You might consider having Valda and Willa bring back even more supplies, since they only have to make the trip one way, once you fully provision yourselves.
The journey back is without incident. I've rolled a wandering monster encounter (because there are ticks and things in the tunnels, but you don't meet anything).
I will need a d20 roll from Engelhart, Embla and Rob.
To calculate the distance that can be covered in one day, subtract the numbers under the columns, "fewer miles ..." from the base distance travelled. Roads ignore subtractions associated with vegetation. Vegetation is assumed to be off road. Both roads and vegetation are cumulative with subtractions under "elevation change."
Elevation change depends on the general nature of the slope. Hills can be walked over; scattered peaks are marked by areas that require scrambling, where the character must use hands occasionally when moving overland. Dense peaks are marked by actual rock climbing, where sufficient areas require both hands and feet to overcome obstacles.
Thus, a group of adventurers moving with 3 AP start with a base movement rate of 20. They enter a subterranean dungeon, equivalent to "path & woodland," and have that movement rate cut by 8 miles. They then descend a distance of 350 feet throughout the day, and have that movement rate cut further by 5 miles.
Result, the party is able to travel through the subterranean at a speed of 7 miles per day.
79 comments:
d20 roll: 8.
d20 roll is a 16.
d20 roll : 8
[we are now at -15% stats, no?]
Embla and Rob, could you please both roll a d6?
d6 : 3
I'll give Embla a few more minutes.
[I'm away from my dice - would you roll, Alexis?]
Embla rolls a 4.
And since Embla is away from her dice, I will continue. Embla fails against her charisma; and when Rob gives the half-orc a bit of advice, Embla takes a swing at him.
a
Embla wins the initiative and rolls a 14 ~ For Embla, that hits AC 5.
[I'm just going to have a bit of lunch. I'm starving. Be back in 25 min.]
This definitely hits my AC of 10.
I'm just at a DQ buying something. Rob, even as you're hit, you see that Embla is sorry. But I need you to roll a d20 against your dexterity. You take 1 damage from the punch.
d20 : 8 ( versus a dexterity of 7 ) -> failure
[noted]
Rob wouldn't need to make a check at all, except that he's tired and hungry, and the swing was unexpected.
So I don't cripple him with a bad ankle, I'll say he slips and knocks himself into the side wall of the passage, cracking a finger on his right hand. This is 1 point of injury; it will take 10 points of healing to cure this one point of injury.
[home again]
technically, Rob, your dexterity is down 15% ... so it is less than a 6 just now.
Ouch!
Embla I'm sorry if my advice was offensive but this is no way to treat a comrade in arms!
Ouch!
If it helps any, I have determined the actual distance of the journey to be equal to 7 miles. I've added a table on the page above.
Working on a quick explanation of that table.
Explanation written. That should answer Rob's earlier question.
[ Thank you for the explanation, and yes, I've seen the small notes on the table now. ]
Given my reduced strenght, I can carry up to 83lbs.
Following the weight of my base equipment and the computations I gave during the precedent post, I can carry enough blanket, food and candles for 2 persons for 3.5 days (or, 4 days and 3 days).
That is, presuming the manager of this endeavour let's us take that much supplies (there was also some talk about getting some workers down there).
If the surface party, then, wants to figure out its purchases and its plan. If you reduce your action points travel down to 2 AP, it will take you 2 days to get back to the party. On the other hand, if you send multiple groups down, at different speeds ...
I've created a different post for the players who are deep in the dungeon.
[I'm going to wait for them to manifest themselves.]
I ask the man responsible (Hamish?) for the much needed supplies: blanket, candle, food.
And I also enquire about the workforce : as we have secured a deeper part of the caverns we have found the traces of a large frogling "throne room" : we'd appreciate a few able bodied workers with a few planks, rope and nails to facilitate our securing of these remote tunnels.
Or do I suspect his interest at this point would be to close down the access this huge, unexplored, space?
Hamish is very interested in the size of this cavern; he is uncertain that he has the finances for a deep delve of this nature. He wants to know if you can guarantee the safety of any men you take into the caverns with you, meaning, a) that you will take all reasonable action to ensure they are safe, fed, and not required to fight for their lives, and b) if you are willing to put up the stake of 30 g.p. to the porters' families for each that dies.
(or is permanently injured).
(Curiously, 30 gp is all that I've currently to my name)
Yes, I'll sternly vouchsafe for the men's lives and safety, physical, spiritual and financial.
I'll describe our rough needs for materiel (variable, depending on how many men do end up coming back down with us,plus retainers).
I'll also settle for a warm meal and some shut-eye, taking the care to cast Cure Light Wounds on Rob's injury and spare a few non-judging and ammenable words on companionship to Embla.
He can provide you with three strong porters, each of whom can carry up to 100 lbs while moving at a rate of 3 AP. They've been paid. Hamish can give you all the blankets you can carry, all the food you can carry, about 30 lbs. of candles and three more lanterns, and all the torches you can carry.
Will that do?
Count on a hot meal.
[ I have enough money to put up the stakes for quite a few. ]
I think there are 3 main questions then:
* how much men do we think we need to make that 7.5 feet wide bridge (a few sturdy planks should suffice, no?)
* how much do we have to pay for additionnal food (when does he stop providing?)?
* how much can a worker carry down there in a day?
Also, rather than (or, in addition to) costly candles, wouldn't getting a bag of charcoal for a continuous fire (wich can be used to cook warm meal) be interesting?
About the worker, I think 2 of them would be engouh (especially since we have the other followers).
Technically, though it may not have sunk in, the party is working for the city of Stavanger. Hamish has a mandate to "plunder the dungeon" for everything that can be found in it, then make it safe from any creatures that may try to take residence there. When he is done, it is hoped that a high level druid will ensure the space becomes a natural, healthy underground. Possibly a residence for a gnome colony, as a gesture to the kingdoms of Lenglin and Nanbrun, both in Norway and both existing as gnomish kingdoms.
So long as Hamish feels the party is contributing to that mandate, and so long as he can afford it, he will keep the taps turned on. He will hint that it may be time to send someone to Stavanger with word of the party's discoveries, to increase the venture or at least the financial support.
I'd rather take porters in excess than be left stranded. Two of them for food, one for carrying blankets and light fixtures. What do you say?
Even a plank walkway seems like too much commitment until we've *actually* hit on some treasure.
Our own stout backs put into it and we can make do with a few solid days of exploration without coming up for air.
Okay, I've answered the worker/porter question.
Charcoal is serviceable, but it won't burn on its own like modern briquettes. It needs an existing fire, which can then be sustained with charcoal. This won't mean having to take down more than about three logs and some kindling, about 5 lb. worth.
As long as that gap remains unbridged, there's always a chance some misstep will loosen a stone or a log and send someone teetering over the waterfall ...
Then lets put it another way: how much time and weight in material would it set us back to build such a crossing? No one among us is a sapper, and we'd probably need to have one look at the situation, yes?
Two boards, bound together, that were 12 feet long and six inches wide, could be laid side by side to make a plank bridge. A dozen slats could be brought down afterwards, each three foot long, to make the plank bridge five feet wide. Once any of the porters make their way down, they would be able to find their way back again; but they would want guards to protect them.
I can't find any plank in stavanger market. How much would enough to bridge the gap weight?
Here's my count so far:
blankets 80.74
candles 30
3 lanterns 5.01
charcoal (10 days) 24.25
firewood 5
planks for brigde: ~50lbs (based on lumber in the market)
total : 195 lbs.
Counting the 3 porters and me we can take 370lbs. What about you guys and the followers?
[PLease disregard my first sentence regarding planks, I did find them as "boards".]
Very well, I do keep forgetting that the gap is actually easier to traverse than what my initial preconception pointed to.
Make it 125 pounds for me to carry.
I'll gladly carry as many sacks of potatoes and beans as it'll stretch, along with a cooking pot to provide our improvised camp with a centerpiece.
Lothar will have to speak for the retainers.
What will your speed be at 125 lbs, Engelhart? At 171 lbs., with a 13 strength, I see 125 lbs as being your maximum weight to be -3 AP from a maximum of 5, or a movement of 2 AP. Are you counting your clothes, boots, other assorted equipment, etc? At 2 AP, it will take you a full two days to return to the subterranean party.
I need to ask you the same question, Rob. Are you counting your regular equipment? If you meet something on the way down, I assume you'll still have your weapon. I do have you at 89 lbs. being your maximum for having 3 AP, but does that count everything you're carrying?
We Norwegians are chill about being in the nude.
(Corrected, I was grossly simplificating.)
Better make it a round 100 lb.
That would still leave you with 2 AP.
Don't seem like it.
I did leave *all* my equipment behind, weapon and all.
The weights I annouced take my equipment into account.
With my reduced Strength I've counted I can carry up to 83lbs. and still have 3 AP.
I mentionned earlier I stripped of my armor and shield but I kept my club.
If we have 43lbs. to spare, I'll also take down the backpack that I left up here.
I'm not sure if that was a joke or a contention, Engelhart.
Whatever you're carrying, anything over 93 lbs. will remove more than 2 AP from your maximum of 5 AP. You can carry anything from 63 to 93 lbs and remain at 3 AP ... but once you go over that, so that you're carrying 94 to 125 lbs, you minus 3 AP from your maximum of 5, so that you will moving at 2 action points.
According to the table I posted above, that will slow your movement in the cavern to 4 miles per day. That means it will take two days to travel the miles to the party.
I need to know if you will be going alone, or with someone else, or with everyone else, because I need to know how long Mikael and Lothar are going to starve.
[ We still need to know how much Fjall and Valda can carry, I have their strength at respectively 10 and 14 but I don't know about their current equipment weight. Also, we nned the same info for Embla. ]
No, I wasn't being facetious this time, Alexis, I was just being wrong.
You're correct, of course, I've been reading the "-3" as 3 AP. Sorry if I seemed bullheaded, been a long day.
I scale my weight commitment back to 80 pounds.
They'll cut their carried weight down to 24 lbs. each. Valda weighs 130 lb. and Willa weighs 152. Valda's strength is 15 and Willa's is 16. Fjall's strength is 10.
I calculate Valda at being able to carry another 49 lbs and still move at 3. Willa can carry an additional 67 lbs.
I can bear 90lbs of equipment and still move at 3AP.
26 lb. for a cooking pot (which I'm assuming we either have on our baggage train or that Hamish will be amenable to provide).
54 pounds of food, at 4 pounds per person per day, make for 13,5 "person-days" of food. Our company now consisting of us 5, three retainers and three porters, means I'm carrying just a little over a day's worth of alimony.
Of course, once we strike camp, the workers can be at ease enough to consume just the 2 pounds. Return trips promise much better returns by the fact that the blankets, iron pot and boards will all be in place by then.
Wait, scratch that. Reduced STR.
I can carry 86lbs of equipment and still move at 3AP
Damn, I forgot to apply that reduced strength to Engelhart, too. That takes the maximum down to 87 lbs., Englehart.
Valda and Willa, and the three porters, are all fit and ready.
Arguably, it only takes one party member to take everything down to the others. Two party members could stay one day and get a full rest.
Ok, so, let's sum up.
carrying capacity (3AP):
Rob 70 lbs.
3 porters 300 lbs.
Valda 49 lbs.
Willa 67 lbs.
Engelhart 80 lbs.
Embla 86 lbs.
TOTAL CAPACITY : 652 lbs.
Supplies:
pot 26 lbs.
blankets 80.74 lbs.
candles 30 lbs.
lantern 5.01 lbs.
charcoal (10days) 24.25 lbs.
firewood 5 lbs.
planks 50 lbs.
TOTAL SUPPLIES : 221 lbs.
That leaves room for 431 lbs. of food, or enough food for 11 persons for 9.79 days of full activity.
All seems in order for me (in particular, we have about the same amount of food and fuel). Anyone has another proposition?
Alexis, is that with one of the porters bearing the necessary materials to make v1 of the bridge?
Since I am the one with the magic axe, I think I'd better go with Valda, Willa, and the porters, just in case that disappearing critter reappears.
Why don't Englehart and Rob take today to rest where the food won't diminish our supplies and come down with another load the next day?
Engelhart, you're still good on your 80lbs commitment with your reduced carrying capacity?
I don't know... it'll cost us, yes, but I feel like it would hurt our morale to not share the burden as a cohese group.
In other words, I don't want to be left behind resting while our companions rot down there.
I'll go too, we'll mend together.
So, just for giggles, let's try these rules here [don't hate me].
Calculating your water needs, I get, in lbs., Embla (5.3), Engelhart (4.7), Lothar (2.7), Mikael (2.6), Rob (4.5), Valda (3.6), Willa (4.2), Fjall (3.9). The three porters (Gilby, Gjest and Grim) average at 5.5 each
Total, 47.9 per day, or 5.74 gallons.
No, will need to knock it back a notch. (heh, third time its been reduced, though this time through little fault of my own).
I'll go in at 75 lb. Your summing up seems bang on the money otherwise (once you've accounted for similar reductions for Embla and yourself).
Then let's get back down there - we've folks to succor.
Alexis: why am I not giggling?
Anyway, you're right, of course, we did forget all about water but... whatever did our Ranger say about the quality of the abundant trough tap?
Yes, Embla, the planks count as one of these porters. Hamish cannot spare a fourth person.
The ranger did not examine the water. But I am more than prepared to retcon it, as it would be reasonable. The water was "pleasant-tasting" ... meaning that a gastro-intestinal disease is a 1 in 100 or a 1 in 1000 chance. Mind you, that's a flat chance. Either it does or it doesn't. It isn't rolled multiple times, say per day.
[ I already accounted for this reduction on me. I don't know about Embla. ]
So until correction, we can take an additionnal 426lbs. of food or water.
Note that my magic allow me to purify up to 8 gallons of water per day. We already have enough waterskins for 1 gallon. Should we take an empty keg (5.2gallon ; 20.38lbs) or two with us?
Ah, gastro-intestinal disease... welcome darkness, my old friend.
It would seem that we can count on watering trips to run smoothly, with a bucket being lowerable up until fairly late on the way, that will provide us with all the water we might need, yes?
Ok, we'll still need to drop a few pounds of food for some waterskins.
Would make more sense than carrying the water. Water has not been scarce in the cavern. If the water deeper down is less pure, Rob's got you covered. And chances are very low the cavern water will infect anyone anyway. But it is your call.
Did I designate a wineskin at 2 quarts?
[This is it for today. Tomorrow, I have to quest outwards for a meeting, but I will be taking my computer with me. I should be incommunicado in and out, and should be home by Noon, about the time we'll lose Engelhart. I'll let you know where I am continuously]
[ Anyway, that's it for me tonight ]
If we take no further containers, we can take 426 lbs of food.
If we take a single 5.2gal. keg, we can take 405 lbs of food. This is my favorite option.
If nothing else is the matter, I feel ready move back down there.
Embla's total was updated by her to 86 lb.
I say we invest on those kegs, yes.
Scratch my remark about kegs, then. Thanks for the clarification, Alexis.
You won't lose me by noon tomorrow, though. I'm resilient (and on leave during friday).
Can the party let me know if you're sorted?
[sadly, I'm going to have to see a doctor today about my ankle; I can walk on it, but I suspect one of the bones is cracked]
[best of luck to your ankle. Hope that's not the sort of injury that stays with you for years and years...]
The choice of the party is to all go back down, together.
I want us to have the containers to hold enough water for a day. Given the two waterskin we already have, a single keg suffices (provided it can be supplied, but that should be that much of a problem, no?).
In addition, we would take 405 lbs of food.
( so far, Embla hasn't commented on the keg situation, and Engelhart seemed happy with only the 2 waterskins (1 gallon only) )
[reminder: additionnal supplies we get down there:
pot 26 lbs.
blankets 80.74 lbs.
candles 30 lbs.
lantern 5.01 lbs.
charcoal (10days) 24.25 lbs.
firewood 5 lbs.
planks 50 lbs.
]
If that's everything, I can write another post and unite the party.
[sorry, I'm not hearing from anyone; I was hoping to write a uniting post before leaving. But I've got to go. I'll try to answer questions and keep in touch]
[My apologies - long night] the keg is a good idea. Once we have it, I am ready to descend back to our fellows.
Englehart?
Keg it away.
great, we're good to go then.
[also, hope it all turns ok with your doctor's appointment.]
Past admitting, sitting in the examination room, waiting for the doctor. I'll post the next piece after I have access to my puter, which is in my bag.
Okay, all is settled, and I'm in front of a keyboard again. The next post is up.
Post a Comment