[OOC] Heart of Darkness (Part II)

[Mindsiege]

1) Good call, I didn't realize that Tink knows neither elvish nor sylvan, that would have been a bit tedious.

2) Doing anything with the caltrops strewn on the floor is pretty time-consuming, so you'll have to let me know what you're doing with them. I'll leave it to you to tell me how many bags are deployed at the time that Jimmy determines that throwing out more is unnecessary. I figured five would have been a good number as a minimum if Jimmy was invested in the task under time pressure.

3) I just realized that the tunnel would make sound travel a lot better than my initial estimate. I think Boanagh is good to shout from where he is right now, it should probably be good enough to draw attention and be understood, of course depending on the darkling's positioning in the campsite.

[secretID]

That simplifies things a lot. I edited to just have them calling out to the guard from their present position.

[secretID]

Does Jimmy remember Glynn leaning in any direction during in the dispute among the elders?

This made me realize that without rules support I've always thought of caltrops as difficult to detect.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Does Jimmy remember Glynn leaning in any direction during in the dispute among the elders?

This made me realize that without rules support I've always thought of caltrops as difficult to detect.

1) I would have allowed you to use the thread as your notes, but if you want to keep it a bit more straight you can roll me a History check for Jimmy.

2) Caltrops on even ground are pretty detectable in my opinion. In grass or on thick carpet I'd reconsider, but I don't think they are inherently a stealthy weapon. At least in this tunnel and with multiple bags strewn out, they should be pretty noticeable, no?

[secretID]

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

1) I would have allowed you to use the thread as your notes, but if you want to keep it a bit more straight you can roll me a History check for Jimmy.

Oh, I didn't realize that she was actually active in the discussion. Checking now.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

2) Caltrops on even ground are pretty detectable in my opinion. In grass or on thick carpet I'd reconsider, but I don't think they are inherently a stealthy weapon. At least in this tunnel and with multiple bags strewn out, they should be pretty noticeable, no?

Probably, but I wasn't disagreeing; I was just amused to discover that I had a completely unsupported idea of them.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Probably, but I wasn't disagreeing; I was just amused to discover that I had a completely unsupported idea of them.

I was also just making sure. It's not like I've ever seen actual caltrops, it's just how my vision for them goes. Well, and of course there's nothing about requiring Perception to spot them in the item description, as you said.

[secretID]

Does it make any sense to Jimmy that Glynn would know where the party's destination? Maybe I've forgotten something...

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Does it make any sense to Jimmy that Glynn would know where the party's destination? Maybe I've forgotten something...

Whether Jimmy is aware of it or not, the party's destination wasn't necessarily a secret. During the downtime Jimmy and the elders gathered information among the present darklings about current movements within the colony, particularly to home in on any new pattern but also to decide what would be the most suitable location for a bait campsite. This location would have been chosen because it already had equipment lying around and narrow entrances, which made it the most defensible place on short notice which Boanagh could arrive at. It's very thinkable that during the time he had to deliberate over the colony's cave system, Boanagh might have conferred with other darklings' opinions about the best choice. Jimmy and Boanagh certainly weren't together all the time during their recovery from the storm, and Boanagh at least talked to plenty of people while Jimmy and Kosev remained more isolated.

[secretID]

Hm. But the most reasonable conclusion here is that she and her group left before Jimmy's group, without telling Boanagh?

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Hm. But the most reasonable conclusion here is that she and her group left before Jimmy's group, without telling Boanagh?

The logistics of what happened would be mere speculation. What you do know for certain is that Boanagh had no clue that they would be here, that you took a two-day detour from reaching the campsite to fetch Loch, and that Glynn's group is now here before you.

[secretID]

Oh. The detour. OK.

[Mindsiege]

Should I roll the Insight check together with my next GM update? Are you considering gaining Insight into anything specific, or just a general judge of intentions attempt?

[secretID]

Happy for you to roll.

Yes, I'm skeptical of her intentions, but it might come down to a specific statement, e.g. if she says, "We decided to come because...," it might just be about determining the truth of that.

Really, I think Deception would be much better handled like Stealth, by comparison to passive Insight.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Jimmy sweeps slowly enough to get her answer, then Tink's preliminary report of numbers and anything unusual (like an apparent ambush), well before he finishes. I don't think Jimmy's close enough to the chamber to use Tink's senses, but if so he will. Otherwise, he'll just wait for Tink's report on return.

A little thought: While I would expect most modestly experienced adventurers to know how familiars work, judging from Boanagh I wouldn't think the relatively sequestered darklings to know much about such things. It could matter going forward.

1) Sounds good. However, if Jimmy shares Tink's senses his blind sweeping might visibly suffer. Keeping up appearances could come down to a skill check then.

2) That's a fair consideration.

[secretID]

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

if Jimmy shares Tink's senses his blind sweeping might visibly suffer. Keeping up appearances could come down to a skill check then.

If he can use the senses, he'll just pause thoughtfully once or twice.