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RazielDemon
Jan 24, 2008, @ 12:28 AM
I've got this somewhat ludicrous idea to run an online D&D camepaign here on the boards... anyone wanna play?

Anyone who's played NWN (2), or even just old Baldur's Gate or Planescape: Torment should have an easy enough time, and who needs a tabletop anyway.

Just roll up a characters, level one, plain 3.5 rules, let's start core rulebooks only for simplicity's sake (in case anyone not familiar wishes to join in), point buy 28 or rolling, your choice... If this means nothing to you, I've generated a few character's for general consumption, just gimme an idea what sort you'd like to be... wizard, cleric, barbarian, monk you name it :)



For play I'll draw up some maps or something, but I'll start out with an old module I've used a couple of times to start new players (often of varying races) off together:


A Dark and Stormy Knight:

The Storm Peace,
In lands where the weather is often fickle, or where long and terrible lightning storms rage for days at a time, a common custom arises amongst the disparate races of humanoids: the Storm Peace. When the heavens open up, dropping hailstones which could dent an iron helmet, or loose their fury through lightning, burning jagged gashes in the aether miles into the air, all those who seek shelter often have little choice as to their company. In these situations, there is an accord, sometimes more honourable than other times, that there will be no violence to your fellows in whatever place of refuge is found...


Crossing the barren, almost featureless wilderness which characterizes the three day journey between Oakenridge and Timberhaven, the wine merchant Winthorp is riding on his ox-cart, cursing the foul luck that landed him out in the middle of nowhere while the sky darkens so ominously. The only points of interest along the trading road being the large Tors, symmetrical freestanding hills.
Winthorp has heard stories that the Tors were built as tombs by a long forgotten humanoid civilization. Though he normally pays little mind to tales which do not involve wine or the selling of said goods, the chance that there might be some dry and safe place inside one of these Tors may be his only chance to avoid losing his stock to the destructive weather, let alone his life.

Seeing the familiar half-way mark along the trading road not far to the east, the Hightower, one of the few Tors to have been named, he whacks his mule on the rump to get it to make a little more of a hurry, not that this is very successfull.

Upon getting nearer the great mound of grass-covered earth, he sees that one of the sides does indeed have a flattened surface up to about 20 feet, a full fifth of the way up the mountain, and though long overgrown, it may once have been an entrance. As he approaches closer, he sees that in the center of this old wall, a tremendous boulder blocks what may have been a doorway, and hope flees from Winthorp once more.

With few choices, he settles down to wait, maneuvering the cart up near the wall to let lightning strike the Tor rather than him if it comes to that... and it does. With a jarring flash and the slam of thunder a broad bolt of lightning streaks down, not twenty paces from the cart, it strikes the boulder square int he center and with an explosion of shards it breaks apart in three large uneven chunks which are hurled outwards from the Tor.

When Winthorp has recovered from his shock enough to crawl out form under the cart, he sees that a large entrance indeed lay behind that old boulder, at least 15 feet high and 10 wide, two large stone doors fill an archway scrawled with strange, angry looking symbols. Unfortunately, Winthrop also notices that his mule was hit by one of the shards of rock which came close to ending his own life, and it is slowly collapsing to the ground. Without the strength of the mule to pull his cart his shipment is in trouble, but more immediately he can't risk staying out here and facing more of those terrible lightning strikes.

Setting his weight against one of the doors he leans into it, and finds that it opens more easily than he would have expected, sliding into the gloom of the old Tor with barely a scrape of stone on stone. He lights a torch and throws it into the room, but it doesn't even illuminate the far side.

Plucking up what courage he has in his rotund body, he lights another torch, and heads in to explore...
After a few minutes he discovers that there is thankfully little to worry about, the room is close to 90 feet square, and there are three large doors, though not quite as large as those he came in through, one on each wall of the room. They have been long sealed and Winthorp has little desire to try to open them. Taking one heavy cask of wine at a time from his cart, he carefully roles them inside the Hightower, to avoid any more losses, though he doesn't know how he'll be getting them to Timberhaven now, without his mule. He's been unable to shift the poor thing into the room.

With little else to do but wait, Winthorp lays out his bedroll on the cold, dusty stone floor, and settles into the terrible night, though sleep won't be easy in such a strange old place...

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/4927/hightowerentrancewe0.jpg
each square represents a 5 foot by 5 foot block, this is the amount of space a character normally occupies for combat, enough space to swing a sword etc, and these blocks are used for all sort of things like spell ranges and what have you.



Who else will our little merchant friend encounter during the night, who else wants to avoid the harsh weather outside, and who will explore the mysteries of this forgotten tomb in: A Dark and Stormy Knight?

Apocalypse
Jan 29, 2008, @ 11:32 AM
A figure steps through the stone-strewn entryway into the room, inside the Tor. The figures dark cloak billowing around him lending to the already dark atmosphere a new sense of foreboding. Throwing back his hood, revealing himself to the emptiness before him, the pointy ears showing him to be of Elf-kind. Markings on his hands and face indicate a past delved in magic and dark arts.

Afetr taking in the room and spying the little man surrounded by bottles on the floor he speaks;

''Curiosity fills me with a need to inspect a room seemingly opened up by the Gods themselves, and who might you be ?''

RazielDemon
Jan 29, 2008, @ 07:21 PM
His eyes flitting back and forth in the murky darkness of the old room, Winthorp is at the very edge of his nerves when the dark figure enters. With a start he jumps up from his bedroll, knocking over some of the bottles of his stock he had started on to calm his nerves...

A quick look up and down the shadowy looking elf sets his mind slightly at ease, at least in comparison to the horrors his mind had called up which might come from the depths of a place like this.


"I, I I I... I'm I'm Winth-th-thorp... I just got, got in here out of the weather, yerhon'r.... The cart outside 's mine, and Betsy, that's me mule she is, she's in a bad shape, I couldn't get her in.
Say, you couldn't help a fella out and help me get her inside? I'm taking my stock up to Timberhaven, but without Betsy I'll have a hell of a time..."

Suddenly, a loud thunderclap rings, in time with a shuddering of the room, it seems a lightning strike must have hit the Tor. You hear some loud crunching sounds, like stone on stone, and three big crashes, like something heavy hitting the flagstone floor, from different directions...

When the echo's die away you hear continuous squeaking sounds from the eastern side of the room. Winthorp takes one of the torches he'd laid around him and throws it towards the direction of the squeaking. His human eyes see nothing in the light of the torch, but to your superior elven eyesight it reveals a number of rats, heading towards you at speed...


http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6213/hightowerpart2iq5.jpg
(only shown the light range for the one torch, the other would just make the picture more confusing)



So... what do you do? These rats are just normal sized, and though fast for their size, they can't cover all that much ground, you have a couple of rounds before they reach you.

It's your turn, initiative went to you (I rolled that myself), you now have your first round, when everyone has had their round, the next turn starts, and it will again start with your round.

I'd say, use your move action to take out a ranged weapon, and shoot at a rat (I'll number the grid and the monsters next time so we can keep track better); or, alternatively, cast a spell, something crowd control-ish like Sleep (which will put some of the critters out of the fight for 10 rounds per level) if you have it prepared, and get a little more distance between you and the critters with your move action... but it's entirely up to you, you can charge into hand to paw combat if you want :)

You can take a free action in the round, maybe you want to shout to Winthrop 'stay behind me' or some such, but mind he hasn't seen the rats yet, so you might want to tell him that too, but he'll find out soon enough... or, if you're more evil something like 'stay in front of my and act as cannon fodder you horrible little man or what those rats might do to you will be nothing compared to my wrath' (an intimidate check at this point is pretty much guaranteed to succeed, he's close to having a heart attack).

Also, I would like you to roll me a spot check, just roll the d20 here:
http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tools/d20dicebag.htm
and add any bonuses you get from your wisdom score plus ranks in the 'spot' skill, if any.

Also, if you attack at range, roll the D20 and add your dex modifier to that to get your total 'to hit' roll please; then afterwards depending on the weapon, roll the dice that goes with it for damage, even if you don't hit, it'll save time.


Alrighty, good luck, and more people are welcome to come through the door and assist :D








P.S. A little rules reminder:

In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action, or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a standard action.

In some situations (such as in a surprise round), you may be limited to taking only a single move action or standard action.

A standard action allows you to do something, most commonly make an attack or cast a spell.
A move action allows you to move your speed or perform an action that takes a similar amount of time (like unsheathing a weapon).

You can take a move action in place of a standard action. If you move no actual distance in a round (commonly because you have swapped your move for one or more equivalent actions), you can take one 5-foot step either before, during, or after the action. A 5-foot step does NOT provoke any attacks of opportunity from your opponents.

the combat round (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm)

The Dark Messenger
Feb 1, 2008, @ 11:33 PM
Ugh, I'd join this if I had the time. I love this sort of thing :P

Can I join later if I get the time for it?

RazielDemon
Feb 2, 2008, @ 04:07 PM
"If you have the time" ?

We've had all of three posts, including the start of one single combat round in 9 days. There's not really a time constraint :)

You're welcome to join in at any time...


Actually, for Apoc, if you just want to say what you're gonna do for the next couple of rounds, then you don't need to do the rolls, I can do them for you and tell you what happens in a narrative, that would help things along faster and makes things easier on you, but it takes some of the control away from you, but it's an option

Apocalypse
Feb 2, 2008, @ 07:29 PM
I don't mind losing control for a while, things are a bit hectic so I'll let you do a bit while I catch my breath.

I wish to use my range weapon (do i have one - I looked at the stats you gave me but don't see it?) for a couple of rounds. keep it ticking for me unless there is something tghat needs my decision.

RazielDemon
Feb 3, 2008, @ 12:43 AM
Well, if I know what you want to do in general terms, I can perform the movements, background numbers and dice rolls etc, but for instance I can't say if you're going to fight in a way to try to protect Winthorp (if you're good aligned you might do that), or if you're going to use him as a meatshield (you might want to throw some caltrops around his feet, in the dark and drunk he'd probably step on one, and he wouldn't be able to run away, which might help you if you were evil), that sort of thing is what defines your character, and entirely up to you.


You have a traditional elven longbow (elves have a racial proficiency with the longbow and longsword), and your dexterity (effectively agility in other games) is what determines how well you use it, as your dexterity is high, you have a good chance of hitting :)


Back to the adventure:


You take a long step towards Winthorp as you unsling your bow, you notch an arrow and take careful aim at the first rat in the pack. You release your arrow and a damp squeak sounds from the rat as it is transformed into a kebab.

(5-foot step NW direction, move action spent on drawing longbow, attack roll 13 +3 [dexterity, no other bonuses as yet], hits, damage roll 4, sufficient to skewer and incapacitate rat.)


There is little time to savour this small victory though, as the rest of the rats move onwards, though they scoot around the dead in a wide birth.

(the rats aren't intelligent enough to be all too phased by the death of the rat in front, or they're too scared, either way, they're still heading towards you, though not as fast as they might have)


As the rats advance into the torchlight Winthorp can now see them, on edge and drunk as he is he grabs up the torch next to him, though he fumbles and drops it he quickly picks it up again. He may not be a brave man but he's determined to defend himself and his stock from the squeaky horde.

(drunken fumbling, and Dutch courage)


The situation now is thus:

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/8921/hightowerpart3rv4.jpg
Note: the rats are now marked -, =, |, ||, \, / and X




The next round starts again with you, sir Elf, or anyone who enters the combat midway, you can have a turn as soon as you enter.
Also take note that they might be able to reach you in the next round, so you may want a melee weapon out, and of course you have your spells still; sleep is probably a good option, summon monster could give you an ally, and burning hands would take out a bunch of them if they get close.




As a short aside:
if you were a female elf, I'd have found a way of working this little video into the narrative :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLSXS4cRFFI

RazielDemon
Feb 14, 2008, @ 04:37 PM
A instructed, running Apoc's next turn:


The newcomer steps forward, taking a long pace towards the approaching squeaky horde. The Elf's cloak billows around him as he extends his right hand ahead of him, gestures in an odd manner and speaks a few words which are lost to the sound of thunder outside... A golden glow originates from the palm of his hand, then suddenly shoots forwards and spreads out, coalescing into a shape just in front of the onrushing rats.

(5 foot step to get in range to put the creature right next to the rats, then full round casting Summon Monster I, celestial badger)

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9931/hightowerpart4dt9.jpg

The shape forms itself into a silver tinted badger, it sees the vermin around it and flies into a rage, slashing at the rats to its right and left with its claws, then biting at the rat in front of it.

(a summoned monster enters combat immediately. The badger used it Rage ability to increase its strength and constitution, and then used its round for a full attack, two claws and a bite attack. The claws rolled: 5+4, 16+4, one hit: damage roll 2+1, and the bite: 12-1, a mis)

The rats, too stupid to understand what has happened, but understanding that an enemy is now standing in front of them, lunge at the brightly coloured Badger, trying to bite it. The first to rush narrowly avoids a swipe from the enraged creature's claw, and rushes up one of its legs, though it can't get a bite in.
The remaining rats all swarm the badger, two of them landing bites on it, which draw blood which starts seeping a bright red onto its silver tinted fur.

(the rats attack, a tiny creature has to enter its opponents space to attack, which provokes an attack of opportunity, which the badger missed with a roll of 8+4. The rats attack, one bite each, rolling 6+4, 16+4, 1+4 5+4 11+4 8+4, two of which hit, dealing 1 point of damage each)

Winthorp takes a step forward, staying just behind the elf. He's holding the torch ready to swing at any of the rats that get too close.

(He's staying near the elf, and he's readied an attack action, which will trigger if any enemies get close before his next round starts)



The next round will start next post :)