[Adventure]: Land Ho! FWBTHW (DM:H.M.Gimlord,Judge:Ozymandias79)

[H.M.Gimlord]

"Hey, I can see something" Looks like the wall stops one step before the edge... and I see one thing more..." Riardon shouts, clearly audible to the others.

GM: The roll should have been 9-Con '+' 5. Not sure how you got an 11 Constitution bonus, but it doesn't matter. They heard you anyway .

[sblock=OOC]I think one can pass a turn in a skill challenge. If this is right I will do it for Rujah, if not, he will try to assist Fenwick in further Athletics checks.[/sblock]

GM: You can't pass on a turn, but you can choose to Aid Another instead of rolling a check yourself.

[sblock=ooc]Ok so one round has passed, correct? And now we have 5 successes and 2 failures, right? Mervin will wait until everyone else has rolled since his odds are so poor. However, it's honestly getting tricky for me to tell when that's happened since we have several double-players, so please everyone be extra clear about who is doing what.[/sblock]

GM: So far, only Riardon and Gensai have gone this round. Both were successes, so yes. you have 5 successes and 2 failures. Remaining Available Skills: 1 Thievery 2 Dungeoneering 1 Athletics

 

[Tenchuu]

OOC: we need 8 passes right? Suggested action: Mervin, if you have to act this turn, you should try to assist on the athletics check as well. To make eight, we're going to have to make at least 1 dungeoneering. So next round: Fenwick+Rujah on Athletics Gensai on Theivery If these both pass, and we do need 8, Riardon plus Mervin assist on dungeoneering. Sad, -1 is the best we have on dungeoneering, and somehow a -2 is supposed to "assist". But, if the wall won't actually push mervin in, maybe we can wait and do a full-team assist on that damn dungeoneering?

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

OOC: Tenchuu: I think you missed Mervin's comment. Mervin is on your side of the slab (I screwed up with his move, and retconned later). He won't be pushed in. The risk, here is that the party will be separated until you can find an alternative way of getting back together.

 

[evilbob]

[sblock=ooc]Tenchuu, I am not really sure I understand most anything you said. I add +3 to dungeoneering checks; given the DC 15 check that's not too bad, and with one assist we have 55-45 odds. It will definitely be our most difficult check, though, whoever rolls it.

I also have a +3 to thievery, so maybe I could assist with that instead? I mean Fenwick already has a +10 athletics. Who has the best thievery, and what's your check? It looks like Tenchuu (as someone?) rolled it last time and only has a +3 as well; technically Mervin's assist would be better suited there against the DC 12 I think, especially since his athletics is only a +1.[/sblock]

 

[BenBrown]

OOC: Okay, let's do this. After all, can't fail athletics checks forever.

[sblock=roll]Athletics Roll #2 for Skill Challenge (1d20+10=11)[/sblock]

OOC: Okay, I spoke too soon.

Fenwick attempts to heave again, but the slab won't budge. He cries out an oath in his native tongue as the advancing stone wall inexorably moves onward.

 

[Tenchuu]

[sblock=For EB]
Moot now, but to explain my gibberish: Yes, I was being a bit nonsensical, and confusing to be sure.

I charted out everyone's skills in the five categories, and calculated the net modifier against 50/50 (So, for example, thievery had a 12 DC, you and I have +3 in that skill, and if rolling a 10 is the 50/50 point, then we had a +1 modifier to a 50/50 chance (Math: assumed rolled 10 - DC 12 + Thievery modifier +3 = 1)

So, pretty much useless, except that when I did this for all the skills and players, it gave me an at-a-glance view of who's best at what; since the DCs varied for the skills, just looking at skill modifiers was an invalid way of determining who is best at what.

Where I ran in to trouble was quoting those net modifiers to you guys, who had no idea what I was talking about. Plus, I forgot they were net modifiers and started thinking about them as actual modifiers. So... my bad.

[/sblock]

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

Rujah is certain this anomaly he has just found is either a triggering mechanism or stopping mechanism for the trap, but his talons are too large to manipulate the recessed carving of stone. Gensai, moves back to help and manages to pry it loose with the blade of his sword. As it turns out, the carved stone is a large plug, designed to blend in with the surrounding wall. Evidently someone put it back in at the wrong angle.

When the plug falls away, it reveals a recess at the back of which four geometric designs appear to be carved.[sblock=Rujah and Gensai]

[/sblock]The confused duo are momentarily distracted by Fenwick's grunts and curses which rise above even the clamor of grating stone, and Riardon's cries. The orc strains valiently for quite some time. Rujah runs to help, but eventually, the two succumb in to fatigue. The barbarian shakes his head, frustrated as he sits down to rest, staring at the floor, cursing at himself, not wanting to talk., while Rujah paces nervously.

Beyond the slab, Riardon fears the worst. The wall is now beginning to cover the slab that separates him from his friends. In moments, there will be no escape and no reunion of the party. Riardon hangs his head.

Suddenly, the sound stops. Riardon looks up and notices that the wall has stopped moving, and the slab has started to rise. It is still rising into the ceiling when a wide-eyed Fenwick steps through the entry with a look on his face that says, "I didn't do it..." like a child being falsely accused.

As relief floods over Riardon, the orc and the warlord both hear a loud scraping sound, like a thousand swords being drawn at once. They look down into the pit to notice that all the spikes in the pit have retracted into the floor.[sblock=Riardon]Riardon sees, once more the footprints at the bottom of the pit:

The footprints are formed in sillhouette from sand, as if cast from the foot of the passerby. From the shape of some, you discern that the owner of the footprints must have been the kobold that you chased into this passage. At the far end of the pit, it is impossible to determine where the footprints continue.[/sblock]Gensai, Mervin, and Rujah stare in disbelief as the slab rises. The dragonborn and the wizard move to follow Fenwick to the door, but Gensai stays behind just a moment to examine the recess they've just discovered. Something has changed. One of the geometric carvings has sunken back further into the wall:[sblock=Gensai]

[/sblock][sblock=Map]

[/sblock]

GM: 5 successes, 3 Failures Things are not what they seem, no? I'll need specific actions from everyone (not necessarily a skill check). This means: what are you doing (skill, move, action, etc...), where are you going (coordinates), and what/who are you doing it to (target or object). Mervin has yet to go this round, so I'll update further after he posts. After that, I'll wait until everyone has gone before updating again. Athletics DC for crawling down into the pit is 10. Anyone with a bonus of 10 or greater need not roll. Failure means 1d10 fall damage.

 

[Walking Dad]

OOC: There were other tracks beside the ones in the pit? Why would they have no sand lost on the way to the pit? Are there tracks on the other side?

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

OOC: No. These are the same one's you saw earlier. I'm just showing them here more explicitly. The floor of the pit is bedrock while the floor of the passage is paved with flat stones. There's enough loose sand and cracks between the pavers to obscure any prints in the passage, but on the floor of the pit, there are no cracks to collect the sand. The more even distribution of sand and the homogeneous makeup of the bedrock makes it easier to make out the prints at the bottom of the pit. As for the eventual loss of sand, there is still enough loose sand in the passage for the barefoot kobold to have picked some up along the way. Riardon is only able to see the tracks shown on the picture.

 

[Tenchuu]

[sblock=Holiday Schedule]
I am out of town 11/29-12/12 with no internet activity. Please NPC gensai while I am gone.

If you celebrate it, happy thanksgiving.
[/sblock]