Clebsch's Reign of Winter

Game Master Clebsch RoW

Khristov sends some magical energy back at the flying blue-skinned creature. The energy looks a bit like mist carried by wind and when it gets to her face, it tries to enter her mouth, but she shakes her head and keeps her mouth closed and the energy dissipates without effect.

Round 1
Eianar (casts, readies q'staff)
Erland (stands, casts)
Domitian (stands unties tent flaps 1/2 way)
Enemy 1 (move, casts)
Khristov (5 lethal)(draws weapon, steps, casts)
Enemy 3 (whereabouts unknown)(action unknown)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 1st round)
Air Elemental
Damiano (prone)

Round 2
Eianar
Erland
Domitian
Ice Mephit
Khristov (5 lethal)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 2nd round)
Air Elemental
Damiano (prone)

Ingrit is up.

At this point I'm not even sure what I'm able to see.

The tent is emitting light now, thanks to Eianar's clever tactic of casting the light spell on the tent. The air elemental is fully visible and is right next to you. The ice mephit is in dim light. Enemy 3's location is unknown.

Ingrit takes a step backwards, firing at the elemental as she does, the creature's nebulous form making it hard to target.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Ingrit's arrow misses the swirling whirlwind just as the swirl of air and snow begins to settle back into the form of the small air elemental.

It then flies at Ingrit, trying to slam into her as it passes, but it fails to connect. It immediately flies west after that circling for another attack out in the area where the light begins to get dim.

The air elemental has the flyby attack feat. Both flying enemies are currently in dim light, which carries a 20% miss chance for ranged attacks. That will change, of course, once the dancing lights move out into the open. Damiano can stand this round and complete the process of untying the tent flaps, after which movement can proceed without delay through the flaps. Remember, there is a -4 penalty on all ranged attacks due to falling snow.

Round 1
Eianar (casts, readies q'staff)
Erland (stands, casts)
Domitian (stands unties tent flaps 1/2 way)
Enemy 1 (move, casts)
Khristov (5 lethal)(draws weapon, steps, casts)
Enemy 3 (whereabouts unknown)(action unknown)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 1st round)(ranged attack, misses)
Air Elemental (slam attack, misses, moves)
Damiano (prone)

Round 2
Eianar
Erland
Domitian
Ice Mephit
Khristov (5 lethal)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 2nd round)
Air Elemental
Damiano (prone)

Waiting for Domitian (or someone else) to open the tent flaps. Delay for now.

Damiano takes some time to wake up
What? What ? Oh Damnation !
He stands up and starts to cast a sleep spell.

Round 2

Dom finishes opening the tent flap that he had been working on. He then trudges through some snow while drawing his falcata. "Come out and face me!" he cries, looking for an enemy to challenge.

Standard action to finish opening tent flap. Move action to move 15 feet and also draw falcata.

Eianar feeling the cold, moves out into the open with his quarterstaff and calls on the arctic to bring the creatures to his command

Move action out of tent
Std action: Call Cold, Will Save DC=11 on cold subtype creatures. as command undead, creatures 2HD and below, range 30ft ...

Erland moves the dancing lights out of the tent, 45' past the opening of the shelter.

If he can see the ice mephit nesrby, he uses his slumber hex on it.

DC 14 will or fall asleep for 2 minutes.

Eianar and Erland wait for Domitian to finish opening the tent flaps. Domitian strides out into the light and snow to find an enemy to slay.

Eianar heads out next and draws on his connection to the magic of the cold lands to attempt to control any of the creatures attacking who are likewise connected. The creature that seems to be made of air is unaffected and continues to round to make another fly-by attack, but the other, the one with the wings and blue skin, ceases flying, lands in the snow, and looks at Eianar with the expectant face of a servant awaiting the command of his master.

Erland makes his dancing lights fly out to better illumine the battlefield. All PCs and NPCs are now in normal light area. Then Eianar peeks around the corner and tries to make the little winged fellow fall asleep with a hex, but it does not work.

So far, only Khristov has identified the creatures and he hasn't spoken what he knows. Khristov and Ingrit are up. Ingrit's armor continues to get colder and will begin to do some damage, if it gets through her resistance to cold.

Round 2
Domitian (finishes untying tent flaps, moves)
Eianar (moves, Calls Cold, succeeds on Enemy 1)
Erland (moves dancing lights, casts hex, fails)
Ice Mephit (awaiting command of its new master)
Khristov (5 lethal)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 2nd round)
Air Elemental
Damiano (prone)

Sneering at the elemental that hit her, Ingrit fires another shot at it. Amidst the chaos of the battle she notes that the cold of her armor is more that one would attribute to the environment...and it seems to be getting colder.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Her arrow drives straight and true, despite the wind and the snow, punching a hole in the elemental. 4 points of damage.

Not sure if I can command the mephit now, or have to wait for my turn.., hence the spoiler for Clebsch can either allow everyone to read it or it happens on my next turn...

There's a witch about! Someone's casting magic on me!

Khristov moves in to attack the elemental, drawing his blade as he moves.

Rapier: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

That's a lot to say in six seconds. But I'll allow that everyone gets the gist: the ice mephit is under Eianar's control and should not be attacked. Khristov can only move 15' due to the snow (difficult terrain). He is not close enough to move and attack, but he could move and ready an attack if the elemental gets into melee attack range.

I can say it coherently in three. While on a treadmill. I tested it.adventurers tend to be in way better shape than the average person and like military, used to communicating a lot, quickly

Oh right the snow. Let's do that then.

I tried to get a post up before work this morning, but ran out of time with some other details to set up, so I'll get it completed and posted in the afternoon.

Eianar also had to move before he could see the mephit, activate extraordinary ability as his standard action, and only got to say what he said after that, so he really doesn't have six seconds to speak. But as I say, you all get the gist. Some of that can spill over into the next round.

Khristov moves closer to the elemental, his rapier ready to swing at the outsider if it comes within reach.

From the tree just south of the tent comes a series of short caws of a crow, sounding a little like it is laughing. Khristov feels uneasy. Ingrit feels hex energy attack her and she fails to fight it off. As she tries to aim her bow, she finds it hard to release the arrow at the point she wants, putting her aim off a little.

The elemental veers toward Eianar, so Khristov doesn't get a chance to attack this round. It fails to come close however and flies up and around to the other side of a large tree near Ingrit.

The witchcrow is back. It is up on a branch in the tree and has cover (+4 to its AC). It is 15 feet up, so it will take a ranged attack to hit it unless someone wants to try to climb the tree. It has cast a hex on Khristov the previous round and the cackle extended the duration of that effect. Ingrit was affected this round. Khristov has the effect of misfortune hex, which requires whenever he rolls a d20 to roll twice and take the worse result. Ingrit has a -2 on all attacks for at least 3 rounds, possibly more.

Since Damiano started his FRA spell casting last round, he has to use his standard action this round to complete it before he moves. But the only enemy he can see from inside the tent where he is is the ice mephit which is controlled by Eianar, at present. If he doesn't want to cast the spell, he can cancel it without losing as a prepared spell, but if he wants to cast sleep again, he'll have to move out of the tent and then start the casting again to be completed in the next round. That's one of the drawbacks to full-round casting time spells.

Round 2
Domitian (finishes untying tent flaps, moves)
Eianar (moves, Calls Cold, succeeds on Enemy 1)
Erland (moves dancing lights, casts hex, fails)
Ice Mephit (awaiting command of its new master)
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)(move, ready action)
Witchcrow (cackles, Hex)
Ingrit (7 lethal, chill metal on armor 2nd round, no damage, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))(ranged attack, hit, 4 to elemental)
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)(melee attack, miss)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)(flyby attack, miss)
Damiano

Round 3
Domitian
Eianar
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Ingrit (evil eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov (5 lethal)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)
Damiano

Round 3

Falcata upraised, he looks around to get his bearings and finally spots it. "The witchcrow's back!" He trudges through the snow toward the creature, ending up next to the tree that it's perched on. He considers how easy or hard it would be to climb this tree.

Double move 25 feet. Does Dom know what the DC to climb would be?

Damiano cancel his spell with a sigh and moves out of the tent.
He then load his crossbow

DC 15 to climb a tree.

Eianar, hearing the crow starts a magical incantation, Eianar moves towards the tree with the crow, after telling the ice mephit to stay put. he searches for the crow through the snow fall.

Starts to cast Summon Nature's Ally.
Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Eianar spots the crow 15 feet and about 20 feet away. It is 5' north of where Domitian is right now, 5' south of the SW square of the tent.

Don't follow the elemental in the air!

If, you know, you can.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Waiting on Erland and Ingrit. The crow is visible. Having heard it caw, you know where it is. It is a DC 4 + 1 per 10' away to notice it. But all of you could take 10 and make that result.

Seeing the accursed bird had returned, Erland directs his magical sleep hex towards it.

DC 14 Will or fall asleep for 2 minutes.

"Bastard bird. It must have led these blue skinned cold creatures our way."

Erland also draws his crossbow and stays by the entrance to the tent.

Turning at the sound, Ingrit sends a hastily fired shot at the crow.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Minus whatever host of penalties for conditions
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Damiano cancels his spell and stands at the tent door with a crossbow, looking for a target.

Domitian moves to the base of the tree to see if he can climb up to attack the crow.

Eianar begins a summoning spell.

Erland sends another sleep hex, this time at the witchcrow, but again it fails.

I left out the Witchcrow in the Round initiative order above. It acts just before Ingrit.

The black crow, which was bigger than an average crow, more like a large raven, cackled again and then cast its evil eye on Domitian. Domitian saved, but he still suffers the effect for 1 round. It causes him to take a -2 penalty on any skill roll he makes. If the witchcrow cackles next turn, it will extend this duration. Note: Cackle is a move action.

Ingrit still has trouble aiming her bow -2 and the snow makes it harder still to aim -4, and so her arrow sent at the witchcrow sailed on by into the darkness. Her chainmail armor gets even colder, colder than her Ulfen blood can deal with and she feels the cold biting into her core, making it hard to breath. 4 damage - 2 cold resistance = 2 lethal.

Round 3
Domitian (Double move)
Eianar (move, 1st half of full round spell)
Erland (Sleep hex, fails)
Ice Mephit (controlled)(no action)
Witchcrow (Cackles, Hex, Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls for 1 round on Domitian)
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 3rd round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))(attacks, misses, 2 lethal from chill metal)
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)
Damiano

Round 4
Domitian (Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls)
Eianar
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Witchcrow
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 4th round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)
Damiano

Khristov is up. He is under the effects of a misfortune hex, so any d20 rolls need to be made twice and he will have to take the worse result.

Khristov struggles through the snow.

Moved on map

The elemental continues its flyby attacks, flying low between the tree and the tent to attack Ingrit, but she is merely buffeted by cold air to no ill effect. It flys back out at amazing speed into the dim light toward the north of the campsite. Attacks against the elemental have a 20% miss chance unless the light level is increased.

Round 3
Domitian (Double move)
Eianar (move, 1st half of full round spell)
Erland (Sleep hex, fails)
Ice Mephit (controlled)(no action)
Witchcrow (Cackles, Hex, Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls for 1 round on Domitian)
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 3rd round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))(attacks, misses, 2 lethal from chill metal)
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)(double move)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)(move, flyby attack, misses)
Damiano

Round 4
Domitian (Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls)
Eianar
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Witchcrow
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 4th round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)
Damiano

Damiano, Domitian, Eianar, and Erland are up. I won't likely be able to post again until Friday, unless it's a quick comment type post.

As the final words from Eianar's spell fall from his mouth, a snowy owl appears by the black crow and attacks.

Snowy owl uses the stats for an eagle P.S. Crows are natural enemies of birds of prey.
Snowy Owl full attack, if he can appear so that the owl can flank with Domitian he will, but probably not ..
claw 1 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 damage 1d4 ⇒ 3
claw 2 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 damage 1d4 ⇒ 2
bite 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 damage 1d4 ⇒ 3
claw 2 - crit confirm 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 damage 1d4 ⇒ 3

Eianar chuckles as he sees the white speckled owl attack the crow. He loads a stone into his sling and moves forward, under the crow, having dropped his quarterstaff.

Erland steps out of the tent, slapping a quarrel into the crossbow and firing it at the air elemental.

1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 3 - 4 = 8 to hit, for 1d8 ⇒ 2 piercing damage 1d100 ⇒ 10 miss chance, high is good for Erland

Seeing the bolt go well wide, he curses under his breath.

"By all the gods I am beginning to hate winter and all these creatures it brings!"

Dom feels like he's going to regret this, but he will drop his falcata and attempt to start climbing the tree, and quickly.
Accelerated Climb (DC20), Evil Eye, Armor Check Penalty: 1d20 + 8 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 8 - 2 - 2 = 24.

To his surprise, he makes it up 15 feet based more on momentum than footholds, at which point he tries to grab the damned witchcrow, leaving himself potentially exposed in the process. Untrained Grapple, draws an AOO.
Grapple: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

He is clearly very, very determined to get this crow. Hopefully this means the crow is both flanked and grappled, which might help the owl hit better?

Damiano is ready to send a crossbow bolt toward the elemental when he will come back for a new flyby attack

As Damiano watches for the elemental to return for another attack, Domitian climbs with surprising quickness and lunges at the witchcrow. The bird is unusually large, double the size of a normal crow or raven. Domitian suffers a scratch from a sharp talon but manages to get his hands on the bird, which caws in protest. 2 points damage to Domitian.

A moment later, Eianar finishes his summoning of an ally, an unusually large and ferocious snowy owl. The owl appears in the sky to attack the witchcrow. It manages to hover and make a series of claw attacks and a bite attack. One claw is particularly well-placed. 5 points damage, although the witchcrow looks as if it is barely hurt by this.

Erland sends a crossbow bolt at the elemental, but by his cursing the others can tell it did not hit.

The witchcrow struggles to move its wings and makes a series of short calls and suddenly it appears to all that Domitian is grappling six witchcrows, not one. Spell: Mirror image.
Then it repeats its disturbing cackle. This extends the duration of the hexes on Domitian and Ingrit by 1 round, but Khristov is now too far away for the cackle to work on him, so his misfortune hex effect is gone.

The chill metal effect on Ingrit only does 2 points of cold damage, so she takes no further damage this coming round, due to her cold resistance.

Round 4
Domitian (2 lethal, grappled, Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls) (move, grapple attempt, 2 lethal from AOO)
Eianar (completes summoning-owl, moves)
Snowy Owl (hovers, full attack, 1 crit hit, 5 lethal to witchcrow)
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Witchcrow (5 lethal, grappled)(casts mirror image, 6 images)
Ingrit (9 lethal, no damage from chill metal on armor 5th round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov (5 lethal, misfortune)
Damiano (fires crossbow)
Air Elemental (4 lethal)

Ingrit, Khristov, and Damiano can act. Damiano's action is to fire his crossbow as the air elemental flies back into the light to make another attack, so no 20% miss chance. Thanks for your patience while I was out of action.

Okay, gotta ask - how does mirror image interact with maintaining grapple? Still need to roll to see if he's grabbing an image, or does he already have his hands on the right one?

Crossbow fire 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 21d8 ⇒ 7

Ingrit fires a shot at the grappled witch crows, but finds herself disoriented by the multiple images.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Might still be useful to take out an image if I'm within 5 of it's grappled AC

Khristov finally reaches the mephit he was pursuing.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Ingrit fires off two bow shots at the witchcrow(s) but the arrows get nowhere close.

Khristov attacks the controlled ice mephit, which does its best to avoid being hit, but the rapier stabs into it. Strangely, just as the point reaches the creature, all the inertia of the attack seems to drain and it does no damage. The mephit has DR.

Damiano's crossbow bolt misses as the elemental flies back into the light to attack again. It veers at Khristov but again doesn't time it right and just blows some snow around before darting back into the dim light.

Round 5
Domitian (2 lethal, grappled, Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls)
Eianar
Snowy Owl
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Witchcrow (5 lethal, grappled)
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 5th round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov(5 lethal)
Damiano
Air Elemental (4 lethal)

Domitian, Eianar, the snowy owl, and Erland are up.

Erland stows his crossbow and draws his spear, moving towards Domitian as far as he can through the snow.

Dom tries to continue grappling the devious witchcrow as its numerous illusory images appear.

Maintain Grapple: 1d20 + 6 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 6 + 5 = 27
Mirror Image: 1d6 ⇒ 2

"Gah! Damned sorcery!" He appears to seize on the witchrcrow, but just as suddenly the one he grasps disappears! Frustrated, he draws his spear, hoping to continue the fight from his precarious position.

That's not how mirror image works. If you're maintaining a grapple you don't have to roll for images. Only if you're making an attack roll. As long as your grip hasn't been broken, you have the real one.

Ret-con: Because the Witchcrow failed its attempt to cast defensively, the Mirror Image spell was lost. This post describes results of actions starting with Ingrit in round 4.

The witchcrow attempts to cast a spell while in Domitian's grip and assailed by the summoned owl. It fails to get the spell off. Damiano and Erland recognize that it was trying to cast mirror image. It does cackle again, which maintains the hexes it has on Ingrit and Domitian, although Khristov is too far away to be affected and is freed from the effects of misfortune.

Ingrit's next two arrows sail past the witchcrow. Her armor remains dangerously cold, but her long experience dealing with the cold Northlands keep her from taking additional harm.

Khristov attacks the controlled ice mephit, which does its best to avoid being hit, but the rapier stabs into it. Strangely, just as the point reaches the creature, all the inertia of the attack seems to drain and it does no damage. The mephit has DR.

Damiano's crossbow bolt misses as the elemental flies back into the light to attack again. It veers at Khristov but again doesn't time it right and just blows some snow around before darting back into the dim light.

Domitian maintains his grip on the struggling magical beast.

Domitian should post what, if anything, he does after maintaining the grapple. Options: do nothing but keep it grappled, move (since he can't climb with his hands full, his main option would be to drop to the ground and deal with the landing), do his normal unarmed combat damage, or pin. After that, Eianar, the owl, and Erland can act. Depending on how things go, I will try to wrap up this melee soon, since my illness has prolonged it far too long. The PCs have the upper hand. What remains to be seen is if the witchcrow can get away and how long the elemental keeps attacking once he sees his ally, the ice mephit has stopped fighting.

Round 5
Domitian (2 lethal, grappled, Evil Eye, -2 to skill rolls) (maintains grapple, ?)
Eianar
Snowy Owl
Erland
Ice Mephit (controlled)
Witchcrow (5 lethal, grappled)
Ingrit (9 lethal, chill metal on armor 5th round, Evil Eye (-2 to attack))
Khristov(5 lethal)(stabs mephit with rapier, would have done 4 damage but does not get through DR)
Damiano
Air Elemental (4 lethal)

As the threatened illusion of multiple birds seems to dissipate, Dom seizes the opportunity. He decides he needs to bring the bird down onto ground level so his allies can better confront it. There seemed to be only one way to do that. He tries to drop down onto the snow.

Acrobatics to ignore first 10 feet of falling, DC15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Incidentally, Dom intends to land in the square where he dropped his Falcata.

Domitian drops from the tree, holding onto the white raven. He lands and rolls to avoid damage.

Both he and the witchcrow are now prone and grappled. The witchcrow is AC 12 when grappled. A melee attack on a prone target grants a +4 attack bonus. A ranged attack at a prone target has a -4 penalty. Unless one possesses the precise shot feat, a ranged attack at a grappled target adds another -4 penalty to the attack for firing into melee when an ally is involved.

Can Dom use his move action to stand from prone?

-Posted with Wayfinder