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Hearing Agathons warning, the typically light sleeping Jaques gets up and stare blearily at the apparition. He squints as his mouth drops half open. Is that the deer that the Bugbear was trying to eat when I wrung his neck? Sotto voce, he says, "Does that thing look familiar to anybody else?" He drops into a relaxed fighting stance, his hands loose at his sides.
Thaddeus will look at the buck, rub his eyes, and look again.
It could be mad at the bugbears who hunt the local deer...it could be mad at us for being in some sacred deer lodging ground...it could be mad at all life regardless of type...or it could be an illusion. Fascinating.
Thaddeus will load his crossbow and be ready in case it attacks.
"SNORT, huh?, HOLY CRAP! BY MORADIN'S BLESSED MIGHT BEGONE YE BEAST O UNDEATH" Belric startled out of sleep immediately reacts by years of training from his paranoid Priest trainer, brandishing his holy symbol from his sleeping furs Turn check for lvl affected, number affected (1d20=12, 2d6+3=7)
Moradin's holy power surges through his holy symbol making Belric's hand become translucent.
Damn! I'll have ta buy ole Thunderbeard a pint next time I see him! So he wasn't so crazy after all waking us novices up in the wee hours o da mourn ta be ready for such as dis
The zombie buck shuffles towards Agathon with an awkward slow gallop, lowering its head in a mockery of a living buck's charge. Even though its rack has been cut off, the stumps left look jagged and sharp enough to do real damage.
Jacques is pretty sure, even though his eyes are still adjusting from having just woken up, that there are more of these things in the mist beyond the edge of his vision, for he's certain he heard more hoofsteps....
Initiative.
I'm assuming Belric is not in armor, yes?
Agathon will inwardly cringe as the rotten odor of the decaying beast erases the pleasant moisture laden scent of the rain.
Agathon will step into the charge of the Zombie Buck , and strike with Ole’ Blue:
A Hit Roll with the Great Sword: (1d20+9=25, 2d6+6=16)
As he feels the now familiar thudding shudder of his weapon cutting flesh and bone, Agathon will look past his current target to see if there are other foes to be fought; and, he will say in a voice he hopes is just loud enough for his friends to hear, “As quietly as we can, friends! We are still close to the mine…”
A Spot Roll to see other Zombies (or other foes) coming toward the party: (1d20+4=19)
A Perform or Survival Roll (both have no bonus) for speaking at the correct volume: (1d20=3)
Initiative for Thaddeus: Initiative with zombie bambis (1d20+7=16)
I wonder if a druid set this as a programmed illusion of some sort to keep hunters out of this stand of trees? Sort of like a safe haven for the local deer against the bugbears. That makes more sense than random zombie deer...
"Do you speak?", Thaddeus will ask conversationally, in both common and goblinoid...but not so loud that his voice carries to the mine.
Thaddeus will then attempt to disbelieve what his eyes see.
Order of initiative: Agathon, Thaddeus, Belric, Jacques, Deer zombies
Agathon steps up to the zombie buck and wallops it with his sword, crunching through bone and what was left of the tissue, but the creature is still going strong. He spots 3-4 more of the buck zombies (or whatever they are) approaching the campsite.
Thaddeus tries to communicate and fails to elicit a response. His attempt to disbelieve also fails.
Belric's turn attempt has no effect.
Jacques holds his action, ready to attack if a zombie deer comes within range.
The zombie buck charges towards Agathon and misses.
Two more come up through the mist and seek out targets (Jacques and Belric) but cannot attack this round.
Thaddeus shrugs mentally, making a note to mention these creatures to Cephali when he is next in Knurl. I suppose the world is full of things that are unbelievable - on the surface at least.
He will then attempt to cast magic missile as a 5th level caster. DC10 spellcraft check (1d20+11=16) and loose 3 magic missiles at a zombie buck: 3 magic missiles (3d4+3=11)
Targeting priority:
1. Finish the zombie buck on Agathon if it's still fighting.
2. Soften up the zombie buck on Jacques.
No way this is real. There is no way we run into a herd of "zombie deer" at random. Jaques attempts to disbelieve, but takes the precautionary measure of dealing with the disgusting things that appear to be at hand. Swatting imaginary flies doesn't hurt you, but ignoring real ones gets you bit1d20+7=17, 1d6+1=7 1d20+7=16, 1d6+1=7
Very resilient creatures, these be!, When the magic dinna work, time ta use da ax
Belric gets up and moves to the nearest undead deer, and when his timing is right he will hit it with his waraxe. 1d20+5=20, 1d10+3=9
Taking chunk out of the one he hit, "Ugh, dese stink ta da seven heavens!"
Swinging the heavy blade over his head and down onto the undead buck’s back with a grunt, Agathon will shake his head to get the water out of his eyes from the mournful remainder of the storm…
A hit with the Great Sword: (1d20+9=17, 2d6+6=16)
A Cleave Attack (if possible this round): (1d20+9=27, 2d6+6=15)
Agathon's strike takes down the first zombie deer and cleave attacks the one facing Jacques.
Thaddeus magic missile strikes the one facing Jacques.
Belric takes chunks out of the one attacking him.
The wounded one facing Jacques tries to skewer him with its nub of antlers but misses.
Jacques strikes and kicks into the slimy rotting crunchy sides of the creature and it drops motionless at his feet.
One left. There appear to no others past the campsite but vision is limited by the darkness, trees and mist.
That was really nasty. I really need to look into getting some boots and gloves designed to protect me from the stuff I hit. Squinting into the darkness ...and some goggles or spectacles that give me darkvision...I wonder if Thaddeus knows about such things...
Jaques considers jumping in to attack the creature fighting Belric, but, notices Agathon has dropped his already. Not wanting to interpose his bare hands and feet into the flashing blades of Agathon and Belric, he decides that situation is already well addressed. Instead he turns his attention to attempting to locate other potential threats the others may not have noticed. He tries to look around and see if there is anything about the location, or possibly some person or creature that might be directing the the undead forest creatures.
" Glory, Glory O Mordin!" Belric sings tunelessly, as he sidesteps the clumsy Zombie, 1d20+5=13, 1d10+3=9 "Let me ax ya a question, who makes zombie deers? Did a druid go mad and become a necrodruid?" Belric banters as he blocks a hoof with his shield, and his ax does its work.
I hate undead, dey really freak me out
Giving Ole’ Blue a flick as he moves (to remove the scraps of rotting flesh and the small portion of bone that became stuck on that last hit), Agathon will cross over to attack the Zombie Deer attempting to impale Belric. On his way, he offers Jacques a look of apology as the flicked bone narrowly misses him.
"Oops! Need to watch were I flick my Zombie innards... Sorry Jacques..." Agathon will think as he steps up to swing.
Hesitating for only half a second at Belric’s subdued battle song, he smiles and shakes his head as he slashes the beast with an upward slice to bring the blade up and well away from his friend.
A Hit on the last Zombie Deer: (1d20+9=22, 2d6+6=12)
A Spot Roll for looking about quickly after his hit: (1d20+4=22)
If Agathon kills the remaining zombie 8-pointer, Thaddeus will take a 5' step away from the combat, listening and looking for new targets (such as a controlling intelligence): Spot, listen checks (1d20=1, 1d20=20)
If Agathon does not kill the remaining zombie deer, Thaddeus will hold his action to see if Belric kills it. If Belric does finish the critter, Thaddeus will proceed as above.
If Belric does not kill the zombie buck, Thaddeus will fire on it with his light crossbow (standard action) and then reload for his move action. Crossbow shot into melee (1d20+6-4=21)
The final zombie buck drops rather quickly from the combined onslought.
Looking at it and its brethren closer, they totally look like sloppily butchered bucks. Several of them still have some chunks of meat on them, although all of their organs are gone. Their horns were hastily chopped off with an axe, it appears, rather than carefully sawn off as would be the case for someone trying to make a trophy out of the antlers.
The party sees no other threats. It's still several hours till dawn.
300xp each
After exchanging looks with everyone to make sure everyone is okay, Thaddeus will shake his head. "Zombie deer! Now that's something I never heard of. Zombie humans and orcs, sure - but this will be a good tale for the Gnoll's Head, that's for sure!"
"Well, the bucks weren't armored, so we didn't make that much noise. It's still kind of raining, we're in a bunch of trees, and everything is really wet, which should muffle the sound somewhat. I don't think the bugbears heard us, but we should be up and ready for the next hour or so in case they did."
"Besides, I don't relish the idea of trying to find a new camp site in the dark when we don't know the terrain. Maybe we could drag the deer out onto the trails? Even dead they give me the willies, and they might be enough to scare off a patrol - or at least give them something to talk about, which would give us some advance warning."
"Jacques, do you think we can quietly set up a deadfall? Or a tripline or a sapling rigged to smack somebody? The more warning we get, the better."
Agathon will nod his head as Thaddeus explains the difficulties of moving camp just now.
After the wizard mentions moving the bodies out onto the trail, Agathon will get up and say, "I shall deal with that..." at which point, he bends down and picks up one of the carcasses. "I'll drop this some ways away on the trail. Perhaps someone poking about in the dark will trip over it."
When done with his task, Agathon will resume his shift on the watch and relax as he listens to the continuing drizzle falling unto the leaves...
"EH? What did ye say lads? Aye canna here ye aboot da THUNDER!" Belric bellows out, Ye think dey would use dat message thingy o Thaddeous
"Oh, move camp? Nay, da smell o da undead should keep da other beasties at bay Knowledge Religeon as to the stink of undead "dead" being an aversion to living scavengers & preditors (1d20+6=12)
"Now we just move da corpses in an arc n we should just be fine!"
ugh, Agathon just flicked da undead flesh like it be mud, at least Jaques hae a bit o regular decorim
"Do any o ye need healing?"
Jaques continues to scan for threats. At Thaddeus's suggestion, he nods, and moves off into the brush, making his way towards the likely ingress points, to set "sound traps". However, not being a ranger, or other "outdoors type" person, he finds that his urban skills don't translate well to a wet forest. 1d20+3=6 This adventuring business is turning out to be mostly sleeping outdoors in some forsaken wilderness.
The deanimated carcasses are moved without incident and the party gets back to rest.
At dawn, as the first rays of sunlight finally break through the clouds, Belric, now on guard duty, spots two bugbears moving through the woods about 30 yards away. They are dressed in leather armor and carry morningstars and long bows and are looking about intently.
The rest of the party is still asleep.
Belric will quietly wake Agathon in case the bugbears spot the camp
move silently, hide (1d20-1=19, 1d20-1=10)
"Lad, we have company but they may pass us bye, so be very quiet" he tells Agathon, then moves on to Jaques and then Thaddeous repeating his actions while keeping an eye on the skulking bugbears.
Upon being awoken, Jaques attempts to "not be seen", quietly instructing the others in "how not to be seen". I wonder if those two are alone, or if there are others positioning for either encirclement, or to be able to get away should those two be taken down. A good search party has at least one outrider
On being awakened by Belric, Thaddeus will load his crossbow as silently as he can. He will then low crawl out of the shelter and try to get behind a rock or a log for cover and concealment. Hide and move silent rolls (1d20+3=4, 1d20+3=21)
Probably a hunting party. Likely they know the deer bed down here and thought they'd pick up a track. Hopefully they'll just go away...
Dressed in nothing more than a night shirt, Agathon finds himself trudging slowly through an unfamiliar stand of trees. Looking about in the musty forest, he can barely see 10 feet before his own nose. Trying to squint to penetrate his vision farther through the trees only makes it worse.
He smells rotting meat. Like the bins in back of that tavern on Lamp Street…
The dead are awake… He can hear them… He can feel them coming closer…He trembles in the cold and wonders where his sword is. Around the vast trunk of a tree steps a deer. Its empty eye sockets are pouring maggots that fall through its missing facial skin onto the cobble stones lining the oddly misshapen road way in this musty ‘cityscape forest’ he is lost in. All the street signs nailed to the trees (or held to the boughs by dead squirrels and other small rotting creatures) say “Harrow Lane”… (The road to the big cemetery in the eastern quarter of Greyhawk).
”I am dreaming!” He says to the large deer with maggots for eyes. “You cannot hurt me…” To which the rotted monster gingerly strolls up and takes a bite out of his stomach. “No… no… this cannot be happening…”, he says as his blood and organs begin to ooze slowly out onto the street filling every crack and hole in the paved walk that has appeared in the wood at his feet. “No… no…” he can hear his voice as though spoken by another begin to fade as more animals come from the trees and the growing mist to feed upon his flesh… “Go way! I am dreaming… I am dreaming… I am… ”
“DREAMING!”
Startled by Belric’s gentle shake, Agathon abruptly sits up (rattling his armor in the process) before he realizes where he is and what the good priest is saying to him.
A Move Silently Roll: (1d20+4=6)
Seeing the look on Belric’s face and roll of Thaddeus’ eyes, he finally begins to digest that his outburst may have alerted a nearby enemy, Agathon will freeze and try to be still and silent in the far reaching hope that he did not alert the Bugbears…
Initiative vs the bugbears (1d20+7=25)
Blast and damn! I haven't had the chance to memorize new spells yet!
"Jacques, I think you should circle around and get ready to pursue. We don't want the main encampment to know anything about us. I'll try a fear spell soon and maybe one of them will run your way."
Thaddeus will cast mage armor on himself.
If a position of better cover is available, with a good field of fire, Thaddeus will take his move action to go there.
An Initiative Roll: (1d20+8=27)
"Damn the night!" Agathon will exclaim as he shakes his head in anger at himself and to dislodge the fading imagery from his nightmare.
During this exclamation, Agathon will scramble up and run full blast to the nearest two Bugbears pulling Ole’ Blue on the run .
Initiative 1d20+2=19
Belric casts bless giving all a +1 to attacks.
He will then move to attack the nearest bugbear.
As the others draw attention, I'll fade back and sneak around to cut off any retreat. Slow to start off, Jaques starts moving to get behind the bugbears, keeping his eyes out for any outrider. If he finds one, he'll go for them.
1d20+8=10
His early attempt to remain un-noticed by the bugbears pays off, as he hides during his flanking movement, passing invisibly around them. 1d20+10=30
The sound of his movement is concealed by the noise of each side positioning themselves for combat.1d20+9=20 Fleet of foot and moving like a shadow, silent, and invisible in the night, he positions himself for combat.
The party starts out in square K3 of the map I emailed you.
Agathon charges towards the bugbears, who are still off map on the north edge. Terrain is difficult, wet, muddy and lots of underbrush and loose rocks. Agathon can't quite get there. He sees six bugbears at the end of his charge now. They're armed for the hunt and have bows ready. Agathon ends the round in square E4.
Thaddeus moves into the rocks at square H8, where he finds cover. The rocks there are slightly elevated so he has a pretty good view of the area, except where the tree trunks block direct line of sight.
Belric casts bless and then takes a move action to move towards the bugbears, following Agathon. He runs and ends up in square G3.
3 bugbears fire arrows at Agathon. 2 hits for 11 points of damage.
3 bugbears fire arrows at Belric. 2 hits for 12 points of damage.
The bugbears then move. Two end up among the boulders in B6. Two circle far east in A8 and two circle west to B1. The ones in the boulders have cover, the others not quite yet. There's lot of stuff for them to seek concealment behind or cover, but right now they're trying to find better positions for the fight.
Jacques moves silently and probably very concealed from view to square I8
Don't let the map limit you, obviously. If you want to move off map to flank or whatever, I'll adjust.
Thaddeus sights and shoots at one of the bugbears in A8, scoring a solid hit. If one of them has a horn or other type of signaling device in evidence, target that one first. Blessed crossbow shot (1d20+7, 1d8=[15, 7], [5])
That should stop their silly knees-bent running-about advancing behavior!
He will then dig 3 oil flasks, a sunrod, and some string out of his belt pouches, to do something with next round.
ugh, dat smarts!, got ta clear da path between dese archers
Belric moves into the rocks near him taking as much cover as possible, dislodging an arrow from his thigh. Grinning in pain, he judges the distance between the bugbears that Agathon is charging at and the ones nearest to them. Griping his holy symbol he intones a prayer of the second layer of enlightenment of Moradin's teachings, "Bridge da distance between me n me enemies by the shadows cast from ye Forge, by Moradin's blessing"
now I can catch up ta da big galoot
Agathon runs through the muddy ground and thick waterlogged grasses into square B5NE.
Thaddeus' crossbow shot strikes one of the bugbears in full jog, eliciting a wince of pain as the bolt impacts the bugbear in the thigh.
Belric casts his darkway spell from square F2SE.
Bugbear B1 drops his longbow and pulls out his morningstar and attacks Agathon for 4 pts of damage. His final location is B6NW
Bugbear B2 climbs over the rocks to B6SW and fires one arrow at Agathon, missing.
Bugbears B3 and B4 move about 30' off the map east from A8 into a patch of thick trees for cover. Thaddeus can see them setting up for arrow shots from cover there.
Bugbears B5 and B6 move into the rocks at F1. B6 takes out a morning star and looks at Belric challengingly while B5 scans for targets for his longbow.
Jacques is in square I8SW, contemplating his next move through the foliage and planning the route that gives him the most cover.
Jaques will attempt to sneak up on the bugbears as they seem the most prepared to "slip away". He will come as close as possible to position himself for a stealth attack, either by sling or melee.1d20+10=25
1d20+9=25 Silent and invisible as a shadow, he creeps up on his targets.
Thaddeus considers his next move carefully, as his hands move almost of their own accord, surely tying the 3 oil flasks together around the sun rod.
I'm not under fire yet, but that won't last long. I'd prefer to save this firebomb for two bugbears clustered together, but the two I was going for are in the trees and the weapon would likely break up in the canopy. If I launch at the ones on the left, I might fall short and hit Agathon or Belric - either of whom can ill afford it right now, judging from their new plumage. And if I am charged somehow I'd prefer to have some plumage of my own to offer the bugbears. Keep your options open!
Thaddeus will nock a crossbow bolt and pull the cocking lever, loading his crossbow.
Lad ye better heal yerself, before closing with that hairy gobber "Moradin show yer grace for this humble servant, 1d8+3=6 Thank ye Lord",
Dat be much better, now ta help out and slice some gobbers up
Belric jumps out from his cover and runs along the darkway to the waiting bugbear hefting his waraxe in the air, screaming in Dwarvish "BARUK U GAFUR!"
Inwardly wincing with the pain of limping through the muck, Agathon prays…
“Oh Great Light, allow my pain to harden my heart for this battle!…” As he recites the very short version of the ‘Call to Service” prayer…
As the magic of Belric’s Blessing as well as his own steadfast faith bolster Agathon, he refuses to even acknowledge the arrow still stuck through his left thigh.
Ole’ Blue feels light under his finger tips and yet comes down upon the helm of his foe with the weight of a mountain! Agathon grins stupidly. He suddenly feels indestructible as, for the first time, he has scored the perfect hit. Cleaving the enemie's helmet in two nearly perfect slices, Ole' Blue rings out with a "TANG!" as the heavy weapon slices through the armor flesh and bone of the Bugbear.
A hit with the Great Sword: (1d20+10=30, 2d6+6=18)
A Critical Hit Confirmation Roll: (1d20+10=30, 2d6+6=14)
A Cleave Attack with Ole' Blue: (1d20+10=24, 2d6+6=14)
Agathon never even notices how the pain from the shaft in his left leg seems to just go away…
Agathon destroys the bugbear in B1 and badly wounds the other bugbear with his cleave attack.
Thaddeus readies his firebomb and crossbow as indicated.
Belric heals himself, then closes to melee ending up in square F2SW
Bugbear B2, spurting blood and trying to hold his entrails in, runs to meet the bugbears B3/B4, which are located in a cluster of trees about 30' east of A8.
B3 and B4 fire arrows at Agathon. Due to cover from the rocks, only one hits for 2 points of damage.
Agathon is hit by a magical bolt of energy for 6 points of damage. Two bolts of energy as a matter of fact. They came from the north but he did not spot who cast that spell. Thaddeus notices the spell, but not who cast it. It's a magic missile.
B6 attacks Belric and misses, but no fumble.
B5 is looking like he's readying an arrow attck for anyone who pops up. Neither one moves from the rocks.
Jacques has finished closing with the bugbears off map (30' east of A8). He's about 20' away, very well concealed and can see the bugbears scanning the battlefield, concentrating on Agathon, whom they just shot at. There's enough foliage around that Jacques figures with some skill he could be in among the bugbears without them noticing him, if he's skillful enough.
Test dice expression
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If you click on the button below each post window and click on "show" next to BBCode tags you can use, you'll see what you need to type in to use the die roller function (and all the other Bulletin Board --BB-- code used here)
Thaddeus will light the firebomb on the rocks and then cast launch item:
Ryan, Ripkin, Gossage, Perry
make this item light and airy!
And hurl it at the group of three bugbears in A11:
Thrown molotov cocktail (1d20+6=9, 3d6=9)
The orange projectile streaks from the sky and impacts harmlessly (to bipeds, anyway) on a tree branch, drizzling burning oil below.
Without even noticing the small gash from the latest arrow, Agathon reels from the impacts of the two magic missiles...
Being struck by the force, he snaps his head about to see the caster of the spell, seeing nothing as everything comes ‘crashing down to Earth’…
His elation of the last few seconds vanishes. Realizing that these Bugbears are more skilled with their darts that he originally gave credit, and that they now have wizardly aid, Agathon suddenly realizes that he is in a bit of a tight spot.
Agathon moves to cover and quaffs his clw potion.
Thaddeus' molotov cocktail contraption misses, but causes quite a smoke and sizzle on the wet ground for a few rounds.
B5 fires an arrow at Thaddeus from his readied action. Thaddeus has cover and with his mage armor his AC is 24.
B5's initiative is now tied with Thaddues.
Belric slightly wounds the bugbear in the rocks at F1SE.
Jacques notices the bugbears in A11 are readying arrow shots at targets that pop up. The wounded one is groaning and bandaging himself up.
B6 attacks Belric with a morning star
Jacques spots a bugbear wearing only leather armor and a spear about 30' north of A4. He is taking cover among bushes and a tree trunk. Jacques sees him casting a spell of some sort, but doesn't recognize it. Jacques moves towards this bugbear.