Chapter 4: Under the Tree

[KingOfCowards]

"Well done" Simon's words are almost a whisper as he stares at the remains of the ooze, and remembers how large it started off. "That cut on your face will have to wait until I get some feeling back in my hands. But I can at least help you clean it off." He does a clumsy job of wiping away the blood of Bürd's, and applying pressure until the bleeding stops.

[Pulpatoon]

Simon: Let's have a healing roll (INT or WIS + relevant skill) and see if you can do enough to actually recover an hp or two for Bürd.

[KingOfCowards]

Healing Profiency (16+2=18): [1d20] = 3

[Pulpatoon]

1 HP back to Bürd!

[mb.]

Bürd winces at the attention, but smiles when Simon's done, "I thankee lad. Yer a goodun." He leans back against the wall of the well, "we done right good we 'ave, but I'm not doubt in' it ain't over by a long stretch. But I'm weary lad. So weary. Y'think y'could keep a watch an' let me catch a few sands'a sleep? Not the best bedchamber, but I'm thinkin' it'll hafta do fer now." Bürd's lids and head begin to drift downward...

[mb.]

How's it work with Bürd's spells? Are they connected to sleep, or the sunrise, or does he need to spend some time with his runestones to prepare them again?

[Pulpatoon]

The rules say that after casting your spells the allotted number of times, you are exhausted and unable to cast any more. So, I'd take that to mean that all you need to do is un-exhaust yourself with a decent night's rest.

However, it also says (I can't recall if this is in the core rules of the playtest document) that sleeping rough doesn't count as restful sleep for healing purposes. So, maybe curling up in the corner of a death-pit won't get you your spells back?

ON the third hand, yer a dwarf, and maybe this is more comfortable for you than an above-ground bed?

I think I'll say this: if you spend time making camp—fix some food, make a pallet, play some songs on your harmonica, plug in your ladybug night light—Bürd can recover spells, and some healing can take place, too. There's plenty of camping gear among the cultist's tents.

Simon, do you agree to spend the night down here? Will you keep watch or sleep as well?

[mb.]

Maybe Simon is less exhausted, more sensible, and less at home underground than Bürd, and he'll suggest we move up to the camp?

[KingOfCowards]

I was going to suggest moving camp above ground anyway. The GM's subtle death pit reference was enough for me.
Simon sighs and scans his surroundings, suddenly feeling very vulnerable with Burd starting to dose off. "I daresay we're both tired. But this doesn't seem like a good place. We still don't know what's down here, and I doubt I can wield a weapon with my hands in this condition. Perhaps we should make camp out on the grove. Or head back to meet Marcus?."

Speaking of which, chasing the ooze down here I've lost my way. Where are in respect the what we've explored?

[KingOfCowards]

Abel can't be the only one who knows how to cure this paralysis. Simon will try to think a common cure for this malady.

Healing Knowledge [1d20] = 4

[mb.]

Bürd nods tiredly, and levers himself up, leaning on his axe, "Yer a thinker lad, an' yer right. I dinnae if I'll make it t'town, but a tent an' a bed'd do us both a world a'good." Bürd stumps off towards the exit.

Correct me if I'm wrong Pulp, but as far as I remember, we've seen everything down here, excepting of course whatever might be down the well.

[mb.]

Regarding resting, I looked it up:

Characters recover 1 hit point every night that they receive a full night’s rest. This means not taking a watch, but instead sleeping selfishly through the night.

I didn't find anything specifically about spell recovery, just this:

A mage may cast a number of spells per day equal to his level. After that, he is considered to be exhausted and may cast no more, though he may still attempt to cast cantrips or rituals.

So maybe for Bürd it means getting some sleep and spending some time with his runestones? Your ruling of course Pulp.

[KingOfCowards]

I think there was a passage where the giant ooze came from when it started chasing us. If that's unexplored it could lead to bigger and badder things.

[Pulpatoon]

You guys are presently down the passage the ooze originated from. You have, in fact, seen everything except down the well.


Some minor details have been changed, but this is pretty much the map.
A is where the stairs empty out. Not a chokepoint on the map. I added that. My gift to you!
B is the spherical chamber where you torched the fungal zombies.
C is the treasure stash covered in paralytic goop.
D is the puffball passage.
E is the central root chamber. The map shows the altar in this room, but you encountered it in D.
You are presently in F.

Simon: Healing: The sensation in your hands reminds you of certain fungi that, if gathered in sufficient quantities and concentrated, can be used as a paralytic. It's a valuable resource to doctors, who can use it to immobilize and numb surgical patients. Only this sludge is much more powerful than the stuff you've encountered before.

There are stimulating herbs used to counter the fungal paralytics. You are not sure exactly what they are. You would also expect the paralysis to wear off in time. Possibly by morning? Now that you think about, there is some minor return of sensation.

Bürd: Re: Spell recovery. Spending time with your runes is nice flavor, so let's do that, but not strictly required. Just a decent night's sleep.

Re: Sleep healing. I'm not sure I like the 1 hp recovery per night of sleep. I tend to lean towards abstraction of hp, and like to give an hp back for things like a well-cooked meal, a shot of whiskey, or even a rousing speech. When someone is seriously wounded, I like for that to linger awhile, but I'm pretty generous with, say, the first 4 hp recovered. So, unless it occurs to me that there is someway in which it upsets the BtW balance, I'll probably go 1d4 for sleep-healing.

[mb.]

Okay, so I think that, unless we're interrupted on the way, we're hiking back out and setting up camp in a cultist's tent. That shot of whiskey sounds good, if there's any around, otherwise it'll be hard to keep Bürd from simply collapsing on the first cot he sees.

[KingOfCowards]

Simon looks satisfied with that option.

[Pulpatoon]

You return to the campsite in the dark. One of the tents is missing, and appears to have been dragged away into the woods. You have little trouble cobbling together comfortable bedding in the remaining tents. You enjoy some rations—suddenly realizing how long it has been since you last ate, the horror and disgust of the day gives way to ravenous hunger, and then, to sleep.

You awake the following morning, feeling stiff, and with a terrible taste in your mouths.

Bürd: Healing: [1d4] = 1

Simon: Healing: You are back up to 7 hp, and have feeling back in your hands!

Both of you are ready to cast spells again!

A new day! Phew!

Dawn light spreads over the strangely silent woods.

[KingOfCowards]

I'm not complaining Pulp, but you might have miscalculated Simon's hit points. Just to be fair and honest, I am pretty sure he was down to 2 hit points before resting (1 damage from the zombie claw, 4 damage from consecutive mishandlings of the puff balls) If Bürd only got 1d4 hit points back from resting, I don't think Simon would have got 5 back, unless the gods are smiling on him today.

Simon wakes feeling more refreshed. He flexes his fingers to make sure they are all working, then looks to his dwarf friend. "What say you? Shall we go back in and explore a bit more?"

[mb.]

Upon waking, Bürd washes his mouth out with a swig of water, and sits in the sunlight running his thumb over a runestone, chanting softly. (Abjuration prepared for today)

After that he hops up with a smile, "Me greatma always said there's nowt a short kip and a long whiskey can't cure. Pity 'bout the whiskey though." He rubs his hands together and hefts his axe over his shoulder, "Today's lookin' far better lad – I'd never thought t'say it, but the sunlight does a body good. Let's us 'ave a little look-see around th'camp here, eh?"

"An' as fer th'tunnels down there, I reckon there's little left we'd need t'be explorin', other than th'well. Are y'wantin' t'go down there with just th'two of us lad? It might be smart t'get our friends back t'gether afore we're doin' that, I'm thinkin'."

Bürd begins poking around the camp, checking inside the tents, on the lookout for anything valuable or mysterious.

[Pulpatoon]

In the other thread, I'm waiting to hear back from Pyro as to how quickly they'll be rejoining you guys. We may have to pause at some point to let them catch up. But we still have an hour or so of in-game time before their earliest possible return.

I'm not complaining Pulp, but you might have miscalculated Simon's hit points. Just to be fair and honest, I am pretty sure he was down to 2 hit points before resting (1 damage from the zombie claw, 4 damage from consecutive mishandlings of the puff balls) If Bürd only got 1d4 hit points back from resting, I don't think Simon would have got 5 back, unless the gods are smiling on him today.

Boy, if there's one thing the experience of running this game has taught me, it's that I need a much better note-taking system. With the drawn-out time of PbP, one can't rely on memory at all. And, clearly, my present notes are not up to snuff. My notes had you down by only one hp, so I didn't even bother to roll for your healing. So, let's see here:
Healing: [1d4] = 4
Nearly as good!

Bürd: Let's have a WIS check for things mysterious and valuable around the camp.