Tecumseh

Leyna Nyx Leyna was an indentured servant to a cruel sorcerer named Nictus, a High Mage secretly dabbling in the Necromantic arts to extend his lifespan unnaturally. He chose Leyna as his servant, hoping that he might be able to tap into the wisdom of her ancestors in order to advance his own craft. Abused mentally and physically from a young age, Leyna learned to either avoid her master, or to placate him with honeyed words. Being constantly exposed to Nictus' magic awoke something within Leyna, dormant gifts buried deeply. She wields her powers through the force of her bloodline, intuitively invoking bargains her ancestors made long ago. She was wise enough to refine this talent in secret, stealing glimpses from her master's library and studying his work covertly to advance her understanding. Nictus, arrogant, never suspected that his lowly servant could understand his work. After years of abuse, Leyna could take it no more. She took what she learned and applied her arts liberally to Nictus' face, neck, and chest, thoroughly defeating his quest for immortality. Finally free from his tyranny, Leyna gathered as many coins and papers as she could carry before she escaped, resolving to free others similarly enslaved.

Step 1: Attributes Standard Array Str 7, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 14 Step 2: Background Slave → Sneak-0 Step 3: Skills Selecting Two from Learning → Convince-0, Convince-1 Free/Hobby Skill → Magic-0 Step 4: Class Warrior/Accursed → Magic-1 Step 5: Foci Free focus: Elf-1 → provides Sneak-1 (with 1x/day reroll) and Notice-0 Warrior focus: Impervious Defense Step 6: Arts Accursed Blade Accursed Bolt Step 7: Hit Points 4 of 4 Step 8: Base Attack Bonus +1 from Partial Warrior Step 9: Equipment Mage/Healer/Scholar package 2 Daggers (1d4 dmg, Shock 1/AC 15), Enc 2 Staff (1d6 dmg, Shock 1/AC 13), Enc 1 Backpack, Enc 0/1 Lantern, tinder box, and 2 pint flasks of oil, Enc 3 total Writing kit & 20 sheets of paper, Enc 1 Rations, 1 week, Enc 4 Waterskin, Enc 1 Healer’s pouch, Enc 1 80 silver pieces in cash Step 10: Armor Class Impervious Defense 16 Step 11: Saving Throws Physical: 15 Evasion: 15 Mental: 14 Step 12: Name and Goal Leyna Nyx wants to liberate the slaves and indentured servants of the world. If she can't do it with rhetoric, she'll do it with violence.

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Cool, thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know. I have a couple concepts for the Accursed that could be interesting. I'll avoid the new foci.

Are options from The Atlas of the Latter Earth available? Edit: Also, are demihumans an option? If so, which ones?

Well it sounds like they're in the middle of the road, so I think we'll be forced to engage with them if we want to proceed. We don't have to overthink this. We could just call out to draw their attention. Eabha and Xan might be able to offer some insight with their respective Arts as well.

I'm not expecting them to be worth much. The clubs have no value. If we had retrieved swords or daggers then maybe Otto could do something with the metal (like fuse them into a throne...) but right now they're mostly good for firewood. As for the current situation, a couple questions: - What's the terrain like? Do we have good visibility or are we walking through the woods? - Can we see how the human and the gnome are dressed? For example, are they dressed like merchants, or are they wearing armor, etc.

Otto Eckhart Otto is bringing up the rear of the caravan. Perhaps someone calls his attention to the human and the gnome up ahead. Regardless, he'll let those at the front do the talking while he keeps an eye open for ambushes or danger from behind.

Otto Eckhart Otto is happy to reach the morning with no further hostilities. "My opinion remains the same as last night," he tells the others. "Our contract is to deliver these merchants to their destination safely. We don't have the manpower to confront a much larger force, especially if they are the ones in the fortified position. We should proceed to Jaston with due caution." As for the prisoner? "Strip him," Otto suggests with a shrug. "Send him off unarmed and unarmored. Perhaps harm will come to him, but it will be unlikely for him to harm others."

Otto Eckhart Otto is pleased, and a bit relieved, to see Xan back on her feet. After ensuring that the prisoner is secured, he steps aside to converse with the others out of the captive's earshot. "It matters not," he says of the bandit's story. "Our course is the same either way. "If they lick their wounds and wait for easier prey, then we are not affected. It stings to leave a pit of vipers for some other unsuspecting traveler to fall into, but we have neither the manpower nor the remit to address it ourselves. "If they come looking for retribution, we want to be in the same formation we are now. "Moving will not benefit us. We are a slow caravan. Tracking us and catching up to our new position would be trivial." He thinks for a moment, a less pleasant thought coming to mind. "Perhaps the biggest risk is if they wait to strike after we've broken formation and are on the move. We may need scouts with sharp eyes to give us warning." He glances at Naihm, who is indeed a scout but who may or may not have sharp eyes. Of course, Otto had not noticed the bugbear until it was too late, so he should not judge the observational power of others.

There's a lot going on here. We can probably move through some of this conversation more expediently OOCly but we should summarize our conclusions ICly when we're done. Okay, here are some of the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns: 1) Whether this guy is telling the truth. I was hoping Xan could give us some insight but unfortunately she's out of the relevant Effort until the morning. 2) If there is a big bandit camp, how will they react? Would they look for revenge, or for easier prey? 3) Whether the Bandit Leader we killed was the big boss or just the lieutenant. Did we chop the head off the snake? There could still be a Bandit Captain out there. I think staying put is the right call. We'll be significantly outnumbered if we attack the bandit camp. Plus, as Bobcloclimar points out, it would require us to abandon our guard duty. Our tight defensive formation with the wagons that allowed us to control chokepoints is what put us in a good position to survive the first attack. If we're going to be attacked again, I don't think it makes sense to abandon that position and the advantages it provides. I don't want to be attacked by two dozen bandits, but if they're anything like the first dozen then we'll have the advantage of arms and armor, in the sense that we can consistently avoid Shock while simultaneously being able to consistently apply Shock. The ranged element is still a concern, but we have an ace up our sleeve with Eabha, who can help us stay on our feet.

Otto Eckhart Otto let Eabha take care of Xan. He won't be much help there. He helps pat down the bandits. The clubs are of little worth, maybe as firewood at best. The buff coats have perhaps more value, but they're bloody, which means that they didn't keep their occupants whole and intact. He won't bother to strip the armor off but won't object if someone else does. When it comes time to interrogate the prisoner, Otto knows that his youthful face won't inspire much concern. Instead he stands nearby, hoping his armor serves an intimidating presence. The actual questioning would probably be more effective coming from someone else.

I think we're waiting on some healing from Eabha. ping In the meantime, should we sort through any loot and interrogate the unconscious bandit?

Enjoying the recap and trip down memory lane so far. I'd forgotten about some things, like the shopping trip to the blacksmith. As for Helge and Father Beacom, I got lucky with a couple key rolls. At first level the odds of success when casting as a cleric are about 50/50. (It might have been 55/45 for Helge because she had a +1 to the relevant stat.) But if that Lay on Hands hadn't worked, or if the Detect Magic hadn't found the hammer... I can imagine things would have gone in a very different direction.

Otto Eckhart Otto pulls his axe out of the bandit leader's neck. "Such a waste," he murmurs, watching the man drain into the ground. He is curiously unbothered by the encounter, and seems to have something of an ambivalence to killing, at least if it's done in self-defense. He slaps Toktok on the shoulder as a reaffirmation of their survival. He turns to survey the scene and notices that Xan is down behind him. He rushes over to her and kneels down but - not being a healer - doesn't know what to make of the damage. "Eabha!" he calls out to the caravan with a tone of urgency. "Some help, if you please!"

Otto Eckhart Otto yanks his axe out of the archer with a sickening SPLORCH. "...by the sword," he tells the dead man, who is too far gone to appreciate the wisdom. No longer charging, he now has a moment to set his feet and brace for impact. The bandit leader comes barreling in, thankfully on Otto's shield (left) side. The leader's attack isn't good enough to bypass Otto's armor. Why isn't he retreating? Otto wonders. What would lead him to directly attack a man in full armor? Toktok is charging the flank of the leader with a mighty battle cry, giving Otto an opportunity to strike a distracted opponent. He lands his blow but it doesn't cut deeply. OOC Round 4 Main: Make a Melee Attack Move: Screen an Ally (Toktok), this is probably pointless but I don't have another use for the Move Action

The only specific rule about d20 die results in WWN is that a Nat 1 always misses and a Nat 20 always hits (p. 59). There aren't any critical hits, although they are a reasonably common house rule. Some people do max damage, or roll damage twice and take the better result, or have the hit apply some sort of status effect (like to AC, or knocked prone, or disarmed), etc.

Tip of the cap to the bandit who rolled a Nat 20. Can't be mad about that. What weapon is he using? Does it bypass Otto's grand plate?

I don't think we necessarily have to execute him. Give him a good fright, take his weapon and armor, and let him run off.

Otto Eckhart Otto is grateful that his hand axe finds some purchase in a bandit. Not enough to finish the job, but Suibne takes care of that with a skillfully-thrown dagger. While technically still engaged with the bandit just to his right, Otto is far more alarmed by the bowmen and their instructions to, "Keep shooting!" Otto doesn't want to give them any practice lest their aim improve. With a not-very-terrifying cry, he shrugs off his attacker and charges straight for one of the bowmen and tries to plant his hand axe in him. "Yaaaaghhh!" Otto's momentum helps him deliver a savage blow, burying his axe deep within his victim. OOC Round 3 Move + Main: ChargeA combatant can make a wild charge before hurling a weapon or crashing into a foe, moving up to twice their normal move in a straight line before making a melee or thrown attack at +2 to hit. The charging attacker must be able to move at least 10 feet to get the requisite momentum and suffers a -2 AC penalty for the rest of the round. Charging takes both a Move and Main Action. southeast at Bandit 5 There are several things that are going on here. First, Otto is leaving Bandit 6 without using the "Make a Fighting Withdrawal" action. That gives Bandit 6 a free melee attack on Otto, but he's confident his armor will deflect it, including any Shock. Otto gets +2 to strike Bandit 5 but will have -2 AC the rest of the turn. Temporary AC will be 19. Good attack and damage rolls. That should do the trick.

Awesome, thanks for confirming. Sure, a prisoner sounds good, although I don't know that the answers will detail anything more elaborate than a 'get rich quick' scheme. Otto is concerned about the bowmen because he is not technically immune to them. He might go straight after them.

Sorry, follow-up question: Did Otto do Shock to any bandit? (Shock 2 vs. AC 15) Trying to figure out if his weapon is effective or if he needs to switch to a different one.

Yeah, those snake eyes damage dice! Thanks for the updated map. Numbering the bandits is super helpful. Did Otto drop Bandit 7 with Shock?

I did it again: I forgot to add my Attack Bonus. The rolls were so bad that it doesn't make a difference, but don't be like me!

Should be able to as long as they were both Readied (which I presume they were). If one was Stowed then it would take an action to retrieve it, but I can't imagine that would be Stowed under the circumstances.