This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
After everyone who was less prepared bought their desert gear - Tamara still had hers from her last try - the eight of them set off down the road. One of the other humans, Rethan, asked her about her previous effort. "Not a lot, actually,"she said with a huff. "We - well, firstly, I was working for Zoran at the time. We didn't have much trouble with Twilight, and we actually made it right up to Cyra's doorstep before her guard dog decided that we were very unwelcome at the castle. I suppose Zoran's got a similar lackey serving at his castle, so that'll be something to watch out for."
Tamara didn't flinch when the group reached the full darkness of Twilight. She'd cleared it once before, and she could do it again. That didn't mean the monsters here were harmless or anything, however. With sight nearly as limited as a jumble of backalleys at night, she kept her eyes and ears both alert.
< Perception: 16 >
She heard Zalten urgently whisper a warning about the bugs ahead and the brief banter with Mordred. "With Mordred and Rethan clanking around I doubt we can all sneak past them. We'll be in for a fight sooner or later, but yes, getting some intelligence about them is a good first step. I'll cast message in your direction once you've moved up." She thought about casting Invisibility on him as he started moving low and slow in a particular direction, but figured with the wind and sand kicking up and the aasimar's technique he would be okay.
After Zalten had moved some distance, Tamara cast message and asked in a whisper, "Can you see anything about the insects yet?"
Ichabod flies towards the black dots. He can see that there are at least four large bugs half buried in the sand, but he cannot tell what kind they are or if those are the only ones there.
Tamara is unable to see anything other than what the others have pointed out to her.
Zalten on the other hand, manages to creep up close enough to see exactly what they are. The four larger bugs resting in the sand are giant fire beetles. However, these are not the only bugs in the area. Zalten has found the source of the buzzing. Above the fire beetles, are eight swarms of beetles. They have not noticed the Aasimar, but he can tell that sneaking by is going to be difficult.
(Not sure if you are going to try to sneak by or not. Some of you were talking about just attacking them. If you are going to sneak by those of you who rolled are going to have to keep the rolls!)
Listening to Jumble's spiel about why he does barding magic instead of wizardry, Jack can't help but laugh a little. "Seems like we have something in common, then." He doesn't elaborate---rather, he doesn't get the chance to elaborate, for they were presented with the gear they needed to cross the expanse of desert between them and their destination. He thanks the Minotaur for the clothing profusely, and asks if he has any spare wood. Either way, when the party leaves and heads off to the Twilight Zone, he leaves as well with a smile and a wave. The whole time, he steals a couple of glances at the bard, thinking over his own experiences with magic and how incredible it is that someone he would have never known if he hadn't been spirited away to another universe had some shared experiences. He was really starting to like the group.
Perception Check (if it's not too late): 11
Once they had traveled into the thick of the darkness, Jack silently listens to the different conversations happening around the group, putting his cloak away in his backpack and donning at least the outerwear from the sandstorm gear they just got. He nods along with Zalten's plan, and whispers, "I'll come with, just in case." Assuming no one objects, he follows the Aasimaar to the sound he pointed out earlier at a distance of a few feet, unsheathing his dagger and holding it in one hand.
OOC: This becomes significantly less relevant if the bugs notice Nygil (which would be pretty hillarious if he gets us discovered after all of his confidence), so most of this doesn't really apply if that happens
Zalten holds up a hand to Nygil and Jack, signalling them to stop when he gets a good look at what exactly they are facing. Hearing Tamara's voice in his head, he whispers back "There's four giant beetles burrowed into the ground and about 8 swarms of smaller ones in the air. It's going to be far too much for us to sneak past them, but there doesn't seem to be too many of them. We can take them. They can't see me at the moment so I'll just..."
He pauses for a moment and sighs quietly, realizing that what he was about to propose isn't something he's capable of anymore without the magic he'd become so accustomed to. He takes a moment to reconsider and continues:
"...nevermind. I'd rather not waste our element of surprise on taking out a single bug, and I don't think I can do much more than that. Do you or anyone else back there have something a bit more effective?"
Mordred had seen a few of the lighter sneaky types go on ahead. Mordred himself had crouched a bit but not to try and follow them, he'd get as close to the buzzing as he can without actually trying to sneak by. He wanted to be ready in case the scout group got caught up ahead. He hated not being able to be on the front, it was nerve racking to think the others could get caught and be attacked before he could have a chance to take the front. He wouldn't admit this per usual but it was gnawing at the forefront of his mind to be sure.
"I hate all this waiting around.."
He had his shield and sword ready, he was looking around for any signs of fighting. The moment he saw the first sparks of combat he'd rush in as best he could. He had whispered a small prayer to himself for the safety of those who had gone up ahead.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rethan moves up next to Mordred and kneels, laying his glaive on the ground beside himself, but keeping a grip on it with one hand to be ready. Then he sends Midnight forward to join the others who were scouting ahead and transfers his senses into the familiar to get a better view.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Perception: 14
Stealth: 22
To Rethan's question she shakes her head in the negative, if only to correct him. You heard half-right. H-half of them were swallowed by a worm in a sandstorm... the other f-four f-fell to insects the day after before the other and I decided to l-live. Though he made it only to the g-gates before dying himself. she answered honestly. But it wasn't long after that the group had already stumbled on the first set of enemies. And whil Kashika wasn't one to shy away from a fight, she did put her two cents in just before seemingly half the group decided it was a great idea to slink closer to the creatures... I-i think it's better to avoid as much unnessecary fighting as possible, but if we simply c-c-cannot move past them, then the fight may s-simply happen. she said, shrugging before everyone began to formulate a mostly cohesive plan, with some outliers...
After the others had moved into range of the beetles...
Kashika sighed, as it seemed that they had chosen to fight, this was going to deplete their magical resources... however... she was stealthy, and she followed those closest to the beetles just prior to Nygil Thornberry making his own attempt. The only difference was she began casting a spell, holding it on the very last word... waiting for the fight to break out.
And if/when the combat starts.... Kashika will cast Twinspelled Dragon's Breath on Zalten and herself in a way that won't spoil any surprise attacks.
Kashika will give poison breath to Zalten, and Acid breath to herself (DC 14 dex save. See the spell description above for more details)
If/when combat was officially started... Kashika says to Zalten after his first strike.. I-i have given you the ability to breathe poison... if you f-find more than one enemy in a small area around you.... it may do more than a s-single blade strike.
TLDR Summary: Kashika has snuck up with the others, and unless Zalten is unwilling, he recieves the spell and its effects.
To be clear, Kashika is NOT doing this in a way that would spoil stealth, she is 'holding her action' until combat has officially started, nor will she initiate combat.
Tamara listened to Zalten's reply and quickly relayed it to the rest of the group... except for Nygil, who had already started moving up to join Zalten. And to her chagrin was not exactly using the smoothest technique she'd seen; even in the darkness she could see sand kicking up. Blast it, this elf's going to blow it for us... Around her, she saw Mordred and Rethan preparing for a battle. Tamara was itching for a fight herself, but she had wanted them to at least have a decisive advantage. She knew that likely wasn't going to be in the cards, though...
"This is bad,"thought the bard. Grumbling at the choice, he decided it was the only reasonable one, and quickly sent a command to Ichabod.
The familiar angled a bit higher into the sky, away from the two groups of heroes that had formed, and began the loudest squawking it could.
Meanwhile, Jumble watched through the familiar's senses. "C'mon, c'mon," he whispered to himself as he readied to dismiss Ichabod.
(( OOC: Don't know if that will give us advantage on stealth, completely distract the insects, or what, but hopefully it'll help. Also, Jumble has an action readied: as soon as any of the insects or swarms are close enough to attack Ichabod, he's going to dismiss him to his pocket dimension. ))
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
So far none of the beetles have noticed you. If you strike now, you each get a free action, then we will start combat. Right now, all of the bugs are bunched up in a tight group. Once each of you use your free attack, we will go into initiative order.
Initiative for fire beetles
1: 11
2:10
3:6
4:17
Initiative for swarms
1:19
2:12
3:14
4:8
5:16
6:7
7:6
8:12
(I'll try to get a grid up tomorrow. Hopefully i can get it to work, as this will be my first time trying it.)
Looking around at everyone, it seems to Jack that everyone's preparing for a fight. He whispers over to the people next to him: "I think we should strike now, get the jump on them. Cause unless we can all sneak by," He looks over at Nygil, then Mordred, then back again, "We won't get out of here without a fight or a big distraction. Actually..." The idea of a distraction is more attractive to Jack than fighting. He thinks his previous statement over. I've taken martial arts classes, but I've never had to use them. I'd like to stay out of a fight as much as possible.
"A distraction may not be a bad idea. Looks like Jumble's trying it out already." He points to Ichabod, squawking away up in the air, in case no one else had noticed yet. "The less resources we use on the way to the big fight, the better. We need to conserve what we have." He tries his hardest to persuade the group to mitigate fighting, and instead help Jumble and Ichabod's efforts in avoiding a fight. And if they agree, he'll get them to try and relay the new plan over to the other group as well.
Persuasion: 20
(tl;dr: Jack tries to persuade everyone that they shouldn't fight, but create a cheap distraction (cheap in resources like spell slots) and sneak by.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(OOC - I'm gonna be honest, I can barely remember who's where. And while Kashika would agree with Tez's characters assesment, everyone already seems hell bent on combat, so she prepped for that.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: Going to hold my free attack for now until we have a map because I'm not sure if Kashika's spell has officially been cast yet/how close I am to the bugs, but here's my initiative roll for when that is needed
Tamara was really itching for a fight, but she couldn't pretend like even a fight with just a few insects - that might be tougher than they look - wouldn't cause some damage and cost some of her arcane power to take down. She heard Jumble's familiar start squawking from high above and Jack add on about a distraction. "Well, it can't hurt to try at least," she sighed.
She wasn't sure how the bugs were going to react, but even giant bugs had to be scared of bigger creatures that wanted to squish them, right? She gave it some quick thought, composed herself, and cast a minor illusion of a giant dragon's roar from about sixty feet away from the insect group.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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(( OOC: Also, since he has 120 feet of darkvision, maybe Ichabod gets a better look at them? Perception Check using Ichabod's stats: 7 ))
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
OOC
When I hover over Zalten's stealth roll it says 10+10 instead of disadvantage minus 1. Is that just my chromebook acting up?
Oh no only the dice have attacked our highest dark vision sight scout xD (The 7)
I won't be able to post till tomorrow after work ^^
But I did roll stealth already at least ^^
OOC: It was Rethan that had the -1 and disadvantage, not Zalten. And yeah, that 7 was... pretty disappointing.
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
After everyone who was less prepared bought their desert gear - Tamara still had hers from her last try - the eight of them set off down the road. One of the other humans, Rethan, asked her about her previous effort. "Not a lot, actually," she said with a huff. "We - well, firstly, I was working for Zoran at the time. We didn't have much trouble with Twilight, and we actually made it right up to Cyra's doorstep before her guard dog decided that we were very unwelcome at the castle. I suppose Zoran's got a similar lackey serving at his castle, so that'll be something to watch out for."
Tamara didn't flinch when the group reached the full darkness of Twilight. She'd cleared it once before, and she could do it again. That didn't mean the monsters here were harmless or anything, however. With sight nearly as limited as a jumble of backalleys at night, she kept her eyes and ears both alert.
< Perception: 16 >
She heard Zalten urgently whisper a warning about the bugs ahead and the brief banter with Mordred. "With Mordred and Rethan clanking around I doubt we can all sneak past them. We'll be in for a fight sooner or later, but yes, getting some intelligence about them is a good first step. I'll cast message in your direction once you've moved up." She thought about casting Invisibility on him as he started moving low and slow in a particular direction, but figured with the wind and sand kicking up and the aasimar's technique he would be okay.
After Zalten had moved some distance, Tamara cast message and asked in a whisper, "Can you see anything about the insects yet?"
Ichabod flies towards the black dots. He can see that there are at least four large bugs half buried in the sand, but he cannot tell what kind they are or if those are the only ones there.
Tamara is unable to see anything other than what the others have pointed out to her.
Zalten on the other hand, manages to creep up close enough to see exactly what they are. The four larger bugs resting in the sand are giant fire beetles. However, these are not the only bugs in the area. Zalten has found the source of the buzzing. Above the fire beetles, are eight swarms of beetles. They have not noticed the Aasimar, but he can tell that sneaking by is going to be difficult.
(Not sure if you are going to try to sneak by or not. Some of you were talking about just attacking them. If you are going to sneak by those of you who rolled are going to have to keep the rolls!)
(oh boy I missed a ton)
Listening to Jumble's spiel about why he does barding magic instead of wizardry, Jack can't help but laugh a little. "Seems like we have something in common, then." He doesn't elaborate---rather, he doesn't get the chance to elaborate, for they were presented with the gear they needed to cross the expanse of desert between them and their destination. He thanks the Minotaur for the clothing profusely, and asks if he has any spare wood. Either way, when the party leaves and heads off to the Twilight Zone, he leaves as well with a smile and a wave. The whole time, he steals a couple of glances at the bard, thinking over his own experiences with magic and how incredible it is that someone he would have never known if he hadn't been spirited away to another universe had some shared experiences. He was really starting to like the group.
Perception Check (if it's not too late): 11
Once they had traveled into the thick of the darkness, Jack silently listens to the different conversations happening around the group, putting his cloak away in his backpack and donning at least the outerwear from the sandstorm gear they just got. He nods along with Zalten's plan, and whispers, "I'll come with, just in case." Assuming no one objects, he follows the Aasimaar to the sound he pointed out earlier at a distance of a few feet, unsheathing his dagger and holding it in one hand.
Stealth: 16
Jack, a Changeling Artificer/Bard/Cleric/Fighter/Rogue---RynnElocin's From Dusk to Dawn
Amon, a Fairy Arcane Trickster---ShieldHero_'s Fractum
I'M BACK
PFP credit goes to Mo Willems
"Well? Attack or sneak, which are we going for?" Nygil says. "Lets hurry up and choose already."
He begins walking towards the bugs, following Zalten. "Looks like he's stealthing, so I'ma follow him. If we start fighting I want to be in front."
Stealth: 10
OOC: This becomes significantly less relevant if the bugs notice Nygil (which would be pretty hillarious if he gets us discovered after all of his confidence), so most of this doesn't really apply if that happens
Zalten holds up a hand to Nygil and Jack, signalling them to stop when he gets a good look at what exactly they are facing. Hearing Tamara's voice in his head, he whispers back "There's four giant beetles burrowed into the ground and about 8 swarms of smaller ones in the air. It's going to be far too much for us to sneak past them, but there doesn't seem to be too many of them. We can take them. They can't see me at the moment so I'll just..."
He pauses for a moment and sighs quietly, realizing that what he was about to propose isn't something he's capable of anymore without the magic he'd become so accustomed to. He takes a moment to reconsider and continues:
"...nevermind. I'd rather not waste our element of surprise on taking out a single bug, and I don't think I can do much more than that. Do you or anyone else back there have something a bit more effective?"
Mordred had seen a few of the lighter sneaky types go on ahead. Mordred himself had crouched a bit but not to try and follow them, he'd get as close to the buzzing as he can without actually trying to sneak by. He wanted to be ready in case the scout group got caught up ahead. He hated not being able to be on the front, it was nerve racking to think the others could get caught and be attacked before he could have a chance to take the front. He wouldn't admit this per usual but it was gnawing at the forefront of his mind to be sure.
"I hate all this waiting around.."
He had his shield and sword ready, he was looking around for any signs of fighting. The moment he saw the first sparks of combat he'd rush in as best he could. He had whispered a small prayer to himself for the safety of those who had gone up ahead.
Rethan moves up next to Mordred and kneels, laying his glaive on the ground beside himself, but keeping a grip on it with one hand to be ready. Then he sends Midnight forward to join the others who were scouting ahead and transfers his senses into the familiar to get a better view.
Stealth for Midnight: 12
Perception: 14
Stealth: 22
To Rethan's question she shakes her head in the negative, if only to correct him. You heard half-right. H-half of them were swallowed by a worm in a sandstorm... the other f-four f-fell to insects the day after before the other and I decided to l-live. Though he made it only to the g-gates before dying himself. she answered honestly. But it wasn't long after that the group had already stumbled on the first set of enemies. And whil Kashika wasn't one to shy away from a fight, she did put her two cents in just before seemingly half the group decided it was a great idea to slink closer to the creatures... I-i think it's better to avoid as much unnessecary fighting as possible, but if we simply c-c-cannot move past them, then the fight may s-simply happen. she said, shrugging before everyone began to formulate a mostly cohesive plan, with some outliers...
After the others had moved into range of the beetles...
Kashika sighed, as it seemed that they had chosen to fight, this was going to deplete their magical resources... however... she was stealthy, and she followed those closest to the beetles just prior to Nygil
Thornberrymaking his own attempt. The only difference was she began casting a spell, holding it on the very last word... waiting for the fight to break out.And if/when the combat starts.... Kashika will cast Twinspelled Dragon's Breath on Zalten and herself in a way that won't spoil any surprise attacks.
Kashika will give poison breath to Zalten, and Acid breath to herself (DC 14 dex save. See the spell description above for more details)
If/when combat was officially started... Kashika says to Zalten after his first strike.. I-i have given you the ability to breathe poison... if you f-find more than one enemy in a small area around you.... it may do more than a s-single blade strike.
TLDR Summary: Kashika has snuck up with the others, and unless Zalten is unwilling, he recieves the spell and its effects.
To be clear, Kashika is NOT doing this in a way that would spoil stealth, she is 'holding her action' until combat has officially started, nor will she initiate combat.
Occassional Dungeon Master.
OOC
I won't be able to post till after work tomorrow but here is my initiative if we do end up fighting in the end.
4
Tamara listened to Zalten's reply and quickly relayed it to the rest of the group... except for Nygil, who had already started moving up to join Zalten. And to her chagrin was not exactly using the smoothest technique she'd seen; even in the darkness she could see sand kicking up. Blast it, this elf's going to blow it for us... Around her, she saw Mordred and Rethan preparing for a battle. Tamara was itching for a fight herself, but she had wanted them to at least have a decisive advantage. She knew that likely wasn't going to be in the cards, though...
< Roll for initiative when needed: 22 >
< OOC - Waiting to see if anyone got spotted! >
"This is bad," thought the bard. Grumbling at the choice, he decided it was the only reasonable one, and quickly sent a command to Ichabod.
The familiar angled a bit higher into the sky, away from the two groups of heroes that had formed, and began the loudest squawking it could.
Meanwhile, Jumble watched through the familiar's senses. "C'mon, c'mon," he whispered to himself as he readied to dismiss Ichabod.
(( OOC: Don't know if that will give us advantage on stealth, completely distract the insects, or what, but hopefully it'll help. Also, Jumble has an action readied: as soon as any of the insects or swarms are close enough to attack Ichabod, he's going to dismiss him to his pocket dimension. ))
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
So far none of the beetles have noticed you. If you strike now, you each get a free action, then we will start combat. Right now, all of the bugs are bunched up in a tight group. Once each of you use your free attack, we will go into initiative order.
Initiative for fire beetles
1: 11
2:10
3:6
4:17
Initiative for swarms
1:19
2:12
3:14
4:8
5:16
6:7
7:6
8:12
(I'll try to get a grid up tomorrow. Hopefully i can get it to work, as this will be my first time trying it.)
OOC
Only those stealthing get a free attack though right?
Looking around at everyone, it seems to Jack that everyone's preparing for a fight. He whispers over to the people next to him: "I think we should strike now, get the jump on them. Cause unless we can all sneak by," He looks over at Nygil, then Mordred, then back again, "We won't get out of here without a fight or a big distraction. Actually..." The idea of a distraction is more attractive to Jack than fighting. He thinks his previous statement over. I've taken martial arts classes, but I've never had to use them. I'd like to stay out of a fight as much as possible.
"A distraction may not be a bad idea. Looks like Jumble's trying it out already." He points to Ichabod, squawking away up in the air, in case no one else had noticed yet. "The less resources we use on the way to the big fight, the better. We need to conserve what we have." He tries his hardest to persuade the group to mitigate fighting, and instead help Jumble and Ichabod's efforts in avoiding a fight. And if they agree, he'll get them to try and relay the new plan over to the other group as well.
Persuasion: 20
(tl;dr: Jack tries to persuade everyone that they shouldn't fight, but create a cheap distraction (cheap in resources like spell slots) and sneak by.)
Jack, a Changeling Artificer/Bard/Cleric/Fighter/Rogue---RynnElocin's From Dusk to Dawn
Amon, a Fairy Arcane Trickster---ShieldHero_'s Fractum
I'M BACK
PFP credit goes to Mo Willems
(OOC - I'm gonna be honest, I can barely remember who's where. And while Kashika would agree with Tez's characters assesment, everyone already seems hell bent on combat, so she prepped for that.)
Initiative: 18
Occassional Dungeon Master.
OOC: Going to hold my free attack for now until we have a map because I'm not sure if Kashika's spell has officially been cast yet/how close I am to the bugs, but here's my initiative roll for when that is needed
Initiative: 18
Tamara was really itching for a fight, but she couldn't pretend like even a fight with just a few insects - that might be tougher than they look - wouldn't cause some damage and cost some of her arcane power to take down. She heard Jumble's familiar start squawking from high above and Jack add on about a distraction. "Well, it can't hurt to try at least," she sighed.
She wasn't sure how the bugs were going to react, but even giant bugs had to be scared of bigger creatures that wanted to squish them, right? She gave it some quick thought, composed herself, and cast a minor illusion of a giant dragon's roar from about sixty feet away from the insect group.