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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Beetle, Brots, Syna and Zyltris:
"Oh yes, sorry Mother. Zyl..trace? That's a strange namemister. Are you an adventurer Zyltrace? And yourfriends arethey adventurerstoo? Can I playwithyourswordZyltrace? I'mgreatwithaswordaskmother..." The youngster starts babbling incoherantly again in the excitement. His mother breaks in. "CARP! Give it a rest for a second will you? Let these poor men answer one question at a time, I'm sure they will tell you whatever they can if you slow down! I'm sorry, he's just excited. If he's annoying you I can send him inside?" She giggles, half jokingly, as she pats dust off her work clothes.
"Names' Qelline, an' this is my boy Carp. Pleasure to meet you all. Your word would be about right. This lil'un gets himself into trouble on adventures of 'is own. Earlier he was in town when a fight broke out too, he ran the whole way home crying his lil heart out. I..""And the other day too 'member mother! 'Member theychased me? Outtatheforest? I was 'splorin' the woods lookin' for goblinsZyltracenthey caught me n ran after me! I couldataken'emthough, I knowhowterfightbaddiesZyltraceImakesticksouttaswords!"
Qelline just rolls her eyes, as the young lad tells his story to his new heroes. "Yes Carp I was going to tell them about that too... Maybe if yer a lil bit quieter the kind soldier here will let you see his longsword for a second, but you need to be calm and good!"
Serak:
Astonished to not find a guard at the tunnel entrance, Serak assumes there is one, somewhere out of sight. He creeps slowly away and finishes a quick search of the rest of the woods before returning to the farm to report what he's discovered.
Serak waits hidden at the edge of the woods nearest the farm, keeping an eye out for Redbrands, until the others exit.
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
"What did you see with the Redbrands Carp, if I may ask?" Beetle says. "We are going to go visit them so anything you tell us could help."
Beetle, Brots, Syna and Zyltris:
Carp looks up in awe at being asked about his own adventures, "I went into the forest with Verna. We was hunting for goblins and orcs, sept I'm not really allowed to go far into the forest case the child snatcher gets me. But I seen a tunnel! And, and some of them Red cloaky men. So I hid n watched 'em takin' boxes n swords down the tunnel. But then a big bear monster thing came out n..." Carp falls silent. His face flushes red with embarrassment.
Qelline speaks up, "You got scared didn' you little 'un. N you ran n they chased you out of the forest." "I DIDN' GET SCARED! I WAS BRAVE N... n..."
Tears start to fill the little halflings eyes, Qelline grabs him by the shoulders and holds him tightly as he starts crying into her shirt, "Hey now. Remember what I said. It's ok to run if you're scared. I'm sure these brave men here have to run away sometimes too if a monster is too scary or big. Isn't that right Sirs?"
“Yes, Yes, there are plenty of times we have run. I’m sure I will have to run again next time I see Linene, but that’s a whole different matter.” Beetle says. So there is a tunnel in the woods the Redbrands use. I think we should check it out. Carp can you make us a drawing how to get to this tunnel.”
Beetle, Brots, Syna and Zyltris:
Carp continues to cry softly into his mothers work clothes. Calmed slightly by Beetles kind words. He tries to speak out but his words are spluttered a choked with tears.
"Didn' you say you jus' stayed along at the edge of the forest until you got to the cliff face?" Qelline says softly, trying to prompt her boy into a response.
"Mmm..... mhmmm. n... n... then...... f...f....followed the cliff to th..... the tunnel." stutters Carp. He puts on a brave face, tears dripping off his nose.
"Good lad" Qelline kisses her son gently on the forehead and smiles gently as he looks up to meet her kind eyes, "You're a brave boy. You've helped these heroes in their adventure today." She turns to Beetle and Zyltris, "I'm sure it's not far gentlemen. He wasn' gone long. The forest is beyond the perimeter wall here, just follow the treeline northwards and you'll come to a set of cliff faces. Head east from there and you should come across the tunnel."
Beetle looks at the boy, "Thank you again Carp, you have done us a great service with this information..." and he hands Carp 1 gp. "Thank you also madame for allowing us to talk with him." and Beetle hands her 2 gp. Turning to the companions, "Well friends, lets go find Serak and find this cave." With that Beetle turns to leave.
Beetle, Brots, Syna and Zyltris:
Carp wipes his nose with his muddy sleeve and forces a weak smile at Beetle. He stares, speechlessly at the gold coin the adventurer has given him. "Th...thankyou sir."
Qelline, is quite shocked at the gesture, "Thankyou kindly sir. If you ever have any need of any help, we are more than glad to assist you all and I'm sure Carp would love to hear of your adventures sometime. You may pass through the farm here if you intend on heading that way. Just mind the crops!"
Beetle makes his way through the flurry of pecking chickens and out of the farmyard. The party follow the perimeter of the field, as to not disturb the crops, scramble over the boundary wall and make their way into the nearby woods. At the forests edge, well hidden in the shade of a fallen oak tree, Serak stands up as he spots his friends approaching
Brots, seeing the sad look on the kids face goes over to him. "Hello Carp, my name is Brots." Brots puts his hand out to shake his. "Do you like animals?" Brots asked thinking about wether or not to give him Iris to hold onto in the meantime.
I don't have a signature.
Serak: Standing slowly from his hiding place in the bushes, the bard says, "No way up the cliffs, but I found a cave, well lite by oil lanterns and recently used. No sign of guards, but I suspect they are well hidden or perhaps further into the cave entrance. Now might be a good time to try on these lovely red cloaks. The blood stains are hardly noticeable on the scarlet fabric!"
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Beetle: "The boy at the farmhouse told us about this cave, he saw Redbrands coming and going from it couple days ago. Maybe this is a back way into that mansion, the cloaks could work might as well try them."
Serak: Fastening the cloak around his neck once more, Serak says, "These Redbrands seem to recruit locally. If confronted, we can pretend to be new recruits. The ruse won't withstand scrutiny, but it may give us an edge, no matter how small. It is too well lite for the stealth approach."
Approaching the spot where he saw the cave, Serak halts and says quietly, "If there are guards, should we try to get them to reveal themselves to us?"
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Beetle: “Do you suspect there are a couple hidden guards? I don’t see any but your senses are better than mine when it comes to these things.”
Serak: With a sly grin, he remarks, "Always assume there is a guard and you'll never be surprised. Be ready, friends. "Believing his disguise to be the best, Serak steps from the cover of the woods, "Hood up, head down," he says to himself as he steps forward. Clutching one of his crossbow bolts, he presses it to his side and holds it there, piercing the leather, but not his flesh. Stumbling drunkenly, he moans quietly as he pretends to be mortally wounded. Approaching the entrance, he says, "Boyos... soldiers in town. Got me..."
Serak collapses and breathes raggedly.
Performance: 16
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Brots whispers to the rest of the group. "Am I going to be playing prisoner?"
I don't have a signature.
Beetle watches Serak as he approaches the cave, ready to pounce on a moments notice if Serak needs help.
Stumbling towards the tunnel, Serak convincingly plays his part. Calling out, his voice echoes down the tunnel. Lamp light flickers off the cave walls as a cool breeze drifts slowly inwards. 20 feet away the passage curves away out of sight. Standing just inside the tunnel entrance, Serak can see or hear no movement or threats from within.
Serak: Laying motionless for several moments, Serak finally stands up and says, "One of my best performances, wasted... The way seems clear, for now. Shall we? I'm standing in back this time!"
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
OOC: The tunnel is fairly narrow and runs for about 100ft. You’ll be down to single file when you reach the end so I’ll need to know what order you’re in as you go through
[OOC: Goblins are one thing, but trained mercenaries are another. Too well lit in the cave and no cover. Serak is playing this one safe and taking up rear guard position.
Also, concerning initiative order. Contrary to the crap Initiative rolls I've gotten so far, Bards are basically designed to be high in initiative order to buff allies who need it that round, or debuff a particularly powerful enemy before most of his allies engage it. A magic user high in initiative order can turn a difficult battle into a cake walk. Even more so with well placed Bardic Inspiration as Bonus Actions.
If we average rolls, fights will get very "swingy." Five PC's going before five mercenaries is a very different fight than five mercenaries going before five PC's. We'll either crush enemies or their magic users will have a field day with us before we can even act. Having groups act at once dramatically changes the flow of combat.
If everyone posts what they plan to do, whenever they have time online, with maybe an alternate action or two if the battlefield changes, it could work. I'm cool with whatever is decided, but a lot of us have high Dex and we'd all benefit from it in the long run.
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien