RPG: The End War
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@Jaloopa @PleegWat @HardwareGeek @PotatoEngineer @Gąska @Vault_Dweller Welcome to The End War, to our intro that is most definitely not ripped off from any anime, JRPG, or Elder Scrolls game.
As the Kheal 12th Irregulars made camp for the night, high in the mountains near the Donokar border, footsore men and women pitched their tents and began to attend to various duties. Tending to animals, preparing meals, maintaining gear, and of course the ever-present chore of cleaning. Marching across unpaved, poorly maintained roads is dirty, dusty work, but the sergeants don't seem to care about that; everything must be immaculate come the morning! Most of the grunts are going about their duties, a few of them sneaking an opportunity to amuse themselves with pranks, petty theft, or other minor transgressions, but generally the camp is an orderly place; everyone is too tired to cause much chaos. So it is that few of them notice trails of flame briefly streaking across the night sky. Those who do find some brief pleasure in the sight of the meteor shower, but it's soon forgotten among the drudgery of making camp.
Others take note, though. In a location both nearby and yet at the same time strangely distant, a petite, dusky-skinned woman calls out to her colleagues with uncharacteristic urgency. They assemble quickly, the first time in quite a while that they've been together like this, and gaze upon what just transpired.
"Huh," remarks a hulking, bearded human man dressed for battle. "So that's where they come from. We always kinda wondered about that."
A wizened gnome looks over at him. "Not that knowing that they're creatures of the Void helps us all that much. The Demons of Chaos have returned to Telenar. We just scarcely beat them before, at a cost almost beyond bearing. The world we've strived to build since then is unprepared to face this calamity."
A sharp, humorless laugh came from an orcish woman who stood indolently apart from the group, her arms crossed over her chest. She rolled her eyes at her shorter comrade's words. "You think too much! They're weak. They just got here. Just smash 'em and be done with it."
"And you," a soft voice interjected calmly, "I fear, think too little, m'lady." A tall elven male with long, luxurious red hair sighed at his more aggressive colleague. "There are already too many of them to 'just smash'. Enough of them fell in remote areas that there will be little time to respond before they grow to overwhelming strength."
"I fear you are correct," a robed woman nodded. "And yet... here, here, and here, we might intervene successfully."
The orc laughed, rolling her eyes. "You're missing the obvious one," she said, pointing. "There's a literal army not a day's march away. Not a proper horde, but... you work with what ya got, and if we need champions to deal with this, there's nowhere better to choose from."
The bearded warrior gave a sigh of exasperation. "In case you hadn't noticed," he pointed out archly, "they're a day's march in the wrong direction. The voidstone fell behind them."
The last of their number, a halfling who had thus far been uncharacteristically solemn, looked up at those words. "Oh, old friend... that is not a difficult problem to solve." With a twinkle in his eye, he grinned and wiggled his fingers theatrically. "Not in the least. All it takes is a tweak here, a nudge there..."
In the army camp in question, a few minor things shifted. Nothing particularly noteworthy, to mortal perceptions at least. Just enough to cause a few bits of minor confusion for a few specific individuals. It is on such confusions, though, that the course of worlds and nations turn.
But not on such minor details alone. As those who watched made their subtle arrangements, they in turn were being observed. From the depths of the Void, one grander and more ancient than even them beheld their actions with interest. A promising beginning. But it is a beginning, nothing more. The being spoke a single word. "Canrovend."
An enormous, dark being heard, rousing from a near-decade of slumber. "My Lord?"
"Telenar."
The word conveyed a great deal of meaning to the mind of the listener, drawing a small, grim smile to a lipless face. The instructions, minimal though they may be, were clear. "Thy will be done." The task ahead was not exactly pleasant, quite the opposite at times, in fact, and yet it did bring a certain degree of satisfaction in carrying it out...
Panapos, Nigrim, Aeron, and Jillian are rousted roughly from their bedrolls the next morning by irritated sergeants. Before the entire camp, Panapos, a notorious prankster, is accused of having used his magic to sexually assault the General's wife while making it look like Lieutenant Reginald was to blame. Aeron, who was on cooking duty, is charged with poisoning the company's stew last night with some vile spice that gave several members, including Lieutenant Reginald, severe indigestion and burning diarrhea. And a quick search of his kit finds Lieutenant Reginald's missing heirloom dagger hidden away in the bottom of Nigrim's pack. Jillian, meanwhile, stands accused of treason against the Earl of Barreton, her former city.
All four loudly protest their innocence, but the incensed lieutenant is hearing nothing of it.
Bundled into the back of a cobbled-together prison wagon, the four are sent back to Barreton to face justice, escorted by Thaddeus Stone, a toady of a man who's spent the last few weeks ingratiating himself with the Lieutenant, and the dim-witted but strong dwarf Bob, to keep the prisoners in line.
All save Jillian are stripped to the waist; the woman granted a simple shirt to preserve her dignity. Their weapons, armor, and other personal effects have been confiscated, leaving them cooped up in the back of a cramped, shoddily-built cart, on a poorly-maintained mountain road. It feels as if Thad is deliberately driving the horse in such a way as to steer the cart over every bump, just to jostle his passengers...
[Prisoners are confined for the moment, with no obvious way to break free, but are free to converse among themselves and otherwise RP.]
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@Mason_Wheeler What is the cart made of? I'm inclined to think attempting to bust out of the cart with magic would be a bad idea at this point, but I'd like to know what the options are.
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@HardwareGeek Solid wood construction, with steel bars on the sides. If you were to blow the sides out, it would drop the heavy wooden roof on your head, plus you'd have two armed and armored guards to deal with.
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@Mason_Wheeler "Solid wood" doesn't really match "cobbled together" and "shoddily-built", but whatever. I don't really have a spell that would "blow the sides out" (thunderwave will push unsecured objects, but that doesn't seem like it would do anything to steel bars, even if they're shoddily built, and it would injure the party, so that's a bad idea). I was mostly wondering if there was wood I could burn through ("I'm a wizard; I cast fireball"), but that's risky, too, since we're inside the cart that would be burning, and there's no good reason to take that risk at this time.
Is there anything further I might learn by doing an investigation check?
In the meantime, I "entertain" my traveling companions with jokes and puns. (I'll spare you for now, but expect me to mine the bad jokes and bad puns threads for material when appropriate.)
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"poison? Do I look like a poisoner? Where's the sport in stealing from a man who's confined to the privvy? Idiots. I'm a terrible cook and that's an end to it"
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"Prisoners will be silent," Thad barks out, as if he had some actual authority over you rather than simply being a glorified chauffeur of the same rank as you all.
He flicks the reins lightly, proceeding to drive the cart directly over a larger than usual bump in the road.
@HardwareGeek Go ahead and make an Investigation check. Take Advantage for having the first roll of the campaign.
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@Mason_Wheeler Ok, let's see if I get the syntax right.
@DMbot roll 1d20+3 with advantage
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@HardwareGeek
10 (10, 8)
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Well, that's not a very good roll for a +3 modifier and advantage.
Panapos attempts to examine the materials and construction of the cart more closely, but the constant jostling of the cart makes this difficult.
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@HardwareGeek And with that, it's almost 06:00. I really ought to go to bed.
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Jillian is buried in thought. Treason? How had they cooked that one up? At least it wasn't drug trade. The Earl might still not even know his youngest son's secret. There might still be something to gain in bringing that up in court.
Looking up, she considers their guards. One a slimy greaseball, the other dumb as a rock. If she could play the greaseball right, the rock probably wouldn't even matter. But no. She is not interested in entertaining the slimeball, and escaping would just yield search parties. Better to wait.
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@HardwareGeek The cart is a total deathtrap. To the point where Panapos can't help but wonder if it was intentionally designed as such, to collapse on its passengers out in the middle of nowhere, conveniently saving the expense of a trial. But Lieutenant Reginald wouldn't be that cynical, would he?
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The cart jostles, rattling the barred windows a bit as it drives forward. The road leads onward, into a narrow slot between two high rock walls, almost looking as if someone used magic to carve a narrow canyon here to make travel more convenient.
Everyone please roll a Perception check.
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@Mason_Wheeler said in RPG: The End War:
Everyone please roll a Perception check.
@dmbot roll 1d20+1
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@Mason_Wheeler @dmbot roll 1d20+1
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@HardwareGeek
Does not compute!
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@DMBot roll 1d20+1
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@DMBot roll 1d20+3
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@Gąska
7
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@DMBot roll 1d20-1
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@Jaloopa
0
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Noice
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Aeron is still muttering to himself about poison and how nobody has congratulated him on his daring theft, not even looking around. He's barely aware that there are other people in the cart
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@DMBot roll 1d20-1
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@Jaloopa
3
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With no replies after 8 hours, rolling to unstuck things.
@DMBot roll 1d20 for Nigrim's perception check
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@Mason_Wheeler
Nigrim's perception check: 10
1d20[10]
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Panapos had already been looking around; perhaps this is why he is the only one to notice a strange creature on the clifftop overlooking them. It is small, misshapen, looking vaguely like some sort of goblin, but who ever heard of a goblin with crimson skin?
The creature waves its hands, and Panapos can feel arcane power swirling, but there's something fundamentally wrong with the flows of magic as a glowing ball forms between the red-skinned being's hands. Then it casts the ball downward, and the gnome only has a few brief moments to dread the inevitable.
Everyone else is completely blindsided when the cart simply explodes beneath them, tumbling halfway over in the air, the wood breaking apart, the bars coming loose. All six passengers are flung every which way. The horse that was pulling the cart screams and bolts back the way it came.
Everyone takes 4 damage from being thrown like that.
@HardwareGeek Roll a Dex save. On 13 or better, Panapos only takes 2 damage.
Thad looks like he caught the worst of it; he was tossed, fell hard, and landed on his head. From the angle his neck is at, it doesn't look like he's getting up anytime soon. The remains of the cart lie in shambles around the survivors, and could probably be scrounged for improvised weapons. Likewise, the chest carrying supplies, including everyone's confiscated gear, gets thrown up against the rock face.
The somewhat stunned party looks up and sees two misshapen creatures with skin the color of blood emerging from the far end of the pass. They don't look friendly. Panopos knows there's a third one up above, and that that one, at least, is a caster. The rest could easily see it if they looked up; it's making no attempt to conceal itself...
Everyone, please roll initiative on Roll20.
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@DMBot roll 1d20+1 for DEX save
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@HardwareGeek
DEX save: 7
(1d20[6] + 1)[7]
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Crap
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Panapos yells at the party to grab their weapons from the chest. He scrambles to find his casting focus; everything else can wait until later.
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@HardwareGeek He also yells that there's another one above, and look out for magic attacks from it.
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@DMBot roll 1d20+1 for initiative
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@Gąska
initiative: 13
(1d20[12] + 1)[13]
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Jillian stands up and scans around. What the hell was that.
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Aeron spots the chest where the confiscated weapons and equipment were stowed and makes a break for it, slipping between it and Bob, and throws it open to see what's inside
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@Jaloopa Inside you can see the prisoners' armor, weapons, spell foci, etc. Roll a perception check.
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@DMBot roll 1d20r1-1
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@Jaloopa
result: 3
(1d20r1[4] - 1)[3]
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@Jaloopa In all the chaos and confusion, with adrenaline surging, it's not immediately clear what's what, but you're at least able to grab your hand crossbow and quiver.
@Gąska Your turn.
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"Ugly creatures," Bob screams. "I dont like you!" He charges at the closest one and lunges into attack.
[Move 2x NW, 3x N, attack rightmost creature.]
@DMBot roll 1d20+6 for attack
roll 1d10r2+4 for damage
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@Gąska Of course you would post this exactly when DMBot is briefly down for maintenance
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@DMBot roll 1d20+6 for attack
roll 1d10r2+4 for damage
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@Mason_Wheeler
attack: 21
(1d20[15] + 6)[21]damage: 10
(1d10r2[6] + 4)[10]
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@Gąska Whatever that ugly thing is, it dies like anything else. The powerful thrust is right on target, driving through its throat. It crumples instantly, slumping in a mess of flesh, strange, foul-smelling purplish blood leaking from the hole in its throat. It smokes slightly where it hits the dirt of the road...
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The second creature gives out a high-pitched wail, charging at the armored dwarf who just killed its comrade. It slashes wildly at Bob, but its claws go wide, the attack missing completely.
The third, the one up on the ridge, raises its hands, beginning to prepare another spell!
@Vault_Dweller You're up next. @PleegWat You're on deck.
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Panapos, who's keeping an eye on the spellcaster, yells, "Incoming spell!"
