(OOC: Theldrin just lit the oil, and it burns for 2 rounds. Avery would need to wait an entire round for the flames to die down, or he'll take 2 HP of damage for crossing the flames after "burning" through the 3 THP from Heroism.)
(OOC: I'm going to assume that all of the "acolytes" are dead, and we only know of the 4 guards who fled and are now being chased by Liarin-bear.)
"Thunderation!", Xanrym exclaims in surprise, seeing Liarin-bear leap through the fire and chase after the fleeing guards. "Don't go too far!", he calls after her, "It'll take us a moment to catch up!"
Not being quite so brave as Liarin, Xanrym draws his rapier with his left hand, crossbow still in his right, and moves up to the doorway to the north. He stands near the dying flames and watches up the tunnel to the north to see which Liarin turns at the end of the tunnel. He leaves his lantern where it is on the floor for now. While he waits for the oil fire to die down, he uses the blade of his rapier to push aside caltrops, trying to clear a path so that they can move through them faster once the fire is out. He replies to Toska, "Good! Thank you, but it seems that we'll be heading back the way we came."
Movement: Move to the doorway of the north tunnel. Action: Clear a path through the caltrops and watch which way the guards, Liarin, and Avery go. Free Action: Talking.
Concentration: Heroism round 10 of 10, Avery and Xanrym get 3 THP at the start of the turn
(Edited: corrected since Avery didn't jump through the flames.)
Theldrin moves up next to Xanrym and waits for the remaining oil to burn down. While he waits, he casts Mage Hand sending the glowing hand into the remnants of the fire to start moving caltrops aside.
(OOC: Theldrin just lit the oil, and it burns for 2 rounds. Avery would need to wait an entire round for the flames to die down, or he'll take 2 HP of damage for crossing the flames after "burning" through the 3 THP from Heroism.)
So it's just Liarin chasing the guards down this round, she'll take 5 Fire Damage from the flaming oil. Seeing as how they all dashed, Liarin will need to dash to keep up with them, unable to take an attack against them. They run around the corner to the northeast and into an area that seems to be some kind of communal area. A corridor with many rooms coming off it, to the north of this corrider is a very muddy and disused section of the dungeon. The guards yell to each other, "Keep running, we can maybe make it to the Den of Araphise."
The fire has died down in the hallway, while Liarin has followed the remaining guard cultists back to their quarters and through to the east.
At this point i've got a question. Do you all plan to keep chasing the cultist guards to try and catch them? Or is there some other plan you want to do?
At this point i've got a question. Do you all plan to keep chasing the cultist guards to try and catch them? Or is there some other plan you want to do?
(OOC: Liarin-bear has a speed of 40 ft. Dashing, she'll get 20 ft. closer each round. Depending on how far the guards were at the start of the chase, Liarin-bear will soon catch up to them. Once she does, Liarin should at least get one opportunity attack each round even if the guards keep dashing away from her. So, if Liarin-bear keeps chasing, the question is really how far the guards have to run and whether they keep trying to run away once the lone bear catches up to them.)
With four guards remaining they'll make it a long way before Liarin can kill them all. Even if she hits with every opportunity attack for enough damage to kill one each time, they can still make it really far.
The reason why I ask weather you all want to chase them or not is because i'd rather resolve it a different way than just moving tokens on a map and Liarin rolling opportunity attacks.
So is everyone on board with chasing this crew through the halls of the dungeon?
So is everyone on board with chasing this crew through the halls of the dungeon?
If Avery were with Liarin, Xanrym might risk seeing whether the southeast passage gave them an opportunity to circle around and cut off the guards. But since Liarin is on her own, and the rest of the party is somewhat beat up, Xanrym will just chase after Liarin with the others. He hopes to get close enough to be of some help if she gets into trouble.
Alright, i'd say you've all committed to chasing down the guards through the dungeon. Instead of going through the monotony of mapping it out square by square, we will settle it with a Skill Challenge. This is basically a montage scene where everyone get's a chance to use their skill proficiencies creatively to try and score points and achieve the best outcome. You all come up with little scene's where your character uses one of the skills they are proficient in to chase down the guards. Some examples might be:
Athletics to sprint forward and catch up to them faster.
Acrobatics to leap over some pools and fallen objects.
Perception to notice a shortcut that you could use to cut them off.
Everyone can only use each one of their skill proficiencies once, but people can use the same proficiency as someone else as long as they are also proficient in it.
For this challenge, you'll need to get 6 successes before getting 3 failures. How many failures you get will decide when you catch up with the guards; with no failures you catch them in the next room, with 3 failures they reach their destination and you have to deal with whatever the 'Den of Araphise' is.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As a tall, thin, bookish type, Xanrym maybe isn't the best at chasing down their opponents, but he's learning that his voice is a potent weapon. As Avery takes off after Liarin-bear, he sheathes his rapier and cups a hand to his mouth. Xanrym yells ahead to the fleeing cultists, hoping they can hear him: "We've captured Blayze! She orders you to throw down your weapons and surrender so that we spare her life!" He's happy to lie if it helps defeat this insane naga cult. Xanrym doesn't really expect that the cultists will surrender, but if it causes them them any confusion or hesitation, it might help Liarin-bear and Avery to catch up with them.
For this challenge, you'll need to get 6 successes before getting 3 failures. How many failures you get will decide when you catch up with the guards; with no failures you catch them in the next room, with 3 failures they reach their destination and you have to deal with whatever the 'Den of Araphise' is.
(OOC: Are these opposed checks vs. the cultists? Or are they against a particular DC?)
The DC is set by how likely it seems the skill would work. So the better your descriptions, the lower the DC is.
Avery deftly jumps over branches and mud while sprinting incredibly fast to catch Liarin and the cultists. They look back when Xanrym mentions Blayze, one of them trips and slows them down a little. Theldrin looks for a way for Xanrym and him to cut them off and catch up with the others but the darkness of the dungeon makes it hard.
You currently have 3 successes and 1 failure.
When you make the roll, make sure to add a description, or the DC will be very high.
Xanrym thinks back to old stories and legends...of dark cults and darker dungeons. There was a long history that included an exciting tale of an explorer racing through some sort of underground dungeon or catacomb, bravely facing spiders and deadly traps, swinging over open pits, etc. Was it Yrag? Xanrym doesn't think so. He remembers that Yrag told him about plundering ancient dungeons, but Xanrym doesn't think that Yrag ever mentioned nagas or this sort of primitive lair with its damp rooms, earthen walls, and wooden columns. The story of the explorer was older. He seems to remember that it was about some sort of strange cult in a jungle. And a dungeon dug into the earth like this one. Xanrym racks his memory, hoping that there's some clue or tip that will help them navigate the naga's lair more quickly in their pursuit of the guards. (If he thinks of anything, Xanrym shares it with the others, of course!)
(OOC: There are no acolytes left standing, right? Just the 4 guards who ran?)
(OOC: Theldrin just lit the oil, and it burns for 2 rounds. Avery would need to wait an entire round for the flames to die down, or he'll take 2 HP of damage for crossing the flames after "burning" through the 3 THP from Heroism.)
Xanrym: Round 3
(OOC: I'm going to assume that all of the "acolytes" are dead, and we only know of the 4 guards who fled and are now being chased by Liarin-bear.)
"Thunderation!", Xanrym exclaims in surprise, seeing Liarin-bear leap through the fire and chase after the fleeing guards. "Don't go too far!", he calls after her, "It'll take us a moment to catch up!"
Not being quite so brave as Liarin, Xanrym draws his rapier with his left hand, crossbow still in his right, and moves up to the doorway to the north. He stands near the dying flames and watches up the tunnel to the north to see which Liarin turns at the end of the tunnel. He leaves his lantern where it is on the floor for now. While he waits for the oil fire to die down, he uses the blade of his rapier to push aside caltrops, trying to clear a path so that they can move through them faster once the fire is out. He replies to Toska, "Good! Thank you, but it seems that we'll be heading back the way we came."
Movement: Move to the doorway of the north tunnel.
Action: Clear a path through the caltrops and watch which way the guards, Liarin, and Avery go.
Free Action: Talking.
Concentration: Heroism round 10 of 10, Avery and Xanrym get 3 THP at the start of the turn
(Edited: corrected since Avery didn't jump through the flames.)
Theldrin moves up next to Xanrym and waits for the remaining oil to burn down. While he waits, he casts Mage Hand sending the glowing hand into the remnants of the fire to start moving caltrops aside.
He'll wait then
So it's just Liarin chasing the guards down this round, she'll take 5 Fire Damage from the flaming oil. Seeing as how they all dashed, Liarin will need to dash to keep up with them, unable to take an attack against them. They run around the corner to the northeast and into an area that seems to be some kind of communal area. A corridor with many rooms coming off it, to the north of this corrider is a very muddy and disused section of the dungeon. The guards yell to each other, "Keep running, we can maybe make it to the Den of Araphise."
The fire has died down in the hallway, while Liarin has followed the remaining guard cultists back to their quarters and through to the east.
At this point i've got a question. Do you all plan to keep chasing the cultist guards to try and catch them? Or is there some other plan you want to do?
(OOC: Liarin-bear has a speed of 40 ft. Dashing, she'll get 20 ft. closer each round. Depending on how far the guards were at the start of the chase, Liarin-bear will soon catch up to them. Once she does, Liarin should at least get one opportunity attack each round even if the guards keep dashing away from her. So, if Liarin-bear keeps chasing, the question is really how far the guards have to run and whether they keep trying to run away once the lone bear catches up to them.)
With four guards remaining they'll make it a long way before Liarin can kill them all. Even if she hits with every opportunity attack for enough damage to kill one each time, they can still make it really far.
The reason why I ask weather you all want to chase them or not is because i'd rather resolve it a different way than just moving tokens on a map and Liarin rolling opportunity attacks.
So is everyone on board with chasing this crew through the halls of the dungeon?
(OOC: If Liarin is giving chase then Theldrin will want to follow... and will be looking for an opportunity to get a Fire Bolt in.)
If Avery were with Liarin, Xanrym might risk seeing whether the southeast passage gave them an opportunity to circle around and cut off the guards. But since Liarin is on her own, and the rest of the party is somewhat beat up, Xanrym will just chase after Liarin with the others. He hopes to get close enough to be of some help if she gets into trouble.
While they wait for the fire to die down, Xanrym warns the others that he heard Blayze -- before he killed her -- talking about crocodiles, troglodytes, and a harpy!
Alright, i'd say you've all committed to chasing down the guards through the dungeon. Instead of going through the monotony of mapping it out square by square, we will settle it with a Skill Challenge. This is basically a montage scene where everyone get's a chance to use their skill proficiencies creatively to try and score points and achieve the best outcome. You all come up with little scene's where your character uses one of the skills they are proficient in to chase down the guards. Some examples might be:
Athletics to sprint forward and catch up to them faster.
Acrobatics to leap over some pools and fallen objects.
Perception to notice a shortcut that you could use to cut them off.
Everyone can only use each one of their skill proficiencies once, but people can use the same proficiency as someone else as long as they are also proficient in it.
For this challenge, you'll need to get 6 successes before getting 3 failures. How many failures you get will decide when you catch up with the guards; with no failures you catch them in the next room, with 3 failures they reach their destination and you have to deal with whatever the 'Den of Araphise' is.
You can start whenever you want.
Avery:
Athletics: 19
Acrobatics: 25
As a tall, thin, bookish type, Xanrym maybe isn't the best at chasing down their opponents, but he's learning that his voice is a potent weapon. As Avery takes off after Liarin-bear, he sheathes his rapier and cups a hand to his mouth. Xanrym yells ahead to the fleeing cultists, hoping they can hear him: "We've captured Blayze! She orders you to throw down your weapons and surrender so that we spare her life!" He's happy to lie if it helps defeat this insane naga cult. Xanrym doesn't really expect that the cultists will surrender, but if it causes them them any confusion or hesitation, it might help Liarin-bear and Avery to catch up with them.
Deception 15 (using Silver Tongue feature)
(OOC: Are these opposed checks vs. the cultists? Or are they against a particular DC?)
As Theldrin runs behind Liarin in pursuit of the guards he scans the passageways ahead, looking for a potential way to cut them off.
Perception: 10
The DC is set by how likely it seems the skill would work. So the better your descriptions, the lower the DC is.
Avery deftly jumps over branches and mud while sprinting incredibly fast to catch Liarin and the cultists. They look back when Xanrym mentions Blayze, one of them trips and slows them down a little. Theldrin looks for a way for Xanrym and him to cut them off and catch up with the others but the darkness of the dungeon makes it hard.
You currently have 3 successes and 1 failure.
When you make the roll, make sure to add a description, or the DC will be very high.
Liarin, leading the chase in bear form, tosses aside some furniture the guards hastily threw up as a barricade to stop the party.
Athletics: 12
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
Xanrym thinks back to old stories and legends...of dark cults and darker dungeons. There was a long history that included an exciting tale of an explorer racing through some sort of underground dungeon or catacomb, bravely facing spiders and deadly traps, swinging over open pits, etc. Was it Yrag? Xanrym doesn't think so. He remembers that Yrag told him about plundering ancient dungeons, but Xanrym doesn't think that Yrag ever mentioned nagas or this sort of primitive lair with its damp rooms, earthen walls, and wooden columns. The story of the explorer was older. He seems to remember that it was about some sort of strange cult in a jungle. And a dungeon dug into the earth like this one. Xanrym racks his memory, hoping that there's some clue or tip that will help them navigate the naga's lair more quickly in their pursuit of the guards. (If he thinks of anything, Xanrym shares it with the others, of course!)
History 11 (in game log)
Awesome, usually i'd call a DC of 15 for History in this situation, but that application makes sense to me, DC 10
So that's 5 Successes and 1 Failure.
Who wants to have another go?
Avery continues the pursuit:
Athletics: 16
Acrobatics: 13