Lastly there's that nasty spell description text about how the spell has no effect on "other creatures", meaning creatures not composed of water. Surely it would have some brief effect in these circumstances, but who is to say what, for certain.
I think that nasty part refers to the aspect of the spell which "Acts as a slow spell" on water elementals and other water-based creatures. Since the plan is to cast the spell on the water to create the whirlpool, and not on the creature itself to create a slow spell, I'm hoping this won't apply.
Oh, I'm not holding out on you, just a little slow to formulate a plan. The other option is the create the whirlpool on the other side of the rift and use it to suck us through it like a vaccuum. :)
Initiative
Yes. (I'm only putting the free arms restriction on the "run" action)
Pretty amazing legs eh? That's some fludder kick.
OK! I am back here – pardon the delay.
. . .
And initiative for the big guy himself!
(Ugh!)
Technically this is round 3, but since we’re rolling initiative, let’s call this round 1.
So! I’ve got Donkor up first. Deca-Jaw’s main body is 50 feet away, directly in front of the rift. Far behind the hydra and the rift is one (“free”) head. Also quite far behind you, at your back, are two more free hunter-heads. Am I right that the plan is still for Donkor to cast control water?
Technically this is round 3, but since we’re rolling initiative, let’s call this round 1.
So! I’ve got Donkor up first. Deca-Jaw’s main body is 50 feet away, directly in front of the rift. Far behind the hydra and the rift is one (“free”) head. Also quite far behind you, at your back, are two more free hunter-heads. Am I right that the plan is still for Donkor to cast control water?
Yup, I will try and cast the spell to the most advantageous position to suck the monster away from us and let us get by, without actually pulling us off course to the portal. Hopefully that will work out nicely!
This may be the first and last ever time that Donkor goes first in a round with his 7 dex, so hopefully it will work well!
A gnome-sized priest of Pharasma reaches over top the shoulder of Breach Shattershield and swirls his fingers with a cyclonic gesture.
A gigantic sheaf of water suddenly vanishes in a perfect rectangle, creating a massive vacuum of empty space. Nature abhors on cue and water rushes into fill the gap. No sooner does the water pour in from all sides, than that water too magically vanishes, perhaps instantly shunted to an unknown ocean on yet another unknown world. The net effect of the onrushing water creates a three-dimensional vortex of water, with the water pouring in from above, below and from every conceivable side at an insane speed.
The bottom of Deca-Jaws world drops out from underneath him. All five of the creature's connected heads suddenly register a confused expression and he falls into the vortex at a speed so fast one might think he teleported.
----------
(fails!)
"Wooohoooo!"
"Take that you scaly *$#!"
----------
Whooops! I may have missed someone in the initiative count.
Jason readies an action to fire a slow spell at Deca-Jaws main body should it come within his range of 40 feet. He further prepares to use his rod of metamagic (focused) to augment the spell.
This may be the first and last ever time that Donkor goes first in a round with his 7 dex, so hopefully it will work well!
Does it count if his Dex has been increased to 9 from the reduce person effect from the janni? I think that means he got an initiative roll of 18. Of course I just made the same mistake with Jason, so he would have prepared his readied action on the 18 count as well.
Does it count if his Dex has been increased to 9 from the reduce person effect from the janni? I think that means he got an initiative roll of 18. Of course I just made the same mistake with Jason, so he would have prepared his readied action on the 18 count as well.
This may be the first and last ever time that Donkor goes first in a round with his 7 dex, so hopefully it will work well!
Hmm. Interesting. It does still count, I think. But if Jason had went first at the 18 initiative count, would Deca-Jaws have been in range for his spell so he didn't need to ready it?
Hmm. Interesting. It does still count, I think. But if Jason had went first at the 18 initiative count, would Deca-Jaws have been in range for his spell so he didn't need to ready it?
Not quite, he was still 50 feet out (he needs 40). I suppose he could have swam off of his dwarf to close and then cast, but thus far the plan is to continue to ride them giant dwarves.
He can still do that, even going after Donkor, if folks want him to. I'll definitely take input from you guys on working Jason.
Round One:
Gandel begins offering advice for battling and defending against Deca-Jaws. "Remember - a hydra's accelerated healing applies only to damage inflicted to its body, not its heads. But if you sever a head, we've got to sear the stump with fire or acid to keep it from regenerating two more!"
It sounds like Hal delays his initiative so that he goes simultaneously with Breach at count 6.
So next up is Breach - and then Deca-Jaws - and then Karek.
Perhaps the dwarves all want to delay to count 2 and travel together? This will though permit Deca-Jaws to get a turn in first.
Guessing the current from Donkor's will be flowing toward Deca Jaws' watery prison, Breach says,"Turn the bag toward that whirlpool, boy. The cloud should now move in that direction providin' cover below us. If it works out, we should be harder to see from below."
Guessing the current from Donkor's will be flowing toward Deca Jaws' watery prison, Breach says,"Turn the bag toward that whirlpool, boy. The cloud should now move in that direction providin' cover below us. If it works out, we should be harder to see from below."
After Donkor casts his spell, he looks smugly toward the giant creature and begins to frantically paw more dung from his bag.
Guessing the current from Donkor's will be flowing toward Deca Jaws' watery prison, Breach says,"Turn the bag toward that whirlpool, boy. The cloud should now move in that direction providin' cover below us. If it works out, we should be harder to see from below."
Breach can communicate this as a free action. Would he like to do anything else for his turn? Delay for Karek so the dwarves move as a unit? Go for the rift now before Deca-Jaws gets a turn in? Attack? Anything else?
After Donkor casts his spell, he looks smugly toward the giant creature and begins to frantically paw more dung from his bag.
Wow. Brown vortex. Talk about rubbing it in! I'd feel sorry for Deca-Jaws if I didn't anticipate his turn was coming up imminently.
I don't think though that Donkor can do this as a move action. It feels too much like a second attack in a single round for me. He's already cast a spell from the back of a moving dwarf without a concentration check.
We'll say some of the existing brown goo is already drifting that way, but no fresh helpings this round.
Wow. Brown vortex. Talk about rubbing it in! I'd feel sorry for Deca-Jaws if I didn't anticipate his turn was coming up imminently.
This visual is just too dang funny!
"All to gether now, boys. We are gonna make this run for the rift together or not at all." says the older dwarf halting just long enough to allow his kinsman to get on line.
(fails!)
----------
The behemoth fights against the raging current, fighting its way towards the Tumen Gate. Its five heads snap their jaws back and forth every which way it can, seeking a morsel of flesh to compensate it for the aggravation it has endured.
With Breach's delay, and Deca-Jaw's rather unsuccessful turn complete, we hit the bottom of the round where we hit Karek and the delaying dwarves.
Tiny Gandel clings tightly to his dwarven steed, warily watching Deca-Jaws' thrashing heads with mounting trepidation.
"Angradd grant us speed and luck!", Hal prays aloud and moves forward right behind Breach who should be going first!
Karek has grown silent, as the calm before the storm. He focuses his attention on the creature that floats before the rift. His muscles flex as he nods assent to Breach and Hal, and surges forward with them. As they move, Karek reaches to bring out the now-massive longspear.
. . . Hal prays aloud and moves forward right behind Breach who should be going first!
A distinction which would be more helpful if Hal didn't have a live shield other on Breach up and running. Heh!
(I am just trying to be flip of course, it's no secret I love that spell.)
“All together now, boys. We are gonna make this run for the rift together or not at all," says the older dwarf, halting just long enough to allow his kinsman to get in line.”
Karek pulls out his spear and summons his inner frenzy. Hal utters a prayer to his fiery god.
“Now!” yells Breach and the three swim forward, racing across the final stretch of space to the alien fissure-like phenomenon swirling in the water. As they do so, their muscles strain against the current created by Donkor’s square shaped cyclone, a vortex which drags the hydra back, forcing it just below them.
As soon as the Dune Squad is in range, Deca-Jaws rears up with two of its heads, snapping at the Dune Squad as they pass.
----------
(hit!)
(n/a)
(applies!)
(hit!)
(n/a)
(applies!)
----------
Deca-Jaws snaps its jaws around the least armored dwarf, tearing into Breach's flesh. The behemoth tries to get a grip on two parts of the dwarf at once so that it can quickly tear him apart. The dwarf however, kicks and flails like a madman, rendering it impossible for the two heads to maintain their grip. He is though injured in the process, the evidence of which is the red cloud quickly forming in the water. Strangely, the dwarf cleric next to him cries out in sympathetic pain.
The smell of blood emboldens the great hydra even further as its remaining three heads on its main body rise up to the rift to join in the feeding frenzy.
In order to enter the spinning, rotating fissure, I’ll need a DC 22 Swim check from each of the dwarves. (I’ve added 4 due to the cyclone) The check takes a move action. Success gets you through – failure leaves you at the edge of the rift. Re-tries are possible, but you only have a single move action remaining this round.
REMINDER:
Round Two:
Gandel continues to offer words of encouragement for defending against Deca-Jaws.
REMINDER:
Yes, but you only reminded me 4 times and not 5.
Hal pumps his arms and legs furiously despite the pain channeled into him through Breach's wounds. Survival then triage.
Swim check DC 22
Hal shrugs off his vicarious wound rippling across his chest and focuses on fighting his way through the rift. Kicking with both feet, steering away from Soron's vortex, he picks his moment and dives for one of the spinning jagged threads of what’s left of the Tumen Gate.
His timing is spot on and the dwarf reaches the rift just as it spins towards him. Halstadt lets it envelop his body and the dwarf is quickly engulfed, along with the doll-sized Gandel perched on his giant back—the tiny halfling sage is still vigorously coaching the Dune Squad on everything there is to know about the sea monster hat is still snapping its jaws beneath them.
Once on the other side of the rift, several things are immediately apparent. The water here is of a different character. It seems more stagnant or simple compared to the rich, complex currents of the elemental plane. It is as though the water here is but a shadow of true water. You wonder if your opinion of ‘wetness’ and Golarion’s water bodies will somehow be forever lessened.
Also, you have a renewed sense of the concept of “up”. Direction has suddenly become a lot less fuzzy – until now, you didn’t appreciate just how impaired your sense of direction had become. Rather than being solely relative to your current position, “up”, “down”, “left” and “right” have instantly become more absolute, now possessing the rigid character of a constant, just as they were always meant to be. You feel your body’s natural buoyancy kicking in, pulling you towards the surface. At the same time your possessions, which were heavy before, now feel like giant rocks dragging you downward in a counter-veiling force. Fortunately, Hal’s magically enhanced skill as a swimmer has not been diminished by crossing back home.
Perhaps most importantly of all, above you is a bright blazing light, a light that can only be the sun – the sun! Less than 50 feet above is the waterline – an actual end to water leading to air – and land!
There’s more, but I’ll tell you after the rest of the gang gets here.
You are correct - we are - I think Gandel is just staying on top of things to help keep the game moving (which is appreciated).
I think it would be counter-productive, so no aid possible. The passengers can though jettison themselves and swim on their own if they want.
Not a bad time to make one!
Woohoo!
As the saying goes: Breach is bloodied, but unbowed. Once free from Deca-Jaw's clutches he wastes no time in approaching the rift. Having studied it carefully he already knows exactly where and when he wants to target his entry point. With a quickness that belies his size, Shattershield dives into the rift like a flexible eel, taking Sooron and his poo bag with him.
----------
(success)
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Breach and Donkor join Gandel and Hal on the other side of the Tumen gate. The old battle-hardened dwarf looks up at the sunlight glinting on the surface with the longing of one who is glad to be home at last.*
*even if this totally screws his chances for a showdown with an aboleth
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Karek waits a fraction of a second, making sure that Breach and Hal make it through the gate themselves. With a brief look at the ensnared Deca-Jaws, Karek rolls through after them, spear at the ready.
(success!)
(saves)
----------
As Karek powers through the rift, at the last moment Jason turns and summons one of his most potent spells and fires it at the hydra, seeking to sap the beast’s strength and prevent it from escaping the watery cyclone below it.
"Reductio Velocia!"*
A wave of magical force flies from the sorcerer’s hands and envelops the hydra. The creature screams with its five-heads in protest. It appears that the force of its sheer rage proves enough to repel the magic of the blast, as the creature’s struggles do not lessen.
*Moffidy's Jason always had the Harry Potter faux Latin thing going on.
1d20+24=28 (success)
Not that it matters, but I forgot Breach's bonus for Large size, so that would have been a 29.
Why would you assume it is bad news? Just because it is?
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Once on the other side of the rift the Dune Squad discovers that two of Deca-Jaws’ detached hydra-heads lie in wait. As soon as Hal and Gandel pass through, they lash forward attempting to puncture the dwarf’s flesh and separate his vitals. The two work in concert, the first diving from above while the other takes advantage of the distraction to strike from below.
----------
(hit!)
(n/a)
(applies!)
(hit!)
(negates!)
(n/a!)
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Hal is struck by the first blow but his armor protects him from the force of it, breaking two of the beast's teeth in the process. When the second shark-like head strikes, it discovers Hal is not where it thought he was, Bellson's magic obscuring his true position. The creature sails on by, confused and enraged at missing its kill.
I think it's cool that so far, technically, every round of this combat the Dune Squad has been on a different plane of existence. I wonder where you guys will be on round three. . .
Following a slew of delays (as usual it seems) here's our adjusted order:
OK!
P.S. While they're waiting, would Mooonpate the Potentate and Hurgah the Reaver please roll Perception checks? (No particular reason, outside of the fact that something might be happening.)
P.P.S. A note for you continuity cops. Some of my recent posts have made reference to sunlight on the top of the water, whereas the previous Hurgentate posts note that it is now sundown. It is indeed sunset in Osirion, so chalk up those sun beam posts to the returning Dune Squad's over exuberance.
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Okay. I have a fun idea I want to try, but I don't know if it will work for a variety of reasons.
One of the things that Sooron found in the plane of water was a potion of water walking. It says in the spell description that will negates because it's harmless, but I want to use it as a weapon. Does that allow a saving throw?
Sooron would like to pull out the potion, push off from Breach toward the nearest flailing head, and try to break the thing in it's mouth. With a whole lot of luck, Deca-jaws would then fail a saving throw and be unwillingly forced to the surface to hover an inch above the water for a few minutes.
I dunno if Will negates (harmless) makes this impossible, or if a potion can be used offensively in any way. If Sooron is absolutely positive, as a specialist water cleric that this cannot work, he will simply continue churning out dung like a crazy person while perching on the dwarf.
If Sooron thinks it might work, or just doesn't know, he will go with the potion in the gullet of the beast plan. Because if it does work: It will be cool.
Spellcraft:
P.S. While they're waiting, would Mooonpate the Potentate and Hurgah the Reaver please roll Perception checks? (No particular reason, outside of the fact that something might be happening.)
Just sitting around hoping to Perceive I know not what:
Know he has taken hard hits from the beast, Breach is in no hurry to continue on with combat in depths. Knowing that his bag may also be as running as short as his spells are, Breach grunts through the pain as pushes hard for the surface. SURFACE!!! he roars to his companions.
Okay. I have a fun idea I want to try, but I don't know if it will work for a variety of reasons.
Ya - me too. Thinking it through now. Cool concept though.
One of the things that Sooron found in the plane of water was a potion of water walking. It says in the spell description that will negates because it's harmless, but I want to use it as a weapon. Does that allow a saving throw?
Yes it does. It means 'you get a saving throw but why would you ever want one unless something weird is happening'. To me, that just reinforces that this could work in theory. As the astute amongst you may have noticed, perhaps with the assistance of Gandel's detailed knowledge, Will is not Deca-Jaw's strong suit. On the other hand, like all potions, the DC is not that high.
Sooron would like to pull out the potion, push off from Breach toward the nearest flailing head, and try to break the thing in it's mouth. With a whole lot of luck, Deca-jaws would then fail a saving throw and be unwillingly forced to the surface to hover an inch above the water for a few minutes.
I dunno if Will negates (harmless) makes this impossible, or if a potion can be used offensively in any way. If Sooron is absolutely positive, as a specialist water cleric that this cannot work, he will simply continue churning out dung like a crazy person while perching on the dwarf.
Donkor thinks this could work in theory. It assumes the hydra-head does not have a land speed which is reasonable given that it doesn't have any legs. (Note the main body definitely does) If it turns out the hydra-head does have a land speed, once it hits the surface it can just walk over to the shore. Oh heck, Professor Trapspringer can probably just tell Donkor as a free action that Deca-Jaws can only detach its heads in the water, which should further unburden things
The real obstacle is getting the potion in the beast's mouth without getting eaten himself. This stunt is going to provoke an attack of opportunity.
If Sooron thinks it might work, or just doesn't know, he will go with the potion in the gullet of the beast plan. Because if it does work: It will be cool.
It certainly might. His spellcraft check further reinforces this belief. What Donkor has in his favor is good positioning. He can five-foot step (touch of the sea swim) to the beast so you do not draw an attack of opportunity for closing - just the one for sticking your hands in its mouth. You will also need a touch attack to get it inside. Potions flasks are amazing items that never seem to break unless you want them to. One day I'd like to meet that glass blower.
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Donkor detaches from Breach and launches himself towards one of the hydra-heads initiating a feeding frenzy on Halstadt. Suppressing his natural instincts Donkor moves towards the jaws of the apex-predator, instead of away. For a second, he could swear the toothy beast actually smiles.
Donkor reaches behind him and his magical pack instantly produces the item he seeks, a glass florence flask filled with a clear liquid possessed of a permanent bubbling fizz. The young cleric proffers the flask (and his arm!) to the gigantic shark-beast.
The creature obliges with a vicious chomp.
(hit!)
(applies)
Sooron rips his arm out of the creature's mouth, hoping the flask will shatter as he does so.
(success!)
Donkor pulls his bleeding arm from the creature's jaws confident his flask was shattered several times over in the creature's gullet. Indeed the fizz is escaping out the creature's gills at this very moment. But will the potion work inside the beast's mouth? And will it work before Donkor is eaten?
(fails!)
The creature registers a strange almost puzzled expression before an unnatural buoyancy suddenly overtakes it. The beast is instantly catapulted skyward. It flips end over end as it blasts to the surface.