Chef's chuckwagon rides again!

The group arrives at the trail head where the ramp accesses the gorge.  It isn't very deep here, but the view stretching down to the south betrays treacherous terrain with few access points.  Lumenor is reminded of his vision; a cataclysmic history known in records, but his visual is unique.

"Its........ALL........on fire. It just doesnt remember...." observes Lumeneor, in a hushed and solemn tone.

clarification - the mech tracks go across the gorge or down into the gorge?

Chris wrote:clarification - the mech tracks go across the gorge or down into the gorge?

They go down into the gorge.

HEADS UP -

Rob's internet is down since yesterday, we had a really nasty line of storms come through that hit vicinity Rockford / Rochelle / Dekalb and he lost service as a result.

Lumeneor strides confidently down the trail into the gorge.....

The gorge can get very narrow in places, ocassionally scraping the sides of the wagon.  The group has to clear a limb or small boulder for the wagon from time to time.

At first, the counterarmor tracks are easy to follow.  Then, they seem to walk into the creek.  By noon they are gone.

Tuq and Ila will look for the exit spot on the far side of the creek, where the ground should be soft and muddy for the heavy mechs to leave footprints. Ila will sniff along the far bank to try and pick up the strange scent of the oils used to grease the pulleys and the acrid smell of their chemicals.

Survival for Tracking

Tuq, visual tracking +10
Ila, scent tracking +9

Ila
Roll(1d20)+9:
11,+9
Total:20

Tuq
Roll(1d20)+10:
13,+10
Total:23

You and Ila think they were all walking in the creek here.  You can rule out exit, anyway.

You and Ila think they were all walking in the creek here.  You can rule out exit, anyway.

Tuq calls out from the far shore, "They didn't exit here. They must have continued to walk in the river.... or..... "

Tuq uses the haft of his longspear to poke around the rocks in the riverbed (search for secret doors)

Perception
Roll(1d20)+9:
17,+9
Total:26

For shit's and giggles... Korwin will make a perception check as well. He's still rather on edge given what happened earlier.

Roll(1d20)+2:
11,+2
Total:13

heh, never mind.

Checking internet at the folks' house. We still have an outage at the homestead. Will continue to check in as often as I can.

Chef sits in the driver's seat of the wagon and chews absently on some jerky. "What you fellas see down there?"

We will take it slow for the time being.  Don't want to leave Rob in the dust.

Considering the pace of games on the forum, I don't think that will be a problem!

Anyways, our internerd is back up. That tornado Thursday night knocked Comcast out for 4 days. Wow.

Chris wrote:Tuq calls out from the far shore, "They didn't exit here.  They must have continued to walk in the river.... or..... "

Tuq uses the haft of his longspear to poke around the rocks in the riverbed (search for secret doors)

Perception
Roll(1d20)+9:
17,+9
Total:26

Tuq searches briefly and concludes they must've continued down the creek.  As he looks back up he sees Ila's hackles raised.  She smells smoke downriver...

navyik wrote:
Tuq searches briefly and concludes they must've continued down the creek.  As he looks back up he sees Ila's hackles raised.  She smells smoke downriver...

(feeling a bit like Luke on his Tauntaun) "What's the matter, girl, you smell something?"

Tuq alerts the rest of the party.

Can Ila tell from which side of the creek the smoke is blowing?

With a careful eye tuq sees the smoke southeastish.  He can't guarantee a source from this vantage point.

"If we leave the road, we'll have to ditch the wagon. I'll stay with the wagon for now. Tuq and Emil might want to sneak over and check out the smoke. Come back with some more details about the river banks too."

Is the bottom of the gorge wooded at all? Any big rocks? If we're staying for a bit, Chef will tie up the wagon and horse, preferably near some felled tree or boulders. Then he will (quietly) go about placing brush around them, using the felled tree as a base, building a concealment against eyes from the road.

Sorry guys, been a busy couple days while I'm working out a new deal at work..

Emilian wouldn't have been doing anything up to this point anyway, being as he's kind of lazy.

Since Tuq and Ila spotted smoke, he'll climb a tree and see if he can determine where it's coming from, or gather any other data.

Climb check: 1d20+5 (17+5)=22

Perception Check: 1d20+4 (19+4)=23

He may as well try to stay concealed while he does it, so Stealth check:
1d20+7 (17+7)=24

Can Emil scale a tree, and if so, does he see any more details than Tuq and Ila already spotted?

Korwin will grab a chaw of his favorite chewing tobacco and will wait patiently

Chef approaches Korwin and looks at the sun. "Aye, blacksmith, well met. I've heard you are a craftsman of weapons." The cook holds out his butcher blade. "Can you replicate a blade such as this? Perhaps in the masterwork style? Hammered from adamantine?" Sheathing the blade, he adds, "I'd be happy to pay whatever you need, after we loot these goblin scum of course."

The road is above the gorge.  The trappers trail and the creek are IN the gorge.  The wagon can make it, just not at full speed.

per GM, map is being posted.  10 goblins (6 regular, 4 pilots), 4 mechs across the river from a water wheel.  party is entering from map-right side

Ok, but Chef isn't taking the wagon into battle if he can help it. Tethered to a tree, concealed.

"Shall we sneak up on them?"

Sneak up on them? out of character comment... with what stealth? Not everyone is sneaky

"Best to scatter the herd. Even deer are dangerous in large numbers, if they trample you all at once. We can use both range and terrain to our advantage here."

Emilian scampers down from his tree.

"I could eh... circle around and flank them, with the small one and his puppy, and we could catch them in the, eh.. crossfire... "

He grins and nods at Lumenor.

"with the crazy man throwing fire at them from this side.."

He grins and shrugs.

Just ahead of where Chef parks the wagon, the canyon narrows and then opens to the above clearing.

The party can enter the map between Y-1  to Y-9.


Casual observation reveals that the wheelhouse is operational and noisy. It snugs up to the canyon wall Curious add-ons twist up the steep and mostly sheer cliff face some 50' to a barn, and the whole thing seems to vibrate.

"A water-works of some kind.... maybe where the goblins build their machines?" Tuq wonders to himself

what are the goblins doing? (activity, state of paying attention, etc)

Those of you accustomed to travel in this area recognize it as Old Gabby's Gin Mill.  The goblins appear to have been camping here and are not breaking camp.  The pilots are tinkering with their mechs.  The two by the bridge seem to be studying the mill and are drawing in a primitive clipboard.

After a minute, a goblin emerges from the mill waving.  The rest of the goblins run playfully into the mill except for the mech pilots.

Tuq seizes the initiative! (partial action for each?)

Tuq rides to X-6, which gives him a straight and clear LOS to H-6. Tuq casts Entanlge, centered on hex H-6. Entangle has a range of 480ft and an area of effect radius of 40ft, which covers 8 hexes in all directions. That covers all the way to the west side of the map, the top of the map, down through the Gin mill and to line O on the east side in grasping vines.

Save = Reflex DC 10 + 1 + 3 = 13 (partial)

This spell causes tall grass, weeds, and other plants to wrap around creatures in the area of effect or those that enter the area. Creatures that fail their save gain the entangled condition. Creatures that make their save can move as normal, but those that remain in the area must save again at the end of your turn. Creatures that move into the area must save immediately. Those that fail must end their movement and gain the entangled condition. Entangled creatures can attempt to break free as a move action, making a Strength or Escape Artist check. The DC for this check is equal to the DC of the spell. The entire area of effect is considered difficult terrain while the effect lasts.

If the plants in the area are covered in thorns, those in the area take 1 point of damage each time they fail a save against the entangle or fail a check made to break free. Other effects, depending on the local plants, might be possible at GM discretion.

If that is ok with GM, I will update map....

Surprise round for the rest of the party.

Roll initiative.

Korwin

Roll(1d20)+1:
11,+1
Total:12

Chef initiative:

18 + 5 = 23

Lumenor init -

Result of the throw of dice "1d20 +2" :

17 + 2 = 19

Tuq and Ila
Roll(1d20)+3:
7,+3
Total:10

Emilian: 1d20 +2 (2+2)=4

Chef will take a double-move, to behind the 2nd tree in, space 0-P or so.

Initiative order:
Chef
Lumenor
Korwin
Tuq
Pilots
Emil

You each get a partial action (either a move or standard) as a surprise round before initiative.  The goblins don't get this action.  


Then we'll start over for the full round actions.

Move Chef to behind the first tree.

Robyo wrote:Move Chef to behind the first tree.

Lumenor follows chef to the tree, his eyes alight with strange glee.....

map updated, I included Tuq who is up after Korwin, but his movement shouldn't affect the spell placement

mech pilots need Reflex save DC = 13 for partial save vs Entangle (full spell description posted above)

Ila - partial, move
Tuq - partial, cast entangle

green transparent circle is AoE for Entangle

korwin moves to U -1

Thanks to Chris for the map work.  

Assuming Tuq doesn't need a concentration check to cast from a moving mount, (?) We can now begin round one.

Chef is up.

navyik wrote:Thanks to Chris for the map work.  
Assuming Tuq doesn't need a concentration check to cast from a moving mount, (?) We can now begin round one.
Chef is up.

I would have given you one if it was called for

Casting Spells While Mounted: You can cast a spell normally if your mount moves up to a normal move (its speed) either before or after you cast. If you have your mount move both before and after you cast a spell, then you're casting the spell while the mount is moving, and you have to make a concentration check due to the vigorous motion (DC 10 + spell level) or lose the spell. If the mount is running (quadruple speed), you can cast a spell when your mount has moved up to twice its speed, but your concentration check is more difficult due to the violent motion (DC 15 + spell level).

what effect can Tuq see? do the pilots appear to be entangled?

I realize the mechanics have certain timing to which we are accustomed and for which we often account when planning our next moves.

That said, as a storyteller, I wanted to gradually invoke this effect as part of the goblins' actions.  Right now they are surprized (and frozen in time as your ramped up adrenalized minds percieve them).  The plants begin to slither and sway toward the mech pilots, grasping and coiling at them.

Okay, makes sense.

Chef makes a double-move to behind the tree at M-3 or so, locating him inside the area of entanglement.

Reflex save: 19 + 4 = 23

Lumenor moves to R / 2.

He then holds his lantern high above his head, points at Chef, and shouts "The Holy Fire is upon you!!!"

Chef is granted "Fury" for 4 rounds -
Fury (Su): A shaman incites a creature within 30 feet into a primal fury. The target receives a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls and a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against fear for a number of rounds equal to the shaman's Wisdom modifier.

Nice.
Korwun is up.