Is Yonah's job making the loop so poor that we immediately recognize his lasso isn't going to work? If so, is it possible for him to start over and try again?
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I'm going to follow a precedent set by the Core rules for an already well-defined application of Use Rope.
SRD: Use Rope wrote:
Secure a Grappling Hook
Securing a grappling hook requires a Use Rope check (DC 10, +2 for every 10 feet of distance the grappling hook is thrown, to a maximum DC of 20 at 50 feet). Failure by 4 or less indicates that the hook fails to catch and falls, allowing you to try again. Failure by 5 or more indicates that the grappling hook initially holds, but comes loose after 1d4 rounds of supporting weight. This check is made secretly, so that you don’t know whether the rope will hold your weight.
We'll say that if Yonah had failed by 4 or less (getting a result of 11 to 14 on his check), it would be obvious that no, the lasso wasn't going to work. He failed by a bit more than that, so I'm ruling that he does NOT know that it won't work. So he's got a rope, and no reason to think that the loop in the end of it isn't going to hold.
I'll be more generous than the precedent I'm using, which waits for 1d4 rounds of use before your grappling hook comes loose and makes you fall. Failure will be evident immediately upon attempting to use the lasso.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I think that at this point we can fairly assume that any "take 20" skill checks you might have attempted have now completed. Grimvaalk's wolf finally got the idea and hid.
I guess Darker should roll Hide/Move Silently checks for goblin and wolf at this point.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
For the rest of the campaign, I'm going to assume Zathrus sells destruction and destruction accessories. I don't know why this popped into my head, but it's a thing now.
The new plan is for everyone to find what they think is a good hiding spot some distance from the cave entrance and wait for the air elementals to finish exploring, right?
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
If he isn't going to try flattery I hope Fanax jumps straight to, "I punch it in its dragon cloaca." Maybe it's into that kind of thing. Maybe it will be intimidated or impressed by maniacal hubris.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
If this really is just an Old Man Jenkins scenario, he still has some kind of instakill option on the table (unless these summoned spirits are in on the con). So we have to be prepared for anything.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I suppose it's possible that Old Man Jenkins had some kind of limited-use magical item that allowed him to make the insta-kills and is now all spent.
But also I have to reflect that the slain spirits have all been 2-3 HD critters with fairly standard attributes for their kind. It's not particularly hard to kill a Small air elemental or a giant bee, especially if you're trying to do it in an environment that the creature would find inherently hostile.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
So I Googled Old Man Jenkins since I have no idea what that reference means. Looked to be a Sponge Bob thing? Didn't watch the video so I guess I will be surprised how this turns out.
Old Man Jenkins is kind of the generic term for the villain in many episodes of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?. The name derives from the villain of S1E8, an elderly amusement park caretaker by the name of Mr. Jenkins, but at this point it is mostly a trope for a villain who actually is not really very powerful or frightening in his own right, and who gets by on clever deception of some kind until he is captured, and dragged away by the police while he rants about those meddling kids and their dog.
I think the subtext here is that Fixxxer and MinusInnocence believe it's possible that the dragon either isn't real, or is not really a threat.
Sadly, Cha'nek, Zathrus's stupid but adorable pet wolf, has already wandered off to piss on trees or something. Which I don't guess is really a surprise, because you just crossed miles of open steppe and he's probably been holding it so long his eyeballs are floating. But without him, you probably are doomed.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
No way I'm going in there until the guy who volunteered to go in alone comes back out and tells me it's safe. I don't think it was a good idea for him to do that, but now that he has, that's the plan. For all we know, sneaking in after him now could get him killed (like if his whole pitch to the dragon is predicated on the lie that he came here alone).
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I thought everybody else was still outside the cave?
Everyone else is still outside the cave. You guys certainly heard that initial roar, and some of that first little speech of the possibly-dragon's, although I think only Gorx would have been able to understand it. He was shouting for most of that time.
And I imagine that just now, you also heard "I AM VUMROT!" He was basically shouting again at that point.
I dunno if you would have been able to hear the rest, though. Vumrot was speaking conversationally when discussed his vague plans to hear Fanax out and then eat him and take his stuff, for example.
Anyway, let's have another Spot/Listen check from Fanax.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I remember playing in a game that had a moment kind of like this situation.
Years and years ago, I was playing in a villainous campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. It was set in Thay, if you're familiar with the setting. A sort of magiocracy under a cabal of evil wizards. A couple of the PCs were apprentice wizards, and part of the "educational" process for these guys involves sending apprentices out to do stuff that will probably kill them, so you don't have to waste time training people who aren't going to be absolutely top-notch at their job.
Anyway, Thay runs on slavery, and a big plantation outside the city had an ankheg problem. So we were sent out to deal with the problem. The ankheg had been sighted in a particular field, so we went out to the edge of said field, and argued a little bit about how to approach the issue. Finally, we decided that the thing to do was to use bait. So we commandeered an elderly billy goat, in part because I hate goats the way that is kind of similar to how MinusInnocence's wizard in Ancestral Burdens hates his horse. I actively enjoy the suffering of caprines, even fictitious ones, and this was a good opportunity to exercise my dislike of the bearded monstrosities.
But the goat didn't want to walk around in the field. They're uncooperative creatures at the best of times, so this wasn't really a surprise, and the other wizard decided to tie a length of rope around the goat's neck and lead it back and forth in the field, so that the ankheg would sense the movement around and come up to feed.
His plan was wildly successful. The ankheg erupted to the surface, seized the bait by the legs, and dragged him below the surface into its nest, where it devoured him. Over the sounds of agonized shrieking and the sounds of rending flesh and clacking, chitinous jaws, the goat, my own wizard, and the other two PCs all agreed that this was the best possible outcome, since we had never liked him much anyway.
After the ankheg finished eating, my wizard climbed down into its tunnel and dispatched it with a well-placed spell while it was quiescent and full of half-digested bits of his late rival.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Well, I guess Yonah isn't going to be lassoing anything. But maybe Oni will have more luck using his grappling hook.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
The north path leading deeper into the cave. Not the one closest to the entrance.
Is Yonah's job making the loop so poor that we immediately recognize his lasso isn't going to work? If so, is it possible for him to start over and try again?
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
With that roll, he tied the lasso end to himself and prepared to hand the dragon the other end.
This is actually starting to turn into a real plan, then. Let's see how it plays out.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I'm going to follow a precedent set by the Core rules for an already well-defined application of Use Rope.
We'll say that if Yonah had failed by 4 or less (getting a result of 11 to 14 on his check), it would be obvious that no, the lasso wasn't going to work. He failed by a bit more than that, so I'm ruling that he does NOT know that it won't work. So he's got a rope, and no reason to think that the loop in the end of it isn't going to hold.
I'll be more generous than the precedent I'm using, which waits for 1d4 rounds of use before your grappling hook comes loose and makes you fall. Failure will be evident immediately upon attempting to use the lasso.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I think that at this point we can fairly assume that any "take 20" skill checks you might have attempted have now completed. Grimvaalk's wolf finally got the idea and hid.
I guess Darker should roll Hide/Move Silently checks for goblin and wolf at this point.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Goblin H/M and Wolf H/M. Doesn't include any environment bonuses.
I'm guessing the 20 or so feet of black connect the split in the cave entrance to the unexplored cave. Just want to make sure.
Fanax is making his exit if it doesn't and will retrace his steps out.
I'll wait for you guys to decide what your next play is going to be.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
For the rest of the campaign, I'm going to assume Zathrus sells destruction and destruction accessories. I don't know why this popped into my head, but it's a thing now.
You're not exactly wrong, I tell you h-wat.
The new plan is for everyone to find what they think is a good hiding spot some distance from the cave entrance and wait for the air elementals to finish exploring, right?
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I believe that's correct. I'll be updating along those lines pretty soon.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Roll
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Lets just get this death over with. As before Fanax will move carefully making his way directly to where he left off.
Listen, Hide, Move Silently
I really hate that die roller.
Cheers to that.
Rolls
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
When Fanax gets to that first fork in the cavern, which branch does he take?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Fanax will go right and make his way to 3 then continue forward. Basically, feel free to move Fanax until a roll is needed or he hits contact.
I think Zathrus is confused. Fanax isn't walking into the cave to meet the dragon to say how much he respects him as a beast.
Is he going to try to choke the dragon to death with his enormous, pulsating ballsack?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
While that would be a great way for this to play out, certainly a great scene to live on here at the Archive, I am not getting my hopes up.
I imagine it will come down to some sort of required roll and the die roller will fail me.
Whatever happens, should be fun.
Vumrot? Is that Draconic for Taserface?
I am afraid I do not understand the reference.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
If he isn't going to try flattery I hope Fanax jumps straight to, "I punch it in its dragon cloaca." Maybe it's into that kind of thing. Maybe it will be intimidated or impressed by maniacal hubris.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Taserface is a minor villain in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
So, he gave himself this name? Or?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I think @Dafyd can come up with much better references and I won't abet this inferior reference behavior by explaining it.
Lemme have a Spot check and a Listen check, for Fanax, please.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Listen and Spot
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, foolish mortal!"
If this really is just an Old Man Jenkins scenario, he still has some kind of instakill option on the table (unless these summoned spirits are in on the con). So we have to be prepared for anything.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I suppose it's possible that Old Man Jenkins had some kind of limited-use magical item that allowed him to make the insta-kills and is now all spent.
But also I have to reflect that the slain spirits have all been 2-3 HD critters with fairly standard attributes for their kind. It's not particularly hard to kill a Small air elemental or a giant bee, especially if you're trying to do it in an environment that the creature would find inherently hostile.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
So I Googled Old Man Jenkins since I have no idea what that reference means. Looked to be a Sponge Bob thing? Didn't watch the video so I guess I will be surprised how this turns out.
Old Man Jenkins is kind of the generic term for the villain in many episodes of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?. The name derives from the villain of S1E8, an elderly amusement park caretaker by the name of Mr. Jenkins, but at this point it is mostly a trope for a villain who actually is not really very powerful or frightening in his own right, and who gets by on clever deception of some kind until he is captured, and dragged away by the police while he rants about those meddling kids and their dog.
I think the subtext here is that Fixxxer and MinusInnocence believe it's possible that the dragon either isn't real, or is not really a threat.
Sadly, Cha'nek, Zathrus's stupid but adorable pet wolf, has already wandered off to piss on trees or something. Which I don't guess is really a surprise, because you just crossed miles of open steppe and he's probably been holding it so long his eyeballs are floating. But without him, you probably are doomed.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
All right. Thanks for the tip. But I do have a fuzzy recollection from my childhood about that Scooby Doo episode.
I am thinking now would be a good time for reinforcements to arrive.
I thought everybody else was still outside the cave?
No way I'm going in there until the guy who volunteered to go in alone comes back out and tells me it's safe. I don't think it was a good idea for him to do that, but now that he has, that's the plan. For all we know, sneaking in after him now could get him killed (like if his whole pitch to the dragon is predicated on the lie that he came here alone).
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
^ What he said.
Also, ditto.
And I imagine that just now, you also heard "I AM VUMROT!" He was basically shouting again at that point.
I dunno if you would have been able to hear the rest, though. Vumrot was speaking conversationally when discussed his vague plans to hear Fanax out and then eat him and take his stuff, for example.
Anyway, let's have another Spot/Listen check from Fanax.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I remember playing in a game that had a moment kind of like this situation.
Years and years ago, I was playing in a villainous campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. It was set in Thay, if you're familiar with the setting. A sort of magiocracy under a cabal of evil wizards. A couple of the PCs were apprentice wizards, and part of the "educational" process for these guys involves sending apprentices out to do stuff that will probably kill them, so you don't have to waste time training people who aren't going to be absolutely top-notch at their job.
Anyway, Thay runs on slavery, and a big plantation outside the city had an ankheg problem. So we were sent out to deal with the problem. The ankheg had been sighted in a particular field, so we went out to the edge of said field, and argued a little bit about how to approach the issue. Finally, we decided that the thing to do was to use bait. So we commandeered an elderly billy goat, in part because I hate goats the way that is kind of similar to how MinusInnocence's wizard in Ancestral Burdens hates his horse. I actively enjoy the suffering of caprines, even fictitious ones, and this was a good opportunity to exercise my dislike of the bearded monstrosities.
But the goat didn't want to walk around in the field. They're uncooperative creatures at the best of times, so this wasn't really a surprise, and the other wizard decided to tie a length of rope around the goat's neck and lead it back and forth in the field, so that the ankheg would sense the movement around and come up to feed.
His plan was wildly successful. The ankheg erupted to the surface, seized the bait by the legs, and dragged him below the surface into its nest, where it devoured him. Over the sounds of agonized shrieking and the sounds of rending flesh and clacking, chitinous jaws, the goat, my own wizard, and the other two PCs all agreed that this was the best possible outcome, since we had never liked him much anyway.
After the ankheg finished eating, my wizard climbed down into its tunnel and dispatched it with a well-placed spell while it was quiescent and full of half-digested bits of his late rival.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
In this scenario, are you referring to @Board Rider as the greatest of all time?
No, but I may change my mind depending on how the current scenario plays out.
But I was referring to a literal goat.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Listen and Spot.
Man, those spot checks.
Maybe Fanax has been blind this whole time and we didn't know it.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Pages