Game Thread EA Chapter 1: Nature at its worst. - Page 3

roaddog41 · #31 04-25-2010, 03:26 PM

Lord Vadalis smiled brightly, and then turned to Reginald. "Pay the man and point him towards the last body we found please... I want to go check on the Blood Apes." The Lord headed towards an ornate circular staircase that headed up to the next few levels, while Reginald fetched the payment. He came back with four bulging coin purses, and handed them to Kent with not a little bit of regret. No doubt he was thinking of all the things he could make with that money.

Then they escorted Kent outside and pointed him slightly north and east. "Earlier this morning we found the body of one of our prize battle tigers about a mile in that direction. It does not move quickly without magical assistance so it should still be around there. Good Luck, your going to need it.

roaddog41 · #32 04-30-2010, 11:42 AM

3 things to point out.
1)Your attempting to search a fairly large area on the ground.
2)A lvl 1 summoned monster lasts for 1 round. Yeah summon monster is rounds per caster level and wands use minimum caster level… so your monkey lasts six seconds, just enough time to attack once. An eternal wand has 3 charges. In other words its gone before your chain of eyes has time to effect it. And at most you have 3 castings of the summoned monkey

Take a moment and think about how you would search an “estate” say a college campus for a monster the size of a horse. It becomes quite easy if you can fly… but otherwise it’s a lot of walking around, and you have about a 50-50 chance of seeing it first. Also it has been about twenty minutes since you teleported in, what si the duration on Gull’s invisibility? The chain of eyes on Gull?

Now I’ll make a suggestion, since the whole sandbox thing is new and I feel like you two might be having a bit of trouble with it. Think smart… You could have asked them to locate the creature for you… or inquired as to areas they think it is likely to be. You could also attempt to lure it in. Perhaps set up a few animals on ropes in the open, then surround them with alarm spells and wait for the alarm to go off… You would need a form of travel for that… but a goat or a cow is cheap so if you are too slow and miss it the first time you know about where it is, and can keep trying.

Think SMART. I know if I was a character in Eberron I would want to minimize the chance of messing with this thing from any position where it could hurt me at all. I would try to bring it to a building, and shoot at it from the top of the building. After all, your employers were idiotic enough not to put a time limit on it. Worst comes to worst, borrow a couple horses and riding saddles to increase your movement speed. They did say the creatures are slow unless they have absorbed magic… so as long as you don’t cast a spell a horse should be able to outrun it.

In a normal game this type of thing would be “frustrating” since it greatly reduces the threat level fo the challenge. But this is not a normal game. I honestly see this challenge going one of two ways. You either get pounded on and flee or you slaughter it without taking damage. I would never throw this out in a normal game, because it emphasizes planning and tactics, and deemphasizes my ability to plan the encounter.

3)I will never make a post to “move the game along” so what you want to do is put some thing in a fieldset or spoilerbutton, or in your planning/OOC thread saying “okay done planning…” or “move us along DM”.

3B) Skill checks need to be made with something in mind. A statement like “I search the estate… Search 32” doesn’t work. You would need to cut the various sections of the estate down and search each individually. What would be appropriate would be something like “We travel until we find the body they talked about… then search that area for tracks or a trail” Search 32… To that I would respond with a description of the body, the trek to it, and whether or not you found a trail that might be followable.

Any post after my last can be edited as you wish for... 48 hours or until you tell em your done. After Either I will move forward with whatevers posted. This is a rare chance to take back castings of spells and use of magic items.

snack · #33 05-01-2010, 01:25 PM

Gull stared at the artificer, imagining the terrible things that would befall him if Gull had his way. Then he suddenly remembers. He had been so caught up in his anger for these people that he nearly forgot that he was just a few moments from revealing himself to all those around him.
Gull starts sprinting towards the closest piece of cover talking to his hand as he gos.
"I'll catch up with you in a moment!"
There was no particular reason that Gull wished to keep his presence amongst these people unknown. But he had started already and there was no reason to stop now. Plus he liked the situation it put him in. Being unknown meant that he didn't have to converse with these fat fools. It also made for an excellent opportunity for mischief. There was nothing that he would like more than to watch lord Valdalis waddle around in panic as a monster of his own design laid waste to his compound.
As Gull ran something caught his eye and almost made him jump to the ground before he realized it was his own hand. His spell was ending and he needed to hide now! He sprinted out of the camp and dove behind some greenery. He landed with a small thud and watched as he went from transparent to solid in just a few moments. Too close for comfort.

Moonlitdreams · #34 05-02-2010, 10:02 PM

Paying no mind to his apprentice's swift run for cover, Kent tapped Reginald on the shoulder before he could head back inside. "Three head of livestock, please, assuming you have any for sale... They will prove of great assistance in baiting the creature."

roaddog41 · #35 05-03-2010, 10:58 AM

Reginald blinked... he could have sworn he saw a disembodied hand dart into the bushes, and they had definitely rustled. But as his eyes blinked again there was no sign of anything, and he shook his head and turned his attention back to Kent. "Livestock sir? We have a number of such, were you looking for something smaller or larger? I believe we have chickens, goats, cattle, and pigs. And I am sure his Lordship indicated that expenses are included, three you said?"

Moonlitdreams · #36 05-06-2010, 10:14 AM

"Yes indeed, three large cattle."

Once the cattle were produced, Kent nodded curtly to Reginald and led the creatures some way into the forest. There, he tied a rope around the waist of the one in the front and back to the other two in the back, creating a triangle of the beasts, with one farther in front than the others. Then he murmured arcane words to himself and took flight, hovering eighty feet above the creatures. He glanced around for Gull, and upon sighting the bush where the boy had disappeared into, he shot one of the same spells from his eye at the boy, turning it into a ray that would affect him.

"HA!" he yelled as loudly as he could, hoping to spook the creatures into running. He then followed them into the forest, hustling to stay in the area above them. His eyes were sharply on the lookout for the mouther as they moved along.

OOCThe spell cast was Overland Flight, and then Ocular Overland Flight on Gull. That should get both of them flying at a good speed for up to 15 hours.

snack · #37 05-06-2010, 12:22 PM

Gull peeked out of his hiding spot and saw Reginald delivering the cattle to Kent. He ducked his head back down waiting for the artificer to leave. When he looked up again in a few moments, both Kent and Reginald where nowhere in sight, but the three cattle had been tied together and were making their way into the woods rather quickly.
He gasped as he was about to stand only to realize he was floating. He calmed quickly, he knew this spell well. Kent had used it many times before. Gull looks up now, quickly locating his mentor flying easily in the sky above him. Gull does not immediately rise up to meet him. He was still undercover at this point. Gull flies close to the ground following the cattle and making some scary noises of his own to keep them moving while also attempting to guide them in the direction that Reginald had indicated.
When he gets about one hundred yards into the woods, Gull figures hes far enough from camp. He loves flying and spins slowly as he soars straight up. Bella too has learned to love the sensation of flight and drifts out of Gull's pack flying little circles around her master as Gull floats lazily upwards. He quickly locates Kent and flies over to him. Bella staying close and enjoying herself somersaulting and spinning. Gull smiled, he still remembered the first few flights Bella had taken. Her small limbs flailing. He senses some hostility from her as she picks up on his thoughts. He smiles giving her a loving pat as she swoops by.
"Good day for a flight!"
Gull says approaching Kent.

Moonlitdreams · #38 05-11-2010, 09:57 AM

The predatory grin smoothed, stretching into a content smile at Gull's approach. "Very much so," he replied back, sweeping the forest with his eyes as the cattle make their stampede towards the direction of the dead battle tigers. "You always seem to enjoy yourself, no matter the day of the flight."

roaddog41 · #39 05-24-2010, 07:16 PM

The cattle charged along a path, heading North and West towards where they had been told the creature had been. The cows ran for nearly five minutes, and it was becoming obvious that they were tiring. Their panicked bellows echoed over the plains, and sweat was rolling off their bodies. Foam began to appear in their mouths.

They rounded a bend and there was the body that Vadalis had mentioned, a dessicated corpse that looked like it had once been a goat, or perhaps a sheep... it was difficult to tell. There was no blood, and it had the appearance of a shaved thing, as though its hair had been removed. Its skin was sunken into its body, and multiple bite marks stood out in a disgustingly grey/green on the too pale white skin. The body was sunken into the ground, legs trapped in the dirt up to its knees. The earth was warped around it, as though the land had reached up to grab at the animal.

Of perhaps more interest, there was a man standing by the body. He looked up and immediately both Kent and Gull realized he was most certainly not a human, his features were feral and somehow chunkier than a humans. His eyes were a brilliant emerald green with no pupil, his hair was streaked with a powder blue stripe. Tattoos stood out on his face and arms. He was most certainly a shifter, and at the sight of two flying individuals chasing three bellowing cattle towards him he turned and headed for the a stand of trees, an arrow knocked as he watched you over his shoulder.

Moonlitdreams · #40 05-26-2010, 02:09 PM

OOCJust to clarify: is the arrow knocked and pointed in Kent and Gull's direction, or another direction? That influences Kent's reply greatly.

snack · #41 06-05-2010, 10:55 PM

OOCI am sad to see this game slow so much! I will no longer be waiting to post Gull's actions.

Gull sees the curious looking man running for the woods and figures Kent can decide how to deal with him.
This decision made, Gull addresses the matter of their dying cattle below. They would be no use to the sorcerers dead.
Dropping rapidly Gull reaches into the small pouch at his waist while uttering some practiced and precise arcane murmurs of his own design that would be no more than gibberish to anyone save perhaps Kent. His fingers tingled with the charge of the arcane magic as he spread a handful of rose petals into the air before him. The glow from his fingers passed through the petals and then shot rapidly towards the exhausted animals attempting to steal them of their consciousness.
From a distance it may look to a observer like a large bird diving to hunt its smaller avian prey. Gull and Bella dropped quickly landing softly next to the now (hopefully) slumbering cattle.
Again speaking to his hand, Gull says,
"What do you want to do about the shifter?"
As he talks, Gull begins making his way over to the unknown animals lifeless body.