bones, and axes and shields. They start coming towards them.

Honsou steps and readies his bow. The skeletons move forward. Grignok moves backwards. Felcanis starts casting Turn Zombie. Tulip draws her rapier and steps.  Honsou pulls out an arrow, then moves. and the skeletons move forward. Felcanis keeps casting right behind Grignok. Tulip moves.

Honsou steps and shoots a skeleton, but the arrow gets in its shield. It tries to shield slam right back, but Honsou dodges. Another skeleton does the same, slamming down Honsou. One rushes towards Grignok, who grabs the skeleton. Felcanis casts Turn Zombie, and a skeleton flees. Tulip moves.

Honsou goes to kneeling. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp tries to break free but cannot. The other skeleton misses Grignok. Grignok keeps gripping the skeleton, and sees that its bones are made of stone. Felcanis and Tulip up.

Honsou pulls out his knife, rises, and stabs at the skeleton, but it blocks. Tulip stabs her rapier at it but can't get to the marrow of its stone bones. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp tries to break grapple again but fails, and the other skeleton misses Honsou. Grignok increases his grapple on the skeleton he holds. Felcanis casts Major Healing on Honsou. 

Honsou knifes the skeleton but it blocks again. Felcanis swings but it blocks her mace, and Tulip hooks her sword to its axe. The skeleton swings at Honsou but he parries. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp tries to wiggle free but fails. Grignok squeezes tighter on the skeleton in his hands.

Honsou stabs the skeleton but can't get through its bone. It unbinds his axe from Tulip's sword. She tries to hook her sword to its again, but cannot. Felcanis swings at it but it blocks her mace. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp fails to break free and stumbles. Grignok squeezes tighter on the skeleton.

Honsou stabs the skeleton but it parries. It tries to hit Felcanis but she parries. She smashes it, but it blocks Tulip trying to disarm it. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp cannot wiggle away from Grignok, but he can't grip it tighter.

Honsou disarms the skeleton and its axe flies near Tulip. It tries to shield bash Honsou but misses. Felcanis smashes it but cannot get through its bones. The skeleton in Grignok's grasp cannot get free, so he shoves it onto his claws and it splinters. 

Honsou and Tulip both try to de-shield the skeleton but fail. It slams its shield into Grignok cannot hurt him, so Grignok grabs it. Felcanis smashes it with her mace. Tulip tries to cut off its shield again but misses. Everyone starts piling onto it and after a few seconds, Grignok smashes it.

After they rest up, Honsou opens the door to the left. They see the skeleton Felcanis turned cowering in the corner to the right.

With the door open, they see a bend in the tunnel. To the right, there is a door. They see a cabinet at the bend ahead. Honsou checks out the cabinet, and sees that the cabinet is empty. There is a small box under the top of the cabinet that has a hole in it, with some wear around the hole. He thinks that this was once an acid trap, but someone triggered it. 

The hallway slants down and they walk around the bend, now walking parallel to the last hallway. Ahead, there is a crossroads, and to the left, before the crossroads, there is a hallway with stairs. The left hallway at the intersection ends in a door after a few feet.

They go to the door, and Honsou unlocks it. Beyond the door is a room with an old forge. Honsou spots some movement inside the forge, like little things wiggling. He sticks his hand in, and he feels a strange burrowing under his skin, with two holes on his forearm. Felcanis rushes to his side and sees that the holes are where two rot grubs had bit him. She grabs a pen knife from her first aid kit and cuts them out, then casts Major Healing on Honsou to heal the damage she did cutting them out.

They go down the hallway that was to the right when they reached the crossroads, and reach a room with a big table and benches alongside. Honsou checks for food, and no, there's the dust from bread, but even the mold has died. They go back to the crossroads and straight ahead from where they got to it. At the end of the hall, there is a long portcullis to the left, with wide gaps between the bars big enough for the seven hellshots behind it to move through.

Honsou readies his bow. Two hellshots try to slam Grignok but he steps away from one and parries the other with his hand. The others move towards the portcullis. Grignok starts casting Windstorm. Felcanis readies her mace. Tulip readies her rapier.

Honsou nocks an arrow and shoots it at a hellshot, but it bounces off the thick skin. One hellshot tries to stab Grignok with its spear, but he steps away. Another stabs Felcanis, and wounds her chest. A third comes from between the portcullis bars and slams into Honsou, while a fourth does the same to Tulip, but doesn't hit her hard enough to hurt. A fifth one tries to slam into Felcanis, but she dodges and it slams into the wall.

Grignok casts Windstorm, making a mini-tornado, and most of the hellshots fall down, other than the ones outside its winds and the one standing in the middle. Two of their spears go flying out of the tornado and hit the walls. Felcanis steps away. Tulip stabs one in the innards, but can't get through its skin, then steps back.

Honsou steps back and shoots at a hellshot nearby, but the arrow goes flying in the tornado. The hellshot in the eye of the storm stays put. Another tries to slam Honsou, but he steps away, while a third stabs Felcanis, nicking her. Grignok moves the tornado, nocking down two more hellshots, and one loses his spear, which flies over Honsou's head. Felcanis moves away. Tulip tries to stab a downed hellshot in the innards, but misses. Honsou shoots a standing hellshot in the guts with a bodkin arrow, and it gets through.

One hellshot stabs Grignok and nicks him. Another starts to stand up. The others are stuck in the tornado. Grignok moves the tornado, knocking down the last standing hellshots, and the others beat the snot out of the hellshots over the next few seconds, killing them.

Felcanis casts Stop Bleeding and Major Healing on herself. She casts Minor Healing on Honsou after a failure. 

They find nothing in the room behind the portcullis. They rest up, then go back past the crossroads and up the stairs.

An old workshop overlooks the stairs. There are some rotten saw horses, and an old workbench with a rusted saw on it. Honsou takes the saw. Ahead is a hallway that turns, as well as a door. Beyond the door is a privy with four dead bodies. 

Honsou finds a glass vial filled with brindled mint-green fluid on one of the bodies. Felcanis thinks this is a Major Healing Potion. She drops a couple of drops from the potion on the body, and it leaves a couple drops of green splotches with little faded bits of brown.

In the hall there is a slot running along the floor on the left side of the hall. It is 6 inches wide, 6 inches deep, and has a deeply rounded bottom. It runs the length of the hallway in this area. Down the hall, they see a hallway to the right, with a stairway going up in it. Ahead of them they see a couple of bunkbeds with the mattresses rotted away.

They go up the stairs to the right. At the top of the stairs, there is a door, and Honsou unlocks it. Beyond the door is an old room where folks kept weapons, and there are still rusty blades here. Honsou takes a big rusty knife.

On the wall to the right of where they came into the room is an opening to another room, with four alcoves—the one leading into this room, and three others. The iron frames of three bunkbeds in here, one in each alcove. They find nothing in the beds but Honsou sees that if he moves the bed on the far wall, something will happen. So Honsou moves the bed, and the wall slides.

Beyond the wall is a room with three cabinets ahead and to the right, and a way out to the left. Between the hoboes and any of this is a beast with many little legs and a ten-foot long segmented body. Eight writhing two-foot long tentacles come out of its head, right below its mandibles and toothy mouth. A stench of rotten meat is all over this beast.

The carrion crawler moves towards the group. Honsou gets out his bow. Grignok starts casting Lightning. Felcanis casts Sunbolt. Tulip holds her rapier before her.

Honsou shoots and his bodkin arrow gets in the innards of the carrion crawler. Grignok finishes casting Lightning. Felcanis tosses the Sunbolt at the crawler, but it flies past and bursts beyond it.

The carrion crawler's tentacles flail at Honsou, but do not land. Grignok moves around. Felcanis starts casting Sunbolt. Honsou pulls out his rusty knife and stabs, but misses.

The carrion crawler's again tentacles flail at Honsou, and again do not hit him. Grignok tosses Lightning at the crawler, burning it and stunning it. Felcanis finishes casting Sunbolt.

Honsou stabs at the crawler, and nicks it. It steps back. Grignok grapples the crawler. Felcanis lobs Sunbolt at the crawler, burning it. Tulip steps and stabs the crawler, nicking it.

Honsou stabs at the crawler, nicking it. Grignok keeps holding it tighter. Tulip tries to stab it, but can't get through its armor.

The carrion crawler's tentacles try to touch Honsou, but cannot. From there, Felcanis shield bashes it, Honsou and Tulip poke at it, and Grignok squeezes it. After a few seconds, Grignok rips its head off. He smears some of its guts on his cheek bones.

The room itself has a wrecked trophy case along the far wall to the right, with one trophy still in it as it is bolted to a plank. The trophy is a brass one of a man throwing a big ball from an underhand pose.

In the case is a small trunk as well. Honsou thinks taking or opening the trunk will trigger something. Grignok lifts the trunk, and falls seven yards into a pool of water. He summons an air elemental and it lifts him out, then shakes an airy finger at him.

Also in the trophy case is a small chest. In it are two bronze rings, a 3-kt iolite, a 4.5-kt ruby, and 25 copper farthings.

After some rest, they delve to the left and walk a few yards before the hallway turns towards the right. It then angles upwards, and they find themselves at the bottom of a well. Honsou looks around, and there are no coins, and no sunlight coming down.

Honsou can easily climb up the well; it isn't deep. At the top, it looks somewhat familiar. He sees they are underground, like a massive rock is covering a whole human settlement. Ahead and to the right is a big door. After a few minutes of looking around, he realizes this is the level right under the keep.

He wanders ahead and comes to a small house. He remembers the door here is heavy and locked, but cannot pick the lock so pours some acid onto it. As it burns, he goes to get the others. To bring the others up, Grignok summons an air elemental.

Once the acid has burned through the lock, Honsou opens the door. Inside the room, there is a woman in armor. She is stocky with a cleft chin and straight chestnut brown hair over her ears and her nose is broken and bloodied. The woman says, "Hoo are doo? My dame is Mēnébē." Grignok conjures a bit of wind to make his handsome orc hair flow. Mēnévē looks at him. "Wat da fung is dat orc? Dose fuggez bead me up and fugged dup my dose wen dey grabbed me!"

Grignok asks, "Grabbed you for what? I can get your nose fixed if ya like."

Mēnévē shrugs, "Beez da fugg owda me! I was dust passing drough da woods and saw da dead drees. Ow you gonna fix my fuggin dose?" Grignok asks Felcanis to heal Mēnévē's nose, but Felcanis says doesn't know the Restoration spell. "Fug id. Dere's nuddin here 'cept in da one doom. Don't go indo da one doom. My buddy Ádilos wen in dere an 'e poofed. Dere's a drunk in dere, but is a drap. You step in an poof you fuggin gone."

The gang goes into the next room, then opens the door to the right in that about which room Mēnévē told them. First Honsou steps in, and he disappears, then the others follow, though Mēnévē does not.

All of them show up before a marble altar shape of a box, with a big slab under it, sitting on the floor, with a wall on the other side. Honsou tries lifting the altar, but it's too heavy. After some chatter, Felcanis thinks the altar heals. She leads Bill up to it, and he vanishes. Once he does, Grignok lies down on the altar to save Bill, and also vanishes.

Grignok finds himself and Bill back in the room. Mēnévē stands on the other side of the threshold, and asks, "Wadda fug habben doo you?"

Grignok says, "Poofs, like you said."

Mēnévē asks, "How doo gebbak?"

Grignok says, "With more poofs. I don't know how it works, it just poofs and then you poof somewhere else."

Mēnévē asks, "Is Ádilos dere?"

Grignok asks, "What's Ádilos?"

Mēnévē says, "My fuggin buddy doo soo!"

Grignok says he didn't see anyone, and asks what he looks like. Mēnévē says that Átilos has a unibrow. Grignok says that she can come with and take a look for him with them. She dithers, then steps into the room and disappears.

Once she is gone, Grignok checks out the chest. He opens the chest; it's unlocked. Inside are 30 copper farthings, 5 silver pennies, and 3 gold pieces. Grignok stuffs them in the saddle bags, then walks out of the room with Bill, then back inside, and then he shows up again at the altar.

The floor has sand over it. There are footprints, some old ones, most recent are a few days old. The floor slants upwards to each side. They go up to the left, and they reach the same spot and there they see a bunch of dead bodies. Grignok nudges a body with a foot. "Looks like they are mushroom buffet now."

Mēnévē yells out, "Ádilos! Fug! I shoudda wen widdim." Grignok tells her that she would have ended like him had she done so.

They check the bodies. There are five bodies other than Átilos's. Átilos has battered heavy leather armor, a bow, and a warhammer, like Mēnévē, and she takes his gear. The other bodies each have cloth armor, a grapnel, a light cloak, basic lockpicks, a pistol crossbow, a smallsword. They also typically have some rope and other survival gear.

They loot the bodies, getting 145 copper off the dead thieves as well as their gear. As they loot, they hear tittering behind a door to the left. Honsou picks the cheap lock and opens the door. Behind the door are six hellshots.

He moves back and Mēnévē readies her warhammer. A hellshot slams Honsou and hurts him, but he stays up. Another tries to slam Felcanis, but she steps away. The others hold their spots. Grignok casts Windstorm. Felcanis readies her mace and Tulip readies her rapier. Tulip sings, "Red boy, rent boy, ha-ha, charade you are!" which stuns a hellshot. 

Honsou pulls out his knife and swings at a hellshot, but misses. Mēnévē steps and swings her warhammer at the stunned hellshot, greatly wounding it. The impaled hellshot stabs Honsou, hurting him. Another little guy steps and stabs at Felcanis and she steps away. A third slams her, wounding her a little, while a fourth rushes her with her spear but misses. The last two hold back.

Grignok moves Windstorm over three hellshots, all fall, one loses its spear. Felcanis and Honsou both step back. Tulip steps back and calls a hellshot a scruffy looking nerf-herder, which does nothing. Mēnévē pulls out her pick out of the hellshot, and it passes out. A hellshot tries to slam Mēnévē but she steps away.

Grignok grows his Windstorm, knocking down a hellshot. Felcanis whacks a downed hellshot. Tulip and Honsou both stab a hellshot but doesn't get through the tough skin. Grignok keeps up his spell, holds it. 

Four hellshots are in the whirlwind, one is out, and a fifth one is watching, not running. As such, the heroes have an easy time killing them off.

They go into the room, which was living space for servants, with three low beds. Felcanis casts Stop Bleeding on herself, and heals Honsou with Stop Bleeding and Major Healing as they rest.

They check the door to the right, and it's locked, so Honsou picks the lock. They walk down the hallway, and turn left.

They walk past a curtain, and Felcanis peeks behind the curtain, and she sees some movement, with the light shining past and lighting up what looks like fur. Felcanis backs up, but that won't help hide her now, as  behind the curtain are five giant rats.

Honsou pulls out his bow and shoots a giant rat, but it dodges. The rats rush forward. One nips at Mēnévē and another at Tulip, but both miss. Mēnévē steps back and swings her warhammer at a giant rat, and the pick goes in. Grignok casts Lightning. Felcanis steps and waits. Bill moves forward a few yards. Tulip steps and stabs the rat nearest her. Honsou shoots a nearby rat.

Two rats try to bite Mēnévē, and one wounds her. Another two rats rush to bite Tulip, but neither hurt her. The last rat misses Mēnévē, who pulls out her pick. Grignok lobs a lightning bolt at a rat near Tulip, burning but not killing it. Felcanis smacks a rat with her mace. Tulip steps back and pokes a rat, but can't hurt it. Honsou steps back, draws an arrow, and shoots a rat.

One of the rats falls from its wounds. Two rats step and try to bite Mēnévē, but miss. Another tries to grab her, but also misses. The last tries to bite Felcanis, but she steps back and gets her mace in the way. Mēnévē steps and swings at the most hurt rat in the fray, but misses. Grignok steps to the back and tries to cast Frostbite, but the spell fizzles. Felcanis smacks a rat with her mace. Tulip steps and stabs at a rat, but misses.

Honsou pulls out his knife and stabs a rat, which falls to the ground as he slashes it, hurt but not out. The rat tries to bite Honsou back, but can't get through his armor. Another tries to bite Tulip, but runs into the wall, hurting its teeth. A third tries to bite Mēnévē, but she steps away. The last bites Tulip, wounding her. Grignok casts Frostbite again, this time getting the spell off. Felcanis tries to smack a rat with her mace but misses. Tulip steps back warily. Bill edges forward. Honsou tries to swing at a rat, but his weapon turns in his hand.

One rat falls from its wounds. Another tries to bite Tulip, but she steps back. The third tries to do the same to Mēnévē, who also steps back. The last rushes to bite Tulip, but misses Mēnévē readies her weapon. Grignok grabs a rat's head from behind, making its brain freeze from Frostbite, killing it. Felcanis smashes the downed rat to the back of the head. Tulip steps back and tries to stab the rat, but misses. Honsou rushes to stab a rat, and knocks it down.

The one standing rat starts to run away. Mēnévē swings her pick into the downed rat. Grignok casts Lightning. Felcanis smashes the downed rat to the back of the head. Tulip turns, steps, and stabs, but can't hurt the rat. Honsou steps the downed rat in the innards. The last two rats drop from their wounds.

Mēnévē looks ill from the rat bite. Grignok looks at her, and says it's sewer rot and casts Cure Disease on her. Felcanis casts Major Healing on both Mēnévē and Tulip. They rest for 20 minutes before going into the next room.

They poke around, going up some stairs, when Felcanis and Honsou realize they've been through this part of the dungeon before. They go back down the stairs and down a short flight that stops at a wall. Honsou quickly understands that this is a secret door, and Felcanis backs up as he looks for a way to open the door. Honsou finds that he can push on the lower tiles of the brick wall and lift up the wall.

Beyond the door are a bunch of barrels and four big toads with sharp teeth. Honsou pulls out his bow. One toad rushes Grignok and tries to bite him, but he steps back. Another toad rushes Tulip and tries to bite her. She shoves her fist in the way, but it bites her body anyways. Mēnévē readies her warhammer. Grignok casts Lightning. Felcanis readies her mace and shield. Tulip steps out of the way. Honsou pulls out an arrow.

One toad tries to bite Honsou, but his armor stops the teeth. Two more toads try to rush and bite Felcanis, but neither one hurts her. Mēnévē tries to hit one of the toads by Felcanis, but misses. Grignok steps and zaps the toad by Honsou. Felcanis hits a toad with her mace. Tulip pulls out her rapier and tries to stab a toad, but misses. Honsou shoots a nearby toad, dropping it to the ground but not taking it out.

A toad bites Tulip before she can step away. Another toad tries to bite Mēnévē, but she steps away, her back now against "Bid da mood." The last tries to bite Honsou but misses. Mēnévē readies her warhammer. Grignok casts Lightning. Felcanis hits a toad with her mace. Tulip steps back, as does Bill. Honsou steps back and shoots a toad, but misses and instead hits Felcanis in the leg.

The toad on the ground starts to stand. Another bites Mēnévē, as does a third. The last bites Grignok from behind, but cannot get through his armor. Mēnévē steps, turns, and swings her warhammer at a toad. It still stands, but has her warhammer in it. Grignok steps back and lobs his lightning from behind at a toad, burning and stunning it. Felcanis hits a toad with her mace, killing it. Tulip pokes at a toad but misses. Bill will backs away. Honsou shoots a toad in its innards, dropping it but not killing it.

One toad hops back towards the room. Mēnévē tries to pull out her pick but cannot. Grignok kicks a toad in the head, dropping it. Felcanis steps behind the frog hopping into the room, dropping it. Tulip tries to stab the nearest toad in the innards, but cannot get past its breast bone. Honsou whips out his knife and stabs the toad in the head, killing it.

Grignok licks the toad and finds it tastes bad. Grignok bandages Felcanis. Felcanis casts Major Healing on Mēnévē and Tulip. They rest up, with Grignok casting Shapeshifting (Panther) on himself after a bad first casting and Felcanis casting Lend Energy to help get Grignok back strength.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

19 April and 2 May 2020: Rats! Fatigue!

Dramatis personae


Horace, wizard
Felcanis, elf cleric
Jiro, swordswoman
Lucdalen, elf-hating elf wizard/thief
Kurt, hobbit fighter

Quid occurrit


The party makes it to the door, and Horace remembers something about a second front door behind the first in his reading about the Cairn. Lucdalen casts Detect Magic and finds no magic on the door, but finds some kind of non-magical trap near the top. As the door is locked, Lucdalen casts Mage Hand and tries to pick the lock with it, but fails. So, he shrugs and casts Lockmaster. Problem solved, but … no second door. Suspicious, Horace casts See Secrets and finds the second door at the ceiling, right behind the first, and going to slam down on anyone who walks through the first door. Lucdalen, however, disables the trap.

The group plans to rest a bit after its wizards have cast spells, but Felcanis casts Lend Energy to help speed the resting.

Speeding this up to skip the rest is good because once they step inside, they see some scurrying on the floor from four giant rats, amazed to see light from the door (though some comes from the east). While Jiro hangs back, Kurt runs up to a rat and grabs it, trying to get a new mount. Horace casts Armor 2 on Lucdalen, while Felcanis tries to run up to a rat and smack it with her mace, and misses. Kurt and the rat keep up their wrestling match, while Horace casts Shield 1 on Jiro. The other three rats back away, while the rat with Kurt tries to bite him, and doesn’t do anything from the hobbit-hold. Jiro at last runs up to Kurt’s rat, and sticks her sword into him (the rat has a big set of rat balls). The rat stays awake, but Lucdalen ends his life with Steal Vitality.

After this, the group rests for a half hour, and nothing shows up in that time. They choose to go through a door to their west, which Lucdalen doesn’t think has any traps. Kurt goes into the room, which is empty with no other ways out, and walks around, looking for stuff. Instead, once he tries to go out, he steps on a floor tile which triggers a trap, which unleashes a rain of darts on his left hand and left leg. However, owing to his armor, these darts only go “ping ping ping” instead of hurting him. Lucdalen goes inside to see what he missed, and finds that the trap is out of darts. He also finds that there are some cheesecloth wrappers and crumbs that someone threw into a corner, and these wrappers do not have the layer of dust that the rest of the room has all over it. Horace again casts See Secrets, and finds none in this room.

Then the group goes down a short flight of stairs to the east into the lighted area. They see that this lighted area is a big garden, with Continual Sunlight or something akin all over the ceiling and raising the mana of the area. There’s a stream to their east, running from the outside (they saw a stream outside, so this is presumably the same one) and a bridge going over it, and on that bridge are two ogres. The ogres, whose call each other Grog and Ugh, are grousing about not killing a rat and going hungry, and do not see the heroes. Jiro moves hand over hand alongside the bridge, trying to sneak up on the ogres, but Kurt throws his axe at them, missing them and letting them know he’s there. The ogres, hungry, move to fight Kurt. Felcanis casts Shield 3 on herself, while Lucdalen also starts casting a spell. Felcanis’s spell leads Ugh to say that he doesn’t like “magic woman” because she is “like big snake woman!” while Grog says he doesn’t like either the magic woman or the big snake woman. Horace casts a small Fireball, which burns bright in his hand, while Felcanis fires up a Sunbolt. Kurt throws another axe, which hits Ugh in the leg, and when Grog and Ugh try to rush Kurt and smack his head with their mauls, Ugh’s maul handle breaks. Horace lobs his little Fireball which whizzes past Kurt and the ogres, while Felcanis’s Sunbolt goes past Grog and hits Ugh. Not a good day for Ugh, since he also didn’t kill a rat earlier, by his own admission. Lucdalen gets off his Sleep spell on Grog, who passes out, then Kurt swings his pick into Ugh’s innards, taking him down.

After resting a bit, Horace checks out the nearest tree. It’s an alder tree whose catkins have black-and-blue stripes, which are not normal. Kurt sees some more giant rats beyond the tree, and throws his axe at them, missing them. Kurt then goes to get back his axe, and two of the rats bite into his armor when he does so. The rats swarm around Kurt, and three try to bite but somehow do not hit him (two miss critically, as it happens; I figure the chance of all three rats missing is 1-in-1,260). Kurt whips out another axe and tries to hit a rat but slips and falls, then misses with his mace and axe again while on the ground. Lucdalen steps behind a rat and stabs it from behind with his spear. That rat starts to back off a bit and the others try to bit Kurt in the chinks in his armor, but get nowhere. Horace, bored, casts a small Fireball, while Kurt at last hits a rat with his axe and mace. Lucdalen misses with his spear and Horace hits a wounded rat with his Fireball, which passes out while the others panic and flee from the fire.

After some rest, Horace looks at another tree, which has oddly long-and-pointed cones. This puzzles him, though he does recall that the goddess Rōripermónē sent a servitor to watch over the garden.

Lucdalen spots a door and unlocks it. Horace thinks the room might be part of a temple of tome farming-oriented sect, and recalls that the room has a 1-yard wide hole in the ground with a metal spinner at the top and a big fan blade at the bottom. Maybe they churned butter in it. Anyways, they try to go into the room, and Kurt feels a magical hand keeping him from going inside, though Lucdalen has no problems. Lucdalen and Horace feel some kind of weird magic with the door. Lucdalen casts Suspend Magic on the doorway, which lets Kurt and the others go through the door.

All this spell casting makes the gang rest. As it does so, a man-sized viper slithers through the door. Kurt tries to grab it, but misses, and the snake backs off. The gang keeps resting.

Lucdalen sends a Wizard Eye through an ajar door to the north and sees a big slab floating three feet above the ground. After telling this to Horace, Horace peeks and sees the slab, and thinks the slab is made of pure magic, and it’s at the height of a big banquet table. Lucdalen sends the Wizard Eye into another room, and sees many puddles of a clear liquid as well as a wooden sign in a strange tongue by the door.

Res aliae


This was two sessions worth, which is a grind since the group is spellcaster-heavy. Using the fatigue rules as-written and making sure random encounters happen while characters are resting is a way to make sure those spellcasters don't overcome everything, and Lucdalen and Horace are both built to bypass challenges. Fatigue is also a hassle to track for those who aren't used to handling a spellcaster.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Game log 10 February 2018: Don't poke the pudding!

Dramatis personae


Xóran, fox-man scout
Kim, thief
Mayhem, short barbarian
Ash, squire
Áttikos, holy warrior of the sun god
Grymalkus, whiny cleric of the war god
Caleb, wizard
Kôštē, cleric of the farming goddess

Quid occurrit


As they walked through the halls, they chatted among themselves as to how to handle the "demon dolls." They thought a shield wall would be best.

They walked back to the room where they had fled from the pudding, and sure enough, they had a chance to put this to work as there was a doomchild there. After the first volley of arrows and fireballs, the little doomchild bum-rushed them.

Mayhem stepped out from behind the shield wall, grabbed the doomchild, and tossed him back to whence it came. Its ass burst open as it landed, making it go boom well away from the heroes. Doomchild handled.

After Kôštē patched up Mayhem's booboo from the doomchild's knife, they pushed onward. After winding through a few rooms and Kim not finding any secret doors in any dead ends, they found themselves looking at five doomchildren.

The opening volley all missed, and sure enough, the doomchildren bum-rushed them again. This time, they all missed, and were now before the shield wall. Ash took a poke (Defensive Attack) from behind the wall, and … kaboom! It hurt, but the shields did take some of the damage.

After some more patching up—Mayhem especially took some bone fragments—they rested for a bit, letting Kôštē get back some oomph. They pushed farther inside, looking for the stairs to lead them down to the Workdesk of Doom or whatever it was, with Kim always looking for hidden doors. After a turn to the north, they ran into six big rats. The rats, however, did little but get a lone tooth on Áttikos, while Mayhem and Caleb (with Acid Jet) each took out a rat and Ash took out two before the not-so-little buggers fled.

So, back to wandering. In one room, which had a rotten drapery in its doorway, six striges flew inside. They must not have been hungry, since they flew back out, squawking.

Mayhem squawked back.

Kim's hunt for hidden doors did pay off not long after this. A big wooden chest was in the corner, but Kim's hand went through the chest as if it were air. Caleb looked at it, and found that the chest was truly three feet to the left of where it seemed to be. Kim figured out how to open the chest, and found 90 copper and 50 silver inside. Grymalkus told her not to take the loot. "It's a tomb! It's burial treasure! We're not grave robbers!"

Mayhem, however, said, "Yeah, we are."

After taking the loot, they wound through even more twists and turns, then stopped at a door. Kim listened at the door, and heard a gurgle behind it. After some chatter, she kicked open the door, and behind it was a grey pudding, much like the one they had seen before.

Mayhem and Xóran wanted no part of this. "Stay away from dookie!" yelled Mayhem. Xóran thought the "whelp" (Grymalkus) should handle this if he wanted to fight it, and ate some snake jerky. As always, Kôštē hung back with them, both because she didn't think fighting the pudding was worth it, and because she wanted to be ready if the pudding hurt someone.

The pudding could withstand their blows, but had a hard time landing blows itself. Caleb's Create Steam on the pudding did slowly sap it of some health, but he ducked back after a few spells. Ash did the most harm, leading Mayhem, while digging in his pack to make a Molotov cocktail, to yell, "Mom, he's poking the pudding!"

At last, however, the pudding landed a blow on Attikos, who fell right away. Caleb scorched it with Acid Jet, but the pudding moved onto Attikos and at that time, Xóran and Mayhem knew they had to help out. They helped Ash wail on it, while Caleb, again trying to hit it with Acid Jet, lost his footing, and stumbled past it trying to keep standing and wound up scorched in his own Create Steam. The pudding smacked Kim, who somehow stayed standing, but had to stagger back a few yards. Xóran tried to grab Attikos from under the pudding but couldn't win a test of strength with the pudding. It was looking bad, and then …

The pudding blinked out.

Stunned from their sudden luck, they healed up, and luckily the striges, which flew past again, weren't hungry.

Res aliae


Did I give them three points or four points? Well, to tell the truth, in all this time since the session I kinda lost track myself. But, considering that I'm the game master and can kill characters for no good reason, you gotta ask yourself one question: "Did he give three points or four?" Well, how many, punk?

The striges kept getting good reactions to the party, being as that they weren't in their lair room. I interpreted that as having eaten. No, I'm not trying to be kind; they could have taken them out easily.

The fight with the pudding was one that only happened the way it happened because folks were playing more than one character. (Well, other than Steph playing Mayhem only.) I'm pretty sure Roman would have had Xóran jump into the fight earlier had he only been playing Xóran, as doing nothing is boring.

Anyways, as Kim had made her Hearing roll and, as the pudding wasn't trying to be quiet, she heard something. As the murderhoboes weren't trying to be quiet, it heard them, and tried to time its coming to the material world with them showing up, but, having only IQ 4 (which is brilliant among slimes, remember), timed it wrong as the gang talked about goodness knows what before opening the door. So it wasn't quite as deadly as it could have been, seeing as that everyone always got defense rolls and, with skill 14 to strike, it wasn't making any Deceptive Attacks. It kept taking damage, but Damage Reduction and high

I do now see Kromm’s comment about how the grey pudding could have taken Attikos with it to the astral plane (I was thinking it had to kill him first), but Joe wasn’t there and so Roman was running Attikos, so I wouldn’t have pulled that on someone not there. But now it’s out there for next time, so don't put missing players' characters in the way of grey puddings. Or your own, for that matter.

I might write an easy overview of GURPS combat for my players, especially Steph, who is having trouble with the whole second-by-second nature. She wasn't happy about taking range penalties at 10 yards, as Mayhem hadn't aimed.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Game log for 30 January 2017: It's booty time, booty time, 'cross the lands of Nandêmē

Dramatis personae


Xóran, fox-man ranger
Caleb, wizard
Mayhem, pint-sized barbarian
Ash, squire
Kim, thief

cum


Kôštē, cleric
Villûdē, guide

Quid occurrit


Caleb sensed the podium was magical. After some fretting, Xóran got curious about the podium, and touched it himself. It did nothing to him. Caleb put some paper on the lectern, and it fell into the podium. Same thing happened when Kim put the owl idol she stole from the other room on the lectern. Kim also prodded the lectern with a centipede's body and one of her arrows, and both came out. So, Caleb stuck his hand into the lectern, and it went past the top like it was air. He fished out his notes, Kim's owl idol, and a jar, which had 110 copper farthings and 7 gold pieces in it.

They went back into the altar room, then went through the other door. They walked through a banquet hall with old wooden benches and tables, then down a hall to a bedroom with a rotten four-poster bed, then from there down another hall. After walking about 20 feet down that hall, Villûdē, Mayhem, Caleb, and Xóran smelled an odd smell, and brought their hands to the faces, or at least weathered the gas that made the smell. Ash, Kim, and Kôštē, however, lost their sight as the gas hit their faces.

The sighted led the blind back to the banquet hall, and sat them down on the benches. They sat the blind on the floor when they found that the benches crumbled under their weight. Kôštē couldn't diagnose her own problem, though Caleb knew the gas was an alchemical gas. They chose to make camp. First, they tried going upstairs, but found that a rain storm was happening. So, they went back to the foyer to go to sleep. That night, Caleb had a nightmare about beavers striking him, but they kept away if he hewed near a wall. Kôštē couldn't see, but cast Watchdog right where she lay down to hopefully nab anything that got near. Luckily, nothing came.

(And the dice made sure of that. I have random encounters happening on a 7 or less on 3d, with a clue on an 8. For a long rest, I add +2, then the modifier from the Speed/Range Table, reading "yards" as "hours." Eight hours should be +6—+4 from 8-10 hours, and +2 from making 1 hour a zero rather than a -2. I suppose I should come up with a possibility of multiple encounters, like a second one for every 4 less rolled than the target number. Regardless, I rolled 18.)

The next day, they awoke, and found that the blind could now see. They went back to the room with the four-poster bed, and most everyone stayed there while Xóran and Mayhem went down the hall to see if they could find the gas. Xóran's fox nose smelled the gas, and once they stopped short, they easily found the flagstone that triggered the gas and pulled it up.

However, as they were doing this, the last few minutes of Kôštē's Watchdog spell caught some bother. Thus, nobody was surprised when three giant rats wandered towards them. The heroes made short work of two of the rats, while the third fled.

Kim ran after it.

The rat ran much faster than Kim, which didn't stop her. However, as she started to run out of the laboratory, she jumped back from a fuzzy pseudopod that lunged out at her. Hardly able to see, Kim shot three arrows at the jelly, stepping back as she did so. She drew her sword and missed with it before realizing that there was almost nothing she could do to the jelly, being as she could hardly see it. Thus, she ran back to the others.

The gang went forward, and walked down the hallway with the trap wrecked. After a turn, they walked into a room with a stone man, a dial and slot on a wall, a pillow below the slot, and a sword without a hilt. The stone man said to them, "Greetings. Would you like to play Swords and Ladders?"

The stone golem showed them how the game worked. The golem put the hilt-less sword into the slot, then started turning the dial. After three seconds, the slot let the sword go, falling onto the pillow. The one who made the sword fall straightest won, and the bet was a gem. If the player won, the golem said the game would twin the gem. If the golem won, it smashed the gem.

Kim tried three times. The first time was a tie, leading to nothing happening, while the next two times, the golem won. Both times it won, it smashed her gem. She chose to quit rather than spend her last gem, and gathered as much gem dust as she could.

From there, they went back to the foyer, and went into the privy that they had shut the other day. This time, Kim, Ash, and Mayhem lost their breakfast, and the rats started to fight them. However, the heroes made short work of the rats, even while Mayhem puked through the fight. Xóran took some damage, but Kôštē could not heal it at all, leaving the wound looking good but still hurting. After the fight, Kim opened a small box neared the toilet, and found 7 piece of gold.

Seeing no sign of the armor, they chose to look through rooms into which they had went the last time they were in the dungeon. When they got to the pantry, Kim looked into the cooking pot on the floor, and found a dial in it. After finding that they could not lift the pot, Kim turned the dial. The water pipes in the wall shifted, and when they met, everyone could see the door, which they could easily open. They walked down a short hall and found a room empty other than a rusted cage, then walked into a cave with a big chasm in the middle, a bridge athwart the chasm, a pool before the bridge, and a glimmer of light from their spell beyond the bridge.

They took a better look toward the glimmer. It was coming off metal. The metal of a breastplate.

Caleb talked about his dream, and they chose to give the pool a wide berth, sticking first near the wall then near the chasm as they made it to the bridge. Kim and Caleb checked out the bridge, and saw that it was rickety. Kim chose to try it, and slowly went over it. Ash and Mayhem tied together the ropes of the gang, and then around Ash's waist, and Ash started over the bridge when he saw that Kim was almost over the bridge.

When Ash made it to the end of the bridge, a wave of slowness hit him. As far as he could tell, Kim was moving fast as she walked towards the armor. She jumped like lightning as a spear shot out of the floor at her, and then gas flooded out and hid her from him.

Kim, however, saw Ash standing like an idiot, and walked towards the armor. She jumped away from a spear, then held her breath as the fumes from a gas started to pour out over her. She deftly leapt to the armor and back, grabbing it as she did so, then moved back through the gas towards the bridge, with only a lone spear going along the back of her armor. Kim waved to the others to pull Ash slowly over the bridge then, when he was over and out of the spell, she walked back over.

As they walked out, Caleb saw that the armor, which was a breastplate with a bit of beads along the edges, a painting of an ape roaring on the middle, and the faint smell of blood, was magical.

Res aliae


This was the first time that the random rolls for Weirdness Magnet worked in their favor. I had kept forgetting to use the results in game for many weeks, and almost forgot again, only telling them a bit after the dream. But it had always been the dream. Feels like cheating, truth be told, as the terrible dire demon beavers are nasty, though the trap was theoretically tough. The rolls were with them, however—Kim and Ash didn't make the bridge fall down, and Kim did well with the trap near the armor, resisting the fatigue damage from the gas that could have made her fall down. Kim and Caleb didn't make the Per-based Architecture roll, but I didn't hide that the bridge was rickety. Seemed like something that would be plain to me.

Breaking Bridge


Every time someone new steps on the old bridge, roll 1d. If the roll is less than or equal to the number of folks on the bridge, the bridge falls apart.

Detect: Per-based Architecture at +2.
Disarm: No.
Circumvent: No, unless someone finds another way over the chasm. The jump is 20 yards, making it unlikely.
Evade: The last fellow who got on the bridge can Dodge at +1, as can the first person if more than three folks are on the bridge.
Effects: 6d crushing from the 45-yard fall.
Shots: 1.
Rearm: No.
Steal: No.
Offensive Rating: 27.

Armor Trap


The armor is on a stand on the far side of the bridge. This trap activates once someone is on the side with the armor and no one is on the bridge (or the bridge has broken).

Detect: Per-based Thaumatology, or Per + Magery for mages, at -2.
Disarm: Dispel Magic (resists at skill 20).
Circumvent: Someone can stay on the bridge, if it still stands.
Evade: Dodge to get out of the way of the spears. Anyone who has Decreased Time Rate (see below) is at -2.
Effects: Resist Will or get Decreased Time Rate (p. B129) as long as you are on this side of the chasm. Everyone regardless must keep away from the spears that shoot up from the floor every 2 yards. Roll 1d each second for each person who moves at least 2 yards. On a 1-2, a spear comes out of the floor and does 1d+1 impaling damage unless he dodges as above. Once someone is within 2 yards of the armor, all hexes within 5 yards of the armor stand fill with gas. Resist HT or take 2d fatigue damage. Holding your breath can help; make a Smell roll at -4 to notice the gas fast enough to do so.
Shots: Infinite.
Rearm: Automatic.
Steal: No.
Offensive Rating: 54.

They don't know how much the armor is worth, but it is one of the first bits of magical treasure they have found. Whether they keep it or sell it is up to them, though a breastplate would only be a boon to one character, likely Ash. They need to get it out of the swamp, regardless.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Game log for New Years Day 2017: Rats!

Dramatis personae

Caleb, wizard
Mayhem, barbarian
Kim, thief
Ash, squire
Kôštē, cleric (NPC)
Villûdē, guide (NPC)

Quid occurrit

Caleb woke up the next day, still weak. Kôštē slugged a potion, and Caleb went looking for herbs to help her. He found some horehound, and cast Create Steam to help her lungs. Mayhem moved the camp a mile away, and the gang gathered food all day.
They started walking to the south the next morning. They soon saw a beast as big as an ox, with shaggy red fur and a bald head. Caleb gathered this was the santer, which Villûdē said was right. "The banter won't do anything to you if you don't do anything to it."
Kim perked up. "So can we touch it?"
Villûdē said, "That might count as doing something to it."
It bolted away after a few seconds, but Mayhem picked up its trail. They followed it all that day and the next. While they were camping on second night of following its path, they heard some howling to the southeast, albeit from afar. Nothing came for them, however, and they picked up its trail again the next day. At midday, the santer did come near them, but bolted again.
The morning after that they came to the wreck of a tower. Kim found a big stone in the floor that had a slim gap around it, so Mayhem and Ash lifted it to show a trapdoor. It was not locked, so they opened it and all went down after tying up their horses.
They went down the stairs under the trapdoor, and at the bottom was a jaw trap, which Kim saw right away. There was enough room around it to keep from stepping on it, so everyone did so, and found himself in a triangular room with a hallway to the left, one straight ahead, and a door to the side of the hallway straight ahead. Kim led them left, and after a short walk, they found themselves in a room with old spoons, broken knives, and a shattered pot. The wall on the other side had some metal pipes on it, and there was a door on its wall, and on the wall next to the hallway through which they went into the room.
They picked the door next to the hallway, and went down it, into a room with books. Most books were ones they couldn't read since they were in Old Erstokkese, and there was another in a tongue nobody knew that had clean writing and awesome paintings of men in shorts, some other men in armor, some holding sticks, others holding big round things. The few women in it were mostly wet. The one book in Mannish was Things Said to Me by Sages by Klévos Algídes. Sadly, the sages didn't have many good things to say, mostly useless advice. There was one door out of this room, which opened to a dusty room with no other doors.
They walked back to the kitchen, and went through the other door. They followed it down a hallway that turned a few times, when Kim saw a thin wire on the floor. She got down and looked at the walls, and saw a small hole in it, at about the height of a man's heart. She cut the wire, and nothing happened. Thus, they walked past to another door. They opened it, and saw a crypt lined with coffins. As they started walking towards the coffins to open them, a dozen giant rats came out of the gaps and some of the coffins and struck.
They fought back, and won, after both Caleb and Kôštē fell from bites. They looked in the coffins, and Kim found a small chest. She picked its lock, and found 110 copper farthings and 69 silver pennies in it. Kim took the money, and Mayhem and Ash put the sleeping Caleb and Kôštē each in a coffin before opening the one other door in the crypt. The gang followed the hallway, which went back into the triangular room.
Kim opened one of the doors in the triangular room, and a smell hit them. Both Kim and Villûdē started puking from the smell, while Mayhem shut the door upon seeing another ten giant rats standing before a toilet. After Kim and Villûdē stopped coughing up their breakfasts, Kim opened the other door. The room beyond it was eight-sided, and there was a stone table in the middle, with broken glass all over. There were two doors—one on the wall straight ahead, and another to the right.
Kim opened the door straight ahead, and they found themselves in another eight-sided room. This one had a white alabaster altar on a dais in the middle of the room. The altar had a small idol of an owl, two incense holders, a pewter decanter, and a goblet. Under the altar was a small chest. Kim went for the chest, and found it unlocked. She opened it, and felt a sudden need for more danger. In the chest was a deep amber potion, which she took, along with the idol, incense holders, decanter, and goblet. Bolder, she pushed past everyone and led them back to the first eight-sided room.
There she was about to go through the other door when many swarms of rats came out of the walls. After making them skitter, Kim got on the floor and stuck her sword in one of the ratholes in the wall. Mayhem grabbed her by the scruff, and they went back to the crypt to get their spellcasters and the books they found before going.
Mayhem knew they weren't going to last much longer without rest, and asked Villûdē where they could get some. She said they could make it to the peat farm in a few days, so they set out to go there. The next day, the casters awoke, and Kôštē healed the others, before slugging her last potion the day after that. Kim, however, had a cough, but it wasn't nasty. The third day was the fall equinox; Kôštē wanted to be helping with the harvest, her first since becoming a full cleric. On a fourth day of trekking (22 Brugés) and a slight cough from Ash, they made it to the peat farm, whose farmers was amazed to see them.

Res aliae

Caleb was still down HT from the witherweeds, which I shouldn't have had him be as much. Looking back, HT should have come back at a point a day. So now he has it back at the peat farm. He still needs to deal with having sewer rot from a rat bite, however.
They will get to rest up at the peat farm, and I'll grant them some character points next time. Seven, from my quick count. It seems I need to flesh out the peat farm more, as they keep coming back to it.