KotB - Episode 6

A break down of the major happenings in the sixth episode of the Keep on the Borderlands play-through, with timestamps.

Character Recap
Andrew’s PCs:Lianna Moneybags (Cleric), Lunebeam Starset (Elf)

Dave’s PCs: The Shadow (Thief), Rolph the Younger - (Cleric)

Hilary’s PCs: Thistle Turnipsworth (Halfling), Ingrid the Plain (Fighter)

John’s PCs: Hawthorne (Elf), Chunk Flunkins (Dwarf)

 

Returning to the Keep - Phinneas the Namer & St Krazgar’s Eve
   
 * 0’15” Our slime-soaked survivors make the day-long return journey to the Keep on The Borderlands. Lianna Moneybags immediately flogs her hard won chalice in exchange for 1300 GP: a ritual to her fickle gods of finance. (Lianna is now a cleric of Chaos.)
 * 0’20” The party reconnect with The Shadow and Rolph the Younger, who are accompanied by a sassy Elf set on taking up the murderhobo lifestyle. Seeing our petty protagonists leaving the tavern and heading back out of the Keep, Carlos smirks.

NEW Character
Andrew’s PC:Lunebeam Starset (Elf)  1hp  

At the Caves of Chaos - Fire on the Oozetown Bypass
   
 * 0’31” On returning to The Caves, the faint smell of woodsmoke wafts up from the distant end of the ravine.
 * 0’40” From the edge of the vegetation at the far side of the valley, (in front of ‘G’) the burnt-out remains of a large fire can be seen.
 * 0’43” Lunebeam Starset’s keen Elven ears hear the faint sound of scraping and crunching echoing from the tunnels to the East. (Towards ‘34’) On the rock wall above the cave entrance, a crude charcoal scrawl in Gobblish reads: “Excellent treasure go inside and get. Be rich!”
 * 0’47” Our valiant vagabonds discuss relative the merits of returning to the cave. Deciding it to be the least Chaotic of many potential Caves, they clear the debris the blocks the entrance, and prepare to explore further.

After First Break - Owls, and Bears, and Certain Doom™! Oh my!
 
 * 1’01” The Shadow  lights a torch and scouts ahead in the branching cave system to the South East. Discovering the remains of Kobolds and Orcs in various states of decomposition and devourment, piled up haphazardly upon the cavern floor, The Shadow  wisely decides that the party should scout all together.
 * 1’09” Our heroes advance cautiously into the caves. Thistle Turnipsworth catches the sounds of laboured grunting and chewing coming from deeper in the darkness. Dragging the mouldering body of the dead Orc into the light, The Shadow  determines that the cadaver’s chainmail appears to have been pierced from both sides, and rent apart with great force.
 * 1’12”-1’17” Lianna Moneybags, undaunted by the stench of death, rolls up her sleeves and searches through the bones, feathers, and offscourings. Ingrid the Plain pukes a little, but joins the search. Together they find 6 CP, 7 SP, & 7 EP.

 


 * 1’19” Drawing conclusions from examining clues (such as determining what kind of weapon inflicted a wound, or what kind of creatures might live in a habitat) is an INT check, but the results are limited by character experience -class, background, level etc. (Expansion of B60)

 


 * 1’19” Realising they’re standing in the lair of a bloodthirsty predator, our doubtful delvers argue over how best to deal with it.
 * 1’29”-1’49” The Shadow  devises a convoluted trap for the monster, using pitons, caltrops, a tripwire, flasks of oil and a remotely triggered crossbow loaded with a flaming bolt. The party spend 4 turns preparing their trap, and positioning themselves for the ambush.

   
 * 1’41” Setting a trap is a find/remove traps roll. Circumstantial bonuses apply for appropriate tools, and preparation. (The Shadow  received a +30% bonus in this case.) The DM determines the difficulty, but rolls in secret. (Expansion of standard rules, B8)
 * 1’47” Elves and Dwarves 60 ft infravision only works in the dark; standing in the light cast by a torch ruins their ability to use infravision. (Clarification of standard rules, B9)

After Second Break - The Great Owl Bear Trap Caper
 
 * 2’00” Waiting in the dark, one of our irresolute instigators hammers on their shield, hoping to lure the creature out of its lair.
 * 2’03”-2’08” There’s a fearsome roar from the deep in the cave. Chunk Flunkins and the other demihumans of the party witness the heat signature of an eight foot tall beast charging angrily towards them. The tripline pulls free, one of the flasks breaks, coating the Owl Bear in oil; but the crossbow does not fire. The monster stumbles onto the caltrops, rearing up and screeching in pain as the party open fire on it.


 * 2’10” A thrown, or dropped, torch has an (as yet unspecified) chance of being extinguished. (DM Ruling)
 * 2’13” “"To hit" rolls for missile fire may be adjusted by the amount of cover a target has.” (B26)


 * 2’16”-2’20” Their wild-eyed target illuminated by light of Rolph the Younger’s thrown torch, Hawthorne and the other party members fire on the Owl Bear with their missile weapons, unaware of the two Gray Oozes slithering up behind them.
 * 2’20” Always bold, Chunk Flunkins hurls a flash of burning oil at the beast; but in his enthusiasm he throws it too far, it bursts in a fiery pool on the rocks directly behind the Owl Bear.


 * 2’33” PC DEATH Lunebeam Starset is decapitated by a single swipe of the Owl Bear’s mighty claws. (Andrew’s PC)
 * 2’38” Rolph the Younger, panicked, flees from the Gray Oozes behind him, but not before his armour and shield are dissolved.
 * 2’41” Hawthorne smugly slays the Owl Bear, putting a crossbow bolt through its eye, before it can rend Thistle Turnipsworth apart.
 * 2’52” Rolph the Younger takes his revenge on a Gray Ooze, it disintegrates under a hail of stones from his sling.
 * 2’54” Acting as one, our paragons of pugnaciousness terminate the remaining Gray Ooze. With extreme prejudice, and missile weapons.

After Third Break - Half the time you get a True Bear, otherwise you get a tiny Bug-sized Owl
 
 * 3’06” Scattered caltrops can be recovered by spending a round collecting them. Rolling a 1 on a d6 indicates enough can’t be collected to be reused. (DM ruling)


 * 3’08” Wary of other monsters drawn by the sounds of combat, Chunk Flunkins and Hawthorne listen for approaching badness, but hear only the steady drip of water from the cave to the North. (Marked ‘33’)


 * 3’10” Knowing about monster ecology is also an INT check, but the information remembered is limited by character experience -class, background, level etc. (Expansion of B60)


 * 3’14”-3’19” The party press forwards to the Owl Bear’s nest, (marked ‘34’) inside they discover a spineless, and indeed lifeless, Gnoll. Searching the den, amidst the many sticks and bones it slept on, our scrappy scavengers recover a scroll case etched with sigils. Inside is a scroll of Protection from Undead. Lianna Moneybags also successfully rustles up 2 CP, 3 SP, & 5 EP. (Note: “A spell scroll can only be read by a magic-user, elf, or cleric, but a Protection scroll or a Treasure Map can be read by anyone.” B49)


 * 3’20” Our honourable opportunists decide to decapitate the Owl Bear, to serve as a token of their achievements, back at The Keep on The Borderlands. As our heroes drag the Owl Bear outside to better work with its corpse, they notice a group of eight Goblins approaching from across the ravine to the South-East. (From ‘D’).
 * 3’24”-3’32” Chunk Flunkins, Thistle Turnipsworth and Ingrid the Plain form a reception party, and greet a Kobold-scale armoured Snot the Black. The Goblins, assuming that the adventurers had fallen for their ‘trap for the Orcs’, are nevertheless pleased to see them alive and rub their hands gleefully at the prospect of expanding into a third cave network. Thistle Turnipsworth questions Snot the Black, and confirms that the party should probably next tackle the Orc caves further up the rocky walls of the ravine. (Marked ‘B’ & ’C’)

Returning to the Keep - Tears, The Disemb-Owl Bear Tapestry, & There’s Always More Monsters
 
 * 3’34” The day long journey back to the Keep is blessedly uneventful for our gallant gang.
 * 3’36” Ingrid the Plain nonchalantly parades the Owl Bear’s head in plain view as the party march back into the Keep.
 * 3’39” Ludmilla, the Captain of the Guard congratulates our triumphant troop on their achievement, promising to take the news to Helena the Castellan; but Ingrid can’t help but notice in her a hint of regret - as The Captain speaks she absently rubs what appears to be a beak-scar on her arm.
 * 3’41”-3’45” Lauded as actual heroes, most of our protagonists spend the night in the tavern drinking and feasting. During the festivities, Bogdan the Priest approaches Rolph the Younger to deliver a message, informing him that he should visit The Chapel in the morning, as Yorick the Curate has prepared several blessings,  inscribed on sacred scrolls that can be carried into the darkness, and used in the fight against the forces of Chaos.
 * 3’45” Glancing at the debauchery all around him, Rolph the Younger confides in The Priest that while, for the moment, they serve the same goals furthering the interests of The Keep, the party have made an alliance with a treacherous tribe of Goblins.