The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #134 Are We the Baddies?

[carborundum]

Great stuff!
Could the players hear each other's turns/ see each other's turns during this epic separation?

 

[Goonalan]

Great stuff!
Could the players hear each other's turns/ see each other's turns during this epic separation?

Oh yes, we're all around the VTT and on Discord at the same time.

The separation wasn't a conscious decision (or else that's the line some of the players are sticking with).

What actually happened is the dwarves- Bang & Olafsson pointed out that the door in the upper ruins on the west hand-side had been completely knocked off its hinges by the undead that spewed out of the stairs chamber there. Therefore it would be easier if the PCs entered the crypt down the western stairs. The eastern door still being in good shape could be sealed again, just in case more undead were to emerge from below.

This was me trying to tell the guys that west was the better option, because I'm so nice.

So, all the PCs gather to the west- the rogues take a look below and discover the chamber at the bottom of the stairs is waterlogged, and contains a pair of dwarven zombies.

Vinnie decides that it would therefore be wise to check the eastern stairs- and the chamber below here is dry, and no zombies, although...

Hearing this Newt dashes over to Vinnie and moments later the druid- having now heard something sloshing around down in the eastern crypt decides- "Dakatri, come wiz us- we will 'av a look ahead."

The druid figures the two chambers below connect.

And while both teams are fighting a few slow-moving zombies everything is a lark.

Then the chokers and the ochre jelly turn up.

So, the rogues are being remarkably polite about it all- as in they're not laughing all the while, just some of the time- particularly when their beleaguered colleagues next door are either missing repeatedly or else taking hits.

While Jim (Vinnie) and Bear (Newt) are concertedly, for a while, ignoring the fact that they are in trouble, although that doesn't last. When Vincen G. Octopod gets killed, and with the ochre jelly/jellies still unharmed- then things start to get much louder, and anxious.

And humorous for others watching/listening in.

The issue for me being that because of the multiple combats we ended up staying in the initiative tracker, moving turn by turn for a good long while (20-30 turns in total). For the first two hours of the session at least one (and for a good while, both) groups were in combat. Slow-going.

As I said in the session write up, I only put the dwarven zombies in as walking flavour (sorta) with the Dark Squad all marked as present and together, and making the circuit in either direction- this would have been a walkthrough.

Which was what I intended, I had planned for a short but brutal fight (the eastern way- chokers & jelly) or else a quick hack through a bunch of mostly empty crypt chambers (the western way- zombie dwarves). Then to the climax.

So, we got there- just took a while.

Toodles.

Goonalan

 

[carborundum]

Well played the players, then, for staying in character and looking around instead of hussling towards the (unheard) screams. Cheers!

 

[Buggles]

Always happy for Newt to run off and try to get himself killed in amusing ways.

Cats have nine lives, I'm assuming Tabaxi do as well (it certainly appears so). Does that mean Newt has nine souls? Well, seven left.

 

[Goonalan]

Well played the players, then, for staying in character and looking around instead of hussling towards the (unheard) screams. Cheers!

Here's a thing, I'm not absolutely certain that the rogues would 'hustle' to the defence of their comrades even if the message/screams had got through to them.

I think it would go something like-

"Well, yeah- that does sound like Vinnie, Newt and Daktari screaming, but- y'know, I figure the way ahead has got to go somewhere..."

"I mean- it's gotta connect, even Vinnie said so."

Followed by the rogues (and Gwen) continuing on their merry course.

But we'll never know, and that's part of the fun of it.

Toodles.

goonalan

 

[Buggles]

I think you’re forgetting, Buggles is a hero first and a rogue second, ofc he’d hustle to save a beleaguered comrade. He threw himself in to save Nosiarris, and he’d do the same for catkins.

 

[Goonalan]

Well, that got close to the wire again.

Talk of a possible TPK for a while, although not much chatter from Vinnie as he's a statue atm.

Still better than being a stoned crab.

Which he also tried for a while.

But you'll learn all about this and more when I get the write up done.

Excellent work fellers, you survived to fight another day.

They're coming out of the walls!

Stay frosty people.

Cheers goonalan

 

[Buggles]

I was a bit drunk on mead by the end did Gwen die again? We did it tho? Hope that artefact is worth all the bother.

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Always happy for Newt to run off and try to get himself killed in amusing ways.

Cats have nine lives, I'm assuming Tabaxi do as well (it certainly appears so). Does that mean Newt has nine souls? Well, seven left.

Well I managed to kill my son's tabaxi rogue in Lost Mines of Phandelver at what I'm pretty sure was some way short of the ninth attempt ...

Mind you, he did have a colourful back story so maybe he'd already used a few up?

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Well, that got close to the wire again.

Talk of a possible TPK for a while, although not much chatter from Vinnie as he's a statue atm.

Still better than being a stoned crab.

Which he also tried for a while.

But you'll learn all about this and more when I get the write up done.

Excellent work fellers, you survived to fight another day.

They're coming out of the walls!

Stay frosty people.

Cheers goonalan

Tease