In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 57):

Perception roll for good defensive position we passed where we can see the enemy coming from a distance.
Rolled a 15.  BCS was a 4 so missed.

In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 57):

I believe the creature has a way to mesmerize or enthrall you. I have heard stories how it engages in a nice conversation with an unaware victim then has the victim do things for the creature. Eventually they are turned into a huge spider to protect the spider-woman.

That is all I have heard and it is mostly rumor and fire-side talk.

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 59):

Hiro gives a quick bow to Takeshi,"thanks my friend". Turning to Arashi Hiro gives a deeper bow," I will scout the area and see if I can find this creatures lair"

Hiro will attempt to follow the tracks back to where they came from


07:23, Today: Hiro-matsu rolled 3 using 1d20.  Perception. Perception: 11


Once out of site from the group he will switch over to his ninja gear and follow the tracks back if he can. He is only looking for the entrance not going in or getting too close

07:23, Today: Hiro-matsu rolled 18 using 1d20.  Stealth.
Ninjutsu         18 (16+2 for correct uniform, trying to avoid contact)

Hiro does what he does best and moves stealthily in search of the spider womans lair.

After a few minutes he hears a waterfall in the distance and approaches cautiously.
Hiding amongst the foliage, the waterfall comes into view. It is not a strong waterfall, perhaps 10 gallons per minute. The top of the waterfall is about 40ft high and a small stream heads away to the right of the pool created by the falling water. The pool is about 30ft diameter.

Hiro takes another moment to examine the scene. His eyes ensure there are no creatures in the surrounding area from his vantage point. He then focuses on the waterfall itself and sees a darker area surrounded by vegetation just to the right of the stream of falling water about midway up. He soon realizes that this is a cave.

It would be a short climb to get up to the cave from below but there is no easy path for a normal human.

A person could drop from above with a rope... you have not reconned the area the water falls from yet.

In reply to GM KEN (msg # 61):

Hiro isn't going to take chances at this point. He's going to head back (switching back to his normal gear) and let everyone know what he's found.

In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 62):

"Talking to Arshi Hiro says, "I think, if we wish to rid the area of that creature, that we all move forward to the point I spotted the cave at that point I can do more recon if required or we can make a plan to get into the cave."

In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 63):

"Well done Hiro-san, Lets move to a position that we can cover the cave with ranged attacks and then we can discuss entering the cave to ferret this vermin out."

If the intent is to sneak into the position that Hiro acquired, please let me know who is going, who is staying, if any defensive tactics or spells are cast, and give me either ninjutsu or shinobi-jutsu rolls to get stealthily into position. If you do not have stealth skill you may average your Deftness and Will STs (including level bonus).

Stealth modifiers:
-(armor class -2)
-2 for light undergrowth
+5 for noise of crashing water from waterfall

Arashi-san,
the spell I cast to battle the spiders was very powerful. I would like to fly for this combat but that would leave me very little power to combat our foe. If waiting until tomorrow is an option that would be to our advantage. Perhaps we can even lay a trap for her if she decides to seek out her missing spiders instead of entering her lair.

In reply to Takeshi Oshiro (msg # 66):

"Yes, we will stealthily take up position around the cave entrance and watch for it to leave its lair.  If it does we engage, if not then you can rest to full power and "we" will enter the cave when you are at full power."

Arashi will keep at distance from the cave seeking a location that offers cover and a clear view of the entrance.

Focus Ki for stealth.

13:48, Today: Arashi Fukushu rolled 18 using 1d20.  Focus Ki for Stealth 3.

Deftness 10, will 4,= avg 7, +4 waterfall, -2 armor, -2 brush = bcs7?

14:08, Today: Arashi Fukushu rolled 8 using 1d20.  Stealth BCS 7.

It was a small twig!

In reply to Arashi Fukushu (msg # 67):

Hiro did you see a good place for an ambush anywhere along our path to where we are headed?
How about a good open area along the way where we can see people/spiders coming from a distance?

If we are going near either of these places I think we should stop there first and let everyone get back to full strength before getting too close to the cave.

We should let the stealthy people go as far ahead of us a possible where we can still see them in the distance but hopefully not far enough to give away there position (at least one of them if Hiro wants to stay out of our sight that is fine).

We do not want to give away all of our positions since some of us are not skilled in stealth.

Ito, how does your spell work with the second chance.  If something goes wrong and you reset time will we have to do the whole day over including battling the spiders again or could you pick to start over from this point in time?

I will wear my armor until we get to the ambush/open site where we will stop at.  Hiro let me know if we are getting close to the cave.


Totsu Deftness 11 will 5 average is 8 armor is -6-2?  +/- other modifiers.  Totsu rolled a 3 (I am a leaf on the wind)

Totsu will place himself a few yards ahead of the group similar to the last marching order we had last time.  Keeping himself between any approaching threat and the group.

Totsu will keep an eye out for the open area/ambush site(s) that Hiro mentions.
If Hiro did not see any than Totsu will look for such a site.
Perception BCS of 4 rolled a 7

Totsu will be suspicious of any person he spots, especially if they are alone.
Basically if he spots someone alone his assumption is that they are this spider woman.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Thu 02 Sept 2021.

GM NOTE
Upon attaining the rank of samurai in service to the Michizane clan, Arashi has become the head of this group in a formal sense. Most of the group looks to him for direction while still giving him options.

Totsu's over-riding of Arashi's plan is not accepted well in the class structure of Nippon (Japan). I will leave it to you the PCs to play out but Arashi has all the power here - his final order will always stand as direction.

In reply to GM KEN (msg # 69):

Forgot Arashi got promoted, but knew he was officially in charge.
I wasn't really sure if we were still discussing options or that the plan had already been decided.  Usually we have some back and forth before we decide on things.

Oops, yeah that was bad to do in front of the non group members.

This message was deleted by the player at 01:41, Fri 03 Sept 2021.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 70):

As soon as Totsu realizes he over rode Arashi orders he will immediately make an official formal apology in front of everyone and request Arashi forgiveness.

Then Totsu will humbly request consul with Arashi in Private.

As soon as Totsu and Arashi get away from the others Totsu will ask Arashi to call over Takeshi and Hiro.  I guess we would invite Ayare as well, I assume she is still part of our official group.

So we can discuss how our "Group" will function.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Fri 03 Sept 2021.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 72):

OCC: Arashi in command is purely for role playing aspects. I want everyone to have fun and contribute their own ideas.  I dont mean to step on toes or run the game.  So please OCC what you want to do, if that works for everyone.

Assuming we are in position over seeing the cave entrance from a secluded or camouflaged location were we can rest up.  Arashi engages the party in tactical discussion.

"Totsu, Hiro, Ito, and valued party members is there a flaw in my strategy to guard the entrance and rest to full power?"

"When we are ready how shall we proceed to infiltrate the cave?"

In reply to Arashi Fukushu (msg # 73):

OOC:  I usually don't have time to respond to things until the evening so if something comes up during the day if we could wait until I have a chance to look at something in the evening before deciding it would be appreciated.

Arashi can I talk with you in Private?



In character Totsu would still request to talk to you in private and then have you bring in whoever is in our "group" to discuss with you how it is difficult to openly discuss things with non group members around due to societal rules.  Especially when Lady Sasumi is around.
He indicates that if he desires to work as a group he is going to have to make sure that he allows us to discuss things amongst our group outside of non-group members (Not sure if we consider Ito as part of the group yet?) .


Totsu would like to hear everyone's opinions in private to see if he is the only one who thinks we should wait before going after spider woman.  It appeared to him that Takeshi was requesting to wait as well.
He also wanted to point out that it would be best to avoid another encounter today because he is not sure but if Ito resets things he thinks everything we accomplished with taking out the spiders would have to be repeated and the second time might not work out as well.
If we wait until the next day we will again have Ito's blessing to assist us.

Plus our mission is to get the box back safely.  If we engage with Sipder women and fail we have no fall back plan to make sure the box gets back to Jizai to ensure at least that part of the mission is accomplished.

Totsu guesses that the spider women is probably out looking for her pets or will be shortly.  He suggest trying to set up an ambush for her and in the interm to find a good defensive position until we are ready to go after her the next day.

Maybe we lure her into a trap.  I suggest using Totsu as bait or possibly Totsu along with another person (maybe Ito).  Then have Hiro and or Ayare hiding along with Arashi with his bow out at a distance to attack when we get her into position.
Another option is to have Hiro stake out the cave entrance to see if she exits and observe where she heads off to set up something on her way back.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 74):

Hiro will think upon Arashi's words. "As you know Arashi-san, I am not much use against spider creatures in combat, but once everyone is in position perhaps I could sneak in further and let you know what the inside of the cave looks like. In the case of me being spotted I could lead the creatures out to your position where you may destroy them."

In reply to Hiro-matsu (msg # 75):

So it sounds to me like Hiro is in favor of leading the spiders or spider women into some kind of trap.  Correct me if I'm wrong Hiro.  Is Hiro in favor of taking a more defensive position today and getting everyone back to full strength or going straight to the cave now?

What is Takeshi's preference?  It sounded like he would prefer to be at full strength.  That quicksand spell worked great.  Do we want to have this available in case their are more or perhaps some other spells he could use against spider women?  Does Takeshi have a preference for bringing them into an ambush or heading straight to the cave?

Does Ayare have a preference?

Ron/Ken, how does this reset spell work?  Does it start the whole day over or start any place in the day that it is desired?

Takeshi reviews the options, his methodical brain review the advantages and shortcomings of each plan.
A plan to lure creatures out of the cave and ambush them holds some credit but, in his experience, there are too many variables. All have to fall in the right place to give their group the upper hand. He is also concerned that whatever is left in the cave is better suited for this environment, an attempted ambush in the woods or on the road could backfire.

His mind settles on Arashi's plan but it must be implemented quickly, before she has time to react to her missing spiders.

"Given the information available, the odds favor Arashi's plan to sneak into position and wait for her to act. We have the advantage of surprise. This assumes she does not know we are here and that there is not a back exit from the cave.
As always, Hiro will take the necessary risks to make our plan more likely to succeed."

Takeshi nods to Hiro in thanks, then looks once more to Arashi for final direction.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 76):

Ayare is surprised when Totsu asks her opinion but admits that she knows little of such strategies and is not very helpful. She offers to stay near Lady Sasumi and help where she can.

In reply to Totsu (msg # 76):

As the party cold camps in their secluded location overlooking the cave entrance, waiting for Takeshi to regain his magical might.

"Totsu what on your mind?"

"Yes, the ambush would be ideal compared to having to go in an unknown cave, but it is predicated on the spider woman cooperating with the plan. Do any of you know anything about the creatures strengths or weakness?  What is known about their proclivities?  Is it likely to exit its cave and search for prey or do they tend to just sit in their lairs waiting for their webs to catch their prey? Will it investigate its lost minions?  I think we should quietly discuss what we do know about this creature. If someone has information that gives us better insight into it then we can change things up.

For now, if it has not appeared by the time Takeshi regains his power, I think Hiro should sneak up to the cave and scout it out.  If he think he can go in the cave and lure it out, we can try that ambush option; or he can explore it further.   If he thinks a stronger party should just enter in strength, then I and any who will accompany me will proceed into the cave."

"That's where I am at in all this right now."

Arashi looks for further input from everyone.

"Thoughts?"

In reply to Arashi Fukushu (msg # 79):

I think fighting a creature in it's own layer would benefit the queen.  I would think it would be very difficult for our group (I would be wearing armor) to sneak up on her so doubtful we would surprise her.
If we can draw her out it would probably benefit us much more than her.
She may have poisonous attacks so fighting her from a distance also probably benefits us more than her.
If she leaves the cave maybe we set up assuming she comes back the same path that she left and we can fight her more on our terms.  Maybe if we know she is coming back we set up that she has to run into a small group first (Maybe just me say 40 yards away?) while others are within range to attack her but possibly out of range from being attacked by her.  I am most effective from close contact but having some distance might be better for others.

Any scenario where we can have part of the team (spell casters/people who cannot harm her) from close contact with spider woman would benefit them.

Those are my thoughts.


OOC:  Never heard back how this resetting of time spell works?

The group stealths into position to watch the cave.

Arashi stealth: -1
Totsu stealth:   1
Lady Sasumi:    -6
Ayare:           9
Takeshi:         6
Ito:

Need stealth role for Ito. See post 65 for modifiers.

Hiro. I will assume you get into a position with eyes on the cave before the others come in so as to look for any movement. How close do you want to set up and give me stealth and perception rolls.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:45, Thu 09 Sept 2021.

In reply to GM KEN (msg # 81):

Hiro will move off and change again and then get into the position first, he wants to be in range of Takashi's spells or the bow range, which ever is closer. Once everyone arrives and gets into position, providing there is nothing happening,  Hiro will move up to the cave from below and climb up to the cave and look in.



11:39, Today: Hiro-matsu rolled 1 using 1d20.  Stealth.     (18)
11:38, Today: Hiro-matsu rolled 5 using 1d20.  perception.  (11)
11:41, Today: Hiro-matsu rolled 8 using 1d20.  climb.       (20)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:45, Thu 09 Sept 2021.