Kage Gordain Chapter 10: Engaging the Pirates

(Read previous chapter here.)

Game System: Tunnels & Trolls

Tools: rpgsolo.com solo engine; various other generators

[Scene 1]

“They’re trying to flush us out,” Dalen explains to Kristopher, following the failed attempt to lure the pirates into the tunnels, trapping them in an ambush.

“So what’s our next move?”

By now Sylralei has come out of her hiding spot among the rocks and approaches the men. Looking at Kris she asks, “You care what happens to that pirate we have tied up back there?”

“Not particularly.”

“Good, let’s go.”

[Scene 2]

On the way back to where they left Jochim and the pirate Syl explains her plan. If she can cast My Wish Your Command on the pirate she can instruct him to exit the tunnels first, walk up the other enemies in the cave and, when they are not expecting it, attack. While they are occupied with him, the party can then surprise the pirates by entering the cave and attacking.

[For solo purposes, I am handling the charm person spell My Wish Your Command with the same mechanics as Oh Go Away. The only difference is which stats are compared. For this test, Syl has a combined stat score of 47 against the pirate’s 55.  Unfortunately, that means the pirate will be able to roll one extra die and take the highest of the two.]

The eleven wizard crouches down before the seated and bound pirate who looks back at her with disdain. 

“You,” she says, “Are going to help us with a little problem. We need you to distract your friends back there in the cave.”

“Not a chance!” he huffs.

“You don’t really have a choice. My Wish Your Command!”

Hearing Syl’s words, Mr. Penny closes his eyes and his face muscles go slack. He rests that way for several breaths before reopening his eyes and giving Syl a wide grin.

“Not today, honey,” Penny says, dispelling any illusion that Syl’s efforts were successful. [Penny won the dice roll.]

“Damn!” Syl curses.

“So now what?” Kelseen asks.

“Now that we know what we are up against, perhaps we should head back to the Skylark,” Dalen suggests. “They have a full crew of trained fighters who can take care of these rogues. Why risk our lives when we don’t have to?”

“We don’t know if the ship is still there,” Syl counters. “I’m not sure if Jochim can make it to the shore and I don’t want to leave him here. The pirates will certainly kill him when they find him. There’s the treasure to think about. We don’t want them to take it.”

“We can recover that after the navy takes care of the pirates.” Kelseen interrupts.

“If they take care of the pirates. We don’t know how many there are. Captain Pollard might decide it’s best to come back with more troops. In the meantime, they leave with the gold. Besides, it’s what we came here to do.”

“We came here to find out what happened to the missing crews.”

“And take care of any problems we can handle. That’s our mission!”

“You just said we don’t know how many there are. How do we know if we can handle them?”

“I’m with Syl,” Kristopher cuts in, disrupting the women’s squabble. “I’ve been in Jochim’s position. We may not be dealing with Frogbeard, but these thieves are cut from the same cloth. We need to stop them and stop them now. They can’t be given a chance to slip away.”

Kelseen cries out, “This is insane! Dalen, are you going to go along with this?”

The dwarf thinks for a moment. “We’re sitting ducks if we just walk into that cave. We’ll still need a distraction.”

Kelseen rolls her eyes in disbelief. The dwarf is actually considering this!

“And I might just have one,” Syl says, running her fingers along her snake-headed staff.

[Scene 3]

Kristopher, Dalen, Kelseen and Sylralei watch the snake (which mere moments before was a wizard's staff) slither over the rocks and into the open cavern. Instead of heading directly for the pirates, the reptile makes its way around the edge of the cavern. While not as big a distraction as a human turned trader, Syl hopes that the snake will at least draw enough attention to give the party time to sneak out of the tunnels and attack from behind. And if they are lucky, the little guy might even bite a pirate or two.

Once the snake is about halfway to the cave opening it veers away from the wall, but still in the direction of the mouth of the cave. A pirate near the mouth of the cave is the first to see the creature. He calls out and the others look as well. When all are distracted with their gaze on the snake and not on the tunnel, Dalen climbs out of the tunnel opening.

[Each character must make a LCK SR to successfully sneak in undetected. The more time that passes, the more likely they will be spotted. 1st person, Dalen, must make a L1 SR. The 2nd and 3rd a L2 SR. The 4th a L3 SR.

Dalen rolls 24 and makes it in safe.]

As Kristopher exits the tunnel he takes a quick inventory. He sees the same three pirates in the cave and one of the pirates that he spotted outside.  He has no idea where the fifth is. [Rolled a 26 SR and is safe]

Kelseen is next, but before she even sets her first foot down inside the cave, the pirate who is standing in the cave mouth (and as a result primarily facing the back of the cave) catches a glimpse of Kris and Dalen inside the cave. [Kel rolled a 19, target was 25]

“Intruders!” he calls out.

‘Cruel’ Peyton and the two remaining pirates turn to face Dalen and Kristopher. The snake forgotten, the men charge with swords drawn. The stocky female pirate ignores the human and dwarf and instead moves to intercept Kelseen who is exiting the tunnel.

[Do any pirates ignore Kris and Dalen and go to guard the opening?

(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but… only 1 

Kel must make a DEX SR to be able to fully enter the cave and join in the battle. L2=In with no penalty, L1=In but her attack roll is cut in half.  Kel fails with a 15. Because she is unable to make it out of the tunnel, Kel is effectively blocking Syl from casting any spells.

‘Cruel’ Peyton (M)  S: 27  D: 17  LK: 22  CON: 60 (59)  INT: 16  CHR: 21  SPD: 12  (30 adds)

P1 (M) S: 20  D: 15  LK: 17  CON: 30 (29)  INT: 13  CHR: 18  SPD: 10  (16 adds)

P2 (F)  S: 27  D: 17  LK: 22  CON: 60 (45)  INT: 16  CHR: 21  SPD: 12  (30 adds)

P4 (M) S: 20  D: 15  LK: 17  CON: 30  INT: 13  CHR: 18  SPD: 10  (16 adds)]

Dalen and Kris engage the three male pirates. They parry a bit and are even able to get in a strike or two, but the sea thieves prove to be too much of a match for them. [Pirates win combat by 42 points. Each side gets 2 spite points] Dalen is punched, bashed and stabbed. His armor takes the brunt of the attack, but a good strike to the head drops him [after adjusting for armor, Dalen is down to -1 CON]

Kristopher tries to help his teammate, but doing so gives ‘Cruel’ Peyton an opening. The first mate drives the tip of his sword deep into Kristopher’s side, just above the right thigh. Kris yells in pain and pulls away. Unable to stay on his feet, he falls back landing hard on a sharp rock. The last thing he hears is a crack coming from his pelvis before losing consciousness. [After adjusting for armor and adding spite, Kris is down to -7]

“Retreat!” Syl cries, seeing the situation go bad. She quickly follows that with a Take That You Fiend spell cast as the pirate who is quickly approaching Kelseen. The woman warrior is momentarily conflicted as to what to do as the burst of energy hits the female pirate squarely in the chest. However, the pirate merely winces before lunging at Kelseen with the point of her sword. The warrior turns to retreat but her hesitation costs her as the sword point pierces her armor. Kel falls to the cave floor and loses consciousness.

[The female pirate essentially used round one to travel the distance to the tunnel. So in round 2, she gets an attack, Syl can cast a spell, and Kel can either attack or retreat.  Syl only had enough WIZ for a Level 1 TTYF spell, which automatically did 15 CON damage and counted as part of the attack against the female pirate. Kel tried to flee which meant the pirate got a free attack, minus any adjustments for Kel’s SPEED, -25% for every SPD SR Level she rolls. Unfortunately, she didn’t even reach L1 and has to take full damage.

Pirate wins the combat by 30 points, all of which are applied to Kel, dropping her to -1 after armor adjustment.

As all this was going on, I checked to see if the chained slaves in the cave could assist the party in any way. Being chained to each other they would have to work together to stand and try to tackle a pirate. I handled this with a DEX SR based on the prisoner with the lowest stat. L1: Pirate is distracted and attack is reduced by half, L2: Pirate is tackled and has no attack.  The prisoners completely failed the roll, so they had no impact and there was nothing to include in the narrative.]

Sylralei doesn’t wait to see Kel’s fate but takes off down the tunnel. Her only thought is to outrun the pirates, exit the cave and survive. If she can do that, perhaps she can make it back to the Skylark, circle the island with the entire navy and take care of the pirates. With any luck, the others will have survived and could be rescued, but that seemed like a long shot at this point.

[The chase will be a contest of SPD. Each party will make a SPD SR (pirates will use the fastest person, 12 SPD). They will get a point for each Level reached. <L1=0, L1=1, L2=2, etc.  If the pirate’s points ever equal Syl’s they catch up. Syl will need 3 rounds to make it out of the tunnels.

Syl starts with a head start equaling 1 + SPD SR points.  She rolls 19. She is at 1 point total.

Round 1:Syl rolls 19=0 points;  Pirates roll 18 = 0 points  Total: Syl:1  Pirates:0]

Guided by the light ahead, Syl runs as fast as she can.  Behind her all four pirates have entered the tunnel and are in pursuit. As she nears Jochim, Syl calls out for him to run. Jochim tries to stand but is still too weak. [STR SR=13, not able to stand] However, he might be able to help. The freed prisoner pulls himself toward the main path. He can’t stop her pursuers, but if he can get in their way, maybe that will give Sylralei a few extra seconds. However, he is too slow and is barely in the path when ‘Cruel’ Peyton and the other rush by, kicking him out of the way as they pass.

[If Jochim could make a L1 LCK SR, Syl would have gotten 1 point and a free SPD roll.  He rolled a 14.

Do any pirates stop to help Clifford Penny the captured pirate?

(Very Likely | 9[d10]) Yes    How many? (d2) 2  

First mate continues, other pirate continuing is (based on d3) P2.  Both have a SPD of 12.]

A couple of the pirates stop to help their tied-up companion as the first mate and the female pirate continue to race after the elf. Sylralei hears their shouts and footsteps and picks up the pace. With the light from the lanterns behind her fading, she quickly casts Will-O-Wisp. The light, however, casts dark shadows along the walls and on the ground hiding a large rock in the middle of the tunnel. She strikes it with her right shin and tumbles to the ground.

[Round 2: Syl: 1,2 which is a critical fail. She gets -1 point;   Pirate: 26=2 points;  

Total: Syl: 0  Pirate: 2 Syl is caught!]

Before Sylralei can get back to her feet, Peyton pounces on her and rams her head into the ground. 

“Quick!” he calls to the female pirate. “Give me your bandana!”

She removes the head covering, hands it to Peyton, and helps him pin their quarry to the ground. Syl struggles but is unable to stop them as Peyton shoves a piece of cloth torn from his own shirt into her mouth and ties the bandana around her head, forming a gag.

“There! Now she won’t be able to cast any spells.”

The two lift Syl to her feet and march her back to the others, where they bind her arms and legs with the ropes that were previously used to hold Penny in place. Lifting her by the shoulders and legs, the pirates carry her back to the cave.

[Struggle was determined by an opposing STR check. Cruel=34  Syl=18.  Syl lost (1d6) 3 CON in the struggle.

Since there is already precedent in the story for the pirates taking prisoners, I’m not going to have them kill the party outright (as would be the case if all party members were down and the enemy is a monster), but instead, take them prisoner. This is good for us since otherwise this would be the end of our story and probably the end of this particular world for me as the majority of Kage Gordain would be wiped out.  However, this decision requires me to determine who is dead or alive in the party after the battle and what sort of condition they are in.

Death checks for downed members of the party (1d10 rolled on my homemade table):

Dalen (-1): 7 = Unconscious

Kel (-1): 6 Unconscious

Kris (-7, on a  roll of 5 or greater he is dead, otherwise he’s seriously wounded): 4  Critical wound in left leg and buttocks. Loss of 3 STR, 6 DEX, and 4 CON till extended rest and treatment. Following the campaign, he will have a permanent loss of half the DEX damage (Drops his max DEX from 14 to 11). Critical wound information generated from this table.]

[Scene 4]

Kristopher opens his eyes.

He finds himself laying on the ground. Moving his head left to right he can tell that, while he is outside, he is in some type of cage or prison, its bars made from bamboo, thick tree limbs, and other types of wood. [Is the cage metal? (Unlikely | 3[d10]) No +Event (to be revealed later)] In the cage with him are several men and one woman. They are dressed in rags. He also notices Dalen and Kelseen, all their armor and weapons missing except for their leggings and shirts. [Until they are given non-protective pants, I will say they block 2 CON of damage due to still wearing their leg armor] He is unable to see Sylralei.

Caged Prisoner

“Arrgh!” he cries as he tries to sit up.

All turn toward him and Kelseen quickly kneels beside him.

“Don’t move. You were seriously wounded in the thigh.”

“Heard something crack when I fell,” Kris added. “Feels like I broke my ass.  Where’s Syl?”

[What have they done with Sylralei? d10

1-2: In cage  3-7: gagged and tied to tree  8-9: somewhere else  10: in cage, tongue cut out

Roll: 4 whew!]

“She’s tied to that tree over there. They’ve gagged her so she can’t cast any spells.”

Kris turns his head and cranes his neck as much as he can bear to see the bound elf. She is still wearing her leather armor (he assumes it was either too difficult to remove or she wore nothing underneath), but her cape has been removed. Strong ropes wrap around her, holding her fast to the trunk of a palm tree. Another rope is fitted over a gag stuffed in her mouth, securing her head to the tree as well.

“These are the other prisoners Jochim told us about, I assume?” Kris asks.

“Seven of them are here,” Kel confirms. “Jochim and the two that were in the cave have not been brought back. They might be retrieving the treasure we found.”

Suddenly, everyone’s attention turns toward the front of the cage and the path that leads from the beach. Heading up the path in their direction is the large burly first mate who Kris recognizes from the cave. Next to him is a woman dressed in green, her brown-blonde hair tied in two long, thick braids that frame her face and hang to just above her belt. From that belt hangs a curved saber and a Jambiya. While she stands nearly a foot shorter than the man next to her, she walks with authority and purpose. Based on that and the way the guard straightened to attention at her approach, Kristopher suspects this is Captain Udele Helton.

Captain Udele Helton

As soon as they arrive, the woman glares at Dalen with dark eyes. “Dwarf!”

“Yes,” Dalen responds. “Might you be Udele Helton?”

“You will address me as Captain Helton!” she orders. “You killed one of my men!”

“That was unfortunate,” Dalen agreed, “But he was about to . . .”

“Quiet!” Helton barks. “That was not a question. What are you doing on my island?”

Taking a cue from Helton’s own crewmember, Dalen attempts to cover their real mission. “Pardon us for intruding. We were on a fishing boat and traveled way off course. We were lost and running low on supplies when we spotted this island. We did not realize it belonged to you. We were simply looking for food and some shelter.”

[Conversation requires a check of Dalen’s CHA vs. Helton’s INT. The better Dalen rolls the more Helton will believe him. Dalen rolls a 6,6,5,4 + 14 CHA = 35 Total.  Helton rolls 1,1,5,1+16 INT = 24 Total.  Dalen wins by 11 points, which means Helton will believe him completely.]

The captain darts her gaze from one party member to the next. “It’s no wonder you were lost. You four must be the most unlikely fishers in all of Barisea because of all the islands you could have landed upon, you landed on my personal hideaway. And now you four belong to me. 

[Using UNE for conversation:  Inquisitive-Curiosity-Wealth]

“But what good does that do me?” Helton continues. “I’m sure you have nothing of any real value on your craft. And we’ve just found Gustaf’s treasure. Once that is hauled in and loaded aboard the ship I have little use for slave labor. You came along just in time to . . . let’s say, be disposed of. That applies to all of you,”  she says looking at the other prisoners. “But that’ll be later. Right now we’ve got work to do.”

Captain Helton turns to her first mate and the guard to discuss some things. When they are finished Helton and her first mate walk away, leaving the guard behind.

“Now I know why they call her ‘Smelly’ Helton,” Kelseen whispers to Kristopher.

Kris gives her a questioning look, having detected no offensive odor wafting their way from the Captain.

“She stinks like a rat!”

End of Chapter 10

Author’s Note: I have finished the actual gameplay for this campaign and I expect it will take three more posts to finish: one of gameplay, one that is primarily narration to wrap up the story, and the afterpost that fills in behind-the-scenes information that would never see the light of day otherwise.  I expect those will post at a much quicker pace than my last few chapters. As always, thanks for reading and all comments/questions are welcome.

(Read the next chapter here.)