OPEN | LILITH Board Game Club: First Meeting

[likemybooks]

WHO: All Outsiders
WHAT: Board Game Mingle
WHERE: LILITH Base, Library
WHEN: Some time in the middle of March
WARNINGS: N/A

The Games.
For those that remember the question posed on the network nearly two months ago, now is about the time that Taryon promised to put together a splendid party centered on games played around the table. A "board game" party, if you will.

And if you forgot, then a large sign with "BOARD GAME CLUB MEETING SPONSORED BY TARYON DARRINGTON STARTING 3PM AT THE LIBRARY" on the residential floor will inform you.

The upper floors, thankfully, was not as damaged as the lower portions of the base, leaving enough space for Taryon to add two more foldable tables from storage and additional chairs. There is a deck of cards and few simple board games stacked on one of them: chess, checkers, Battleship, Monopoly (please be civil, Taryon might cry if you lose the pieces), and the like. There are also a few newer boxes with more complex rules for those into games involving tracking multiple resources and cards Taryon already has a set for Settlers of Catan and Risk prepared from the very start

A small table (actually, a repurchased stand) is reserved for the Mahjong players. Doty, the automaton, has been ordered to stack them neatly facedown into a pristine cube. If he weren't a machine but for precision, it would be superhuman impressive.

On a separate table are the tabletop role-playing games. In the past, Taryon has donated to a kickstarter for a small-scale roleplaying game...that is completely forgot about after he died. Its arrival in the mail came to a surprise, and he had to read the clumsily written rule pamphlet twice to get a handle for the gameplay mechanics. Or roleplay mechanics, seeing as there is a system for rewarding players that have a conversation about pre-determined topics. Hopefully everyone will agree on how it's played. Otherwise, there's some good old-fashioned Dungeons and Dragons oneshots he'll be happy to DM.]

The Refreshments.
He didn't order any heavy meals, but Taryon and Doty made a long snack run at the nearby convenience stores to buy drinks and snacks. As much as he would have loved to bring wine, by the time he bought ten varieties of daifukus, he realized he went over his food and drink budget.

He hopes no one complains about the lack of sustenance, although a few hours into the games, he stands up from his seat: "Not that I'm hungry or anything, but if anyone wants to chip in with some money, I can order something!"

Whatever cheap food they get, one can eat it either during a game or while relaxing in other parts of the library - or they can just read a book and try to deal with the noise of victorious and defeated players.

Comments

[likemybooks]

Hold on, first, you just run out of the tent and see people running away from one of the plazas. You draw your bow and arrow as you run in the opposite direction of the crowd. As you turn the corner, you see...

[A pause as he picks up a figurine from underneath the table.]

A wyrmling! It's basically a very young dragon, but it's spitting fire at food stalls and snapping at people and animals. You see someone on the ground with a bleeding leg, unable to move, about 40 feet away from the wyrmling, since you're specifically looking for people to help.

[asafepairofhands]

[Ratchet nods, then thinks for a moment.]

If there are already people fighting the wyrmling, I go to the person who's injured. If nobody is fighting the wyrmling yet, I fire on it. What dice do I roll?

[likemybooks]

Hm... [Taryon was hoping that Ratchet would make the decision himself, but that's on him for not predicting what his players would do. It doesn't occur to him that Ratchet is thinking as an experienced soldier would.]

So your character's priority is to fight it, or to heal the person? Because most people are running or trying to put out fires. And since you're the main character, your first action will determine how your fight goes. You can call for other people to help, there's-- yeah, let's say that there are guardsmen working on leading people to safety, so you're not entirely alone. You can either let them be, roll to command them...and remember, your character background is nobility. You hold some bit of authority.

[He pulls out a sheet of grid paper: a bigger one with the street layout drawn in marker. A mishmash of figurines representing the crowd, the injured person, and the guards are scattered around.]

How about this. Roll for initiative. It's a good time to go over combat.

[asafepairofhands]

Okay... [Ratchet peers over at the map and nods approvingly.] That's really helpful, thanks. I rolled... a 10 for initiative. I'd try to get the guards to help me fight the wyrmling and I rolled a... nine. So probably not so much.

[likemybooks]

Just a moment. The guards get an initiative of... [He rolls the die, and his brow furrows.] Oh. That's just an eight. The wyrmling gets a 15, so...you still get to yell at the guards. And by the way, your noble background gives you a proficiency in persuasion. You meet the DC with that bonus.

As you cry out for help, the guardsmen hear your elegant and refined pleas for assistance. I'll say that one of them stays behind to help the crowd while the other will come help you. It'll be one round before he reaches you.

Right now, the wyrmling sees that you're daring to challenge him! He rears back and spits a glob of fire in your direction! The injured man manages to roll away from the attack, but you have to roll dexterity to see if you can dodge. And - you're an archer. You add three to your roll.

[asafepairofhands]

Uh... twelve. [Ratchet looks like he's getting into it now.] Is that enough to save? How long do rounds take?

[likemybooks]

That's...not enough. I'm so sorry. [As if the elf lady isn't just some numbers on a piece of paper.] You had to roll a thirteen.

[He rolls another die, with size sides, and rolls it multiple times.] Oh god, that's twenty-five points of damange. Uh...you're looking really bad! And...it's your turn.

I really should've balanced this better Oh, and it's six seconds per round.

[asafepairofhands]

Oh. Uh...

[Ratchet looks at how many hit points he has, does a little mental math, and frowns powerfully. That isn't great.]

In that case... can I heal myself? How does it... [He looks at the sheet again, inspecting the spells.] Okay, wait. I shoot at the wyrmling, then cast Healing Word on myself as a bonus action. That's a... fifteen to hit. Is that good enough?

[likemybooks]

Yeah. That's enough to hit it. Roll damage for the arrow attack.

[Taryon moves the guardsman's figurine closer.]

Do you use your movement? Just so you know, the injured guy is still trying to crawl away from the fight, and the guardsman will do his first attack the next round.

[asafepairofhands]

I do... six damage. [That is much, much less than 25.]

I get between the guy who's trying to get away and the wyrmling. And I heal... [He rolls a d4.] Four hit points. [Sort of underwhelming, but he did it!]

[likemybooks]

Well, the man on the ground thanks you, and he's able to get onto his feet. The wyrmling snaps at you with its mouth [rolls the die.] but your swift elven legs allow you to nimbly dodge. What do you do now?

[asafepairofhands]

I don't feel like I'm going to get very far just hitting it with arrows. [He checks his spell list, scowling.]

I cast... Inflict Wounds. No, wait, I have to be close to it to do that. Uh... [It suddenly occurs to him that spell slots exist, and he can't keep doing this forever.] Hell. I cast Sacred Flame instead. It doesn't look like that one uses up any of my little dots? The wyrmling has to succeed on a dexterity saving throw or take one eight-sided die of... radiant damage, whatever that is.

[likemybooks]

Good choice! He fails his save and gets a full blast of radiant damange - not fire. He's resistant to fire, but he cannot fight against the holy power of light that you summon with your faith. The wind of the attack blows your long, shimmering hair around you in a billowing spiral, and the guardsman is transfixed by your beauty.

Roll damage. The guard...oh. He doesn't roll high enough. The wyrmling dodges his attack.

[asafepairofhands]

[Ratchet rolls his eyes, presumably at the guardsman who doesn't actually exist, and rolls a d8.]

Seven. [He tries not to wince.] It's the wyrmling's turn again, isn't it?

[likemybooks]

Yes, and this time, it will bite at the guard. Said guard deflects the blow with his blade, and it's your turn again! The wyrmling is looking pretty injured, but it's got plenty of fight left in it.

[asafepairofhands]

Huh. Well, now I cast Inflict Wounds, then. I run up to the side of the dragon and put my hand on it and I do... seventeen damage. I'm just hoping I don't get hit again.

[likemybooks]

So, you run up, gracefully and elegantly, as elven royalty would, and you lay a hand on its neck. A black pulse of magic is inflicted onto the wyrmling, and it roars in pain. The guardsman swings at it...

[Another disappointed look as he rolls the die. For good measure, he rolls it again for the enemy.]

just as the wyrmling tries to snap at him again. They parry each other's attacks, this loyal knight facing a dragon among a burning town square. By the way, the injured man has found a place to hide behind the fountain and is resting there.

[asafepairofhands]

Good to know. I feel like I have to deal with this first before I can take him back to the medical tent. Uh...

[Ratchet looks at his sheet again, frowning thoughtfully before he shrugs.]

I stay far away from the thing's mouth and hit it with Inflict Wounds again. Does a fourteen hit?

[likemybooks]

Hold on, you need to attack it with a melee attack to cast Inflict Wounds. See? [He holds out his tablet with the list of spells.] It's a touch-based attack. But if you want to hit it with a bow and arrow, you can do it normally. Your proficiency at this level gives you a bonus that meets the wyrmling's armor class.

So, you can roll for damage.

[asafepairofhands]

Yeah, I should still be touching it from the last time I did Inflict Wounds, or I'll use my movement to touch it again. I'm running low on spell slots, though...

[He rolls some dice, then looks satisfied.]

Eighteen damage. How's it looking?

[likemybooks]

It's roaring in pain. It's not very happy at all, still. And it tries to attack you--

[First, he rolls for the guard, then the monster.]

As it turns around to attack, the guard tries to stab it, but he misses. Then, the wyrmling snaps at you, but you elegantly leap out of the way. It's head is next do you, now.

[asafepairofhands]

I back way the hell up. [He'd done enough damage from close up, hopefully.] And I fire on it again with my bow. Does a... ten hit?

[likemybooks]

Not even with your procifiency bonus. [He shakes his head solemnly.] But...as the wyrmling deftly dodges, the guardsman gets a hit on its rear flank! It pierces the scaly skin for seven damage.

[He nods excitedly as he marks down more damage for the monster.]

It twists around to bite the man who just attacked it. It clamps his mouth around his torso for nine piercing damage and three fire damage. He looks badly damaged, not dead, but close to it.

[asafepairofhands]

I, uh... [Ratchet squints down at his sheet, then is taken by a vision.] Wait.

[He scans the paper again, tilting his head.]

...does the wyrmling's mouth count as an open container?

[likemybooks]

I...suppose? It's got an esophagus, so it's kind of not really a container?

[He looks over the brief monster entry in his folder.]

What are you trying to do?