Histoire heads to the kitchen, grabbing the Dungeon Master's Guide as well. Taking a deep breath, she peruses the section regarding trap manufacturing. Her eyes move line by line, reading the introduction, and already she sees the main issue, that a mechanical trap can be constructed by a player character by crafting it as a trapmaker, which upon retrospect, no one in the group is skilled with. She lightly bites her lower lip as she rolls her eyes around, racking her head.
"Nope, Poppy is amazing at detecting traps, but not in crafting them."
Skimming through the whole long list of available basic traps, she reads the most important looking portion, that the minimum gold cost of any trap is Challenge Rating multiplied by 100 Gold Pieces, and the minimum Challenge Rating is 1, so it will always be a minimum of 100 gold pieces. The base cost is 1000 gold for a mechanical trap, which is what Miss Uni's suggestion seems to imply. Looking through here, there are a lot of ways to circumvent that 1000 gold cost, so it's highly possible to even have a negative cost, but as the minimum is 100, that's what they'll be.
As she thinks about it, a chill runs through her spine, as she suddenly remembers that crafting is based on a week by week system. She grits her teeth and her entire body reels as if hit in the gut as she remembers that entire system. On one hand, that means their little camping trip will last much longer than first anticipated, on the other, perhaps they'll enjoy it, and find more use for the skills they have planned. It's like working hard for something, it doesn't give the same satisfaction if you just snap your fingers and it's there.
Sighing, she calculates the minimum time to try and even make a trap. At 100 gold pieces, it will be 1000 silver pieces converted, the difficulty check is at minimum 20, it will need a total check of 50 in order to finish, and seeing as no one even has the appropriate crafting, she could veto this whole thing immediately, shaking her head, she continues her train of thought. Remembering that Poppy has a +3 modifier for her intelligence, it would need a roll of 17 or higher to even be considered a success at minimum, and for 50, it will take 3 weeks to create, one singular pit fall trap. Perhaps if they've hired a whole crew dedicated into making traps, and gave them sufficient time, they would have enough traps to make use of the skeletons they'll have to fight.
"I'm almost certain if I let them know about this, they'll just disregard using the traps and proceed with the fight..." she says with a veritable sigh.
Getting herself a glass of water, she quenches her parched throat, and floats back to the table, where everyone is eating a snack or two, just like a school recess. And exactly like a school recess, the moment Histoire returns, everyone quiets down and puts away their snacks. Histoire furrows her brow in slight confusion, but quickly shakes it off. She clears her throat, even though nothing was there and takes her seat.
"Alright, I've looked up the trap mechanics, normally it's for Dungeon Masters only, but players are free to ask the Dungeon Master for it and come to an agreement."
Uni looks hopeful at the prospect, and looks to be awaiting the good news.
"Now, before everything else, the most important part is the fact that it's a crafting check, I believe Neptune, is more than familiar with how crafting goes."
Neptune's face scrunches up as if a sour candy landed in her mouth. "Um, Histy, is that the fact that you would need to roll multiple times, which isn't as bad, but it takes a lot of in-game time, which, I don't think we have really."
"But," Vert pipes up, "is this village really a threat that we can't take our time with it?"
Noire purses her lips, then seems to have realized something, "Oh. Even if we do have weeks to actually create traps, the fact is, those skeletons will actually more or less visit that area, won't they? If all the traps we'll make will be simple, like a pitfall trap, they'll fall into them randomly, which would cause them to go on alarm."
Histoire hides it, but she didn't even actually think of that possibility. Noire continues her explanation.
"So, the best course of action would be to head into the forest, possibly wait for them to give out a tribute so the worm appears, then we attack. Maybe we'll get lucky and there's a bit of distance from the town and the tribute area, so maybe all 8 of us can attack the worm. Lady Histoire, what is the distance between the tribute area and the town? I recall it taking a while to get to."
"Big sister, it only took a while to get there because the skeleton was shuffling really slowly. It may just be maybe a few hundred feet, which isn't really a lot in the long scheme of things."
"Right."
"Ahem," interjects Histoire, "is that the plan then? Everyone heads to the tribute area as soon as they're able, and deal with the worm?"
"I'd like to think so Miss Histoire," says Noire. "Now, we won't be charging through the town, that's tantamount to suicide, if possible we'd like to go around, into the forest, and go to the tribute area from there, a less direct path, away from prying ... eye ... sockets?" she shrugs nonchalantly.
Histoire claps her hand to grab their attention. "Then to that end, I would need Miss Uni, to do a roll in order to lead the group into the forest. She's the only one who knows where the tribute area is located."
"Wait Lady Histoire! Are we all actually ready to actually fight the worm?" Noire asks to the rest of the table.
"Hm, I think we're good Noire," says Neptune. "We did get our rest, and I think we're all fully recharged. Spell slots and all that. Oh yeah, speaking of non-direct approach, that would mean having to leave your horse here, wouldn't it? We can't exactly sneak with a horse."
"Soleil is smart enough to stay put, I'm sure. Anyway, if everyone is ready, Lady Histoire, what time is it, is it the afternoon?"
Histoire nods. "Yes, also, Miss Uni, please roll an intelligence check, in order to make a map or be able to properly lead the group in a timely manner."
"Actually, Lady Histoire," says Blanc, "Uni was able to get back properly, so I think all she needs is to tell us the general direction, Blunga should have enough survival skill to lead the group. Does that make sense?"
"Hm, yes, I think that does make sense. So, Poppy, tells the group the general direction, and Miss Blanc, please roll a survival check."
Blanc takes her d20, and rolls it on the table.
"Okay, it landed on 11, for a total of 18 with my 7 modifier. I'm sure that's enough for basic navigation through the forest."
Histoire smiles with a nod. "Yes, you definitely won't have the directions the wrong way and find yourselves going in circles. Right, so the group makes their way towards the direction of the tribute area, making sure to indirectly go towards it so they won't be caught by prying eye ... sockets. As the group does travel, everyone please roll a Will Save."
Histoire thinks about it, and since Poppy has told them about it, they would be a little more resilient to falling for this trick, both in and out of the game. So, she'll modify it a bit, the difficulty check will be lower, from 15 to 10.
Everyone is a bit worried as they all simultaneously roll their dice, making Histoire's eyes dart around everywhere, but pausing on the very low rolls, especially that 3 in the corner. She counts her blessings that there wasn't a 1, and hopes that everyone has actually succeeded. The group tells their roll and total result.
Burt got 11, for a total 16.
Janette Argyle, 16, for 22.
Blunga got 3, for 4.
Albedo, 6, for 12.
Paul, 13, for 19.
JC, 7, for 13.
Sir Puddington, 9, for 12.
Poppy, an overkill of 19, for 22.
"I ... see. Alright, Miss Blanc, as the group traverses the forest, you feel a slight chill in your spine, but this does not deter you from navigating the forest. There's just a sense of unease now. Another thing, the group finds itself suddenly feeling a bit more limber."
"Oh! That means we're getting closer to the tribute area then," pipes up Uni.
"Miss Histoire, is this effect... Haste?" asks Vert.
"Yes."
"I see."
Histoire nods and continues. "Okay then, from a distance, the group can see a clearing, which matches Uni's description. And there's something in the distance, but it's not the giant worm at the moment."
"Can I roll a spot check to see if it's a skeleton, Lady Histoire?" asks Uni.
"Hm... okay, Miss Uni, go ahead and roll. The forest is dense that it is good cover for you all, but it goes the same way, it's difficult to see out of it without possibly blowing your cover."
Uni rolls her die and it lands on 1. She groans in disappointment, while Histoire looks at it with a frown.
"Well Uni, cheer up," says Neptune, "it's alright, you just got a bad roll out of the way."
"Neptune, that's not how random numbers work," states Histoire.
"Well, I mean... um, anyway, so does the group move in?"
"If the group wants to move in, sure."
"Alright, let's all move in!"
"Neptune! Wait!" yells Noire. "If we're actually smart about this, what if, we wait for the worm to appear, then we all attack it at the same time with full force?"
Histoire listens to this, and realizes that they can't keep using the same tactic to win, perhaps the next major encounter, she thinks to herself.
"Hold up, wouldn't that mean all our planning just went to waste?" asks Neptune.
"Well Neptune," says Vert, "if the opportunity presents itself that we can deliver a decisive blow like this instantly, that doesn't mean our planning was for naught. If our frontal assault doesn't kill this creature, then our planning can continue. Especially with Haste, I think we might actually kill this if we get clean hits on it."
"I mean, I guess this isn't like any video game encounter, where you touch the enemy and then take turns, you can actually sneak up on them like this with them none the wiser..." muses Neptune. "So, we'll all wait for the giant worm to appear, and THEN, we'll all charge in guns blazing."
"This sorta sounds anticlimactic with how long we've been at this area..." chuckles Nepgear with a slight morose inflection.
"Think about it this way Nepgear," says Neptune patting her sister on the back. "If we didn't over prepare and just waltzed right in, we'd be dead."
"I suppose that's true..."
"And just like what Vert said, if we don't kill it in one turn, then we can still continue with the plan we made of splitting up to make sure we don't get suddenly overwhelmed!"
"That's right... okay! Lady Histoire, I think we're in all agreement!"
Histoire looks over the table and sees that even Rom and Ram are quite excited to roll some damage dice as they play around with their d8 and d10. She smiles wryly as she goes through the Monster Manual for a suitable ... target dummy, at this point. She looks for any worm creature and found a Purple Worm, which would immediately decimate the group and has probably too much health for them. Settling for a Monstrous Centipede with the size Gargantuan, because there were multiple sizes, and the size after that is possibly a bit much.
"Alright, the whole group watches from afar for any major movement. After a while the ground shakes."
"Oh! That's it! Let's wait for it to get out of the ground and while that's happening, we're all going to attack it immediately before it begins to burrow!" bellows Neptune excitedly.
Histoire continues after Neptune's bellow, "The large worm begins to erupt from the ground."
"If that's the case, we'll all charge in and attack it," says Blanc.
Histoire allows this to happen, since she doesn't want to spoil their fun, and well, they already did a lot of preparation for this, even if things would go awry, they should be fine.
"Alright then, everyone please declare what attack you'll do and roll them appropriately."
"Wait, Lady Histoire," interjects Vert. "Could you please tell me the effects of Haste?"
"Ah, yes, hold on," says Histoire flipping through the Player's Handbook. "Haste... a hasted creature gains +1 bonus on attack rolls, +1 to dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. Any condition that makes you lose your dexterity bonus to armor class, also makes you lose this bonus. Also, hasted creatures have increased movement, increased by 30 feet, to a maximum of twice their base movement. Also, when making a full attack action, a hasted creature may make one extra attack with any weapon they're holding, and this attack is made using the full base attack bonus."
"Oooh!" squeals Neptune, "does that mean I can shoot out two crossbow bolts?"
"No... Maybe?" says Histoire, opening the Player's Handbook. "Right, there's a feat here, Rapid... Reloading. It makes your reloading a free action, else you'd need to use a move action to reload... so if you want to fire twice, you would need to not move."
"Okay, so how far are we? My range with a Crossbow is 80 feet, so if we're about 80 feet, I can fire twice!"
"Um... yes. The distance between the party and the clearing is 60 feet. I suppose that would be fine. Although, due to the forest blocking your view, you would have a slight penalty in your attack bonus."
"Hrm, alright, that makes sense. And I don't have that feat that removes the -4 penalty for shooting while there's a melee on going... oof. Bard is definitely not a combat class..."
Histoire thinks about it as well, and Neptune's right, in a 4 man party, there's only 2 real combatants, and while not in a fight, someone needs to be the face and be basically the caretaker of the group. Although, now with an 8 man group, they've basically covered all the bases. With a nod, Histoire decides that the next encounter, she would need to somehow split them up properly.
"Well, that's it from me Histy. Since Uni also uses a crossbow, I guess this would've answered her question as well."
"Okay then, everyone please roll your initiative so we know who will attack first."
The table rolls their dice just like before, and tell Histoire their results.
Albedo gets 12, for a total of 16.
Blunga gets 4, for 5.
Burt gets 9, for 13.
Janette gets 15, for 16.
JC gets 12, for 16.
Paul got 11, for 14.
Poppy got 5, for 12.
And finally, Sir Puddington, gets 10, for 12.
"Miss Noire, you're up first. What will you do?"
"Well, we're all attacking, so I'll ... charge!" says Noire, shaking the d20 in her hand.
"Wait! Noire, if you do that you'll only be able to get one attack out," blurts out Vert.
"Eh? Don't we have Haste?"
"We do, but, if you do a charge attack, you will gain an attack bonus, yes, but you will lose all extra attacks from all sources."
"Is that true, Lady Histoire?"
"You may check the Player's Handbook to be certain," says Histoire, handing her the Handbook.
Noire flips through the pages, and after a few minutes, eventually finds the information she needs. She sighs, and closes the handbook. "Okay, so I won't charge, would I be able to reach it with just my regular running speed though?"
"Aren't you a human? So your base is 30," shrugs Vert.
"Yeah, but I'm wearing armor, which decreases my movement to 20."
"Wait, don't I wear the same?" frowns Vert, suddenly checking her sheet. "You know what, maybe charging IS a good idea."
"Okay Lady Histoire, I will charge, even if I do just do one attack, at the very least, I should be able to reach it, right?"
"Yes. 20 movement, charging doubles it, so 40, Haste adds another 30, or in this case 20. I think, but there shouldn't be a reason to not reach. Go ahead and roll your attack."
"Alright, so from Haste, I would have +1; from Charging, I would have an additional +2 on my attack roll, for a total of +11." says Noire rolling her d20.
Noire squeals in delight as she sees her d20 land on 20. She rolls a second d20 for the confirmation, and it lands on 13.
"Alright Miss Noire, you're able to hit the giant worm, and it is a critical hit."
Noire rolls her d8 twice. "Okay, 7 and 6, adding 4, for 17!"
"Thank you Miss Noire, alright, Miss Rom, it's JC's turn."
"Um... I can just run, right? My movement here says 30, and Haste adds 30, so 60. Let's see... two attacks in total, +1 from Haste..." says Rom, rolling her D20 twice. "I don't want to use Power Attack, I might miss..."
"Ah, wait Miss Rom, you can't do two attacks, I just double checked the Haste description, and you would need to do a full attack action, which you cannot do if you move further than 5 feet."
"Oh, okay, one attack it is then."
Her d20 lands on 3. Rom frowns and even begins to tear up slightly. Blanc begins to pat her on the back and console her. There's an awkward air in the table. Blanc motions to Histoire to continue, while she consoles her younger sister.
Histoire coughs quietly, and looks who's next. She turns towards Nepgear. "Miss Nepgear, it's your turn now."
"Um... I'll fire my Scorching Ray! Does Haste allow me to cast twice?"
Histoire shakes her head. "Sorry Miss Nepgear, Haste is powerful but not almighty."
"I understand, okay, I'll move in, and cast my spell, since it has a maximum range. And, my roll for it is... 10... for a total of 13. Does ... that miss?"
"It hits, Miss Nepgear, since your spell is a Touch ranged attack. Armor class shenanigans, basically. Touch attacks usually have a less than stellar modifier for hitting, but every creature, usually, has lower Touch armor class to compensate."
"So, basically um, for example, if I swing a sword, even though it would have physically connected, it hit someone's armor instead and doesn't deal damage, but since this is fire, all it needs is to touch you and it will hurt no matter, is that how it goes?"
"Yes, that's right. Go ahead and roll your damage now."
"Says here ... 4d6, so that's um... 2, 4, and two 3s. Total of 12."
"Alright, thank you Miss Nepgear, next up is Paul, Miss Ram."
"Ah, alright! I'll run in and attack! Will I be able to Flurry of Blows, or how many hits will I do?" says Ram excitedly, shaking the d20 in her hands.
"Let's see... oh. Even with Haste, you'd only be able to do 1 attack from where you are, since you have to move in. And you may only do an extra attack while you're doing a full round attack, or Flurry of Blows, in your case."
"Oh... right. Okay, one super punch, let's go!"
The d20 lands on 6.
"Uh!" Ram panics. "It's for a total of 14! Does it hit?"
Histoire shakes her head. "Sorry Miss Ram, it does not."
Ram pouts and folds her arms, clearly upset, and Blanc starts to console her as well.
"Lady Histoire," says Vert, "I do believe it's my turn, and I will ... cast Bull's Strength, on Blunga. I think her Berserker charge attack would deal more damage than anything I can do in a single turn."
"Sure, Miss Vert. Blunga gains the effect of Bull's Strength then. After that, would be Miss Uni's turn."
"Okay, there's already someone there in melee... so that's -4... but with Haste, that's atleast -3 only... this is technically a full attack Lady Histoire, and I'm not moving, would I be able to attack twice?"
"Yes, you would. Go ahead."
"Thank you, and with that my first attack is... 17! Adding 4, that's 21. I'm sure that's a hit, so let me roll my 2nd attack, and ... 5. I'm not gonna even bother... for my damage, it's 5."
"Alright Miss Uni, thank you, and Neptune, it's your turn."
"Same with Uni, gonna toss this one out! That's ... 4, boo. And 16! Adjusting the negative 3 penalty and adding my base addition, that's for a total of 19! Does that hit?"
"Yes, Neptune, it hits the worm."
"Great! And for damage, it's 2. Auugh, I really need something else for combat..."
"Miss Blanc, it's your turn now."
"Uh, Vert, would you roll for me? You almost already know how my own character plays. Somehow." says Blanc, still patting her younger sisters.
"Er, sure. Let me get your sheet," says Vert, taking Blanc's sheet and studying it for a minute. "Okay, I'll charge, so that's an additional +2,= adding Haste, another +1, Bull's Strength adds 4 strength, for an additional 2 modifier... and your base attack is +11, for a total of +18. This is ridiculous, you know that? Anyway, I'll roll it now... and that's 12. Total roll 30. And for damage... that's a d12... and 3, but with your modifier of +13, it's a total of 16. Lady Histoire... is it dead?"
"Uh... no, erm, the surprise round is done. The great worm shudders in pain as all these attacks technically land all at once. It's Miss Noire's turn again."
"Since I'm in melee now, I can do a full attack, which means two attacks! And I roll 17, for 26, and 19! Since I'm using a Longsword, that's actually a critical hit, and for confirm... 12, for a total of 21. 19 a while ago hit from Neptune, so this is a critical hit!"
"Miss Noire, I'm not going to have you roll. That critical hit basically sealed this worm's fate. It's dead."
"Oooh!" giggles Noire happily. "So what happens next Lady Histoire?"
"Well, all these attacks basically rend the worm into death throes, before collapsing... everyone in melee, which is Paul, JC, Blunga, Burt, and Albedo, please roll a reflex save to not get squashed by this giant worm falling down to its death."
"Ah! Of course it just had to get an attack in! Even while it's dead?!" panics Noire as she rolls her d20, along with everyone else.
"Think of it like a tree falling down, towards your direction," chuckles Histoire.
The girls, even Rom and Ram, after Blanc was able to calm them down, roll their d20s and say their Reflex save results.
JC got 11, for a total of 16.
Blunga 17, for a total of 19.
Burt with 13, for a total of 14.
Albedo rolled 1, an automatic failure.
Paul as well rolled 1.
Ram yells out loud, her hands in the air. Clearly upset. Noire as well, her happy face, clearly wiped off. Histoire picks up 2 d8s and rolls them on the table.
"Right. So, Albedo and Paul, both take... 7, and 6... for a total of 22 damage. The two are crushed by the worm, but alive... I hope. You two are still alive, correct?"
The two of them nod.
"Oh, Histy! Before we forget, what about that figure we saw from afar?"
"Sir Puddington approaches the clearing, and aside from the large worm corpse, there's a pile of bones."
"Ah, I see! Well, um, time to help Paul and Albedo!"
"Blunga, I'm assuming she's still raging, and have the effect of Bull's Strength... she should be able to hold the corpse up well enough that the others can pull Albedo and Paul out, right?"
"I'll use Enlarge Person on Blunga. Just to make sure of that," says Vert.
"Alright, then," says Histoire. "With those two buffs, I think I'll veto the roll requirement. Blunga can easily lift the corpse enough that they can pull the two out safely. I'm going to assume you would like to visit the town?"
"Ah," pipes up Uni, "I think I'll be the one to sneak around the town, it could still be dangerous for whatever reason, and Blanc's larger barbarian will stick out like a very sore thumb. I'll roll a Move Silently roll."
"Er, go ahead Miss Uni."
"That's 7, for a total of 19."
"Okay then. So Poppy, moves silently towards the town, and easily sees piles of skeletons all around."
"Huh, that worm was somehow keeping them all ... moving? That's really weird. Do I notice anything else?"
"Poppy notices that she doesn't feel as limber anymore."
"Oh? Huh... well assuming this place is empty now, I'll head back."
"Lady Histoire, while Poppy is heading back, I'll cast my healing spells on Albedo and Paul. 2 for each of them. So that's 4 Level 1 slots. For Paul... 2 d8s... and that's 4, and 4, total of 16. For Albedo, that's 3, and 7... total of 18."
"Albedo will use her Lay on Hands to heal the rest of our wounds. That's 4 for me, and 6 for Paul, total of 10. I think we're all healed up to full now."
"Yes... that's right." Histoire realizes how powerful this group is especially when given long rests. She would need to somehow make the future encounters not as punishing like the Bugbears from before, but nothing like this giant worm to which they all just killed before it even knew what was happening.
"Healing magic sure is swell, isn't it Histy?"
"That's right, Neptune. Well, it's been a somewhat long session, even though technically, it's only been 12 seconds, because of it being 2 rounds. I think this is a good time to call it here for now, and we'll reconvene, next week?"
The rest of the table agrees, as they all start to stand up and stretch, before they wish each other farewell, and that they'll see each other soon.