Swamp Trek III: The Search for Ter-raen

[covaithe]

With your preparations are finally complete, the next morning finds you striding out of Orussus into the rising sun, soaring above glowing clouds with the promise of a fine day.

The road east from Orussus is heavily travelled on such a fine day, and for the first portion of your journey you are rarely alone, frequently passing merchant wagons, bands of pilgrims, and other sundry travelers of less identifiable purpose, and occasionally being passed by fleet-hooved courier horses or armed patrols of mounted guards.

Eventually, though, your path takes you southward toward the river Grellgo. The next day's travel takes you across a sturdy stone bridge, onto much less well travelled territory. You pass no one that morning, and the silence is broken only by your voices and armor clanking noisily as you trudge southward.

Shortly after midday you round a small bend and spy an overturned wagon beside the road. It is quite a large wagon, and several great wooden barrels have spilled out, along with assorted smaller debris. There is no sign of movement near the wagon.

As you approach, it becomes clear that one of the wagon's wheels is significantly deeper into the ground than the other of the earthward pair, as if the ground suddenly gave way beneath it, causing it to overbalance.

[sblock=ooc]Once you get your purchases sorted out, I'd appreciate a marching order, together with any precautions you take generally.

And, of course, let me know what you do on spying this overturned wagon.
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[Scott DeWar]

[sblock=ooc] I would like Karl to be second, perhaps behind someone like Richard, perhaps?

upon the sighting of the over turned wagon, He would bring out his bow, string it and pull out an arrow and nock it, but not draw it.[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

"Somebody's haed some bather - aw somebody's schamin' some," says Gildrim, drawing his greatsword.[sblock=OOC]We're quite the traveling circus troupe, but you non-dwarfs will insist on bringing along your beasts of burden. There's not really a good marching order, with all the Large non-combatants. Looks like it'll be Richard+horse, Karl leading (or riding?) Itchy the mule, then Weel and Gildrim, 30 or 40 feet back from Richard's horse's nose, with our 20 ft moves. Don't expect any quick assistance to attacks from the front.[/sblock]

 

[Richard Rawen]

Richard's horse is not war-trained, so he will dismount and tether it to a nearby tree at least 300' from the wagon once it is clearly in trouble.

Unslinging his Crossbow, he will cock and load it, approaching the wagon with the rest of the group, with the Xbow sweeping along in front of him as he scans the area.
[sblock=ooc]Richard is all business out of town. His background is one of extreme violence and he has had comrades die in front of him in seconds flat with no warning so he's justifiably paranoid (by his reasoning).
He takes no chances and assumes every situation is deadly. He's not a very light-hearted adventurer I'm afraid... should I have mentioned that up front? *smiles*.
Once the group has approached to within about 50' he will hail the wrecked wagon and start to circle around to get a view into and past the wagon.
True to his paranoia, he will constantly scan the tree-line and rear.[/sblock]
"Whoever is rear-guard, make sure you don't let us get flanked. Keep your eyes open guys, and if I call retreat, then don't play hero."

 

[Scott DeWar]

Kasrl leads his mule and tethers it near Richard's horse. He too has seen comrads die, though from the persuit of a shocker lizard. He is still wary of suspicious looking things like an overturned wagon. his bow is, as said before: arrow nocked, but not drawn. He will ltry to get Richard's attention quietly to let him scout ahead. Hwever he will tke notice of the distance back that the rest of the party is.

 

[jkason]

Weel Naxel, human cleric

Weel made for a moment to simply go help, then he noticed his companions' precautions, and instead stationed himself near the animals and retrieved his crossbow from his pack, readying it against need.

 

[Richard Rawen]

... He will ltry to get Richard's attention quietly to let him scout ahead. Hwever he will tke notice of the distance back that the rest of the party is.

Richard notices Karl's signal, realizing that his companion's stealth is superior to the plate-clad fighters he stops in place. Richard nods once, settling into a crouch as he continues to scan for trouble.[sblock=Listen,Spot]I tried Invisible Castle several times without luck... are they Gone!?
I used another RP's dice generator, if there is concern about my rolls I'll gladly use another suggested site as I have to log in to use this roller

rolled 8,16 using 1d20+3,1d20+3. Listen, Spot
So, Listen = 8, Spot = 16[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

As Karl quietly approaches the overturned wagon, there is a rumbling sound. Suddenly, the ground at Karl's feet explodes, an a large pair of serrated insectile jaws, dripping with acidic goo, grabs at his legs. Karl tries to leap back, but is an instant too slow. A fountain of blood erupts, and with a scream, Karl falls unconscious, right into the jaws of the ankheg.

[sblock=ooc]IC is still down, so I'm using the CoCo dice roller that some people have started using. If you want to use that too, that's fine with me. Or use physical dice. Whatever.

The ankheg charges Karl from underground, 1d20+7+2=13 just hits, since Karl is flat footed. 2d6+7+1d4(acid)=16 damage, which drops Karl to -6. Improved Grab gives a free grapple check, which auto-succeeds since Karl is dying.

Initiatives:
Richard: 1d20+6=21
Weel: 1d20=9
Gildrim: 1d20+0=1. Nice!
Karl: 1d20+2=22
Ankheg: 1d20+0=8

So everyone but Gildrim is up.

Karl fails to stabilize (1d10=6), so drops to -7.

[/sblock]

[sblock=status and initiative]

Karl -7/10, dying, grappled
Richard 40/40
Weel 10/10
Ankheg 28/28, -2 AC from charge, grappling Karl
Gildrim 34/34

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[sblock=map]

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[covaithe]

[sblock=post order]I don't know if you guys have been following any of the 4e games around here, but there's a style of running PbP combats that's catching on there, and if you guys are interested, we could try it here. The idea is to speed up combat by "kind of" ignoring initiative. Basically, the DM rolls initiative for monsters in a block, and they all act together. The DM provides some basic stats for the monsters, so that the PCs can mostly resolve their own actions. Then the PCs act in whatever order the players post. If you provoke an AoO, roll it yourself. If you do something that forces a save, roll that too. With relatively few exceptions, you don't need to wait for me to know whether your attack hits, or how many HP the monsters have left.

So in this case the basic stats for the ankheg are something like this:

Ankheg, 28/28 HP, AC 18 (touch 9, ff 18). F/R/W +6/+3/+2
Attack (reach 5): Bite +7 melee (2d6+7 plus 1d4 acid)

People generally seem to report that doing things this way speeds up combat, and doesn't require as many updates (and hence less work) from the DM.

Anyway, are you guys interested in trying that?
[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

OOC: Gildrim has only 34 HP.[sblock=Malenkirk Rules]

I don't know if you guys have been following any of the 4e games around here, but there's a style of running PbP combats that's catching on there, and if you guys are interested, we could try it here. The idea is to speed up combat by "kind of" ignoring initiative. Basically, the DM rolls initiative for monsters in a block, and they all act together. The DM provides some basic stats for the monsters, so that the PCs can mostly resolve their own actions. Then the PCs act in whatever order the players post.

Hate it with the heat of a thousand burning suns.
Acting in a block, there's no means to try to interrupt or react to what the other side is trying to do, or to save the PC that's just gone down. You just have to watch the other side finish. You'd know in the back of your head that the simultaneously-acting monsters could all gank one PC, and if they don't then the DM is just holding back out of kindness.
In the opening round, by the time you act the monsters are either all still flat-footed, or none of them are. There's no more manoeuvering around to get that one slow monster who is still sneak-attackable, or against whom you can use just a bit more Power Attack.
I'd hate it even more if I had spent a feat on Improved Initiative to maximise the chances of going first (for archery without aiming past soft cover from friendlies, or to lay down an area effect spell, or to make a charge attack, or to threaten with my reach weapon from a particular square etc.) only to find that a bunch of Dex 10 slowcoaches had gone first and got in the way thanks to the feat Improved Timezone.
Sorry, it's just too much of a departure. I think you lose a lot more than you gain.
In 4e, where I get the impression combats last a few more rounds, and no matter what your class you have Rock-Paper-Scissors at your disposal, it might work better. In 3.5, melee classes can choose from Rock-Rock-slightly different Rock, and need to squeeze out every bit of tactical interest they can, while spellcasters have Swiss Army Knife-Universal Remote Control-Bowl of Fruit, and exactly when they're allowed to pull off one of their miracles is even more important.

If you provoke an AoO, roll it yourself.

This on the other hand is excellent, and could save days (except when the opponent has the option to make special attacks such as trips or disarms as AoOs, I suppose).

If you do something that forces a save, roll that too. With relatively few exceptions, you don't need to wait for me to know whether your attack hits, or how many HP the monsters have left.

When facing a monster qua monster, I think we generally do know, more or less, so there's no reason not to announce a hit in the post. It might save some time, now and then.
If facing opponents that might have class levels and associated abilities, I'd much rather not know their AC and HP and especially not saves. It can give away, well, their entire build.[/sblock]