"That is an Arrow of Death! It holds baneful magic that will kill any single victim!" The blue-robed woman lowers her voice. "The Magister found it in a hoard to the north. It sickens me to use such methods, but.. needs must, when the devil drives. Edric, shoot the first one of them that moves."
She glances at Zimu and her lip twitches. You can almost see her thinking: Move, please move.
I regret to inform you that somebody busybody nuisance seems to have cast some sort of fire protection spell on the Commander. Your Scorching Ray, despite the critical, seems to be doing much less damage than it should.
Yes, I know. But with people flying around casting Fireballs left and right; sooner or later someone was going to do that.
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
I figured as much, that's why I used Shocking Grasp until the pain in the monk arrived. And I rolled absurdly low for damage, but if any got through at least it puts the commander further in the negatives.
I rolled well with the Shocking Grasp but the Monk decided to join the party.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
"That is an Arrow of Death! It holds baneful magic that will kill any single victim!"
Sense Motive you wench! I call BS ! 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
A man appears at the top of the ladder. He has a longbow with a nocked arrow.
Grumblejack would get an attack of opportunity if the archer comes up to the ladder at the end of round four before Edric gets to peek in the situation because he is right there and has reach right?
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
"Edric, get over here NOW! The Commander is down!"
Locking her stare with her own eyes,
'You have FAILED your commander, you have failed your vows ... and very soon you will fail your Town, your Kingdom, and your king. You also are not as skinny as you think you are.'
Ahem, well. Grumblejack is smart and disciplined for an ogre, but there's a reason that you don't see a lot of ogres as top-end minions.
The blue-robed woman raises her eyebrows. "Skinny? My body is a temple. My physical discipline gives me the ability to climb walls, leap over obstacles, and crush the skulls of criminals with my bare hands. It's called... fitness." She looks you up and down for a moment, clearly communicating and you don't have it.
"And we have not failed yet, criminal. Look behind you."
Okay, at this point the question of "are there arrowslits on the inward side of the Gatehouse" becomes fraught. As noted, the map gives no guidance. Judge, upon consideration I'm going to reverse my earlier statement and say that there are -- that makes more sense than otherwise.
Squads of soldiers are advancing across both the upper and lower bridges.
Okay, the Judge, Ragnar and Morsum go before blue-robe woman. So we're waiting on the Judge here. The rest of you, please don't act until he's had a chance to post.
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
So I get around on about six hours of sleep normally, but because of this game I literally missed three hours each the past two nights, I'm not even that sleepy right now but I need to close my eyes. Let's call that a compliment to what DM has going on here and everyone else on top of that. That being said I need to try and get five hours sleep before work (school thankfully does not start until mid next week).
If possible please wait for Cуровую to post her own actions, last time when she posted in advance a LOT changed before her actual action.
Here are possible actions, again use this only if you can not wait a few hours for me to be back which I would much rather prefer.
Assuming the Judge may delay for Ragnar and Morsum to act so the arrow does not target him (although is the Judge immune to poison effects now? I am not sure what's going on with him), Ragnar should delay too because at least targeting Morsum with the killer arrow has a miss chance as a shadow.
In theory I suspect Ragnar will go for the Paladin's throat, even Morsum should devote one attack in case Ragnar does not to make sure the Paladin stays dead.
Cуровую will take a move action to possibly set up a Fireball from wand possibly or more likely from the bonded item.
This is why it is very difficult to play without a map, especially in a fight like this. In order to use Great Cleave, all of us would have had to be adjacent. If there were any gaps, the cleave would not have worked and logically as an intelligent group, we have all been using flanking so that we were on opposite sides. Most of us have been using +2 flanking bonuses.
Also, Grumblejack, Edmin and Morsum all have reach. No two of us should have been within his reach for the cleave. I am not sure whether Edmin was attacking from the ground or not and Morsum did move in to attack, but would have been flanking from the opposite side. Also, Edmin stood up (a non-moving move action), and could have easily 5-foot stepped back. Thus, unless Xen carefully positioned himself so that he was adjacent to both Morsum and Edmin, we should not have all been next to one another. Also, there is not a monk somewhere next to the commander which would have broken up the series of adjacent players.
In order to hit Jax, the commander would have had to have known where he was requiring a perception check - and Jax will have a +20 on his Stealth because of the invisibility.
Sorry for the confusion, but it just seems that we are all being placed in the worst tactical positions each time.
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1) The Commander was still on the ladder -- so there were only five spaces adjacent to him, not eight. That squeezes people in, even with reach. Also, neither Edmin nor Morsum took a 5' step to move back from him after he'd moved away from them, so reach no longer an issue there.
2) I rolled not one but two Perception checks for the Commander.
3) I agree that a map would be handy. I'm definitely not trying to place you in "the worst tactical position". (If I were trying to do that, the cavalry would have arrived on Round Two, not Round Five.)
In any event, you've got two PCs down (though Edmin is still alive), the Commander down, and blue-robe woman on the stairs threatening you with Edric the Archer's Arrow of Death. You're up. What do you do?
Also, I just looked it up, pinpointing Jax would have required a +20DC perception check. The DC20 you rolled was just to know that there was an invisible person within 30'. I do not know whether the +20 is added to the DC20, or to Jax's Stealth, but he rolled a 43 for his stealth and the Commander's rolls for perception would have missed both a DC40 or 43.
Jax cast Vanish and then moved stealthily. He rolled a 14 + his 9 stealth +20 for invisible; that was 43. However, he would be at -5 for using Stealth while moving more than 15' (Stealth rules), so 38. So, I was mistaken to roll two DC 20 checks; I should have rolled a DC 20 and a DC 38. The Commander made the DC 20 but failed the 38 (he couldn't make it except on a nat 20). So he knows that someone is adjacent to him, but has not "pinpointed" Jax -- and so could not attack him.
Okay, the attack on Jax is undone. Jax gets his hp back.
If the Commander dies, then all additional attacks will be at the archer, or the monk if the archer is beyond his 15' reach.
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Also, do not forget that the archer is within the reach of both Morsum and Grumblejack if he is standing directly at the top of the stairs and able to shoot almost anyone in the room.
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Also, I am not sure whether the Smite Evil continues if the paladin is unconscious. It says that it remains until he rests, not sure if unconscious counts as resting.
As Morsum begins to rip into the prone Commander, the blue-robed woman gasps. She points a shaking finger at the Judge. "Him -- he controls the monster! Shoot him! Now!"
There is a moment of silence as everyone stares at the arrow. It is lodged neatly in the Judge's brooch of the Ninth. The brooch is slightly bent now (but still functioning). The arrow has bruised the skin below slightly, but has not broken it.
I believe there's a 50% chance that arrows that miss, break. (If anyone wants to check to confirm that, please do.) So, is the arrow broken? 1d100 ⇒ 76
"Noooo! Commander!" For just a moment, the blue-robed woman is badly shaken. Then she clamps down and regains her composure. "Very well." She turns and, with a sudden motion, lashes one foot out at Grumblejack's ankle.
With a roar of surprise and rage, Grumblejack falls down the ladder, taking 1d6 ⇒ 3 points of damage on the way down and landing prone at the bottom.
Jax, Morsum and Edmin, please make a DC 12 Reflex save to avoid the falling ogre. If you fail, you'll also take 1d6 of damage from having several hundred pounds of ogre fall on you. In Jax's case, you will also be knocked down to the bottom of the ladder.
To be specific, it's an Arrow of Human Slaying. In your spare time, assuming you survive, you can examine the arrow closely. It's a nasty thing -- a relic of the crazed days when the Triple Empire was collapsing and necromancers were everywhere.
I haven't even checked to see whether that would affect you as a dhampir. Blue-robed woman didn't have the necessary Knowledge, so she just told the archer to shoot you. If he'd made his roll, we would have had to look it up... Anyway, free Arrow of Slaying (Humanoids, human).
Whoops, almost forgot. Just to drive the point home, as Grumblejack totters, she's going to get in a couple of nasty rabbit punches to hurry him down the stairs. (Trip is an attack action, not standards, so she can still flurry.) 1d20 ⇒ 131d20 ⇒ 16
M DEAD!! KILLED BY EVIL EVIL DMDM!! Rogue1/Barb (Feral)1 temp hp 14/17 and 9 con (HP 24/25+4 when Raging; AC21/17/15(-2 Raging) ; CMD 16 (18 Rage) Fort +4(6); Ref +8; Will +1( 3); Init +6; Perception +5/6 for Traps; Darkvision
We healed grumble to full before the fight ibises the wand on him
Did Morsum's 23 attack and 27 trip miss the archer or monk? He was not going to attack a dead body, and would have stopped after the first two claw attacks if they both hit assuming the Commander appeared dead (throat ripped out, massive head wound, etc).
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Xen had the secondary wand of CLW and expended all of the remaining charges on Grumbles. He healed Edmin with his spell slot. I have the new wand and have used two charges from it on myself over the course of the top of the tower and this gate combat. 48 charges remaining.
Doug, BTW I think you missed Grumbles Hasted attack on the commander after he went down. Then Morsum could have attacked the monk for all of that damage since the commander would have been dead last turn from his second attack most likely.
Its hard to keep track of all of these moving parts.
Dren heals Edmin.
May the darkness grant you the life to fight on.
Black tendrils cover Edmins body and seep into his wounds closing them...and he gasps back to consciousness.
Well our little fighting friend, I hope you understand with commander down I can out-heal any damage the two of you fools can dish out. But it will be fun to watch you try and fail...Cy kill the guards coming over.
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Judge, I think Grumbles missed his hasted attack so you may want to wait for Doug to confirm then Mosrum could have full attacked the Monk or the archer.
Edit: I just looked back again, Grumbles only made one attack.
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
One last thought...if the commander drops and he was on the ladder wouldn't he have fallen down with us also drawing AOO's from everyone down here as he passed through threatened squares well as the 1d6 damage that Grumbles took on the way down?
It's an interested set of possibilities...lol
Doug, BTW I think you missed Grumbles Hasted attack on the commander after he went down. Then Morsum could have attacked the monk for all of that damage since the commander would have been dead last turn from his second attack most likely.
Its hard to keep track of all of these moving parts.
It is! The monk wasn't ever adjacent to Morsum, but I think she was within his reach. So he could have hit her with a Hasted attack last round. This round, she moved 5' up the stairs to trip Grumblejack, so she's out of reach. (No climb check for her... tipping a card a little, she drank a potion of Spider Climb.)
Meanwhile, though: when Sir Edmin cuts the Commander's head off? Something happens.
For just a moment, everyone stops talking, fighting, or casting spells. You all fall motionless for an instant, like squabbling mice when the wing of a hawk passes overhead. Something vast and dark seems to sweep through the narrow little machinery room.
Two things. First, when the moment passes, you see that something has changed. Commander Havelyn's shining armor, which was all blue and white and silver... is now black and red. And his shield, instead of the hand holding a branch, now shows a new and different emblem.
Sir Edmin only:
A vast voice seems to speak from somewhere deep inside your soul. WELL DONE, THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT. You are suffused with hot glow of bloodthirsty joy. You don't know if it comes from your own heart and soul, or from that great Voice... and you don't care. Finally! Finally, you're getting the bastards back!
You can decide what emblem (if any) the shield bears. (If you can't come up with anything, it will show a mailed fist in flames clutching a black and red axe.)
The armor, which was +1 Champion plate mail, is now +1 Dastard plate mail. (Oh, look it up.)
Also: displaying the Commander's severed head to anyone in Branderscar will give you a +4 to Intimidate checks the first time you do it. (Mind, you have a two-handed weapon, so you can't attack or make AoOs while holding the head.)
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Dren smiles, Ah the ritual is almost complete...soon Havelyn will raise as a skeletal champion under my control. Thank you Edmin, that was the last step.
The voices around Dren that he has been suppressing for so long suddenly rise up, their insane babbling unintelligible to anyone.
bluff 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 Not sure I can bluff on my turn when I heal Edmin but it's worth a shot.
We are in Round Five. Edric the Archer shot his arrow; Morsum, Ragnar and Sir Edmin savaged the Commander's body, and the Judge healed Morsum. Blue Robe knocked Grumblejack down the stairs. That leaves Jax and Zimu, and then Round Five is done. (Grumblejack goes last in the round, but he is busy standing up and can't attack anyone.)
Zimu needs to make a Will save before she does anything. So, over to Jax, and then we start Round Six. (Also known as The Round Where The Soldiers Start Showing Up.)
