Ascension - Mageocracy

Game Master bbangerter

@Rilumin: you could consider moving over to Anthony's location (AL27) and firing a shot into his square. 50/50 miss chance and then likely a high AC but there aren't many really good actions that I see. This would also get you nearer to the rest of us in case the flying dwarf/gnome monk shows back up.

the map link is of our last fight? I still see Tavrus on there.

Look at the 3rd to last post by the GM on the previous page. Link is in his post.

Updated the campaign tab link to point to the newest map

alright, i'll take the suggested course of action

Moving under haste and using my hunter's trick to take no penalty to my stealth, I will move to AE27 and take a shot at the square indicated by Serelina.

atk: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24
dmg: 1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
total concealment miss chance: 1d100 ⇒ 48

not sure if stealth needed, I can't imagine anyone could detect me under any circumstances, but here it is in case you need it (if they have detect invis or something):
stealth while moving invis: 1d20 + 23 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 23 + 20 = 44

You trip over a chicken pen, and all the chickens stay perfectly silent out of respect to your mad stealth skills.

Rilumin's attack would hit, but misses due to concealment. Anthony is up on their side.

Serelina catches just a faint glimpse as Anthony moves out of sight to the south.
All but Rilumin are up.

Serelina moves to follow Anthony, trying to catch up to him and surround him in Glitterdust.

Serelina will move up to a standard action plus haste movement to try and catch a glimpse of Anthony, looking up and down side streets as she proceeds. If she sees him (or any other invisible foe), she will immediately cast Glitterdust in an area that will encompass him but avoid her fellow players (taking additional moves to avoid an AoO while casting if necessary). If she does not see him with all that movement, she will save her standard action to cast glitterdust if any invisible foe reveals themselves to her as a readied action.

Roland will drop behind Serelina to see the results of her action. Recommend Ian does the same.

Heading back towards Anthony, Serelina continues south to the t-intersection. Her prey cannot be seen to the east, west, or down the southern alley just off the T.

Currently at AO27 with plenty of movement left. If you can specify the direction taken at each new intersection I'll stop you if something interesting comes up.

Old map, but valid to at least lay out some additional movement till I get an updated map tonight.

@Serelina: I'd recommend heading west. If they are trying to run away that would make more sense than heading in the direction we generally came from. Only 30' of movement used to get to AO27, so you should have 30' left from haste. You could get to AO22 and see what is in each direction from that intersection.

Serelina proceeds to AO22

There is no sign of Anthony or Vaek as Serelina continues moving through the narrow streets. To the south of the current intersection is an open sewer entrance, large enough that a person could enter it.

With the sounds of fighting in the local area now gone silent, the sounds of shouting to the north can be faintly heard.

Map

Depending how the sewer passages are, we might not be able to catch them, especially if both Vaek and Anthony are invisible. I suspect the dwarf/gnome monk is with them as well, also invisible. Still, I'd say we give it a round or two to chase them while we're all buffed and if we can't find them we head to the sound of fighting to the north.

Ensuring he is truly dead, Roland drops the mangled body of the half-orc witch in response to Serelina and the open sewer entrance. Let's give a little chase, shall we? Though sounding distant, the voice maintains Roland's typically irreverent tone. He then proceeds to fly south and down the sewer entrance.

With haste, Roland could move a total of 150' on a double move. As he flies in, he'll look for signs of passage or anyone not invisible. If he sees any he'll head towards them. If he can make it to any opponent with 90' of move or less he gets an attack. To expedite things, I'll roll an attack below if case he has the opportunity to do so. He will also use the Message spell to convey what he sees back to the party.

Attack 1d10 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14

Damage, if hits 1d8 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Grab Attempt, if hits 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 21

EDIT: rolled wrong dice to hit....1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

Looking down into the darkened opening Roland can see a narrow passage below running south.

The passage is only 5' wide and will require you to squeeze in order to fit due to the enlarge person. Go down or take another action?

Arriving at the sewer entrance, Roland hesitates for a brief moment before squeezing into the opening.

He should have enough movement left to squeeze in as part of his initial move action. He'll just squeeze enough to enter, not travel any further down the entrance just yet. I'd like to know what he sees before committing to any further movement. After doing so, he'll look around with darkvision to see what he can see and Message back to the group.

Thirty feet to the south is a t-intersection. Both the east and west branches are also 5' wide.

No enemies are visible in the passage, and no noises out of the ordinary reach Rolands ears.

Hmmm....I sadly think we'll need to call off the chase. Roland and Ian would be at half movement while squeezing and never be able to catch up with the Thieves. If we dismissed the Enlarge spells, the Thieves would all have half a round to get even farther ahead. I'm pretty sure they are all invisible, and since the sewer splits directions we have no idea which way they went. I would have loved to get Anthony himself, but we did well: the two half-orcs literally murdered us last time and now we have their bodies (and items). So...I'd vote to turn around, snag the bodies, and see what the commotion is to the north. I'm open to other ideas though, or just getting flat out-voted in the majority want to continue to pursue the Thieves. Assuming others are in agreement with letting the chase end....

Roland frowns as he wedges himself into the opening and sees the passage with no sign of their quarry. He quickly pulled himself back out and flew back in the northerly direction. Through the Message spell he said, The sewer splits in two, with no sign of the miscreants. Looks like the rest of them are a fight for another day. But while we are already feeling so peppy, let's go check out that fight to the north. Might be something interesting going on, yes? En route, Roland will secure the body of the half-orc witch and points for Ian to do the same with that of the half-orc inquisitor.

The sounds of battle to the north come to an end as Roland rises into the air.

From his vantage he can see a single dark figure coming into the light of the sunrods mounted at the western gate. From this distance he cannot make out any details except to see that the bulky form is covered in full black armor, which does not reflect the light. It holds a bow in one hand, and a cape billows out behind it.

Ian nods and follows the order.

yeah i dont really wanna follow them into the sewers, they probably have a base down there with tons of traps, plus tracking them would be super hard. i know I'D have a base in the sewers if i was a thief.

Serelina says, "The conflict at the gate may not have had anything to do with these miscreants. While I'd like to hunt them to extinction, we best see whether our assistance is more dearly needed at the gate."

With that heads off towards the gate, trusting the group to join her.

Sounds like it is unanimous then!

Now aloft again, Roland flies directly towards the black armored form while sending back information regarding what he sees to the party via message.

As he closes with 60' of the caped figure he announces, Well hello there! On behalf of the City of Coran I ask that you drop the bow and provide whatever information you can about the sounds of combat recently heard in this vicinity. Will you comply? Something about the figure tickled in the back of Roland's memory. Maybe that 4th glass of gin while reading the halfling's notes wasn't such a good idea after all, he thought absently while waiting for an answer. What he could retain of that memory suggested that the "man" in front him was much more likely to fight than talk.

I'm fully expecting this to go to combat. Roland will try to get next to the black armored guy but won't actually attack yet unless it is clear the guy will attack us

Ignoring Rolands command, the the figure rushes into the southern gate house, disappearing from sight.

New init rolls. Will get a map up tonight - I'm not quite sure where everyone will be in relation to each other till I am able to do so.

Init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Initiative 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

init: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

From up close you can tell the figure is a male, dressed in full plate, black as midnight. A symbol of a rose on the left breast, colored red in mockery. Having entered the gatehouse he watches your actions through the window.

Map

Ian, Roland, then Rilumin are up. Serelina too if she beats a 14 on init.

Glass in the window will block line of effect from arrows or ray type spells and the like.

Two rounds of haste remaining.

Ian will move up to try and attack the figure.

Not sure how best to get at him, can I attack through the window? Guessing I cant fit through the doorway yet.

@GM: you may need to roll initiative for Serelina; her OOC post referenced being out of the loop for a bit. Given her spell selection, I suspect she might just keep out of harms way for a round or two and see how this fight shapes up

Well that's not friendly! Roland's feigned outraged was followed by a quick flight after the armored figure, following the quicker Ian. He passed quickly through the entry to the southern gatehouse and after getting into position reached out a claw to attack and hopefully grab him.

Both Ian and Roland could fit through the entrance to the gatehouse. I'm sure the door is at least man-sized, which means with just 5' of squeezing we'd be through. I'd suggest we surround him as best we can. He had a bow in hand, which might mean no AoO depending on his feats. So...recommend Ian move to R/S 12/13 (4 squares bc large size) and Roland moves to T/U 13/14. Ian would not get an attack this round, due to being farther away and with 20' base move. But with haste he would be in position for a full attack next round. Roland is closer and faster, so he could get one attack.

Attack 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Damage, if hits 1d8 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18

Grab, if hits 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (3) + 20 = 23

Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Ian, you can attack through the window, though it will provide him with cover. And I'll be adding a additional circumstantial modifier of -2 to the first attack through it to break the window at the same time.

Yeah doing what Roland suggests, I overestimated my giant portrait on the map :D Moving to R/S 12/13

1. do i recognize the symbol as affiliated with a certain group, or infamous figure?

2. is there alternate access to the gatehouse? my tentative plan is to perhaps run up, leap/climb to a second level, and enter that way to cut off that avenue of escape. depending on my knowledge of, say, common guardhouse layouts, i might change my mind (like wouldnt climb the outside if i know the other likely escape routes would be into the castle walls or beneath the earth

Roland's clawed hand scrapes against the armor without finding an opening or purchase.

It is a two story building, with trap door leading out the roof to grant access to the wall. These do have a basement level for the holding cells, only a single entrance/exit from the basement.

The symbol is that of the paladins of the mitral rose.

Rilumin is up.

Rilumin runs towards the tower, still invisible, and leaps as high as he can before climbing up the stone surface.

acrobatics: 1d20 + 17 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 17 + 12 = 32
climb: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

that ought to get me 8ft off the ground, and a medium creature has a vertical reach of 8ft, so that is most of the way up a two-story building. Climb DC to grab on to something when jumping is typically 15, as well. the high jump and vertical reach ought to minimize the amount of squares i have to move quarter-speed while climbing, but i imagine i could get from my position to the top of the tower in one turn. Speed 40, haste gives +30, so i have 140ft to play with in two moves. 40ft to get to the building, 8ft jump (rounded to 10ft for purpose of movement, 8 ft reach. a two-story building would typically be 20ft tall, and the 4ft (rounded to 5ft for purpose of movement) remaining between my jump height + vertical reach would cost me 20ft of movement to climb, so 40+15+20=75 total feet of movement used, not counting whatever it takes to get me near the trapdoor, as i plan to open it next round.

As Rilumin scrambles to the top of the gate house, the adversary inside attempts to tumble away from Roland despite the bulky armor.

Provokes and AoO
Acrobatics d20 + mods = 13

Everyone may take another action either way.

@GM: With Ian and Roland's moves last round, we have the black armored guy surrounded. He would have to move through a square one of us occupies to get past us. I see that he still tried to do that (which he could, its just hard) but failed. So he would remain bottled up and unable to move out of the corner Ian and Roland have him in. I'll roll the AoO below as well as a save against his spell, since even if the AoO hit/grab fails the black armored guy would still be stuck. Also, if what he did to Roland is a spell cast, then Ian should get an AoO, yes?

AoO Attack 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

AoO Damage, if hits 1d80 + 13 ⇒ (45) + 13 = 58

Grab Attempt, if hits 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (10) + 20 = 30

*Sigh*...botched the damage roll and somehow the save didn't take. Trying again for those..........

Damage 1d8 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Save vs. frightened 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

EDIT: So...not frightened, but I'm not sure if he is successfully Grabbed or not with a total CMB of 30. If so, he gets the grappled condition and a -4 to his dex vs all incoming attacks.

Sounds like Ian will either be pursuing or full round attacking. Will roll the attacks so they're here.

All power attacks

Attack1: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35
Damage1: 3d6 + 12 ⇒ (1, 4, 5) + 12 = 22
CritCnfrm: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30
CritDmg: 3d6 + 12 ⇒ (3, 1, 6) + 12 = 22

Attack2: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
Damage2: 3d6 + 15 ⇒ (1, 3, 4) + 15 = 23

Attack3: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31
Damage3: 3d6 + 15 ⇒ (2, 6, 2) + 15 = 25

Wow, between some recent business travel and holidays I have not paid enough attention. The figure is inside the building, which puts the locations Roland and Ian wanted to move to not valid without moving through walls. I was thinking Roland at PQ 13/14 to block the doorway and Ian at the windows ST 15/16. Would you like to take up different positions? Or run as is?

I might not be clear as to how the black-armored figure got inside the building. He was outside of it when we first saw him, and his first action was to run inside the building. So my preference would be that Ian and Roland followed him into the building, taking up the positions I mentioned (R/S 12/13 for Ian and T/U 13/14 for Roland). Because of the shadowing on the map I'm not entirely clear where the door is, but if the black-armored guy got in, we could too assuming the door is man-sized or bigger. Ian did a double move on his first turn and Roland did a move and an attack; both had plenty of movement with haste to get into those positions even if they had to squeeze to get through the doorway.

Assuming all of the above makes sense, then the next round of the combat would flow just as laid out: the black-armored guy tried to AoO past us, he failed, Roland's AoO hit and (likely) grabbed him. The black-armored guy then used his remaining standard action to cast a spell or use a power (not sure what that was) on Roland, Roland made his save. Then Ian did a full attack action. Assuming the black armored guy lived through the beat-down Ian administered, then Roland, Serelina and Rilumin should be up

If for some reason my logic is off, then I'm fine with the places you mentioned for Ian and Roland as long both would still get to attack. Assuming a 30 beats his CMD, the black armored guy would still be grappled and Ian would still get to put his smackdown on him.

Ah, you are right. The door in is actually at QR 14, so Ian moving to 12/13 would leave the doorway open as an escape. I'd assume he'd want to block that space then by standing outside the door?

Of course it's Ian's call where he'd like to move, but I think we are actually better off with both of us in the building in the squares I mentioned previously. The black armored guy likely can't move as fast as us with haste (or as fast as all of us but Ian without haste) so if he ran back out of the building we'd likely catch him. The worst thing for us would be for the black armored guy to run down a flight of stairs to some narrow lower level. By setting up in the places to R/S 12/13 for Ian and T/U 13/14 for Roland, he would have to go through our squares to move further into the building and he would draw the AoO from Roland even on a withdraw action if he tried to just exit the building again.

I'm lost in this whole who's in which square business. Ian will go where Roland recommended, R/S 12/13. Is that a single move or a 5' step that would still allow some sort of attack?

The man heads back out into the street. Roland tries to grab him as he does so, but is unable to connect. 25 misses on the attack

Ian lands a solid blow as he heads out though. Taking Ian's crit and confirm

Map

Okay, now everyone can take an action.

Rilumin is on the roof, not inside

Single attacks are actually more damage (6d6+21) but that's about the same as a crit anyway. Was that the last round of haste?

@GM: Would Roland know if the guy in black armor used Smite against him?

You're a slippery fellow aren't you! Roland continued his playful tone as flew back out of the building in pursuit of the foe. Flying around to block his adversary from fleeing further, the aasimar then struck at the man with a claw.

Fly to I/J 15/16, which he can make it to without haste. Then single attack. @Ian: this could set up a nice charge-flank for you to L/M 12/13 if you were so inclined.

Attack 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

Damage, if hits 1d8 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Grab attempt, if hits 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27

Doesn't Ian have to go around and out the door first before there's a clear charge path? The whole enlarged person thing is confusing me. Also, Rilumin could Entangle shot him on his next attack, that'll help.