Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nevynxxx 06-07-06, 05:18 PM	Ok, so in my campaign, I'm running a published adventure ( I wont mention which, since it may spoil for some). One of the Encounters is an orc scout camp. All it says about the difficulty of approching the camp is "Since they do not expect a sudden attack, the orcs stationed as lookouts are lackadaisical, allowing PCs to sneak up behind the lean-toos with relative ease." The camp consists of 5 orcs, one sergeant, and one dire boar, in a cage. The PCs, I ruled, can see the boar, in the cage. So, the party Rogue decided to sneak to the other side of the camp, open the boar cage, and poke the boar with a stick, and see what happens. The party wizard decided to help out by casting dancing ligts in the orc campfire as a distraction. First question, what would you set the DC at for the rogue now? So 23 is rolled for the rogue. I ruled this was enough, so the dire boar is let loose. Long and short stories, the boar kills all but two orcs, one by the sourceror with a magic missile, the last orc is shot by the rogue as he runs away, and the boar is finnished off by some magic missiles and a good few bolts. Second question, how much experience would you give them? I am giving the party full experience for this. Plus a bonus for the idea of releasing the boar since I thought it was so good.
The man they call Boxhead 06-07-06, 05:27 PM	I'd probably give full experience for this. The bonus would definitely depend on the mood at the table. If everyone had fun, there might be a litle something in there.
Solik 06-07-06, 05:35 PM	Why didn't the boar attack the closest target (the rogue)? Anyways, sounds like it went fine to me.
RecycledDM 06-07-06, 05:38 PM	I would award full experience, most definitely. I am, in fact, writing up a very similar encounter in my homebrew wherein the party will encounter a mixed group of ogres/orcs in a cave with a dire bear in a cage that they are working on training. Right now, that bear HATES them ogres! I am HOPING that the party is smart enough to pull exactly the stunt you described.
Insane Pixie 06-07-06, 05:40 PM	Why didn't the boar attack the closest target (the rogue)? Anyways, sounds like it went fine to me. A) The orcs imprisoned it. B) The rogue was behind it, if I've interpreted the story correctly.
Juzzman 06-07-06, 05:47 PM	Nicely done by the group. They definately earned full exp for the encounter, and possible a little extra for using their brains rather than just charging in. It's good to see players who know how to use the brain cell! As for the sneak, hide and move silently are opposed checks, so he rolls his checks, and then you roll spot or listen checks for the orcs as you see fit, their dc being his rolls. He rolled a 23, so the orcs have to roll very well on their spot/listen to notice him. Looks like you have some fun players to dm for there Enjoy Juz
tarsia 06-07-06, 07:13 PM	I agree with the general sentiment. Full experience was defintally earned by them. I might give a small bonus for the idea of using the boar the way that they did, especially if everyone was having fun with the scene.
Archangel_James 06-08-06, 02:01 AM	Realistically, you might let the boar go in on some theoretical XP. Since it helped out killing the orcs, give the players XP/(#party members +1), instead of XP/(#party members). Then XP for killing the boar itself would be as normal, or possibly including the orcs as allies if they felt the boar was an enemy and attacked it as well. However, this penalizes players for using creative problem solving, and I would assume you want to do the opposite of that. In your book, this might be a special case that requires a special XP award. If I were doing this myself, I might award 110% XP to all players.
Nevynxxx 06-08-06, 03:19 AM	A) The orcs imprisoned it. B) The rogue was behind it, if I've interpreted the story correctly. Absolutly correct, or rather, the rogue was on *top* of the cage, and hence, out of harms way. I'm glad people agree about the full XP.