The Wolf
Contents
The DM: In.
Vafrandir: In.
The DM: Pandred's blow twists the wolf around and it turns over on the ground, landing unconscious among the ground nettles. There are two gashes in its body, from each of the two hits Pandred has given it. The wolf brown-grey body is breathing rapidly, as it is near death; but the fur is also possessed of a greyish radiance, indicating the creature is somehow magical.
Embla feels a disturbance in the air around you, suggesting from her heightened awareness that the party and the wolf are not alone.
The DM: What do you want to do, Vafrandir?
Vafrandir: [OOC: Let me know if the Present label above is distracting or unnecessary.]
- The DM: [OOC: I kind of like it]
Vafrandir: I will press the advantage and hope to finish the wolf with my shortsword: 14 raw, 16 to hit; 4 raw, 5 dmg.
- The DM: You can't miss, so it is automatic damage (see Helpless Defenders). The wolf is dead.
Vafrandir: Is Embla able to alert me that we are not alone? Otherwise, I have no reason to delay and will continue towards the airship, hopefully encouraging my companions to follow.
The DM: Yes, I'll grant that some benefits from their character's knowledge ought to be available.
- The DM: I failed to say earlier how far away your camp was; let's say it took an hour to climb up here. After ten minutes of working your way down again, you can see about 75 yards away, another wolf. It is just staring at you.
Vafrandir: I point my sword at the wolf. "What do you want? Who is your master?"
The DM: No answer.
Vafrandir: Worth a shot, no indication they can understand or desire to communicate anyway. We push forward: my personal combat options are limited but if the wolf really intends to stop us it'll have to get closer than that.
The DM: The wolf follows. Soon after, five or ten minutes later, there are three of them. You find yourself at the top of a defile between two large outcroppings, where the passage between is about ten feet deep, five feet wide and thirty feet long. This is how you came up through the country, climbing upwards; you know from here it is just a mile to reach your camp.
Vafrandir: Does there appear any other way around the defile? I'm wary of entering a chokepoint like that.
The DM: All around it looks as though you'd have to climb down the outer edges of the rocks; the defile is a passage way through exposed rock ledges and falls.
Vafrandir: Looks like the best way through is through. I'll ask Pandred to lead and Embla to bring up the rear. We will move at a wary pace.
The DM: You'll have to lead. If you get into a fight, you're on your own unless another player shows up.
- The DM: Sorry, I'm saying you need to confirm you understand that you're going out in front if you move ahead from here.
Vafrandir: Understood. I'll lead and step into the defile, watching the outcrop above as I do.
The DM: As you come out the bottom, a single wolf is there, five hexes away, growling menacingly.
Vafrandir: I'm willing to take on a full wolf pack solo but I'm not that stupid. Would you mind if I jumped out until at least another player became available?
- The DM: That must be an option. Granted.
Pandred Joins
Pandred: In.
Pandred: And none too soon! I take the lead. Let's rumble.
Vafrandir: Glad to see you!
Pandred: Glad to be seen!
Vafrandir: I advance towards the wolf. Let's go side-by-side.
Pandred: Done deal.
The DM: The wolf gives ground and does not engage ... but as Pandred and Vafrandir emerge from between the rocks, you can see five of them now.
Vafrandir: "Pandred, let's think about this. Keep your back to the rocks, I'm not interested in getting flanked. What's our best strategy here?"
Pandred: "We got any jerky? Buy 'em off?"
- The DM: Would you not have left it at the camp?
Vafrandir: Probably traveling light. Perhaps we can scare them off. Are there any loose rocks about?
The DM: Surprisingly, no. The hard rock of shield country belies the presence of broken rock having fallen off mountain slopes; so that while there is rock all about, it is split and covered with lichen rather than loose and lying about.
Pandred: What if we retreat? Back up, see if they go into the choke to follow us or disperse?
Marcule Joins
Marcule: In.
Marcule: "I could cast a Cantrip?"
Vafrandir: What do you have in mind? Does anyone have ranged weapons?
The DM: Answering Pandred: it's difficult to tell if these wolves are the same you saw above the defile. You have no special ability to recognize one animal from another. There is a real chance of you being trapped in the defile between two groups.
The DM: Yes, a cantrip is possible.
Marcule: "The best cantrip I could do would be a mouse, I also have a blow dart"
Pandred: If Odds is with us he has my Crossbow. I have an axe to throw as well.
The DM: Oddsdrakken is in Treborg. Quote: "Pandred: Confirmed from me. Also Odds is staying behind. I don't think I have need of him for this errand."
Marcule: I cast Phantasmal Figure.
The DM: Done.
Marcule: "Ready when everyone else is"
Vafrandir: If we move together in tight formation, we may be able to break through.
Pandred: Fine. I'll stay side by side with Vafrandir like we said, Marcule an Em can bring up the rear. No fear!
The DM: So the party is doing a flying "V" in true Mighty Ducks tradition?
Pandred: Well when you say it like that it doesn't sound as good.
The DM: Just looking for clarification.
Marcule: I pull out my blowdart pausing to confirm with a eye nod at everyone before i shoot
Marcule: Out (back in 10).
The DM: So far, I'm not seeing a definite confirmation of any movement. The players are standing with their backs to the rock formation, facing five wolves, none of which are attacking but all are showings signs of aggression. I need a definite statement of movement before we can go on. Are you rushing the wolves in the pattern formation discussed?
Marcule: In
Vafrandir: We will move out in the formation Pandred proposed.
Pandred: Seconded. Hroagh!
The DM: The wolves break, scatter, and then blink out of existence. What is the party's stride just now?
Vafrandir: I'll say Stride 2 (walk).
The DM: And are you hanging around?
Pandred: No thank you. Let's mosey.
Marcule: The figure and I walk together.
Vafrandir: I follow.
The DM: Assume the figure does what you do; the only relevant question is how far is it from you (5-30 feet). As far as the other player characters know, the figure is a real person, though they couldn't say where he/she came from, what his/her name is or how it came to be, only that it is naturally a welcome member of the party. All that is part of the spell.
First Attack
The DM: After you've moved on about a hundred yards (your camp is 1600 yards away), a wolf will blink in next to Pandred and make an attack. Pandred, please roll a d6 with me for initiative. You've seen that these creatures can blink in, so I discount your being surprised.
Pandred: 1. And Out for a bit, sadly.
The DM: Well, I've got to follow through with the attack. I got a 2, so on a d20, a 5. It misses, Pandred declines the attack and the wolf blinks out.
The DM: After another hundred yards, Vafrandir, you're attacked. A d6, please.
Vafrandir: [2].
The DM: I roll a 6. On a d20, 17, hitting AC 2. I presume that hits ... causing 3d4 damage: 7.
Vafrandir: I'm stunned.
The DM: Marcule? I forewent asking after Pandred, since Pandred wasn't hit and the battle was over because Pandred stepped out. But you have a missile and the figure; do you wish to engage the wolf with either, or yourself, to distract it from Vafrandir?
Marcule: the figure and I (2 hexs apart) approach the wolf. myself is the one standing between the wolf and Vafrandir
Marcule: Can I still shoot the wolf with my blowdart?
The DM: Yes. Fire. You can't quite stand between Vafrandir and the wolf, but you can perhaps get the wolf to attack the figure instead (50/50) or stun/drive off the wolf with the dart.
Marcule: I shoot (11)
The DM: You're +1 from your 16 dexterity, but that still would miss. The wolf attacks the figure, missing with an 8. Beginning tomorrow, we'll start with Vafrandir's response and yours, Marcule, remembering that you're just 1500 yards from your camp. There's always a tiny possibility you could be heard by the giant if you get closer, as sometimes in the wilderness you can be heard from quite a ways off. Meanwhile, I'm going to step off. This was an amazing running today, with lots of replies and steady responses. I'm really appreciating this signing in/out process. It seems to work great.
The DM: Out.
Vafrandir: Yes, it seemed to go much better! Looking forward to tomorrow.
Vafrandir: Out.
Marcule:out
Vafrandir: In.
The DM: In/Out. Got a chore to perform. I'll be an hour.
The DM: In.
The DM: Shall we give it a bit to see if someone else appears and helps you fight wolves, Vafrandir?
Vafrandir: Yes, please.
Pandred: In.
Vafrandir: I attack the wolf: 14 raw, 16 to hit; 3 raw, 4 dmg.
Pandred: Let me know when you want me to swing, I know my exit fluffed the turn order a little.
The DM: Vafrandir, that hits and as expected, the wolf blinks out. Pandred, and all, this is a linear combat, so turn order isn't that relevant. I'm not creating a hex map to support the combat because it's a running mess, with wolves popping in and out spontaneously. We're 100 yards from where the wolf attacked Pandred earlier, and that was a different wolf.
The DM: So, just now, as said, 1500 yards from your camp, out in the open, wolf has just disappeared. What do you do?
Vafrandir: We keep moving. "Dilhak! Can you hear us?"
The DM: Speed please. Keep moving at what stride?
Vafrandir: Stride 2 (walk)
The DM: Now, see, right there, that's a TPK. I've described five wolves trailing the party; they blink in and blink out; so far, they've been timid, because Pandred killed the first one right off. But they're not going to be timid forever, and just now I could easily, and rightfully say, FIVE wolves appear and attack the party. Why? Because the party is walking, not running, towards a huge giant who could conceivably handle, or help the party handle, this many wolves. Perhaps it is a lack of clarity. The wolves are attacking every 100 yards because YOU ARE WALKING. If you had been running this whole time, at stride-8, the wolves would be attacking every 400 yards. That is apparently not clear; apparently, you think they're attacking every 100 yards because I'm picking an arbitrary number, and my asking what speed you're moving has no impact on what's going on. Hm. What should a DM do?
Vafrandir: I just didn't connect the dots. But I should have. Let's haul ass then: Stride 8, if you'll allow.
The DM: In the past, I've remarked on players not taking the game seriously enough, and how I should have killed them, instead of mollycoddling players by giving them warnings that they're acting self-destructively. On the other hand, I've chided myself and others for not teaching players well enough to recognize when they're in a moment of imminent death, and that a DM ought to ask, "Are you sure?" when players make a blatantly bad decision. So, rock and a hard place. Were we surrounding a game table, you would be able to hear the stress in my voice each time I described a wolf attacking; you'd feel the emotion of a wolf backing away by blinking whenever it's hit. But here, there's no urgency, no plain threat, no conveyance that things are DIRE. So would it be fair, I wonder, to just have five wolves appear and practically kill you, as they do 3-12 damage on a hit? Hm. Thinking ...
The DM: It's not as easy as just letting you run now. You SHOULD have connected the dots. And you didn't. That SHOULD have a consequence. I'm just thinking what it would be. I'm sure that if we were playing around a table, this wouldn't have come up. But it keeps coming up in text-play, and I'd like to know why players keep underestimating the danger in these situations. For the purpose of future play, you understand.
Vafrandir: I understand. We can't see each others faces or hear voices (and I don't think those are solved through simple video either). There's something in the air when a group of people gather that's missing here. Do what you must!
Pandred: Hroagh.
The DM: That's just it. I don't know what I "must" do. This keeps happening, which means the communication is the problem. What should I have said or done that would have conveyed the danger sufficiently here?
The DM: All right. Embla showed up on Monday's page, so she's probably joining in. I'm going to have three wolves appear and attack, 1400 yards out from the camp, the party still moving at walking speed. But I'll wait for a few minutes until she's "in."
