I Don't Think Either of These Guys Know What They're Doing

Taking the GM's hint (although not in the way he may have expected)...

With Castille approaching, hands out in surrender, Kaspar begins to wonder if his comrade has either lost his mind or simply given up. The half-orc shakes his head in disgust and frustration, but forms a plan. It seems that both the teammates are trying to buy time for the other. But perhaps, Kaspar ponders, he can rely on his speed to maneuver out of danger.

Kaspar continues to empty his pockets, but as there isn't much within, he swings his pack off next. He is worried that the kobold won't buy any bluff and so proceeds as quickly as possible.

"Here you go. Take my pack as well. I'll even give you the couple of platinum pieces I have inside." An obvious lie, but Kaspar uses the opportunity to thrust his arm into the pack. He feels for a small roundish object and then pulls it out. Thunderstone in hand, Kaspar immediately hurls it at the kobold's feet. With any remaining time, he then dives for cover -- hands over his ears.

I'm standing right next to the thing. Do you still want a roll? If so, I'll leave the dice in your hands.

As to the wisdom of this new plan, it may cause his own ears to ring, but if it buys any time for Castille to work his magic, then Kaspar will call it damage well spent.

Seconds Stretching Like Hours, Think Man!

For a climb check of a braced rope, yes, you get down to the floor 20 or so feet below as a move-equiv-action. That leaves you with just enough time to hustle over to the tunnel opening and show yourself.

The kobold sees you easily (you're carrying a sunrod and he has darkvision). His crossbow moves to point at you, then back at Kaspar, then back at you. Twitching he yells "I mean it, get back!" (You have not yet placed your crossbow down, not enough time in the round, although if you want to merely drop it, that's a free action.) Castille setting the corssbow down and-or trying to continue to walk towards the kobold will have to wait until your next round.

Kaspar's turn, all he is doing is emptying his pockets, you don't want to do anything else?

Patience & Knowing When You're in a Tight Spot

As Kaspar begins to lower his sword to the ground, Castille uses the kobold's rope to rappel down to the sewer floor. A climb roll comes up 6. That still should be enough to travel down a wall using a rope, correct? Once on the floor, Castille moves to edge of the tunnel leading back to the retention vat. Upon taking a closer look at the action, the half-elf turns the corner and reveals himself to the kobold.

"Here I am," Castille says as he puts his arms out to the side. "No need to wash us away. I'll cooperate. Look, I'm placing my crossbow on the floor."

Castille continues to approach the tiny creature, walking slowly but purposefully.

Meanwhile, with a look of disbelief on his face, Kaspar continues to empty his pockets. He does so slowly, as if waiting for an opportunity to tackle his enemy. But he empties his pockets nonetheless.

Assuming the kobold doesn't shoot anyone straight away on his next action, it's Castille's intent to cast magic missle on the kobold. Even if he doesn't have time to complete the spell, it's his hope that the kobold will react his actions and give Kaspar a chance to grapple the little beast. But he'll have to wait and see what happens first, I suppose.

"Thought It Was Broken, Half-Breed?"

The kobold's AC is 16. You hurt him, and hurt him badly, but he is not down yet.

You charged and hit the kobold, I don't think there's much point in making a Move Silently check.

The kobold bursts forward, moving with a speed that belies its diminutive height. The thing's scales flash in Kaspar's Darkvision, rippling whites and grays of fluid motion. It tumbles forward like an acrobat, ducking the vengeful half-orc's rapier. (It made a Tumble check and avoided a possible Attack of Opportunity.) Charging forward it punches the side of the retention vat, about two and a-half feet up and to the right of the broken valve mechanism.

A hidden panel pops off the surface of the giant vat, clattering to the floor. Revealed behind it is some piping, much of it new, and a lever.

The kobold places one scaly hand on the lever, and whirls around, its other hand holding a crossbow. The point of the bolt (I rolled the Spot check for you, altho it was a DC 10) seems covered with some white-ish paste.

"Not so fast, you half-breed scum," snarls the kobold, first in orc, then in common. Its fingers flex on the lever. "Thought it was broken, eh? Never looked above it, did you? No, no one does. They see what they want and do not notice the rest." A snakey tongue flicks inside the mouth full of needle-sharp teeth, and you begin to understand why gnomes hate kobolds so much. The scaley rat is mocking you, letting little whistling gasps escape from its snout. "Not so fast I said!" it barks, as Kaspar shifts his feet. "I turn this lever and the front of the vat opens. Almost two tons of sewer water. I might survive it, off to the side like this, but you..." It makes that whistling laugh again. "You'll be battered around like an eggshell in a hurricane. Don't come any closer, or I will open it. You've hurt me enough that I have nothing to lose by taking the chance." (You have indeed wounded him severely.) "Drop your weapons and your money, and then back up, with your hands raised. No funny business. Just walk backwards, and tell that pointy-eared tree-licker with you to back up as well. Count yourselves lucky that you've seen my countenance and lived."

Castille's turn. (He has indeed heard the kobold's speech, the echoes carried it to him, so he knows what Kaspar was told.)

Charge!

Kaspar will go for the charge. Despite his burn wound, the sudden fear of being flooded out by the kobold drives him into a fury as he races around the corner to see it standing next to the vat. The half-orc readies his rapier and runs forward. If he wasn't so keen on silence, Kaspar would let out a tremendous roar. But instead, he does his best to make his footsteps quiet. No matter though, in no time he is upon the kobold and lunges forward -- exposing himself, but also putting all he has into the attack.

So much for theatrics. The attack roll came up a mere 7. I'll use an action point for an extra 3. That's a total of 16 after modifiers. Here's hoping it's enough. Damage came up as 6 points.

Castille is itching to make his next move, but Kaspar will have to cope with the consequences of his actions first...

Close, But No Banana

Given that the kobold did a withdraw action, he moved double his land speed. (Normal land speed for a kobold is 30 fett, or six squares, they're fast.) As you can see here, the kobold started off on C1, then moved backwards to C7, which is 6 squares, enabling him to move to the right another six squares, or 4 squares (20 feet) to the right of E7. (As to why the kobold did not turn at C4 instead of C7...perhaps you will find out.) Drawing a diagnol from the alcove, along C1-D3-E5, the sleep spell goes off in the square that is two squares ot the right of E7. So you tagged him with the burst effect.

Alas, he made his save, and shakes away the drowsiness.

Kaspar's initiative count is sufficiently after Castille's that he can give chase. He turns the corner and sees that the kobold is indeed heading straight for the retention vat. (That lantern and whatnot is still there.)

Oddly, the kobold does not appear to be heading for the ladder up the side of the vat, but instead is moving to the east of the ladder (to the right on the previous link - consider the ladder on the vat to be in line with rows 5 & 6, and the kobold is moving along row 7, as I said before). The kobold is still 20 feet away from the vat, however.

Kaspar does not have time to dig around for the thunderstone if he wants to keep up. Drawing it out would be a move action and would give the kobold a 6-square lead.

Kaspar can do one of two things to stay with the little critter. A) do a double move and stay next to the kobold, or B) make the last 10 feet of movement a charge, which will allow Kaspar an attack on the kobold (at a +2), but will give Kaspar a -2 on Armor Class for the following round.

Make your choice and post the results. Then it will be the kobold's turn again, then Castille's.

Desperate Spellcasting

Castille moves to the edge of the alcove just in time to see the kobold dart around the corner. In a somewhat desperate attempt to stop the little bugger dead in his tracks, Castille readies a sleep spell. He takes aim as deep into the adjacent tunnel as he can see and hopes for the best. A few elven words of enchantment later, and the spell is off.

Remember that a sleep spell has a 10-ft burst effect.

Kaspar, unwilling to let the kobold out of his sight, gives chase after Castille's spell goes off. Of course he's careful not to run into the tunnel before the spell hits. He's not too keen on falling asleep in the middle of a battle. And if he has the time, he'll grab the thunderstone from his pack and stow it somewhere more accessible.

The Eyes Have It

No spot check necessary, you've got darkvision and there's nowhere for this thing to hide.

The kobold yelps in pain as you draw blood, and it jerks backwards. You see it flip a bolt into its crossbow with blinding speed (rapid reload feat), and it darts backwards and around the corner, back towards the retention vat (performing a withdraw full-round action, so no Attack of Opportunity).

The kobold is now out of sight, and it is Castille's turn. The kobold's grapnel and silk rope are still there.

(Just wanted ot let you know that I left something out about kobolds in my previous post. If you had knowledge dungeoneering or knowledge nature I would give you a DC 11 check, but you don't. As it is, you can probably poke around on line and find out what it is...if you know what to look for.)

(Oh, and a happy Purim to whoever it applies to who may be reading this.)

A Mighty Kobold Sorcerer... is so cute

Charles, I don't you think you realize the extent of my love affair with kobolds. I wasn't making fun, but expressing my amusement. That this one has a necklace made of fingers only brought a mischievous smile to my face.

Castille shouts, "Kaspar! He jumped down. Turn around. Get him!"

Kaspar then makes an about face and quickly leaps down the stairs two at a time. With his rapier drawn, he pauses briefly at the entranceway. If the kobold is squarely in front of him, then he'll lunge forward and attempt to skewer it.

If not, however, he'll pause and jut his head out from the cover of the doorway, attempting to spot his enemy.

Attack with the rapier. Rolls a 16. With modifiers, it's a 20. Assuming a hit, that's 5 points of damage. My utter inability to roll anything higher than a 2 on damage rolls is unbelievable.

Otherwise, a spot check comes up 13.

Revealed

The stairs turn up and around to the right, and then open up to the alcove. There is evidence of wires and markings on the wall, as if someone was getting ready to set traps, but didn't have the time to prepare them properly.

Across from this staircase is another one going up. (See the pic I emailed you.)

Waiting for you is a small figure, maybe gnome-sized, but reptillian, with glittering eyes and needle sharp teeth, as well as a crossbow and a belt of tools.

And a necklace of fingers around its neck.

A kobold.

(Note, in third edition, kobolds have a -4 on Strength, a +2 on Dex, a -2 on Con, a +2 on Search, a +2 on Craft Trapmaking, a +2 on Profession miner, darkvision, and sorcerer as their favored class. The serial killer isn't too strong, if you recall his taking the booty from his victims in stages, is good with making traps, and is an incredible shot with the truestrike & crossbow combination. Sound familiar? Hee hee, and you mocked kobolds in the law library because you were thinking of the sniveling little first edition PC fodder.)

The kobold had a readied shot with the crossbow, and he also has a grapnel set into the floor, and a rope attached to a clip in his belt. He fires at Castille (rolled...an 8) which goes over the half-elf's shoulder and chips the wall. That was the kobold's standard action. For his move action he jumps backwards and the rope clip whirrs as he lands softly on his feet below.

(Castille took a double move to get past Kaspar and get up the stairs, so he does not have time to fire this round. Kaspar started up the stairs, but at a shout from Castille he can reverse direction and come down to attack.)

Where Do These Stairs Go?

Kaspar is wide awake with a roll of 16 on his will check. I would guess that all of the fire prompted his adrenal glands into overdrive.

Although the acid flask hit its mark, Castille wastes no time with the yet unseen assailant. Preferring the cover of stone walls, Castille rushes past Kaspar through the door.

Kaspar, triumphant in his accomplishment, manages to swing the heavy wooden door open just in time to see his friend run by. Together they hastily ascend the staircase. Castille, of course, has the lead and holds the sunrod. In his good hand, he also wields his crossbow, finger on the trigger. Behind Castille, Kaspar has swung his pack on and is drawing his rapier.

Both prepare to rush the hidden sniper. Hopefully this staircase leads to the alcove.

I also personally hope it isn't trap-laden because there isn't any trap-checking going on here. Full steam ahead: "Hi-Oh!" Sure, I could have played this much more sneaky, but right now I'm just afraid the sniper is going to get away.

Opponent Got Da Shnizzle

Or sizzle anyway. The acid makes contact, and you hear a hissing and a scream, followed by some snarling, yipping type of sound. Kind of like a terrier getting an electrical shock. (Got Knowledge Dungeoneering to help you figure this one out? No.)

(I rolled an intelligence check to see if the opponent would realize that you spoke a curse in elven. The DC was high because your opponent does not speak elven. Why did I do this? You will see.)

In the meantime Kaspar bats at himself, gets the flames out, and flicks the door open expertly. (I'll even let you put away the lockpicks as a free action since it feels so dramatic.) Before him are a set of stone steps, cut into the earth, rising into the darkness. His darkvision picks out 10 feet up of climb before the stairs turn to the right.

In the meantime, your unknown assailant just took an acid bath, and he knows that there is a mightily ticked off half-orc in the area. Morale check. (He made it.) Will he cast another spell? (I'm rolling for damage from the acid since you didn't. Ooh, 5.) That's a DC 16 Concentration check for a 1st level spell. With a Concentration bonus of +5...yep, he made it.

Both Kaspar and Castille hear the chanting clearly, and then the spell is cast. A heaviness falls upon your eyelids, as the Sleep spell covers the area. (I didn't bother rolling the Spellcraft check, as you would feel the effects immediately.) Kaspar has to make a Will save DC 13 or pass out. Castille...

Castille is a half-elf. Elves and half-elves do not sleep in 3rd edition (or 3.5) and are immune to sleep effects. (You do have to go into meditative trance for 4 hours a night, tho.) If the opponent had figured out from your elven curse word that you were an elf he would have done something else. Don't reveal so much to your enemies.

(What is an elven curse word anyway, calling someone a Leafblighter? That's a little more Wheel of Time if you ask me.)

Anyway, Kaspar make the DC 13 Will save. Castille, you don't need to. And since Castille is next in the initiative count, what does he want to do?

Heave Ho

Checks

Kaspar is on fire. Not literally of course. Natural 20 on his reflex save.

Action

Grabbing the acid flask from his pack, Castille moves out from the wall and throws it up towards the alcove. As the bottle sails towards its target, he shouts out in elven some subtle curse.

Roll of 14 against AC 10 for throwing the flask into the first square of the alcove.

Meanwhile, Kaspar gets to work on the door. If the flames from the alchemist's fire are in the way, he will use his cloak to smother the flames. If, on the other hand, he can work around the flames, then he will use his tools to open the lock.

From The Frying Pan Into The Fire

The Listen Checks

The DC was 20, which was actually the top DC. I wasn't clear. 15 was to hear anything, 20 to hear it perfectly. Kaspar hears nothing, although he thought he did (14 being almost 15), but Castille does hear something, soft chanting. He can't tell precisely where it is coming from, as the echoes in the room are odd (high ceiling - had you gotten the 20 I would tell you exactly where it was coming from). The second check is a 17, which is actually a 21, it was a Spellcraft check. Someone is casting Truestrike, a 1st level arcane spell that adds +20 to your next attack roll.

Action

Your unknown opponent is using his (her?) round to cast Truestrike. You therefore get a round to act. Castille can have his bow out, but Kaspar was holding a sunrod. Castille has touched initiative, he can warn Kaspar of the spell. (I assumed that Castille had his crossbow out, but he can take it out now.) Kaspar will need to hand the sunrod over to Castilee (a free action), and pull out his bow (a move-equivelant action since you do not have the Quickdraw feat). This leaves you both with a standard action. You can hustle quickly over to the door.

Upon closer examination (I rolled the Spot check for you, the DC was 10 anyway), the door has been made to see if it is swollen and stuck with water, but it is not stuck at all, is has been painted to make ti look so. There is a lock that is hidden so that it is not visible unless you are looking for it. (Spot DC 5) You were, so you found it.

The problem is, you are out of time in this round. You will ahve to pick the lock next round, and yes a 16 will do it. But before you do, round 2 begins. Now your opponent goes, because his (her?) initiative is actually 25.

Round Two

A small glass bottle comes sailing out of the alcove, and crashes at your feet on the stones. It is a bottle of alchemist's fire. Kaspar takes 6 points of damage from the burst of flame, and Castille takes 1 hp of splash damage. Kaspar also has to make a Reflex Save DC 10 or catch on fire. (If you catch on fire, you will get a -10 circumstance penalty on opening the lock and that roll will be blown. Oh yeah, you'll also take 2d6 damage until you are no longer on fire. Feel free to use an action point for that saving throw.)

Castille's turn. If you will cast a spell, you must make a Concentration check DC 11 plus spell level.

A Little Too Quiet...

Checks

Kaspar gets a 14 on his Listen check. Castille scores a 16. Is that enough? If so, then the second "check" for Castille comes up 17.

On initiative Kaspar rolls in at 12; Castille 24.

Action

First, let me make it clear that if the characters have some time before being thrust into an initiative/combat situation, they will both draw their ranged weapons. Kaspar has his bow at the ready. Castille has his crossbow cocked and shouldered.

As Castille begins to comment on the situation, Kaspar draws his finger up to his lips, asking for silence. They both move as close to the wall as they comfortably can. They are both standing next to the heavy door. Kaspar tries the knob. Assuming it's locked, he will get his tools out and attempt to pick it. Open Lock check comes up 16.

As Kaspar works, Castille will continue to scan for movement or any other sign of life.

If Kaspar can open the door, both will enter and climb the stairs... carefully. If the door proves too difficult an obstacle, then the team will hug the wall as they proceed towards the ladder and the trail of blood.

Oh Yeah

And roll for initiative while you're at it.

(I just emailed you another map in paintbrush, a grid this time, with your position marked and the grids numbered in Battleship style. Yeah, I was so paying attention to the Argentinan TM system.)

• Gridded Map

The Open Area

Kaspar and Castille come out into a area with a high ceiling. It is kind of like a giant coin slot. There is perhaps 20 feet ahead of you, and ten feet to your right. To your left the area slopes off into the darkness, forming a long, high passage. A crumbling buttress helps hold up the ceiling to your right. You estimate the ceiling's height to be just over 60 feet. (Kaspar has 60 foot darkvision, and Castille has 30 foot regular vision from the sunrod, and 30 more feet of low-light vision.)

Also to your right in the middle of the wall is a wooden door, slightly warped from years of humidity, but firmly in place. The door has an open eye slot and Kaspar can just narrowly make out a set of stairs going up beyond it.

Above the door, set some twenty five to thirty feet up, is a shadowy alcove.

To your left is a spalshing and burbling. Some thirty to forty feet down the sloping, high-ceilinged passageway is a ladder bolted into the wall that leads up to a feeder pipe, high in the ceiling. It apepars to be ceramic, much like the pipe that you started out in.

You can easily see splatters of blood on the wall. They lead down the passage, to the left.

You both get a feeling, like someone is watching you. Roll a Listen check, both of you, DC 20. (Feel free to use an action point, your supply was renewed.) Should Castille make it, have him roll a second d20 for...something.

(I just emailed you sketches in paintbrush of this room. Yes I know I misspelled 'crumbling'. Please post them when you get the chance.)

• Top View


• Side View

What You Spot

Etched hurriedly on the wall, in someone's blood, barely a day old. "Beware...Sniper"

Keep it Moving

Leaving the lantern behind, Kaspar and Castille proceed onward to the open area.

A spot check for each comes up 18 for Kaspar and 18 for Castille. Nice. Very even.

Once in the open area, Kaspar will raise the sunrod above his head to illuminate the room.

I'm digging the descriptions Charles. I know my posts have been short as of late, but I'm just trying to keep things moving.

Descent Into The Wet Depths

The ladder on the other side of the vat goes down some 20 feet. The surface of the pipe on the other side is slick with damp, and it is made of supported masonry carved through rock, rather than the ceramic and tile of the pipes on the entry level.

There is a lantern on the floor. It is now out of oil. The warforged barbarian was carrying it in order to see, and then he heard you up above, set the lantern down, climbed and attacked you. The latern seems to be a common lantern, out of oil, nothing special. (Do you want to pick it up or go on?)

The pipe has a flat bottom, and ninety-degree angles along the bottom of its walls. The upper part of the walls curve into buttresses, and a hemispherical ceiling. In other words, the bottom part of the pipe is a rectangle shape, and the upper part of the pipe is a tube shape.

The valve doors are against the floor, and they are as big as Kaspar. The valve mechanisms are indeed broken. Should they ever be opened, the force of all that water would sweep the two of you forward like twigs on a tidal wave.

The tunnel goes straight ahead for some 50 feet, and after that it seems to open up to a wider area. (Make a spot check.)

(I am emailing a quick paintbrush sketch of the area to you.)

• The Other Side of the Vat

Almost Feels Like Home Now

"This town is getting less friendly by the minute," Castille says of Einian's reaction.

"I wouldn't let it worry you," Kaspar returns. "He seems to have something deeper on his mind."

The team will indeed re-enter the sewers with Scowlen's sunrod lit. They trek to the vat, and then down the other side of it.

Back From The Black

"Someone's coming up!" come the yells above, as you rise into the sunlight. The shafts of pole arms are gripped, and then relaxed when Kaspar comes into view, carrying the third body. "It's them!" yells a constable.

Hands grab the body and bring it up. Like the others it has been mostly stripped of valuables. As the trio rise out of the manhole, the poor soul is identified by his widow, and the lamentations and consolations of the crowd rise and fall.

"What happened?" Einian and Scowlen demand together.

"It was amazing!" Humfred yells, standing in front of you. "The heros beat a warforged!" The crowd gasps, and you recall the strong bias against warforged in this town. "Yea verily, hear my tale!" the gnome begins. "The warforged roamed the sewers, deliriously thinking that the Last War was not over..." A very colorful account of your battle follows, wherein Kaspar stood toe-to-toe with the beast, trading blows while Castille chanted great spells.

"So the warforged was the serial killer!" Einian says, clapping his hands together.

"Oh no," says Humfred. "He had no crossbow. Just a standard-issue Thrane greataxe. No, he was not the serial killer. Now if you will excuse me, I have a report to make to the Korranberg Chronicle!" He waves goodbye and runs off through the crowd.

"Quite impressive," Scowlen says. A slight smile plays at the corners of his mouth. "Looks like you can't blame this one on the warforged Einian."

"Don't lecture me!" snaps the constable. His anger and hatred is palpable. "All of those THINGS should have been dissected after the war." He turns on his heel and stalks away.

"Hmph," Scowlen grumbles. He hands you a new sunrod. "Good luck on finding the others."

Back into the sewers, or did you want to talk to Scowlen first? (Fast Eddie is not around, and Einian is now busy.) If you do go back into the sewers, in what direction do you want to go? (You did not explore the area on the other side of the vat.)

Whoa... Too Quick for the Half-Orc

Level Up

Business first. You can check out both Castille's and Kaspar's new stats.

Action

Kaspar holds onto the spear as the warforged slips off of its shaft and down into the scum. He's shocked, actually, and simply holds his thrusting stance for a second before blinking. As Humfred fires his torch, Castille places a hand on Kaspar's shoulder.

"Kaspar, he's dead. That was stunning."

Standing, Kaspar turns to face Castille, "Here's your spear." He then brushes past Castille and walks to the edge of the vat. "Guys, grab the body."

"Sure thing Kaspar."

After they get the body out of the vat, Kaspar, still shaken, heaves it over his shoulder. They all make their way back topside.

That REALLY Hurt!

Tim emailed me and pointed out that the shortspear has a crit of x3 (which I had forgotten). And it is being used two-handed by a half-orc with a Str of 17.

To make a long story short, the warforged took a total of 21 points of damage.

The warforged shudders, twitches, and slides off of the spear. With a splash it topples into the vat, and disappears from view.

Humfred pulls out a candle and a torch and a tindertwig and lights up the scene.

"Fantastic!" he exclaims. He then begins to jot down notes excitedly.

(Your xp is coming via email, I think that you went up a level.)

That Hurt

Warforged have a 25% chance to ignore sneak attacks and crits due to their partial construct nature. I rolled for each, and you got both. So 9 hp of damage is only the regular plus the sneak. You also did crit, which you need to roll now as well. Roll a d6 and add 1.5 x your Str mod again.

Once I know damage I'll be able to tell you what happens next. Smart use of the action point. (How many do you have left?)

Let's Try This One More Time

In the darkness, Kaspar checks himself before taking any dangerous leap off the side of the catwalk. He thinks to himself, "I didn't expect that to happen. So much for a flaming vat to scare off the warforged."

But the half-orc won't waste any more time with thought. Instead, he uses Castille's spear to launch a hard sneak attack against the warforged. Although the spear was set to intercept a charge attack, Kaspar uses his crouched position as the foundation for a quick thrust into any soft spot low on the thing's body. In fact, if he's successful, Kaspar will first attempt to push him backwards towards the gap, and second leave the spear lodged in his body -- thereafter drawing his rapier.

I know I don't have time for all of the above in one pass. I will usually write a bit extra just so you can get an idea of where I'm heading.

As for the attack, am I allowed to use my natural 20 for the attack? If so, then I come up with a 7+3=10 on the threat roll (can I use an action point here? If so, it comes up an extra 5 for a total of 15). Damage on the spear attack is 3+4+2=9 (two-handed attack). Also not as great as I was hoping for, but let me know if I scored the crit.

Sudden Dark

Castille's torch hisses out, and darkness plunges over the scene.

Castille and Humfred have low-light vision, but that doesn't help you if you're not near some source of light. They cannot see at all. There is a soft light coming over the lip of the vat - presumably a candle or a lantern that the warforged put down before he began hsi silent climb. But that soft light is not enough to see anything with. Anything at all.

Castille and Humfred are blind for all intents are purposes.

And so is the warforged.

"Hey!" you hear the warforged barbarian yell. There is fear in his/its voice. "HEY!"

"Magical constructs have darkvision," Humfred whispers in Castille's ear. "But living constructs like the warforged do not. They do not even see as well as we do, they have the same vision range as a human or a halfling."

Kaspar of course, is a half-orc. He can see perfectly at the moment. He can see the terrified expression on the warforged's face. Kaspar is the only one of the four here who can see at all.

Detailing

I missed the part about not using the shortbow, sorry.

The feeder pipes are too far away for a running jump (and certainly a standing jump) unless you have a levitate spell. Most are also too slick to be a viable handhold.

Keep in mind that the flash-flower provides a brief burst of light.

Next post will give the effects of Castille's action, then you can post what Kaspar wants to do.

Man, if This Works...

Actually Kaspar abandoned the short bow attack during the rewind. I'll just cut that part out of your response.

Castille, finally able to react, snatches the torch he's holding away from Humfred. Only then do the Gnome's words sink in. He cocks the torch and tosses it into the water. With any remaining actions, he will remove his pack and retrieve the flash-flower.

On the next round, Kaspar will attempt something surely stupid.

He rolls a failure on the Int check to test the catwalk's strength (using the previously rolled 3). Now, how far away are these feeder pipes? If I can use my amazing jump check to do the following, Kaspar will go for it. The idea is to make the warforged leap the gap again, either to further weaken the catwalk or to make him turn his back to the rest of the group.

Kaspar looks around for a feeder pipe within reach, either on the ceiling or along one of the side walls. He makes a running start and leaps with all his might, attempting to catch hold of one of the larger pipes. Assuming a successful jump, he'll use his new vantage point to leap again onto the far catwalk -- on the other side of the gap. "Yeaaaahhhhh!"

Would this take another jump check? Ideally, the leap would be one smooth action. He should sort of bounce off a feeder pipe if possible. Of course if he can only grasp on and hang, that's still better than falling into the (flaming) cesspool.

If there was ever a great time to use all my action points, I think today is the day.

And Play

So you took out the bow and arrow, took the shot, missed, and stepped back five feet? That's fine. You can do all of that, but if you want to get ahold of the shortspear again you're going to have to drop the bow. Make a dexterity check DC 10. You make it, the bow is on the catwalk, you miss the check, the bow is floating in Mr. Hankey, and I advise you to wash it before you use it next.

Nonetheless I'll let you grab the spear back in your hand.

So the warforged throws his greataxe and misses, then runs forward and (jump check, take into account the Armor check penalty for mithril body feat, raged-up strength, ranks, and...he made it) clears the gap. He lands heavily on the square in front of Kaspar, making the catwalk creak and shake. If you make an Int check DC 10 I'll let you know his weight range based on how much the catwalk is quivering.

"Back to the deep?" snarls the warforged. "Thrane will triumph over Aundair! You will be the subservient state to the Keeper of the Silver Flame! GNRRAARRGRGGHHHH!!!" His heavy metal fists come up.

No, no attack of opportunity here, he entered a threatened space, he did not leave one.

Humfred's turn. "Your torch!" he screams at Castille. "Throw it in the water!" Seeing Castille's stunned face (and absurdly low intiative count), Humfred lunges forward and attempts to knock the torch out of Castiulle's hand. (Hm, I don't think a 2 on a d20 makes for a successful sunder attack.) The gnome doesn't get the torch from the taller half-elf. "Throw it in the water!" Humfred screams.

Castille's move.

Rewind

Keeping things short, as Kaspar doesn't have many choices right now...

After scrambling to his feet, Kaspar does indeed take his five-foot step back towards Humfred. He is very concerned about the warforged closing range. Instead of going for his backpack, he will instead steady the shortspear on the catwalk in preparation for the warforged in case he leaps the gap. Yelling, Kaspar turns his head briefly towards the rest of his team, "Castille! Let's send this monster back into the deep. Any inspired ideas?"

More Maps

Charles came up with a side-view of the vat area. To accompany his gorgeous renditions, read the following:

The tunnel to the left is where you came from. The tunnel on the bottom right is where the warforged came from. The red line is the catwalk, spanning the vat. The vat has brown-ish water in it to represent sewage. The X shows where the broken release valve is. The black dots running on both the inside and the outside of the vat on its right wall are the two maintenance ladders (actually rungs bolted into the side of the vat). Not shown are the various feeder pipes coming out of the ceiling and the high sides of the wall, because they are irrelevant.

The green plus sign is Castille's location, the purple plus sign is Humfred's location, the orange plus sign is Kaspar's location, and the black circle is the warforged's location.

I also updated my original sewer map to include a top-down view of the situation. Now I just need to come up with a plan!

To Our Dear Readers

The room that Kaspar and Castille (and little Humfred) are in now is hard to describe. While Tim and I see each other a few times a week in school, we mostly play via email and blog, which means that I had to try to detail it for him, and it really did not come across.

After several rounds of email I finally explained it (and I had to make an ASCII map), so I'm giving Tim the round again from the top (altho everyone is stuck with the die rolls already made). If Tim gets the chance (and he is quite busy with moot court) he may even draw another map and post it (as he did way back when his PCs first entered the sewers).

So stay tuned as the DM turns back the clock.

(And ignore the Lester Burnham thing, he and I were arguing about this movie and I was being silly.)

Tactics, Shmactics

I just emailed you a bit of the layout of the area. We probably should meet briefly in person if you are still confused.

Kaspar cannot do all of that on his round. You were carrying the shortspear, remember? You were body-poking with it. It takes a move-equivalent action to take out a bow and arrow and a standard action to shoot. You do not have enough time to jump the gap. All you can do is take a 5-foot step, if you want to. (Presumably backwards because you are surrounded by water on 3 sides. I will be generous and let you keep the 20 on the jump check for your next roll (Kaspar's, not Castille's, we must stay in character.) So you drop the shortspear, pull out the bow, fire, and miss.

(In the meantime, somewhere across the continent, a very bad man named Lester Burnham commits horrible acts of depravity.)

The warforged squints, and hurls his greataxe end-over-end at Kaspar. (Roll.., let's see, -2 because it isn't a throwing weapon, -2 because of range factor, +4 str when raging, +1 BAB, your AC is...drat. I missed.) Kaspar ducks to one side and the greataxe skitters to one side with a splash.

The warforged's next action depends on whether or not you took that 5-foot step backwards. If you did he will do one thing, if not, he will do something else. Email me or post please.

In the meantime Humfred is yelling something at Castille.