Narri's Run (IC - drpete)

[Grognardsw]

It is time. One of the Guild Houses looms before you. Its true purpose is of course hidden under the guise of a respected and complicit merchant, as much of the city's underworld is veiled in legitimacy.

You enter and are escorted to an impressive library.

In an alcove, a wall of books parts to reveal a secret passageway down. You walk for some time through a maze of passages, doubtless subterranean, then arrive at a simple room.

You are seated before a large desk. The Guild Lieutenant sits before you and speaks.

"Welcome Narri. As you know, the thieves and assassin’s guild of Lankhmar is a powerful institution, its tendrils deep in commerce and government. As such, its structure is elaborate and its training intense. Part of this training is an elaborate obstacle course, a testing ground in the cellars of the guild headquarters: The Assassin’s Run."

"The facility serves many purposes. The Run is a gymnasium for the practice of skills not easily performed repeatedly with discretion in public places. It is a training zone for novices and experts alike. It is a safe room for the Guild, defensible and deadly against intruders."

You nod your head and think of the others rumors heard in certain quarters. That the Guild has a hidden highway through the sewers of the city, and that the Run is connected to it. It is also said there are secret apartments at the center of the Run where the Master lives.

The Guild Lieutenant continues: "All Guild members are required to take the Run to advance in rankings. The Run's reputation is known throughout the underworld of the Realms. Many visiting adventurer thieves come to experience it."

"During your Run, the Guild Master will be watching you through a Wizard Eye (cast by a mage who serves as one of the Guild lieutenants.) As the Guild does not want to maim or kill its members, blades will be blunted and projectiles padded (same damage, but subdual/non-lethal.) You may occasionally receive instructions via note. Follow them."

"Like much a thief does in life, you are scored by time and accomplishment. Move quickly, but not so quickly as to preclude strategy. Have a sharp mind, but do not deliberate overly long. Combat may be necessary to accomplish a task, but it often is a means to an end, not the task itself. The wise will realize the difference and act accordingly."

The Lieutenant points to a door. "Good luck."

[drpete]

Narri -- Entrance Hall

Narri smiles a crooked smile, and looks over the lieutenant. "The traps in ze Run... they are padded as well? Do many runners die? What happens if I get off course, into the wrong tunnel? That a problem...?"

As he waits for a response, Narri will approach the door and check it over, looking for traps. If he finds none, he'll open the door (but not go in just yet, in case the Lieutenant says something interesting).

[Grognardsw]

The Guild Lieutenant smiles and sips a cup as Narri checks the door.


"Traps are safeguarded as much as they can be," comments the Lieutenant. "But of course accidents can still happen. So be careful out there."

The dwarf finds no traps. The door appears normal and unlocked. He opens it.


Darkness and descending stairs meet Narri upon opening the door. The light from the room shows five feet of stairs before blackness engulfs

Feel free to include thief skill rolls, in spoilers, with your post. In this case it didn't matter, the door is not trapped.

[drpete]

Narri / Entrance Stairs

Narri nods to the Lieutenant. "See you on the other side, then."

Narri then enters the stairway and closes the door, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and raises his crossbow. Eyes darting from his footing to the darkness below, he makes his way carefully down the stairs.

So, my plan is to make use of infravision to sneak down the stairs and come upon whatever's down there unawares, assuming they'll primarily be humans in the Guild. Can I see stairs, etc, reasonably well with infravision? If I'm basically blind using it, I'd rather not just walk down the stairs without seeing anything I'm used to thinking of it as ability to see in the dark, but I know some people handle it differently.

I'd like him to go down cautiously, aware for traps. Can I use the dwarven ability to sense pit traps and falling blocks while I walk? If so, then:
Sense Pit Traps [1d100] = 91

Edit: OK, I actually want to ask different questions, I realize now...
a) How do you want to handle checking for traps? Does checking substantially slow me down, or is it incidental? Given that I have two ways to check for pit traps, etc (thief skill and dwarven ability) do I check both, or just one?

b) Infravision... how does this work? Can it be used for navigation in a dark corridor, or does it only work when there are bodies present? My default understanding is that you can navigate and see walls, but not read. If it's only good when there are bodies present, does that mean I can fight without penalty in darkness (so it's mostly a combat ability)? How does that interact with backstab?

[Grognardsw]

Narri the thief pads down the stone stairs, searching for traps. By touch the dwarf thinks the stairs are 6' wide, the ceiling 8' high. The stairs go down 10' then turn west in a 10' swerve that continues down. Suddenly Narri's foot trips over a raised stair. As he tumbles Narri tries to regain balance (please make Dex. check with 4d6.)

- In this game infravision detects heat sources, so if you're in a cold stone empty room you are near blind - able to see the barest silhouette outlines, but not detail, or read. If there is a body in the room, you'd see it, and could backstab.
- Yes, Narri can use his dwarf detect pits ability, as well as the normal Find Traps thief ability. I rolled for you since that wasn't included:
Narri Thief - Find Traps [1d100] = 90 No
- Searching for traps does slow you down to quarter movement (30'/round) versus normal movement 120'/round)

[drpete]

Momentarily losing his footing, Narri shoves off the near wall, and twists to wedge himself lengthwise across the stairs. Narri shakes his head. "Beginner move, Nar. Think it through."

Narri lets himself down slowly, then gets out his bullseye lan tern. He lights it, and continues carefully down the stairs, letting only a small beam of light illuminate his path.

dexroll[4d6]= 11
Made it!
And continuing with looking for traps:
SenseTraps thief - [1d100] = 49 dwarf -[1d100] = 100

[Grognardsw]

Narri's precautions pay off. At the bottom of the stairs, the dwarf's probing detects an illusionary floor covering a 10'x10' pit.

Beyond is a triangular shaped room with the stair entry the tip of the triangle and the wide base 25' away at the other end, where there is a door in the middle. Light shines from under it. All is quiet.

[drpete]

Narri/Triangular Room

Narri opens up the lantern enough to get a good look around the room, then sticks his head and lamtern through the illusionary floor, to see what is down in the pit.

I guess the pit is inside the triangle? Is it possible to get around it, or do I need to get over it?

[Grognardsw]

Narri sees that the triangular room is empty. It is about 25' from the last step of the stairwell at the tip of the triangle to the opposite, wider wall. The door is in that wider wall.

The pit is 10'x10' with what looks like a loose sand floor. Its walls are greased. The pit is directly in front of the stairwell. If the dwarf had fallen from the raised step, he may have tumbled down the stairs and right into it!

Narri considers how to cross the pit.

The door across the way beckons.

[drpete]

Narri/Tip of the Triangle Room

Narri will probe along the edge of the triangle to see if there is a ledge that avoids falling into the pit, or if it might be possible to jump along the wall to get across to a solid spot without having to leap the entire 10 feet from a standing position. He will then attempt to get across to the opposite side.

Not 100% sure I have the idea of what's going on, but I think so... is the room sort of
/X\
/ \
with a 10x10 pit at the x, and a door 15 feet past the pit? Are there ledges on either side that appear as the room spreads out? I'd like to jump to one of those, or if it looks like it's iffy to jump (like another 4d6 dex roll), he'll climb over.

Not sure how to roll for that, so here's a generic d100.
Narri tries to cross the pit [1d100] = 44

And just to check, the door is in the center of the opposite wall. Is the rest of the wall blank?

[Grognardsw]

Narri observes it may be possible to jump at the front corners of the pit onto solid floor.

Dex. check using 4d6 cause of your shorter legs.

[drpete]

Narri/Triangle Room

Feeling unsure of the long standing jump, Narri spits into his hands, cracks his knuckles, and grabs hold of one of the stones in the wall. He swings himself over, keeping a grip on the wall, rather than jumping.

Once he gets across, he will check the other corners of the room for secret doors or sliding panels, focusing on the large spaces on the wall opposite the stairs.

Narri attempts to climb around the edge of the pit [1d100] = 33

Secret door thinking is... Why open the hall to a triangle? There must be something, a peephole Fromm the spacebbeyond, or a secret entrance, or it would be a corridor...?
Checking right:
Narri checksforsecret doors[1d6]= 1 or sliding panels[1d100] = 70

Checking left:
e: Narri checksforsecret doors[1d6]= 5 or sliding panels[1d100] = 55

[Grognardsw]

Nari crosses the pit and searches the room carefully. He finds no secret doors or other concealments.

The west wall door appears to be the only way to continue.

[drpete]

Narri - Triangle Room

Giving up on finding another path, Narri turns his attention to the door with the light peeking through it. He examines it closely, looking for traps or other noteworthy features. He will then attempt to peek through and listen for sounds on the other side.

Sense Traps thief - [1d100] = 95 dwarf -[1d100] = 7
(this would work for pit traps with the dwarf skill, but probably not for a trap on a door... uh oh)

I guess other things I'm curious about regarding the door is are there any ways to peek through (keyhole, under the door, etc) and does it open inward or outward... are the hinges accessible, or are they on the other side? If I want to open the door "quietly" to peek through, can I roll a move silently check?

Narri - Hear Noise [1d100] = 61
(nope, probably find nothing)

[Grognardsw]

Narri examines the door. It opens inward away from the dwarf. The hinges are on the side opposite him. The thief finds no traps; the door is unlocked. His ears detect no sounds.

[drpete]

Narri - Exit to Triangle Room

Narri lays his battle axe next to the door, handle up to be easily at hand should trouble arise. He then cracks his knuckles and begins slowly opening the door in an attempt to get it open enough to peek through, then pass through without alerting anyone on the other side.

Narri tries to open the door silently [1d100] = 94
Ok, so much for that idea

[Grognardsw]

Narri opens the creaking door - intentionally squeeky he wonders? A short 10' corridor is revealed, leading into a room from which torch light emanates. From his current position in the doorway, the dwarf cannot see into the room.

[drpete]

Narri - Lit Room

Narri will pick up his axe and advance into the hallway, alert for further traps. He will stay on the more shadowed side of the hallway, watching for details of the room ahead. When he gets forward to the room, he'll poke his head out quickly to see what is there.

Narri will be watching for enemies, as well as traps. Per our earlier conversation, if he gets into a fight weigh a human, he'd want to douse the lights, so he'd be trying to determine the location of the torch illuminating the room.

SenseTraps thief - [1d100] = 56 dwarf -[1d100] = 13

Narri hidein shadows[1d100]= 6
.

[Grognardsw]

Narri moves down the hallway to the edge of the room and peaks around the corner. From his position in the southeast corner, he sees the room is 20' across and 30' long. To his right in the middle of the east wall is a door. Across from it in the west wall is a 1' diameter metal gong, held inside a locked cage with bars an inch apart. The distance from bars to the gong is about 16".

Above the gong is a wall sconce with a lit torch. In the middle of the room, getting up from a simple wooden chair, is a roguish chap with a 10' pole. He twirls it expertly and says: "Your task: Ring the gong. My task: Stop you."

Swinging the pole, the man advances toward Narri!

You realize the creaking door gave you away and the man was waiting for you. Saw you peak around.

[drpete]

Narri - Lit Room

Narri attempts to move around the man toward the cage (and the torch illuminating the room). Hoping to delay the start of combat, Narri tries to keep the man engaged the man in conversation as he slides clockwise around toward the cage.

"Ring the gong, eh? Is any ring acceptable, or do zey want the cage opened first? Will you negotiate, or do we have to see ... who has ze bigger stick? Mind if I look at cage before we begin? I won't touch it until you are ready."

Should the man move in to attack before Narri gets to the cage, he will fight back, but he will continue to try to move toward the cage.

Narri To Hit Battleaxe (Thac0 18) [1d20] = 2 dmg [1d8] = 2

Not very successfully, it looks like...

Should the man allow Narri to approach and inspect the cage before attacking, Narri will inspect the cage. His goal is to get here so that he can douse the torch, before the fighting starts, or as an early move in the fight.