The Road to Adventure? - Whiteleaf Game, take 3

[willpell]

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It's not as simple as "a nature check" in this case, Spider. This isn't a straight application of "you see a creature of type Animal or Plant, roll to identify it"; it's a more subtle application of multi-disciplinary knowledge. In future please try not to assume that you're included in rolls which were specified for other players. If Khrerrark has the Skills specified and makes his roll, then I can probably include you in the information that he receives, but he was the one who originally asked; I won't simply assume that Kast would think to wonder the same thing, simply because he's more Knowledgeable - knowing the answer does you no good if it doesn't occur to you to ask the question.

Both Kast and Khrerrark easily spot the sniper, as described in the spoiler box above. (I was tempted to optimize like crazy and assume that this individual had something like +25 worth of circumstance bonuses, but I settled for just +5 each for Cover and Concealment, so the -20 for sniping ruined any chance of a success; it's hardly that skillful an ambush, I guess. There are other reasons why I think it should have been more effective than this, but whatever.)

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As to size, that's honestly not a question I'm sure how to answer, since I often do not have a realistic appraisal of things like the typical size of trees. I would like it if the distance between Kast on the ground and Loren in the tree was at least 35 feet, but I don't know if that's reasonable for a tree that is just ordinarily good-sized, as opposed to something along the lines of a California redwood (let alone a certain Albino redwood in a place nowhere near California). I feel as though the average tree is maybe like 20 feet tall, and this is above average, but not insanely so. If you live in temperate latitudes and have seen a tree IRL which you're certain was 40 or 50 feet tall, so that Loren could be fairly far down in the branches but still be 35 feet away from you, then that's the situation; if you find that utterly outrageous, we'll rule that the bandit is however much closer you agree is reasonable.

[spiderwrangler]

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Sorry about jumping in on other's roll attempts.


20 ft tall would be small for most species of trees (it can help to put it in terms of 'heights'... a 20 ft tree would only be a bit over 3x avg human height). White oaks can get upwards of 80 feet tall, though limbs higher up would be difficult to stand and shoot from, but 35 feet high would be a reasonable height to have strong, somewhat horizontal limbs that would work well, so I'm good with that. What I'd LIKE to do is to cast Summon Swarm: Spiders on the sniper in the tree, which has a range of 25 ft + 5ft/2lvls = 25 ft + 20 ft = 45 ft. If that range needs to take the vertical height into account as well, that would mean that Kast need to be within 28ft of the base of the tree (hypotenuse of a right triangle). If this sounds unfeasible, let me know and I'll take other actions.

Kast alerts the others to the figure in the tree before calling upon the spiders within residing in the oak, urging them to descend upon the archer.

[willpell]

(I think I'll say that the distance is within 45 feet. Don't worry about hypotenuses though; combat mapping is too complicated as it is.)

[spiderwrangler]

(Spider Swarm it is then.)

[Nerre]

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Nerre OOC:
Spellcraft, no. A Knowledge skill might be applicable, but you probably don't have the right one. Did I give you ranks in either Nature or Local? It'd be a pretty high DC to make an intuitive leap of this size.

I got nature, a +3. Good result, got a 19 overall!
http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=81259

Also, giving my 5 cent to the tree discussion: I work in a climbing forest with beech trees. They are slightly taller than oaks in average, but not as wide in the crown. In our forest, they are rather small, like 20-25 meter. But some I could climb up to 20 meters without any equipment, as they tend to have a lot of branches if enough light is around, what the edge of a forest towards a road includes. Same for oaks.
With 10 meters = 30 feet I think 60 - 75 feet is still a regular to below-average oak or beech tree. At hill or mountain sides, the easily go up to 35-40 meters, which is 105-120 feet. As comparrison: we have one kind of mammoth trees here as well in our area, but only the smallest one. They grow up to around 55-60 meters, which is still awesome 20 meters more than the other trees.
I climbed a lot of trees and needed my 100 meters = 300 feet rope more than once.

But hey, we are not here, we are in the game. So if the GM decides the forest is rather below average, i am fine with it.

Khrerak runs to the base of the tree the sniper is in, shield raised high and jumping a bit like a hare to not run in a straight line, half to get closer to the sniper, half to distract him from the others.
If the tree is slim enough to shake it, Khrerak will try to slam it to trip the sniper, if not he will just take position at the base and search the bushes surrounding him to see if more than just the one above himself are here. And he will take a sniff, since some can see with more than just their eyes.

OOC: Do I roll a spot for all senses or one for each? Does it also including sniffing somebody, even if you cannot see him?
I will just roll a D20 and let you add what fits (I think my spot is +7).
And booom, a natural 20:
http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=81260
If there is anybody else trying to be sneaky, he just sneezed.

[willpell]

(The bandit definitely did more than sneeze. I'll need time to put the details of this together, but suffice to say that you've come up with what amounts to a perfect storm.)

The two of you who rolled Knowledge: Nature, I'll put it to you this way - something pretty big and/or strong must have pushed the tree over. You're probably picturing something like a dire bear, or maybe some tropical or polarian beast (such as an "oliphaunt" which wandered north from the jungle, or a "mastodont" which came south from the glacial steppes).

[willpell]

Ryritan, the dwarf druid, struggles to control his spider mount Xolenon, who appears to be spooked by the sudden cacophony of the fallen tree; Kzri has no such reaction and eagerly scurries toward the base of the fallen tree, with Kast sensing that she detects <FOOD>. That this is no mistake on her part becomes obvious as a massive figure lumbers into view, the shadows of the trees on either side of the one he shoved over having conspired to keep him hidden. Most of the details of his appearance are concealed by an incongruously fine-looking grey cloak which is draped over his hulking ten-foot form, but you see crooked teeth, not properly fangs, but larger and sharper than the teeth of a human enlarged to that size would be. One thew-corded arm as thick as a man's torso reaches out from below the draping cloth, which almost vanishes from view behind it, and breaks a large branch off one of the nearby trees, stripping the twigs off it to form it into a crude but effective club.

Eileen gets an action. I would point out that since all of the enemies are concealed in greenery - mostly alive and filled with moisture, but still - I would estimate at least a 20% chance that she would start a forest fire if she used her breath weapon, probably reducible to 5% if she takes careful precautions to avoid encompassing any of the more flammable underbrush and sticks.

[Quarg]

Well Ryritan is standing out in the open at the moment but how far is he away from Eileen?

[willpell]

Ryritan is on spider-back. Why exactly does his position matter? I'd rather not get into having to map this out....

[Quarg]

Sorry, wrong person...I was referring to the rather large giant human that appeared....

[spiderwrangler]

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Sorry, wrong person...I was referring to the rather large giant human that appeared....

I think that would make him Brobdag.

[willpell]

So, Eileen was on the coach and the coach crashed into the tree, and Brobdag just stepped out from where the tree fell, but I'm going to assume he's on the far side of the tree from you, so you'd have to go around to reach him. Let's say it would take a double move for you to become adjacent. With a single move you could get into position to breathe at him, but that is risky as we've established (unless you use a breath effect to deal non-fire damage, and even then you might hit Kast or Kzri depending on the angle - rather than saying what that angle is exactly, I'd probably just call for a die roll, maybe a 40% chance of each of them being in the area, and they'd get saves normally if they were).

[Quarg]

OOC: Well someone forgot to take their morning Elemental Exposure Invocation from their local Adept apparently...
Second if I was using the 30 ft line attack rather than the cone it would be a 40% chance of hitting them?

Eileen goes over the front of the coach and shelters herself for the moment, away from the archers in the tree. She invokes Voidsense on her self...

[willpell]

OOC:

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Well someone forgot to take their morning Elemental Exposure Invocation from their local Adept apparently...

I'm afraid I don't know for sure what you mean here. If you were trying to say that I seemed "hot under the collar", I had no intention to come across so; my only motivation for not wishing to map out the battle is apathy, I'm not annoyed at you and Spider for asking positional questions, but I do wish you'd stop worrying about where exactly everyone is standing, and just speak in broad terms about your intended actions, eg "I'd either like to get into position to breathe a cone of frost on Brobdag, or if he's too far away and/or too close to Kast, then I'll draw my sword instead and ready an action to attack him if he comes closer". (That example wouldn't work since Brobdag has longer reach than you, so he can attack you from outside your own range, but you see what I mean.)

Second if I was using the 30 ft line attack rather than the cone it would be a 40% chance of hitting them?

Mm, no I forgot you could do that. If you do a line, you pose more of a danger to the local shrubbery for some distance on the far side of the road, and possibly the root-bole of the fallen log, but probably none to Kast. And if you have access to something like Cold Breath, then whatever damage you inflict on the surroundings will be limited to the immediate area effect, with no danger of causing a wildfire. (Though one of these days I will have to use a magical "cold fire" which frost-burns out of control and threatens to freeze the entire forest, just for Rule of Cool reasons. I'm pretty sure there's an Outer Plane like this, so it wouldn't be hard to do.)

IC:

Eileen goes over the front of the coach and shelters herself for the moment, away from the archers in the tree. She invokes Voidsense on her self...

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Okay, after navigating through the ridiculous morass of involved rules, I've found that Voidsense is supposed to be limited to Line of Effect, which means that it would be functionally useless in this situation. But it's not the first time that I've bent the rules on perceptual powers, whose strict rules-legality is limited to being able to see in the dark if you're not one of the 500,000 races that automatically has darkvision, and then only with a range of like 15 or 20 feet half the time - yours is a little better than that, but still pretty freaking useless, given that targets which you detect this way still count as being invisible, giving you only a half-chance of ever hitting them with attacks! So I'll go ahead and rule that this is NOT in fact blocked by the log, the carriage, the bushes and so forth, making it an extremely potent perceptual ability, but still limited enough in range that this hardly matters.

With a moment of concentration, you bring the Total-World-Awareness-Mentality (a Draconic concept called zhyxhrr, known in Librian as umveldt and in Githzerai as omnischion; the closest Common equivalent is "mindset", but that doesn't really do it justice) to the forefront of your mind. You could remain in this state 24/7/366 without any particular exertion, if you didn't mind never getting a wink of sleep again and eventually going insane; by attuning your senses of hearing, smell, ground-tremor-feeling, skin-sensitivity-to-vibrations-in-air, awareness-of-nearby-heat-concentrations, etc. etc., you can push back the conceptual barriers which prevent most human beings from hearing their own heartbeat, feeling the rushing slosh of blood through their veins, distantly guessing at the wingbeats of butterflies in the next county, and otherwise being overwhelmed by far more sensations than the human brain can process. The training that your mentor in the "Dragonfire Path" (not his preferred term, just a generalization thereof) walked you through did not teach you how to unlock these powers within yourself; you came to this state naturally the first time it occurred to you to try, and he then had to teach you how to stop. Your training has focused on "shrinking the world" as it is encompassed by this myriad of incredible awareness, to keep your cognitive abilities from being totally overloaded so that your brain shuts down in self-defense; the furthest that you dare to stretch these super-senses is to the limit of your "immediate environs", an area roughly equivalent to the distance that someone can throw a dagger with any real degree of accuracy.

Upon reaching your Voidsense out to this limit, you become intently conscious of the exact positions of each of your allies, and of the lumbering behemoth on the far side of the log from your makeshift shelter. You can feel the trunk of the tree in which the sniper hid, though their perch in the crown is far outside your self-imposed limit for how much of the world's unfiltered reality you can bear to perceive at once. And then you notice something unfamiliar, something your eyes alone could not have picked out, though with the aid of your other senses you can make out a dim shadow associated with its presence. It's a figure of roughly humanoid size, strongly odiferous, creeping through the brush very nearby, and a tang of metal on the wind suggests that it's carrying a weapon, about the right size to be...a throwing dagger.

[spiderwrangler]

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Would you mind pasting the initiative order at the bottom of updates? I think it's Khrerrak's turn, Nerre posted for him above, but not sure if he wants to change anything given other actions.

[willpell]

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Good idea.

Khrerrark runs for cover and gets a look at the sniper, from over the edge of his shield. (It's not a tower shield, so it doesn't provide full coverage, but it does add to AC while actively wielded - I have a house rule that shield bonuses to AC don't apply if you're Helpless, though they do when you're simply Flat-Footed, and Armor applies in every case as long as it's not a Touch attack.)

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There are no rules for olfactory perception checks in 3E; some creatures (not "Gnolls") have the Scent special quality, which allows them to do the Wolverine thing of sniffing the wind and detecting a direction to the target, or pinpointing it from within 5 feet. (The latter part is a little stupid; if something is five feet away from you, detecting its presence is likely not to involve smell so much as hearing and inner-ear balance-sense.) Ordinarily I'd rule this sort of thing is not applicable, but you DID get a natural 20, so....

The sturdy oak is impossible to shake, although you notice that Kast is mumbling to himself and making little ancy motions with his fingers, as though pointing to guide a series of invisible somethings toward a central focus, and then routing it upward. You strain to make out a scent, finding it difficult since this individual appears to be better-scrubbed than the average rural human (in the cities, folk bathe almost obsessively if they aren't extremely poor, and it's nigh-impossible to get even a whiff of them, let alone a good enough one to identify; out here in small towns or mid-country retreat sites, it's a different story, as filling a bathtub takes multiple trips from a cold well with a bucket, heating the water is still more effortful, and the whole process maybe gets done once or twice a month, often with multiple people reusing each other's bathwater until they all smell like each other). But the wind favors you for a moment, and you become certain that the ambusher is a woman. (The details of exactly how you know this are...indelicate, or considered so by the "Naked Monkeys" as your fellow Yeenagh traditionally - and rather vituperously - call them; suffice it to say that you're clear on the distinction.)

Xolenon completely freaks out and scuttles up the bole of a tree, well away from both the big oak and the fallen log, carrying a helplessly buckled-in-saddle Ryritan with him. Evidently the dwarf wanted to make sure he wouldn't fall off his mount at an inconvenient time, and is indubitably getting his wish.

A burly (but human-sized) cloaked figure looms into view as he stands up out of the bushes, right where Eileen detected his approach. Though you see him coming well enough that he can't line up his shot with a vital organ, he probably does manage to hit you, or at least your armor, with the dagger toss. (If a 22 hits your full AC, you take 7 damage; he doesn't get to apply Sneak Attack since you're aware of his presence.) Wearing yet another hooded cloak (his being primarily brown in color, with a camoflauge pattern) over studded leather, his face deep in the shadow of the cloth, this bandit has a dirty and dull-looking greataxe strapped to his back, over the draping cloth, while an array of additional daggers with differently-colored handles are visible on his arms and legs, and a belt about his midsection bears various small implements that look useful for some sort of skulduggery. You get all this in the course of a brief look at him; then, apparently noticing that he didn't manage to put the knife through your brainstem on the first try, he apparently takes the better part of valor and withdraws into the bushes, quickly disappearing from sight. If you assume he traveled in a straight line, you could try to get him with a breath (subject to the aforementioned issues); most people can't outrun a 30-foot line of destructive energies within three seconds, though you remember that you used to occasionally tangle with some Northumbrite outlanders back when you were defending your Keep, who apparently spent most of their time between raids training for a marathon, leaving them all but able to run up the castle walls before gravity caught up with them. (OOC: Basically think of a primitive medieval form of parkour; the Barbarian class's Fast Movement represents the ability to just move more efficiently than most people can figure out how to. The proper class abilities and feats can get a human being from the basic run/walk rate up to a three-minute mile or thereabouts, but figure that people who actually invest in those traits are not more than 5% of the population worldwide.)

A high-pitched "Awp!" issues from the branch of the old oak, and the green-cloaked figure plummets out of the foliage, landing more or less on its feet and then rolling with the momentum to end up supine in the middle of the road, furiously swatting at itself with both hands as hundreds of thumbnail-sized spiders crawl furiously all over the bandit, biting and spinning weblines and just generally being distractingly present on his body. (That is to say, it looks like a him, although Khrerrark knows differently.) Beneath the traveler's garment which is now being thoroughly impregnated with trail dust, the ex-archer (whose bow lies at the foot of the tree) has short, slicked-back black hair, a floridly ostentatious moustache, and a fine shirt of mithril chain (which about twelve spiders are now trying to nest in the links of).

Back to you, oh Wrangler of Something Or Other I Can't Quite Recall!

16-6: Kast
16-3: Kzri
16-2: Ryritan
14-5: Brobdag
14-0: Eileen
13-N: Khrerrark
04-3: Xolenon
23-3: Jaguar
22-2: Loren

[spiderwrangler]

Kast slips easily from Kzri's back, to allow her to enter combat as well. <food>

He moves swiftly to the fallen archer, drawing his Spiderkissed Kukri as he moves. As nears the thrashing figure, he attacks.
Kast, Attack: 1D20+17 = [17]+17 = 34

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Wooo! Go spider swarm!

As a prone combatant, they have an additional -4 to their AC, yes? If I understand it, he only gets the one attack since he moved this round (provided he can cover the distance)? If he should get more, let me know and I'll make additional rolls. I'm going to assume that he hits on a 34 (plus prone penalty), and since his crit range is 15-20x2, here's Kast, Crit Threat Roll: 1D20+17 = [1]+17 = 18

Once I know what happens, I'll roll for damage (or you can, it's 1d4+4).

Also, if it crits and they fail a DC 13 Reflex check, they are covered in un-removable webbing for 5 rounds.

If you want them:

Kast's roll against a DC 20 to dismount as a free action vs. using a move action.
Kast, Ride Check: 1D20+8 = [19]+8 = 27

Summon Swarm has a duration of Concentration +2 rounds, realized I hadn't given you that, so if you want it...
Concentration, Summon Swarm: 1D20+5+2 = [8]+5+2 = 15

[Nerre]

Did i smell the one in the tree above me or another one? Is it the one Eileen sees stepping out of the bushes?

Your english is complex or uncommon (don't know how to phrase it), sometimes it is hard for me to understand a sentence, and I thought I know it good for a non-native.

[willpell]

Good point, Nerre. Rewording for simplicity. Let me know if anything is still outside your reach.

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There are no rules for smell perception checks in 3E; some creatures (not "Gnolls") have the Scent special quality, which allows them to sniff the wind and learn a direction to the target, or exactly find it from 5 feet away or less. (The latter part is a little stupid; if something is five feet away from you, knowing it's there is likely not to involve smell, so much as hearing and inner-ear balance-sense.) Most times I'd rule this sort of thing does not apply, but you DID get a natural 20, so....

The sturdy oak cannot be shaken, although you notice that Kast is mumbling to himself and making little jittery motions with his fingers, as though pointing to guide a series of unseen somethings toward a central spot, and then directing it upward. You really try to make out a scent, finding it hard since this individual appears to be more clean than the average country-living human (in the cities, folk bathe almost non-stop if they aren't extremely poor, and it's nearly impossible to get even a faint scent of them, let alone a good enough one to tell who you smell; out here in small towns or mid-country retreat sites, it's a different story, as filling a bathtub takes many trips from a cold well with a bucket, heating the water is still more trouble, and the whole process maybe gets done once or twice a month, often with several people re-using each other's bath water until they all smell like each other). But the wind favors you for a moment, and you become certain that the one who shot the arrows is a woman. (The details of how you know this are...impolite, or thought so by the "Naked Monkeys" as your fellow Yeenagh call them by habit, and rather viciously so...but it is enough to say that you're sure.)

[Nerre]

okay. then Khrerrak will get ready to take her down if she falls down after whatever Kast is casting hits her (hopefully).

[spiderwrangler]

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okay. then Khrerrak will get ready to take her down if she falls down after whatever Kast is casting hits her (hopefully).

It did hit her. He cast Summon Swarm: SPIDERS! on her, the result was her falling out of the tree, slapping at herself and falling on the ground. Kast will be moving into melee range to attack her. You could see what results from that, then decide where you're going to go/attack?

[Nerre]

I must already be in melee range, so I attack. I was right below the tree and trying to get her down ("he will just take position at the base"), so I should be able to already react while she was falling and get closer. Like a prepared action or something like that. ^^
Better we take her out quickly.

[willpell]

(I'm not going to buy it as a prepared action, there are specific rules for that and they're unforgiving. But you will probably be in position to 5-foot step and then Full Attack, not that I think you have multiple attacks anyway. I'll check the rules on melee attacks on prone victims when I get a chance, I think there's a bonus there.)

[spiderwrangler]

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I'll check the rules on melee attacks on prone victims when I get a chance, I think there's a bonus there.)

Just trying to be helpful...
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#pinned
+4 AC against ranged, -4 AC against melee, standing up is a AoO provoking move equivalent action. Prone combatant has -4 on attack rolls and cannot use non crossbow ranged weapons.

[Quarg]

Eileen calls out "Anyone left in the tree?" to her still standing companions...