D&D 5E [IC] The New World (Volo Monsters)

[JustinCase]

Ripnek shrugs, then turns around. Sword in hand, the bugbear silently and stealthily moves to the place where he first heard the voices and inches closer. Can he recognize the voices, their language, the race that produces them?

 

[KahlessNestor]

Drutha Keldret, Hobgoblin Fighter
Forest
Night/7 PM
Round 0

Using hobgoblin hand signs, Drutha started directing everyone around the back of the hill. If they could, she wanted them to crest the hill atop the intruders in case they needed to get the drop on them. The hill would provide cover from being seen, or cover from attack if they needed to charge quickly.

[sblock=Stats]
AC: 17 (chainmail, defensive fighting style)
HP: 13/13 HD: 1/1d10
Saving Face (1/R)
Second Wind (1/R)
[/sblock]

 

[ammulder]

Here's a general diagram of the mound:

The road runs along the bottom of the picture (about 100' from the fire), and you're approaching from the left. The mound slants up from the two tips at the bottom of the diagram and reaches full height just above the fire. It maintains that height all the way until a fairly sharp drop near the top of the diagram.

OOC: Saashala Stealth: 1D20+4 = [16]+4 = 20 Ripnek Stealth: 1D20+7 = [3]+7 = 10 Ripnek Investigation: 1D20 = [7] = 7

Saashala is able to take cover behind the left arm, where it's perhaps 10 feet high. She's totally concealed from whatever's going on near the fire. But the mound is far enough away from the road that she can't see the road -- just some dancing shadows cast by the fire.

Ripnek approaches, and immediately freezes as he cracks a twig underneath the snow. But no response is forthcoming from whoever's near the mound. From where he is he can hear the voices, but they're indistinct. As he approaches closer, near Saashala, the voices clarify a little and sound human. Occasionally Ripnek hears one raised in laughter, or in defense, but he can't make out any words. All the sounds come from the area of the fire, as far as he can tell.

Neither of you see any sentries -- nobody up on the mound or off toward the road.

OOC: If one of you wants a direct look at the fire from here, you just need to move down the map until the near arm is low enough that you can see past it. If you want to do as Drutha suggested and climb the mound to approach the fire from the top, the sides and rear are fairly steep and snowy. Anyone with an Athletics skill of less than +2 will need help getting up, but you can climb it far enough away from the fire that there's no chance of being noticed. I'll get the map on a grid tomorrow.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Drutha Keldret, Hobgoblin Fighter
Forest
Night/7 PM
Round 0

As Ripnek and Saashala approached one of the arms of the mound, Drutha moved further back along the mound. She found a place where she could attach a grappling hook and tossed up a knotted rope to help the others climb. Then she climbed up herself and made her way as quietly as possible to the front of the mound over the fire.

Athletics to climb: 1D20+2 = [19]+2 = 21
Plus whatever bonus you give for the rope.

Stealth: 2D20.LOW(1) = [17, 4] = 4

[sblock=Stats]
AC: 17 (chainmail, defensive fighting style)
HP: 13/13 HD: 1/1d10
Saving Face (1/R)
Second Wind (1/R)
[/sblock]

 

[TallIan]

Nert Muchshredder

Nert followed the group, trying his best to make the trail invisible from the road at least, grumbling to himself any time one of the others walks out of line. There was no way to hide the trial completely, but if everyone stayed in line, they could at least hide their numbers.

As they got near the mound the trails split as Ripnek went to investigate and the rest went toward the back of the mound. Nert shrugged then followed the main group, relying heavily on Drutha's rope to get up.

Nert Athletics roll: 1D20+1 = [4]+1 = 5

Nert stealth roll: 1D20+5 = [12]+5 = 17

[SBLOCK=Mini Stats]
HP: 12/12
Passive perception: 14
Abilities: Fury of the small 1/1 short rest
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Creamsteak]

Moon Moon hunkers down with the group thinking to himself about the meaning and concept of traps.

 

[tglassy]

Karok watched the hobgoblin noisily scramble to the top of the mound, and decided he would stay at the bottom. He circled around the back of the mound, creeping up on the other side. He stayed well away from the edge, so as to not alert their pray. He would wait for them to be engaged with the others, and then he would ambush them from behind.

OOC: Stealth Roll: [roll0]

 

[ammulder]

OOC: Seems like it's time for initiative, so... 19 Nert Muckshredder 19 Ripnek Ratkiller 17 Moon Moon 13 Karok the Crow 13 Saashala 12 Drutha Keldret To keep things moving, I'd rather resolve a whole round at a time and just apply the specific initiative order when relevant (stuff like surprise, effect durations, someone goes down). So please just chip in your actions for the round.

Here's my understanding of where everyone is. I stopped you a bit short of final destinations because:

• Karok finds six horses staked down on the far side of the mound
• Drutha can tell she's clanking, and runs a large risk of being noticed if she continues forward to row 8 where she'd have a clear view down.
• While the entire surface of the mound from back to where you are has been extremely smooth (snow covering grass), suddenly Drutha comes upon a lip as if the ground is covering a stone wall or something. Her quick estimate is that it's about ten feet wide, extends about a foot forward from where her toe first felt it, and sticks up a few inches from the preceding smooth surface.

The map uses 5' squares. Nobody's yet taken a clear look at the fire, so I haven't drawn in the people you heard.



Declarations for round 1?

 

[Shayuri]

Saashala moves carefully to B13 and tries to sneak a peek around the edge of the hill to get a look at the fire.

Stealth [roll0]

 

[tglassy]

Karok smiles, seeing the horses staked to the ground, out of sight of the campfire. A distraction could prove useful.

Karok holds for the moment, not very far from the horses. They could be a useful distraction if things turn south. But they could also be useful beasts of burden once they've taken care of their owners. So he decided to wait and see what the others do before making a decision. But if any of the owners come to the horses, Karok will release them.

OOC: Ready Action: If camp people try to get the horses, Karok will pull their stake and release them.