| Current Turn? | No |  | Subject: | Bolden Tower Scouting Mission |
| Campaign: | Spelljammer | | Turn Start Date: | 12/15/606 |
| Adventure: | Quellbourne | | Turn End Date: | 12/15/606 |
| Adventure Number: | 9 | | Characters: | KC , Martin Vane, Morty Crystaltouched, Pellanistra Xarann, Randle Hewlet, Shaarilla, Syllivarrna Obanghall, Tyra Stellastrom |
| Turn Number: | 2.7 | | Send To: | bluemountain@championsoftheempire.com; kc.starsprite@gmail.com; mghaught@gmail.com |
| Greyhawk Campaign? | No | | Combat Turn? | No |
| Name | Lethal | NL | Current | END | PROT | LOW | DEF | ROF | Flash | Heal | Luck Pts | Fate Pts | |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 60/60 | /0 | 7 | 3 | 52 | 10 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Martin Vane | 30 | 0 | 50/80 | /0 | 10 | 3 | 65 | 16 | /0 | 1/day | 2/3 | 1/1 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | 12 | 0 | 44/56 | 6/6 | 6 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0/1 | 1/day | 0/2 | 1/1 | |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 20 | 0 | 40/60 | 8/8 | 10 | 0 | 90 | 20 | /0 | 1/day | 1/1 | /0 | |
| Randle Hewlet | 0 | 0 | 47/47 | /0 | 7 | 0 | 23 | 0 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Shaarilla | 1 | 0 | 59/60 | /0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | 13 | 0 | 74/87 | /0 | 6 | 2 | 60 | 18 | /0 | 1/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | 41 | 0 | 57/98 | 12/12 | 10 | 3 | 88 | 20 | /0 | 2/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| KC | / | 8/15 | 6/15 | +30 sorcery pool from Wand of Sorcery (0/30) |
| Martin Vane | / | 15/17 | 15/15 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | 4/4 | 14/23 | 17/17 | Easily bruised |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 9/9 | / | / | |
| Randle Hewlet | / | 1/21 | 11/13 | |
| Shaarilla | 4/4 | 17/27 | 9/30 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | / | 11/17 | 16/16 | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | 15/15 | / | / | |
| Name | Watch | Notes |
| KC | 2 | Tceskia Luck 4/4, Fate 2/3 |
| Martin Vane | 1 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | 1 | |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 3 | 25% DR vs Slash, Crush, Puncture & Elemental |
| Shaarilla | 3 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | 2 | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | 4 | |
| Randle Hewlet | | |
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KC has already peered through the door that the two ogres emerged from earlier in the battle. In it is a large table and a couple of chairs. The room was obviously used by ogre guards. The once fine furniture is dirty and in poor repair. The two chairs were originally fine human furniture but were crudely strengthened to handle the weight of ogres. A door in the room leads to a very smelly pantry with the bodies of various animals and monsters haphazardly tossed about for eventual use as food.
KC and Lani head back to where the group is resting and try the door on the other side of the room, ignoring the center door for now. It leads to a smaller room with a table, empty bookcase and a couple of reinforced chairs.
That covers the first level except for the center door in the room where the group is resting, which leads to a spiral staircase leading up. KC and Lani leave the door open so the group can follow their progress up the spiral stair. The group loses sight of them as they reach the second level but can still hear them if they were to call down for help.
The second level of the tower is clearly a primary living area for the ogres. The stench is bad and dirty sleeping furs cover the floors of some of the rooms. Two of the doors are made of heavy metal with very intricate locks in them but both doors stand open and the locks are broken. It looks like the doors were battered open a long time ago. The rooms are now used by the ogres.
KC and Lani proceed up to the third level. The first room they enter is another ogre barracks that is empty of ogres. Dirty, smelling sleeping furs cover the floor. The spiral staircase continues up and there is another door on this level that is similar to the two metal doors on the second level, except that it is closed and locked. There are obvious signs that someone tried to batter open the door but it is still standing.
GM: Let me know if you want to try to do anything with the door, continue up to level four, or had back down.
KC: at this point I think we should make our way down to let the rest know what is up there. Then return to finish scouting out the rest of the building before tackling anything like locked doors or such. I would like for someone to come up to the locked door at least while we move further up the building.
GM: Sounds good. Does the group want to relocate to the third floor? If so, what do you want to do with your prisoner?
TYRA: Tyra isn't comfortable letting the ogre go yet so we're going to have to keep guarding it. She's fine bringing it with us as long as it's well-bound.
MARTIN: "I'm worried about the remaining inhabitants returning to the tower. Wouldn't want to be caught upstairs with no good way out. If we do go up and check out the locked room, we'll need to be quick about it."
MORTY: "Couldn't you just cast Mage Lock on the door to keep them from returning? My gut feeling is that there are not that many ogres from this tower (gang?) still out there in the 'field' as it were, since what remained of that squad we saw was co-opted by that other ogre mage. One would think if this gang had a large contingent that they would be less likely to be willing to jump ship to another gang. Still, couldn't hurt to be sure if it's easy enough to deal with like a Mage Lock, assuming you have the spell, and the energy to cast it.
The ogre is highly recalcitrant and it takes threats and even some minor damage to force it to hold his hands together in order to be tied up with rope. The group then heads up the stairs, with Tyra behind the ogre prodding it forward and Lani directly in front of him watching him closely.
The group gets up to the third floor and then forces the ogre to sit in a corner while KC heads to the locked door. Martin keeps the door to the stairwell open so that he can listen for sounds of ogres entering the tower from below.
KC examines the door by the light of Lani's Flame Tongue and, after studying it for a couple of rounds, determines that there is a poison needle trap inside the lock. What's more, he can see some discoloration on the needle that might indicate poison. The trap appears old and KC is unsure as to whether the poison, if that is what it is, would still be active.
GM: If KC wants to try to remove the trap, he can send a Remove Traps roll. The trap looks moderately well made and thus, difficult to bypass (which is another way of saying that there is a negative modifier to the Remove Traps roll - somewhere in the range of -5, -10 or -15).
SYL: could cast Wraithform to see what’s on the other side?
GM: If you are asking if the Wraithform spell allows her to pass through solid objects, then the answer is yes.
SYL: cast Chance 42%. I'll send three rolls since I have complete faith in my friend Diebot - Try #1: [rolled 4 vs cast chance of 42 - Critical Success!!]
MORTY: "There are significant risks to wraithform scouting, but if you think you can manage them and have plenty of energy go for it. I'm not sure it's worth the risks given you won't be able to retrieve anything from inside and we can just open the door anyway."
MORTY (GM): I will also look over the locked door and the trap, hopefully KC and I can come up with a workable plan. Do we have any sense of our respective skill bonuses? I am rank 5 so not quite Skilled yet but my skill bonus is about as good as it can get without that and I'm more familiar with complex devices due to my mechanician training, I think. Is it possible to use a clean cantrip to remove the residue from the poison needle? Not certain if we have someone in the group skilled enough with cantrips anyway?
GM: Morty examines the trap can comes to the same conclusions as KC.
SHAARILLA (GM): Shaarilla has cantrips at level 10 if that helps. I like the idea of cleaning the poison off before trying to disarm the trap :-)
KC shows Shaarilla the lock and does his best to point out the poison needle. Shaarilla uses a clean cantrip on the lock. KC and then Morty both look again but the discoloration on the needle is still there although the lock and the trap are now nice and clean.
SYL: random thought - did the ogre mention if the Magic resistance/healing is tied to the tower or the amulets?
LANI: "The ogre wasn't very interested in answering my questions when I tried to talk to him."
LANI: "Lani tries to ask the ogre about the relationship between the amulets, the tower and the magical absorption ability of the ogres.
LANI: CHA 18 [rolled 23 vs. CHA 18, 2x roll]
Lani walks over to the ogre and starts talking to him. The ogre is no friendlier than it was before and answers gruffly and shortly. After a bit of time however, the ogre, while not friendly, does inadvertently provide an answer in roundabout fashion.
Lani tell the rest of the group that she does not think the magical absorption ability of the ogres has anything to do with the amulets but she is not one hundred percent certain. Her language skills with ogrish are not fluent and she could be wrong.
KC: Well a normal lock I think I got about a 50/50 chance of opening. So this one would be on the more difficult side. We may have to figure out another way thru it or leave it. I was also thinking of maybe using a fire control to maybe burn off the poison also.
KC: While you guys are here, I think that Lani and I can continue up the tower to get a look at the rest of it to see if we need to worry about anything further up.
GM: Since Syl already cast Wraithform on herself, I will assume that she will stick her head through the door and takes a look. Unfortunately, the room beyond is not lit so Syl is not able to see anything.
MORTY (GM): Yeah I wondered if that task could apply to traps and locks. It appears you might have a typo in the task formula for the character sheet giving 7 per rank instead of 6, or a +1 per overall level that I don't know about. I wouldn't mind the +93 bonus of course ;) I'd like to see a softer breakpoint between absolutely requiring full success on the Find Traps, perhaps you only get half your Analyze Device bonus? Or with a successful roll you realize you DIDN'T see all the trap parts and get another attempt at Find Traps to see if you can find the rest of it?
GM: Yeah, a couple of errors. One place said +7, another +6 and it is supposed to be +5. I corrected it and your macro below.
MORTY TECH: Analyze mechanical device on the complex trap and lock on the door:
Analyze Trap: [rolled 144 (Success)]
Remove Trap: [rolled 74 (Failure)]
Analyze Lock: [rolled 98 (Near Success)]
Open Lock: [rolled 24 (Failure)]
MORTY (GM): Could there be any bonus given for the collaboration between KC and I on the skills we have in common? Perhaps +1% of his rank in the skill?
GM: I think I will keep them separate for now since only one person can really work on the task at a time.
With the door to the stairwell still open so that Martin and can listen for sounds of ogres entering down below, KC and Lani proceed further up the stairs. The door to level four has a very intricate looking lock on it but has long since been bashed open. The stairs continue up.
The first room on level four is a large open room that might have once been a great hall. Four giant statues of ancient warriors are built into the exterior wall. The room contains many torch sconces and torches but none are currently lit. A set of double doors leads to the next room, which looks like an extension of the great hall. It has two sets of double doors, including one set in the exterior wall. It also has some large stone bookcases built into the interior wall but they are empty.
GM: Note that most of the rooms contain torch sconces and torches burned down to various lengths. I won't mention them anymore. Just assume they are there.
The doors in the exterior wall are latched on this side. KC and Lani unlatch the doors and open one. Its leads out onto a small balcony overlooking the now darkened city. They return to the room and latch the door.
The only other set of doors stand partly open and lead to a room that the ogre chieftain clearly used as a sleeping chamber. In the distant past, it was very nicely adorned but years of use and abuse by ogres has reduced the opulence of the chamber.
Near the bed is a chest which is closed and locked.
With Lani holding her Flame Tongue close, KC inspects the chest. He finds no indication of traps and determines that the lock is not particularly difficult (-0 to open locks).
GM: Let me know if you want to try to pick the lock on the chest, continue up the stairs to the next level, or something else.
KC: Continue on put the stairs scouting out the tower. After that is done. I think we will have enough time to open locks and things like that. I want to start moving a bit slower and quieter. Listening. My gut tells me there is something up here and hopefully we can notice it before we run into it.
KC and Lani ignore the chest for now and head back to the spiral stair. With KC in the lead, they head upwards to the next level. The spiral stair continues up but KC steps over to the door and opens it. The room beyond is empty of furnishings. An ancient rug is all that remains.
The two conduct a cursory search and then investigate the next room. It contains some stone bookcases devoid of books and nothing else. The last room on this level might have once been an office but the furnishings and books are all gone, presumably used as firewood in the distant past.
The two return to the central staircase and continue up. However, as KC leads the way, he notices that the staircase seems to be getting narrower and narrower. Before long, his shoulders are brushing the walls on either side. Then he gets to a point where he has to turn sideways to make progress but he eventually reaches a point where the staircase is simply too narrow for him to proceed. He puzzles over this for a bit with Lani but they eventually decide to head back down to the third level. Martin is still watching the staircase and reports hearing no sounds of other ogres entering the tower below them.
KC and Lani relate what they found.
MORTY TECH: Analyze mechanical device on the complex trap and lock on the door:
Analyze Trap: [rolled 144 (Success)]
Remove Trap: [rolled 74 (Failure)]
Analyze Lock: [rolled 98 (Near Success)]
Open Lock: [rolled 24 (Failure)]
Meanwhile, Morty has been examining the door. He studied the trap carefully to the point where he understands the complexities of the trap much better (penalty to remove is reduced from -25 to -7). With Randle nearby, he goes to work on the trap.
GM: Morty rolled failure (result of 74, minus 7 difficulty, means 67. Let me know if he wants to use a Luck point. Otherwise, send a Normal Save.
MORTY (GM): Wow. 3 rolls in a row in the cellar. Yes, I will spend the luck point on the Remove Trap roll. It looks like KC will have to try for the Lock, I don't think Martin has the Spell of Opening. Does improving your rank with Open Locks give you another chance to figure it out and roll again? Hmm, after looking up the skill I guess I get to try again after 24 hours on a failure :(
MORTY (GM): As for the collaboration yes, I agree that only one person can do the work, but the other one can assist with the planning, or give an extra pair of hands if needed. The bonus of +5% or so is not that immense anyway. The incredibly wide swing of luck on percentile rolls is bad enough, this is a good example, with a +60 I should have a MUCH better chance of getting at least partial, but nope :(
GM: Following rolled during Thursday night game.
MORTY: Luck Point reroll: [rolled 132] (difficulty modifiers included)
MORTY: After buying up Open Locks, new roll is [rolled 150] (no difficulty modifiers)
Morty's attempt to remove the trap is successful, so he goes to work on the lock itself. His analysis of the lock helps him better understand how to open it (in game terms, it reduces the penalty). His first attempt to open it is unsuccessful but, after spending about 10 minutes contemplating this specific lock, and locks in general (in game terms, Morty bought up a rank of Open Locks), he successfully opens the lock.
By this time, KC and Lani are back and have communicated what they found, including the narrowing staircase.
MORTY: "That almost sounds like some kind of illusionary or phase magics defense to dissuade people from assailing the stairs, especially large people like ogres... I'd like to take a look when we're done with this door.
KC opens the door that Morty just unlocked and reveals a room littered with various containers - wooden boxes, coffers, chests, etc.
Standing in the center of the room holding a rusty sword, is a skeleton.
KC: on level four was a locked chest, are we able to pick it up and carry it downstairs? If it would be difficult to carry we can open it when we come back up the stairs to investigate the narrowing stairs.
GM: It was fairly large and heavy so you are probably better off opening it when the whole group heads up.
KC: will do
GM: Unless someone says otherwise, I am going to assume that the group will close the door to the room with all of the containers and the single skeleton and focus on resting and recovering spell points and hit points. I will further assume that the group goes up to the next level to set up their camp. They will also tie up the ogre (and hope he does not break free) and guard him for the night by having three guards on duty at all times instead of two.
GM: If anyone has other ideas, send them in. Otherwise, I plan to resolve with the above assumptions sometime tomorrow. |
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