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Gama Master :  Character Details| ScratchPad| Dice Roller| Game Map| The Cast |
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| Gama Master : Character Details| ScratchPad| Dice Roller| Game Map| The Cast |
=========================================================== Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Alpha Team had supplied themselves and mounted up. Apollo led the way, which was good because he knew the farmland area well. The team travelled for about three hours. The day was hot, the sun beat down on them like a sledge hammer. The insects were a nuisance, but one they could live with. As they crested a hill, near a section of trees, they saw a large insectoid creature, who held a man in his arms. The pair were about 50 yards away. The creature, which resembled some kind of termite-man hybrid, was dragging the man along toward the trees. The man saw you and screamed out, "Buggems NO! Buggems NO!" The creature picked up its pace and dragged the man to the edge of the trees before looking back at you with it's alien insect eyes. This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:22, Mon 26 Feb 2007. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Kael Laton ----------------------------------------------------------- "Oh great," Kael muttered to noone in particular. "What the frell is that doing over here? I thought they avoided the farmlands." He wheeled his horse around and watched the buggem as it stared at them. "It almost looks like it wants us to attack," he murmured, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the others would want to. He didn't know the man, which didn't mean much. Kael had spent even less time in the farmlands then he had Cedar Valley, but that didn't mean that the man wasn't worth helping. With a kick of his hooves and a barked, "Yah," he sent his horse off down the hill, switching the reigns into one hand as he drew his antique sword with the other. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce was munching on another piece of jerky as they crested the hill. The sweat rolled off him, but he didn't seem to mind terribly much. There were worse things than being hot and sticky. . . . Pierce looked at the creature dragging the man away. He, too, spurred his horse closer, but didn't yet draw a weapon. [Private to GM: If I can hit the creature with pyro and avoid the man, I will do so if it doesn't release him. I'll roll, so you can post the results no matter what. Also, do the trees look like they're dry? If so, then I'll hold off as well. Is 50 yards in range for a bow?] "What the heck is that thing?" Yells out, "You there! Let the man go!" =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon felt like he was boiling in the leather armor. He had pulled out a light gray cloak and spread it out to help deflct some of the sun's rays, but it helped very little. As he rode over the crest of the hill and saw the scene before him, he spurred his horse closer, much like Pierce had and did not draw a weapon either. He noticed that the man spoke to the insectoid creature like it was some kind of pet and suspected that the armed and mounted group made it nervous. When Kael charged the thing, he just sighed and shook his head. After taking a deep breath, he yelled out to Kael who was several feet ahead now, "Kael! You're going to scare it! He hasn't asked for help and I don't think he's in danger!" This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Wed 26 May 2004. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- [ OOC - the bug-creature has the man in a grapple hold, and is dragging the man. The man is not moving on his own. Make of that what you will. ] =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- Riding up from behind the others, X addresses the man directly, "Are you in need of aid?" Then he turns to the bug-like creature and says slowly and loudly, "Do...you...speak...the...English?" =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo charged down the hill towards the creature. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do much on horseback he planned to ride close to the creature. "Yah!" [Private to GM: As a farmer, do I know about these guys?] =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Kael Laton ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon Sheperd typed:After taking a deep breath, he yelled out to Kael who was several feet ahead now, "Kael! You're going to scare it! He hasn't asked for help and I don't think he's in danger!" Kael reigned in his horse when Solomon hollared, but he didn't look up at the people still on the ridge. About halfway inbetween those who had stayed behind and the man, he leveled his sword toward the pair, the handle laid along the inside of his arm, and glared at the "Buggems". "Say the word and the creature's dead sir," he called. It was the first thing that came to mind that gave the man a chance to ask for help without wasting his breath on talking. If the creature was hostile, he needed to be putting his sword through it right now, but he at least wanted to give the chance for him to be wrong. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi had considered removing his leather armor due to the heat. When they topped the ridge and saw what was happening, he was thankful he had not given in. The situation was a bit confused and could easily prove to be dangerous. If he had understood what the man was trying to tell them, they should be expecting more buggems, perhaps an ambush. When Kael kicked his horse into a gallop, Pepsi removed his bow and took an arrow from his quiver. He then nudged his own steed after his friend. He closed the distance then pulled up at bow range. He placed the arrow across the bow and slipped then knock onto the bowstring then waited to see what would happen. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- After coming over the ridge, Skeeter observes the situation. "Shouldn't we go after them, that man was being dragged into the forest by that creature? Or was he warning us off?" Skeeter prepares his sling with a stone load, ready to gallop into aid the man when the others do. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: Oops, I forgot about the leather armor. I edited my post to reflect that. Thanks Pepsi. Your post reminded me.) =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- The man cried out, apparently in pain. "Aaaargh!! Buggems! NOoo!" The creature dragged the man into the trees, disappearing from view. [ OOC: if anyone wants to take an attack action right before the creature goes out of view I'll accept it. No one is close enough to the creature to make a melee attack on the creature before it goes into the trees, but some of you had missle weapons ready, and some of you might have other ranged abilities... Regardless of whether you make an attack action or not, what are you going to do after the creature goes into the woods? ] [Private to Apollo: You've never seen a creature like this before in your life.] [Private to Pierce: You focused your will to try and burn the creature without hurting the man, but you couldn't concentrate enough and nothing happened that time. You do have the option to try again right before the creature enters the woods if you choose to.] =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Kael Laton ----------------------------------------------------------- Kael made a snap decision borne out of the fact that the man hadn't specifically said not to kill the termite creature. There were no idiots around Cedar Valley, and everyone spoke the same language. If he wanted it alive, he would have said as much, and Kael acted on that. Although he hoped the others wouldn't be able to tell it was him, he knew the chances of that were.. slim, at best. It was an ability he had kept secret from everyone else, even Pepsi. Only in situations where he had no choice did he reveal the only mutation anyone could accuse him of; telekinesis. As he kicked his horse back into a gallop towards the Buggem, sword again held out in a striking position, he summoned his mental abilities and lashed out with a rock he had seen lying on the ground. It jerked, then snapped like it was shot out of a sling towards the buggem's shoulder. Kael cursed; he had been aiming for the head, but the shoulder shot would, he hoped, be enough. [Private to Gama Master: I rolled a 3 for damage (base 1 + Wis (+2)), but I didn't roll a D20 for hit. Whenever I've used psionic/magical abilities, my GMs have given them automatic hits, so if that's not the way you do things just roll a D20 and I'll live by the decision.] This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Wed 26 May 2004. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce tried to focus on the flame within. In the rush down the hill, he had been unable to draw upon his psychic ability. It was hard to do while riding, but this time he managed it. He felt the burning heat with his mind and directed it toward the creature dragging the man away, trying to avoid the man in its clutches. He said one word: "Burn!" A gout of flame sprang up around the "buggem". =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X watches the others to see how they will react. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- Skeeter spurs his horse into gallop towards the edge of the forest. "Come on we need to save him!" As he approaches the forest edge, Skeeter begins swinging his sling in a circular motion and lets loose the stone. The stone goes far from the target, misjudging due to the horse's motion. "WHOOAAA! That didn't go where it should!" (OOC: Skeeter rolled 4 using 1d20. Sling attack. I forgot to type my +4 for Dex and BAB so the total was 8 not including other modifiers for range and being on a mount.) =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo is taken aback as a gout of flame leaps up at the buggem unexpectedly, "Good lord!" However, the man being dragged away was still his first priority so he urged forward hoping to keep on the strange pair of buggem and man. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- "Maybe if we follow, the bug creature will lead us someplace. I suggest we just see where it goes and not interfere unless it actually hurts the man." X looks to the others for their thoughts. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce chided himself on his actions. X was right, up to a point. He'd rather try to save the man and let the creature escape so it could be followd. He could almost hear Edgar's voice chiding him about rushing in headlong. "Good idea X, but how about if we try to separate the man from the creature before letting it go?" =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- "Good idea Pierce! Skeeter prepares another round in his sling waiting for the others. He also keeps an eye on the creature as it moves through the woods. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi raised his bow and aimed at the center of bug creature’s torso. The bow string moved easily through the pulleys at both ends of the bow as he drew the arrow back so that its knock was almost touching his mouth. He made a slight adjustment for range and wind as he steadied his breathing. In an easy and fluid motion, he released the arrow. The bow string snapped forward and launched the projectile into flight. In less time than it took his heart to beat three times, the arrow had covered the distance to his target. Pepsi immediately pulled another arrow from his quiver and began readying for another attack. =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: Hmmm...not really sure what happened to my post from yesterday. Sorry guys, I'll repost.) Solomon took a deep breath and shook his head. The man had been given the opportunity to call for help or tell them not to attack Buggems. He had done neither. This left the burden of decision upon the group, who only had what they could see to base their decision upon. Given the scene, Solomon made the decision to attack Buggems. Maybe they could drive it away. Hopefully, he'd release the man to move faster and Solomon could examine and treat his wounds. [Private to GM: Looks like I'm the only one with TK now. <frown> Since Solomon had not prepared a weapon, he'll use his TK like a blast to hit the creature. You can roll activation and damage. No worries.] Drawing his sword, he drew spurred the horse forward. [Private to GM: If he can't do all of this in the same turn, he'll TK, then spur the horse, then draw the sword.] =========================================================== Re: Team Alpha - Act 1 Scene 2 - Interlopers by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X follows behind the others on horseback, but he does not attack. "How do we know the bug is the bad guy? Anyone recognize this human? He himself could be one of the Brotherhood spreading chaos and destruction. The man might be the wrongdoer here. The man could be a spy." Nevertheless, X does not interfere with the party's attacks in any way. =========================================================== Round 1 Summary by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Initiative Order 20 Xavier 19 Kael 17 Solomon 15 Pepsi 15 Pierce 7 Skeeter 6 Apollo 1 Buggems Xavier stands ready, waiting to see how the others react to this "buggems" creature. Kael summoned up his will and lifted a rock with the sheer power of his mind, hurling the rock toward the buggems, and hitting it in the shoulder. The buggems made a clicking noise, but did not drop the man. Solomon focuses his will and launches a telekinetic punch at the buggems, but it doesn't seem too harmed by this. Pepsi launches his arrow at the buggems, and the arrow flies true, slamming into the buggem and narrowly missing the man being held by the creature. A thick black ooze seeps out of the wound made by the arrow. Pierce summons up the fire within and yells "Burn!" Flames spring up around the buggem, which cries out in pain as the flames seer it. The man being held by the buggems also cries out as a portion of the flames burn him as well. The buggems and the man both look to be in very bad shape, charred and blackened. Skeeter launches a rock from his sling but it flies off into the woods, missing the buggems. Apollo urged his mount forward to close the distance between him and the buggems. Then the buggems drags the man quickly into the trees, disappearing from view. OOC - The trees look too thick to take a mount in, so if you intend to follow the creature into the trees, you will need to dismount first. You can ride up to the trees and be dismounted by the end of round 2, except for Apollo, who can dismount and then follow into the trees alone if he chooses since he's already at the tree line. Xavier never did post an action so it is presumed that he just watched what happened. It makes no real difference if he takes one at the end of this round or takes his action at the beginning of the next round. When you hold your action like that you fall down in the initiative order voluntarily, so either he's at Init 1 and can do something at the end of round 1, or he skips round 1 and is still at init 20 at the top of round 2. Six of one, half dozen the other. [Private to Kael Laton: I rolled your Psionic Activation Roll for you and you got a 17, needed a 5. Just so you know that the psionics do not work automatically.] [Private to Solomon Sheperd: Using a psionic power is an attack action and after you make an attack action you can not perform another action that round. That is why you could not draw the sword and spur the horse in the same round. However, you can draw your sword and spur the horse at the beginning of 2, but you may not want to draw the sword since you have to dismount to enter the trees, and that's much harder with a weapon drawn.] =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce rode up to the edge of the forest and dismounted. As he did so, he grabbed the sword off of his horse. He thought sheepishly, I'll have to be more careful with the fire in the future. "I think we need to try to get the guy away from the creature. He's likely the only one that can tell us anything. X, I'd wager that the creature is involved in all of this somehow. We have a number of people missing, game scarce in the area and what do we find? A creature dragging a man off into the woods. It didn't respond to any of our calls. It seems a likely suspect for everything that we've been sent here for. =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Kael Laton ----------------------------------------------------------- "Ha!" Kael howled in triumph as he brought his horse around. He turned to look back at Pepsi with a gleeful grin on his face, and it was then that disaster struck. His hand on the reigns slipped, and the sudden motion of the horse sideways threw him from the horse. His last thought as he hit the ground was a sudden desire not to end up like his brother... Although few besides Solomon might have been able to recognise the symptoms, Kael had received a heavy blow to his head and taken a concussion. Not bad enough to damage his brain, it was enough to sink him into unconciousness beyond anything that they could do to wake him up, including physical pain. A semi-coma, he breathed normally, and besides some blood on the back of his head that seemed more appropriate to a scrape, he seemed fine. OOC: I assume since they're near the farmlands that ya'll can just dump him off with a local farmer and let him/her get him back to civilization. No sense holding ya'll up any longer then I need to. =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- [OOC: Sorry if that was not clear. You are correct. X is watching the battle from the rear and is not fighting, so he forfeits any initiative until further notice. He was waiting to see if the creature would try to communicate in any way or respond to his question about speaking English.] X watches the party's actions and dismounts near the edge of the clearing. Ignoring any action going around him, and calm despite the violence, he steps forward toward Kael and leans down. "Dawson," he calls to the young lad, "looks like you'll need to take Kael back when you take the horses to Cedar Valley." Even though the others are currently engaged in fighting, he says, "I suggest we continue on foot and follow the creature." He repeats, "Does anyone know that man?" =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon dismounted and pulled out a healer's kit from one of the saddlebags. Then he headed over to see to Kael. The fall had looked rough, and Kael was not moving. "Good suggestion X. I'll do try to help Kael if the rest of you want to go in on foot." He called over to the stableboy, "Dylan, see to the horses, but stay nearby. We may need you to take Kael here to Ms. Lockhart." =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- PM [Private to Apollo: It's hard to say for sure, but the man being held by the buggems seemed to resemble Farmer Gooselin.] =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- On his turn Apollo rapidly dismounts and prepares to enter the forest. "I can't say for sure, but it looked like Farmer Gooselin to me. We have to help him!" =========================================================== Re: Round 1 Summary by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce paused and looked at Solomon. Even though Kael had been a less than pleasant person to talk with, he had accompanied them and tried to help Farmer Gooselin. That counted for something with Pierce. "Is he going to be alright?" =========================================================== Through the Trees by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- [ OOC - sorry to go ahead and post this even though everyone has not responded to the last move. It's been over 24 hours since I posted it, and I need to post tonight because I'm not going to be able to post tomorrow, and it will be Sunday evening or even possibly Monday before I post again. I will assume that your character goes along with whatever the rest of the group is doing. ] While Solomon tended to Kael, with help from Dylan, the others trudged off into the woods in pursuit of the buggems and the man. Apollo led the way and could hear the buggems making noise ahead through the trees, although they were too thick to really see it. After about a minute of travelling through the trees, Apollo, followed shortly by everyone else, broke through the foliage and into a small clearing about 60' in diameter. On the other side of the clearing stood the buggems and the captive man. The buggems made a clicking noise and slashed it's clawed hands across the man's throat and abdomen. Blood spurted out from both wounds, and the man slumped down as the buggems dropped him to the earth like a broken doll. This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:38, Fri 28 May 2004. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- "No!" Apollo rushes the first buggem in sight, enraged by the meaningless killing. "Why!? Why did you kill him?" Apollo yells, fists swinging. [Private to GM: Move to and attack nearest Buggem. Apollo rolled 6 using 1d4+3. Damage. Apollo rolled 15 using 1d20+6. Attack. ] =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X still haunts the back of the party in the clearing area. "Well, so much for any rescue attempts now," he says, peering to see if Gooselin actually looks dead. "If Gosspin's dead, what do you say we subdue this creature and...and see if it can really talk? I know ways of making people talk." He pulls out his rapier and moves to the front of the party. "Your mother was a louse and your father was a dung beetle," he taunts. He moves just out of melee range and takes a defensive stance, but if attacked, he will strike with the rapier. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce kept his anger in check. They had tried to save the poor farmer. Right now the only thing they could do was deal with the buggem and see if they could save the man, though given the throat wound, it wasn't very likely at all. He moved about 20 feet closer to the creature, but was ready to let X deal with it in his own way. He was going to provide backup in case the buggem rushed X or tried to flee. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- Worried for poor man, Skeeter stows his sling and shot away and quickly dismounts. "Here Dylan, looks like we'll be entering the woods," handing the reigns of the horse over to Dylan. Skeeter begins to unpack his belongings from his mount and equips himself for foot travel. Once the items are balanced on his body he draws his short sword, ready to track the foul creature. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi followed the others into the clearing. Upon seeing the buggems, he moved to the side as to allow for a clean shot at the creature, only to watch as it attacked its captive. He raised his bow and again aimed it at the insect thing. As he pulled the arrow back, Xavier commented on taking it alive. Pepsi threw a quick glance at his companion, who was rambling on about making the monster talk, then directed his attention back to his target. ”The hell with that!” he said as he released the arrow. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Initiative Order 21 Buggems4 20 Xavier(X) 15 Pepsi(P) 15 Pierce(p) 10 Buggems2 9 Buggems3 7 Skeeter(S) 6 Apollo(A) 1 Buggems1(Dead) There was a rustle from the trees and another buggems creature came out and moved to intercept Apollo. Xavier moved into the clearing and brandished his rapier, not quite into melee range with the first buggems. Pepsi let fly an arrow, which jammed right into the first buggems' throat, and it fell to the ground with a thud. Pierce moved 20' into the clearing. Another buggems moved from out of the treeline to Pierce and attacked with razor sharp claws, but it slashed only air as Pierce dodged successfully. It then tried to bite Pierce, which surprised Pierce and he dodged right into the maw of the buggems, who took a very big chunk out of Pierce's shoulder. [Private to Pierce: Buggems did 8 HP damage to Pierce.] Yet another buggems came out of the trees and moved to attack Xavier, missing with both claws and it's bite attack. Skeeter caught up to the others and entered the clearing to see the battle starting to unfold. Apollo charged, attacking the nearest buggems with his fists. He pounded into the buggems massively, doing a mighty amount of damage but not enough to fell it. [Private to Apollo: Apollo scored a critical, doing 11 HP damage to Buggems2.] The battle lines had been drawn, blood was in the air. Map of the clearing (numbers are buggems, 1 is down):
ttt
tt 1 tt
t 3X 4 t
t t
t p2 t
t A t
ttPS tt
ttt
=========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon and Dylan finished getting Kael prepped for travel and up onto one of the horses. Solomon thought he could hear fighting off in the direction that the others had followed the buggems. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- With his rapier, X attacks the Buggem that attacked him [#3?]. "So you brought your friends, eh?" he says, not quite sure (or seeming to care) if the first Buggem is dead. "Bring it on." This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Tue 01 June 2004. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce was surprised by the viscious bite from the buggem. Belatedly he swung at the buggem and screamed a war-cry. "Yaaaaaaa! Bite me will you!" He slashed at the buggem with his borrowed short sword. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Once Kael was loaded, up Solomon heard the sounds of battle from off in the woods. He had been afraid that it might be some kind of ambush, but he really had believed the man to be in danger. Unsheathing his sword, he rushed in to help his companions. (OOC: Question for the GM, what about the horses? If possible, I would like for Dylan to have tied them off so we'll have them later and he can catch up to us. If not, let us know. Thanks.) =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- With short sword drawn, Skeeter steps forward and joins Pierce and Apollo on their attack of the creature. With a stabbing motion Skeeter yells, "Take that! =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi quickly drew another arrow and placed it across his bow. He exhaled deeply as he trained the weapon upon the buggems that had attacked Xavier from behind. The bow string pulled easily as he brought the projectile back. He released it and the sting jerked forward with a twang as it shot the arrow toward Pepsi’s target. At this distance, the arrow flew in an almost flat trajectory, as if to connect an invisible line between the man and the creature. ”Time to die.” Pepsi whispered as he watched the arrow streak to its destination. =========================================================== Re: Through the Trees by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo balls up his fists together and takes a great swinging strike at the buggem he's engaged with. He smashes his fists against the side of the buggem's head. He hopes that it is enough to drop the thing. "Go down!" [Private to GM: Apollo rolled 5 using 1d4+3. Unarmed Damage. Apollo rolled 24 using 1d20+6. Unarmed Attack. ] =========================================================== Buggems Battle Royale by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Initiative Order 21 Buggems4 20 Xavier(X) 17 Solomon 15 Pepsi(P) 15 Pierce(p) 10 Buggems2 9 Buggems3(down) 7 Skeeter(S) 6 Apollo(A) 1 Buggems1(down) Buggems4 moves behind Xavier to flank him with Buggems3 [OOC: flanking grants a +2 bonus to-hit in melee]. He then attacks with his claws and misses, but bites into Xavier's arm taking a big chunk of arm flesh with it. [Private to Xavier Ashe: Took 7 hp damage from bite.] Xavier jabs at Buggems3 with his rapier, stabbing deeply into the buggems' torso, causing a grievous wound. The buggems stumbles and falls backwards landing on its back, with a sickening thud. [Private to Xavier Ashe: Critical hit scored, 13 HP damage.] Solomon started making his way through the trees, following the noise of battle. Pepsi's target had changed, but he takes aim with his bow at Buggems4 and fires. The arrow streaks across the clearing and pierces buggems4's arm doing superficial damage. [Private to Pepsi: did 1 HP damage.] Pierce slashes at Buggems2 with his short sword, dealing a nasty blow. [Private to Pierce: did 6 HP damage.] Buggems2 slashes at Pierce with one claw and missed, then again with its second claw and made a horrific wound across Pierce's chest, and then bit Pierce in the shoulder again for another nasty wound. Pierce is looking in pretty bad shape. [Private to Pierce: claw did 6 HP, bite did 4 HP. You have 3 HP left. ] Skeeter moved up to attack Buggems2 with his short sword, but the buggems deftly moved out of the way from Skeeter's slash. Apollo moved slightly over to perform a flanking maneuver on Buggems2 with Pierce, and smashed the buggems in the head with a mighty blow. The buggems was looking rather weary from its wounds. Map below. 1 and 3 are down.
ttt
tt 1 tt
t 3X4 t
t t
t p2A t
t S t
ttP tt
ttt
=========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X turns to face Buggems4 and strike with his rapier. "Fight dirty, will you? Sneak up on a man's back? Let's see how like to eat cold hard steel!" If he gets an attack of opportunity, he will strike with his claw. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce screamed in pain and tried to back away from the buggem. He hoped that the others would be able to keep the creature's attention while he retreated. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- "Pierce get outta here! I'll try and cover your exit!" Apollo does what he can to divert the buggem's attention. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- "Pierce! Get Clear! Apollo and I will distract the creature!" At which point Skeeter thrusts his sword at the buggem yelling, "Hey! Why don't you pick on someone smaller! Oh, wait a minute! I'm smaller! AAAAAHHHH!" =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Without speaking Pepsi pulled another arrow and loaded his bow. His eyes became narrow slits as he concentrated upon the instectoid’s center torso, the stop he wanted to drive an arrow through. Pulling back the bow, he again exhaled slowly as the arrow head reached the bow. In one moment, he released his grip upon the arrow and it leapt toward the target. ooc: same target =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo once again takes a swing at the creature, but he seems to have misstepped for his fists take a near hit and go wide. [Private to GM: Apollo rolled 8 using 1d20. Unarmed Attack. ] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Initiative Order 21 Buggems4 20 Xavier(X) 17 Solomon 15 Pepsi(P) 15 Pierce(p) 10 Buggems2 9 Buggems3(down) 7 Skeeter(S) 6 Apollo(A) 1 Buggems1(down) Buggems4 backed up from Xavier a bit and then released a musky, opaque gas from the end of its thorax, which covered an area about 30' in diameter, and totally blocked vision through the gas. Xavier, no longer having a visible target, moved out of the gas area. Solomon continued making his way through the trees, following the noise of battle, which was getting pretty loud, he was almost there. Pepsi's target was now completely obscured, so he switched his aim toward Buggems2 and fired. The arrow went wildly off course, narrowly missing Skeeter. Pierce withdrew from melee with Buggems2, back to where Pepsi stood. Buggems2 withdrew from melee with Skeeter and Apollo, moving into the gas cloud. Xavier made an attack of opportunity against the buggems as it went by him but missed. Skeeter and Apollo had no target to attack [ooc: you can decide on a new action if you choose to.] Map below. g = gas cloud.
ttt
tt ggtt
t 3gggg t
t Xgg t
t A t
t S t
ttPp tt
ttt
=========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X dives and makes an acrobatic roll away from the gas cloud and the buggems and toward Apollo, landing upright and ready to attack. [Private to GM: X uses tumbling skill to avoid any attacks of opportunity as he moves back away from the buggems area. If one moves within melee range, he will strike with his rapier. ] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- Skeeter takes a step up towards the edge of the gaseous cloud. He readies his sword for an attack on any buggems that appear from out of the cloud. "How are we going to find the creature in this soup!?" =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce sat on the ground and moved gingerly. "Ugh. I guess we got off lightly from that ambush. I may not be much good for a while." [Private to GM: looking over at buggem 3 (the one outside the fog). If it starts getting pulled inside the fog, nuke it with pyro.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- After a bit, Solomon entered the clearing near where Pierce and Pepsi were standing. No movement seemed to be coming from the gas cloud. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X begins to concentrate. [Private to GM: X will use his telekinesis to through as big a rock as possible into the middle of the gas cloud.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- He glanced at the cloud and down at Pierce. Keeping his sword at the ready, he circled the cloud to get a view of the far side. He didn't want the creature to escape into the woods. (OOC: Since he arrived after the cloud was released, he doesn't know there's more than one.) =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce waited for the cloud to clear. As Solomon moved around the cloud, Pierce said, "Careful, there's more than one." =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- A rock lifts up and is hurled into the middle of the cloud. After about two minutes the cloud disspates. The buggems are no longer there. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- "Blast! We've missed them." Apollo smashes his right fist into his left palm. "Has anybody seen those before? In all my years of farming I've never seen those 'buggems' before." Apollo heads up to the Apollo they killed and begins examining it for clues. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- "I haven't seen anything like them either," Skeeter replies. He then walks into the area where the cloud was and begins searching for possible tracks that the group could follow. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce slowly got up and moved toward the area where the cloud was. "Who's best at tracking? We don't want to go trompoing through the area too much yet. Let's see if we can find their tracks first." He went to buggem #3 (if it's still there) and examined it closely. [Private to GM: You know something? I goofed and only took 2 positive minor mutations. How do you want to deal with that?] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon moved over to Pierce. "You look hurt, maybe you should take a seat and let me have a look at those wounds. Tell me how you got them.. I want to make sure you haven't been poisoned." =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce nodded to Solomon. "One of those buggems nailed me pretty good. A couple of bites and a claw swipe. The buggems killed farmer Gooselin, and it looked like we took out two of them. Did they leave the bodies?" He grimaced in pain as he sat back down. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon looked over to where the farmer lay. (OOC: Is it farmer Gooselin and is he dead?) =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X stomps on the ground where the buggems disappeared and searches the ground in the area to see if there are any secret passages, trapdoors, or the like leading down. "Maybe they're still right around here...somewhere," he says. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi said ”I can track them better if everyone stays away from this area.” as he moved to the dead creatures and retrieved arrows. ”The more walking and stomping you do here, the less likely I am to be able to follow them.” he added pointedly while he then waited on the others to clear the area. He then motioned for Solomon to join him. [Private to Solomon Sheperd: Once Soloman had joined him, Pepsi whispered to him "How bad is Kael hurt?"] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon murmered something to Pepsi. [Private to Pepsi: "He hit his head on a rock in just the wrong way. It's bad. I managed to stabilize him and bandaged him up to send him to the healer's with Dylan. He may not make it," Solomon placed a hand on Pepsi's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him a bit as he moved over to look at Pierce.] [Private to GM: I've noticed Lockhart's healing powers and one of the PC's from Team B have mentioned having healing powers, yet I did not notice any such powers in the list given to us. Is such a thing possible? And if so, is it Psionic or a mutation?] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon checks out the body of the man who was dragged into the clearing, and sure enough, it looks like Farmer Gooselin, and he's very dead. Throat slit and guts spilled. Pepsi inspected the area where the buggems were standing to see if he could pick up a track. He spends about 5 minutes looking for tracks. Finally he decides he probably isn't going to find any, at least, not right where he's looking. [Private to Pepsi: 19:57, Today: Gama Master, on behalf of Pepsi rolled 10 using 1d20+6. Track buggems, DC14.] [Private to Pierce: Just pick a new minor mutation. You might want to wait a few days, I'm going to have a whole slew of new mutations I've been converting over from 4th ed GW pretty soon.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X rubs his wound and kicks at the dirt. "Any ideas?" he asks. [Private to GM: I'm assuming he didn't find anything inspecting the ground or the area either.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo, fists at his waist, looks wholly unsatisfied with the situation, "Well I suppose all we can do is to go back and report what we found to Sarge. Hopefully we can get the word out among the farmers to watch out for these Buggems." Apollo sighs, "Maybe someone in Cedar Valley knows more about these creatures. In any case we'd best be moving, looks like Pierce has an appointment with Darla." He smiles and pats Pierce on the shoulder. "If you need help walking, just ask." =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X points in the direction of Farmer Gooselin's place. "Sarge said we should check out Farmer Goose-pin's farm. Even though he's dead, we may still find some good clues up there. Besidees, Sarge said he was sending a second group up to the farm. If we're not there, they may not have the back up they need. I vote that we go to the farm." He raises a tentative hand, seeing if anyone else will agree. "If you think there's a better plan, please let me know." =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce nodded in resonse to X's comment. <blue>"I'm well enough to go to the farm. Since we're here, we might as well check it out. If we get into combat I can provide fire support if nothing else."<blue> He grinned a bit at his bad pun. [Private to GM: OK, sounds good. Let me know when you've got them up.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- Apollo smiles, "Okay, that sounds like a good idea to me." =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon looked where Pepsi was tryint to find tracks, and when he got the chance, he pulled him over to the side, [Private to Pepsi: "Hey Pepsi, if you get a chance, why don't you search for tracks over there," Solomon said, pointing surreoticiously towards the place where the gas cloud had touched the treeline. "That's probably where they escaped." (OOC: There is a place on the north side of the ASCII map where the gas cloud touched the treeline. That's probably where they went.] =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- "That sounds like a good plan X, but what about Gooselin's body? We probably shouldn't leave him here to be picked off. If his farm is not too far from here, maybe we should take his body there to any family he has?" =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi gave a quick nod to Solomon then headed across the clearing to its northern edge. He knelt down upon one knee while studied the area. He took his time, checking the ground, the vegetation and even higher up into the trees. If these things had gone this way, he wanted to find them. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce nodded at Skeeter's suggestion, and asked Solomon, "We still have the horses, don't we? If so, we can put the bodies on one of them and take them with us. Then we'll put poor farmer Gooselin to rest. Once we figure out where to go from there, we can either send the buggem body back so that everyone else knows what to look for or deal with it out here. Sound reasonable?" He looked around at the woods, trying to see if anything was creeping up on them. =========================================================== Re: Buggems Battle Royale by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: Sorry Pierce. I asked that question about the horses to the GM a while back. I still haven't gotten a reply. *hint-hint-nudge-nudge* <S>) =========================================================== A Trail by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi looks in the section of woods adjacent to where the gas cloud had been. As he studies the ground, he sees the tell-tale sign of broken / bent plantlife and a few misshaped indentations in the ground. He thinks he has found the trail of the buggems, and can tell where they were going. [Private to Pepsi: 19:15, Today: Gama Master, on behalf of Pepsi rolled 18 using 1d20+6. Track buggems, DC 14. Tracking requires movement at half speed, which is 15' every 6 seconds, or 150' per minute. Going faster would increase the difficulty and you didn't make it by that much. :) ] OOC: The horses are presumably back where you left them with Dylan. Presumably. <evil GM grin> It's only a couple of hundred yards back to the horses, but the plantlife is just too thick to move them through the trees unless you want to start cutting things down. Oh and the buggems tracks are heading in a direction nearly opposite of the way of the horses. =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Xavier Ashe ----------------------------------------------------------- X looks down at the bodies. "Where I come from, we burn bodies to prevent infection and the spread of disease. If we can't do that, we leave them out for the cycle of life to continue so the other animals can gain nutrients from the body. We definitely don't take bodies back to civilized society. But my culture is different from yours. Do as you will." He looks at the footprints and toward Gooselin's farm. "Should we follow the prints or go to the farm? I'm up with either, but I figure, since we're here, why not follow the trail?" [Private to GM: I'm not sure if the footprints lead toward the farm or in a different direction. I'm assuming they don't lead in that direction.] =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- Solomon nodded over to Xavier as he bandaged Pierce's wounds. "Well, here, we would take the body to the family for them to make funerary arrangements and notify the council. They'll likely bury him. My father would be called out to perform the ceremony. As for the trail, I want to go after those buggem creatures as well. But we have a responsibility for the horses. Their welfare means a lot to the community. The sarge specifically told us that we couldn't leave the horses if we decided to go off into the deep forest. We're near the Gooselin farm now. Why don't we take the body and the horses to the farm for safekeeping and then come back here and follow the trail. That way we won't have to split up and we wouldn't lose much time." He looked around at the others to see if they would accept the compromise. He didn't mention that the farmer had been calling the creature "buggems." Something that implied familiarity with the creature. Maybe the Gooselin family even knew where the creatures would go or some other useful detail. =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- "Sounds good to me. The horses are a part of the town's lifeline. We can't afford to lose them. Let's take them, and Gooselin's body back to his farm and we can continue afterwards." =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- Pierce nodded, "Let's also take the Buggem body. that way the townspeople will know what they might be facing." =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Skeeter ----------------------------------------------------------- Skeeter's head bobs replying, "Yes, that does sound like a good plan. Here, let me help with farmer Gooselin." (OOC: edit phrasing. it sounded like I was talking to Gooselin's corpse :) ) This message was last edited by the player at 12:29, Wed 09 June 2004. =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Apollo ----------------------------------------------------------- "And I've got the Buggem." Apollo cracks his knuckles and gets a good grip on the creature. [Private to GM: How much doest that thing weigh?] =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: Pierce, we're three hours from town. We were headed for the Gooselin farm. Since Gooselin was here, I'm guessing the farm is nearby, probably just minutes. rather than spend 6 hours traveling (that's both ways) just to tell them about the buggems. We'll probably want to handle this threat and then report it to the townspeople. Is that what you meant? <S> ) =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Pierce ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: Solomon: We take the horses to Gooselin's farm. We have Dylan (right?) to return the horses while we investigate. He takes the horses back with the Buggem body while we explore more. This way the townspeople are warned of what kind of threat they are likely looking at while we're still on site to deal with the problem.) =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Pepsi ----------------------------------------------------------- Pepsi trotted back into the clearing. He saw that the others were busy making ready to depart, taking one of the dead creatures with them. ”I have found their trail and followed it a bit farther. I take it we are moving on to the farm?” he asked as he crossed the clearing. =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: No. We don't have Dylan at the moment. He's taking Kael to Darla Lockhart. Solomon left the horses tied up outside the forest. But as livestock has a tendancy to disappear around here, we should move back quickly, I think.) =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Gama Master (GM) ----------------------------------------------------------- OOC - I went back and reread the thread. Dylan was never specifically ordered to leave. And there are 2 buggem bodies. So without further ado... Apollo hefted one of the buggem bodies onto his shoulder. A black ooze gushed out of one of its wounds and stained Apollo's armor. Pepsi hefted the other buggem onto his shoulder. They didn't seem quite as heavy as you would expect a creature that size to be. Solomon had to use some of his bandages to patch up Farmer Gooselin's abdomen to prevent his lower intestines from spilling out all over the forest floor. Then he and Skeeter lifted his body carefully and carried it together. The trip back to the horses took about 10 minutes, going slowly because of the extra weight and the thick foliage. As you cleared the tree line, you spotted a group of travellers, three humans, walking up about 100 yards away. You're standing at the horses where Dylan is waiting with them. And without further ado... we move to Act 1 Scene 3 A Chance Meeting. =========================================================== Re: A Trail by Solomon Sheperd ----------------------------------------------------------- (OOC: GM, I double-checked and you're right. I had mentioned to Dylan that we'd need him to take Kael to Darla Lockhart and had gotten Kael loaded on a horse for him to do that, but then Solomon heard the sounds of battle and ran to help his friends. I just assumed that Dylan would go ahead and do it since that's why we were loading Kael on the horse in the first place. Solomon probably would too though, so he thinks the horses are tied off and Dylan gone. Thanks for checking that out. It is convenient that he's still there. <S>) =========================================================== |