PrP: Chicken Chasers!
Zerridwyn and Quint are chicken chasers!! EA - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Summary: Zerridwyn and Quint are tasked with tracking and capturing their shadowy employers' lost prize fighter... A chase ensues!
Rules Drop
Chaaaase Sceeeeene!
You’ve seen ‘em in movies. We all love them!
Before we begin, I’m going to lay down some basic ground rules. These are not the full chase rules. Those can be found here:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/mastery/chases.html
When the chase begins, everyone will roll initiative.
On your turn, you will move through a matrix of squares to attempt to outwit a fleeing opponent, or you will be racing someone to a finish line. There may be other variations, as well.
On your turn, I will call on you as per a normal encounter. You will be able to either choose your first square, or you will begin on the first square available. The standard square counts for 30 feet, unless otherwise noted.
The heart of the challenge is the obstacles (or lack thereof) in each square. Each square will have a number of different skill challenges, usually between two and four. They range from easy to extremely difficult, depending on a character’s particular skills.
In order to move to a new square, a player or NPC will have to defeat one or more of the obstacles presented.
I recommend looking over the above link and at least casually familiarizing yourself, if you are not already.
When you feel you are ready to begin, please indicate so in the OOC channel.
<OOC> Younger says, "Pretty basic board-game rules."
<OOC> Quint says, "Alright, I've read it."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Okay."
Scene
The Alley, Alexandria The Eleventh Hour
Through a rather exhaustive series of shady go-betweens, yet being clearly supported by the Explorers, the two of you have found yourselves in the Alley. Not /an alley/, but the proper noun; The Alley. The most dangerous, down-trodden section of the city of Alexandria.
Surrounded by filth, disease, and degredation, the sunlight has retreated over the horizon, leaving the Adventurers alone with the seldom-seen inhabitants of the Alleyway. One can hear them talking, fighting, arguing, but one never catches but a fleeing glimpse of the Low Men. Surely, they are watching from burned out windows; from broken collapsed doorways.
Shadows flicker from branching alleyways that break off from the main boulevard. The distorted shapes of men and more are cast upon brick walls.
The Adventurers have been sent here in order to find a thief. A terrible, back-stabbing thief -- According to the patron whom hired the two, according to the various go-betweens that have been nudging them slowly in this direction. The world of the low man is mercurial and fickle, and meetings often fall through. Clues are often false leads, and those you think have your best interest at heart are often the opposite. However, with persistance, they have tracked their quarry to a tavern on the darkest side of the Alleyway. Standing, outside, they prepare to head inside and find their quarry and capture it alive... Kniles the Chicken. A warrior chicken, a noble combatant kidnapped by the enemies of their client. They have been hired to retrieve this heroic fowl...
Quint would be hard-pressed to conjure a situation in his mind that would leave him more dubious. That a place such as this exists in Alexandria is bad enough but to be sent into it for such a poultry reason... Well, leave it to say that his perpetual frown perpetuates. His sword hangs from his hip in its scabbard, his usual black longcoat replaced by a well-crafted breastplate and a long, deep blue skirt of quilted cloth. He turns to look at Zerridwyn over the high neckguard of his armor, humorless eyes considering the elf. "Are you ready?"
Zerridwyn is weirdly excited by this. It's hard to find something that doesn't excite her, but this really has the elf buzzing. "Oh yes! Yes, I'm ready! Are you ready?" She wiggles with anticipation. "Oh, such heroism! Such adventure! I never got any of this back home."
"We have been sent to collect a thief that absconded with someone's supper." Quint drones, sighing and lifting a gloved hand to massage at his temples briefly. "Very well, let us make quick work of this." He sets a steadying hand to the pommel of his scimitar and heads for the door.
The inside of the Tavern is dingy. The acidic and rotten smell of spilled ale that was never mopped, blood that was never sopped up, and wet tobacco. There are four patrons seated inside, two at the bar and two at chairs alone, as far from one another as possible. All four humans are nursing beers quietly. There is hardly a candle to the place, and it is about as depressive and soul-destroying as a such a place can be.
There is no barkeep visible, a monkey sits behind the bar over the sink. His fur is greasy and matter, and he regards the clients in the room more as potential rivals than friends. His glassy black eyes watch them all with equal suspicion, his arms hanging in front of him.
Atop the bar, near a bearded fellow, sits a rattan cage that holds a valiant looking chicken with proud feathers and a challenging side-gaze. It crows incessently.
"Hello!" That's Zerridwyn, announcing herself cheerfully. She steps into the room without a single worry. There's a big smile on her face, eager to get into this exciting business of catching bad guys. "We're here for the chicken man!" Subtlety doesn't seem to have occurred to her.
This place is far more familiar than the paladin would likely admit to anyone who might care to ask. In the half-light of the common room the features on the patrons
blur into the familiar faces of people he knew years ago -- in another life. Quint is staring at a man long dead, sitting at a table and nursing his watered-down ale when the elf woman steps ahead and brightly announces their intent. His lips press into a thin line and he finds himself looking around for exits other than the one they just came through.
Quint is quick, but the man with the chicken is quicker. Caged chicken in hand, he bolts for the door the moment Zerri announces their intentions. Knocking his beer
over in the progress, it makes the chicken begin squawking. This sets the monkey off, who begins flinging his arms around. This, in turn, knocks a liquor bottle off the wall behind it, which causes a man to stick his head out of the back room, "Wha' tha fugg?" He demands, looking to the man as he zips by toward the back door.
The man manages to bolt out the back door, getting a fair lead on the two...
Quint gives chase after the fellow.
Outside the back door Quint finds himself in a torn up alleyway. A narrow wooden walkway leads across a low pit where workers are currently shoveling out mud, which is quickly flooding with ground water. Something wriggles in the back of his mind, making him think of some piece of advice, something from a local, that might be able to help him in this case...
<OOC> Younger says, "Gimme an acrobatics roll or a know/local check, whichever you feel best about."
GAME: Quint rolls Acrobatics: (17)+0: 17
<OOC> Quint says, "-2 to that, since my movement speed is 20' in the Breastplate."
"... grant me patience," Quint breathes, already running after the cutpurse. He doesn't even slow to think about the perils of that bridge and takes the thing in two long strides, bowing the plank with his weight. Mud splatters up his boots and skirt but he has his quarry in sight.
GAME: Zerridwyn rolls acrobatics+6: (9)+4+6: 19
GAME: Younger rolls 1d20+8: (18)+8: 26
"Ack!" Zerridwyn quickly incants a mystic spell, filling herself with potential velocity. She takes off with a start and even if slower on the uptake than Quinn, is able to hop over obstacles and up the walkway with ease, catching up.
GAME: Zerridwyn casts Expeditious Retreat.
The two of you emerge from the alleyway to see your quarry and its kidnapper slipping into that intimidating doorway, as the guard looks the other way after a suspicious sound. Glancing over his shoulder as he closes the door quietly behind himself, he smiles as the two chasing him. The guard turns to look at the feathers
near the door, seeming confused. Beside the building the kidnapper just entered, there is a fence that only rises to head height, seeming rather easy to scale...
<OOC> Younger says, "Quint, ye need a climb or stealth roll, please!"
GAME: Quint rolls Stealth-2: (1)+0+-2: -1
<OOC> Younger says, "Ouch. Yer stuck this round."
GAME: Zerridwyn rolls jump+12: (18)+jump+12: 30
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Wut."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Oh whoops. It's acrobatics now."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Add 4."
<OOC> Younger says, "Yiikes."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "That's 8.5 feet vertical jump."
Zerridwyn easily scale the fence, leaving Quint behind it, but he is one step closer to capturing the fellow. Zerri finds herself in a long courtyard completely overgrown with grass. The grass grows up around abandoned white marble statues that cast a strange white moonlight over the whole area. At the other side of the courtyard, a blind old man sits in a rocking chair, lightly plucking a lute as he sits near an open door... He seems lost in his own world.
A convoluted-looking mechanical lift is opposite the old man, with a sparking control panel. It looks as though it could lift a passenger to the next higher level.
<OOC> Younger says, "Need a disable device or a stealth roll."
<OOC> Younger says, "Err..."
<OOC> Younger says, "My bad. I need to roll for the kidnapper."
GAME: Younger rolls 1d20+8: (15)+8: 23
The kidnapper, with his chicken, manage (somehow) to slip past the old man, ignoring the machinery and making his escape.
<OOC> Younger says, "Quint!"
<OOC> Younger says, "I need your climb or stealth check. ;)"
GAME: Quint rolls Stealth-2: (11)+0+-2: 9
<OOC> Younger says, "The guard walks off briefly, and you can slip through the door un-noticed."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Don't worry."
Quint manages, somehow, to make his way past the guard. It likely has everything to do with the suggestively-dressed streetwalker calling out to him and nothing at all to do with any adept stealth maneuvers. Armor rattling and buckles clinking, he pushes through the doorway and out the other end.
<OOC> Younger says, "Zerri, you are on a free square this round so you move on automatically. You'll roll again next round."
<OOC> Younger says, "Unless you want to do something else instead."
GAME: Younger rolls 1d20+2: (19)+2: 21
<OOC> Younger says, "Oh man..."
<OOC> Younger laughs, "Though that'd be the one he failed on for sure."
Zerridwyn dashes on and almost calls out some directions to aid Quint. Seeing the guard stops her, and she keeps her mouth shut for once. The elf runs on, hastened by magic, after the amazingly elusive target.
As the fellow disappears through the door, Zerridwyn can begin to smell a terrible rotten stench and then the sounds of running feet and retching choking meet her ears. There are shouts and crashes, and the fellow is temporarily lost from sight. The door remains open, and the old man guarding the door has not stopped playing his lute. The sparking control panel remains, however...
<OOC> Younger says, "He made it through the next challenge, keeping just ahead of you guys. Zerri, I need a disable device or a stealth."
GAME: Zerridwyn rolls stealth: (1)+5: 6
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "HAY GUYZ I ROLLED A 1"
<OOC> Younger says, "Aww! Bad news... you rolled a one.... BUT you still pass."
<OOC> Younger says, "You alert the old man, but you continue running and he just shrugs and ignores you."
<OOC> Younger says, "You have a free square this turn, Quint."
<OOC> Younger says, "Feel free to pose moving across the grassy courtyard."
"Hey Quint!" Zerridwyn yells, failing to realise that the old man is right there. She stops, looks at him, and bashfully keeps on going once she notices that he doesn't care.
Quint moves through the grass, only half-noting the presence of the wasted statues even as he pushes off one to avoid a bit of rubble half-obscured by a bush. He tromps right through a small pile of debirs and keeps on the run -- doubling his efforts at the sound of Zer's voice.
GAME: Younger rolls 1d20+1: (12)+1: 13
<OOC> Younger says, "Oops. :)"
<OOC> Younger says, "Okay, Zerri. I'll drop a quick sceneset for you, then I'll need a fort save (without the bonus from exp retreat) or a climb roll."
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Okay."
For Zerridwyn, the other side of the door is a cross roads. She can see the feathers leading through the bigger double doors, but also the stench has increased and it quite plainly emits from within the doors. A thick steel drain pipe leads up one wall, with thick heavy handholds every so often, looking like it might be a convenient way around whatever is producing that terrible, deathly scent.
GAME: Zerridwyn rolls climb+6: (18)+3+6: 27
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "What if... I grease his feet? :O"
<OOC> Zerridwyn says, "Next turn?"
<OOC> Younger says, "Well, if he makes his next roll, there won't be a next turn. :("
<OOC> Younger says, "Quint! You need to make a stealth roll, or a disable device."
Zerridwyn is no stranger to physical activity, which may be extremely odd for an elven wizard. She is strong of limb and lucky as well, finding the drain pipe dry and rough for excellent handhold. She's up the pipe in no time, soon reaching the rooftop.
GAME: Quint rolls Stealth-2: (4)+0+-2: 2
GAME: Younger rolls 1d20+1: (3)+1: 4
<OOC> Younger says, "You guys win. I'll pose after Quints pose."
<OOC> Younger says, "Then we'll have some free RP if you guys aren't ready to leave right away."
Quint cannot catch a break this evening -- even with the moon out overhead in plain sight. He stops short when the blind man starts swinging his cane and squares his stance when the two roughs step out to meet him. He offers a quick hint of a headshake and hopes the elf is having better luck with things.
<OOC> Younger says, "Sorry, Quint. :( If Zerri had been less adept, you'd have found something do so soon enough. ;)"
<OOC> Younger says, "I.E., fighting."
<OOC> Quint says, "No worries. I knew it'd be rough as soon as I read the rules for it."
The kidnapper is found on his hands and knees, looking for a handle or level on the roof-top, something to open the mechanical hatch there. Unfortunately, he cannot find it in time. He starts whimpering when Zerridwyn crests the rooftop, beginning his struggle anew. In the end, he is captured. So Quint finds Zerridwyn, with the objective in hand. The rooster looks particularly shell-shocked, cawing dizzily. His tail feathers have been ravaged by the frantic escape, sadly some of his nobility has been sapped and he seems to recognize it.
"Hello!" says Zerridwyn once Quint gets up there. "Does this make us chicken chasers?" She holds onto the man securely, with surprisingly strong grip.
Quint sucks in a long breath, swallowing the first words that come to mind and dismissing the next couple options, too. Finally, he settles on "Good work," and moves closer still to have a look at the man that gave them so much trouble and their feathered prize.