Sour Spring Hollow

[Guang]

My bad, Marissa only has 2hp left. I once knew how to do basic math, honest!

[Raven_Crowking]

OOC: How is Nan doing in the new cabin or Gran with the tarot? Luc is completely covered in undead gore and is lying at the bottom of the beast pit, at the bottom of a (still movable) pile of the dead beasts

10-second rounds. Presumably, Nan is reaching the new cabin now, and Gran is laying out the tarot.

As the phantoms brush against Marissa, they become more solid-seeming even as she fails. Their insubstantial veins flush as with blood, and translucent flesh seems to knit over ethereal bones.

Anyone want to do anything before they attack again?

[fireinthedust]

Still waiting on an answer of what Amalthia can see. She's in the top room with the tarot deck and the grimoire/diary. Are there phantoms with her, and can she see/hear the fight with Marissa?

[Raven_Crowking]

Downstairs can be heard from upstairs, but it takes more than 10-20 seconds to utilize a tarot deck or read a book.

[Guang]

OOC: I have a theory......we may have to sacrifice one of our number in order to attack the phantoms when they turn solid after feeding. Let's find out.

Marissa pulls a knife and leaps up, screaming the goddess of luck's name slashes the most solid-seeming part of the most solid of the phantoms that are feeding on her.

She burns all of her remaining luck on this attack roll: 6+6+finagle=12

[fireinthedust]

OOC: Amalthia has 1hp, so I'd better keep her back. But you're saying Marissa's going to charge forward, stab the phantoms covered in blood, and get herself drained by the phantoms who will then appear solid; then the other characters are going to stab those phantoms in an effort to slay them?

Let's hope so! If we can rest, we can get some answers. We have to get to that last cabin, or that graveyard, and figure out how to escape.

Full disclosure: yes, I write and illustrate modules... but I reeeeeally don't know that I'm actually *good* at playing RPGs from a problem-solving point of view. Some of my players over the years have come up with schemes or solutions that amaze me. This sacrificing yourself thing is brilliant, and if I had Murphoi or the others I'd be right in there. Don't get me wrong: I've spotted patterns in PFS modules, guessed correctly going down steps, had my moments... but the answers have always been relatively simple. The DCC games I play, from Sailors to Hypercube, I *never* expect some of the puzzles that come at the group. I think maybe that's why I like it so much. That and the "spirit" of the game, the art, the style.

So basically I'm saying I'm drawing blanks on this funnel, how to exit this clearing. The cabin that ate us? Never saw it coming, no idea why it's there. Phantoms off the bat? Again, perplexed. Unless that was the simple solution: charge the phantoms right away while we have the numbers? Oi. If that's it, wow... but then again, I'm not so sure. Why the dolls? Why the grimoire? The Devil's Thorn?

[Raven_Crowking]

Very well, then. The phantoms swirl around the hapless (but brave!) Marissa.

1d20+1: 21 ; 16 ; 19 ; 7 ; 19; each success does 1d5. That natural 20 results in 1d6 on Crit Table U, modified by Marissa's Luck. 1d6+1 = 5: The character is cursed from beyond the grave! That probably doesn't matter to Marissa immediately, as she is going to take a minimum of 4 hp damage.

The phantoms are now far now more physical-seeming, but still misty and translucent.

[Guang]

Ooc: but did they bleed? Did she inflict any damage at all, a tenth of a hp, maybe?

[Raven_Crowking]

Ooc: but did they bleed? Did she inflict any damage at all, a tenth of a hp, maybe?

They did not bleed.

Instead they float, giggling, through the walls and out of the house.

Tarot Cards: A simple reading shows the suit of wands coming up repeatedly. In your past are the Lovers, your present the Priestess, your future Death....but yours or another's?

Grimoire: This is indeed a book of magic, and it contains quite clearly the formulae of spells, which, if studied, might grant one some mastery over nature. It also contains some lore of the Shudder Mountains, for it speaks of the Devil's Thorn, and how the symbol must be properly etched with power in order to have any effect, although there are some woods, such as holly, that can have an effect against spirits.

[Guang]

OOC: quick question then: have any of us seen or run across anything made of holly yet? Or is this the kind of thing for which I.should go back and re-read all the posts?

[Raven_Crowking]

OOC: quick question then: have any of us seen or run across anything made of holly yet? Or is this the kind of thing for which I.should go back and re-read all the posts?

Well, every single cottage - except the living one - has had a stack of firewood, for starters. Whether or not there is holly there, you have no way of knowing.

[Guang]

Hmmm, ok. Gran yells down the stairs for Luc to "rustle up some Holly branches, quick", then scootches over next to Amalthea and also reads the grimoire.

Luc extricates himself, grabs the rope, and searches the woodpile for Holly.

Nan.....well, not sure what Nan does. That last cabin must be pretty far away.

OOC: Fire, I have no idea what to do with the tarot reading. Seems more straightforward than usefully magical. Unless the priestess or wands (magical?) can be used to infer anything? In any case, more an information source (divination) rather than a weapon or a way out. What do you think?

OOC: DCC does seem to attract lots of (mostly?) people that can create adventures and illustrate at the drop of a hat. I'm more of a reader and a dabbler. I love reading about the worlds other people make, and also take my favorite parts and try to fit them together. Looking back on some previous efforts is highly embarrassing. Last few months have been playing around with figuring out how to run DCC characters through "Throne of Night". Hoping to be able to run it, at least for my wife and kid. We'll see.

[Raven_Crowking]

Hmmm, ok. Gran yells down the stairs for Luc to "rustle up some Holly branches, quick", then scootches over next to Amalthea and also reads the grimoire.

Luc extricates himself, grabs the rope, and searches the woodpile for Holly.

The book seems to contain the formulae to learn patron bond and find familiar, as well as the gramaree rites to ward against the evil eye and nail the witch's shadow, although none of these things can be learned without taking time to study them.

Nan.....well, not sure what Nan does. That last cabin must be pretty far away.

Three rounds is 30 seconds. In a half-minute that seems to take forever, Nan reaches the final cabin. It is made of weather-beaten logs, facing the central courtyard. A roofed porch spans the front of the cabin, granting some protection against the watery sunlight. The front door hangs askew on a single hinge, and a crudely-fashioned child's rocking horse stands beside the short flight of log steps leading to the portico.

BTW, everyone can have 1 XP.

OOC: DCC does seem to attract lots of (mostly?) people that can create adventures and illustrate at the drop of a hat. I'm more of a reader and a dabbler. I love reading about the worlds other people make, and also take my favorite parts and try to fit them together. Looking back on some previous efforts is highly embarrassing. Last few months have been playing around with figuring out how to run DCC characters through "Throne of Night". Hoping to be able to run it, at least for my wife and kid. We'll see.

OOC: Go for it! Converting material to DCC isn't that hard!

[Guang]

OOC: Any idea what "nail the witch's shadow " might do Fire?

OOC: Go for it! Converting material to DCC isn't that hard!

OOC: Agreed, when it comes to monsters, NPCs and other creatures. Skill checks, on the other hand....there are just so many of them, of so many different difficulties, especially perception checks. Not sure how to translate some of them without doing things like "Well, if you're looking really hard and you're a dwarf, I guess you pass the DC 30 perception check...."

[Raven_Crowking]

Re: Nail the Witch's Shadow: Nothing in the book is immediately useful, but when the adventure is done, and you get a chance to look at it more closely, I'll copy the text for you.

Re: Checks: Use the DC 20/15/10/5 base chances in the core rulebook as a general guideline, ignoring whatever the module text may suggest, and you'll be fine.

[Guang]

OOC: you're saying that we can't use any of the spells until we reach level 1, right?
OOC: That helps with the difficulty, but what about the frequency? It would change the feel of DCC to be constantly rolling for skill checks. Just about every location has one, and some have several.

[Raven_Crowking]

OOC: you're saying that we can't use any of the spells until we reach level 1, right?

In DCC, any PC can attempt a spell check using 1d10. If you wanted to try to use the book to do this, I would probably allow it....

OOC: That helps with the difficulty, but what about the frequency? It would change the feel of DCC to be constantly rolling for skill checks. Just about every location has one, and some have several.

A lot of d20-based games use skill checks as a general function of play. When I am converting something, I only include DCs where (1) there is a consequence for failure, and (2) there is a reasonable chance for failure. Sometimes I include those DC 5 checks so that the gongfarmer using 1d10 to track can find the tracks, and sometimes I don't even bother, merely mentioning the tracks themselves. Ask for skill checks only when it interests you to do so.

[Guang]

In DCC, any PC can attempt a spell check using 1d10. If you wanted to try to use the book to do this, I would probably allow it....

I may take you up on that. Gran is going to memorize Patron Bond for use when hope is gone and all friends and allies are dead.
Did Luc find any Holly in the woodpile? If so, he first gives some to Gran, then keeps enough for himself and Nan. If there's any extra, he gives some to Amalthia too. He then takes 2 torches and the rope, and goes back out to the well.
Nan picks up a small egg-sized rock and tosses it at the rocking horse, standing well back away from both house and horse. (If she happens to miss, she keeps at it until she hits it - basically checking to see if it's alive/responsive rather than making an attack or trying to damage it)

A lot of d20-based games use skill checks as a general function of play. When I am converting something, I only include DCs where (1) there is a consequence for failure, and (2) there is a reasonable chance for failure. Sometimes I include those DC 5 checks so that the gongfarmer using 1d10 to track can find the tracks, and sometimes I don't even bother, merely mentioning the tracks themselves. Ask for skill checks only when it interests you to do so.

Very helpful, thanks. I re-read the skill check systems in both, as well. Very different ways of looking at the game.

[Raven_Crowking]

In DCC, any PC can attempt a spell check using 1d10. If you wanted to try to use the book to do this, I would probably allow it....

I may take you up on that. Gran is going to memorize Patron Bond for use when hope is gone and all friends and allies are dead.

Learning a spell takes a week or more for a wizard; Gran cannot simply memorize the spell....she would need to use the book as a prop to cast it.

Did Luc find any Holly in the woodpile? If so, he first gives some to Gran, then keeps enough for himself and Nan. If there's any extra, he gives some to Amalthia too. He then takes 2 torches and the rope, and goes back out to the well.

There doesn't appear to be any holly in the woodpile here.

Nan picks up a small egg-sized rock and tosses it at the rocking horse, standing well back away from both house and horse. (If she happens to miss, she keeps at it until she hits it - basically checking to see if it's alive/responsive rather than making an attack or trying to damage it)

The horse doesn't move any more than one would expect.

A lot of d20-based games use skill checks as a general function of play. When I am converting something, I only include DCs where (1) there is a consequence for failure, and (2) there is a reasonable chance for failure. Sometimes I include those DC 5 checks so that the gongfarmer using 1d10 to track can find the tracks, and sometimes I don't even bother, merely mentioning the tracks themselves. Ask for skill checks only when it interests you to do so.

Very helpful, thanks. I re-read the skill check systems in both, as well. Very different ways of looking at the game.

You are very welcome!

[fireinthedust]

Skill checks: Sounds about right. 1d20+modifiers is actually pretty good, though at a certain point there isn't as much need to roll as power-gamers think: eventually you're going to "hit" even "impossibly hard" targets (which should be DC30), and the bonus is only needed for extraordinary cases with multiple penalties working against you. DCC cuts off at 10th level, and I think it's a reasonable cutoff point for the genre of heroic fantasy. Any higher and you've basically got superheroes and genies. There's only so much you can do in a stone age setting against Superman.

So the categories go up by five: easy (5), medium (10), difficult (15), hard (20), extreme (25), impossibly hard (30), superhuman (35), and "just no" (40). If you roll a d20 and have a few bonuses, that's what you can do.

Standard 20 level D&D breaks down when you have more than +20. 4e tried to fix that (everyone has the same half-level bonuses... to everything...). E6 D&D (6th level humans are "epic") did a much better job. 5e math basically copies e6 in terms of bonuses (ie: 20th level characters have a +6 level bonus to their skills... and all the other bonuses are small, so you'll maybe get that +20 with some optimization). If you don't have the structure I laid out, though, the use of a 20-sided die is no longer important: it's all modifiers, so you either auto-hit or auto-fail. Not great for design.

[fireinthedust]

Amalthia closes the book and joins the others at the sound of their companion's death.

"Oh no! What now? To the next cottage? We have to solve this mystery!"

Taking Sir cudsworth with her, and the tome, and the rest of the corn dolls, she gets ready and (when the coast is clear) makes a break for the final cottage!!!


OOC: Woo hoo! Okay, let's do this thing!

[Guang]

OOC: Sorry, long week. Looks like I missed the start of a new game too

Luc wants to check out the well, and he's already gathered stuff to go do so, so he should be a bit ahead of the group. At the well, he drops one of his torches down the well while watching carefully to see what he can see down there. Then he commences attaching the rope with a firm knot to the superstructure, checking carefully to see that it will hold his weight.

Meanwhile, Gran follows Amalthia, or more to the point, follows the book she is carrying. As they are moving towards the last cabin, Gran spots Luc "messing around with that old well", and begins to give him the sharp side of her tongue about doing things that are possibly dangerous without anyone around to help him back out if he runs into difficulty. She tries to convince Amalthia to stay as well as she checks the knot and stands ready to assist.

Nan also notices Luc at the well and comes back as well.

The party is no longer split (for the moment), for better or worse.

[Raven_Crowking]

The well wall is 3' high, but the mortar is crumbling. Dropping a torch, Luc sees it drops about 30' before being extinguished by the water below. Before the torch goes out, he can see that the well opens up, or enters into some larger area, with a ceiling height maybe 10' above water level. The bucket and rope here is a mere foot long, and the tin bucket has holes.

[ProdigalWilliam]

OOC: Life expectancy in the hollow is amusingly short! This has been a fun read so far. I'd love to roll up some extra targets if it's not too thematically weird or late in the quest.

[Guang]

Fire: What do you think? Has Luc found the way out or just another lair of something that wants to kill us?