huzzah!

I'm ready. @Miniman @nitsua60 @Shalvenay

hey there

prepping some setting fluff so I dont take too long typing stuff

hiya--picking spells.

(i.e. not quite ready)

@nitsua60 right -- did you get the link to the charsheet I sent you on Discord?

i didn't notice

want me to send it again?

how did your game go last night?

we were short a person, so we did some one-shot stuff to fill the session

Oh, how'd that go?

whats another word for 'stick'?

that I could use for creepy themes?

not really a stick, it's like a tentacle

but I dont wanna use 'tentacle'

rod?

@daze413 went alright

@Shalvenay nah, I got it. Just hadn't looked there

I'm ready.

alrighty, I'm as ready as I'll probably be

Haemir, High Elf Wizard 6 (enchantment)

hermit

and Holkurg, H-O outlander fighter 6 (GWF, GWM, lucky)

is that a champion?

He uses two mauls: one's painted black with skulls, called "the intimidator", the other's decorated with rhinestones and glitter paint, called "the persuader"

Yes, champ, sorry. And intimidation and persuasion are two of his proficient skills.

"Would you like to see this fine maul? [leans in with confidential whisper] you wouldn't want to see my other one...."

@nitsua60 barfly-who-thinks-hes-so-clever: "I think I already see it, is that the one strapped to your back?"

Kalrach Rathjar, Half-Elf Valor Bard 6 (criminal background -- he is not a nice guy xD hence the NE alignment)

too bad he can't dual wield Persuader and Intimidator, because I feel like you could do both when talking

alrighty, descriptors done

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…

Any word on miniman?

nada

we should really start soon

@Shalvenay how quick can you make a 2nd character? :)

groans if miniman doesn't turn up in the next 5 minutes or so, I'm going to have to go back to bed and take a nap

I think I have an L6 you can use in myth weavers

Sorry!

Daylight saving time caught me out.

that dang DST

No worries--we were just gonna start divvying up your loot.

yeah, they killed the shambler and it was awesome

Ah, well.

Anyway, everyone ready?

pretty much, brb

Good here.

Sorry to rush, but am really worried about nitsua and shalvenay's time

Yep, go!

So can I have a lineup?

Fighter, Bard, Wizard...?

Cleric

Rogue

for common reference: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…

Bard here

even though its a blank field, such is hte nature of the astral plane?, positioning is vital

@daze413 shit. Good think I have blink prepared =\

oh noes, two H's haha ah well

Kheldor: hill dwarf healing cleric 6; athletics, insight, medicine, perception

Haemir shall be Ha

and Holurg is Ho

Sorry--used a random generator!

Cade: lightfoot halfling fighter 1/rogue (mastermind) 5

And 2 Ks

Kalrach Rathjar: valor bard 6 (criminal, NE): acrobatics, sleight of hand, stealth, intimidation, persuasion

haha its fine its fine

anyway

(and we're all nicely lined up for that first-round lightning bolt!)

He could be R?

Ka/Kh should be fine

ok

imma start this in medias res, kinda

Cade, you finish working on the door to the next room and it swings open, at last. It opens into an unnaturally dark room beyond, the light you carry seems to be stifled under an oppressing darkness.

Nevertheless, it is enough to illuminate the small room beyond; a decrepit old room- it seems to have been a lounge of some sort before, now it's glory has been marred by years of neglect. Clustered on the ground, around a strange twisted altar in the corner, are 4 dead bodies. The altar, a single gnarled gray rod that reaches toward the ceiling, broken in the middle by a mass of what looks like a swirling crimson light, and ending in a jagged point.

To the east side of the room, you can make out a door

(btw, my intent in RPing the opening scene is to get feedback on the temptation and curiosity of stirring the altar. In the real game, you can skip it, but I want it to be really tempting to activate. For the purpose of this combat playtest, let's say you do activate hte altar)

(but we'll get there, in time. Continue scene...)

what do you do?

Haemir: study altar intently, throw detect magic

Cade will leave creepy altars to the more qualified and go look at the door

Holkurg: check the bodies--alive? Need care? Dead of what cause?

you're casting as aritual?

No, I'll spend a slot.

Cade, the door seems a bit stuck but a good pull and it swings open without much affair

Haemir, the altar exhudes a strong aura of conjuration magic. Everything else in the room aside from you and your gear are mundane

Kalrach throws Haemir a sneering gaze then heads over to check the bodies for loot, giving Holkurg "Don't know what you're thinkin' but can't you tell these folks are toast?" as he starts to dress them down...

(also forgot, all martials, get a +1 weapon)

As you approach, your light flickers and you can see it bending toward the altar, almost as if the light itself is sucked into it.

holkurg and Kalrach, The bodies seem fresh- by the smell. Not a week since they perished, they sport well-made armor, very similar to yours. Indeed as you turn one over, one of them bears the crest of the raven with out-stretched wings, clutching a shield etched on his platemail- the crest of your employer.

btw, what's our light source?

good ole torch or a light cantrip?

light, on the end of Haemir's wand?

lumos!

crap--no.

I didn't actually take that.

The dancing light flickers as you approach the altar and the bodies

dancing lights, though.

some of them seem to dance toward the swirling red

Kalrach pulls armor off them and sets it aside "Guess we'll grab this on the way back out, should sell for a pretty coin or three" while looking for more...compact valuables on the bodies

@Shalvenay Their swords and gear, you know your employer well enough to spare no expense, are gone from their person.

"Cade--what's in the other room?"

Kalrach growls "...seems like someone beat us to this already." and gives up "Screw this." turning his attention to the other room as well

You do see some change they carry around, and pocket them. (the amount doesnt matter at this point, so here, have a 10000 gold pieces!)

The doors opens into a corridor with a stair that leads down, it seems to be empty and quiet

(you said you'd like us to disturb the altar, right?)

Kalrach takes the lead down the corridor after pocketing the valuables he could find off the bodies

@nitsua60 (yes, it's how you get to fight the Shambler. I'll get feedback on the altar after the game)

Okay, in investigating the altar Haemir absentmindedly traces his fingers over its surface.

@Shalvenay (error: you are reaching the end of the game's zone. please go back to the rails. haha sorry :p)

Kalrach runs into a locked door "Dangit, left my rake at home" and heads back up to see Haemir fingering the altar, and growls "What an absent-minded fool...messing around with weird stuff like that. Makes me think he should get whatever that altar does, alone."

The altar feels rough, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, the lights you conjured seem to move unbidden toward it. It takes a conscious effort for you to keep them from touching it

I cast a minor illusion of Kalrach's dead body among the corpses. "Watch it." Doing so, lapse a bit in conscious effort, so one of the globes falls to the altar.

The light connects with the power in the swirling crimson altar, and in an instant, the scarlet aura engulfs everything- the room, the floors, the bodies, and you are devoured by a blood-red energy. For a moment, there is nothing but red, and as swift as that moment came, you are spat out into a silvery sky and you feel yourself floating- the astral plane.

Kalrach reaches the altar-room again and mutters in fluent Elvish "Stupid elves with their noses in books"

then yelps "Nine Hells!?"

(In Astral, we have a speed equal to INT score?)

(please change your speed to Int score x 3, then add the modifiers, if any)

[Haemir whizzes in circles around the lumbering H-O maul-wielder]

lurches more heavily on the astral plane (that actually made Kalrach's speed go down :P)

Afloat in this realm, you feel lighter but also sluggish, willing yourself to move, you do.

Both of mine went up! :)

(we're moving in 3d here? or sicking to 2d?)

3d

"Bloody hells...where did you get us dragged off to, stupid elf?" glaring at the fast-moving Haemir

lol

Debris of large floating mountains move lazily in the distance

@Shalvenay "Somewhere your charm will likely only cause... harm" [a la Fezzig]

Then you hear something shriek, an unholy dark shriek

Whirling around to find its source, you see a creature gliding toward you

The creature is a truly alien being with 5 major limbs- like a starfish, folded in a painful angle behind it. Its maw is a formidable jagged beak, its purple skin is broken in places where a growth of red flesh pervades it, on these patches of flesh, shining black orbs dot the surface, if you stare long enough, you swear it blinks. The creature shrieks and the sound of it fills both your ears and mind, as it rushes toward you in a frenzy.

covers ears for a moment "Can you get us the...what is that thing?!?!?!" is pretty freaked out, freezing for a moment before almost...reluctantly drawing his blades

hydra-media.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon.gamepedia.com/thumb/6/…

(woops! the red flesh with eyes is the 2nd form, but oh well)

roll initiative

d20 (+3, init)

d20

d20 d20

Ha, Ho:

2d20

9 for Cade, 12 for Kheldor

Ha: 8, Ho: 15

Ka: 20

(is the maw central to the five arms, like a starfish would be?)

d20

@nitsua60 yes, yes it is

@Shalvenay Kalrach is first to react, what does he do?

(encounter distance?)

see map

(sorry, having spell list problems here -- SRD seems not to have the same spells for Bard as PHB did?!)

SRD has a limited subset for everyone

got it

(To be clear @daze413, there're two distinct creatures? Or there's just the one, but you accidentally grabbed a bit of a second monster's description?)

so...can someone remind me what Phantasmal Force does? :P

@Shalvenay Wis save or take damage each turn

@nitsua60 (theres just one, I misremembered the description of the 2nd-type of shambler that the PCs can encounter even later in the game)

Int save or believe illusion.

idk how legal this is but: hardcodex.ru/bard

Believe a bridge is over the chasm and step out (falling to death); believe acid is running over your skin and take d6 acid dmg each round.

alrighty -- Kalrach finally snaps out of it and begins to hum a tune, trying to bend the Weave to his will in this strange place (casting Phantasmal Force on the shambler)

sec, lemme grab my PHB

Believe a 10' manta ray is coming for a starfish-snack.

d20

15? whats the DC? and what are you tryingto create?

14

ah, so it saves. You wanna move and/or do a bonus action?

Kalrach steps back a bit, trying to avoid attracting too much attention from the beast...

done

@nitsua60 (Holkurg is up next, but before that the shambler will do a legendary action)

perfect

Before holkurg, the creature lobs two appendages from one of its tentacles near Holurg and Cade

Ho: "blargh!"

These small growths sprout out next to the fighter and rogue, into a creature that looks like an anemone, but with a sinister eye in the middle, staring straight at you

done, holkurg goes

(why arent my Hs capitalizing for Holkurg? There we go!)

Sorry--turns and tries to persuade a growth (maul #1) ad t a+7 to hit

d20

14 hit?

hits. The maul connects with its soft flesh. roll damage

2d6

+3 +4 makes 11 12 magical bludgeoning, 'cause you said a +1 weapon for us, right?

The maul brutalizes the growth and it floats lifeless

(yep, +1 for all martials)

Okay, with that clear Ho will charge the Shambler for second attack

at a +8 to hit, +4 dmg

d20 2d6

it's eye crumpled under the might of the half orc

11 magical bludgeoning to the shambler, if a 23 hits

Ho: "get away from me!" (persuasively)

done

hits. The shambler takes the damage in full, but it seems to be made of sterner stuff

The shambler then flings another 2 appendages, and lands behind Holkurg and Kaemir

@Miniman Kheldor, your turn

@daze413 Holkurg and who...?

Kheldor will move up and cast spirtual weapon

The growths make opportunity attacks onm you if you do

d20

it looks like the growths landed near Kheldor and Kaemir? (Not Holkurg and Kaemir)

the spiritual weapon misses

following it up with a sacred flame

yes, it misses

Dex check plz

d20

Oh, nvm--sorry.

DC 15

sec

d20

nope, it fails. roll damage

2d8

odang

MAX DAMAGE 16 radiant damage

anyway, as you move up to it, the growths both make opportunity attacks

2d20

and both miss

thats kheldor done

Cade next

Cade will step smartly to the left

Shoot at the shambler

d20

Sorry, that was right, not left

Does a 15 hit?

(oh, if you have two weapons, make only one of them +1)

yes, 15 hits. roll damage

1d6

7 damage

sneaksies?

Oops

3d6

:o

16 damage

so, 23 all up

ok, cool. done?

And he'll use his bonus action Help to say "Sic 'im, Ho!"

Then done

Haemir, you're next.

=)

(that's the next attack gets advantage right?)

Yep

yup

(The Shambler is taking a beating, we'll see as it develops the growths though)

Haemir zooms toward (but not adjacent to) the growth near Ka and suggests that the growth 10 feet away looks really nice, and that now might be the time to set off and start a family.

@nitsua60 (Anyway, Haemir is up next)

(Suggestion, trying to get one growth to grapple the other)

Wis save DC 15

(let me try to wrap my head around the growth's motivations...)

d20

ah, nvm

(just gonna need to remember that that sentence actually happened)

And that's Haemir Boy, that guys fast!

(woulda been nice to start a family of its own. maybe turn into another shambler one day)

back to the top?

is that your turn?

Yeah, done. Sorry

ok, at the top, Kalrach goes before a lair action

You don't know the half of it. Starfish reproduce asexually. This would have literally been a sexual revolution.

Kalrach gets all stabby with the nearby growth "Go away!" (attack at +6, twice due to Extra Attack)

d20 d20

noice

you'd like to forgo the second attack right? lets say you still have it

wait lol

the shambler didnt get a turn

fail, lol. lets hold this while the shambler goes

ok, sure

the shambler provokes an opportunity attack from Holkurg

as it moves above both Holkurg and Kheldor, toward Cade, with surprising speed

(advantaged)

2d20 2d6

sentinel?

(sorry--Great weaponing from here on out)

advantage from the Help from Cade

ah, yes. it hits both rolls anyway

how much damage?

so it's +8-5=19 to hit, hits for 22

magical bludgeoning.

bloodied

The shambler then opens its maw and issues forth a deafening shriek, of both ear and mind.

holkurg, kheldor, cade, please make wis ST

d20 d20

d20

luck

d20

cade 15, kheldor 21

=\

Ho 10.

3d6

Kheldor only takes 4 psychic damage

cade, holgur

2d8

call 1 12 o'clock

d8

oh, ok

I'm off the board, at cell F0 =) OA from the growth?

Cade must move to the left, and

full speed?

full speed

and costs a reaction

Yep, Cade uses his incredible intelligence to fly away

@nitsua60 yes, that growth hasnt reacted yet

d20

d4 d6

hits

Holgur takes 6 bludgeoning and 6 psychic damage, as the growth lashes out with its tentacles

Cade is safe from OA

"blargh!"

ok, now its @Shalvenay Kalrach's turn

Forgot 3rd dimension: it should have been a d24 for direction =)

d26, actually

haha, we don't have those dice in stock out here :P

hahaha

alrighty -- so to adjudicate the crit on the growth...

(at +3)

2d8

11 damage to the growth

@Shalvenay we could roll a d100 and reroll all 25+

@daze413 -- that could work?

The growth withers under the weapon and floats lifelessly into the silvery wastes beyond

Kalrach then scoots away from both the growth and the shambler

ok, done?

yes

@Miniman does the Mastermind have a thing to make allies move? Or is it just the Battle Master that can do that?

ok, so after Kalrach, the shambler shoots another two appendages

@nitsua60 Nope, sorry.

no worries

near holurg and kheldor

(this is turning out to be really complex)

then, all the growths start clacking their tentacles together wildly, issuing psychic energy around them

(there are lots of things I really like so far, so hopefully the complexity's worth it)

d6

Holkurg takes 3 damage, while Kheldor takes 6

does the spiritual weapon take psychic damage?

@daze413 404 brain not found?

@Shalvenay hey, i dont judge? haha ok