Beacons of Hope: Wrath of the Righteous!

Game Master GM the Fifth

Does the prayer spell impact my summoned creatures?

Prayer is a burst, and affects all allies within 40' when cast. It will affect your elemental.

Uriel presses the attack, and with two powerful blows the last brimorak falls, blood sizzling on the stone tower as it boils away.

A celestial viper appears next to where its body falls, alert but unsure what to do.

You are out of initiative at this point, as there are no other obvious threats.

Alexa growls before looking at Darya. "What now?"

Argh, bad timing on my part, but oh well.

"BREAK THE MACHINE!" Arloric replies, bringing the song to a close and turning to the catapault to begin whaling on it with his blade.

"To the next tower!" Darya replies, moving to the rampart between towers and breaking into a run.

She nods!

The basic problem facing Arloric is that an onager catapult is a big, heavy, wooden object. Hacking at large pieces of wood with a sword is going to be a long night. He can, like Alexa, figure that the rope is a good target and easy to cut, but assuming they keep spare ropes, it seems like the kind of thing that could be replaced/repaired fairly easily.

In terms of game mechanics, per Ultimate Combat, what you need is a Disable Device check and 2d4 rounds of effort. Now that you aren't in combat, you can take 10 on this check. You could also, in theory, take 20, but that would be 20 * 2d4 rounds, which might be more time than you want to spend.

As your friendly neighborhood GM, I'll say that a single Disable Device check is good enough to figure out how to disable them, and since they are all identical, once properly instructed on what to do, anyone can spend 2d4 rounds actually doing it.

There aren't rules in the AP for this. Ultimate Combat says a siege engine can be repaired, but...it is easier to destroy than create, and I'll handwave it here and say that the demonic army doesn't have the skills or equipment at their disposal to perform major repairs on a siege engine. There are crumbling castle walls (which you can see clearly now that you are up here) and crumbling infrastructure all around you. That says a lot about where their priorities lie.

Alexa turns back to the ballista she started to sabotage and starts properly futzing with it.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27
Time Spent: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8 rounds

...eugh, that much time, Alexa? Really? You can afford to be less of a perfectionist.

Alexa spends some time studying the device. The rope "spring" was a good start, but to really take it out of action she focuses on the bearing for the pinion gear on one side. Her simple solution is to break the dowel, and jam a spike through the bearing. It will not only be difficult to remove the spike, but it also distorts the bearing and the hole in the wooden frame so that it is out of round. Repairing this would be a significant effort that requires dissembling the machine.

Stand back." Uriel says to Arloric.

Knowledge (Engineering): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

After studying the catapult for a moment, Uriel reaches out and, with a pulse of mythic power, attempts to shatter the machine.

At 2nd Tier I took Mortal Herald, choosing Ragathiel and the Destruction Domain:

If you just target a single component, this should work. The axle for the pinion gear is obvious choice, since that lets you remove the gears on either side, and gives you easy access to the bearing to spike it as Alexa has done.

Uriel concentrates and the axel for the throwing arm splinters apart. This causes the pinion gears to fall off on both sides, which he picks up. He follows this up by driving a spike through the wheel bearings.

Two catapults down. Figure two minutes have passed on your flight/spider climb/air walk spells.

Arloric cheers as Uriel breaks the catapult...then he turns towards the others who are already departing.

"Um...I think the Scale can only let me go up and down...I may...need a lift? Literally?" he says awkwardly.

Let's skip some of the mundane details of getting to the next towers. You can climb down the outer wall of the tower to the rampart, which is only about 10 feet, with a DC10 climb check and you can take 10 on a climb check since there is no active threat. It's a little more work to get up a tower, but the fliers can assist. It only takes three rounds to get you to the next tower with an active catapult on either side.

Alexa, I think, can repeat her process for disabling the catapult on her side. Unless Uriel has another shatter spell, you'll need to do the same: make a Disable Device check (taking 2d4 rounds).

Its just a matter of how many mythic power I want to spend. I can probably afford one more and still have a good reserve.

Can she send the air elemental over to smash up some of the siege weapons?

Air elementals have low strength, and an onager is a bit too big for their whirlwind, but...I'm willing to accept the idea that an elemental can provide unique assistance in wrecking something.

If Uriel uses Shatter again that's basically an auto-succeed. But anyone making a skill check instead, like Alexa is doing, I'll let them roll twice for the duration and take the lower result.

You do get the sense that there is some urgency here, so getting out quickly is a good idea lest you find trouble teleporting or flying in, or coming up the tower.

With the aid of the others and some determined climbing, Arloric makes his way to the final tower.

What is the plan for the catapults in the last two towers? Alexa making a skill check at one? With or without an assist from an air elemental (it can cross over there quickly)? Uriel using his ability again at the other? Or someone making a skill check?

I'd say Alexa making the skill check

Alexa starts messing with the next catapult she reaches.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19
Time: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 3) = 6 rounds

I can take the last one.

As Alexa damages the third catapult, Uriel moves to the fourth, and again uses Shatter on an important part.

Not much she can do here except maybe using old trusty Melf's acid arrow?

Let's say you start by sending the air elemental to assist Alexa, since that was an idea that was already floated. Acid Arrow would certainly do permanent damage that could not be repaired if you feel it's needed.

Alexa, make a second roll on your duration (2d4) and I'll take the better of the two. You can hear thumping from the stairs inside the tower so you get the sense that there is some urgency here.

Time Taken: 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6 rounds

It seems Alexa's perfectionism will not be denied.

Both groups race to the next tower. Telerin sends her Air Elemental to the other group to assist Alexa since Uriel's powers seem to make quick work of a catapult.

Uriel's group arrives first and he repeats his shatter trick on the axle.

Alexa's group is a couple of rounds behind. Darya drives a spike under the door just as they did at the previous tower while Alexa gets to work. The air elemental arrives and tries to help with the catapult by creating a vortex to lift one side and give Alexa a better angle, but this one is too well constructed and Alexa struggles to get the shaft out.

2d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

Thumping and shouts from deep inside the tower suggest that a large group is on its way up. The air elemental senses the impending threat, and moves to the door as Alexa drives a spike through the bearing a half-minute later.

You are able to finish before anyone reaches the doors, but it's obviously very close.

Both groups retreat safely from the towers, down the outside wall.

There are a few things you noticed while on the ramparts:

- The citadel itself has several battlements and open-air platforms, manned with much smaller siege engines. Most of these appear to be ballistas but you see a couple of onagers as well. They don't pose quite the same threat as the catapults you just disabled, but they will obviously make the siege of the fortress a little more difficult. Unlike the towers, these probably can't be easily taken out before your army moves in, as they are more numerous, in full view of the encampments surrounding the courtyard, and more heavily manned. Mechanically, these will provide a small offensive modifier to the defenders.

- There appear to be three distinct battle groups within the courtyard itself: one is comprised of about 200 humans, another similar-sized group appears to be tieflings, and the third is a smaller group of about 100 dretches. The latter two appear to be armed with bows.

- The citadel itself is truly a fortress. It is designed to repel an invading army. Assuming your forces take control of the courtyard around it, it's going to be a traditional siege at that point. If you want to speed that process up, a small team of highly specialized individuals is going to have to make their way inside and root out the defenders. If only that description fit someone you knew...

"We're going to have to get inside and dismantle their defenses from within." Darya says grimly. "The design of this fort will make a siege extremely difficult and lengthy otherwise."

"So how do we get inside?"

"We can enter the first tower, through the doors Alexa jammed. Now that they know that the catapults have been disabled the last thing they'll expect is for us to hit the tower again." she reasons.

The towers you went after are along the outer walls that surround the courtyard. They do not connect to the fortress itself. See image here. Right now, the only way "in" is a frontal assault through the main gates, which looks pretty suicidal.

To give you more options at getting inside the fortress, you are going to need control of the courtyard, which means your army is going to have to defeat the defending forces, first. That has been Irabeth's plan to date. Once you control the courtyard, you can try entering the citadel from its battlements. Or you can still attempt a frontal assault through the main gates...just without a courtyard filled with enemy forces trying to stop you.

I have added a map of the citadel's exterior, showing where the battlements are located. These are all potential entry points once you have control of the courtyard. Note that some areas of the castle have significant damage, forming piles of rubble that have not been repaired. You can likely pick your way through these to gain entry as well.

In light of that I guess it's just waiting until we control the courtyard

Uriel goes to the outer edge of the battlements and shouts down to Irabeth "The catapults are down! Take the courtyard!" If Irabeth et al are too far away to hear, he'll wave his arms or something. Surely we'd have pre-arranged a signal in that case. Maybe we brought some semafor flags with us.

You've got ME!

Arloric punctuates Uriel's call by sounding his horn, its tone ringing clear and triumphant over the battlefield.

You call out to the armies below that are poised to move in on the courtyards under the sky. You can see them stir under the lightening sky--while it's not clear they can hear exactly what you are saying, the message seems to have gotten across. the word spreads quickly, with groups of soldiers turning and standing in a wave that quickly reaches the command tent. Another horn blows in response, and you see archers lining up at the ready as soldiers move into formation.

This seems like a really good time to descend the towers, as this engagement is going to start with ranged volleys over the walls. Irabeth would have explained this to you and suggested that you not linger in a spot where you can get accidentally shot. I suggest descending on the outside, the way you came up, and not into the middle of enemy forces. :)

Remaining invisible, she will fly behind the group.

"Down the outer walls! Now! The rain is coming!" Darya calls out, leading the group to climb, fly or otherwise make their way down as quickly as possible.

Arloric follows after the rest of the party, using the clouds of Terendelev's Scale to descend the tower.

Being less than entirely certain of how long her spider climb spell is supposed to last, Alexa opts to hop on Darya's back and ride her down.

"...er... hope you don't mind, Darya. I just... don't know if my spider climb is still active." She mumbles into the knight's back, her cheeks turning red.

"Anytime!" Darya replies, the grin audible in her voice as she flies down.

Uriel's wings having run out of time, he quickly ties off a rope and rappels down the outer wall.

This will take a bit so please bear with me.

As you scramble down the towers and clear the battlefield, you see the Knights of Kenabras form up for their opening volley. Irabeth orders them into position, and the sounding of the Horn of Assured victory signals the release. Arrows arc into the courtyard and over the walls, targeting mostly the dretches.

It's a difficult enagement: the walls are a significant obstable, and the paladins can't all see what they are aiming at. Most are just putting an arrow into the courtyard and hoping something is there when it lands.

The dretches are also armed with bows, built especially for their clawed hands, and retaliate with a volley of their own. Some are in sign enough to produce clouds of a green mist in the paladins' ranks, which appears to have a nauseating effect on those unlucky enough to be caught in it.

+2 to the defenders DV for fortifications

Ultimately, the Knights have the upper hand. The courtyard is crowded, and most of their arrows find targets. The dretche's spells are a nuisance, but little more than that. Their arrows are poorly aimed, and there are not significant injuries. A few ballista bolts are fired from the castle as well, but none find a target.

Given the one-sided exchange, Irabeth prepares for a second volley, but the defenders aren't fools and recognize they are at a disadvantage, able to be picked off from a distance. The tiefling army surges out of the courtyard to engage.

The knights form into a line to meet the charge. As they do, more arrows and ballista bolts sail towards them.

The contest isn't even close. The tieflings are undisciplined and can't form a cohesive offense. The paladins surge forward and devastate the army, killing nearly every tiefling on the field in just a few minutes.

With the pathway to the courtyard open, the Knights move in cautiously and engage both the human cultists and the dretches. Fighting a battle on two fronts, the Knights see the dretches as the larger threat and focus on them. The cultists recognize the opening and engage recklessly. The catapults and ballistas from the castle walls continue their volleys.

It is a brutal fight. The dretches are destroyed as the paladins relentlessly use their smite ability to wipe them out, but the cultists fight dirty and take advantage of the Knights' single-minded focus. Most of the army is heavily injured and several paladins are killed in the fight.

Irabeth sounds a retreat and the paladins pull back, using their abilities to heal. Fortunately, the cultists hold their position int he courtyard and don't pursue. They also lack the ability to attack at range. The knights cover their retreat with ranged weapons as best they can.

The Knights successfully retreat. They have destroyed two of the three armies defending the citadel, but at a heavy cost to themselves.

We are bistanders correct?

Yes. You returned to the command tent during the assault and were there when the army withdrew.

At this point, you can speak with Irabeth, or try and assist with the army's recovery, or both, or neither, or some third thing that you have thought of. I'll give folks another day, and move us along if no one has something specific they want to do.

Are we attacking later this same day? If we're not doing anything until tomorrow, I'm down to use my Lay on Hands etc to assist in recovery, but if we need might need them later, I'd want to keep them.

Same idea, how we use resources depends on if we're attacking the fortress on the same day or not

The courtyard around the fortress still has a defending army, and your forces need recovery. You could attack today, but your friendly neighborhood GM does not recommend it.

There is a mechanic to heal andfortify the army isn't there?

Yes, and I am taking that into account. Plus, the soldiers that your army rescued from the prisons here can replace some of your losses, which translates into hp gains. I am also willing to allow your efforts to have some influence. If you give me a reasonable plan, I will consider adding a small number of hp, too. It's a large army and there is only so much you can do (with Kemat being the exception--she can do quite a lot), but overall you can have a small to modest impact.