SoloDark: Pelor's Quest ep62

--/-- Welcome to SoloBickering! It's a solo rpg, which means I roll dice generate a story and decide outcomes, and lose arguments with myself as I portray the exploits of my adventurers. 

--/-- Join me on a journey into the game world I play face to face in, and it may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast.  

--/-- AI and NSFW: For this possibly brief adventure the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using CoPilot AI to buff my romance bar, because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that need social interactions. Some of the situations the young protagonists find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. I won't be deliberately aiming for that, but oracles are what they are. So if on either account you take an ethical stand against those, skip this episode and listen in to Rollohi, my other SoloBickering output. 

--/-- And having said that, let's get the game started. 

 --/--Music from Pixabay with thanks to: daynightmorning, Good_B-Music, JefWakeUp, LudoSoundX, makesoundmusic, Playsound, teodholina, and White_Records

--/--Selected tracks from "Ancient Realms" by Joel Steudter Music.

--/--The adventure *the Lurker Beneath Red Larch* by MT Black: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/184581/the-lurker-beneath-red-larch-adventure
--/--MT Black's 5e Vol i collection: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/198501/complete-adventures-of-m-t-black-vol-i

https://larrymannplayssolobickering.blogspot.com

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Two days. Yes, that is reasonable. The breach will not widen in that time. And now that I have the scroll, I can't really afford to linger here myself. Every hour I delay is an hour the valley loses. But two days? Two days is a time I would have spent traveling with the survivors. I can give you that. If you strike at the threat beneath the red light and return in two days, I'll be ready waiting for you gladly. But no more than that. After two days, I will ride to Beliard with you or without you.

Speaker 1 0:45

Join me on a journey into the game world I play face-to-face in. It may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM, I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast. For this venture, the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using Copilot AI here and there to buff my romance bar because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that don't really need tools. Some of the situations the young protags find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. And if you're uncomfortable on either of those two scores, skip this and head over to the world of Rollohi. Otherwise, having said that, let's get on with this show.

Action

Speaker 1 1:41

To begin this session, I've made a couple of roles behind the scenes regarding what Shatterspike, the sword that Drum wields, may do or may not do. I won't be revealing that as yet. But in the meantime, Drum has had a chance to read the rat behavior and draw some inference regarding what might be beyond the puddle. And he rolls disastrously, even with his Ranger Advantage, it's a one and a three. So he has read nothing into the desperation charge of that last rat.

Speaker 2 2:29

I'm not sure I trust that water. Make sure you jump it. I'll go first, then you can grab my longbow. Help yourself across, Nat.

Speaker 1 2:41

Nat is the shortest, and perhaps Saqib is the heaviest encumbered. Might both make use of that stave, but Locinda needs no such help. She bounds across. Then Nat using the stave to help her across. And finally, Saqib moves past the group once he's across and probes forward very cautiously. All of our group are in near range of the gibbering mouther, and all of them are making DC12 W IS saves. Drum has a plus one, Nat and Lucinda are plus zero, and Saqib our priest is a plus two. Drum fail Locinda Success Nat Fail Saqib success. For Drum and Nat, the air seems to breathe in and out. It feels as though they can hear something, perhaps through the walls. Wet whispering.

Speaker 4 3:56

Did did you hear that? Nat says, rattled.

Speaker 2 4:00

Well...

Speaker 1 4:00

Drum too, clutches his longbow, ready in his hands, and looks around for a target.

Speaker 5 4:08

Hold your mind firm, Saqib says, while Locinda simply grits her teeth.

Speaker 1 4:13

This place is touched. Something's awake. The stone underfoot feels wrong. It's soft, it's not like mud. It's more like walking on flesh, like troll flesh. A faint rhythmic sound pulses beneath them.

Speaker 4 4:41

Look, look, look, look. Nat shivers.

Speaker 1 4:45

Locinda raises the torch again and moves it from side to side, trying to find out where that sensation is coming from. And somewhere in the dark ahead, something with too many mouths begins to gibber. Now we step back and we roll that d8 for the two who failed. Just a reminder, a one two or three is do nothing, a four or five is move in random direction, six or seven is attack nearest creature, and eight is flee. Here's Drum's d8 roll. It's a two, do nothing. Despite Saqib's words, Drum begins to lose his focus.

Speaker 2 5:35

Hold on. He mutters under his breath.

Speaker 1 5:39

He's locked in place this round. Easy prey, if anything can get past Saqib.

Speaker 1 5:46

Here's Nat D8. It's a seven. Attack nearest creature. She whips around with the bow raised. Standing just ahead of her is Saqib. But she doesn't see him. She sees a threat. A writhing shape. And she looses in one fluid panicked motion. Saqib with his shield the other way is AC-15. It's a miss on a 13. The arrow glances off Saqib's solid mail armor and clatters off the stone. Saqib jerks his head around, eyes wide.

Speaker 5 6:34

Natalie, focus! Natalie blinks rapidly, shaking her head, her breath trembling.

Speaker 4 6:43

I thought...

Speaker 1 6:44

Locinda steps between them instantly, torch raised. Saqib is very aware that something is wrong with Natalie, and the reason for it is what is beyond them to the south. Locinda is clear-headed, on high alert, unsure if she needs to slap Nat into awareness or do something else. She suddenly has a lot of responsibility. She's still the only torch bearer. Drum is way too big and heavy for her to drag back, but she has princess carried Nat before now. Let's make a simple DC9 check for the strong half orc to grab Nat and fireman lift her back north. Her strength is plus two. She rolls an 11, and with a plus two, that's a 13 success. A level above success, in fact. She drops her center of gravity, puts a boot on one of Natalie's toes, hooks an arm into Natalie's lead arm on the bow, and with a drop of her own shoulder i n a practiced motion hauls her up and over her shoulder like she weighs nothing at all.

Speaker 1 8:02

Natalie gives a startled gasp as her bow clatters against Locinda's back.

Speaker 3 8:08

No more shooting, friends, we're moving.

Speaker 1 8:12

She still has the torch in her free hand and she strides back toward the safer, northern ground, regardless of any danger that the puddle might have had. Behind her, the whispers pulse again. Drum is still frozen, Saqib is steady but alarmed. And Nat and Locinda are out of the near danger zone. Now Saqib could try a spell, but he's not sure protection from evil will be worth it. And there's no target for an attack spell. He's going to use his good Charisma, which is plus one, to rally Drum to give the ranger a second try to break the charm. Meanwhile, it'll be down to initiative as to whether the Mouther hurls a latch attack, or Drum gets that wisdom save first. We'll go to Saqib's rally check first.

Speaker 5 9:09

Drum! Look at me! You're here with us! Breathe!

Speaker 1 9:13

A charisma rally. Plus one. He rolls a fourteen. DC 15 success. That's a very good success. Drum's eyes refocus. Like someone pulling out of deep water. It's an instant re-save. He rolls a 13. Plus one, fourteen. He's passed. He nods gratefully to Saqib. Oh my dear. So far, we've had a round of party moving into gibbering mouther territory, the party making those WIS saves on their turn, and finishing their move with Locinda retreating with Nat and Saqib standing ground and helping Drum re-roll his WIS save. If the Mouther wins initiative, it can now move on its turn to make latch attacks, and if the party win initiative, they can decide whether to press forward or reposition backwards behind the puddle. Here we go. Party 3, Mouther 5. Latch attacks are incoming. There are only two targets in its zone. Saqib in the front, still with shield raised, and Drum slightly behind him, somewhat in cover. These two lads are respectively the best armoured of the whole party. Saqib with AC17 with shield up, and Drum, thanks to his good dexterity, AC-15. That's a 15 and a 1, plus 3 is an 18, a hit on Saqib, and a total miss on Drum, which may come with the penalty for the Mouther. I don't immediately see any obvious for that one, but I'll think about that. Meanwhile, Saqib takes... Oh, that's not bad. One - and is latched. Meaning that on the next round, unless he can cut that fanged tentacle-like thing off him, he takes auto damage next round.

Speaker 5 11:33 Speaker 5 11:33

Now it wasn't immediately clear to me, but after doing a little extra research, it is now clear that the DC12 Wisdom Save to avoid falling prey to the gibbering Mouth's incapacitating effect is ongoing. So we begin the character round with Saqib making a roll on wisdom, as he is clearly inside the gibbering zone, and he makes a nat 20 and potentially Drum. We're using Theatre of the Mind, and I don't know whether Drum has recoiled having made his save last round, seeking a good target. So I'm just going to ask the Oracle, is Drum now outside the gibbering zone? I roll a 12, yes. So we'll have to say that Drum does not currently need to make a wisdom save, but if the Mautha next move moves towards the characters, he will be in the zone if he doesn't further retreat. We can now turn our attention to character actions within their turn. Character intentions are as follows. Saqib will cut himself free of the latch, and if that doesn't work, he will have to drop his sword and rip at the latched tentacle. Drum will use his longbow plus one to loose downwards to the south to try and do some kind of damage to the creature that gibbers beyond. Locinda puts Nat down, Nat will turn and use her shortbow at disadvantage, and Locinda will switch back to short sword and potentially advance once again to help Saqib or call to Saqib to fall back if things look like they're going badly. Let's walk it through. Here's Saqib's normal attack bonus with Goblin Grief. Plus five. The latched tentacle is AC8. He rolls a 12 plus 5 a 17 for a hit. Goblin Grief will do a D8 plus 1 damage. 6 plus 1 is 7. That's more than enough to sever the glob. Saqib snarls as a mass of teeth and slime gnaws at his shield arm. He pivots sharply, brings Goblin Grief down in a tight arc, and shears the latched tentacle clean off. The severed flesh glob hits the floor, which seems to still shift with a slapping sound, writhes for a moment and then melts back into the floor. We're still in danger, Saqib snarls. As he speaks, he shifts his ground steadily back, rejoining Drum in close support. Shield up. But now he's had a taste of his enemy. And he's beginning to plan casting that protection from evil after all. Let's pull back to Locinda, he hisses. In the distance, growing louder, rising in pitch, a chorus of insane voices gibber. Because Saqib succeeded, Drum doesn't have to abandon his precious plus one longbow or switch to Shatter spike. He'll loose at range. It's a poor shot. He's not quite sure what he's loosing into. The arrow is wasted. Just to the north of Drum, who probably has his rear foot in the puddle by now, Nat, now clear of the zone, makes a 13 W IS save to shake herself out of that effect, steadies her short bow, and looses at disadvantage. Amazingly, her worst shot is a 17, so with her DEX, that is a solid hit. Technically, the Mouther can take normal damage from a normal bow. That's three points damage. That's already fairly serious damage on the mouther. I wonder if that will provoke it. Will the mouther surge forward? Yes. Let's roll initiative. Party 1, Mouther 5. The walls and floor seem to roll forward. Remember? Under these Shadow Dark rules, a mouther can move to near, and that's right across the puddle if need be. The mouther doesn't surge forward the way a beast would. The entire floor and wall seem to ripple. Like muscle under skin. A rolling contraction. The walls flex inward. From behind them, Locinda's torchlight flickers across what appears to be flesh, not stone. I've got a target, I guess. Drum tries to joke, his mouth dry. Time to decide our latch attack targets. Both Saqib and Drum are very viable targets with the two women well behind them. I'll say 50-50 on each target in front and leave it at that. So one, two, or three, Saqib, four, five, or six, Drum. d6 twice. It's even. The Mouther is equally generous. One latch attack on Saqib, one latch attack on Drum. So very much a repeat of last round. And here are those attacks. Oh, not a good round for a Mouther. I roll a two and a four. Even with the plus three for the attacks, those are not going to get anywhere near our heroes. It's time to shift to the DC12 wisdom saves, and this time everyone is back in range. I'll start with Saqib and Drum. Interesting. Drum easily makes it. But Saqib has rolled only a 9. With his wisdom, that's a marginal fail, but he's sitting on a Solo Dark luck token having that 20 last round. So here's his reroll. Much better. He rolls a 19 for a 21 total. And mainly because they might potentially attack the lads from behind. Here are the two women. While Natalie fails once again. And Locinda will give her luck token to Nat for a reroll. Here we go. Nat rolls a 17, so that's everyone clear. They can now attack depending on where the character started. Nat has a short bow and can unleash missiles. Drum has a longbow plus one, but now that he's in effect right next to a hideous mass of writhing tentacles, he could choose to drop the longbow, draw Shatter spike, and launch himself into it, hacking and slashing. Locinda is a quick run away from such an action, which certainly suits her character, but she does need to think about maintaining the light. Finally, Saqib has Goblin Grief ready and is definitely going to go to Melee Combat.