Did Shoor cast that area of Darkness, or Jorlan? If it was Shoor, he needs to make a bunch of Concentration rolls. (If Jorlan, hopefully he decides to drop the Darkness and lend a hand.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
As I wrote earlier, if you are all feeling like fighting Shoor is too risky, say the word here and the encounter will end. By fighting him it gives you the chance to score some big XP and gives me the chance to weed out some of the NPCs.
If you end it, I will linearly scale the XP based on the percentage of damage that has been done so far.
I'm fine to keep going. By my count we've done like 50 or 60 damage to him and taken a total of 27 back. Course, Narstin is looking at getting stabbed int eh face possibly, but he's asking for it :P (I as the player know the DM sees this as a great time to weed out some NPCs. Narstin on the other hand is trying his best to keep evreyone possible alive :P)
Is he looking like the damage has bothered him much?
As much as I wanted Ront dead, that jerk could have lasted more than one round! Well, he died as he lived: a bully trying to knock someone onto the dirt.
Any chance that Shoor will waste one of his attacks to stab Ront again (2 failed death saves)?
I'm fine pressing on, as long as Jorlan hangs back.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
I have to start by explaining Passive Perception. This is a "floor" value for your perception when you roll a perception check, but it is also an "always on" skill that automatically makes me, as the DM, feed you information if the surroundings, enemies or NPC's roll below your scores. For example, if a rogue is trying to pick your pocket and rolls a very low sleight of hand check, I will tell you your pocket is being picked, even if you don't tell me you're keeping an eye on your coin purse.
HOWEVER, if you are actively occupied doing a task that takes all of your attention, passive perception scores are not in effect. As you travel in the underdark, you will be undertaking several tasks, and when undertaking these tasks, your passive scores will not be in effect. Except Beegred, who has a ranger skill that negates this rule.
Tasks
The minimum 3 tasks that need to be filled as you travel are:
Navigator
Forager(s)
Watch (for dangers) (… I mean, you can ignore this one if you want...)
Then you may undertake additional tasks as you see fit given the circumstances.
Marching Order
As you travel the underdark, you'll travel in 3 marching orders based on the confines of the caves you are in:
Single file
Two abreast
Wide open
So what I need from all of you, before we start chapter 2, are marching orders given those 3 scenarios. When encounters occur, depending on the terrain, those will be the default positions you start battle in. Keep in mind that some of you will have tasks while you're travelling.
Food and water
You've escaped Velkinvelve, yay! Now you're on the run, you're already half starved and you have no provisions. Based on the PHB and this module (and some tinkering from your friendly neighborhood DM), this is what you need for food and water:
Medium races need 1 pound of food, per day. Small races need half a pound of food, per day. Every character can go their CON modifier + 3 days without eating before suffering from exhaustion.
Medium races need 1 gallon of water, per day. Small races need half a gallon of water, per day. If you choose to ration water so everyone gets half what they need per day, they can roll a DC 15 CON saving throw to avoid exhaustion. If you do not drink in a day, you automatically suffer exhaustion.
Every day, as many members of the group as you wish can roll Survival checks to find and gather food and water. Here is a table that outlines what the results will be for these Survival rolls:
Survival DC / Water (gallons) or Food (lbs) gathered
5 /1
10 / 2
15 / 4
20 / 8
25 / 12
30 / unlimited
NOTE! This table can shift up or down in difficulty based on the terrain (to be explained later).
The catch here is, you must declare how many members will be foraging BEFORE you roll. From those, you must also declare who is foraging for water and who is foraging for food. These members will be 100% occupied with their task. Their passive perception will not be active, so if an encounter gets the jump on the party, these members will be surprised for the first round. (Beegred is the exception because of his class.)
If you slaughter beasts, they can be sources of food! Butchered creatures produce food in pounds per the table below. Butchered meat spoils in 1 day. Eating spoiled meat will require a DC 15 CON saving throw to keep the food down. If you fail the saving throw, you vomit and lose 2 food days (if you ate the day prior) or 1 food day if you haven't eaten the day prior. There can also be other special consequences that you will have to discover.
The underdark is more difficult to navigate than the surface world. A fast pace in the underdark will cover 8 miles in a day. A normal pace will cover 6 miles in a day. A slow pace will cover 4 miles in a day.
If choosing a fast pace, everyone gets a -5 penalty to passive perception scores and no one can forage. If choosing a normal pace, there are no modifiers. If you choose a slow pace, your foraging improves (the table shifts in your advantage) and you are able to use Stealth.
HOWEVER! Jorlan or Sarith will as much as tell you to expect pursuit. A fast pace improves your odds of escaping pursuit and a slow pace worsens your odds of escaping pursuit.
Encounters
There will be risks of encounters every traveling day, and every "night" when you rest.
At the beginning of every travel period, I will roll:
1d6 to establish the confines of the caves: 1-2 = Narrow/single file, 3-4 = standard/two abreast, and 5-6 = wide open.
1d6 to establish illumination: 1-3 = Dim illumination by phosphorescent moss and lichen that is common in the underdark or 4-6 = dark except for light sources you bring with you.
1d20 to establish if an encounter occurs or not...
If the encounter is terrain based (a challenge), that terrain will dictate if the foraging table shifts easier or harder, DM's discretion.
If there is no encounter or the encounter is not terrain based, then I will roll 1d6: 1 = foraging is harder, 2-5 = no change in foraging table, 6 = foraging is easier.
At this point you will choose who forages, for what and make your rolls.
Your navigator will roll a DC 10 survival check (Fast pace increases DC by 5, Slow paces decreases by 5). If you fail, you lose 1d6 hours of travel progress for that day.
At the beginning of every rest period:
You will establish watches and roll perception for each watch
You can roleplay conversations and figure out your influence scores. For a refresher, see this post and this post
I will roll a d20 to determine if an encounter occurs, and
I will roll an appropriate die to determine who's on watch when the encounter starts
We do this over and over until you reach your destination, based on the miles you travel per day OR if you reach level 3 and start to get bored, we can fast-forward to the next chapter.
For now, you have to figure out the logistics of your situation. The Velkinvelve drow are going to show up any minute. Derendil is unconscious but stable. Ront and Valthana are unconscious and not stable yet. Stool is small and can't move fast enough. Ferriman is dead. And Jorlan is getting more and more pissed the longer you stick around.
As a group, you get 1 chance with Help, to stabilize Ront and/or Valthana (1 chance each). If you fail, then I roll death saves until they stabilize or die. Or you can just leave them behind and we don't have to go through the motions.
I am also going to go back in the posts and figure out how many arrows and bolts you all fired to see how much ammunition you have left.
And I'll put together another table that shows your food/water/exhaustion situation.
Do we have an in-character reason to let Ront die? We haven't whittled down the NPCs very much.
Maybe Eldeth would choose to put Ront "out of his misery" instead of applying Medicine, before any of the Good aligned characters (like Beegred) realize what is going on.
De we leave Ferriman on the ground? Feels like he should get a burial or something, but there doesn't seem to be a convenient place for that, and the party can't afford to lug his corpse around.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Only one of you has history with Ront that would justify finishing him off. Good aligned characters like Eldeth wouldn't actively perform a coup de grâce.
Other than Ferriman, the NPCs are not actually dead, but your characters face the dilemma of how to bring everyone along, or who to leave behind.
Ront (if he lives), Valthana, Derendil, Stool and possibly Ferriman need to be carried. Sarith needs to navigate and can't carry anyone. Buppido is evil and a small race. Beegred is a small race. I forget if Jimjar is small or medium...
You have decisions to make and no time to waste (in the story).
We are only carrying the NPCs for one day. I'll make a suggestion for the 3 formations (after all the NPCs are conscious), later.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Eliminating Ront is rather high on Tozer's to-do list. He's trying to read the party members, unsure how they'd respond if he were to kill the orc...
Jimjar is a small humanoid; so, he won't be carrying anyone.
Regarding a burial for Ferriman, I can't imagine we have the time and resources for such an endeavor.
Seems like those characters that end up carrying the wounded could face a few detrimental effects. A few questions for the DM:
Is foraging possible while carrying an NPC?
If we're under attack, does it cost an action for the "carrier" to drop the person being carried?
Is the risk of becoming exhausted increased by carrying an NPC?
We're not into chapter 2 at this point. You are all going to run, helping each other until you all collapse. Derendil will wake up during that time, but he'll be exhausted too. No foraging, no attacks, no penalties. You will all get a long rest and start the day new and at that point, chapter 2 starts.
Edit: I may not have been clear in my description, but Ront is dead dead. Jorlan snapped and killed him as a message to you all when he perceives you're not getting lost fast enough for his tastes.
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
When chapter 2 day 1 starts, after you flee Velkinvelve, everyone will have gotten a long rest and be fully recovered for HP. The chapter 2 starts at that point.
What you can do for this initial long rest is figure out your influence, if you want to try for a free feat later down the road. However, the escape was a long one in terms of posts, so I can understand if you don't want to bother with it this time.
Carrying someone, either because they're injured or Stool, will give disadvantage or a -5 penalty, whichever applies.
Edit: Derendil is a powerhouse at this level, and his climbing ability will trivialize some encounters. To balance this, he eats and drinks twice what a medium creature normally consumes.
Can someone give me a little insight into the wand? I came in way late to the game and I don't want to do any internet searches that might reveal too much. I tried doing a word search in both of our threads but didn't gain any knowledge about what it actually does and how I could use it.
Did Shoor cast that area of Darkness, or Jorlan? If it was Shoor, he needs to make a bunch of Concentration rolls. (If Jorlan, hopefully he decides to drop the Darkness and lend a hand.)
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
I guess it's going to be Jorlan that cast it.
As I wrote earlier, if you are all feeling like fighting Shoor is too risky, say the word here and the encounter will end. By fighting him it gives you the chance to score some big XP and gives me the chance to weed out some of the NPCs.
If you end it, I will linearly scale the XP based on the percentage of damage that has been done so far.
As I’m less at risk here, I’ll let the others make the decision on whether to continue.
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
I'm fine to keep going. By my count we've done like 50 or 60 damage to him and taken a total of 27 back. Course, Narstin is looking at getting stabbed int eh face possibly, but he's asking for it :P (I as the player know the DM sees this as a great time to weed out some NPCs. Narstin on the other hand is trying his best to keep evreyone possible alive :P)
Is he looking like the damage has bothered him much?
As much as I wanted Ront dead, that jerk could have lasted more than one round! Well, he died as he lived: a bully trying to knock someone onto the dirt.
Any chance that Shoor will waste one of his attacks to stab Ront again (2 failed death saves)?
I'm fine pressing on, as long as Jorlan hangs back.
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Tozer, wielding his Maul of Meagerness, will press on.
BIG post coming explaining how chapter 2 is going to work. Give me a bit of time to put it together.
Edit: Actually, there's lots of stuff going on in this chapter, so I'm going to post them in bits and pieces
I have to start by explaining Passive Perception. This is a "floor" value for your perception when you roll a perception check, but it is also an "always on" skill that automatically makes me, as the DM, feed you information if the surroundings, enemies or NPC's roll below your scores. For example, if a rogue is trying to pick your pocket and rolls a very low sleight of hand check, I will tell you your pocket is being picked, even if you don't tell me you're keeping an eye on your coin purse.
HOWEVER, if you are actively occupied doing a task that takes all of your attention, passive perception scores are not in effect. As you travel in the underdark, you will be undertaking several tasks, and when undertaking these tasks, your passive scores will not be in effect. Except Beegred, who has a ranger skill that negates this rule.
Tasks
The minimum 3 tasks that need to be filled as you travel are:
Marching Order
As you travel the underdark, you'll travel in 3 marching orders based on the confines of the caves you are in:
So what I need from all of you, before we start chapter 2, are marching orders given those 3 scenarios. When encounters occur, depending on the terrain, those will be the default positions you start battle in. Keep in mind that some of you will have tasks while you're travelling.
Food and water
You've escaped Velkinvelve, yay! Now you're on the run, you're already half starved and you have no provisions. Based on the PHB and this module (and some tinkering from your friendly neighborhood DM), this is what you need for food and water:
Medium races need 1 pound of food, per day. Small races need half a pound of food, per day. Every character can go their CON modifier + 3 days without eating before suffering from exhaustion.
Medium races need 1 gallon of water, per day. Small races need half a gallon of water, per day. If you choose to ration water so everyone gets half what they need per day, they can roll a DC 15 CON saving throw to avoid exhaustion. If you do not drink in a day, you automatically suffer exhaustion.
Every day, as many members of the group as you wish can roll Survival checks to find and gather food and water. Here is a table that outlines what the results will be for these Survival rolls:
Survival DC / Water (gallons) or Food (lbs) gathered
NOTE! This table can shift up or down in difficulty based on the terrain (to be explained later).
The catch here is, you must declare how many members will be foraging BEFORE you roll. From those, you must also declare who is foraging for water and who is foraging for food. These members will be 100% occupied with their task. Their passive perception will not be active, so if an encounter gets the jump on the party, these members will be surprised for the first round. (Beegred is the exception because of his class.)
If you slaughter beasts, they can be sources of food! Butchered creatures produce food in pounds per the table below. Butchered meat spoils in 1 day. Eating spoiled meat will require a DC 15 CON saving throw to keep the food down. If you fail the saving throw, you vomit and lose 2 food days (if you ate the day prior) or 1 food day if you haven't eaten the day prior. There can also be other special consequences that you will have to discover.
Creature Size / Food gained (lbs)
Travel
The underdark is more difficult to navigate than the surface world. A fast pace in the underdark will cover 8 miles in a day. A normal pace will cover 6 miles in a day. A slow pace will cover 4 miles in a day.
If choosing a fast pace, everyone gets a -5 penalty to passive perception scores and no one can forage. If choosing a normal pace, there are no modifiers. If you choose a slow pace, your foraging improves (the table shifts in your advantage) and you are able to use Stealth.
HOWEVER! Jorlan or Sarith will as much as tell you to expect pursuit. A fast pace improves your odds of escaping pursuit and a slow pace worsens your odds of escaping pursuit.
Encounters
There will be risks of encounters every traveling day, and every "night" when you rest.
At the beginning of every travel period, I will roll:
At the beginning of every rest period:
We do this over and over until you reach your destination, based on the miles you travel per day OR if you reach level 3 and start to get bored, we can fast-forward to the next chapter.
For now, you have to figure out the logistics of your situation. The Velkinvelve drow are going to show up any minute. Derendil is unconscious but stable. Ront and Valthana are unconscious and not stable yet. Stool is small and can't move fast enough. Ferriman is dead. And Jorlan is getting more and more pissed the longer you stick around.
As a group, you get 1 chance with Help, to stabilize Ront and/or Valthana (1 chance each). If you fail, then I roll death saves until they stabilize or die. Or you can just leave them behind and we don't have to go through the motions.
I am also going to go back in the posts and figure out how many arrows and bolts you all fired to see how much ammunition you have left.
And I'll put together another table that shows your food/water/exhaustion situation.
Do we have an in-character reason to let Ront die? We haven't whittled down the NPCs very much.
Maybe Eldeth would choose to put Ront "out of his misery" instead of applying Medicine, before any of the Good aligned characters (like Beegred) realize what is going on.
De we leave Ferriman on the ground? Feels like he should get a burial or something, but there doesn't seem to be a convenient place for that, and the party can't afford to lug his corpse around.
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Only one of you has history with Ront that would justify finishing him off. Good aligned characters like Eldeth wouldn't actively perform a coup de grâce.
Other than Ferriman, the NPCs are not actually dead, but your characters face the dilemma of how to bring everyone along, or who to leave behind.
Ront (if he lives), Valthana, Derendil, Stool and possibly Ferriman need to be carried. Sarith needs to navigate and can't carry anyone. Buppido is evil and a small race. Beegred is a small race. I forget if Jimjar is small or medium...
You have decisions to make and no time to waste (in the story).
Eliminating Ront is rather high on Tozer's to-do list. He's trying to read the party members, unsure how they'd respond if he were to kill the orc...
Jimjar is a small humanoid; so, he won't be carrying anyone.
Regarding a burial for Ferriman, I can't imagine we have the time and resources for such an endeavor.
Seems like those characters that end up carrying the wounded could face a few detrimental effects. A few questions for the DM:
We are only carrying the NPCs for one day. I'll make a suggestion for the 3 formations (after all the NPCs are conscious), later.
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
We're not into chapter 2 at this point. You are all going to run, helping each other until you all collapse. Derendil will wake up during that time, but he'll be exhausted too. No foraging, no attacks, no penalties. You will all get a long rest and start the day new and at that point, chapter 2 starts.
Edit: I may not have been clear in my description, but Ront is dead dead. Jorlan snapped and killed him as a message to you all when he perceives you're not getting lost fast enough for his tastes.
(Edit: Nevermind, wiped out a long post. Just saw Kerrec comment that this first day is "fly, you fools!", so NPCs will be awake.)
For those being carried, Tozer -> Derrendil, Beegred -> Stool, and both Narstin and Jimjar will be needed for Valthana.
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
When chapter 2 day 1 starts, after you flee Velkinvelve, everyone will have gotten a long rest and be fully recovered for HP. The chapter 2 starts at that point.
What you can do for this initial long rest is figure out your influence, if you want to try for a free feat later down the road. However, the escape was a long one in terms of posts, so I can understand if you don't want to bother with it this time.
Carrying someone, either because they're injured or Stool, will give disadvantage or a -5 penalty, whichever applies.
Edit: Derendil is a powerhouse at this level, and his climbing ability will trivialize some encounters. To balance this, he eats and drinks twice what a medium creature normally consumes.
Can someone give me a little insight into the wand? I came in way late to the game and I don't want to do any internet searches that might reveal too much. I tried doing a word search in both of our threads but didn't gain any knowledge about what it actually does and how I could use it.
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
Oops! My bad.
Wand of viscid globs
Another oops! It requires attunement, so you won't be able to shoot Jorlan with it before you have to leave.
You read my mind. I was just reading up on attunement and was going ask that very question.
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers