Latest / Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama / Episode 12 (S3E12)

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Episode 12 (S3E12) · Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, This is Juel or John from Brazil and you
0:04
Speaker 1: are listening to Tale of the Manticar. The following podcast
0:12
Speaker 1: is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised.
0:30
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor Season three. Like
0:34
Speaker 1: the creature from which it takes its name, Tale of
0:37
Speaker 1: the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding between two
0:40
Speaker 1: different species of storytelling. Here you will find the unpredictability
0:44
Speaker 1: of old school paper and dice games with the story
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Speaker 1: craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character is sacred
0:51
Speaker 1: and none will be spared if the dice decide their
0:54
Speaker 1: fate is at hand. According to Laura, the Tale of
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Speaker 1: a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes. There will
1:03
Speaker 1: be much pain in the days ahead. Last time on
1:16
Speaker 1: Tail of the Manticor, in the previous chapter, ten two
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Speaker 1: discovers something among the bodies at the site of the
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Speaker 1: Orchish battle. About half of the Orcs have red paint
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Speaker 1: on the bottom of their boots, marking them as members
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Speaker 1: of the blood Foot tribe. The others bear black smudge
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Speaker 1: like tattooes on their forearms, and this symbol is not
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Speaker 1: When anyone present can recognize. For lack of a better name,
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Speaker 1: the companions begin to refer to this other group of
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Speaker 1: Orcs as the Black Cloud tribe. Achille discovers something else
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Speaker 1: among the bodies. At first, she takes the glint that
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Speaker 1: catches her eye for gold, but it turns out to
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Speaker 1: be the brass fittings of a small but heavy chest.
1:52
Speaker 1: Inside the pieces find a large sum of coins along
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Speaker 1: with the mushroom. The two elves know to denote a
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Speaker 1: bribe or tribute. But who is paying, whom and for
2:01
Speaker 1: what no one is certain, but it seems a good
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Speaker 1: guess that the treasure was the cause of the battle.
2:07
Speaker 1: On the following day, the companions begin to move through
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Speaker 1: what they now realize is Black Cloud territory. There's evidence
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Speaker 1: of Orcish activity found along the way that leaves little
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Speaker 1: room for doubt. At the end of the day's travel,
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Speaker 1: they see a woods and decide to spend the night
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Speaker 1: there and take advantage of the concealment of the trees.
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Speaker 1: But before they can reach it, they spot and are
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Speaker 1: spotted by three more Orcs. Surprisingly, instead of rushing into battle,
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Speaker 1: the Orcs turn and flee. The companions give chase, but
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Speaker 1: they lose their quarry almost right away. Will the escape
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Speaker 1: orcs raise the alarm? And will the companions soon become
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Speaker 1: the haunted? Chapter twelve, Part one day twelve night mythic
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Speaker 1: event meaning move stale eight party status Achillea seven out
3:04
Speaker 1: of seven hit points, Cord ten of eleven, de Renny
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Speaker 1: six of six ten Tier five of six supplies. The
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Speaker 1: companions have eleven portions of food and six of water.
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Speaker 1: Spells available. Achillia has memorized shrink and message. Cord can
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Speaker 1: cast and tangle and locate plants and animals. The companions
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Speaker 1: spent a few minutes retracing their steps and trying to
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Speaker 1: rediscover the direction of the orc's passage. Here it is
3:43
Speaker 1: called ten Tier, just a little ways off from the
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Speaker 1: rest of the group. By now the woods had grown
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Speaker 1: dark and they were all relying on night vision, he
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Speaker 1: continued as they joined him.
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Speaker 2: See these trifled ferns.
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Speaker 1: They went that way, he pointed, off to the northwest.
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Speaker 3: I wonder why they turned so abruptly. Those orcs were
4:02
Speaker 3: moving to the northeast and then suddenly cut to their left. Well,
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Speaker 3: there's no catching them now. We will go straight on
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Speaker 3: and with luck we can avoid.
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Speaker 1: Them, said do Rennie. Pointing off in a direction perpendicular
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Speaker 1: to the path of the orc's flight.
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Speaker 2: Them and their tribes meets.
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Speaker 1: Said Tintyr, nodding hmm, agreed to Rennie.
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Speaker 3: We'll need to find a place to make camp, though
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Speaker 3: we cannot keep going through the night.
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Speaker 1: He was right. They were already exhausted, having pushed themselves
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Speaker 1: in order to reach the woods in the first place,
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Speaker 1: and then chasing the Orcs had drained the last of
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Speaker 1: their energy.
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Speaker 3: A good hiding spot is what we need.
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Speaker 1: He said, pulling at his chin and looking worried.
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Speaker 3: But we should go at least another mile or two
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Speaker 3: away from here, try not to leave any tracks.
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Speaker 1: He led the way, walking by his younger brother and
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Speaker 1: into the deep gloom of the forest. Tenttyr followed in.
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Speaker 1: Then Achilie, unsure how she was sppoke to travel without
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Speaker 1: leaving any signs for a passage, fell in behind, with
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Speaker 1: Cord and Robin at her back. Did the Orcs cut
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Speaker 1: left to throw off their pursuers or is there a
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Speaker 1: different reason. If it was an evasive measure, it worked,
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Speaker 1: But I think there's a chance they are actually avoiding
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Speaker 1: this part of the woods deliberately in order to keep
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Speaker 1: things nice and chaotic. I'm going to randomize it, and
5:28
Speaker 1: since I have the action paused anyway, I think I'll
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Speaker 1: just make all the roles for the day right now.
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Speaker 1: For the weather twenty. I was not expecting that what
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Speaker 1: kind of weather would be really helpful right now? More fog,
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Speaker 1: I think, since the party's main goal is to stay
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Speaker 1: out of sight, stumble upon a seventeen a high roll,
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Speaker 1: but it doesn't produce any result. Only a one or
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Speaker 1: a twenty matters for that role. Next up is for
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Speaker 1: wandering encounters. We're back in the woods, meaning that if
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Speaker 1: ford to on a D six is a positive result. However,
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Speaker 1: I think that foggy weather should have some real in
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Speaker 1: game benefit, so I'll knock it back to a five
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Speaker 1: or six on a D six. I mean, twenties are
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Speaker 1: rare and they should make a difference. Here's the role
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Speaker 1: A five. Oh brother, these guys just can't seem to
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Speaker 1: pass more than a single day without running into trouble.
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Speaker 1: As I've done before, I'm going to roll a high
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Speaker 1: low to determine what they encounter. Low will mean yet
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Speaker 1: more orcs. This is black Cloud territory, after all, HI
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Speaker 1: will trigger a set piece encounter. I have in mind
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Speaker 1: on a d twenty fifteen. Okay, then they first noticed
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Speaker 1: the crows about an hour after they'd lost the trail
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Speaker 1: of the escaped orcs and turned to the northeast. Navigating
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Speaker 1: the woods was slow going, but not because it was
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Speaker 1: difficult to see. Their infra vision was almost as acute
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Speaker 1: as their day vision. Furthermore, during any intent here traveled
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Speaker 1: the forested night regularly, and even Core and Achillea had
7:00
Speaker 1: some experience doing so. The reason their travel was so
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Speaker 1: slow was a combination of fatigue and from keeping up
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Speaker 1: an effort to move quietly. At first, they thought it
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Speaker 1: was working, since losing the orcs there had been no
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Speaker 1: sign of any alarm raised. De Rennie was even beginning
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Speaker 1: to allow that Achillea might have been right about which
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Speaker 1: tribe the escaped Rocks belonged to until they encountered the
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Speaker 1: first group of crows. There must have been several hundred
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Speaker 1: of the scavenger birds, and when the party came across them,
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Speaker 1: the feathered host threw up such a chorus of squawking
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Speaker 1: as to completely ruin the companion's attempt to keep quiet.
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Speaker 1: This is no good, complained to Rennie over the den
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Speaker 1: and quickly led the others away from the legion of birds,
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Speaker 1: But very strangely, after the party passed, the crows alighted
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Speaker 1: from their perches among the branches in a great cloud
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Speaker 1: of dark wings, and followed them, cawing all the while.
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Speaker 1: Robin peeped timidly, shifting bed on Achillee's head to show
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Speaker 1: her discomfort. The crows overtook the party and then settled
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Speaker 1: into the trees a little further ahead, as if to
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Speaker 1: block their progress. Dorenni was happy to keep his distance.
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Speaker 3: Come, we should get away from all this noise.
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Speaker 1: He said, and cut to the right, moving east into
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Speaker 1: the woods, where the land began to dip. For a while,
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Speaker 1: the birds left them malone, But just twenty minutes later
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Speaker 1: the party ran into another large group of crows. Or possibly,
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Speaker 1: are they following? Yes, Dornnie asked, somewhat rhetorically.
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Speaker 4: I thought that crows roosted by night.
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Speaker 1: Replied Achillia, disquieted by the phenomenon. Yes, they do, came
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Speaker 1: the ELF's flat response.
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Speaker 3: This is not natural.
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Speaker 1: By now, Achillie was so tired that she felt her
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Speaker 1: eyes might shut on their own. Her steps were leaden,
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Speaker 1: and she was feeling a bit dizzy. The others felt similarly,
8:48
Speaker 1: with the exception of Cord and Robin, who had no
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Speaker 1: need of sleep. It was ten Tire who found a
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Speaker 1: good spot to stop for the night, a wayward pine
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Speaker 1: with thick, low branches, sticky with sap, and so fragrant
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Speaker 1: that the mill might have been inhibited sleep if the
9:01
Speaker 1: companions had not been so tired. They set Cord and
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Speaker 1: Robin on watch, and then Achillie and the brothers passed
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Speaker 1: out on a bed of springy pine needles without even
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Speaker 1: bothering to unfurl their bed rolls. They were awoken just
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Speaker 1: three hours later, but not by their sentries. It was
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Speaker 1: the hoarse cawing of crows that dragged them out of
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Speaker 1: their slumber once again. Hundreds of the birds were squawking
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Speaker 1: madly nearby. Churchard's braid kursed Tantire, unconsciously emulating his older brother.
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Speaker 2: We get no peace at all.
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Speaker 1: The maddening din continued, completely preventing a return to sleep,
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Speaker 1: while at the same time threatening to draw and wanted attention.
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Speaker 1: We are leaving, said Dryne. Grabbing his things, he crawled
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Speaker 1: out from under the low pine branches and once again
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Speaker 1: led the others even deeper into the woods behind them.
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Speaker 1: The riotous cacophony continued unabated. After a time, the companions
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Speaker 1: found themselves overlooking a valley shrouded by night mist. Now there,
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Speaker 1: said tan Tyre, pointing.
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Speaker 2: The mist will mask our movements and hide us from
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Speaker 2: the enemy.
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Speaker 1: This boon could not have come at a better time,
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Speaker 1: for as soon as the companions entered the fog, they
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Speaker 1: heard a horn sound in the distance, back the way
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Speaker 1: they had come.
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Speaker 3: They're looking for us.
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Speaker 1: Said Dornnie, caustically. Lack of sleep had made him irritable.
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Speaker 3: Still think those were blood foots, Achillia.
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Speaker 1: Achilie disregarded the accusation in Dornnie's tone and changed the subject.
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Speaker 4: This might sound mad, but I think those crows were
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Speaker 4: following us.
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Speaker 3: That and more.
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Speaker 1: Dernni replied, the acid no longer in his voice.
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Speaker 3: Hopefully we can lose them in these mists.
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Speaker 1: I'm still so tired, complained Achillia.
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Speaker 4: I don't know how long I'll last.
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Speaker 3: You'll have to last at least a little while longer.
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Speaker 3: We need to put as much distance as we can
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Speaker 3: between us and those orcs. They'll search for us all night.
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Speaker 3: What we really need is a better hiding spot.
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Speaker 1: The misty valley began to constrict, funneling the companions into
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Speaker 1: a narrow gorge. After they'd gone a half a mile
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Speaker 1: or so. Luckily, there was no more noise from crows,
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Speaker 1: and the war horn did not sound again.
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Speaker 4: De Renny, what did you mean earlier when you said
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Speaker 4: that and more?
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Speaker 1: What more?
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Speaker 3: Earlier?
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Speaker 4: I said, I thought the crows were following us, And
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Speaker 4: you said that and more? What did you mean by that?
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Speaker 3: I only meant that it seems like look.
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Speaker 1: Said Tantyr, pointing into the swirling mists. Through the vapors.
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Speaker 1: About a hundred yards ahead, they could make out the
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Speaker 1: shape of a cave. It was both large and of
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Speaker 1: unusual shape. The mouth was wide enough to fit a
11:42
Speaker 1: wagon train eighty feet long or more, but the height
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Speaker 1: was out of proportion. A huge, long stone slab jetted
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Speaker 1: it from the side of the gorge, like an awning
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Speaker 1: over a hollow space below. In the fog and in
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Speaker 1: the dark, it was impossible to say how deep the
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Speaker 1: cut went. This could be a good place to hide, suggested.
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Speaker 4: It had better be. I can barely keep up right,
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Speaker 4: and my eyes keep trying to close on their own.
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Speaker 1: Said Achilia. She felt cord pat her on the shoulder
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Speaker 1: with a wooden hand, and she turned around to offer
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Speaker 1: him a warm, sleepy smile.
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Speaker 3: I don't well, we will have to risk.
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Speaker 1: It, said dore Rennie, clearly he was not thrilled with
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Speaker 1: this choice of hiding place. He unshouldered his bow and
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Speaker 1: drew an arrow from his quiver before proceeding.
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Speaker 3: We should go and take a closer look.
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Speaker 2: It's better than sleeping out in the open.
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Speaker 1: Said Tantyr, imitating his brother and readying his own arrow.
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Speaker 2: And it looks empty.
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Speaker 1: The cave did seem empty, at least they couldn't see
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Speaker 1: anything moving inside. Dorennie took the lead and started toward
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Speaker 1: the cave, with the mists wrapping around his slight frame
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Speaker 1: and closing in behind him. I mentioned before that I
13:00
Speaker 1: had a set piece encounter prepared, and here we are.
13:03
Speaker 1: The party members don't know it, but this cave is
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Speaker 1: the layer of a dangerous creature named Mamby. Mamby occasionally
13:10
Speaker 1: accepts bribes from the arcs, either to fight for them
13:12
Speaker 1: or simply to leave them alone. The money box of
13:15
Speaker 1: the companions currently carry was meant as such a payment
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Speaker 1: by the Black Cloud tribe. In return, Mamby would have
13:21
Speaker 1: helped them drive off the intruding blood foots. Of course,
13:24
Speaker 1: the payment was intercepted. There's a certain tasty irony in
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Speaker 1: the bribe being delivered to its intended destination, but not
13:31
Speaker 1: by the intended couriers anyway. At the moment, even though
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Speaker 1: it's night and Mamby is nocturnal, he's currently asleep on
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Speaker 1: a better furs and can't be seen by the party members,
13:41
Speaker 1: at least not yet. He can't be seen. But the
13:48
Speaker 1: companions slowly and silently approached the cave, and the mists
13:52
Speaker 1: swirled around their frames as though trying to pull them
13:55
Speaker 1: into their gauzy embrace. Once again, they were in single file.
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Speaker 1: The narrow gorge would not permit any different arrangement. Beyond
14:03
Speaker 1: the wide and shadowy stone mouth, the gorge began to
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Speaker 1: incline sharply. Of course, at this point, the piece's intention
14:10
Speaker 1: was to use the cave as a shelter and hide
14:12
Speaker 1: out for the night, and then continue their journey in
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Speaker 1: the morning. Quietly, quietly they approached. They were so quiet,
14:20
Speaker 1: in fact, that when the sound came it almost scared
14:23
Speaker 1: Achillia out of her skin, A ripping, sputtering sound like
14:29
Speaker 1: the bark being torn off the side of a tree
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Speaker 1: sounded from somewhere inside the cave. Then there was silence again,
14:36
Speaker 1: followed by a second, low, wet, snorting sound. The companions
14:41
Speaker 1: had frozen in their tracks at the first noise. The
14:44
Speaker 1: second made them stiffen, and when the sounds returned in
14:47
Speaker 1: a steady, rasping snore, they realized that something large was
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Speaker 1: sleeping nearby, not fifty yards away. Tender turned around and whispered, there,
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Speaker 1: something big. Dur Any whispered back, do we go back?
15:02
Speaker 3: I don't want to go back. We still need to
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Speaker 3: find somewhere to stop for the night, and there is
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Speaker 3: nothing back the way we came. Maybe we can sneak
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Speaker 3: by it.
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Speaker 1: Looking past the cave entrance, they could see that to
15:17
Speaker 1: keep going in this direction would be a risk. The
15:20
Speaker 1: slope of the gorge had made for a treacherous descend
15:22
Speaker 1: to get down here, but it was a sheer wall,
15:24
Speaker 1: impossible to climb for the next hundred yards on either side,
15:28
Speaker 1: so the only choices were forward or back. I think
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Speaker 1: we should go back, said Tentere. Looking shaken. Derenni turned
15:36
Speaker 1: to Achilia.
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Speaker 3: Break the tie. What do you think we should do?
15:41
Speaker 1: Achillia scanned the area around the cave entrance, moss covered
15:45
Speaker 1: roots hung limply down over it, and seeing these, she
15:48
Speaker 1: remembered Kord's trick back at the Dogwood. She regarded her
15:51
Speaker 1: wooden friend.
15:52
Speaker 4: Could you command those roots if something came out of
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Speaker 4: the cave, she asked.
15:57
Speaker 1: Cord nodded.
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Speaker 4: Let's try to sneak by, then, she said.
16:01
Speaker 1: Ten Tier winced, but de Renni nodded his approval.
16:04
Speaker 3: I'll take the lead.
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Speaker 1: He said, creeping past ten.
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Speaker 3: Tire follow close, but not too close.
16:18
Speaker 1: This is the most dangerous situation the pieces effaced in
16:21
Speaker 1: this story so far. Momby is a four hit die ogre,
16:25
Speaker 1: and although he's currently asleep and deeply so, it would
16:28
Speaker 1: only take one misplaced step to wake him as the
16:31
Speaker 1: characters attempt to sneak by. Since none of my characters
16:35
Speaker 1: are of the thief class, none of them have any
16:37
Speaker 1: real skill in moving silently, But that doesn't mean they
16:40
Speaker 1: can't try, and it also doesn't mean they can't succeed.
16:44
Speaker 1: It'll just be tougher for them now. To be fair,
16:47
Speaker 1: Dornni and Tentier are hunters, so I think they might
16:50
Speaker 1: be a little better than average at moving without making noise.
16:53
Speaker 1: But I wonder what kind of chance would they have
16:55
Speaker 1: of getting past Mamby without waking him up if a
16:58
Speaker 1: thief were here. I'd give antage on this role to
17:01
Speaker 1: reflect the overall favorable conditions. While on the one hand,
17:05
Speaker 1: leading a group would be harder than going it alone,
17:07
Speaker 1: on the other, Momby is some distance away, and even
17:10
Speaker 1: more he's deeply asleep. Here's my ruling. I'll allow the
17:14
Speaker 1: pieces to roll a check as a group, but I'm
17:17
Speaker 1: taking back the advantage to reflect the extra difficulty, also
17:20
Speaker 1: partly because of the distance, and mostly because Momby is asleep,
17:24
Speaker 1: I'll be generous and roll as if the whole group
17:26
Speaker 1: was a first level thief. Despite that generosity, the rule
17:30
Speaker 1: book tells me that the chance to succeed is only
17:32
Speaker 1: twenty percent. The role A thirteen. Huh, what do you know?
17:38
Speaker 1: I really did not expect them to succeed at this
17:40
Speaker 1: The party is able to reach the valley floor by
17:42
Speaker 1: the cave mouth. From here they can see the sleeping
17:45
Speaker 1: form of some hulking thing. At first, it looks like
17:50
Speaker 1: a boulder, but then it shifts, snoring loudly as it
17:53
Speaker 1: adjusts its position, and then falls back into slumber. It's
17:57
Speaker 1: difficult to tell what exactly. The creature is bigger than
18:00
Speaker 1: a man, but humanoid. It's covered in patches of dark
18:03
Speaker 1: hair that at first look like moss. It's heavily muscled,
18:07
Speaker 1: with tree trunk legs, broad shoulders, and bulging thews like
18:11
Speaker 1: coils of rope. Each of the companions has their heart
18:14
Speaker 1: in their throats as they begin to creep past, so
18:17
Speaker 1: slowly and so carefully, watching every step lest they should
18:21
Speaker 1: tread on a dry branch or loose rock. Theresendia must
18:25
Speaker 1: have been watching, because by some miracle, they managed to
18:29
Speaker 1: pass by the cave mouth without waking the sleeping Monster. Then,
18:34
Speaker 1: just as they began to allow themselves to feel relief,
18:36
Speaker 1: the fog parts one of the trees ahead is so
18:40
Speaker 1: full of crows that it is black with them, and
18:42
Speaker 1: its branches droop under their weight. Dorani has time to
18:46
Speaker 1: mutter under his breath before the crows erupt in a
18:50
Speaker 1: chorus of brassy cawing to the left. The sleeping Monster
18:56
Speaker 1: snorts awake and sits up, looking around in a daze
19:00
Speaker 1: and jury combat. I admit that I knew all along
19:07
Speaker 1: that the crows would ruin Piece's attempt to sneak past Bomby,
19:11
Speaker 1: But I honestly did not expect them to make that
19:13
Speaker 1: sneak check, and so now I feel they deserve some
19:16
Speaker 1: kind of reward for it. I'm giving them a surprise.
19:19
Speaker 1: It makes sense the Ogre was startled out of sleep
19:22
Speaker 1: by the crows, and realistically it would take a few
19:24
Speaker 1: moments before it knew it was going on. What will
19:27
Speaker 1: the companions do with their precious few seconds? I think
19:30
Speaker 1: de Rennie looks at the terrain in front of them,
19:32
Speaker 1: and in an instant he understands that the incline they'd
19:35
Speaker 1: be forced to navigate to get out of the ravine
19:37
Speaker 1: would make flight unwise. For that reason, he fits his
19:41
Speaker 1: arrow to his bowstring, pulls it back to his ear,
19:43
Speaker 1: and in one swift motion, let's loose. Tantire can and
19:48
Speaker 1: will do the same. While Achillie can throw one of
19:50
Speaker 1: her knives, Cord can ready his spell of entangle. I'll
19:54
Speaker 1: allow him to hold the action so that even though
19:57
Speaker 1: he'll technically be using it in round two, he'll be
19:59
Speaker 1: able to cast it before initiative gets ruled. Let's set
20:02
Speaker 1: the scene for a moment before we bring out the dice.
20:04
Speaker 1: The characters are about two dozen feet away from the
20:07
Speaker 1: mouth of this cave, which is on the side of
20:09
Speaker 1: a ravine wall and near the bottom. Mombi is not
20:12
Speaker 1: very far inside the cave, only about fifteen feet, so
20:15
Speaker 1: that puts about forty feet between him and the pieces.
20:18
Speaker 1: With their missile fire, the PCs will be shooting up,
20:21
Speaker 1: but not by enough to make any mechanical difference. As
20:24
Speaker 1: the cave mouth is only a few feet above the
20:26
Speaker 1: ravine floor. Melee will be very awkward in this narrow space,
20:30
Speaker 1: so after firing, the companions will move up so they
20:33
Speaker 1: have a bit more room to maneuver. As Deranni noticed,
20:36
Speaker 1: if they should need to flee, the way ahead is
20:38
Speaker 1: a poor choice since the ravine wall ascends sharply. Going
20:41
Speaker 1: back the way they came is a better choice, but
20:44
Speaker 1: still not a good one because of the cramped conditions
20:46
Speaker 1: and the eventual incline of the terrain. This is why
20:49
Speaker 1: Deurnni has chosen to make a stand, hoping to get
20:51
Speaker 1: off an arrow or two before they meet the enemy
20:53
Speaker 1: outside the cave's opening. I hope that's enough info to
20:56
Speaker 1: picture the layout of this scene. Let's talk about Mambi
20:59
Speaker 1: for a minute now. Ogres have an armor class of
21:01
Speaker 1: fourteen due to their thick hide and they get four
21:04
Speaker 1: plus one hit dice. I'll roll his hit points now
21:08
Speaker 1: nineteen hit points, which is over the halfway minute of seventeen.
21:12
Speaker 1: Momby wields a club that does one to ten points
21:14
Speaker 1: of damage on a hit. Oddly, the rules say nothing
21:17
Speaker 1: about adding a strength bonus, so I guess that damage
21:20
Speaker 1: roll is not modified by anything. As a four hitde monster,
21:23
Speaker 1: it will attack with a plus two. However, once again,
21:27
Speaker 1: the rules do not award any two hit bonus for
21:29
Speaker 1: the ogre's incredible strength. Perhaps it's offset by the creature's slowness.
21:33
Speaker 1: I don't know anyway, That's really about it. For stats,
21:36
Speaker 1: ogres are more or less just a big bag of
21:39
Speaker 1: hit points and muscles overall. Hopefully he won't connect with
21:42
Speaker 1: that club, as it could easily mean a one shot
21:44
Speaker 1: kill for most of the PCs. Now, when Momby is
21:48
Speaker 1: woken up by the noise of the crows, he sits
21:50
Speaker 1: bolt upright in his better furs, and almost immediately there
21:54
Speaker 1: are two arrows and a dagger speeding his way. Let's
21:57
Speaker 1: go ahead and make those surprise round attack rolls. Now
22:00
Speaker 1: Derani's arrow needs a thirteen to hit the roll eighteen.
22:05
Speaker 1: We're off to a good start. Damage will be just
22:08
Speaker 1: one point. The arrow grazes Momby's flank ten tuos shot.
22:13
Speaker 1: He also needs a thirteen to hit. Hah, A fifteen
22:17
Speaker 1: that's a hit for woe six points of damage. Ten tears.
22:22
Speaker 1: Arrow buries itself into Momby's flank, and the Ogre's face
22:26
Speaker 1: turns into a mask of lividity, surprise, and pain. It
22:30
Speaker 1: bellows out a series of Orcish curse words that Achilles
22:33
Speaker 1: flung dagger seeks its mark. Can we get a hat trick?
22:37
Speaker 1: A seven is a miss, so no, she's not used
22:41
Speaker 1: to the weight of the new Orcish dagger and it
22:43
Speaker 1: falls short. That's it for round one. But as Momby
22:46
Speaker 1: brushes out of the cave, club in hand, cord casts
22:49
Speaker 1: entangle on the roots that dangle over the entrance. The
22:52
Speaker 1: spell listing in the Old School Essentials Advance Fantasy Player's
22:56
Speaker 1: Tome does not say anything about how big an entangled
22:58
Speaker 1: creature can be, or the creature's strength should modify the role.
23:02
Speaker 1: I think Gavin Norman probably left it open specifically to
23:05
Speaker 1: encourage rulings based on circumstance, So that's what I'm going
23:08
Speaker 1: to do. There are strong roots present, but Momby has
23:11
Speaker 1: the equivalent of an eighteen in strength, So my ruling
23:15
Speaker 1: is that he'll save with advantage, and even if he fails,
23:17
Speaker 1: he'll only be entangled for one round. The target number
23:20
Speaker 1: to beat for his saving throw is fourteen. Here comes
23:23
Speaker 1: the rolls using two D twenty. I've got a nine
23:27
Speaker 1: and a nineteen. So he does save, and even as
23:30
Speaker 1: the roots drop, looping around his neck and over his shoulders,
23:33
Speaker 1: the roots simply yanks them free of their rocky moorings
23:36
Speaker 1: and cast them aside, continuing to curse in orchish. We
23:41
Speaker 1: can now begin round two initiative the party one Momby six.
23:50
Speaker 1: Not only is the ogre charging forward, but he's also
23:53
Speaker 1: on home turf. The PCs had already passed by him
23:56
Speaker 1: when the crows raised the alarm, so it's quite easy
23:58
Speaker 1: for Momby to box them in and cut off their retreat.
24:01
Speaker 1: As for his attack, I'll pick a target at random.
24:04
Speaker 1: It's Cord. He's the biggest of the group, so that
24:07
Speaker 1: makes sense. Cord has an ace of fourteen, and Mambi
24:11
Speaker 1: needs to roll a twelve or better to hit. The
24:13
Speaker 1: roll at twelve on the die is just enough. Mombi's
24:18
Speaker 1: club comes whistling, towards the construct with tremendous force. Wood
24:22
Speaker 1: connects with wood, doing ooh nine points of damage. There
24:28
Speaker 1: is a deafening bang accompanied by a crack as the
24:31
Speaker 1: club strikes Cord and splits his torso. Cord is almost
24:36
Speaker 1: rent in two pieces and now has just one hit
24:39
Speaker 1: point remaining. I will allow that in a few seconds
24:42
Speaker 1: it took Momby to rip off the entangling roots that
24:45
Speaker 1: all characters were able to draw their melee weapons. Duranni
24:48
Speaker 1: will strike with his sword. This time. He'll need it
24:51
Speaker 1: fourteen to hit a twelve misses. The target number is
24:55
Speaker 1: the same for ten tier. Rolling to hit a six
24:59
Speaker 1: is no good. I have to decide does Cords stand
25:03
Speaker 1: and fight or fall back. There's really nowhere to go,
25:07
Speaker 1: so I think he'll attack fifteen hits and his new
25:11
Speaker 1: Orchish battle axe is christened with Momby's blood. Damage will
25:14
Speaker 1: be five points. Momby is now at seven of his
25:19
Speaker 1: original nineteen before the round ends. I think Achille will
25:23
Speaker 1: do what she can to help and cast shrink on hmm,
25:27
Speaker 1: not Mamby, but his club. This choice means there's no
25:30
Speaker 1: saving throw to make the club shrinks by twenty percent,
25:33
Speaker 1: and so any future damage it deals will be at
25:36
Speaker 1: minus two. Momby barely notices the transformation in his weapon,
25:41
Speaker 1: but he does notice that he's bleeding everywhere. A morale
25:45
Speaker 1: check is in order. Ogres have a morale score of ten,
25:48
Speaker 1: so it's unlikely he'll stop attacking, but it's worth a role.
25:52
Speaker 1: On two D six an eight is close, but not
25:56
Speaker 1: close enough. Momby stays spitting at a great doll up
26:00
Speaker 1: of blood. He surges forward in his rage. His target
26:03
Speaker 1: will once again be determined at random before means it's
26:08
Speaker 1: cord again. This could be bad the piece he s
26:11
Speaker 1: had better win the initiative or we might be able
26:13
Speaker 1: to lose our first character. Round three initiative the party
26:21
Speaker 1: three Momby two. That's good. With some luck, the party
26:26
Speaker 1: will cut this monster down. This round. Dere Any stabs
26:29
Speaker 1: up and into the ogre's thigh, but within eleven the
26:32
Speaker 1: blade fails to pierce the tough skin. Ten Tier dives
26:37
Speaker 1: into a roll, coming up just behind the monster. He
26:40
Speaker 1: attempts to spear his blade into the Ogre's back. That
26:43
Speaker 1: ten is no good. He miscalculates and cuts nothing but
26:47
Speaker 1: empty air. Achillia will slash out with her remaining knife.
26:52
Speaker 1: A fifteen hits but for just one point of damage.
26:57
Speaker 1: Cord is practically falling apart, bisected from shoulder to waist,
27:01
Speaker 1: but all the same. He chops down with a double
27:03
Speaker 1: handed swing, aiming for the ogre's head, but with a
27:06
Speaker 1: two he misses. Wow, that round was not a good
27:11
Speaker 1: one for the PC's and it might get worse. Call
27:14
Speaker 1: me superstitious, but I have a bad habit of killing
27:17
Speaker 1: axe wielding fighters early on in my game. I hope
27:21
Speaker 1: this won't be the third season in a row to
27:22
Speaker 1: see that happen. Momby swings his still mighty club at court,
27:26
Speaker 1: needing a twelve to hit an eleven. He hikes, that
27:30
Speaker 1: was way too close. Let's hope that the PCs can
27:34
Speaker 1: do better. In round four. Initiative the party a two,
27:40
Speaker 1: Momby a one. Okay, then I feel this round will
27:44
Speaker 1: be the last. Let's find it if my instincts are
27:46
Speaker 1: any good. De Rennie tries to gash the ogre's thigh
27:49
Speaker 1: once again on the backstroke at nineteen. Yes, way to
27:54
Speaker 1: go to Rennie. This time, the ELFs blade cuts through
27:57
Speaker 1: the Ogre's tough skin, drawing a red line along the
28:00
Speaker 1: inside of one thigh. A D six for damage five
28:04
Speaker 1: points it's a deep cut. Blood immediately starts to run
28:08
Speaker 1: from the wound, and Momby stumbles. Ten Tier takes advantage
28:12
Speaker 1: of the momentary weakness and aims another blow. This time,
28:15
Speaker 1: he is determined not to miss the role A three.
28:20
Speaker 1: Momby stumbles, drunkenly, moving in a way ten Deer does
28:23
Speaker 1: not expect. The ELF's short sword fails to connect. Achillee
28:27
Speaker 1: slashes out with her dagger again, but a six doesn't
28:31
Speaker 1: even come close. It's up to Court to finish this monster.
28:34
Speaker 1: He needs a fourteen to hit with his battle axe.
28:37
Speaker 1: He aims for the head once again, and with a seventeen,
28:41
Speaker 1: brings the heavy blade right down on top of Momby's skull.
28:45
Speaker 1: Any role but a one will finish this fight. Here goes,
28:50
Speaker 1: I've got a three. The blade embeds itself right in
28:53
Speaker 1: the center of the Ogre's forehead between its beady black eyes.
28:58
Speaker 1: Blood oozes from the wound, painting a crimson stripe down
29:01
Speaker 1: the primitive face before the monster falls down dead. Thanks
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Speaker 1: the Manticor It's the story We're Chaos Gross