Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9612863" data-attributes="member: 16069">Dark Squad in the Secrets of SaltmarshSession #155: Arcadia Part 3. DnD DARK Kart.Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).Daktari/Dak (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 9Fellowyn Silverstream (played by George) Male Eladrin Wizard Bladesinger Lvl 9New Tricks/Newt (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 9Ramshambo/Ram (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/2Vincenzo/Vinnie (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 9DEAD PCs<s>Nicholai Barbaros Kostyiev/Nicky (played by George) Male Dhampir Cleric of Twilight Lvl 8 </s>RIPNPCs<s>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick)</s> RETIRED<s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5</s> RIP*<s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard</s> RETIRED<s>Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1</s> EXPLODED<s>Ubdug (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 2</s> EXPLODEDUb-Pam (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 3*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.Servants/FamiliarsGerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New TricksOwly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiarArchimedes (very scruffy & old, Owl) Fellowyn’s familiar.The Dark Squad’s to-do list-<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer from Lowhill), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetery).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood- except she's not there anymore, but a big red dragon is?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blackedge and the Goblin Stair?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall, the Witch's Tor is in the Drowned Forest, in the Mere of the Dead Men.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. Location unknown. SEE 2. ABOVE.</li> </ol>This is session 155 the Dark Squad are in a place called Arcadia, sometime in the (dystopian & goblin-infested) future. They’re on their final game here- Motor Goat, here’s a lovely picture/gif-[ATTACH=full]399579[/ATTACH]You’ll note their tokens are somewhat different, that’s because between the last session and this each player/PC had to supply the GM with an image of their mount. Motor Goat- we’re racing again.So, Vinnie is slithering around on the rough scaled back of a gigantic snake, maybe he’s compensating for something. Daktari is riding his winged Sky Pony, natch. Newt is riding Gerald, his Giant Bat familiar, again- natch. Ramshambow has taken the task quite literally, he’s riding a robot (motorised) goat- smart fellow; and Fellowyn is on his Chevalier Longue, his traditional Eladrin Running Sofa.And all of this is a-okay, because these are the avatars for the PCs in the racing game that follows.The avatars have the same stats- hit points, saves, attacks, etc. as the PCs that they belong too. Got that. Later this will become important.Here’s the track-[ATTACH=full]399580[/ATTACH]Or at least the start of it.The PC avatars, in initiative order, have fifteen seconds to button bash their way around the track with the arrow keys, the DM is holding a (digital) stopwatch and turning off the movement on the map when the fifteen seconds are done.Although, the PC avatars on their turn can do one other thing- accelerate, that means making a DC 16 Play Arcade Games skill check (they all have these now), or for Ram only- chose to make a DC 16 Ride Giant Goat check instead (all PCs also have these, after the previous races) because he’s on a motorised goat.If the PC avatar makes the check, then they can add one second to their allotted time for that turn- so 15 becomes 16 seconds. If they fail the check then they can use one of their accumulated High Scores (see later) to make the check again.If the PC avatar makes the above check first time, then they can use a High Score to make an additional check (which cannot be re-rolled) if they’re successful then they add another second to their move time this turn. So, 15 becomes 16 becomes 17 seconds to button bash their way to the finish line.At the start of each turn the PC avatar’s speed returns to 15 seconds.Got it.Good.Ram has 3 High Scores to play with, Daktari 4, Fellowyn 10, Newt 11 and Vinnie 16.Looks like the druid has got things sown up.And so… Ready, steady, go![ATTACH=full]399581[/ATTACH]Here’s a gif to show you what it looks like. That’s Fellowyn on his racing sofa really doing rather well, the old man has a knack for this- it seems.Here’s another demonstration from the crazy-legged/mounted old fool.[ATTACH=full]399582[/ATTACH]Obviously, the players have to have the map suitably far zoomed out so that they can see where they are going- there’s no scrolling (side or otherwise) in this game. It’s tricky.It takes about three turns to get around one lap- if you are good at this, which on first sight seems to be Newt (Bear) and Fellowyn (George). Newt is very fast around the track on Gerald. Vinnie, Dak (both played by Jim) and Ram (Kev) have clearly not put in the practice. Or else they never squandered their youth. The fools.[ATTACH=full]399583[/ATTACH]Here’s a lap of the track, although mostly darked out, this is the end of the first lap- the qualifier.Fellowyn wins the qualifier, but in the final part of the lap Newt & Gerald somehow manage to get themselves stuck behind a building and are swiftly overtaken by first Ram and then Daktari, both get to the line before then now screaming Warlock. Newt finally finishes the qualifier fourth, Vinnie bringing up the rear- way behind, his positioning not helped by the fact that he spent half of a turn heading in the wrong direction.There is cheering, and then… the race proper.NEW RULE: Collision, if you run over a competitor’s PC avatar then (when your move is done- always get to the end of your move before resolving any other actions) you inflict 1d6 exploding dice damage to your victim. You can run over as many PC avatars as you like on your turn, but each only once- multiple hits/tramples do not increase the damage done.So, go fast- go hard.And then at the end of the second lap- it’s a five-lap grand prix, we get to this-NEW RULE: On your turn you can instead of accelerating decide to use your action to use any of the skills, spells, attacks or whatever other talents/skills you possess. So, we’re properly PvP, or rather- P avatar v P avatar.And…NEW RULE: On your turn you can spend your healing HD, as many as you like- as a free action.CAVEAT: Any magic or otherwise which blocks the track so that others cannot pass in some way is verboten/forbidden- it will not happen, DM fiat. Furthermore, any magic or otherwise that allows a PC avatar to teleport, or jump, or whatever to another place on the track is also not going to happen. Basically, the only way movement can happen is courtesy of the fifteen (or more) seconds button bash.Otherwise feel free to kill each other.Note the PC has to declare any readied actions before their movement phase, this declaration can take the form of a whisper to the DM, so the other players are unaware.Got it- here we go.[ATTACH=full]399584[/ATTACH]It’s a pile on to begin with, lots of collisions- but let’s skip past that to the more interesting stuff, because the pile on is all about putting Fellowyn out of the race. That’s a failed attempt at a drive-by-Hold Person from Newt.This mainly because Fellowyn, as soon as he’s let off the leash, Hastes himself- his base movement becomes 18 seconds/turn.Fellowyn very quickly takes the lead, and he’s being nice on his turn- speeding, natch- but trying to avoid colliding with anyone else.The others…Chaos abounds.There’s a lot of…“But Ram!” Cod-Russian voice of Daktari please- “I thought we had understanding, we are men of honour!” This after Ram declares to drive-by-backstab the barbarian.There is no honour, as it turns out, in DnD DARK Kart.[ATTACH=full]399585[/ATTACH]Daktari collides with Fellowyn delivering just one point of damage, it’s enough to break the mage’s concentration- his Haste is gone. There is cheering.From Fellowyn/George there is swearing- a lot, a lot of swearing.[ATTACH=full]399586[/ATTACH]Daktari then tries to take Fellowyn’s head off.It’s getting fractious.Soon after Fellowyn is Bladesinging (and using Shield pretty much every turn) on his Racing Sofa.It really is a pile on.[ATTACH=full]399587[/ATTACH]Vinnie races past Fellowyn and drops Dougie on the track- Dougie’s orders- smash Fellowyn.Just for info, the reason that Fellowyn is getting a beating is he was quickly half-a-lap ahead of Newt (then comes Dak, and then Vinnie, with Ram bringing up the rear). If Newt had been ahead at this point- well, I think it would be much less restrained.[ATTACH=full]399588[/ATTACH]Here we all are.Nearly…[ATTACH=full]399589[/ATTACH]The malaise spreads- everybody is now trying to kill everybody else, almost all of the time.Actually, that’s only partially true- Fellowyn is still just mostly trying to go fast, he’s still not trying to collide with folk, and he’s quickly into his second casting of Haste.Newt is also just trying to make more speed, and for a good long while he’s about a turn behind Fellowyn on his Running Sofa, and slowly catching up.[ATTACH=full]399590[/ATTACH]Fellowyn is doing his best impression of Newt atm, Dougie is smashing, the mage is on less than ten hit points.But moments later he sucks up a bunch of healing HD and then zoops off up the track.[ATTACH=full]399591[/ATTACH]Vinnie is on the charge, note that square is a Web spell on the track, deposited there by Fellowyn- he’s starting to fight back.Here’s a nice picture-[ATTACH=full]399592[/ATTACH]As it turns out actions have repercussions- remember Vinnie dropped Dougie on the track, well moments later the druid fails his concentration check- after a collision (I forget who with) and Dougie goes rogue/tonto. Moments later Vinnie- the nearest target- takes a beating from his own elemental.“Dougie! Owch! Doug… Zis is not on! Douglas, behave yourself! I will not… Owch!”Note the DM is controlling Dougie atm, and I just roll to see if he goes up or down the track and then charge for the next nearest token in whichever direction. It works a remarkable number of times- as Michael Stipe once said (although repeatedly) “everyone hurts”.[ATTACH=full]399593[/ATTACH]Newt and Gerald are on one. Desperate to catch up, and now they’re maybe only 3-4 seconds behind Fellowyn.[ATTACH=full]399594[/ATTACH]Dougie in pursuit of Ram- spoiler, he gets to the rogue and then wails on him awhile.Note, at this point Ram has given up on the chase, he has positioned himself and his mount out of sight of those coming around the corner and is aiming (advantage if no movement) his bow (with +1 or walloping arrows) and shooting whichever PC avatar that appears next.He hits quite often.PCs are spending healing HDs more or less every turn- and using potions, and… everything.Keep in mind that all of these items are replenished when the game is done- they are expending their PC avatar’s resources here, not their own.[ATTACH=full]399595[/ATTACH]Vinnie has had enough- Wall of Fire across the track, “everyone hurts”, is the mantra now.Seconds later Ram collides with Vinnie, his concentration ends, and the spell is gone.Vinnie isn’t happy- and that happens almost never.[ATTACH=full]399596[/ATTACH]Fellowyn collides with Ram and his exploding dice explode- Ram is down and dying.And the mage is across the line.[ATTACH=full]399597[/ATTACH]FTWSeconds later Newt gets yoinked by Daktari and… he too is down and dying.There is a large amount of swearing.Although not from Ram.Note both Ram and Newt have already spent all of their healing HD, so- unless they can roll a ‘20’ on their death saves, or else one of their friends gets to them with some healing… that’s never going to happen, they’re out of the race.And so, it proves- the three finishers are-1st Fellowyn2nd Daktari3rd VinnieThe DM awards these three guys 5, 4, and 3 High Scores respectively, which confuses the players a little- weren’t the High Scores for spending in the race? As it turns out (next time) no.[ATTACH=full]399598[/ATTACH]Here are the celebrations, back in Arcadia with the goblins, Fellowyn is doing his hip-thrust dance while perched atop the arcade screens for Motor Goat. He’s being joined in the dance by Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar, so that’s nice- although where did he come from? And more to the point- why’s he here?Oh, and Kev (playing Ram) can’t find his old token image- the new Ram looks, well… not like how anybody imagined Ram to look.But that’s for next timeStay safe and well.Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

Verification