A Rather Odd Shovel [Judge: Bront]

[Trouvere]

Keldar leaves off at the end of the song. "Just following Galwynn's lead. Do you think they'd appreciate a verse about the invisible assassins stalking their decks?"

"Hey, Tommy, do you want a quarterstaff? I have a couple tucked away in my quiver. Better than a dagger, if it comes down to it."[sblock=OOC]Can we assume, also in the interests of simplicity, that our sailors have feats that won't matter in combat but are relevant to their normal lives, such as Athletic, Deft Hands or Skill Focuses, for example? Otherwise, can my disposable NPCs have Endurance and Diehard, or Toughness twice?

Is the boy in the crow's nest counted among our 12 NPCs? How old is he? Does he have a weapon?[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

About Kelders war song brey....

OOC: Ah yes, you've parsed his surname correctly. It is (of course?) a parody of My Lord Willoughbies Welcome Home. Scott - big sig!

 

[Wik]

Galwynn cringes at Keldar's song. "And I was just getting over my sickness..." he mutters. His knuckles are white as he grips his claymore, and he can see the edge of nervousness in his two companions.

"What the thief said was right - Pirates are cowards and murderers. When they realize we're going to put up a fight... they'll back down. Once we take one or two of them down, it will all be over.

You don't know this, but we've fought worse before. The thief can tell the story better than I; but we've fought creatures made of pure stone and fire. I can show you the scar I got when one of them tried to punch through my chest. And I survived.

Trust me. With Halina watching us, we will be safe. We fight in the name of truth, and honour.

Except for the thief. He fights only in the name of Keldar Warbray. Which has very little to do with truth or honour."

Realizing he is rambling, galwynn again focuses out at the water.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

[sblock=OOC: ]

Can we assume, also in the interests of simplicity, that our sailors have feats that won't matter in combat but are relevant to their normal lives, such as Athletic, Deft Hands or Skill Focuses, for example? Otherwise, can my disposable NPCs have Endurance and Diehard, or Toughness twice?

Is the boy in the crow's nest counted among our 12 NPCs? How old is he? Does he have a weapon?

Excellent questions! I completely forgot about feats, but I think that for NPC Experts, feats focused on skills makes far more sense than Toughness. Endurance... maybe, but not really. These are sailors, so let's say Deft Hands and Skill Focus: Use Rope, maybe some Skill Focus: Profession (sailor). Basically, nothing that will give combat bonuses.

And the boy in the crow's nest, he is included in the 12. I call him a boy, but I envision him being 14 or 15, on the brink of manhood for humans. IC, you can treat him like a skinny, somewhat scared but brave boy. OOC, treat him like the other 11.

"The Nobodies and Twelve Angry Men" How pleasant![/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

"We fight in the name of truth, and honour. Except for the thief. He fights only in the name of Keldar Warbray. Which has very little to do with truth or honour."

"Oh, Galwynn, stop, you'll make me blush," says Keldar.

"Right, men, let's see what else we have." He unloads a compartment of his quiver. "A javelin each. Two daggers apiece, stick them in your belts. Pick one pirate who makes it to our ship, and pincushion him. Make it count; I don't want any of them throwing things back at us. Anyone who tosses one of my daggers into the lake is going in to fetch it back! You there, you can have my whip. Trip up anyone who looks to be going somewhere he shouldn't! It's easy, trust me. Galwynn won't bash a man when he's down, I expect. It wouldn't be honourable. But I bet Tarag has no qualms. So. Let's find somewhere with a good view of the rest of the deck. They won't know what hits them."

 

[Solange]

OOC: How did you do that with your sig Rae? Get it in the sblock? and weclome back Scott... wow that's a big sig.

"Lenny, Karl, Come with me, we should prepare to repel their attack," Rapture says. They head to the front of the boat, ready to repel the attack. Rapture knocks an arrow, ready to fire when the first target comes into view.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: The sblock thing was the result of a typo: I didn't properly close my sblocks.

Okay, at long last, here's the ugliest map I've ever made. Sorry for the delay, but I'm trying to make the switch to Gimp ("the free Photoshop"). As you can see, I'm not exactly familiar with the new interface; it took me ages to make even this hideous image. I'll try to get better, but for now, deal with my awful creation and place yourselves and your crew members where you'd like them.

Notes: Aft (the rear of the boat) is the highest ground. Then there's a lower middle section (15' x 5') and then the main deck. That ugly blackish band is grating that provides a view into the second deck: the crew's quarters and cargo. That funky gray rectangle in B7 is a trapdoor that leads down to the second deck.

Each mast has rope ladders in the same square that allow you to climb them. The fore mast (in B6) has a crow's nest some 30' above the main deck. The door to the captain's cabin and your private cabins is on the south side of B10. The ship's wheel is at B13. For the purposes of combat, the ship's wheel and both masts act as typical trees in a forest.

OOC: Since I am frustrated and tired and can't figure out how to move text yet (case in point: grid reference coordinates...) we'll do this instead:

Character Locations:
First Mate @ B13
Fimble @ B14 C13

 

[Trouvere]

OOC: Enjoy your swim, Fimble. I'm inclined to put my man with the whip in B6, the foremast square, from which he can reach most of the deck. Keldar will go in C8. I guess we'll put the other guys at A8 and B7. It's going to be crowded.

 

[Trouvere]

"Too crowded!" says Keldar worriedly. "If they have longspears or the like, they'll poke us full of holes while we stand helplessly jammed between the rail and the people behind us. We need more room!"

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: Heh, good catch. I meant:

Fimble @ C13