Once she's sure Grom is okay, Rees will go back over to Arxius and the Ratman. "This is...interesting. Not a rat after all." She glanced at Arxius, biting her lip and starting to look for any signs of similarities (pale skin, nearly colorless eyes/hair, etc.) She'll also start going through his pockets to try and find any clues, cash, trinkets, etc.
Nature: 13 Investigation: 3
Edit: Natural one. Ouch. DM - Can I convince you to add my proficiency bonus (+2) to that nature roll since she's proficient in disguise? and familiar with shape-shiftyness? Feel free to say no, just figured it was worth a shot lol
{Moving this down here where it makes narrative sense}
So Alten saw RatMan shift. He had gone into the other room to check on Talien but was overcome with rat-ness of the room. After hurling and fleeing, any chance he might notice Rees and Arxius acting different towards the RatMan and his change, either at the time or during their inspection? Perception: 21
Edit: That's it - roll those nat 20s on meta knowledge checks, not when they might actually be useful - combat, to find that trap, or whatever
Once she's sure Grom is okay, Rees will go back over to Arxius and the Ratman. "This is...interesting. Not a rat after all." She glanced at Arxius, biting her lip and starting to look for any signs of similarities (pale skin, nearly colorless eyes/hair, etc.) She'll also start going through his pockets to try and find any clues, cash, trinkets, etc.
Nature: 13 Investigation: 3
Edit: Natural one. Ouch. DM - Can I convince you to add my proficiency bonus (+2) to that nature roll since she's proficient in disguise? and familiar with shape-shiftyness? Feel free to say no, just figured it was worth a shot lol
{Moving this down here where it makes narrative sense}
I don't remember seeing this yesterday, we must have posted at the same time. Apologies and thanks for moving it down.
Hmm... I'm convinced. I'll add the prof bonus. It seems cool for the narrative in this case, lol.
You stare at the body of the rat-man for a few minutes thinking about its transformation from a hybrid-rat back to a human. You think back to your time at the orphanage and the stories and lore you were told by your protector about the Traveler and his gift to Jes and her children. This hybrid in front of you does not appear to be of your people. The way it looked in hybrid form and the transformation was more bestial -- more primal than anything you have seen. No, this monster cannot share blood with you. Blood... what is it about blood and transformation? It suddenly hits you. You remember back to a job you were on when you first took to the streets. You remember your garissta at the time warned you about some of the thieves you would be working with. It seemed like he was just trying to scare you at the time. Possibly a joke he played on new bloods, but thinking back on it now you are able to make correlations between the men you worked with back then and the man before you here today. You think for a long hard moment and recall the lore your garissta told you about a disease transmitted through saliva that causes humanoids to become one with beasts...
Wererats are cunning lycanthropes with sly, avaricious personalities. They are wiry and twitchy in humanoid form, with thin hair and darting eyes. In their humanoid and hybrid forms, wererats prefer light weapons and use ambush tactics rather than fighting as a pack. Although a wererat can deliver a nasty bite in its rat form, it favors that form for stealthy infiltration and escape rather than combat.
A wererat clan operates much like a thieves’ guild, with wererats transmitting their curse only to creatures they want to induct into the clan. Wererats that are accidentally cursed or break loose from the clan’s control are quickly hunted down and killed.
Wererat clans are found throughout urban civilization, often dwelling in cellars and catacombs. These creatures are common in the sewers beneath major cities, viewing those subterranean areas as their hunting grounds. Rats and giant rats are commonly found living among wererats.
You are so consumed with memories and thoughts that you actually forget to search the body for items, or other clues not related to its ability to transform.
So Alten saw RatMan shift. He had gone into the other room to check on Talien but was overcome with rat-ness of the room. After hurling and fleeing, any chance he might notice Rees and Arxius acting different towards the RatMan and his change, either at the time or during their inspection? Perception: 21
Edit: That's it - roll those nat 20s on meta knowledge checks, not when they might actually be useful - combat, to find that trap, or whatever
During the fight you remember Rees being shocked by the presence of the ratman, though at the time you attributed it to surprise at seeing another enemy. Your stomach quits dancing and you walk back over to the dead ratman just in time to see Rees come to a startling conclusion. Her eyes widen and she lets out a gasp which she quickly stifles. She seems to absorbed in whatever she is doing to notice your presence.
Worry overcomes Talien as he is searching the room. A thought comes to his mind... "What if that bolt was magical, or some sort of toxic coating on it.. could it cause my exterior to rust?" The thought of his beautiful carapace rusting is too much for Talien and he sits down to clean, buff, and inspect the boltholes instead of finishing his check of the room.
Taking her time to examine the ratman, Rees is at first relieved to find that he's not one of her kind but further inspection and memory make that relief short-lived. Looking up at Arxius, she shakes her head slightly, murmuring for her ears only (and maybe Alten's with that perception check) "He's not like... but I know what he is." Standing up, she'll brush her hands off on and say louder, so everyone can hear, "Keep your eyes open for more of these creatures, they tend to exist in packs. Do not let them bite you."
She's going to move into the room with Talien, looking specifically for anything written in thieves cant or similar that she might recognize.
Investigation: 6
Edit: NOPE. we're never going to know what's in that room, y'all. LOL
While all this happens Grom will just sit on the edge of the fountain drinking some water from his water skin and nibbling on a few bits of snacks or food he has just kinda taking it all in and relaxing and trying to wrap his head around the events that just happened..
And will use his arcane recovery skill for today and gain back 1 spell slot :)
Watching Rees closely, Arxius makes a note to ask her when they have a quiet moment. Something is wrong. She shrugs and loots the body.
Investigation 8
Concerned for Rees you do neglect to do a through search and opt instead for a quick once over. As you are not paying much attention to the corpse you only find the weapons used against you a few minutes prior: 1 shortsword, 1 crossbow, hand, and 7crossbow bolts.
Taking her time to examine the ratman, Rees is at first relieved to find that he's not one of her kind but further inspection and memory make that relief short-lived. Looking up at Arxius, she shakes her head slightly, murmuring for her ears only (and maybe Alten's with that perception check) "He's not like... but I know what he is." Standing up, she'll brush her hands off on and say louder, so everyone can hear, "Keep your eyes open for more of these creatures, they tend to exist in packs. Do not let them bite you."
She's going to move into the room with Talien, looking specifically for anything written in thieves cant or similar that she might recognize.
Investigation: 6
Edit: NOPE. we're never going to know what's in that room, y'all. LOL
You enter the room and find Talien sitting on the floor muttering to himself about rust, or something. You do see the aforementioned humanoid humanoid corpses are that of two goblins, a kobold, and one human male dressed in tattered ranger’s gear, but you take a cursory glance at them as their stench is overwhelming.
Meepo wanders over the the dead ratman with his dagger still drawn. You watch as he bends down and starts poking and prodding the corpse with the pointy end. He laughs from behind his toothy grin and says, "Dagger work now friends!"
Investigation: 18.
After healing Talien, Chatra wanders back outside the room, leans against the wooden door, and begings to compose a ballad about his heroic deeds during the battle with the ratman. Alten and Rees gagging sounds however prove too much of a distraction and Chatra decides to look over the room and festering corpses himself. He enters the room and says to Rees, "Find anything in here, or are you just fond of corpses and refuse?" Chatra laughs to himself as he walks over to the humanoid bodies to get a better look, then to the map table.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As Meepo stabs the corpse he cuts into some sort of hidden pocket in the ratman's jacket and you hear the dagger point connect with something metal. Meepo looks at the corpse quizzically, then drops his knife, and starts rummaging through the hidden pocket. He pulls out a small purse with 21 gold pieces and a piece of rolled parchment parchment paper inside. He throws the parchment to the ground, dances a little jig, and yells excitedly, "Look friends Meepo find shiny! Meepo find shiny! Can Meepo keep!?"
Alten and Arxius please make a perception check [DC 10].
After healing Talien, Chatra wanders back outside the room, leans against the wooden door, and begings to compose a ballad about his heroic deeds during the battle with the ratman. Alten and Rees gagging sounds however prove too much of a distraction and Chatra decides to look over the room and festering corpses himself. He enters the room and says to Rees, "Find anything in here, or are you just fond of corpses and refuse?" Chatra laughs to himself as he walks over to the humanoid bodies to get a better look, then to the map table.
"Well, I've put up with you this long so I guess I must be," she quips, gagging slightly at the stench before exiting the room again.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Arxius adds the things to her pack, more concerned with Rees than anything else. She's adjusting her pack as she joins her in the other room. The map takes her interest and she makes an attempt at working out what it's for. Intelligence: 8
And then she'll probably give the rest of a room a go over because why not. Investigation: 4
[lol was going to see if I could find a way to work my background and good memory for maps into reading the map but never mind]
As Meepo stabs the corpse he cuts into some sort of hidden pocket in the ratman's jacket and you hear the dagger point connect with something metal. Meepo looks at the corpse quizzically, then drops his knife, and starts rummaging through the hidden pocket. He pulls out a small purse with [Tooltip Not Found] gold pieces and a piece of rolled parchment parchment paper inside. He throws the parchment to the ground, dances a little jig, and yells excitedly, "Look friends Meepo find shiny! Meepo find shiny! Can Meepo keep!?"
Alten and Arxius please make a perception check [DC 10].
Arxius is surprised when Meepo starts crying out. She curses inwardly, she obviously wasn't paying attention when she searched the body. "How much have you got there?"
Chatra searches the goblin and kobold bodies, but comes up empty. However, he gets excited as he searches the humanoid in the ranger's gear.
On and around the ranger’s corpse Chatra finds several items: 1 studded leather armor, 5 daggers, 1 longbow, a backpack (containing a water skin, one day’s rations, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and three torches), a quiver with 6 arrows, a potion of healing, and a pouch that holds 17 gold pieces. He also finds an engraved gold ring on the rangers finger. He reads the engraving aloud, “Karakas”.
Proud of what he has found so far, Chatra walks over to the table with the map and scoops up the 6 gold. He chucks the dagger into the pile with the other items he found and then looks over the map. Chatra starts to yell, "Haha! Did you idiots even look at this map? There's some stupid tree on it and it clearly lines up with the map we already have. Its obviously a map of whatever it below this level... Rees I'm keeping all the $h!^ I found on that dead ranger #$^& as I clearly deserve it for single handily killing that stupid ratfaced-man and then uncovering all his stupid plans! What are you doing tonight Chatra... taking over the world??"
Thanks Rees :) go see is he had anything good on him.
Grombrindal "The White Dwarf" (Dwarf - Wizard) - Fenris_Worldsbane's Tales from the Yawning Portal
{Moving this down here where it makes narrative sense}
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
So Alten saw RatMan shift. He had gone into the other room to check on Talien but was overcome with rat-ness of the room. After hurling and fleeing, any chance he might notice Rees and Arxius acting different towards the RatMan and his change, either at the time or during their inspection? Perception: 21
Edit: That's it - roll those nat 20s on meta knowledge checks, not when they might actually be useful - combat, to find that trap, or whatever
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
I don't remember seeing this yesterday, we must have posted at the same time. Apologies and thanks for moving it down.
Hmm... I'm convinced. I'll add the prof bonus. It seems cool for the narrative in this case, lol.
You stare at the body of the rat-man for a few minutes thinking about its transformation from a hybrid-rat back to a human. You think back to your time at the orphanage and the stories and lore you were told by your protector about the Traveler and his gift to Jes and her children. This hybrid in front of you does not appear to be of your people. The way it looked in hybrid form and the transformation was more bestial -- more primal than anything you have seen. No, this monster cannot share blood with you. Blood... what is it about blood and transformation? It suddenly hits you. You remember back to a job you were on when you first took to the streets. You remember your garissta at the time warned you about some of the thieves you would be working with. It seemed like he was just trying to scare you at the time. Possibly a joke he played on new bloods, but thinking back on it now you are able to make correlations between the men you worked with back then and the man before you here today. You think for a long hard moment and recall the lore your garissta told you about a disease transmitted through saliva that causes humanoids to become one with beasts...
You deduce the ratman before you is a wererat:
Wererats are cunning lycanthropes with sly, avaricious personalities. They are wiry and twitchy in humanoid form, with thin hair and darting eyes. In their humanoid and hybrid forms, wererats prefer light weapons and use ambush tactics rather than fighting as a pack. Although a wererat can deliver a nasty bite in its rat form, it favors that form for stealthy infiltration and escape rather than combat.
A wererat clan operates much like a thieves’ guild, with wererats transmitting their curse only to creatures they want to induct into the clan. Wererats that are accidentally cursed or break loose from the clan’s control are quickly hunted down and killed.
Wererat clans are found throughout urban civilization, often dwelling in cellars and catacombs. These creatures are common in the sewers beneath major cities, viewing those subterranean areas as their hunting grounds. Rats and giant rats are commonly found living among wererats.
You are so consumed with memories and thoughts that you actually forget to search the body for items, or other clues not related to its ability to transform.
During the fight you remember Rees being shocked by the presence of the ratman, though at the time you attributed it to surprise at seeing another enemy. Your stomach quits dancing and you walk back over to the dead ratman just in time to see Rees come to a startling conclusion. Her eyes widen and she lets out a gasp which she quickly stifles. She seems to absorbed in whatever she is doing to notice your presence.
DM Note: Talien's checks for points of interest.
Investigation: 2.
Intelligence: 3.
Alten will go over and take his own look at Ratman's body
Invest 2
Nature0
Ha! {Alten is clueless in these checks}
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
Worry overcomes Talien as he is searching the room. A thought comes to his mind... "What if that bolt was magical, or some sort of toxic coating on it.. could it cause my exterior to rust?" The thought of his beautiful carapace rusting is too much for Talien and he sits down to clean, buff, and inspect the boltholes instead of finishing his check of the room.
The bowls of the dead corpse release and a fowl smell assaults your nostrils causing you to back away a good ten feet.
Taking her time to examine the ratman, Rees is at first relieved to find that he's not one of her kind but further inspection and memory make that relief short-lived. Looking up at Arxius, she shakes her head slightly, murmuring for her ears only (and maybe Alten's with that perception check) "He's not like... but I know what he is." Standing up, she'll brush her hands off on and say louder, so everyone can hear, "Keep your eyes open for more of these creatures, they tend to exist in packs. Do not let them bite you."
She's going to move into the room with Talien, looking specifically for anything written in thieves cant or similar that she might recognize.
Investigation: 6
Edit: NOPE. we're never going to know what's in that room, y'all. LOL
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
Watching Rees closely, Arxius makes a note to ask her when they have a quiet moment. Something is wrong. She shrugs and loots the body.
Investigation 8
Arxius, Elven Simic Hybrid Ranger in Tales from the Yawning Portal
While all this happens Grom will just sit on the edge of the fountain drinking some water from his water skin and nibbling on a few bits of snacks or food he has just kinda taking it all in and relaxing and trying to wrap his head around the events that just happened..
And will use his arcane recovery skill for today and gain back 1 spell slot :)
Grombrindal "The White Dwarf" (Dwarf - Wizard) - Fenris_Worldsbane's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Concerned for Rees you do neglect to do a through search and opt instead for a quick once over. As you are not paying much attention to the corpse you only find the weapons used against you a few minutes prior: 1 shortsword, 1 crossbow, hand, and 7 crossbow bolts.
You enter the room and find Talien sitting on the floor muttering to himself about rust, or something. You do see the aforementioned humanoid humanoid corpses are that of two goblins, a kobold, and one human male dressed in tattered ranger’s gear, but you take a cursory glance at them as their stench is overwhelming.
[I don't believe it's come to this]...
Meepo wanders over the the dead ratman with his dagger still drawn. You watch as he bends down and starts poking and prodding the corpse with the pointy end. He laughs from behind his toothy grin and says, "Dagger work now friends!"
Investigation: 18.
After healing Talien, Chatra wanders back outside the room, leans against the wooden door, and begings to compose a ballad about his heroic deeds during the battle with the ratman. Alten and Rees gagging sounds however prove too much of a distraction and Chatra decides to look over the room and festering corpses himself. He enters the room and says to Rees, "Find anything in here, or are you just fond of corpses and refuse?" Chatra laughs to himself as he walks over to the humanoid bodies to get a better look, then to the map table.
Investigation: 10.
Intelligence: 18.
As Meepo stabs the corpse he cuts into some sort of hidden pocket in the ratman's jacket and you hear the dagger point connect with something metal. Meepo looks at the corpse quizzically, then drops his knife, and starts rummaging through the hidden pocket. He pulls out a small purse with 21 gold pieces and a piece of rolled parchment parchment paper inside. He throws the parchment to the ground, dances a little jig, and yells excitedly, "Look friends Meepo find shiny! Meepo find shiny! Can Meepo keep!?"
Alten and Arxius please make a perception check [DC 10].
"Well, I've put up with you this long so I guess I must be," she quips, gagging slightly at the stench before exiting the room again.
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
Arxius adds the things to her pack, more concerned with Rees than anything else. She's adjusting her pack as she joins her in the other room. The map takes her interest and she makes an attempt at working out what it's for. Intelligence: 8
And then she'll probably give the rest of a room a go over because why not. Investigation: 4
[lol was going to see if I could find a way to work my background and good memory for maps into reading the map but never mind]
Arxius, Elven Simic Hybrid Ranger in Tales from the Yawning Portal
Arxius is surprised when Meepo starts crying out. She curses inwardly, she obviously wasn't paying attention when she searched the body. "How much have you got there?"
Perception: 5
Arxius, Elven Simic Hybrid Ranger in Tales from the Yawning Portal
Chatra searches the goblin and kobold bodies, but comes up empty. However, he gets excited as he searches the humanoid in the ranger's gear.
On and around the ranger’s corpse Chatra finds several items: 1 studded leather armor, 5 daggers, 1 longbow, a backpack (containing a water skin, one day’s rations, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and three torches), a quiver with 6 arrows, a potion of healing, and a pouch that holds 17 gold pieces. He also finds an engraved gold ring on the rangers finger. He reads the engraving aloud, “Karakas”.
Proud of what he has found so far, Chatra walks over to the table with the map and scoops up the 6 gold. He chucks the dagger into the pile with the other items he found and then looks over the map. Chatra starts to yell, "Haha! Did you idiots even look at this map? There's some stupid tree on it and it clearly lines up with the map we already have. Its obviously a map of whatever it below this level... Rees I'm keeping all the $h!^ I found on that dead ranger #$^& as I clearly deserve it for single handily killing that stupid ratfaced-man and then uncovering all his stupid plans! What are you doing tonight Chatra... taking over the world??"