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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 3945812" data-attributes="member: 3649">GURPSThe group, a human healer who served in the recent wars, a cocky elven wizard who has escaped from his cruel master and is eager to see the world, a shifty-eyed goblin who claims to be a mining expert, and a noblewoman who has returned from her tour of fencing schools with a thirst for low company and high adventure gather in an inn. Sela the noblewoman has brought them together to discuss retrieving a family heirloom that an ancestor had buried with him. It will help her restore her family to their rightful place, and she will make sure the rest are richly rewarded.Journeying to the monestary, they encounter a crippled priest of that faith outside the gates who says he served in the temple for many years. Sela questions him and finds that her ancestor is buried in the deepest part of the catacombs. Inside the ruins, the party encounters a group of 8 feral goblins armed with knives. Initially hostile, they become neutral when they see a kinsman with the group and because Thandrus the healer can speak their tongue. A round or two of negotiations and they might even help the party! When Whisperwing the elf says that they plan to raid the catacombs, though, the goblins turn hostlie again because they view the catacombs as a holy place and attack!The battle takes about 30 minutes; eight goblins, well armed, are more than a match for the party since they have a numeric advantage. Thandrus the healer didn't put much at all into any combat skills, so Sela leaps to his defense and blocks three of the goblins from getting to him. Thandrus, however, is an excellent healer and keeps Sela's wounds from becoming too bad. She criticals and kills a goblin, then executes a special defense maneuver and gets an advantageous strike on the next goblin, also killing it. One goblin gets really lucky with his knife but her ability to parry turns aside the knife; the leader steps up to deal with her and they trade blows back and forth, each seeking the advantage. Whisperwing is an idiot but he's a very, very skilled idiot with a couple of spells - so skilled that they cost him no mana whatsoever. He zaps the leader a couple of times; he goes unconscious and Sela finishes him off. The party is heavily damaged, and Thandrus spends much of his fatigue healing the group. He almost kills the goblin when he critically fails a healing spell skill roll. Once he's done, he can barely stand. Sela still has a wound to the leg, where she didn't have much armor at all.The goblin and Thandrus cooperate to search the catacombs; Sela also helps with this since all of them have good perception skills. Once they find the locked door, they're stymied. None of them ever had to learn to pick locks, but Sela and Thandus manage to use their default skill to jimmy the doorway open and they're inside. The stone sarcophagus is a trap! Shoving the lid open, the goblin sets off a poisoned arrow trap! It rolls a critical hit to the head and kills him instantly, the poison on it just adding insult to injury. They find Sela's heirloom: an enormous ruby. It is also a powerful source of magic, and with it's extra strength to draw upon, Thandus finishes healing the group to full strength. He's not quite learned enough to ressurect Thandus; they take his body along in hopes they can later, but it's unlikely. There's no-one in the area skilled enough to risk such a complex spell and it will be many months of adventuring before Thandus has enough XP to purchase that skill, assuming he improves nothing else at all. He'll learn it way before Sela improves her DEX stat, though... Good thing they're healed, too! As they come out of the catacombs, the 'priest' reveals himself as a rival to Sela's family and demands the ruby for their lives. He has six chainmail-and-spear soldiers behind him. There's no way they could win such a fight. Sela reluctantly hands over the prize and beckons the party to run. She smiles, though: the illusion spell she learned from her grandmother won't last long and they had best be long departed when the 'priest' discovers the trick!</blockquote>

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