[Jehova's Arena, Test] Fight the Fourteenth, Rolg vs. Bruno

[The Arbiter]

The arena hasn't seen action in several days, and everyone is excited to see two fan-favorites returning for another bout. Rolg takes his place in the north, Bruno to the south. They know what to do.

Rolg A10, Bruno L10, Esmarelda KL1112.

[Gladiator_Eben]

Rolg steps back into the arena's light. Little has changed in the dwarf's chosen weapons or armor. (Breastplate, mwk lucerne hammer in-hand, two worn spiked gauntlets, 9 chakram and 4 nets at various places, one massive mwk dwarves war axe, one steel shield on his back, and one regular-sized masterwork dwarven war axe hanging form his hip.)

When his eyes fall on Bruno, he lets out a loud whoop of a laugh as he holds his long-hafted hammer up. "Bruno! Du hunden kjærlig dverg! Godt å se et vennlig ansikt på slutten av hammer min!"

Dwarven:

"Bruno! You dog loving dwarf! Good to see a friendly face at the end of my hammer!"

Arbiter:

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Initiative 10

[Warlords of Choon]

Bruno emerges stoically, ready for whomever he may face. When his ears are greeted with Dwarven, he breaks into a lopsided grin. He laughs heartily, then roars back across the arena, Rolg, min bror i døden! Denne gangen håper jeg vår kamp varer lenger!

Dwarven:

Rolg, my brother in Death! This time I hope our fight lasts longer!

dice:

init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Initiative: 14

[Warlords of Choon]

::Suprise Round::

dice:

ride: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Bruno springs to the saddle with an agility that seems to defy his badly bowed legs. He urges Esmeralda to the side, facing his stout opponent head-on, lance at the ready.
Ha dere, æret fiende! He yells in Dwarven, followed by a mighty arching globule of phlegm.

Dwarven:

Have at ye, Honored Foe!

DM:

Move action to mount, even though I rolled well enough to mount faster.
Swift to Challenge
Move by Esmeralda to move to K/L-10/11

Mount and move to K/L-10/11
Rolg's turn

[Gladiator_Eben]

:: Surprise Round ::

The red-maned square-of-a-dwarf counters Bruno's charge prep by walking to the east behind a pillar.

"Så hørte jeg et rykte for noen uker tilbake om en stygg hund ridning dverg som ga en haug med goblins helvete ned på Klo i Ford. Ville ikke tilfeldigvis har vært deg?"

Dwarven:

"So, I heard a rumor a few weeks back about an ugly dog riding dwarf who gave a bunch of goblins hell down at Klo's Ford. Wouldn't happen to have been you?"

Arbiter:

Swift to activate Judgement of Justice (+1 attack rolls)
Move to A.13

Move to A.13
Bruno's turn

[Warlords of Choon]

Bruno scowls at his enemy for denying him the charge. He trots around his own eastern pillar, wary of a charge from the only person to have felled him so far.

Nei, var ikke meg. Jeg var for opptatt låsing Gnomes til lintels og skewering halve demoner!

Dwarven:

Nay, wasn't me. I was too busy pinning Gnomes to lintels and skewering half-demons!

Move to K/L 13/14, look imposing :P

[Gladiator_Eben]

:: Round 1 ::

Once again Rolg counters the other dwarf's attempt to establish a charge lane by simply moving back to his original position (well, just in front of his original position, anyway). Once there, however, he apparently engages in some hocus pocus of some sort.

All the while, the conversation continues, "Oh, vel, det er skuffende. Her jeg skulle bli imponert. Jeg mener, hvor vanskelig kan låsing noen gnomes til en vegg være? Du ønsker å gjøre en karriere endring interiørarkitekt?"

Dwarven:

"Oh, well, that's disappointing. Here I was going to be impressed. I mean, how hard can pinning a few gnomes to a wall be? You looking to make a career change to interior decorator?"

Arbiter:

Move to B.10
Cast Shield of Faith (rd 1 of 10)

AC is now 20

Move to A.10, then some Magic-y looking stuff (roll Spellcraft if you got it)
Bruno's turn. :)

[Gladiator_Eben]

This fight has me all antsy... I feel like i could be splatted at any moment! (Hopefully I'll get to splat you first). :D

[Warlords of Choon]

Bruno begins to circle the arena counter-clockwise in a wide arc, stalking his foe. He breaks into a good laugh at his Cousin's goading

Bare hvis jeg kan bruke innvollene til å male et veggmaleri av din død over veggene! Presenter deg selv, blod bror!

Dwarven:

Only if I can use your entrails to paint a mural of your death across the walls! Present yourself, blood brother!

move E/F-17/18

[Gladiator_Eben]

:: Round 2 ::

As Bruno circles around the edge, Rolg rushes forward to try to control the fight.

There is an odd juxtaposition between the threat in Rolg's eyes and the jokes on his lips. "Ingen avtale, stygg hund elsker. Pluss, trenger du en langt større arena for å bruke alle mine guts som pynt. Men jeg er glad for å se deg prøve!!

Whatever else he might have said is lost as he does his now-iconic size-doubling trick, sliding to a stop next to a column as he swings wildly at Bruno in an attempt to one-shot him once again.

Dwarven:

"No deal, ugly dog lover. Plus, you'd need a far bigger arena to use all my guts as decorations. But I'm happy to see you try!"

-------

Arbiter:

Move to E.13
Swift action to Enlarge (now occupying E/F 12/13)
Rage Strike Bruno w/ Lucerne Hammer (modifying rolls for Enlarge, Rage, Jugement of Justice, and cover)

Status: HP 30/30

rolls:

Lucerne Hammer 1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 4 = 8
---> Damage 3d6 + 9 ⇒ (1, 6, 5) + 9 = 21

Move and double in size, ending in (E/F 12/13). Get angrified and Attack Bruno
Attack 8 (D'oh!); Damage 21

Bruno's up (and keep in mind we have cover from each other using reach weapons unless you can swing farther north)

[Warlords of Choon]

Arbiter:

could I charge from my position to D/E-16/17? It's a straight line, traveling at least 10 ft toward the nearest corner of my opponent, free from obstacles. Bruno could swing his lance wide to the left like real jousting to justify the facing of the attack. I don't see any rules that say the attack must be in the direction of the charge.

[Gladiator_Eben]

I'm pretty sure I know the issue awaiting clarification. No, you can't – as a full-round action – have Esmerelda fling a giant, greasy turd past the column as a ranged touch attack that incapacitates Rolg with no save… at least not without incurring cover penalties. :D

[The Arbiter]

Bruno Only:

Yup, that's 10 ft. and has no barriers, so it's chargeable.

[Gladiator_Eben]

I was totally right, wasn't I?

[Warlords of Choon]

Totally

dice:

attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
damage: 2d8 + 20 ⇒ (2, 1) + 20 = 23

Bruno spots a hole in Rolg's defence. Because he tried to swing around the massive pillar, his giant hammer was out of place for a sweeping attack. He gives a great howl and charges toward Rolg's left side, swinging his lance left across his body in a professional jousting sweep.

Charge to D/E-16/17
Attack:26
Damage: 23 (1 point off min. damage, lucky dwarf :P)
-2AC to next turn
Rolg's up

[Gladiator_Eben]

Um. How are you able to charge? From your starting point (E/F 17/18) to that ending place (D/E 16/17) is only 5' of movement, according to this:

Measuring Distance wrote:

When measuring distance, the first diagonal counts as 1 square, the second counts as 2 squares, the third counts as 1, the fourth as 2, and so on.

So you've only moved 1 square (5 foot equivalent), and charging requires 10 feet of movement. i think there could be a secondary discussion about moving in that direction and charging at the end based on the line in the charging write-up that states "You must move at least 10 feet (2 squares) and may move up to double your speed directly toward the designated opponent."

Is there something I've missed? I'm concerned since that positioning was chosen specifically to block charging in any manner.

EDIT: Additionally, even if Bruno were able to charge to D/E 16/17, he still doens't threaten Rolg's space. He only threatens right up next to him... which isn't enough to make the attack.

[Warlords of Choon]

Arbiter:

I was charging directly toward the only corner of his space I could reach with my reach, the top right of his square. As for distance charged, I may have to move one square more, ending up nearly adjacent to him as the bottom corner of my square is within reach. I'm on my phone posting today and the map is hard to read when it's so small so I apologize if I misread the distance. I may have meant C/D-15/16

[The Arbiter]

Oi, I think I had both of your positions incorrect somehow when checking the map. Looking again I don't believe there is any way for Bruno to charge, since the clearest direction towards his opponent that is 10 ft. puts him at DE1516, and even that is debatable legality since a translation of the 4 block area technically would pass through the pillar. I was hoping this wouldn't become one of those things I need to house-rule, but I may need to write up some comprehensive charging stuff to deal what with large creatures passing pillars, attacks not being towards the front, and "directly toward" being unclear. If I did this I would probably go for a pretty narrow view of what is chargeable, where you essentially must take the shortest direct distance between you and your opponent to be allowed to charge. For now though, Bruno, if you want to keep your attack roll(less the charging bonus and multiplier), feel free to do so. You'd need to be moving somewhere different, however, since your initial movement didn't threaten Rolg.

[Warlords of Choon]

Bruno is suddenly tired of waiting. He rushes Rolg, appearing around the pillar at a dead run and striking quickly with his lance.

dice:

damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Move to D/E-14/15
Attack:24
Damage:14
I provoke a AoO for movement

[Gladiator_Eben]

AoO
As Bruno closes, Rolg waits for his moment. Once his opponent clears the pillar, Rolg reverses the direction of his hammer, bringing it in a vicious swing back at the charger.

AoO:

Lucerne Hammer 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
---> Damage 3d6 + 9 ⇒ (3, 4, 6) + 9 = 22

As Bruno moves from D/E 16/17 into D/E 15/16, Rolg takes his AoO
Attack 24; Damage 22

-----
If that AoO doesn't kill/disable Bruno…
The lance slams home on Rolg.

:: Round 3 ::

But Rolg, despite the solid blow, perseveres. The hammer drops from one hand as the other draws out the massive axe on his back. And the axe once again plummets towards Rolg's foe with vicious speed.

Then he steps backwards towards the pillar on his left, not wanting to provide additional easy attacks.

Arbiter:

Drop Hammer, draw huge war axe
Attack Bruno (including Judgement of Justice, Enlarge, Rage)
Swift to switch to Judgement of Healing (Fast Healing 1)
5' step back to D/E 11/12

Status: 17/30 hp

rolls:

Huge Mwk Dwarven War Axe 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
---> Damage 3d8 + 9 ⇒ (1, 8, 8) + 9 = 26

Drop Hammer, Draw (now) Huge Axe, Attack Bruno, then step back to D/E 11/12.
Attack 21; Damage 26

Bruno's turn (if he's still standing.. er.. riding)

[Warlords of Choon]

Made it through the first, the second was soo close to missing me.
Bruno drops straight to d-e-d dead.
I'm disappointed, but the dice have shown their will. I'll not contest it. Congrats. :)

[Gladiator_Eben]

Caught in the thrill of the moment, Rolg gives the body two more hacks before he hefts his axe onto his shoulder.

Once convinced of his victory, he releases the stranglehold on his rage before taking a few bigger-than-life spins to enjoy the crowd roars.

Then, still huge, he puts the defeated dwarf back on his camel mount, shrinks to regular size, and walks the camel back to the entrance thoruh which it came. With another smack on the camel's rump, he sends another challenger back through their entrance.

The crowd gets a tired salute as he marches back across the arena and into the shadows of his own entrance.

Good match, Bruno.

[Warlords of Choon]

Same to you.