The mounts have a thick coat of fur that seem out of place, yet help to keep them warm. Kullonar's mount seems an unfriendly brute and tries to bite him as he saddles up. The rest of the party don't have Kullonar's bad luck.

When it time to set out Bruno meets the party at the stable and sees to his mount. He is still not entirely comfortable with riding and preparing his horse has an extra tinge of sadness, because he recalls the glances and muttered exchanges he'd had with Uthecar when they set out for the vale the first time, Dwarves walk, dammit, that's why the gods gave us these strong, but legs to begin with!

Nevertheless, there and back again the first time he had learned how to ride and care for a mount well enough and if the poor beast was going to have to bare him he figures he may as well make sure it is well taken care of. Towards that end he cast Speak with Animal and, well, chatted with the horse while doing so. With this he made sure he and the beast has a bit more of a connection and it was only once he had made sure the horse rubbed down and all of the tack and gear set on him that he finally mounted.

By that time the spell had ended, but he felt more confident than he had riding previously and was feeling good despite his trepidations about the challenges before them.

Bruno's mount was a stolid fellow, didn't talk a lot, but enough to instruct Bruno on how best to ride. He was a mature beast of burden, been around the block a few times, and proved to be a good forager as well.

ooc: Nice touch on the 'speak w/ animals.' 50 xp for being clever.

Myrrick, happy with his current weapons and armor would simply get more provisions and oil for burning the dead/undead before venturing out. Perhaps some warmer clothes as well.

"Guten Morgan," Yngvar calls. "Good morning," he adds for translation. "No speeches today, just a warm send off and a flask of whiskey for each of you. May the gods be with you as you make your way back to the vale."

"Be careful, all of you and come back safe."

In reply to The Seer (msg # 16):

"Guten Morgen Jarl Yngvar, danke for the, . .spirited, . . sendoff!" he says with a grin.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Mon 21 Dec 2020.

Outside of cold weather and overcast skies from day 1 to Day 5, the journey is quiet. Some of you find that to be fortuitous, others murmur 'When will the hammer fall.'

Sure enough, the hammer falls on the 6th day when you're still a couple of hours from Gregors second hold. You run into a patrol led by a devil kin, the same type with the wiry, bristly beard as you encountered before. Recall the pumpkin head if you don't remember. Along with the bearded devil are a handful of ghouls and a larger version that smells even worse than the ghouls. The smell is atrocious and as you draw close, you all need to make a saving throw vs. Poison.

There are 6 ghouls, 1 ghast and 1 bearded devil.

ooc: I am going to do combat a bit different so that we maximize game time: instead of posting just the initiative, I want all of you to post your initiative, your 'to Hit' roll and your damage roll at the same time.

Game on! Thanks!

[Private to GM: Ghouls/Ghast 2 init Bearded Devil 3 init]

Selene Init 2 Casts Magic Missile at the Ghast for 11 points of damage (DM Note-Selene did not roll well for initiative, so she could potentially fall afoul of one of the enemies)

plot twist: Selene failed her save!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Tue 22 Dec 2020.

In reply to Selene (msg # 19):

13:01, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 8 using 1d8+5.  damage.

13:01, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 19 using 1d20+4.  to hit.

13:00, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 5 using 1d6.  initiative.

12:59, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 5 using 1d20 + 2.  save vs. poison Failed

Ulrich throws up from the stench but manages to hit the ghast! (What about flame damage?)

In reply to The Seer (msg # 18):


Initiative: Bruno Rhunthane rolled 7 using 1d6+1.

Saving Throw vs. Poison: Bruno Rhunthane rolled 29 using 1d20+10.

Turn Ghouls: Bruno Rhunthane rolled 12 using 1d20+1.

Undead Turned: 13:13, Today: Bruno Rhunthane rolled 2 using 1d12.

I guess the final roll balances out the first two...

Bruno steadies jumps from his pony and presents his shield at the Ghouls, "The power of Moradin's sacred Hammer and Anvil reclaims your souls!"

Gildan fights off the shock and steps back to fire some arrows at the nearest ghoul.


13:49, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 6 using 1d6+4.  Init.
13:48, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 7 using 1d6+4.  Damage 2.
13:48, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 6 using 1d6+4.  Damage 1.
13:48, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 20 using 1d20+8.  Bow attack 2.
13:48, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 21 using 1d20+8.  Bow attack 1.
13:47, Today: Gildan Stalker rolled 14 using 1d20.  Save vs poison.

14:13, Today: Kullonar rolled 5 using 1d20.  turn undead.
14:10, Today: Kullonar rolled 4 using 1d6.  Initiative.
14:09, Today: Kullonar rolled 7 using 1d20.  Save vs. Poison (10).

Starting out great...smh...fml

00:07, Today: Dugger Naderwash rolled 6,7,1,10,3,17,1 using d6+2,d20+3,1d3,d20+3,1d3,d20+3,1d3.
00:07, Today: Dugger Naderwash rolled 7 using 1d20.  save vs poison.

"Oh my what is that smell, you would think the cold would mask some of that"  Dugger pulled back on the reins of his horse to get some distance.

He started flinging darts as the trouble grew closer to the party.

Everyone who failed their save has a penalty 'to hit' of -2. So roll your dice and subtract 2.

That does not include damage, by the way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:54, Tue 22 Dec 2020.

Somehow, Myrrick doesn't succumb to the stench, but still misses his first attack with his new sword badly.


19:45, Today: Myrrick rolled 3 using 1d20+1.  hit.

19:44, Today: Myrrick rolled 19 using 1d20+1.  sv vs poson.

19:44, Today: Myrrick rolled 6 using 1d6+2.  init.

Back into the breach:

Initiative:
Bruno 7
Gregors7
gildan 6
Dugger 6
Myrrick 6
Ulrich 5
Kullonar 4
Selene 2


Bruno pulls forth the shield that also acts as his Holy Symbol and calls forth the power of Moradin: 2 ghouls flee into the night.
Gregors: Unsure of who is what and what is who, he takes on the nearest Ghoulish figure with his spear: Scores 4 points of damage and the beastie falls and moves no more (weak assed Ghoul...).
Gildan: 2 arrows are enough to take out another ghoul. It stumbles, then falls to the ground.
Myrrick fumbles around a bit, trying to get used to the new sword. He misses.
Ulrich swings his mighty sword, and scores 8 points damage to another ghoul: It stumbles, leaking black blood from the massive wound, then it falls and moves no more.

As of right now 3 ghouls are dead, 2 ghouls are turned and are running away at full speed (120'): this leaves 1 ghoul, 1 ghast and a Bearded Devil.

The Bearded fellow takes his turn; carrying a wicked glaive, he rushes forth to do battle with the Paladin! Sadly for him (and the DM), the Bearded One misses by a country mile.

That leaves Selene who casts three magic missiles at one of the remaining ghoulish figures - she does 11 points of damage and the final ghoul falls.

That leaves the ghast: rushing forward with his diabolcal overseer, the Ghast notes Bruno's holy shield and races toward the priest: There is scrabbling and scraping across the doughty dwarf's shield, but try as it might, the ghast finds no purchase. Round one is done!

Go ahead and push forward - I had a question for Dugger that needed clarification, but I don't want momentum to stop. Good round, fellas. Well played. There are two foes remaining.

Dugger hits once for 3 pts of damage on the last ghoulish attacker.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:23, Sun 27 Dec 2020.

Kullonar steps up to the bearded devil and swings his morningstar.
"Cuthbert send you back to hell where you belong!"

13:09, Today: Kullonar rolled 11,8 using 1d20+1,2d4+1.  Morningstar attack.

In reply to Kullonar (msg # 28):

13:13, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 9 using 1d8+2.  damage.

13:13, Today: Ulrich Aelgrimm rolled 12 using 1d20+2.  to hit. Missed! I think!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:15, Sun 27 Dec 2020.

Bruno opens the Gift of the Soul Forger calling down Moradin's blessings.

OOC: Bless spell up for 10 rounds everyone gets +1 Attack and Savings Throws.

Ho, etc.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:40, Sun 27 Dec 2020.

Myrrick, frustrated with himself, regrips the sword and slashes again at the Ghast.


11:46, Today: Myrrick rolled 6 using 1d6+1.  hurt.

11:40, Today: Myrrick rolled 20 using 1d20+1.  hit.

Gildan fires two more well aimed arrows at the ghast.

Combat Rolls
Attack roll 1: 19
Damage roll 1: four 6
Attack roll 2: 29
Damage roll 2: 14
This message was last edited by the player at 00:18, Tue 29 Dec 2020.

22:01, Today: Dugger Naderwash rolled 3,7,3,12,2,24,3 using d6+2,d20+4,1d3,d20+4,1d3,d20+4,1d3.  3 more darts.

Forgot to add the +1 to hit for the bless, so second and third attacks should be hits.

Init 3
To hit 8
To hit 13
To hit 25

Damage 3 miss
Damage 2
Damage 3


Dugger flings a few more darts at the ghast.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:45, Tue 29 Dec 2020.

Listen folks: half you guys come on the board, post your rolls, then move on to real life. This is fine except that I'm left deciphering what exactly I am looking at. That takes me a long time. I gave up trying to figure one player's rolls yesterday.

The reality is that we don't get smarter as we get older. I'm certainly not as smart as I used to be, thus I've come up with my way of handling combat that is pretty simple for me, and doesn't take that much of your time.

First: my eyes are not 20/20 anymore. I need you guys to just use the regular font as we all use on RPol. There are a couple of you who like use the super-small script for some damn reason. That makes my job MUCH harder. This isn't a style contest.

Also, the only font's that come clearly are Red, Blue, Dark Blue, Dark Green, Purple, Brown. Contrary to popular belief, orange is not a good color for 2 reasons: On some browsers it does not show through clearly. Also, it's the same color as PMs which might cause some confusion.

Second: This is the way I want you to transcribe your combat rolls. I've said this a number of times, I'll keep saying until you guys get it right:

The first thing you roll is Inititive. It is 1x/combat.

The second thing is To hit/AKA 'attack.' Those terms are synonymous (same meaning). If you have more than one attack, your 'To Hit' should reflect that in column form. I will illustrate that in my example.

Damage: if you have more than one damage roll then reflect it in column form. This is similar to 'To Hit.'


For example: Bob the Barber has 3 attacks per round with his golden shears. You would reflect it this way: (numbers are made up).

Inititive: 5

To hit: 17
To hit: 14
To hit: 6

Damage: 5
Damage: 7
Damage: 0 miss

Very simple, very straightforward, very easy for me. I should have figured this out earlier, but I didn't. However, moving forward I expect that you will do it this way. Thank you for understanding and for playing. I'm going to keep this post up here as well as in the Rules section.

Edit: Those of you who read this post, please share with your comrades. This is not an easy jaunt, it is a very complex adventure that will only get more complex as the game goes on. I want to make this an adventure that you guys remember for as long as you continue roleplaying. Thanks, The Seer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:38, Mon 28 Dec 2020.

I Can SEEEEEEEE!

Round 2

Back into the breach:
[Private to GM: Ghouls/Ghast 2 init Bearded Devil One 3 init Bearded Devil Two 4 init

Initiative:
Bruno 7
Gregors7
gildan 6
Dugger 6
Myrrick 6
Ulrich 5
Kullonar 4
Selene 2

At this point, I'm going to abbreviate my normal descriptions: Gildan did 20 points damage with 2 arrows & 1 critical hit!. Dugger did a couple more points damage. Myrrick added a bunch more, the ghast gave up the ghost, so to speak (Dead). Selene fired off another round of magic missiles that did 10 points damage to the Infernal. It was a good round for the good guys.

Having taken on wounds and with no recourse, the bearded devil tries to gate in one of his friends. There's a sudden displacement in the air, and then another Bearded Fiend arrives. A gleam shines in both the infernals eyes as they make ready for combat.

DM Note: these infernals have a 35% chance of gating another of their kind - I rolled an 18 - FWIW.

A final note: Thank you for putting up with my demands. I can be a bit caustic at times - I think that's the Navy Petty Officer in me. You guys did great this round - high marks for Gildan and Dugger. It really made a big difference. Now, onto round 3!
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:12, Wed 30 Dec 2020.