[Living Pathfinder]Frog Hunt

[GlassEye]

DM: GlassEye
Characters/Players:
Elros / GandalfMithrandir
Kanli the Mad / InVinoVeritas
Nathan Tchanlach / jkason
Ta-Am-Ath / Walking Dad
Willow Whiteman / Vertexx69

[sblock=Awards]Encounter xp & gold: 280 xp, 300 gold, 1 silver
TBX & TBG126 xp, 108 gold
Total xp & gold 406 xp, 408 gold, 1 silver[/sblock]

The three halflings row focused upon their job and speaking little. It seems the boat and its passengers windingly traverse the entire length of the city before it glides out from between two tall buildings and they see that they have suddenly left the city. A stretch of calm water lies before them and the shadows of those buildings reach towards the mainland and the marsh that is their destination like the dark tentacles of the Black Kraken.

A short time later the boat parts tall watergrasses that stand sentinel at the edge of the marsh and the watermen bring it to rest next to a dry hillock of land that juts out from the mainland. Tall grass and murky channels of shallow water surrounding waterlogged earth and deep, dark pools stretch off towards the east. The smell of fish and decay fill the air. A chorus of chirps produced by unseen frogs is interrupted by the less frequent bass croak of bullfrogs. It sounds like you've come to an ideal place for the work ahead. Mossimo motions to the bit of dry land. "This good enough or do you have a specific bit of marshland you need to find? I have to warn you, our boat won’t navigate those channels well; we should wait here while you take care of your business."

 

[jkason]

Nathan Tchanlach, human sorcerer

"This good enough or do you have a specific bit of marshland you need to find? I have to warn you, our boat won’t navigate those channels well; we should wait here while you take care of your business."

Nathan hops to the bit of dry land, looking around. "I'm not aware of any prime frog-finding locale, in any case. Might as well start here as anywhere."

 

[GlassEye]

Mossimo nods and settles down into the boat. He props his feet up on the side and slips his hat down to cover his eyes. "Well, good luck, then. We'll light a lantern if it gets dark before you return."
[sblock=OOC]I'd like to run the frog hunting aspect as a modified skill challenge.

The Goal: bring Zitteaux as many frogs as can be gathered from the marshes near Venza.

Primary skills: Knowledge (nature) and Survival (using these skills provide a +2 bonus to the skill check).

Write a post describing your character’s actions taken to achieve the goal. Each descriptive element/phrase earns the character one skill check (to a maximum of three skill checks; I recommend getting the maximum number of checks). Additional descriptive elements earn positive modifiers to the skill checks. Decide which skill or skills are used though please have it match the descriptions and it must be feasible for the completion of the goal. For example, a pc could talk to the frogs all evening long trying to get them to march into his bag but it just won’t work; some skills, like Diplomacy, are unsuited for the successful completion of this challenge and cannot provide successes regardless of how good the check is. Despite that, please be creative! If you have good descriptive elements in your post I will give you the benefit of the doubt. In your post include your descriptions and an sblock with the skills used and a link to invisible castle with your skill checks. I’ll add modifiers you earn and post results after everyone has posted. Thanks![/sblock]

 

[Vertexx69]

Willow, HP: 9/9, AC: 19/12T/16FF, Saves: 3F/2R/6W, LL Vision
Boon, HP: 16/16, AC 17/13T/14FF, Saves: 4F/6R/2W, LL Vision, Scent

Willow cinches the draw strings tight at tops of her already form-fitting hide boots, before lowering herself carefully off the side of the boat. She looks for the most solid patch of ground possible, but still expects to get wet. She throws a nod at Boon and the tiger jumps out of the boat after her.

After sloshing to a hillock of dryish ground she pulls her shield and crouches low next to the big cat, even though he stands nearly as tall as she does, while waiting for the others. She and Boon take a long look around from their vantage point.

Willow, Survival=21

Boon, Survival=22

OOC - I don't know if it would be better to use the "fetch" command with Boon for higher numbers of catches, or have him use the "aid another" action to improve my Survival roll.

 

[Walking Dad]

Ta-Am-AthAC 15 (T15, FF12), HP 13/13, F +3,R+4,W+4, CMB +4, CMD 16

Ta looks and listens for something frog-like, bur the surroundings are to alien for him.

[sblock=ooc]
Ta-Am-Ath
Ta-Am-Ath

Perception (1d20+6=11)

[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

Willow's examination of the surrounding marshlands gives her a good sense of the terrain and leaves her confident of her ability to keep the group from getting lost. Of course, with the looming buildings of Venza in the distance to the west and the rising mainland and its scattered fields and vineyards to the north visible even from this location getting lost is a very remote possibility. She already pinpoints some deep pools and channels that may be hazardous and the rest, the boggy wetlands of tall grass just beyond their hillock, shouldn't prove too difficult to traverse.

[sblock=OOC]Vertexx69, I presume the Survival checks were to scout the area for hazards and make sure the party doesn't get lost. If you intended differently please let me know.

As for Boon, descriptions of his actions will count towards Willow's number of rolls (or bonuses to the rolls). So it's up to you how it works: you could have him help you which would provide a bonus to Willow's roll or you can have him fetch which could either be a roll off Boon's skill (but would count against the three allowed to Willow) or a bonus to Willow's. You could, if you're confident about Willow's checks, even have Boon help someone else giving them bonuses to their checks. This is a bit of an experiment for me and as such I'm willing to play a little looser with the skill checks in order to get some good descriptive actions.[/sblock]

 

[jkason]

Nathan Tchanlach, human sorcerer

Nathan stands a moment biting his lip as willow and her tiger take the lay of the land, then as he glances at the others, his eyes light up. He mutters something under his breath and snaps his fingers. Then he turns to a small rock nearby which, when he points to it, suddenly turns a bright orange. The sorcerer smiles.

"I have to admit I don't have much of any skill at hunting, but all those red hands gave me an idea. This little trick of mine is similar. Only lasts an hour, but it ought to make it harder for any froggies we find to hide if they slip free."

[sblock=OOC]Nathan's cast prestidigitation. One of the minor effects he can now create for the next hour is to color anything up to 1 foot cube / round. His intent, then, is to "mark" frogs as they spot them. Don't know if that's worth a genuine bonus on any rolls, but figured it seemed like nice fluff.

Nathan isn't trained in Survival or Know (Nature), so probably he's best off providing Aid Another to someone else, anyway, so I can always use "orange-ing" as a descriptive way to cover whatever help he provides.[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

[sblock=OOC]In this case the mechanics of helping someone with an action is the same as making a skill check. In short, Aid Another isn't an option; you're going to have to make skill checks of your own, though it could be described as helping someone else. I realize that for 3 of the 5 of you this challenge is not exactly ideal for your skill sets. But this system takes that into account and provides alternate means to success with extra descriptions earning bonuses to the die rolls. The actions of all characters are equally important; every action helps the group succeed in the challenge. Describe your actions as you see fit (the use of prestidigitation in that fashion is an excellent idea, by the way) and we'll work out the skill checks.[/sblock]

 

[Vertexx69]

[sblock=OOC]Yes it was just to get a lay of the land. Boon will most definitely be using Aid another to help someone else. Which I'll describe with my next real post.[/sblock]

 

[GandalfMithrandir]

Elros hops off his boat and scans the landscape. He looks at deeper areas of water as well as fallen logs to look for the telltale bubble of a frog.

[sblock=survival roll]
Survival=1d20+7=17

bleh, a 10, could have been better, Survival isn't Elros's main focus anyway he is much better with his bow, which he may use by the end of the day [/sblock]



[sblock=Mini Stat Block]
HP: 12/12
AC: 14, Touch 14, Flat Footed 10
Initiative: +4
CMB: +3
CMD: 17
Fort: +3
Ref: +4
Will +0, +2 vs. enchantment spells and effects
Speed 30'

Longbow (ranged): +5 = +1(BAB) + 4 (Stat) (1d8)X3 Range: 100', +1 atk and dmg within 30'

Longsword: +3 = +1(BAB) + 2 (Stat) (1d8+2)19-20 X2


Immune to Sleep spells
Low-Light Vision
Perception +2[/sblock]