Session 1: Dragon Keep

[C. Steven Ross]

Rand: Good thinking! But these are some of the challenges of play-by-post.

Norgrim: With some rocks and sticks and the like, you wave the scorpion off of the smooth stone. When you tap it with your boot, you can feel the warmth from the stone heating up your toes. It is lovely. The veins on the stone are part of the rock itself, like intricate marble. A light tap with metal spikes doesn't do any damage, but make a hollow sound.

[Enoch]

Norgrim sits back on his heels as he considers. "What do you boys think? This a dragon egg?"

[Enoch]

Good call on waiting to check for traps first. Thanks for restraining the headstrong dwarf before he could do something foolish!

[thesniperknight1]

Really sorry for the delay, a couple of rough days

Garen has a tendency to check any room he enters before doing anything foolish, he drops his sack and dagger and walks around the room using rocks and sand to determine the existence of any traps, he then turns his gaze to the stone and the scorpion, seeing as Norgrim took care of it, he simply stands there, "The egg of a dragon? That would be the greatest loot of our lives!" he says with excitement

[C. Steven Ross]

No worries about the delay!

Make an Ob 4 Scout test (start at 2, obvious -> concealed trap; exhausted).

You can't invoke traits or wises to help here, since you are Angry, but you can call on your Traits to give yourself a -1D penalty and a check if you either are going to do so well on this test and have dice to spare, or if you will do so badly that another -1D doesn't really make any difference. You're also doing this on Instinct, so you can only get Help dice from characters with similar instincts.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Good luck on that test SK!

my best guess is the egg is booby trapped somehow. Maybe a pressure plate that triggers something to come out of those holes. Maybe we should plug those holes, grab the egg and make a run for it through our hole.

How far away is town? How deep is the snow? How exhausted are the two humans with a "running" nature of 3?

[Enoch]

They still look like ladder-holes to me, but a trap is a possibility too. Let's be thorough about checking.

[thesniperknight1]

Since Norgrim already basically went through everything in the room with no traps being activated, he even touched the egg and scorpion but nothing happened, so I am gonna use a trait against myself if no one minds, Devil may care

Garen having his pride a little broken because someone else did his job before him, he did it halfheartedly knowing that it already have been done but continued doing it to save face.

4D scout, -1d Trait

Scout: [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 2

[C. Steven Ross]

Right on! Garen don't even give a shit, he's that badass. He kicks the smooth stone over and triggers a hidden mechanism. The stone was wedged into the floor, jammed in there, holding back a slowly bubbling well spring of magma, packed in with carefully placed thin slices of slate. Strands of thick lava creep out from a hole in the floor.

What do you do?!

Mark a failed Scout test and gain a Check.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Aaagh! I told you there was a trap!!! How fast is the magma creeping out? Where is the magma-extruding hole in relation to the egg and our hole? Where did that scorpion go? Is it still a concern?

I'd say we should wedge the stone back in place, but if the room is full of magma it decreases the chances of being followed out our hole, doesn't it? So maybe this works to our advantage... Good work? We are probably close enough to Turn 13 that it probably makes sense to start back for town rather than head up the "ladder holes" since there are likely to be a few tests as we head back, knowing our luck. What do you two think?

By my calculations, we are 2 turns from a grind, by the way. And if we need to haggle when we enter town, it would behoove us to keep Norgrim free of conditions so he can get us our best deal.

Anyhow, Rand's first reaction mirrors my own.

"Aagh! I told you there was a trap! Norgrim, grab the egg and head out. Time to go home, I think. Come on Garen." Rand held the torch aloft as he stood near their exit hole, ready to dive through when Garen and Enoch were with him again.

[C. Steven Ross]

OK I think only one of those was a question I can answer: Norgrim battered the scorpion off the stone and its crushed body is now being ignited by the lava.

[Enoch]

"No! Up!" Norgim's eyes are wide and wild as he rushes toward the wall, digging furiously in his belt pouch. A half-dozen iron spikes are clutched in his hand, and he pounds the first one in waist-high in one of the holes.

Assuming nobody stops him (and nothing horrible happens), he continues pounding them in on alternating sides, as far apart as he can while still making a reasonable ladder.

[C. Steven Ross]

Quick thinking!

Make an Ob 2 Carpenter test (ladders), with a +1D for using the spikes and another +1D because the holes are already driven into the rock and you were clever enough to use that to your advantage. Then roll 1d6 to determine how many spikes are required.

Again, since this is a skill you don't have a Rating in, you must also decide if you want to use Beginner's Luck or Nature. If you decide to go BL, the +2D you're getting from the spikes and whatnot do indeed get halved.
Then figure out Helps and Wises.
Then figure out if you're using any Traits. Trait dice (as well as magic effects and Persona) do not get halved in BL.

[thesniperknight1]

well, crap , sorry guys.

Garen in disbelief takes the egg and begins to leave through the broken wall until he sees Norgrim making a ladder, he stops in the middle conflicted. He then puts the egg in his sack and carries it and his dagger and heads for the ladder being made, "How can I help?"

[C. Steven Ross]

Sounds good. The egg, however, if bulky and heavy and is Pack 2. What do you leave behind to carry this thing?

[Enoch]

Norgrim shrugs off his satchel as he runs for the wall. "There's a sack in there. Rand, shove the egg in and I'll carry it up; Garen, give me a hand with these spikes. No time for regrets right now. Even if the lava doesn't kill us, the fumes still might."

He begins frantically pounding spikes into the holes. But dwarves aren't made for hurrying, being Born of Earth and Stone ...

Don't worry about that Scout test--on our first expedition, an Ob4 test is pretty brutal. Besides, this is much better than "yeah, you detect a pressure plate and scoop enough sand onto it to keep it from triggering." We've got freaking lava flowing in! How cool is that?
That said, it's still lava, and I don't really want to fool overmuch with failing this test--at best, we're forced to retreat back the way we came and are back where we started. At worst...well, it's lava. I'll be using Nature.

Nature 4D (5D, taxed 1D), +1D Spikes, +1D Holes. +1D Help from Garen (Dungeoneer, rigging climbing gear). -1D for using my Trait against myself. I figure if Rand gets the sack out and loads the egg in, whomever carries it can probably take a Laborer test to get it up.
6D vs. Ob2: [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 2 [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 4 [1d6] = 3 [1d6] = 2
Whoa. I almost blew that one...I was sure 6D was a nice, solid win.

[C. Steven Ross]

Looking through Inventory and Equipment, you guys don't have enough hands on light sources. As I recall you were keeping everyone in Bright Light and so you need two torches or a torch and a candle. Rand had a candle held in a hand, so then either Norgrim or Garen needs to immediately drop something held so that they can bear a torch.

C'mon guys. It's the name of the game we're playing.

So that then leads me to more confusion about where the heavy stone is going. Your sheets all have you guys at pretty full capacity. When you have all of that sorted out, let me know, I'll review, and then we can proceed.

BTW, Norgrim that was clearly the PERFECT number of dice to be rolling. You hit the Ob exactly and scored a check!

[Rusty Tincanne]

I had thought the candle went out as I broke through that wall so I am currently holding a torch from Norgrim. It is now 1 turn old. Let me know if I miscalculated on that candle and I can save the nub.

"Save your sack. I've got space." I hope. Rand ran to the rock and drove the butt of the torch into the sandy ground to keep it lit as he hastily rearranged his belongings. He threw his tinder box to Garen, filling that space with his food. He could only hope the thief had space in his sack for the tinder box. Then he shoved his candles in with the gong, making just enough space for the rock-egg. It wedged in nicely.

Rand shouldered his pack, sack and torch and headed to the makeshift ladder. He handed the torch up to the others and the climbed, one-handed, to safety. As the room heated up he inwardly cursed the has strong dwarf, all the while knowing his ire would be better directed at himself - the person responsible for his throbbing shoulder.

Superknight, do you have room for my tinderbox in your sack?

[C. Steven Ross]

Ah right, yes. The candle did go out and Rand is holding a torch. But we've still got to have a second person holding another torch since your Elf left, correct?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Ah right, yes. The candle did go out and Rand is holding a torch. But we've still got to have a second person holding another torch since your Elf left, correct?

Unreliable, flighty elves!

It doesn't look like Norgrim is a candidate for holding anything due to the crossbow, which means that Garen needs to hold a torch/candle. So he will need to let go of the sack/make space in his satchel. My opinion is the tinderbox is a must-have, so if SK wants to ditch that, I'll dump my candles in exchange for the tinderbox. But since Norgrim and Garen both have hammers, maybe one can be ditched as we rearrange stuff.

Steven: if a sack takes up 1/2 a space and my rations are at 2/3, can I carry the sack and remaining rations in one slot of space?

Also, if there is only one torch, does that leave one person in darkness or dim light?