Digizel

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

@Digizel Sure. At this point, the three of you (Saur, Stargazer, and Jenk) have spent most of the morning catching your respective fish for Alandri. Tanraeth still needs to reply and roll for his manipulation to have someone fish for him. To allow him more time to RP and roll, I'm giving the three of you one last shot to either RP with Alandri or keep fishing or call it a morning and sip some coffee before Alandri officially packs it up.

Alandri is very happy with all three of you for catching 2 fish each. Ecstatic. There's no need to keep pushing yourself, but depending on what you want to do now, I could set a higher DC and perhaps you could learn something or do something to award yourself some little extra something.

Go wild, or sit back, as we await Tanraeth's move.

Essentially I want to keep you engaged as we wait.

@wanderingwolf

Gotcha, thanks! So given that Saur is putting everything he has into impressing Alandri to make up for their tardiness, he is probably going to go right back to fishing again to try to get more to present her with if that's fine.

Do you want me to do the same pair of checks as last time, or just stick with the Stealth check with the +1 bonus? Or just do raw Stealth this time?

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

"If you like, I'll give you a chance for extra credit or engagement with Alandri. There might even be a hero point or XP in it for you depending on your character's performance."

Think you could elaborate on this a bit, out of curiosity? I wanted to make a post, but caught this at the end and was kinda confused as I read it a couple times. Is this just, like...extra bits of dialogue or something? What kind of extra credit and engagement are we referring to here?

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

Saur

Saur fell silent at Alandri's words, electing to take this opportunity to consume the rations he had been gifted, making sure to take Alandri's advice and add the scale in along with the food as he swiftly devoured his meal. He had always been taught to eat quickly, for you never knew when a threat could reveal itself. Best to leave yourself vulnerable for as little time as possible.

He cast a glance to the side toward Tanraeth as the "elf" continued. The Kobold frowned as he listened to him speak; the words were fine, of course. Saur himself was considering the very same ideas that something could have happened. He hadn't seen Teacher Ot with his own eyes today as of yet, so he was hardly going to write off the idea. Especially if this was the first time he had ever failed to show. That was reason enough to raise his suspicion.

But what caught Saur's attention in this moment was the emotion in the elf's voice, or the lack thereof. There didn't seem to be even an ounce of concern in his companion's tone. That, in addition to the fact that he had elected to ignore Alandri's advice and not use the scale at all caused him to narrow his gaze at his companion out of the corner of his eye. He was tempted to make some snide comment about it, but decided to hold his tongue for the time being. If they were to be like clutchmates, he couldn't allow himself to start causing trouble with him. And so, he returned his focus to his own rations.

Regardless of it all, there was nothing to be done about Teacher Ot for the time being anyway. They would have their chance to find him when they returned to the school again. Worrying about it wasn't going to do him any good right now. He should simply focus on the task at hand.

With everything settled, the group was moved out toward the river and he was given an explanation on everything they needed to know for the task at hand. And once again, he was met with frustration from another elven companion of his who elected to detach herself completely in lieu of the task at hand. This time, he was unable to keep himself in check.

"You're going to abandon this for such a conceited reason!?" he snapped as Fleur began to take her leave. Regardless of her response, he simply dismissed her with a wave of his claw. "Humph. Not that it matters in the end. Arrogance like that only brings harm to the clutch. I'll simply have to do what I can to make up the difference myself."

He glanced down at the supplies Alandri had brought. In his mind, he could picture the various kobold traps that he'd learned to construct when he was still in training, but elected on another, separate method. Especially since he was going to need to put everything he had into this now that they were short a team member, and another seemed fit to avoid consuming the scale altogether.

He could feel the scale beginning to work not long after Jenk's had. His own sturdy, draconic scales seemed to morph slightly...or more accurately, he began to grow a second set over his own. He frowned slightly as he realized the scales were deep and blue...a color he was not particularly fond of. But still, this was only temporary, he was sure. And they would assist in the upcoming challenge at hand. He was not about to complain now.

"Excuse me, Ms. Alandri, before you dive," Saur said as he approached her once again. "Ma'am, I was wondering if I could bother you with an inquiry into what types of fish would be the most valuable around this time of day. You see, I am still new to this country and am somewhat unfamiliar with local markets and even its fauna. What such fish look like is important of course, but I am also looking for information such as what kind of habits they might have should they differ from ordinary fish, whether they are the type to flee downstream, breach a current or simply hide themselves among a reef or weed when threatened. The more information about my prey that is at my disposal, the easier they are to hunt."

He continued to inquire with Alandri about just what kinds of fish would be found to be the most valuable and easiest for him to hunt with his specific skillset until he was satisfied she either had nothing of use left to share with him, or he was satisfied he had enough information to narrow down his hunt. He thanked her and gave her the same salute he had given the group before: crossing his clenched fist across his chest and bowing at the waist a bit, lowering his head in the process.

Once he had done that, he stepped back and made his way toward the river's edge, eyeing it for a moment to decide just where the perfect place to dive would be. He had to pick carefully. With one ally down and one he couldn't be certain of, he needed to make sure he did more than his own fair share of work here. Especially since he was looking at this as his opportunity for them to make up for their earlier tardiness.

Luckily, Saur found his spot rather quickly and stood at the bank. The now blue-hued Kobold took a deep breath, feeling the air capacity working its magic, and immediately dove into the river's water to begin the hunt.

Using Alandri's information, Saur kept not simply his eyes, but all of his senses peeled for any sign of what he was looking for. He was on the hunt. He had fished in a river before, and this task felt right at home for him. It was almost as natural as leasing an arrow. He attempted to stray away from the fish he didn't care about, trying to remain distant enough from them to avoid startling them so as not to give the companions who were willing to work a harder time. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. A nice spot in the river to conceal himself, yet close enough to an open area of the river where he would have ample opportunities to ambush fish as they swam by, whether in a panic escaping the clutches of his companions, or simply of their own accord. He crouched in the water, pressed up against the crevice, and waited. He narrowed his eyes and remained completely still. His senses were tuned on nothing but the water at the moment, and whatever disruptions he could hear or feel. He kept his eyes focused forward to ensure he didn't miss a fish that the description he'd been given. He was ready to snare whatever he could.

OOC

Using his Hunt Prey action, Saur hunts down the most valuable fish he can manage for Alandri to sell. Saur's body remains as still and silent in the water as his frustrated mind can allow him, resulting in a 15 for Stealth to try to capture his prey.

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

@Digizel I love where your head is with this.

1. Yes, Saur can Hunt Prey (he's a hunter after all!). That will give Saur a +2 to his Survival check.
2. For Saur's Foraging feat, sure you're not Subsisting, but story-wise there is not a difference in my mind between Saur fishing for himself/the group and Saur fishing to fulfill a task. You can use Forager for this. (This will be in effect off his Stealth roll below)

"While using Survival to Subsist, if you roll any result worse than a success, you get a success. On a success, you can provide subsistence living for yourself and four additional creatures, and on a critical success, you can take care of twice as many additional creatures. You can choose to support half the number of creatures with a comfortable living."

2. Is Saur Trained or an Expert in Survival? Forager lists a larger haul for Expert.
3. Roll Survival to find the fish that are particularly valuable to Alandri. (You get a +2 circumstance bonus to this roll for Hunt Prey), a success can give you a +1 (success) or +2 (crit) bonus to your Stealth check to capture the fish.
4. Roll Stealth to see if Saur can stand perfectly still to let the fish swim toward him, in the perfect location. (Success will catch 1 fish normally, 2 for a Forager. Crit would catch 2 fish, 4 for a Forager.) <- If Saur is an expert, double the Forager success amount. But for now, I will just write about the result of his Survival and his Stealth attempt and await the official word~

UPDATE:
Here's the DC for your Survival roll so you can write a post around it's success (for your Stealth).
DC: 8

@wanderingwolf

1 & 2. Ah very well then, if that's fine by you, then it's fine by me~ Saur is not an Expert in Survival at Level 1, but he did get Trained in it from the same place he got the Forager feat: his Scout Background, but I don't think the ability to boost that above Trained is possible yet

3. Survival roll is an 11. Dang, had more than a 50% chance to crit this one, but if I had to roll low, I'm glad it's here. I'll take a standard success then~

4. Now for the important check, with a +1 bonus from the Survival check, his Stealth roll is: 15. A bit of a low roll, but at least the result is pretty good overall.

Very glad I put that idea forward now since if I'd rolled that 3 on the die for a total of 10 for my Stealth, I probably would've failed the check outright unless it is just that easy of a roll xD But if that 15 is a success, then I'm presuming Saur will be coming back with 2 of those particularly valuable fish for Alandri~

But for now, I'll just write up my post for his tracking success and await the official result from the official post~

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So, I'm just getting back to Guild, and I'm not sure how the dice work. I'll be rolling Tripkee Lore, since their PC2 entry talks about their fishing habits. If that won't fly, probably Crafting to use some Frost Vials for dynamite fishing.

@clanjos

For your viewing pleasure, I give you Digizel the Bui's RPG Dice Tutorial™~

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

Hmmm, so here's a question for you, Wolf: Saur wants to make up for their tardiness, so he wants to try to really bunker down and work at this to try to succeed here. So what he's going to want to do is take a moment to ask Alandri what kinds of fish live in here that would be particularly valuable to her. And then he's going to want to Hunt Prey in order to try to find the more valuable ones specifically if any exist, using the Seek action.

Would finding and watching his target using that help him in his attempt to acquire his fish in any way? Or would this just be rolling dice for no real benefit? If there's no mechanical benefit, that's still probably what he'd do for flavor, but I just won't bother rolling the dice for that and just stick with another skill check, probably using his Stealth to hide in the water and wait for his chance to snatch whatever fish he can

I'm also assuming that his Forager feat doesn't apply here, since we're not Subsisting, right?

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

Haha, yeah I noticed the accidental similarity before, but it's totally fine. I named Tanrith based on a limited draconic language webpage I found a long time ago and the similarities don't bother me~ If you want to change it to make it easier on yourself, though, feel free. Just don't feel like you have to on my account! =3

Planescape: Search for Tir na Og

<Snipped quote by Vertigo>

I looked it up and it says it works like AC roll so... *shrugs* If I'm wrong, anyone can correct me.

@XxFellsingxX

I believe it really depends on how you imagine it. Since you're rolling Stealth and they're not actively rolling against you, you could call it a typical Stealth Skill check where the DC = the creature's Passive Perception. In this case, you just have to meet the DC in order to pass the check. Or, if you treat it like a contested skill check, then a tie means the situation remains unchanged. In the case of Stealth, that means the roller goes unnoticed I believe.

But I have often seen the "AC roll" argument used the other way around as well. Where the "Attacker wins the tie" rule is what you go to. And in the case of Perception vs. Stealth, Perception is usually what is considered the attacking roll since stealthing is inherently a defensive concept and trying to find a hidden target is considered an offensive act. So typically with this argument, the goal of a Perception check is just to MEET the defensive Stealth roll. Even with a Passive Perception, because all that basically means is that you're assuming the observer is just rolling a 10 on perception on average, rather than bog the game down with constant Perception checks.

But you could also see that last part being more in place for a player instead of an NPC since only players get tipped off to secrets if a Perception check is called.

So...long story short, it's totally open to DM interpretation, and I've actually seen it both ways before. xD I think I've usually played with "Perception is meet or beat Stealth" more often, so I assume that's the more common interpretation, but that doesn't mean the other isn't also just fine~

So yeah, however you want to roll with it should be fine! Heck, if you wanted to adjust it so that it always favors the player or always favors the NPC in terms of winning a tie because that sounds more fun to you, that's also a choice you can make~ xP

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

Saur

Saur listened attentively to Alandri's response and nodded his head at her explanation. "I see. If that's what you've decided, then I will do as instructed, ma'am." However, just as he was picking up his utensils to start eating, he paused again. Something she had said had just registered and finished processing. He put his fork back down for a moment and looked back over at Alandri yet again.

The fact that this behavior was unusual for Teacher Ot was curious to him. He wondered, then, what could be keeping him...? Was something happening elsewhere right now, or was he just thinking too deeply into it?

"Is it possible he's just caught up in some kind of work at the Magaambya and can't afford the time to come down here...?" Saur asked. If that were the case, no doubt he would have some words for them when next they met. And he wasn't eager for that...though it was bound to come eventually.

P2e - Threshold of Knowledge

Saur

Saur turned his attention to the goblin as he approached...and hesitated. Angry...mob? Why would he ever need a-? But then he shook his head. No, he shouldn't say that out loud. His first impression of this one was that he was...strange, to say the least. But he couldn't judge his abilities by that alone. "I see..." he murmured in response. "It's a, er...pleasure to meet you as well, um. Jenk." He unintentionally stressed that last part, clearly feeling awkward about saying the name aloud. "I will keep that in mind, however...I doubt I will require assistance with ranged combat." As he added that last part, he gripped the wooden arch hanging around his shoulders and across his back and fiddled with it slightly, demonstrably shaking the shortbow to emphasize its presence.

He opened his maw to continue speaking and explain his skill with a bow, he stopped as he suddenly realized that they had a fifth member joining up with them. This one seemed to resemble a frog, and he had to take a moment to process their presence; he was surprised to actually see one of their group actually smaller in stature than himself. However, before he could inquire about their presence, the door of the building they had been standing in front of began to open.

Saur was caught off-guard by this gnome woman's stark appearance, but he was almost equally as shocked to hear that she was expecting them. Thankfully, it didn't take him long to start piecing things together, especially once the name "Teacher Ot" was mentioned. He absolutely knew the name of the instructor he had been supposed to meet up with. But there was one thing in her words that caused his blood to run a little colder.

"It doesn't reflect well."

Saur's eyes widened at that. He wasn't surprised that they were late, however, considering he had to stop and actively hide from town guards not even a couple minutes ago. He didn't like the idea of making such a bad first impression during their first task, even if he didn't even know what they were doing in the first place. He swallows hard as he nervously watches Alandri break the red bead that he realized was meant to summon Ot to their location.

During the few minute-long wait, Saur remained silent. He considered attempting to apologize, but decided against it. One look at Alandri's face told him that she may not take well to excuses in the moment. He considered apologizing later, once their task was complete.

Luckily, it seemed like their meeting with a no-doubt-disappointed Teacher Ot was going to be put off, as even after several minutes, there seemed to be no sign of him. Perhaps this would give him more time to figure out what he was going to say....

For now, however, he focused his attention on the task at hand. He nodded along with her words while his eyes instinctively darted around the room, taking in every little sight that he could. Still, he made sure to keep his attention mostly on Alandri, even stiffening his body to make sure it was clear that he was standing at attention; not paying attention during this lecture was no doubt going to come back to bite him in the tail, after all. Not that he needed the lesson. The importance of a warrior or hunter being in the right place at the right time had long-since been drilled into him...not that he planned to share that information right now. Though thanks to that, he felt more comfortable turning a little bit more of his attention to their surroundings...including the pictures of an individual sporting similar attire and an interesting-looking staff that he was quick to spot hanging nearby. The lack of a similar-looking gnome in the area was curious, however.... He wondered if he should assume the worst.

Soon enough, the food seemed to be finished preparing and was now set out for them again. However, at this, a look of genuine confusion seemed to cross his face. The strong scent of the coffee caught his nostrils and caused him to actively recoil for a moment. But he quickly recovered and focused on the meal itself...as well as the strange, black scale presented to him.

"Erm...excuse me, Miss Alandri?" Saur spoke up, raising his arm. "I...apologize, I do not intend to sound ungrateful or anything, however, I feel the need to ask: Is this appropriate...?" he asked. After waiting a moment to allow her to process the question, he began to explain his question. "What I mean is that we were, evidently, late for our meeting with you; late enough that you clearly felt it a worthy enough slight to summon Teacher Ot. Wouldn't an infraction of such importance usually be reprimanded with the loss of rations like this, considering we are not in an active battle zone where maintaining our strength would be of the utmost importance?"

The expression on the small Kobold's face was of genuine confusion, clearly legitimately questioning their situation, as though he thought this act was being overly generous....

Planescape: Search for Tir na Og

<Snipped quote by Digizel>

... Never expected one of my players to outright say "GIVE MY CHARACTER TRAUMA, DAMMIT" but alright then xD

@XxFellsingxX

For shame, you should know me better than that by now, you know how I do~ ;P