DM Carbide's Giantslayer

Game Master John Woodford

Bronwyn shrugged, "If I can position myself so the Ettin is between me and the bear then it'll be fine. Just keep it busy, yeah?"

Haftor concentrates for a moment. His armor flashes white for a brief instant, and acidic fumes begin to rise from his hammer. He nods to the group, checks his relative position, and when everyone is ready he moves forward in formation.

Haftor uses a standard action for his Acid Strike ability and swift action for Sacred Armor.

"Shield of Faith? Of course. Here you go."

Roshelle reaches out and touches Kronug on the arm, rubbing it slightly as she recites the magical words.

"There you go, my strong friend. Venture into battle with no fear."

She smiles then adds. "Well, maybe still a little caution. My spell doesn't make you invincible, but it will help."

"Thank you."

I believe Shield of Faith is +3 at this level, so Kronug is now AC 30 (32 vs giants), and CMD 34 vs Grapple (for the bear).

Not invincible, but pretty well protected.

Yep. +3.

Haftor is AC 27 against giant types right now.

I think I have folks largely set up. Please finalize your positions and let me know when you're ready. The ettin and bear will be entering from the top of the map.

My position is good.

Looks fine to me.

Looks good.

All good.

The ettin and bear come into view up the path. Bronwyn, you think that it managed to spot you...perhaps two heads are sometimes better than one.

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin
Roshelle
Kronug
Bear
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn

Roaring a challenge, the ettin rushes towards the party.

Roshelle and Kronug can act!

Ettin: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken: 0
Bear: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken: 0

Okay, so the Ettin is within range of Jarrek's armor, right? Did it make the save already? That may help us if it is taking the penalty.

Kronug will delay to see where the bear directs its attention.

Just bump me down the Init list to after the bear

Thanks for the reminder!

[b]Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin-acted
Roshelle
Bear
Kronug
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn

The ettin seems unmoved by the sight of Jarrek's armor.

Roshelle can act!

"This looks like a great time for a blessing." Roshelle looks up to the sky and closes her eyes for a second, centering herself before calling on Shelyn's grace. Then a tingle washes over her allies and then feel more courageous.

Bless for everyone

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin-acted
Roshelle-acted
Bear-acted
Kronug
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn

Roshelle bolsters the party with Shelyn's grace.

The bear lumbers forward, keeping pace with the ettin.

Kronug, Haftor, Jarrek, and Bronwyn can act!

Kronug moves up.
I believe this should provoke from the ettin but not from the bear, as Large bipeds normally have 10' reach but Large quadrupeds normally have 5' reach. At the time the AOO happens, he is leaving a square adjacent to Haftor, for +2 Lastwall Phalanx vs evil foes. So that makes Kronug AC 30, 32 vs giants, 34 vs evil giants.

He swings Gorum's Thorn at the Ettin.
Attack, PA -2, Bless +1: 1d20 + 14 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 14 - 2 + 1 = 22
Damage: 2d6 + 8 + 6 ⇒ (3, 1) + 8 + 6 = 18

And hopefully by provoking the AOO he makes it easier for Haftor to move up, unless the ettin has Combat Reflexes.

Bronwyn moves up in front of a tree and fires her bow at the ettin, imbuing it with her magical power. The arrow glows with ice as it flies towards the giant.

Not sure if the bear is big enough to grant soft cover, but...
Free action to 5' step NW (moved on the map). Swift action to spend an Arcane Pool point to add +1 enhancement to her bow. Standard action to Ranged Spellstrike with Snowball.

bow attack; pbs, arcane pool, bless: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 14 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 23
arrow damage: 1d8 + 2d6 + 8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + (4, 2) + 8 + 1 + 1 = 20
snowball damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7
DC 12 Fort save or be staggered 1 round

Jarrek spins Heartspit in an impressive figure-eight pattern as he yells in Giant "Make peace with your god! You will be seeing him soon!"

Dazzling Display Demoralize check to all opponents within 30 feet: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (17) + 23 = 40

Damn, I should have started up Inspire Courage before. I thought we'd have another round before they got into melee range. My mistake.

Full round action Dazzling Display Intimidates/Demoralizes both targets within 30'. DC is 10+HD+Wis mod. Success imparts Shaken condition (-2 to attack, damage, saves, other checks) for 1 round +1 rd/5 over the DC.

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin-acted
Roshelle-acted
Bear-acted
Kronug-acted
Haftor
Jarrek-acted
Bronwyn-acted

The ettin misses Kronug as he advances and lands a solid blow on the two-headed giant. Jarrek successfully demoralizes both attackers, and Bronwyn's arrow does more damage to the already-wounded ettin.

Haftor?

Ettin: AC 18 T 8 FF 18 HP taken: 45
Bear: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken: 0

Haftor concentrates for a moment and grows to twice his normal height. He challenges the ettin, shouting, "Oi, beastie! How about fighting someone yer own size!"

Use righteous might ability of the armor. Haftor is now large. +2 natural armor for total AC 29 and DR5/evil

Haftor grows large!

Round 2 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin-acted
Roshelle
Bear
Kronug
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn

The ettin goes after Kronug with its flails, missing with all of its attacks.

Roshelle is up!

Ettin: AC 18 T 8 FF 18 HP taken: 45
Bear: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken: 0

Roshelle looks at the fight. The ettin has received the bulk of the damage and is looking pretty bad. And the bear, well maybe it is controlled by the ettin. Maybe it will calm down and leave if they kill the ettin. She unslings her bow and takes a shot at it.

short bow@ettin, into melee, bless: 1d20 + 7 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 7 - 4 + 1 = 5

The arrow flies from her bow in a random direction.

Round 2 (ongoing):

Roshelle's arrow slips off the string.

The bear roars and attacks Kronug, tagging him with a massive paw for 9 HP.

Everyone except Roshelle can act!

Does the bear try to Grab with his claw hit?

Bronwyn circles around behind the battle and fires another magically-enhanced arrow.

Moved 25 feet NW on the map. Targeting the Ettin. If it is down by her turn, then she'll target the bear. Standard for Ranged Spellstrike with Ray of Frost

bow attack; pbs, arcane pool, bless: 1d20 + 14 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 14 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 29 (26 vs bear)
arrow damage: 1d8 + 2d6 + 8 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + (6, 3) + 8 + 1 + 1 = 27 (13 vs bear)
Ray of Frost damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

For some reason I thought that it could only attempt a Grab if it hit with both claws, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Round 2 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Ettin-acted
Roshelle-acted
Bear-acted
Kronug
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn-acted

The bear can't get a grip on Kronug. Bronwyn puts an arrow into the ettin, taking it down.

Kronug, Haftor, and Jarrek to go!

Ettin: AC 18 T 8 FF 18 HP taken: dead
Bear: AC ? T ? FF ? HP taken: 0

Jarrek moves up behind Kronug and stabs Heartspit at the giant bear.

Heartspit PA: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Dmg if hits: 2d6 + 14 ⇒ (4, 5) + 14 = 23

Kronug uses Total Defense, waiting to see if the bear will flee.

It would never occur to Haftor that the bear might actually flee, so he's going to attack it. Actually, he would assume it would be more likely to flee if he pounded on it a bit, so he'll try to do that.

Big Haftor steps forward and roars menacingly as he takes a swipe with his Big Hammer.

5' step forward, then attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24 damage 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (4, 6) + 6 = 16

Correction: large Haftor has -2 Dex / +2 natural armor for a total of AC 28 and DR5/evil.

Haftor slugs the bear as Jarrek stabs it. Kronug turtles.

Round 3:

Initiative order
Roshelle
Bear
Kronug
Haftor
Jarrek
Bronwyn

Roshelle is up!

Bear: AC 18 T 10 FF 17 HP taken: 39

The ettin falls to the ground and Roshelle focuses on the bear. "Wait, boys! Wait! Back up!" She rushes to get closer to Jerrick and the enlarged Haftor.

"Maybe we can calm the bear down and let it go with injuring more."

Round 3 (ongoing):

The bear backs away from the party, favoring one leg.

Everyone but Roshelle can act!

Haftor backs away from the bear, giving it space to disengage.

Double move away from the bear.

Kronug uses Total Defense and moves back.

Bronwyn holds her bow ready, but doesn't shoot the bear. She backs up towards the trees.

If no one interferes, the bear will lumber off into the water.

Out of combat!

You'll have four rounds before something else happens.

Jarrek looks at Kronug, who had gotten tagged by the bear. "You alright?"

"Not so bad."
He was down 8 before, so now down 17, at 63/80. Still good.

Kronug doesn't imagine that the ettin has much in the way of wealth, but he'll start searching the giant anyway.

Just checking that we haven't lost the trail we were following. Was the ettin coming from the direction that we're heading?

Yes, it was.

"Come here Kronug, let me fix up those wounds." Roshelle digs through her bag and pulls out a wand. She expects the markings on it before declaring. "Yep. This is the one. Ok. Hold still. This won't hurt."

She waves the wand over Kronug a few times.

CLW wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
CLW wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
CLW wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Not quite full but that will take four rounds. One to get the wand, then three applications.

She looks up and around at the team, swirling the wand in the air. "Anyone else want some of this?"

Kronug waves Roshelle off after the first charge.
"Stop. I don't know when we are going to find another wand. All that are left are just scratches. I am fine."

Bronwyn shakes her head with a grin, "If I ever get hurt, I'm doing something wrong."

Roshelle steps back after the first wave of the wand. "I know they are just scratches but even the little things add up. But if you don't want it then fine." She waits to see if anyone else needs a little polish.

The ettin is carrying a nice-looking ring, which detects as magical.

Kronug is keeping an eye on the bear in case it decides to come back, and suddenly sees it dive under the surface of the water. He looks around to see what might have caused it to do that and spots motion in the sky: something is diving out of the afternoon sun at the party!

Round 1:

Initiative order:
Bronwyn
Haftor
Enemy
Kronug
Jarrek
Roshelle

Bronwyn and Haftor are up! It's hard to tell what's coming at the party, but it's pretty good-sized.

Spellcraft to ID ring: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Bronwyn backs up towards the trees, keeping her eye, and drawn bow, on the sky.

Moved on the map. Ready Attack action; Trigger: creature is within 30 feet. I'll roll now:

attack with pbs: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 11 + 1 = 17
damage: 1d8 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 1 = 7

It will take three rounds to identify the ring, and it wasn't found immediately. Once you defeat the current attacker you can keep the roll, though.

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order:
Bronwyn-moved/holding
Haftor
Enemy
Kronug
Jarrek
Roshelle

Bronwyn moves and prepares to shoot once the enemy is closer.

Haftor? Incidentally, are you still big?

Knowledge to ID monster?: 1d20 ⇒ 12 That's 17 to ID it with Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, or Religion or (probably not) 23 with Local.