RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Longman's hex-based exploration PBP campaign

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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Longman »

29th August and...sunny.

The faint stench of death hovers in the air.

Peeking out of the entry stairwell, Freya can see a dead goblin lying on the ground nearby. And another, a little further on...

A complete search of the compound reveals total carnage. 7 dead goblins, 3 dead bugbears, and a dead wolf.

Track rolls in the castle show the combat but do not show which direction any of the parties came in or out. Some injuries look like sword, some like spear, some like they have been bitten and mauled, and some goblins do not seem to have a mark on them at all - they are just dead.

No decent gear to speak of, but there is about 35gp worth of cut up silver on the bugbears. None of the bodies looks like a shaman or recognizable leader. There are no bodies of any other type of creature.
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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Woe »

A bit of housekeeping: Tiana will knock open the door, but then they'll spike it open a crack so she doesn't need to use knock twice.

They'll take the silver. Because it seems fairly safe, they'll do a bit of exploring while outside (and Kilian takes a bath :)). Here's an opportunity for Tiana to earn her pay. She'll use her mapping skills to take the party near where the worm-infested passages are underground. Once there, the party will explore the area nearby looking for a second entry into the underground.

Oh, and just for general principles, Kilian will behead the goblins, put the heads on the broken-down walls to inspire "this is not a good idea" to future invaders, and toss their bodies off in the woods.

Hmm... 7 goblins, 3 bugbears, and 1 wolf against a party of five. Odds were too fair for it to be my kind of fight.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Longman »

The remaining goblins and bugbears and wolves would have made it more uneven, don't worry.

Kilian rigs up the goblin heads as requested. One of the bugbears looks a bit like so...

Image

Tiana's cartography roll is a nat 20. She works out several things. First - the location of thetwo worm tunnels that lead down into the river chasm. These are in a muddy depressed area about 500 feet to the south of the castle mound. Further on from that, she also spots a place where the underground river would once have broken out onto the surface, and flowed down towards the Upper Swell.

Further south from there, is the start of the mountain with the old lookout tower (collapsed).

Acting on a hunch, Tiana also has a quick look to the north of the castle, and finds the place where a small, new-ish river emerges from underground, and flows west to the Swell. This is about half a mile to the north of the castle mound.

Putting it all together - There must be a underground stream, possibly leading down from the Mountain of the Dogmen. It used to flow all the way under the castle. It doesn't any more, as it was blocked by magic, and the water has been diverted into a river that emerges to the north of the castle and flows westward into the Swell.

You haven't explored the worm tunnels or even approached them. Tracking rolls in the area indicate giant wormies, recently, of varying sizes.

Add 35 gp to loot.
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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Woe »

Go go Tiana! I have no idea what I'll use the information about the local hydrology, but hopefully it will come in use. :)

"So dem worms come outside dere. I say we build ourselves a proper tree fort and ambush dem. Dey be messing wit me underground exploring." Kilian says. I guess to keep him happy, is there any fortifiable area that can be used? Otherwise, it's back underground and the safe room.

Talin and Freya will spend a little bit of time by the tracks. Can they tell how many worms, or more importantly, sizes? I am curious whether what we've encountered thus far are on the small or large size of the tracks.

Tiana suggests to Bruce and Kilian that they should gather more material from the castle grounds if they intend to make stronger fortifications tonight.

"Wha? Stronger? Ye lassie, I'll have ye know..." (nobody listens to Kilian's indignation that the barricades have failed to keep out two worms, nor injure them.)
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Longman »

Worms - you have met the largest size. No indication of numbers but definitely at least 1 smaller one you have not yet encountered.

You could easily build another Fort Leavesworth - - - plenty of timber around here. But Kilian won't get extra HP back if he's busy doing that. Or you could just camp normally. There are no caves or anything like that.

If you get all the lumber from the bottom of the gump tower downstairs again, it is a pretty easy matter to build a really good barricade.

So - camping, or back underground? You have washed. It's nice to be in the sun.
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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Woe »

I figured Kilian was already not getting back his extra health for resting, given he was walking around. If he's still able to, he'll abstain from the upcoming physical activities. Otherwise, he'll help out by doing 60% of the work... dwarves! :lol: Either way, he's definitely bossy enough even when resting.

Freya: "Wow, that was pretty impressive. You got all that by looking at your map?"
Tiana: "Yes, a good map can contain a lot of knowledge."
Talin: "Well... it's midday. We should figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the day. If we're going to go exploring, we should start soon."
Kilian: "I wanna take out dem golems, find out what's behind door #2."
Freya: "Kilian, you need to rest."
[Kilian glares.]
Tiana: "Kilian, how about you tell Bruce and Talin how to shore up that barricade with those stones and timber. It should give us more rest if the worms can't get through. Maybe you can even make something to ward against the golem fire."
Kilian: "Hmm... like a turtle. Dat's not a bad idea. Talin, Bruce -- gather up dem timber over dere. We're gonna have ourselves a fun... oof." [winces at his rib] "A fun day now."

Turtle: sheltered siege weapon on wheels. It should provide hard cover when crossing the bridge as well as moving up the passageway. If you want to play ahead, Freya will also look to see if there's any traps she can arrange (e.g. falling rocks) if the worms bother the barricade. And Talin will fix that bow of Bruce's.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Longman »

Crossbow - fixed! That bow making skill comes in handy at last. Nice.

Sounds like you spend the rest of the day lugging stuff up and down the stairs and into the dungeon.

Nothing happens - no encounters. I've given you a few free tracking rolls up top, and Freya finds an indication of human and dog track prints in the battle area.

Kilian finds it impossible to get across to the others what he is talking about and in the end elects not to rest so he can get stuck in. His barricade is impressive. His 'turtle'' is also OK (no wheels, will have to be carried overhead) although to make that as well he'd need to work into the night. This will mean he only gets 1hp back if he wants to make both. Or he can wait and finish the turtle tomorrow morning.
Woe
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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Woe »

Kilian will finish the turtle the next day. Hopefully nothing happens that night, with the extra traps and the shored-up barricade. Once the turtle is prepared (the next day), they'll attempt crossing the bridge with it.

Good luck figuring out the turtle's hardiness and the damage that the magic
missile does :)


Fast forwarding a bit... the plan for the next day is to use the turtle to advance across the bridge and start to head up that passage with the last two golems. Were they on the same side? If so, that'd be convenient.

Of course, worm spotting or broken traps may cause them to change their plans.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Longman »

30th August - a Saturday.

Kilian gets 2hp back overnight. Everyone else maxed. Tiana on full SP. Outer door is still spiked open.

Turtle completed.

Back down in the dungeon, you find that several traps have been sprung. You do not know what caused this and there is no sign of the barricade having been breached. Falling block traps on the other side of the barricade have been triggered. No sign they hit anything.

The two remaining robots are in the room with the firing holes, to the north of the bridge. The shield device is still on the ground in the chasm below.

The turtle has been designed to shield 3 people as they run over - one to carry it (someone with strength 14 or more) and two to hide below it. Move rate will be 15 while doing that, 30 at a staggering jog. Hardness is probably irrelevant as the magic missiles don't seem to affect non animate objects much anyway.

What's your strategy?
Woe
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Re: RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

Post by Woe »

Kilian gets 2hp back overnight. Everyone else maxed. Tiana on full SP. Outer door is still spiked open. Eek! Soon as someone realizes the party forgot to lock the door, they'll go lock it. They don't want goblins nor dogmen wandering around here, and definitely not bugbears.

Freya will reset the traps, as well as add some by the wizard-locked door.

What's your strategy?
Let's see... Kilian the dwarf needs to ferry everyone across the bridge. This could be a fun river crossing puzzle, but I'm too tired to attempt it. Once across, they'll regroup in the alcoves before starting up the passage. Will the turtle block fire when going up the passage as well? Any murder holes or arrow slits?
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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