4e playtest (IC)

4e Playtest, Level 1

Lost in the Jungle
Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle

It's all that darned Minotaur's fault.

You had been hired to transport a letter from one city to another. It's a cakewalk job, kind of boring really, but the pay was too good to pass up. There's just one issue. The road doesn't go directly from point A to point B. There's a rather large jungle in the way, and the road goes around it. Taking the road would add weeks to your journey.

That's when Tyrk'kal spoke up. "No problem" He said. "Just take the river through the jungle. I went once with my teacher when I was a boy. You'll have to portage your boat around some falls, but it's not that bad." It sounded reasonable at he time, and it would let you be back in time for the Lunar New Year celebration. No one in their right mind would miss that. "By the way," he added, "the brethren want me to stick around and help to prepare for the celebration. Since this such an easy job, I've told them I can stay. You don't really need me for this. See you when you get back!"

It has rained every day since you left. The river has risen, and what would normally have been a calm journey broken up by some easy portages turned into a whitewater adventure. Two days into a three day river trek, your boat hit a submerged rock and cracked. It held together long enough for you to reach the bank but as you were pulling it up, a downed tree was swept right into it, shattering the boat.

You have all of your equipment, but all of your provisions and camping supplies are gone. It's hot and humid. You're soaked to the bone, hungry, and tired. You don't know where you are, but you have a mission to accomplish. To make matters worse, in the back of your mind is the thought that Tyrk'kal is back in the city, sitting in the shade, eating fine food and drinking good, cool ale.

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Skill Challenge!

Here's how this will work. The challenge is split up into rounds, kind of like a combat, but with no initiative. Each round, two of you will make Endurance skill checks and a third will make a Nature skill check. The remaining two will make an assisting Endurance, Nature, or Perception check. Other skills can be used to assist if a good explanation is given, so don't be afraid to get creative.

When all five rolls have been made, I will tally the results of the three primary rolls (plus any bonus from the other two rolls) against their respective DCs. I will tally up the successes and failures, and let you know what happens.

This could easily turn into a roll-fest, but that's boring, so please, try to describe what you are doing. If you have any questions, please ask in the OOC thread.

Weakened from sea sickness, behind a sopping wet hood and seeming much paler than usual, wishing he was very much dead, you hear a snarl of, "If we survive this, by the Raven Queen, I'm turning that minotaur into steak!" Corvain than commences trying not to turn the water or the jungle into any thing more colorful than it acutally is at the moment.

Innophos's claw digs into the dirt as he pulls himself up from the bath-warm water. Steam rolls off of his shoulders as he stands dripping, with a dour look on his face. Wringing the excess water from his tabard, he complains, "This is undignified. Are we really so poor and pressed for time?" He then grumbles something under his breath, involving the words "minotaur" and "fire".

*I forgot you can't edit rolls in; I'll probably go for endurance at a +6.

The muscular human slogs out of the water, his haubergon coat dripping water from metal ringlets, expression irritated. "Probably best to spend a few minutes letting what little we have dry off. We're bent if we try walking covered in water. Foot rot, metal'll rust."

The mage frowns, but agrees with a nod. "There is another problem. The only one of us that MIGHT know where we are is in town, drinking ale, having stew and checking out the backsides of cows. We weren't given a map of the jungle, so we don't know where in the stars we are." He frowns, but still continues to rest for a minute, thinking about maybe scouting a landmark or something that might give them a clue to their bearings.

"Right then, who here best knows how to survive in the wilderness?" Innophos begins ticking off ideas on his fingers as he speaks. "It seems that the most strategically sound plan is to first find North, then decide on a rough path. We'll also have to see what provisions we have left unmarred by this possibly foul water, and figure out a decent place to make camp."

The half-elf draws himself up at long last. Despite the fact that he's covered head to toe in cloth, he's completely dry. Learning a little presdigitation wasn't such a bad idea.

"I suggest that, whatever we do, it involves as little of this quagmire as possible." Without another word, he waves his hand, drying his bag and, as far as the others can tell, all of its contents. "This should be sufficient for the time being. I will attend to the rest of the food later."

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Endurance (aid another)[roll0]

I'm also going to make a Streetwise check. Perhaps during his considerable time living outside, on the streets, he may have learned a way to locate North without a compass.

Streetwise [roll1]

"I can do that too. Showoff."Corvain's voice is lilting, he must be feeling better. Wryly, Corvain casts a cantrip of his own, drying his own clothes. "I remember my master, a serious old coot in his way, telling me if you follow the river downstream, eventually it'll lead you to a settlement. That, and you shouldn't eat bright red mushrooms."

Let's try that roll again, now I know how it's done. Nature roll to assist, hopefully Corvain listened to his master better than he implies here.

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Nature (assist) [roll0]

((Right then, an endurance roll it will be for Innophos, to "endure" the indignity of having to slog through the jungle sopping with water, at least until he dries. :smallwink:))
[roll0]
Edit: ((Oh come on, Innophos! That's no way to start out a campaign!))

[roll0]

Let's try again.

Narician

Poking his head out of the water, it appeared as though the incident had left the ranger with a bump on his head and a close encounter with nearly drowning. Embarrassed by his predicament, the elf neglected to say anything about it, and walked to shore. His dark green, slightly camouflaged cloak hung around his features like a sopping wet towel.

Wringing out his belongings, Narician turned an eye toward the sky and tried to determine north. Next he looked around the area for telltale signs of which direction to go. "Look on the bright side..." he said in reply to everyone's complaints, pointing towards the sun. He grinned widely. By this point, however, he was getting jealous of the ability to dry oneself off...

Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle
Round 1 recap:

Fehran recalls that back in the city where he had lived, main street ran straight as an arrow between the Sunrise Gate and the Sunset Gate, and that the intersecting avenues were divided into North and South sections, with the North section on the right if you faced from Sunrise to Sunset. Observing the position of the sun, he figures out which way north is.

Having oriented yourselves, you head off downstream (which is the direction you were traveling in to begin with). Unfortunately the embankment is covered in dense thorn bushes, each with an extensive system of roots that are perfectly positioned to snag at the feet of travelers distracted by the thorns. After a few hours you are all covered with scratches and bruises, though no one is seriously hurt.

The thorn bushes and trees give way to a breathtaking panorama of jungle canopy as you find yourselves standing at the top of a rather high cliff as the river thunders down in a massive waterfall. This must be the part of the river that Tyrk'kal told you would need to portage around. There is no clear way down, but a little bit ago you did happen to pass a narrow trail (likely worn in from repeated use by the local fauna) leading off into the jungle.

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Everybody loses a healing surge due to fatigue and minor injuries (or rather, due to the skill failure).

Round 2 is just like round 1 except the location has changed. :smallwink:

Current status: 2 successes, 1 failure

"Just bloody likely, ennit? Kurik slings his pack off his shoulders for a moment, scowling at the humid jungle air and peering down over the edge. "Portage doesn't even begin to cover going around this damn thing.

Corvain looks at the trail, but pretends he hadn't been paying attention up to this point. "I'm sorry, I must of dozed off there. I was having the oddest fantasy. In it, Tyrk'kal was in front of me, asking if we had a good trip. Somehow, I managed to conjure a Mage Hand and throttled him until he stopped making noise, while muttering, 'Portage this.' It was a lovely dream." He sighs, as if in longing. "Enough fantasy, I guess. Fortunately, and I'd prefer it if you didn't ask awkward questions, I brought this." Corvain produces out of his pack hemp rope, a hammer and roughly ten pitons, with a grappling hook. (Climber's Kit.) "This MIGHT help us work our way down the trail."

(The idea is to hopefully create stablity on way down the trail, part of which was washed out. Still using a nature roll to assist, but the kit may help.)

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Nature (assist) [roll0]

Fehran frowns, then smiles wryly to himself.

"I suppose I dried myself off a bit prematurely."

To the rest of the group he offers, "I say we jump."

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Endurance (aid another) [roll0]

OOC: I guess I wasn't clear enough. You passed the path about a quarter mile or so before you got to the cliff, and it led off into the jungle to an unknown destination. The cliff is also several hundred feet high, so attempts to climb or jump would be extremely dangerous.

Also I forgot to mention that Kurik and Narician each get a +2 to their checks this round from the assistance of their party members.

Innophos looks more indignant than drained, and more uncomfortable than disheartened. He begins a slow chant in draconic. The song is practically tuneless, but it's amusing that the otherwise rather straitlaced Dragonborn would be singing at all, and it helps take the party's collective mind off of their minor injuries and setbacks (hopefully). [roll0]

Kurik, in the meantime, leads the way back to the side path, using his flail to smack aside overhanging and offending brush, to give the others an easier time of walking behind him.
[roll0]

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Accursed forums seem to have eaten my last post. I thought I had put one up a few days ago, but looks like I didn't....

Narician

To Fehran's comment, Narician simply said, "Alright, but you first." He grinned and began to follow Kurik back to the path. Narician would take the lead and begin to scout ahead about twenty or so feet, trying to maintain some silence. He kept his eyes out for any strange plants or areas where it might seem easier to get around the waterfall. All the while, he listened to Innophos' singing and found himself humming along a bit.

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[roll0][roll1][roll2]

Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle
Round 2 recap:

The singing and brush clearing help ease your journey significantly. Because of Narician's expertise at identifying what plants (and other things) to eat you find yourselves surprisingly well nourished and hydrated, though some of the things you've had to eat have left a bad taste in your mouth, both literally and figuratively.

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All right, time for round 3. You know the drill. This is mathematically guaranteed to be the last round. Ghostlin and RWC can therefore skip the assist rolls (as there will be no round 4 to apply them to). I'll be posting a note in the OOC thread about this.

Narician and Kurik get a +2 to their checks from the assist rolls.

Current status: 5 successes, 1 failure

Innophos insists that everyone pause for a few minutes while he inspects the weight distribution of their gear. After making a few small adjustments to each, your packs all feel a bit lighter and easier to carry(Though any suspicious characters watching did not see him stealing anything). [roll0]

[roll0]

Kurik paused long enough for Innophos to fiddle with his belongings, then simply resumed his brute-force path through the woods, humming a dirty ditty or somesuch as he swung his chain-mace back and forth, trying to clean up a great deal of clutter from the party's path as he slugged along.

Narician

Not wanting to be slowed down, Narician didn't stop to have his gear readjusted. Besides, he figured he could do it himself. Instead, he focused on the path at hand.

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[roll0]