Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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Strix gently barres his staff between them.
"Show Strix coward. Strix see hero with mortgage, dependents, responsbiltee, no private army. Done is done. Still have bills. Town still depend. Still have sponsbiltee. But have private army now."
He gestures to his comrades.
"With, or against?"
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
The Keys to thE cells plEase Mister *hic* TownMan Varinth holds out his hand. Once tHese fellas aRe locKed away we're ofF to mop up tha rest, haVe no *hic* feAr.
We maY not look it but wE know what we're doing. You'Re town will be sAfe by sunrise Sir!
Persuasion: 20
Should Hester give Varinth the keys he will hand them to Dekham. He will then whistle for Soodi, and should she approach he will start gathering equipment for the trek to catch up with Dario and Incantis. (i.e. rope, staff and oil flasks)
Do wE neEd Soodi to piCk up the Other two? And Mister Scupper?
Strix, as you put your staff between Grista and Hester, they both stop to stare at you. Hester speaks first: What the hell are you babbling about? I... Before he can continue, Varinth approaches and asks for the keys. Keys? Hester responds, looking more and more flummoxed, here they... wait, no. He goes to hand over the keys but comes to his senses and snatches them back. I'm not handing these to... Who are you people?
He stares at you all for a moment, then moves carefully around Strix's staff and walks over to the building identified as the Townmaster's Hall, where he unlocks and opens the door. Bring them in here. At least that's better than leaving them in the street. He glares at Varinth. You'd better deal with the rest, otherwise they'll take out their revenge on all of us. He waves at Zoria and Dekhan to follow, and enters the building.
Grista seems amused as she taps your quarterstaff to get your attention. Lad, you seem nice enough, but you do realise no-one understands a damn thing you say, right?
Strix shrugs. "Speak fine. Speak truth. Peeps fear truth. Peeps no unstand what fear."
He points to his temple
"Fear is cage for man. No cage man, cage animal. Release fear, release man. See?"
The irony that he's arguing against mental imprisonment while petitioning for physical incarceration registers briefly but he dismisses it and hopes no one else noticed.
If it's genuinely a problem I can contrive a blow to the head that dislodges the crayon jammed into his language center :D
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
It would be helpful to me to provide a translation sometimes, yes. If you want to carry on with it for role-playing purposes it's absolutely fine, and I'll make a judgement case by case on how much each NPC will understand. For many NPCs, most of what Strix says is pretty incomprehensible, hence the reactions he gets. I try to allow for the fact that they're getting non-verbal clues, but also that they only get one chance to hear it.
Incantis creeps forward, moving west toward the door (E3). Onward through the shadows bent, sneak and creep and circumvent.
I for one am usually able to discern most of the meaning of Strix's words, with some of the flavor additions up to interpretation. I figure this is intended. I'm a fan.
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
Athletics: 17
Whoops: Advantage: 23
OOC: I have a lot of trouble understanding Strix most of the time lol however, i look at it as intended for this way same as jsmall, and the fact that I don't know for sure exactly what he's saying, I feel like some of the characters in this world don't either, and that's a fun idea. For important stuff, he normally provides an actual translation out of character, however, I can see how the DM would want a translation for most things, since he decides how the NPCs react
Published Subclasses
Dario follows behind Incantis, keeping him cover. "Stay frosty, Incantis," Dario encourages.
Nodding resolutely back to the elf, Incantis opens the door.
Perception: 16
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
Incantis and Dario, you make your way along the hall, with Incantis in the lead.
(continues below, because I was struggling with mobile formatting)
((No worries, mobile format on here is infuriating.))
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
Incantis, as you are moving ahead , you notice, just in time, a very slight depression in the dust that covers the floor immediately in front of you. You clear the dust away with your feet and test the floor; someone has dug out a hole and covered it with thin boards, enough to hold the dust but not enough to hold your weight. If you had stepped on them, you would most likely have fallen through.
The boards cover almost the whole width of the hall; they are resting on what remains of the floor on either side of the presumed pit. It would be tricky to pass by that way.
FYI, I think that both for game balance and for realism, checking for traps through a mirror crafted with minor illusion will be at disadvantage. I wouldn't normally call for a skill check for traps - you would have to remember to do it - but I felt that I should in this case as I hadn't made the problems of using the mirror clear.
Strix, Grista nods. That part almost made sense. Fear can be a cage, true, but it can be your best friend, too. Keeps you alive, does a good dose of fear. She spits on the ground. That's enough of that, though, I've not drunk nearly enough to get to philosophising. She looks at Zoria, and points to the door into the Townmaster's Hall. Giddy-up!
Zoria, your amazing strength and skill enables you to bring the Redbrands here on your back with no problem at all. They are snoring quietly, and quite dead to the world.
I agree on the manual trap-checking, that's why I included the perception roll in the OG post, and would've seen no problem with the trap automatically triggering had I not and still walked forward (though I assume I'd get a DEX save?). Happy to take disadvantage on all perception checks through mirrors created by minor illusion, that seems a good balance mechanically & narratively. FYI, that perception roll was looking around while walking forward, not looking through the mirror.
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
Incantis stops, heart pounding. Heaven's orbs watch o'er my way, tricks and traps identify. Let us not be led astray, for past this door must intrigue lie. He looks around for any way to cross the pit.
How wide is the false floor/pit?
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
Incantis, the very slight depression in the dust that you saw previously suggests that it's about ten feet wide, but you can't say for sure. You can only see the boards in the small area near you that you cleared with your foot.
"Psst! Dario!" Incantis whispers. "Do you have any rope? This floor is false, and I don't think I could clear it. You might be able to, though." Incantis ponders any way to use his magic abilities while inspecting the sides of the trap for any egress.
Investigation: 8
Incantis, half-elf warlock (great old one) 4/bard 1 ● Thorok Earthhand, hill dwarf mountain druid 6/grave cleric 2
Cragmyre Ironseed, earth genasi ancestral barbarian 3 ● Cyrus Natriallae, aquatic half-elf warlock of the deep 3
As Varinth helps get the Redbrands comfy in their new abode (perhaps having a few hug for warmth), he will ask Zoria a question that has been burning in his mind;
PleAse Excuse me if tHis is a ruDe Question but.. are Centaurs shod?
Incantis, you can see that the trap does not completely fill the width of the hallway, and that you could edge your way around it, but it would be tricky with a risk of falling. If you wanted to be sure of the length of the trap, you could collapse the boards and see the hole more clearly. You move aside one of the boards and peer down; the trap is about twenty feet deep and at the bottom is just a stone flooring, as far as you can see. You don't see anywhere on the walls where you could attach a rope.
Zoria, Dekhan, Strix and Varinth, you are standing in the street with five Redbrands and Grista, who is looking at you, curious to see what you will do next. Hester the Townmaster has opened the door to where the cells presumably are, if you wish to go inside and offload your cargo, so to speak. Otherwise, what would you like to do?
Scupper, the two remaining Redbrands with you at the Sleeping Giant continue to be unconscious and don't look like they'll give you any trouble. The door to the street was left open, but you don't see any sign of people passing by now that the sun has set.
Varinth is transporting unconscious brigands to their new sleeping quarters.
StRix, you take tha heAd an' I'll take the leGs.
He will make sure to thank Hester for his cooperation with what must be a scary and confusing event.
ChEers!